Extinction of threatened marine megafauna would lead to huge loss in functional diversity

Date: April 17, 2020

Source: Swansea University

In a paper published in Science Advances, an international team of researchers have examined traits of marine megafauna species to better understand the potential ecological consequences of their extinction under different future scenarios.

Defined as the largest animals in the oceans, with a body mass that exceeds 45kg, examples include sharks, whales, seals and sea turtles.

These species serve key roles in ecosystems, including the consumption of large amounts of biomass, transporting nutrients across habitats, connecting ocean ecosystems, and physically modifying habitats.

Traits, such as how large they are, what they eat, and how far they move, determine species' ecological functions. As a result, measuring the diversity of traits allows scientists to quantify the contributions of marine megafauna to ecosystems and assess the potential consequences of their extinction.

The team of researchers -- led by Swansea University's Dr Catalina Pimiento -- first compiled a species-level trait dataset for all known marina megafauna to understand the extent of ecological functions they perform in marine systems.

Then, after simulating future extinction scenarios and quantifying the potential impact of species loss on functional diversity, they introduced a new index (FUSE) to inform conservation priorities.

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If These Tiny Marsupials' Marathon Mating Sessions Don't Kill Them, Humans Will

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | May 14, 2018 06:04pm ET

A type of marsupial dies in droves during mating season, but the tiny mammals currently face a much greater threat to their survival: humans.

Two species of Antechinus — a genus of shrew-like animals known for marathon mating sessions that leave the males crippled, spent and dying — were recently added to the Australian endangered species list, representatives of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) reported in a statement.

In a decision effective May 11, the Australian government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) declared the silver-headed antechinus (Antechinus argentus) and the black-tailed dusky antechinus (Antechinus arktos) endangered, primarily due to severely reduced habitat and other risks brought about by human-induced climate change. [Antechinus Photos: New Marsupials Die for Sex]

Currently, there are 15 known species of antechinus in Australia; the silver-headed antechinus was identified in 2013, and the dusky antechinus was identified in 2014, according to the TSSC report. Both species are small and carnivorous, with silver-headed males weighing about 1.5 ounces (43 grams) on average and dusky males weighing about 3.2 ounces (90 grams) on average.

Antechinuses, which are only found in Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania, are known for an unusual and extreme mating strategy known as suicidal reproduction. During breeding season, the animals frantically copulate for up to 14 hours at a time and expire from exhaustion, injuries and organ failure in a matter of weeks, leading to annual mass die-offs of antechinus males.

But the carnage of antechinus mating isn't why the two species are facing an uncertain future. Rather, they inhabit high-altitude forest habitats, where these animals face growing threats of wildfires, predation from invasive species such as cats and foxes, and habitat disturbance from cattle and feral pigs, the TSCC reported.

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'Bilby blitz': Indigenous rangers use bilingual tracking app to preserve species

Surveys across millions of hectares of central Australia will be used to inform threatened species recovery plan

Calla Wahlquist

Tue 20 Mar 2018 03.16 GMTLast modified on Tue 20 Mar 2018 03.25 GMT

Aboriginal rangers will use a new bilingual tracking app to record sightings of signs of bilby habitation in a new “bilby blitz” program.

Twenty ranger groups from organisations in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, including the Central Land Council, Kimberley Land Council, Central Desert Native Title Services, Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa and the Ngaanyatjarra Council, will take part in the survey, which was launched at the CLC ranger camp at Hamilton Downs near Alice Springs on Tuesday.

The rangers will log signs of the greater bilby or Macrotis lagotis, including tracks, scats, diggings and burrows, in the new Tracks app, developed for the CLC.

It is available in English and Warlpiri and will be expanded to include other central desert languages, such as Pintupi, Warlmanpa and Arrernte, in the next 12 months.

Craig Le Rossignol, coordinator of the Tjuwanpa or Hermannsburg ranger group, said the app allowed Aboriginal people to store and share knowledge about their country, some of which, like the bilby count, would be used to inform western science. Sensitive cultural information would not be shared.

He said the process of collecting, recording and sharing information was just as valuable for Aboriginal people, who store information “in the heads.”

“The key for Aboriginal life is continuation,” he said. “The key is that information, that continued information, that keeps us going.”

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The Turtle Extinction Crisis: Nearly half of all freshwater turtles and tortoises are at risk of disappearing forever, a new report warns. (The Report is available as a downloadable PDF file on the Turtle Conservancy website.) – via Herp Digest

The Revelator, 3/12/18 - by John R. Platt

It’s not easy to be a turtle in the 21st century. A new report warns that freshwater turtles and tortoises are among the world’s most threatened groups of species, with more than 40 percent at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, the illegal pet trade, and consumption for food and traditional medicine.

