Let's Not Forget About Plants!

When thinking of conservation efforts, plants tend to get the back burner.  While doing research for a Cincinnati conservation paper, I had the opportunity to interview a horticulturalist who works at the zoo and joins in many plant conservation efforts.  During the interview he mentioned that most people tend to associate conservation or the “save the ___” theme with the cute and cuddly.  For instance, polar bears, tigers, gorillas, and the like get the conservation focus.  However, plants can also be endangered or threatened and need a conservation focus. 

Like endangered or threatened animals, plants also face the same obstacles when it comes to survival.  Both share the same causes of extinction and have the potential for mutual conservation efforts.  Many plants are listed as endangered or threatened due to logging (either direct or indirect), invasive species, or believe it or not, illegal trading.  That’s right…plants can also be poached and sold online.   One example of this I mentioned in my “Earth Day” post with the Gibson guitars. 

One endangered plant that many recognize is the Venus Fly Trap.  This carnivorous plant is endangered due to poaching and illegal trade.  I have attached the link to the article from ABC News.

 http://abcnews.go.com/US/endangered-venus-flytrap-poached-profit/story?id=15444075

Conservation Initiatives Around the World

Having only attended one of the four Barrow’s Lectures at the Cincinnati Zoo, I can say that my view on conservation efforts around the world has drastically grown.  As mentioned a few weeks ago, I attended Amy Dickman’s lecture on the Human-Carnivore conflict in Tanzania.  In the conservation world, Amy Dickman is a common name and her efforts have made a large positive impact on the lion population.  I look forward to the other lectures in the Barrow series and learning more on these issues. 

Other than Amy’s efforts, many conservation efforts occur around the world.  Basically, if there is an endangered animal, then there is an effort toward its conservation.  These efforts can include conserving the habitat through natural park reservations, educating the locals on the animal and it’s habitat, and the like. 

After researching conservation around the world, the first thing that came to mind was Bernadette Plair. Bernadette is a researcher as the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and she works with CREW, The Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife. I had the pleasure to meet with Bernadette and hear her story about the Blue and Gold Macaws, Ara ararauna, and their reintroduction into her homeland of Trinidad (LaFay, 2004). Bernadette grew up with these birds in the 1950’s. She left Trinidad for her studies but never forgot the macaws. In 1993, Bernadette and the zoo began the very successful reintroduction project by first organizing the Trinidad-based Centre for the Rescue of Endangered Species of Trinidad and Tobago (CRESTT) (Lafay, 2004).

Reintroduction efforts began with pin pointing the reason for eradication. The macaws completely disappeared from Trinidad due to poaching, industrial rice farming, and the pet trade in the 1960’s (CZBG, 2011). Also, the efforts needed to begin with wild caught birds(those confiscated from illegal traders) and teaching those captively born how to survive in the wild. These captive born chicks were raised in Trinidad under the Wildlife Division by researchers and other bird surrogates. However, it was nearly four years before their breeding efforts were successful. The first successful group of blue and gold macaws were reintroduced in December 1999 (LaFay, 2004). This group consisted of nine macaws which formed fours breeding groups and produced twelve chicks within two nesting periods (LaFay, 2004). Finally, the natives needed to be educated on these birds and the pet trade. The success continues today and will continue due to the passionate efforts of Bernadette and her researchers. Many years were put into this effort with trial and error. By teaching the macaws how to live in the wild and the natives how to keep this species in Trinidad, the researchers established a safe environment for the Blue and Gold Macaw to thrive.

References:
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (2011) Blue and Gold Macaws.

http://www.cincinnatizoo.org.
LaFay, L. (2004). Resurrecting the Blue and Gold. http://www.parrotchronicles.com.

