Ecology

Monday, October 18, 2010

Wind turbines wrong colour for wildlife

By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

Photo: environmet-green.com

A study has revealed that a wind turbine's colour affects how many insects it attracts, shedding more light on why the turbines occasionally kill bats and birds.

Scientists say that turbines, most commonly painted white or grey, draw in insects. These then lure bats and birds - as they pursue their prey - into the path of the turbine blades.

Support for the idea comes from another study showing that bats are most often killed by turbines at night and in summer, when insects are most abundant.

Paint them purple?

"It had been speculated that insects may be attracted to turbine structures for some reason and this then could attract insectivorous species, such as birds and bats, to forage in the vicinity," said PhD student Chloe Long of Loughborough University, UK.

However, she added, "no other study has looked in detail at what specific insect species might be attracted to turbine installations or why".

So Miss Long and her Loughborough colleagues, Dr James Flint and Dr Paul Lepper, conducted the first empirical study of insect attraction to wind turbines, the results of which are published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research.

In particular, they measured how a turbine's colour alters how many insects gather around it.

Most turbines are painted pure white or light grey, in a bid to make them as visually unobtrusive as possible.

But insects, it seems, are unlikely to ignore these muted tones.

The researchers measured how many insects were attracted to a range of paint colours, including pure white, light and dark grey, sky blue, red and purple.

They did so by laying out coloured cards in a random sequence next to a 13m-high three-blade wind turbine situated in a meadow near Leicestershire, UK.

The scientists were surprised by what they discovered.

"Our major conclusion from this work is that turbine paint colour could be having a significant impact on the attraction of insect species to the structure, both during the day and at night," Miss Long told the BBC.

What is more, turbines painted pure white and light grey drew the most insects bar just one other colour; yellow.

The insects attracted included small flies (body size less than 5mm); large flies (body size equal to or greater than 5mm); greenfly; moths and butterflies; thrips; beetles and crane flies.

"We found it extremely interesting that the common turbine paint colours were so attractive to insects," said Miss Long.

"Our findings support the hypothesis that turbines may be attractive to insects."

The least attractive paint colour to insects was purple.

That does not necessarily mean that all wind turbines should be painted that colour, say the researchers.

See more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9067000/9067721.stm

Posted by Jasmina Nikoloska

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Study identifies more than 1 million ocean species

The Census of Marine Life is finally complete after a decade of work by 2,700 scientists from 80 countries • In pictures: new species discovered by British Antarctic Survey  

It is the culmination of a decade of work by 2,700 scientists from 80 countries, who went on more than 540 expeditions into the farthest reaches of the most mysterious realm on the planet – the world's oceans.

This transparent ice fish has no red blood cells and glycerol in its blood acting as an antifreeze. Photograph: British Antarctic Surve

Today, the US$650m Census of Marine Life (COML) project announced the culmination of its work, concluding that the deep is home to more than a million species – of which less than a quarter are described in the scientific literature. Since the project started in 2000, around 16,000 species have been added to the COML databases and more than 5,000 are still being worked on by scientists. In total, around 2,600 scientific papers have been published as part of the project. Jesse Ausubel, environmental scientist at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and co-founder of the COML project said that the results had far exceeded any vision he had started with. "On the one hand we feel like the people in London and Paris who, 250 years ago, were creating the first dictionaries and encyclopaedias. In 2000, there was a chaos with regards the information about marine life. Now we have a valid list of species, 201,000 as of yesterday. 90,000 of these species have web pages in the Encyclopaedia of Life. 35,000 of these have DNA sequences. It's not your grandfather's census: this census is this wonderful, living, interactive set of databases on the internet with hyperlinks to images, sounds, the ability to create maps." The COML will form a baseline against which scientists will be able to monitor biodiversity changes as they are affected by a range of environmental factors. "We live in a world of very rapid change," said Ausubel. "Increasing illumination and sound in the ocean, the removal of sea life, acidification, changes in temperature and currents. We want to monitor and evaluate the effects of these and other activities. We can't do any of these in the absence of baselines. We hope what the census has done is create the first baseline and create a framework in which it is easy to add more information about marine plants or other newly-discovered animals." To mark the end of the COML project, scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) showed off the results of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life, an inventory of more than 16,000 marine species and the culmination of more than 19 trips into Antarctic waters.

See more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/04/census-marine-life Posted by Jasmina Nikoloska

 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

 One in five plant species face extinction    

First ever comprehensive study of plants, from giant rainforests to common snowdrops, finds 22% of all species at-risk.

The tree tumbo – which is found in the African desert and can live to more than 1,000 years old – is one of the species identified as at-risk. Photograph: Andrew Mcrobb/PA

One in five of the world's plant species – the basis of all life on earth – are at risk of extinction, according to a landmark study published today.

At first glance, the 20% figure looks far better than the previous official estimate of almost three-quarters, but the announcement is being greeted with deep concern.

The previous estimate that 70% of plants were either critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable was based on what scientists universally acknowledged were studies heavily biased towards species already thought to be under threat.

Today the first ever comprehensive assessment of plants, from giant tropical rainforests to the rarest of delicate orchids, concludes the real figure is at least 22%. It could well be higher because hundreds of species being discovered by scientists each year are likely to be in the "at risk" category.

"We think this is a conservative estimate," said Eimear Nic Lughadha, one of the scientists at Kew Gardens in west London responsible for the project.

The plant study is also considered critical to understanding the level of threat to all the natural world's biodiversity, said Craig Hilton-Taylor of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which runs the world's offical "red list" of threatened species. "Plants are the basis of life, and unless we know what's happening to plants it has many implications," said Hilton-Taylor.

