Posts Tagged ‘poaching’
Science Policy Around the Web – March 2, 2018
By: Patrice J. Persad, PhD
source: pixabay
The Environment
Plastic Pollution Is Killing Coral Reefs, 4-Year Study Finds
Plastic, plastic everywhere / Disease of corals on the flare. A large-scale investigation surveying coastal regions of the Asia-Pacific, including parts of Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, and Australia, found that approximately 11.1 billion pieces of plastic littered coral reefs. Given that the populous China and Singapore were omitted from the analyses, the bona fide count may be higher than this published value. Supporting the hypothesis that plastic, a manmade product, may find it’s way into coral reefs proximal to regions with more humans and with less developed waste management systems, the less densely populated Australian locations had the smallest numbers of plastic items while heavily populated Indonesian sites had the largest numbers.
Although quantification of plastic occupying the seas, especially on the visible surface, were pursued by other research groups, a link between plastic and the physiological state of the corals beneath was understudied and, thus, never established. Upon viewing diseased phenotypes of coral reefs imprisoned by plastic, Joleah B. Lamb and colleagues constructed regression models to determine if coral disease presence was associated with the presence of plastic debris. The likelihood of having skeletal eroding band disease, white syndromes, or black band disease increased significantly in the onslaught of plastic debris. The team also noted differences in disease likelihood for coral anatomy/morphology categories; the massive coral morphology, the most intricate coral structure, had the highest disease likelihood when engulfed with plastic items (although this category had the lowest likelihood of plastic waste encounters).
How does plastic precisely contribute to coral disease? Researchers are not completely sure. However, there are several hypotheses. Plastic debris cloak coral reefs and bar contact with the sun’s rays. Solar interaction is vital because coral species—those involved in reef generation—have a symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic algae, zooxanthellae. The algae nurture these corals and assist with the formation of the reef’s calcium infrastructure. Another sea of thought is that the plastic items on reefs may be gouging coral tissue and allowing pathogenic microorganisms from surrounding waters to creep in. A third explanation is that the chemical compounds constituting plastic itself may incite disease outbreak on coral reefs.
The coral reef is an ecosystem with brilliant biodiversity rivaling that of the terrestrial tropical rainforest. Like the mangrove forest and seagrass communities, the coral reef is both a nursery and asylum for various fish and invertebrate species. If these facts on the mere ecological worth of protecting coral reefs do not compel citizens, then the economic worth might. These natural underwater marvels rake in billions of dollars from tourism, aquaculture, and fishing. Coral reefs prevent beach battery in the midst of titanic tempests. The oceans and waterways are interconnected, along with the ecosystems and accompanying food webs. Even though the Asia-Pacific was the center of Lamb et al.’s study, citizens everywhere can engage in recycling plastics or diminishing use of non-biodegradable plastic items.
(Christopher Joyce, National Public Radio)
Wildlife Conservation
China’s lust for jaguar fangs imperils big cats
One fang, two fangs, three fangs, four / Of the jaguar gone in gore. Imagine you are a police officer in Bolivia. Your duty is monitoring wildlife trafficking and apprehending any individuals who are exploiting native species. Recently, you have encountered several decapitated jaguars, an endangered species, in local canals. Aside from these decapitated jaguars, other retrieved cadavers were fangless if not headless. After communicating with colleagues in neighboring Brazil and Belize, you learn that these are recurring patterns in jaguar fatalities. The next week, you discover pamphlets and posters advertising payment for a single jaguar fang: $120 – $160 USD. Your division confiscates almost 200 jaguar fangs. During a briefing with your supervisor, you gravely state, “Sergeant, I think this [wildlife trafficking] is getting bigger than we thought.”
From the above scenario, why are jaguar fangs such a popular commodity? For generations, tiger body parts, such as bone, teeth, and skin, have been important components of traditional Chinese medicine. Fortunately, authorities are successfully limiting the tiger parts trade. As a result, many in China are now directing attention, unfortunately, to another big cat, the jaguar, as a proxy. However, the jaguar is not the only big cat grievously affected by this shift. As one case in Belize features, poor species recognition by poachers ended an ocelot’s life. As the wildlife trade is highly profitable around the globe—superseded by only weapons and drugs—the conservation front in the form of law enforcement can gain little economic or corporal support. In fact, consequences for those who violate wildlife trafficking laws rarely involve incarceration. Prominent ecologist, Vincent Nijman, feels this may stem directly from the international society’s indifference to the fate of poached species, especially if the immediate reward of killing or capturing species brings in more money than saving them.