Earth Day

April is Earth Day (April 21st) Month and a very important month for conservation.  In grade school, we celebrated Earth Day by ordering t-shirts with animals and “save the ___” slogans.  We did art projects and had an “environmental” lesson on Earth Day.  Earth Day is much more then new shirts and a one day focus of environmental tid-bits.  Earth Day was established in 1970 by founder Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator.  The first Earth Day brought all cultural backgrounds, political parties, and personal war opinions together for one cause.  As years progressed, some years focused on different conservation efforts and clean environmental campaigns.  Many events are scheduled on Earth Day to celebrate going green, recycling, and planting.  I have attached the link below which will lead you to the Cincinnati Earth Day celebration at Sawyer Point.  This year’s theme is “One Earth…One Chance”.  The event will have many vendors with hands-on displays, animals, creations from recycled materials, and much more.  The main aim for Earth Day is to remind everyone of the constant fight for a clean environment and educate on environmental changes such as climate change. 

http://www.cincinnatiearthday.com/

Seeing that one main event during Earth Day is planting trees, I wanted to post this article.  While researching articles, I came across the below link to the article about a company making guitars from endangered trees.  Having owned and played a guitar in the past, I feel somewhat guilty.  One of the trees included in this article is the Madagascar Ebony which is responsible for the beautiful eye catching fretboard of the Gibson guitars.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/26/feds-environmental-enforcement-on-guitars-leaves-musicians-in-fear/

Gorilla Run

A reminder that the Gorilla Run is right around the corner.  April 1st will have many Cincinnatians running a 5K dressed as gorillas.  All profits go toward Lowland Gorilla conservation efforts!!  http://cincinnatigorillarun.com/

I had to share this photo from the Cincinnati Zoo's facebook page.  It looks like Thane Maynard is ready for the Gorilla Run!!!

Conserving Ohio

Many conservation efforts have occurred in our backyard of Ohio.  The Endangered Species Act is the highlight of these efforts and has saved many species over the years since its start in 1973.  Two main species that have increased considerably are the American Bald Eagle and the peregrine falcon.  While researching I came across some statistics from 2005 that were very interesting surrounding these two species.  The bald eagle had only 4 pairs in wild Ohio in 1979 and recovered to 125 pairs in 2005 (Nature Conservancy, 2006).  The peregrine falcon had no listed pairs in Ohio in the mid 1960’s and recovered to 19 pairs in 2005.  The 19 pairs produced an overwhelming 57 young (Nature Conservancy, 2006). 

The Nature Conservancy website is a great website which links Ohio citizens and conservation efforts.  “Since 1958, the Conservancy has protected more than 55,000 acres of critical natural land in Ohio” (Nature Conservancy, 2012).  Ohio is a rich source of natural preserves, forests, and parks.   It is up to its citizens to conserve it. 

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/ohio/placesweprotect/index.

Another link that I found allows you to report animals that are orphaned or injured so wildlife officials can help the animal.  The Ohio Wildlife Center sponsors a wildlife hospital for these animals and relies on the kindness of other to provide items.  These items are listed on the website.

 http://www.ohiowildlifecenter.org/

Additional Sources:

The Natural Conservancy (2006). The Endangered Species Act: Conserving Ohio’s Natural Heritage. Environmental Defense. 2006. http://www.environmentaldefense.org.

Volunteer Ohio

Following the conserving Ohio theme, below are links to information regarding volunteer opportunites.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/ohio/placesweprotect/index.

http://www.ohiowildlifecenter.org/getstarted.cfm Looking for hotline volunteers to answer calls from citizens with wildlife and nature questions.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/wild_resourcessubhomepage/TurnInaPoacher/tabid/17888/Default.aspx There are no tattle tails when it comes to conservation.  Here you can report poachers and injured animals. 

http://www.columbuszoo.org/join_the_team/volunteer/default.aspx Volunteer at the Columbus Zoo.  People of all ages can have the opportunity to help in many conservation efforts.

http://www.cincinnatizoo.org/support/volunteer/  Volunteer at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Bird Conservation