The results will be presented to world leaders meeting at Nagoya in Japan in October to discuss the world's biodiversity crisis, along with new red lists for vertebrates and several groups of the planet's millions of invertebrate species.

"This is a base point," said Lughadha. "What we do from now is going to lead to the future of plants. We need to challenge the idea that plants are there to be exploited by us, we need to move to a system where we're nurturing plants much more carefully [and] actively taking steps to conserve them."

Politicians and conservation experts will also be told that by far the biggest threat to plants is human – rather than natural – causes, especially intensive agriculture, livestock grazing, logging and infrastructure development.

Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, who will travel to Japan for the final talks, said the results were deeply troubling. She added: "Plant life is vital to our very existence, providing us with food, water, medicines, and the ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change."

Scientists randomly selected 7,000 species from across the major plant groups as a representative sample of the estimated 380,000-400,000 so far known to science. Of these, 3,000 were found to have too little information to begin making an proper assessment – a result that was expected and so built into the selection process.

The remaining 4,000 species were assessed and the level or risk based on a combination of the absolute number of plants estimated in the wild, the known decline, and the total area in which they are thought to live.

Of the 4,000, 63% were found to be of "least concern", 10% near threatened, 11% vulnerable, 7% endangered and 4% critically endangered. Another 5% were rated "data deficient".

The proportion of plant species deemed at-risk is similar to that of the IUCN's red list for mammals, worse than that for birds (less than 10% at-risk) and better than the number for amphibians (more than a quarter under threat).

Nearly two-thirds of threatened plant species are found in tropical rainforests, five times the proportion for the nearest other habitats – rocky areas, temperate forests and tropical dry forests. This is because of their huge density of biodiversity and the widespread risks of logging and clearance for other agriculture, said analysts.

Previously the red list for plants contained assessments for a greater number of plants – about 12,873 or 3% of known species – but was not considered representative because scientists had focused on at-risk species so that they could get attention and funding for conservation.

The assessment was done using experts and collections at the herbaria at Kew Gardens, the Natural History Museum in London and Missouri Botanical Garden in the US, plus specialist experts from the IUCN.

See more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/29/plant-species-face-extinction  Posted by Jasmina Nikoloska

 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

'Lost' amphibian species rediscovered

Scientists from the IUCN's international search for 'extinct' amphibians have found three species in Mexico and Africa.

An Omaniundu reed frog. Conservationists have found two species of African frog and a Mexican salamander that was previously thought to be extinct. Photograph: Jos Keilgast/Conservation International/AFP/Getty Images

A team of scientists have discovered three species of amphibian previously thought to be extinct. Their finds include a cave-dwelling salamander last seen in 1941 – the same year that it was discovered – and two species of frog that dwell in west Africa. In total, the scientists hope to rediscover roughly 100 species of amphibian. Conservation International, in conjunction with the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group, has organised a string of international expeditions to search for "lost" amphibian species that are highly threatened by habitat loss, climate change and disease. More than one third of amphibian species are under threat of extinction. One of the creatures discovered by the team is the cave splayfoot salamander, Chiropterotriton mosaueri. After abseiling into a humid cave fringed with pine and oak forest in Mexico, the team found the salamander clinging to a crevice. It was last seen 70 years ago. On a separate expedition to the Ivory Coast, scientists spotted a red-limbed Mount Nimba reed frog in a swamp near the Liberian border. The frog, which was last seen in 1967, is in urgent need of protection as the forests of Mount Nimba are threatened by deforestation, according to Conservation International. In the flooded forests that sit on the banks of the Congo river, the team also discovered an Omaniundu reed frog, Hyperolius sankuruensis. Speckled with bright green spots, the frog was last seen in 1979. Because it only emits short, infrequent calls late at night, it is extremely hard to find. "Indeed, because so many species of amphibian are tiny and live under rocks in streams or in other hard to find places, it is very impressive that these expeditions have found just three species previously thought to be extinct," says David Sewell, who studies amphibian conservation at the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent. See more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/22/extinct-species-rediscovered-amphibians Posted by Jasmina Nikoloska

 

Friday, September 17, 2010

 De facto moratorium for oil drilling in the North Sea suggested by EU energy commissioner

The European Union's energy commissioner has called for a temporary ban on new oil drilling in the North Sea. Following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Commissioner Gunther Oettinger has revealed his concerns and suggested a de facto moratorium to make sure that the oil industry takes “all possible measures” to further improve safety and enhance disaster prevention levels, BBC News reported in the beginning of July 2010.  PHOTO: Energetika.NET archive New drilling analyses have shown an increase in the activities undertaken in the North Sea, especially in the last few months, according to a study conducted by financial consultants Deloitte.

Oettinger proposed that the rules and policies for offshore drilling be strengthened, so that further accidents could be prevented, and also for the oil industry to ensure that it had sufficient funds to cover potential accidents.  The safety rules should cover additional steps like reinforcing the technological safeguards currently in place to prevent blowouts, reviewing and strengthening emergency plans by well operators and carrying out a “stress test” on existing legislation governing drilling at extreme depths. As an additional requirement for all oil and gas companies was a 12-point risk assessment for the future offshore drilling. The EU Environmental Liability Directive that established the “polluter pays” principle, and all EU and national environmental regulation, will be under review and a new regulatory structure could result. See more: http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/articles/de-facto-moratorium-for-oil-drilling-in-the-north-sea-sugges      Posted by Jasmina Nikoloska