Among the most threatened species are the Yangtze giant Asian softshell (Rafetus swinhoei), which is down to its last three individuals in China and Vietnam; the ploughshare tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) of Madagascar, which fetches enormous prices in the illegal pet trade and could disappear from the wild as soon as this year; and the three-striped box turtle (Cuora trifasciata), ownership of which “has become a financial investment and status symbol in China,” according to the report.

Also considered highly at risk: the Nubian flapshell turtle (Cyclanorbis elegans), not seen in the wild in at least 15 years and feared extinct by some conservationists.

All told about half of all tortoise and freshwater turtle species and subspecies are threatened or at risk of extinction.

The authors of the report, which was issued last week by a partnership of 10 turtle conservation organizations, call it “an effort to publicize the plight of tortoises and freshwater turtles by highlighting those species that are at the highest risk of extinction.” Sadly that’s obviously needed, as not much has changed since the previous edition of this report in 2011, which contained a very similar list of turtles. Conservation efforts have benefited a few of these species during that time period, but not enough to improve their overall outlook. In fact the only species from the 2011 list that doesn’t appear in the 2018 edition is the Pinta giant tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii) of the Galápagos, which went extinct in 2012 with the death of world-famous tortoise Lonesome George.

So why should we care? Well, other than the fact that this list contains some stunningly beautiful and interesting species, tortoises and freshwater turtles also serve vitally important ecological roles in their native habitats. As the report points out, various species help to shape rivers and waterways, assist plant populations by dispersing seeds and fungi, and even keep water clean by scavenging dead animals. They’re also significant in human culture and art — which is one of the reasons they’re at risk.

Here’s the list of the 27 most threatened tortoise and freshwater tortoise species. You can learn a lot more about each of them by downloading the full report here.

            1          Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei)

            2          Ploughshare tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora)

            3          Yunnan box turtle (Cuora yunnanensis)

            4          Northern river terrapin (Batagur baska)

            5          Myanmar roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata)

            6          Zhou’s box turtle (Cuora zhoui)

            7          McCord’s box turtle (Cuora mccordi)

            8          Geometric turtle (Psammobates geometricus)

            9          Golden-headed box turtle (Cuora aurocapitata)

            10        Dahl’s toad-headed turtle (Mesoclemmys dahli)

            11        Nubian flapshell turtle (Cyclanorbis elegans)

            12        Three-striped box turtle (Cuora trifasciata)

            13        Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota)

            14        Roti Island snake-headed turtle (Chelodina mccordi)

            15        Southeast Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra chitra)

            16        Bellinger River snapping turtle (Myuchelys georgesi)

            17        Vietnamese pond turtle (Mauremys annamensis)

            18        Central American river turtle (Dermatemys mawii)

            19        Madagascar big-headed turtle (Erymnochelys madagascariensis)

            20        Southern river terrapin (Batagur affinis)

            21        Red-crowned roof turtle (Batagur kachuga)

            22        Sulawesi forest turtle (Leucocephalon yuwonoi)

            23        Western swamp turtle (Pseudemydura umbrina)

            24        Hodge’s side-necked turtle (Mesoclemmys hogei)

            25        Palawan forest turtle (Siebenrockiella leytensis)

            26        Magdalena river turtle (Podocnemis lewyana)

            27        Painted terrapin (Batagur borneoensis)

'Active protection' needed to help Angola's threatened elephants

Elephants Without Borders and UMass Amherst researchers update elephant data

Date:  March 14, 2018

Source:  University of Massachusetts at Amherst

A new study of African savannah elephant populations in Angola by wildlife ecologists from Elephants Without Borders (EWB) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst reports today that though the population seemed to be recovering after the war ended there, that trend has now reversed, underlining "the need to be vigilant against poaching and habitat loss," says first author Scott Schlossberg.

He and colleagues write, "There may be time to reverse the ongoing decline of elephants in Angola and conserve this important population" if the government commits to "active protection." Schlossberg and Chase of the Botswana-based conservation group did this work with co-author Curtice Griffin, professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst. Details appear in PLOS ONE.

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Australia has 1,800 threatened species but has not listed critical habitat in 10 years

Only five habitats put on critical habitat register since national environmental laws enacted

Lisa Cox

Mon 5 Mar 2018 17.00 GMTLast modified on Mon 5 Mar 2018 22.59 GMT

Australia has not listed any critical habitat for the protection of threatened species on the federal critical habitat register for more than a decade.