After researching many topics on wildlife conservation it seems that cute and cuddly receive the most attention.  Birds (and plants) seem to fall on the back burner of conservation.  Birds also face issues with habitat loss and degradation from logging and agriculture.  I know in the area of Ohio that I live in, I see less and less of the many species of woodpeckers.  While searching, I found many organizations that focus solely on bird conservation and are broken down into different categories of birds, i.e. birds of prey, migratory, and the like.  It seems that the main reason behind birds being listed as endangered is due to DDT, a pesticide used for agriculture.  However, government officials recognized DDT as an issue and banned to product in the 1970’s.  Unfortunately, some species could not recover and are still listed as endangered or have since gone extinct.  One species that comes to mind is the American Bald Eagle which has recovered and is no longer listed as endangered.

In addition to the restrictions that the Endangered Species Act puts on hunters and poachers in regards to any species red listed*, the Migratory Bird Conservation Act also helps with adding more regulations.  The Migratory Bird Conservation Act was initiated in 1929 to preserve any area of land and water that migratory birds visit.  Members of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission work alongside the local authorities to conduct investigations, maintain refuges, and help with conservation education.  (Information from www.fws.gov).    

*Red listed means that the species was listed as endangered, threatened, or at risk under the IUCN Red List.

 Since I am highlighting bird conservation this week, I wanted to talk about one species of bird that once faced extinction.  The peregrine falcon was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1999 when it was completely removed from the list.  The falcon has made great recovery and continues to inhabit every continent except Antarctica.  Peregrine falcons are considered the fastest flying bird in the world and can drive at 200 miles per hour!  The reason behind their decrease in numbers was due to habitat loss but mostly due to the use of DDT.  DDT is a pesticide that causes egg shells to be thin which causes the shells to break early and the offspring cannot survive.  However, DDT was banned in the 1970’s and the falcon has since come back from near extinction. 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/peregrine_falcon/id/ac

The above site is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology which helped to develop EBird.  EBird is an online community engagement tool which allows citizens to bird watch and report sittings for other bird watchers and researcher.  The website gives identification facts, photos, and call clips to help citizen identify the correct bird. 

Hello Spring!

Happy first week of spring!  It feels like summer and my flowers have been sprouted for a few weeks now.  Since I do not like the cold weather, I am happy with the change!

I attend the first lecture of the Barrow's Lecture series at the Cincinnati Zoo and found Amy Dickman to be a very informative and insightful speaker.  She lectured on the Human-Carnivore Conflict specifically in Tanzania, Ruaha.  I learned so much and she really made me want to conserve wildlife so much more.  I am looking forward to more lectures and the next one is April 25th.

Amy Dickman's Bio:  http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/experts/amy-dickman/detail

Courtney

Go Green!

                                                                                                                            Graphic from austintenantadvisors.com

I am sure that most of us have heard of the term, “Going Green” and it basically means to lessen your impact on the environment.  There are many ways to “go green” such as conserving energy, eating organic products, carpooling, etc.  But arguably the easiest (well at least most publicized) way to “go green” is to recycle.  Recycling is turning old products into new products.  You can recycle so many things from cans and glass bottles to tires and paint.  Tires and paint can be recycled at your local Home Depot or Lowes.  Cell phones can even be recycled to help conserve gorilla habitats.  Gorilla habitats are on a drastic decline in Africa due to mining of an ore called coltan.  In order to get to the coltan, miners directly impact the gorilla habitats and population both by killing and eradicating the area.  Coltan is quickly becoming one of the world’s most sought after materials since it plays a major role in technology, including phones and computers.  The United Nations estimates that the remaining wild gorilla population could go extinct within the next 10-15 years .  But there is hope through cell phone recycling.   The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden along with Ecocell are sponsoring the Saving Species Go Bananas Challenge that can recycle cell phones to decrease the need for mining in Africa.  Every little bit helps but imagine if millions of people were involved in cell phone and other recycling.  We really could make a difference!  I do find it painfully ironic that the very computer that this entry was typed on contains coltan.  In some ways we will not be able to escape our impact but we can surely lessen it. 

