Daniel B. Botkin : Reflections of a renegade naturalist

I’ve spent four decades as a Ph. D. ecologist trying to understand nature, environment, life on the Earth. I’ve studied moose in the far north, elephants in Africa, bowhead whales in northern oceans, forests in North and Central America. I’ve helped with the conservation of the California condor, salmon in the Pacific Northwest, the whooping crane in Texas, the ecosystem of Mono Lake California. I’ve helped analyze the effects of a mining road on natural ecosystems and traditional ways of life on Native American lands; ecological effects of toxin materials at a major California toxic depository; effects of radioactivity on a natural forests. I helped plan the use of vegetation in Los Angles as a typical city in a dry climate. I did some of the earliest work in ecology forecasting possible effects of global warming on life, and helped NASA start the use of satellite remote sensing to study the Earth’s environments.

My work has involved developing computer models of forests and life in lakes, and of populations of endangered species. These models have been used to forecast effects of global warming on life on Earth.

Whenever possible, I’ve traveled through wilderness, sometimes following the trails of Lewis and Clark and Henry David Thoreau (which I’ve written about in several books).

As a result, friends and colleagues often ask me for an objective analysis of what’s going on about the environment and people’s connection with it. And they’ve asked me to set up a Web site that will help them. This is that site. It has several goals.

• Objective analysis of environmental issues.
• Investigative reporting about nature, ecology, the environment, and people’s connection with the environment, including some of the big issues, like energy policy and endangered species.
• Some professional opinions — sometimes mine, sometimes from a guest. Use the Article Categories and Search Box at right to browse the collection of articles written over the last eight years.

Taken from: -Daniel B. Botkin
April, 2007 New York, NY

How to Save Tropical Rainforests

Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe. Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace exceeding 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5 million square miles (6 million square kilometers), an area about the size of the contiguous 48 United States or Australia and representing around 5 percent of the world's land surface. Much of this remaining area has been impacted by human activities and no longer retains its full original biodiversity.

Five Basic Steps to Saving Rainforests

"TREES" is a concept originally devised for an elementary school audience but serves well as set of principles for saving rainforests and, on a broader scale, ecosystems around the world. Teach others about the importance of the environment and how they can help save rainforests. Restore damaged ecosystems by planting trees on land where forests have been cut down. Encourage people to live in a way that doesn't hurt the environment. Establish parks to protect rainforests and wildlife. Support companies that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment.

Deforestation of tropical rainforests has a global impact through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed. Most people agree that the problem must be remedied, but the means are not as simple as fortifying fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the timber trade. Economic, political, and social pressures will not allow rainforests to persist if they are completely closed off from use and development

So, what should be done? The solution must be based on what is feasible, not overly idealistic, and depends on developing a new conservation policy built on the principle of sustainable use and development of rainforests. Beyond the responsible development of rainforests, efforts to rehabilitate and restore degraded forest lands along with the establishment of protected areas are key to securing rainforests for the long-term benefits they can provide mankind.

Taken from Mongabay.com

Will the illegal trade of the critically endangered Philippine forest turtle lead to its extinction?

Endangered Species International (ESI) conducted ongoing monitoring at markets known to sell pets and wild animals in Manila, Philippines, to monitor the status of the trade of one of the most endangered turtle in the world: the Philippine forest turtle [Siebenrockiella (Panayenemys) leytensis]. The critically endangered Philippine forest turtle is endemic to the Philippines, occurring only on one major island, Palawan, and its small satellite island, Dumaran.

During many visits, ESI staff encountered between two and ten Philippine forest turtle for sale at each market totalizing 171 animals over the 4-year period. The turtles were not sold openly as they were prior to 2005; instead, they were kept hidden in the back of stores and brought to potential buyers only when it was felt that there were no risks involved. “We continuously observed S. leytensis in all major pet markets in Manila, demonstrating that the domestic illegal trade remains rampant and has not decreased over the years, that brings this unique species closer to extinction” said Pierre Fidenci, head of Endangered Species International.



In April 2009, the species was sold for between 50 and 75 USD per turtle, but could be negotiated down to 30 USD for smaller individuals. Turtles could be ordered within one or two weeks but that large-sized turtles were difficult to obtain. Most of the turtles sold for the domestic pet trade were sub-adults and young adults. It was rather uncommon to find large individuals (greater than 30 cm in carapace length) for sale.

Overall, illegal collecting of the Philippine forest turtle is the most prominent factor contributing to the sharp decline of the species. Despite international and national laws designed to prevent exploitation of the critically endangered Philippine forest turtle, this species has been sold illegally for domestic and international trade for almost eight years now. Trade is still rampant and the species is being sold in the Philippines, North America, Europe, and Japan.