And only five places have been registered on the database since Australia’s national environmental laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – were enacted.

A new Guardian investigation shows that Australia is set to clear 3m hectares of native forest by 2030. Conservationists say the data shows that Australia’s environment laws are failing to protect the habitat necessary for the survival of the more than 1,800 plant and animal species and ecological communities listed as threatened nationally.

 “We have provisions to protect critical habitat under the current laws but they’re not being used effectively and they’re not strong enough,” the Australian Conservation Foundation healthy ecosystems campaigner Jess Abrahams said.

Habitat loss is a main driver of species extinction.

Under the EPBC Act, the federal government can identify land critical to the survival of a species and put it on the national critical habitat register.

Continued  

Calling citizen scientists: more data needed to protect echidnas

These masters of disguise are some of the world’s oldest surviving mammals, but they are threatened by habitat loss, traffic and feral cats – and they need our help

Alexandra Spring

Wed 21 Feb 2018 17.00 GMT Last modified on Wed 21 Feb 2018 17.02 GMT

They may be one of the world’s oldest surviving mammals – around for at least 25m years – but scientists don’t know much about echidnas. Now researchers believe the remaining Australian population may be threatened and they need citizen scientists’ help to save them. 

The short-beaked echidna is found only in Australia and Papua New Guinea. In 2015 the Kangaroo Island echidna, a once significant subspecies, was listed as endangered. While the remaining population is listed as “least concern”, researchers question the listing. As Tahlia Perry, a PhD researcher at the University of Adelaide’s Grutzner Lab, which is studying the molecular biology of echidnas, says: “When you don’t have exact numbers, it’s really hard to give something a listing.”

In September 2017, the lab, in association with the CSIRO’s Atlas of Living Australia, launched the free echidna CSI app to encourage Australians to photograph wild echidnas and collect their scat, or droppings. “What we are hoping to find out is [whether there are] other pockets of populations around the rest of the country that are in the same sort of threat level [as the Kangaroo Island species] because they face the exact same threats,” says Perry.

The main threats to echidnas are land clearing and habitat loss. This was demonstrated on Kangaroo Island when the population shrank as development increased. Echidnas can travel great distances – often several kilometres in a day – they have very large home ranges and so land clearing and rapid developments can cause problems in their ability to travel by removing viable habitat, says Perry. Other major threats include traffic, feral cats and potentially the rapidly changing climate.

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'Fantasy documents': recovery plans failing Australia's endangered species

Environment

Expired, unfinished or undeveloped: conservationists call for more transparency and accountability in species management systems

Lisa Cox

Mon 19 Feb 2018 17.00 GMTLast modified on Mon 19 Feb 2018 22.24 GMT

Less than 40% of Australia’s nationally-listed threatened species have recovery plans in place to secure their long-term survival.

And close to 10% of listed threatened species are identified as requiring plans to manage their protection but the documents are either unfinished or haven’t been developed, according to data published by the environment and energy department.

Other critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable species have plans that are years or decades out of date and contain no detail on what actions have been taken to ensure a species avoids extinction.

Conservationists want an overhaul of Australia’s national environment laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) act – to bring transparency and accountability to the country’s opaque system of species management.

“Nobody seems to have ultimate responsibility for protecting them,” said the Wilderness Society national director Lyndon Schneiders.

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Skinned sea otter carcass found on California beach

October 19, 2017

The skinned carcass of a sea otter was found on a California beach, and investigators are trying to determine how it died and who took the pelt.

Federal and state wildlife officials said in a statement Wednesday that the young-adult female Southern sea otter was found on a beach in San Simeon on Sept. 26. Animals and insects had already scavenged it. Investigators made the discovery public in their search for information on who may be responsible.

Federal wildlife forensics specialists are examining the body.

Southern sea otters, sometimes called California sea otters, are a threatened species—though not yet an endangered species—under federal law.

Killing one can mean fines up to $100,000, and taking its pelt without a permit is illegal, even if it's already dead.

Source: 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Seeks Information Related to Foothill Yellow-legged Frog – via Herp Digest

7/21/17, CDFW Press Release

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking information relevant to a proposal to list the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog as a threatened species.

The Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Rana boylii) inhabits lower elevation creeks, streams and rivers throughout the Klamath, Coast, Sierra Nevada and formerly the Transverse ranges of California. They can be found in a variety of habitat types such as chaparral, oak woodland, mixed coniferous forest, riparian sycamore and cottonwood forest, as well as wet meadows.