If you are from the Cincinnati area, I created a map to cell phone donation cites.  Go Bananas!

The Pollution Solution

There are many types of pollution and I would bet that each of us come into contact with them every day.  The three main types are air, water, and soil.  Can you guess the cause? That’s right….us…the very people that complain of the issue.  So rather than complain, let us find solutions to pollution.  But first, some background on the three types…

Air Pollution- It is the accumulation in the atmosphere of substances, mostly tobacco smoke, exhaust fumes, and combustion of coal, that endanger human health.  There are six major types including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, photochemicals, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. 

Water Pollution- It is the addition of dissolved or suspended solids into fresh or ocean waters which degrade the overall quality of water affecting the organisms living into or those who drink it.  Chemicals and biological materials cause the water to lower in quality.  Some chemicals and biological materials include industrial products such as oils, salts, poisons; agricultural wastes such as pesticides, fertilizers, bacteria, and herbicides; and sewage. 

Soil Pollution- Very much like water pollution because it is usually due to the water source.  Herbicides, pesticides, and sewage can alter the overall quality of the soil and may cause harm to those who use it. 

Before researching this topic, I was more familiar with air pollution.  I feel that there is more attention brought to this topic in the media.  TV commercials and programming have focused on this issue and have highlighted ways to decrease our impact on the environment through pollution.  There are many solutions to pollution and it all starts with knowledge.  Many people are simply not aware that smoking and driving have an impact (and you were happy you no longer needed to get an E-check).  By educating the public that dumping chemicals into rivers and the like are no acceptable, we can only then begin to combat the human cause.  However, there are cases where water sources are unintentionally polluted.  Take for example the recent cruise line crash where oil and gasoline spilled into waters off of the coast of Italy or the Gulf oil spill.  The list goes on but where to begin…education?

The endangered species that I wanted to focus on this week is the Andean Catfish.  This catfish is endangered mostly due to pollution of it habitat.  Catfish are the world’s most abundant fish but this species lives in Ecuador in rivers and streams.  It is critically endangered due to not only pollution but overfishing.   

What is Conservation and Why is it important

I am sure that most of us are somewhat familiar with some form of conservation; water conservation, energy conservation, and the like.  The definition is the same across the board no matter what type of conservation you are discussing.  The description that I came across defines conservation as “the act of preventing injury, decay, waste or loss and the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion”.  When speaking of wildlife conservation, it is not just about saving the species but it is much more in depth than the simple concept of going out and doing something. There is leg work, research and collaboration involved.

So why should we conserve?  Why not let nature take its course?

I guess we could argue that most species in need of a conservation effort are in need due to human involvement so in most cases we are responsible.  It is no longer a “natural” event when we play the role of invader by taking away habitats through logging, agriculture, etc or by depleting food sources.  Our role as the invader and reason for most extinctions or endangered species goes on but I want to focus on why we should conserve aside from it being our human responsibility.

I strongly believe that genetic diversity plays a major role in the conservation of global diversity. From my genetics class I remembered that the Hardy-Weinberg Law states the principle of population genetics, gene frequencies, and evolution. Basically, a low number of individuals in a population, the lower the genetic frequency and the lesser chance for successful evolution. (Through my class readings I have come across many articles that support my ideas.  I have sited these below but have yet to figure out how to attach them as PDFs.)  In “The role of genetic variation in adaptation and population persistence in a changing environment”, Lande touched upon genetic variation and how an unpredictable genetic variation can decrease the population fitness and therefore increase the chances of extinction (1996). For example, if members of the same species who are related continuously produced offspring, those offspring would be inbreed and more likely to either carry or express a recessive genetic trait (Keller, 2002). Recessive (homozygous) genetic traits tend to be those less desired and most detrimental to species survival. Therefore, heterozygous traits are more desired and allow for the more beneficial traits to be expressed even if the offspring is a recessive carrier. A good example of this would be rats and fur color. The white fur color is a recessive trait and is only expressed when the individual has two recessive genes (one from mom and one from dad). This white fur recessive trait makes it harder for the rats to hide from predators and more likely to not survive.