The ongoing level of trade highlights the failure of past and current activities to stop or reduce illegal trade. Targeting known illegal traders in Palawan should be a priority, but no legal actions have yet been undertaken by local authorities or other concerned organizations. “We have been watching the numbers going down and now it is time for real actions to stop the illegal trade of the Philippine forest turtle” said Pierre Fidenci.



Taken from Andreas Rytz, Endangered Species International
May 04, 2009

Have Australian cane toads finally met their match?

This weekend in Queensland, Australia the government held the first 'Toad Day Out' where hundreds of locals went hunting for the invasive cane toad, catching an estimated 10,000 toads to be euthanized. At the same time, researchers announced in the journal Functional Ecology that they may have discovered a native Australian species that will finally rout the cane toad—and it's not man. The meat ant is a notoriously aggressive and abundant insect which is known to consume anything edible, including the scientists argue, cane toads.

Comparing habitat use and activity patterns of meat ants, cane toads, and seven native Australian frog species, the researchers found that the cane toad was by far the most susceptible to predation by meat ants.




"The spread of cane toads through tropical Australia has created major ecological problems. The ideal way to control toad numbers would be to find a predator that kills and eats toads but leaves native frogs alone. However, bringing in a predator from overseas might have catastrophic consequences, like those that occurred when cane toads themselves were brought in. So we've explored an alternative approach – to see if we could use a native predator," explains Dr. Rick Shine, one of the study's authors. “Meat ants are abundant around tropical waterbodies, and we often see them eating small toads, so we suspected that there might be some kind of mismatch between the invader and its newly invaded range, for example something about the toads' behaviour that makes them vulnerable to a predator that poses little danger to native frogs."

Through laboratory experiments Shine's team, known as Team Bufo (after the Latin name of the cane toad), found that both cane toads and meat ants live largely in open microhabitats and are diurnal, or active during the day. Native frogs, however, are active at night and spend their days hidden in vegetation, away from the path of the voracious meat ants. In addition, cane toads are slower than native frogs and appear to be less vigilant against meat ants: while native frogs would flee the ants, cane toads would only move a few short hops away or even bound closer. Perhaps, even more important, the meat ants were not affected by the cane toad's poison.

The next step according to researchers is to work to bring these two species together more frequently and see if results in the lab can be recreated in the field.

The story of the cane toad in Australia is a warning to anyone who thinks it wise to import species to non-native habits. A warning that has yet to be fully heeded: consider the recent difficulties in Florida with non-native burmese pythons.

Cane toads were introduced into Eastern Australia in 1935 from Hawaii, where they had been introduced from their native habitats in Central and South America. They were brought to Australia because it was believed they would help control the native cane beetle, a pest for sugarcane farmers. However, it turned out that the cane toads were not able to jump high enough to eat the cane beetles.

Instead of saving farmers, the cane toad began to devastate native wildlife. As large and slow-moving the cane toad proved an easy target for Australian predators, only the cane toad is poisonous and therefore would often kill anything that ate it, greatly affecting populations of quolls, birds, snakes, monitor lizards, and crocodiles.

Researchers have tried for decades to come up with a solution to Eastern Australia's cane toad plague, so far there has been no silver bullet.

Taken from:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
March 31, 2009

Conservation groups condemn 'open and organized plundering' of Madagascar's natural resources

Eleven conservation organizations—including WWF, CI, and WCS—have banded together to condemn logging in Madagascar's world renowned parks during a time of political crisis.

Taking advantage of the turmoil after interim president Andry Rajoelina took control of the country in a bloodless coup from former president Marc Ravalomanana on March 17th, pristine forests have been plundered for valuable wood, wildlife trafficking has increased, and illegal mining operations have begun say the conservation organizations.
As reported last week by Mongabay.com, the forces involved in the logging are not just impoverished locals, but according to a local source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, 'foreign traders' and 'big businessmen'.

“[They] have arrived in local towns seeking to take advantage of the political crisis that has weakened park protection and enforcement," the source said. "This is the worst, by far, that has happened to [Marojejy] park in recent years. The situation is worse than desperate."

The lawlessness of the situation is confirmed by the conservation organizations who write that the logging is done with “open and organized plundering, sometimes using firearms, of precious wood from several natural forests, including national parks such as Marojejy and Masoala.”

The chaos has put a halt to Madagascar's tourism industry—one of the impoverished nations most important growth industries. Valued at $400-million-dollars-a-year the industry could be hurt for years to come, especially if its natural treasures are devastated.



Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
March 30, 2009