Leaked Queensland report shows state has no overall strategy to save native species

Exclusive: Conservation staff say 955 species face extinction across the state

Lisa Cox

Tue 11 Sep 2018 01.00 BSTLast modified on Tue 11 Sep 2018 01.46 BST

The entire state of Queensland has no overarching conservation strategy to save its native species, according to a leaked internal review that criticises a lack of funding, planning and management of threatened wildlife.

The damning report obtained by Guardian Australia is an evaluation by staff in the conservation and sustainability services division of the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, the lead agency responsible for protecting native wildlife in the state.

It highlights alarm that the state does not have a comprehensive policy to guide threatened species work and that practices known to significantly improve the survival of species, such as protecting critical habitat, have been neglected, despite Queensland having twice as many plants and animals as any other state or territory.

“There is currently no overarching strategy to prioritise, guide and/or coordinate the management and conservation of threatened species in Queensland,” the review states.

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Groups Want End to Unlimited Capture of Four Native Species in Texas - via Herp Digest

AUSTIN, Texas— Press release 5/31/17 The Center for Biological Diversity and several Texas-based conservation organizations petitioned the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department today to end commercial trapping of the state’s wild turtles. 

Under current Texas law, turtle trappers can collect unlimited numbers of four turtle species on private lands to sell domestically or export for international food and medicinal markets. This is putting turtle populations — already facing pollution and habitat loss — at risk across the state.

“For-profit turtle trappers shouldn’t be allowed to drive the state’s turtles to the brink of extinction,” said Jenny Loda, an attorney and biologist at the Center who works to protect vulnerable reptiles and amphibians. “Scientists have concluded that even modest commercial trapping of freshwater turtles can lead to population crashes. For the sake of our native turtles, Texas needs to stop this exploitative trapping.”

More than 2,000 freshwater turtles were trapped in Texas over the past two years, according to reports submitted by holders of nongame dealer permits to the Parks and Wildlife Department. International food and medicinal markets drive most of the trade.

Because turtles accumulate toxins from prey in their bodies and burrow into contaminated sediment, their meat is often laced with mercury, PCBs and pesticides, posing a health risk. Adult turtles are also taken from the wild to breed hatchlings for the international pet trade.

Texas modified its regulations in 2007 to protect freshwater turtles from harvest on its public lands and waters; however, this only resulted in protections for turtles in 2.2 percent of the water bodies in Texas. Under current law unlimited harvest of four native, freshwater turtle species is allowed on private property in the state: common snapping turtles, red-eared sliders, smooth softshells and spiny softshells. Recent studies concluded that current turtle harvest regulations in Texas are not likely to be sustainable.

“Commercial trapping is devastating to turtle populations that are already suffering from multiple other threats, including habitat loss, water pollution and vehicular collisions,” said Evelyn Merz, conservation chair for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter. “Unless the state bans commercial turtle trapping, Texas’ turtle populations will continue to plummet.”

Today’s petition was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, Texas Rivers Protection Association and Texas Snake Initiative.

Background 

As part of a campaign to protect turtles in the United States, the Center has been petitioning states that allow commercial turtle collection to improve their regulations.

In 2009 Florida responded by banning almost all commercial turtle collection from public and private waters. In 2012 Georgia approved state rules restricting commercial turtle collection, and Alabama completely banned it. And last year the Missouri Department of Conservation announced — in response to a Center petition — that it will consider ending unlimited commercial collection of the state’s wild freshwater turtles. Most recently, in March, new regulations went into effect in Iowa setting closed seasons and possession limits for commercial turtle trappers.

Texas is in a regional hotspot for commercial turtle collectors, and reform is needed. If the state created closed seasons and bag limits within its borders, adjacent states would likely follow its example; the region would be better equipped to protect its turtle populations by making clear to turtle traders that trade is strictly regulated and enforced.

The Center also recently petitioned for a ban on unlimited commercial trapping in Louisiana and Oklahoma, two states that share a border with Texas.

 Contact:        Jenny Loda, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 844-7136, jloda@biologicaldiversity.org

Evelyn Merz, Sierra Club, (713) 644-8228, elmerz@hal-pc.org

Beavers given native species status after reintroduction to Scotland

Move hailed as first formal reintroduction of a once native mammal in the UK

Severin Carrell Scotland editor

Thursday 24 November 2016 17.21 GMT

Large populations of wild beavers living in the southern and western Highlands of Scotland are to be allowed to expand naturally after ministers granted them protected status.

For the first time since it was hunted to extinction about 300 years ago, the beaver will be officially designated as a native British species,the Scottish environment secretary announced on Thursday.

Rosesanna Cunningham said this was the first formal reintroduction of a once native mammal in the UK, a significant milestone in the slow process of rewilding parts of the British isles. Until now, official reintroductions have focused largely on birds of prey, though wild boar have colonised forests in southern England after escaping from farms and parks. The beavers were reintroduced to Scotland from Norway.