David Reed further discussed the need for both genetic diversity and heterozygosity within a species population. Both are needed to allow for species evolution. Coming from a conservation stand point, evolution would play a major role (or piece of the puzzle). When conserving an area specific for a species in need of conservation, one must take into consideration (over a long period of time) how a species would evolve naturally versus how the species could evolve due to the conservation efforts (Reed, 2003).

In addition to genetics and biodiversity, conservation plays a key role in providing education.  Just a few years ago it was mentioned that the polar bear could possibly be extinct by the time our children were adults.  Imagine your grandchildren not being able to see such beautiful animals in the wild or even in zoos! 

References:
Keller, I.F., and D.M. Waller. 2002. Inbreeding effects in wild populations. TREE 17:230-241.
Lande, R., and S. Shannon. 1996. The role of genetic variation in adaptation and population persistence in a changing environment. Evolution 50:434-437.
Reed, D.H., and R. Frankham. 2003. Correlation between fitness and genetic diversity. Conserv. Biol. 17:230-237.

How Science and Technology are used in Conservation

As the advances in technology and science grow, conservation efforts are greatly benefitting.  When I first thought of “science and technology”, I immediately jumped to the internet and computers.  The Internet and computers due allow education to be provided to the masses but science and technology are so much more than that.  Think of medical procedures, gps and tracking devices, and many more.  Medical procedures allow for additional research and in some cases my help to save the species from extinction.  Micropropagation comes to mind here.  In short, micropropagation is growing an organism in a test tube. For example, this process was used on an endangered plant, Dianthus superbus. The process included the use of sterile test tubes, fertilized seeds, and greenhouse conditions.  Some advantages included minimal space needed to increase specie numbers, no time restraint based on seasonal weather conditions, and only a small number of plants needed to begin the process. From an ethical stand point, this technology could possibly prevent a species from extinction. However, some researchers argue that this process should only be used as a last resort. But one must consider a worst case scenario, i.e., if initial specie numbers are too low, in vitro inbreeding can occur thus making breeding of test tube offspring genetically redundant. In addition to micropropagation, cryopreservation can be used to save reproductive cells for future in vitro fertilization.  Some other medical procedures include DNA testing to provide the most viable offspring, DNA testing to determine lineage or genetic makeups, and minor surgeries that would help the animal survive.

GPS and tracking are two controversial topics.  For instance, the data collected could be very beneficial to research and education for conservation however, there are some downfalls.  In order to track these individuals, the GPS tracker must be “installed” into the individual and may or may not be painful or cause injury.  In addition to the potential for injury, the device may be large or draw attention to the animal wearing it.  As you could imagine, this could cause issues if the animal were prey and trying to hide or predator and trying to hunt.  However, most tracking devices are very small and do not cause interference and the benefits greatly outweigh the downfalls.  Another consideration that we must take into account in regards to GPS tracking is the holder of the information.  If this important locating information happened to be in the hands of poachers, the unknowing animal could easily put an entire group at risk. 

One example of cryopreservation is the Cincinnati Zoo’s efforts through CREW (The Center for Conservation and Research/Reproduction for Endangered Wildlife) to increase species numbers for the Sumatran Rhino.  CREW holds the key to increasing rhino species numbers through the CyroBioBank which contains frozen semen samples from the Indian rhino in North America and the Sumatran rhino.  The cyrobank can hold the samples and rescue live sperm even after the rhino has died.  The link below is one example of how cryobanking is beneficial.
http://cincinnatizoo.org/blog/2012/02/10/rare-sumatran-rhino-pregnancy-at-indonesian-sanctuary/

While watching Saturday morning nature shows, I came across this commerical. 