In December 2016, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission to formally list the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. The listing petition described a variety of threats to the survival of Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs in California. These include direct and indirect impacts associated with dams, water diversions and development, invasive species, disease, climate change and other activities such as marijuana cultivation, timber harvest, mining, recreation, road building and urbanization. The Commission followed CDFW’s recommendation and voted to advance the species to candidacy on June 21, 2017. The Commission published findings of this decision on July 7, 2017, triggering a 12-month period during which CDFW will conduct a status review to inform the Commission’s decision on whether to list the species.

As part of the status review process, CDFW is soliciting information from the public regarding the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog’s ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to reproduction or survival, adequacy of existing management and recommendations for management of the species. 

Comments, data and other information can be submitted in writing to:

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Attn: Laura Patterson

1812 Ninth St.

Sacramento, CA 95811

Comments may also be submitted by email to wildlifemgt@wildlife.ca.gov. If submitting comments by email, please include “Foothill Yellow-legged Frog” in the subject heading.

All comments received by Aug. 31, 2017 will be evaluated prior to submission of the CDFW report to the Commission. Receipt of the report will be placed on the agenda for the next available meeting of the Commission after delivery and the report will be made available to the public at that time. Following the receipt of the CDFW report, the Commission will allow a 30-day public comment period prior to taking any action on CDFW’s recommendation.

The Center for Biological Diversity’s listing petition and CDFW’s petition evaluation for the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog are available at www.fgc.ca.gov/CESA/index.aspx#fylf.

Media Contacts:

Laura Patterson, CDFW Wildlife Branch, (916) 341-6981

Kyle Orr, CDFW Communications, (916) 322-8958

Conservation CSI: Cornell Researchers Solve Mystery of Mass Turtle Die-Off – Herp Digest

March 6, 2017, Posted on website of Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine (no author posted)

In April 2015, hundreds of diamondback terrapin turtles and tens of thousands of fish were found dead on a beach near Flanders Bay, Long Island. This threatened species has already experienced steep population declines around Long Island, and the unprecedented die-off had potential to impact the survival of the terrapin population in the area. Through collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) biologists and a local wildlife rehabilitator, Cornell’s Wildlife Health Program (WHP) researchers determined that saxitoxin, a potent neurotoxin from algal blooms, was behind the die-off; their discovery was published in the April 2017 issue of the journal Toxicon.

 

Diamondback terrapins are the only turtle species that live in coastal salt marshes, and already face serious challenges. The species is listed as threatened or a “species of concern” in multiple states, and populations are declining--in Jamaica Bay, Long Island, one of the largest known populations has declined by 60% in recent years. That made the mass die-off all the more concerning for scientists. “A turtle die-off of this scale is a significant concern,” says Dr. Elizabeth Bunting, WHP director and senior extension associate with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. “The first step to preventing it from happening again is to pinpoint the cause.”

At the same time the terrapins were turning up dead, the NYSDEC closed the shellfish beds around the bay due to an algal bloom which was producing a potent neurotoxin known as saxitoxin—at levels that were the highest ever recorded in the area. Shellfish concentrate the toxin and are a human health concern if consumed, in turn creating an economic impact on commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting in temperate coastal water systems. “This algal bloom was a red flag,” says NYSDEC Biologist Kevin Hynes. “We immediately wondered if it was also the cause of the turtle deaths.”

Karen Testa, a rehabilitator at Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, Inc., collected and submitted over 25 terrapins for examination to the WHP and the NYSDEC. The terrapins were examined by WHP staff including pathologist Dr. Rob Ossiboff and Hynes. Others were necropsied on Long Island by the Riverhead Foundation and Dr. Chris Gobler’s lab at SUNY Stonybrook. No turtles had any physical evidence of disease or trauma. The animals were also tested for ranavirus, a common cause of mortality events, but results were negative—which added to the case that saxitoxin was to blame.  However, because a saxitoxin-caused mortality in a temperate turtle species had never happened before, the scientists had to ensure the evidence was indisputable. “We had to show with a high degree of certainty that the toxin was present in the animals’ tissue, and that the animals were exposed from eating the local shellfish,” says Hynes.

The WHP and Gobler’s lab tested for saxitoxin in the terrapin tissue, while also collecting and identifying the turtle’s gut contents in order to identify the species of shellfish found in the affected turtles. The results confirmed the scientists’ suspicions—the saxitoxin was present in the turtles’ tissues, as well as the corresponding local mussel species in the stomach contents. “Although more information regarding the effect of saxitoxin on reptiles is still needed, we concluded that saxitoxin was the likely cause of the deaths of hundreds of diamondback terrapins in Flanders Bay, Long Island,” says Bunting. “The impact on this fragile and declining population from this event may threaten the survival of the species in this area.”