The jaguar’s plight—the species’ decimation—emerges from more than China’s hunger pangs for fangs. Urbanization has down-sized this big cat’s habitat, a range of tropical rain forests and savannas. Because of losses in sanctuary and hunting grounds, the jaguar may prey upon cattle and other agricultural animals. Consequently, irate farmers lash out by killing these feline threats. Agricultural stakeholders have several options to share the land peacefully: incorporating guard animals into herds, securing baby farm animals in complexes/shelters, granting loans on the basis of cattle/agricultural animal management history, and deterring predators with innocuous barriers, such as moats and man-made lights.
The exploitation of the jaguar, South America’s prime big cat, impacts other species’ survival and spawns from previous misdeeds against other species. Many sets of individuals are responsible for and partake in such a transgression against the jaguar. Cooperation among international conservation organizations and law enforcement agencies will be needed given the scope of wildlife trafficking and the low-key sense of emergency from society. Perhaps a beautiful friendship will cultivate between the International Criminal Police Organization’s (INTERPOL’s) environment crime division and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) or TRAFFIC (if such a bond has not already deepened).
(Barbara Fraser, Nature News)
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Science Policy Around the Web – April 3, 2015
By: Sara Cassidy, M.S., Ph.D.
Animal Conservation Policy
Poaching brings another creature to the brink of extinction
Ever heard of the pangolin? Me neither, but recent media coverage of this critically endangered creature places a spotlight on the impact humans are having on their environment. The pangolin, also known as the spiny anteater, is a nocturnal mammal that lives in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa that subsists on ants and other small insects. Asian pangolins are threatened by loss of habitat, as land is increasing cleared for agricultural and other human use, but are most severely in danger due to poaching. Pangolin meat is prized as a delicacy in China, and its scales composed of keratin are used as a traditional medicine for skin and other disorders. Demand for the animal has increased in the past decade resulting increased illegal shipments disguised as other goods. According to the NY Times, “officials in Uganda said they had seized two tons of pangolin skins packed in boxes identified as communications equipment. In France a few years ago, more than 200 pounds of pangolin scales were discovered buried in bags of dog biscuits.” Because the animals are endangered, most countries have laws against hunting pangolin. However, the laws are either weakly enforced or poachers make enough from the animal carcass to incentivize the activity anyway. There is some question as to how endangered the animals are. Because they are nocturnal and shy, little is known about population levels in the wild. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has the pangolin categorized in Appendix II; species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the Chinese pangolin as critically endangered and all other species of pangolin as threatened. Some conservation groups are hoping to increase the endangered status of the pangolin and make all trade of the animal illegal. (Erica Goode, NY Times; www.savepangolins.org)
Resource Conservation Policy
Record drought forces increased water conservation in California
After a record low snowpack was recorded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on April 1st, the governor of California issued an executive order mandating cities and towns across California to reduce water usage by 25 percent. This conservation amounts to approximately 1.5 million acre-feet of water saved over the next nine months. KQED and NPR compiled an infographic to show just how severe the decline in snowpack has been over the past few years of drought; the water content of the Sierra Nevada range was just 6% of the average in 2015. The impact of the loss of mountain snow will be great. Millions of people depend on the water that melts and flows downstream during the summer and fall months, including the farmers of the agriculture-rich California Central valley. In addition to general water conservation, the governor also ordered millions of acres of lawns throughout the state to be replaced by drought tolerant landscaping and the prohibition of new developments from using potable water for irrigation. Increased conservation and enforcement measures will help, but it is small consolation to the already parched fields that account for the overwhelming majority of produce on US shelves, including 90% of all broccoli and 95% of all celery and garlic; hundreds of thousands of acres of cropland was fallowed or lost in 2014 due to insufficient water supply. Although Americans have yet to really feel the pinch (with the exception of citrus fruit; both drought and disease have been driving up prices in the past couple years), experts predict the price of fresh fruits and vegetables will rise this summer. (Craig Miller, KQED Science and NPR; http://www.ca.gov/drought; Brian Palmer, Slate)
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