Endangered Wildlife and Extinction: What it means to the World

First let me begin by defining the term ‘extinction’.  Extinction is the end to a species (plant or animal; micro organism or macro organism) which usually begins when the last member of the species dies.  Extinction can also occur in small groups where members of the species exist in a different area but no longer exist in another.  This is termed isolated extinction.  Extinction is different than endangered or threatened.  When a species is endangered, it has the potential to become extinct in the near future.  When a species is threatened, it has the potential to become endangered.  Some members of each group are listed below:

Endangered Animals:

African Elephant

American Bison

Sand Cat

Sea Otter

Sumatran Rhino

Threatened Animals:

American Bald Eagle

Canada Lynx

Loggerhead Turtle

Timber Rattlesnake

Extinct Animals:

Javan Rhino (Recently extinct. Article link here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-20126463/worlds-last-vietnam-rhino-killed-for-its-horn/)

West African Black Rhino

So what does all of this mean?

Many people do not pay any attention to threatened, endangered, or extinct species and truthfully I did not until I began my Zoology program.  After learning and researching, it is my opinion that we will see an exponential increase in extinctions in our lifetime.  Sadly our children may not live to see some species that we cherished as children.  However, it is refreshing to see some species being removed from the endangered species list.    

How do we stop our impact?

There is an article by Stuart Pimm titled “Extinction by Numbers” which discusses our impact on extinction through habitat loss.  Habitat loss is the leading cause of species extinction with humans being the main reason.  Our continued growth through industry, agriculture, and the like (although beneficial to us) decreases habitat availability.  When habitats are decreased, species grow in concentration in smaller areas, competition for food sources increases, food decreases, and eventually specie numbers begin to diminish.   Other causes for extinction include climate changes (also due to humans and global warming) and poaching/bush meat trade.  This is not to say that humans are the only reason for extinctions.  As we have seen with the dinosaurs, mass extinctions through random events can occur.

In addition, the below link directs you to the Alliance for Zero Extinction website. It is a very useful tool in determining species extinction numbers and the like. 

http://www.zeroextinction.org/

Conservation Calendar

2012 Conservation Calendar of Events:

- If you know of any additional dates not added below, please comment so that I may add.

March:

20^th- First Day of Spring

21^st- Barrow Lecture 1 of 4:  Dr. Amy Dickman presenting on “Money, Myths and Man-eaters: Resolving human-carnivore conflict in Tanzania’s Ruaha landscape”

April:

1^st- Gorilla Run 5K to Benefit the Lowland Gorilla http://cincinnatigorillarun.com/

19^th- Party for the Planet- Earth Day Celebration at the Cincinnati Zoo

22^nd- Earth Day!

25^th- Barrow Lecture 2 of 4: Dr. Sharon Negri presenting on “Why Cougars Matter: An Ecological and Cultural Perspective”

May:

9^th- Barrow Lecture 3 of 4: Dr. Shirley Strum presenting on “Darwin’s Monkey: smart, sophisticated, and adaptable”

23^rd- Barrow Lecture 4 of 4: Sharon Marloa presenting on “Thinking (and playing) out of the box: Conservation Strategies That Rock!”

June:

July:

August:

September:

2^nd- Cheetah Run 5K at the Cincinnati Zoo

October:

November:

December:

Species Removed from the Endangered Species List!

2/4/1985             Brown Pelican

3/11/1987           American Alligator

3/20/2001           Aleutian Canada Goose

3/22/2007           Yellowstone Grizzly Bear

5/4/2011             Western Gray Wolf

5/12/2011           Rocky Mountain Wolf

5/18/2011           Missouri Barn Owl

6/16/1994           Gray Whale

6/28/2007           American Bald Eagle

8/25/1999           American Peregrine Falcon

10/8/2008           Missouri Western Fox Snake

Welcome!

Hello! 

The purpose of this blog is to create conservation awareness.  I will be posting weekly conservation topics, "did you knows", calendar events, and volunteer opportunities that pertain to conservation.