Conservationists said they were delighted. The Scottish Wildlife Trust said beavers created new wetlands, which supported otters, water voles and dragonflies, and helped to regulate flooding and reinvigorate woodland.

Jonathan Hughes, the SWT’s chief executive, said: “This is a major milestone for Scotland’s wildlife and the wider conservation movement. Beavers are one of the world’s best natural engineers. Their ability to create new wetlands and restore native woodland is remarkable and improves conditions for a wide range of species.”

Cunningham’s announcement was seen by zoologists and conservationists as inevitable: dozens of European beavers have been illegally and stealthily released in the Highlands or have escaped from private collections over the past decade. Previously captive beavers have also tried to colonise parts of southern England. 

Read on 

Cannibal harlequin ladybirds now threaten native species with STDs

Scientists have warned about the unknown effect this fungal infection may have on the already beleaguered native population

ROSE TROUP BUCHANAN

Saturday 18 October 2014

Cannibal harlequin ladybirds are posing a new threat to Britain’s native species after scientists warned the variety was spreading a virulent sexually transmitted fungal infection.

Scottish scientists are concerned the insect fungus, which is transmitted primarily through mating, may be passed onto native species from the non-indigenous type with unpredictable consequences, the Scotsman reports.

Many harlequin ladybirds are already suffering from the Laboulbeniales fungal infection, according to studies conducted by the University of Stirling’s departments of biological and environmental sciences with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Researcher Matt Tinsley said: “The study will allow us to know where this fungus has spread to and what proportion of native and invasive ladybirds are infected.”

The number of harlequin ladybirds has greatly increased in recent years after they were first seen in the UK in 2004 when they were imported to Europe from East Asia for commercial pest control of crops.

Read on ...

Hybridization Between Native And Invasive Species Of Trout Accelerated By Climate Change

USGS

Scientists have discovered that the rapid spread of hybridization between a native species and an invasive species of trout in the wild is strongly linked to changes in climate.

In the study, stream temperature warming over the past several decades and decreases in spring flow over the same time period contributed to the spread of hybridization between native westslope cutthroat trout and introduced rainbow trout – the world’s most widely introduced invasive fish species –across the Flathead River system in Montana and British Columbia, Canada.

Experts have long predicted that climate change could decrease worldwide biodiversity through cross-breeding between invasive and native species, but this study is the first to directly and scientifically support this assumption. The study, published today in Nature Climate Change, was based on 30 years of research by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Montana, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

Hybridization has contributed to the decline and extinction of many native fish worldwide, including all subspecies of cutthroat trout in western North America, which have enormous ecological and socioeconomic value. The researchers used long-term genetic monitoring data coupled with high-resolution climate and stream temperature predictions to assess whether climate warming enhances interactions between native and nonnative species through hybridization.

Read more at

Norway's Quest to Discover All of Its Native Species

Dec. 19, 2013 — More than a thousand new species -nearly one-quarter of which are new to science -- have been discovered in Norway since a unique effort to find and name all of the country's species began in 2009.

The Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative is one of just two government efforts worldwide where scientists are being funded to find and catalogue the country's true species diversity.

The Norwegian initiative is focused on describing poorly known species groups across the country's varied habitats, from its alpine plateaus to the northernmost reaches of the island archipelago of Spitsbergen.

The finds range from new species of insects and lichens to new species of molluscs and cold-water sponges. The information gives scientists and policymakers a better platform for understanding of the complexity and function of Norway's ecosystems.

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Fox Invasion Threatens Wave of Extinction in Tasmania

ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2012) — The effort to stop the irreversible spread of foxes in Tasmania is at a critical stage with many native species at risk of extinction, new research by University of Canberra ecologists and their collaborators published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology shows.

Using DNA detection techniques developed at the University, the team mapped the presence of foxes in Tasmania, predicted their spread and developed a model of their likely distribution as a blueprint for fox eradication, but swift and decisive action is needed.

University of Canberra professor in wildlife genetics and leader of the team, Stephen Sarre, found foxes are widespread in northern and eastern Tasmania and the model developed by his team forecasts they will spread even further with likely devastating consequences for the island’s wildlife.

“There’s nothing fantastic about foxes being in Tasmania. If we allow them to establish themselves we could see a catastrophic wave of extinction across the island,” Professor Sarre said.

“This research shows foxes are on the verge of becoming irreversibly present in Tasmania,” he said. “Their apparent widespread distribution indicates that the eradication effort is at a critical point and that there is no time to lose.”

Professor Sarre and colleagues used forensic DNA tests combined with collections of fox scats to detect and map the distribution of the predator in Tasmania.

Read more:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204112020.htm