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Nature in the News

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  • #692
    recedite
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,989 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    They also cover huge areas in Portugal nowadays, and there have also been some severe forest fires there in the last few years. There is a lot of oil in the leaves which makes them prone to fire, and the bark also peels off like paper.
    They almost seem to like a good fire, some of the seeds are adapted to take advantage of fire. Interesting article here on it.

    I do like eucalyptus though, I have planted a good few myself. They are a lovely looking tree, fast growing, and make great firewood. And in our climate, we don't have to worry too much about bushfires.


  • #693
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    recedite wrote: »
    I do like eucalyptus though, I have planted a good few myself. They are a lovely looking tree, fast growing, and make great firewood. And in our climate, we don't have to worry too much about bushfires.

    They are problematic in many of the drier parts of the world in which they are not indigenous, as they tend to suck up all the water in the vicinity, leaving little or nothing for native plants. I've seen places abroad where, upon leaving natural forest and entering into a Eucalyptus plantation, a rich and diverse ground flora gives way to bare ground.


  • #694
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,898 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Jayzesake wrote: »
    They are problematic in many of the drier parts of the world in which they are not indigenous, as they tend to suck up all the water in the vicinity, leaving little or nothing for native plants. I've seen places abroad where, upon leaving natural forest and entering into a Eucalyptus plantation, a rich and diverse ground flora gives way to bare ground.


    Thats true - a few years ago in Kenya I saw the damage for myself in the West of the country.


  • #695
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Is Paris treaty all that stands between us and mass extinction?

    Lara Marlowe of the Irish Times talks to Elizabeth Kolbert, author of 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History', about catastrophic and accelerating extinction rates, climate change and the Paris Conference in December.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/is-paris-treaty-all-that-stands-between-us-and-mass-extinction-1.2385995


  • #696
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    Jayzesake wrote: »
    Is Paris treaty all that stands between us and mass extinction?

    Lara Marlowe of the Irish Times talks to Elizabeth Kolbert, author of 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History', about catastrophic and accelerating extinction rates, climate change and the Paris Conference in December.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/is-paris-treaty-all-that-stands-between-us-and-mass-extinction-1.2385995
    It is difficult to prove conclusively that Climate change causes extinction. Traditional reductionist statistical techniques are limited when studying causal inference in large scale complex changes like climate change. Often only correlation inferences can be made. Often Government want 100% proof which can be hard to get.


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  • #697
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,898 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Jayzesake wrote: »
    Is Paris treaty all that stands between us and mass extinction?

    Lara Marlowe of the Irish Times talks to Elizabeth Kolbert, author of 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History', about catastrophic and accelerating extinction rates, climate change and the Paris Conference in December.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/is-paris-treaty-all-that-stands-between-us-and-mass-extinction-1.2385995


    Since the Paris conference will not be discussing any of the major ongoing causes of extinction eg habitat destruction, poaching etc. its a rather misleading and uniformed piece. The planet has seen numerous periods of sharp and rapid climate flux such as during and between various ice-ages and species have simply responded by following their preferred climate regimes. There is little or no evidence to date that significant numbers of extinctions have occured anywhere on the back of any "warming" in the last 200 years or so. Most of the "fears" appear to be based on climate models that so far have not exactly proved very accurate in the past decade or so. The main potential problem is now with our species dominating so much of the earths surface, certain species will find it tougher both to move or find intact habitat due to eitheir natural(we are actually due another ice-age soon!!) or possible man/made climate variations. And this issue is of course down to overpopulation of our own species - another topic this conferenence won't be addressing!!

    PS: The conference I'm more interested in is the one currently taking place in Chile concerning the health of the oceans in terms of plastic pollution, over-fishing. If concrete measures can be agreed there then we could indeed see some serious progress for the health of the "blue" planet.


  • #698
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Birdnuts wrote: »
    Since the Paris conference will not be discussing any of the major ongoing causes of extinction eg habitat destruction, poaching etc. its a rather misleading and uniformed piece.

    The Paris Conference will be discussing anthropogenic climate change, and how we propose to deal with it. (Or not.) The potential for climate change to become a massive driver of extinctions of all sorts of life forms all over the globe is undebated among those who are best equipped to judge, i.e. biologists, and specifically conservation biologists.
    Birdnuts wrote: »
    The planet has seen numerous periods of sharp and rapid climate flux such as during and between various ice-ages and species have simply responded by following their preferred climate regimes.

    That would be possible if ecosystems and species were not already extremely stressed by decimated populations (see link below), ecosystems thrown out of balance by extinctions that have already occurred, habitat destruction, pollution, and many other issues. And if remaining habitats were not fragmented by vast areas given over to agriculture, towns, roads and a multitude of other human uses. Sure, some species will be able to move, but many will not.

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/29/earth-lost-50-wildlife-in-40-years-wwf
    Birdnuts wrote: »
    There is little or no evidence to date that significant numbers of extinctions have occured anywhere on the back of any "warming" in the last 200 years or so.

    Just as there are some who deny what scientists are saying with regard to climate change, there will be others who deny what scientists are saying r.e. extinction levels. Those who are best placed to know, and in whom I would place my trust, are once again biologists, and again specifically conservation biologists. They are saying very clearly that extinction rates are somewhere between 100 and 1,000 times the normal background rate (though some say it's much higher - see link below), with around 50% of species on the planet at risk of extinction by the end of the century if the current trajectory continues.

    http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/

    If there is a high level of public ignorance regarding climate change, that completely pales in comparison to awareness of the extinction crisis. But what these two issues also have in common is that there is no significant debate among the respective specialist scientists that they exist, and that we are the cause.
    Birdnuts wrote: »
    The main potential problem is now with our species dominating so much of the earths surface, certain species will find it tougher both to move or find intact habitat due to eitheir natural(we are actually due another ice-age soon!!) or possible man/made climate variations. And this issue is of course down to overpopulation of our own species - another topic this conferenence won't be addressing!!

    Agree with much of this, but climate change, human overpopulation and mass extinction are obviously all connected.
    Birdnuts wrote: »
    PS: The conference I'm more interested in is the one currently taking place in Chile concerning the health of the oceans in terms of plastic pollution, over-fishing. If concrete measures can be agreed there then we could indeed see some serious progress for the health of the "blue" planet.

    Again, I agree that this is extremely important: the extinction crisis is as much in the oceans as on land.


  • #699
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Capercaillie wrote: »
    It is difficult to prove conclusively that Climate change causes extinction. Traditional reductionist statistical techniques are limited when studying causal inference in large scale complex changes like climate change. Often only correlation inferences can be made.

    As I said in my post above, there is no significant debate on this among those who are best informed on these matters, i.e. conservation biologists.

    "Global warming presents the gravest threat to life on Earth in all of human history. The planet is warming to a degree beyond what many species can handle, altering or eliminating habitat, reducing food sources, causing drought and other species-harming severe weather events, and even directly killing species that simply can’t stand the heat. In fact, scientists predict that if we keep going along our current greenhouse gas emissions trajectory, climate change will cause more than a third of the Earth’s animal and plant species to face extinction by 2050 — and up to 70 percent by the end of the century. Such a catastrophic loss would irreversibly diminish biodiversity, severely disrupt ecosystems, and cause immense hardship for human societies worldwide."

    http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/global_warming_and_life_on_earth/index.html
    Capercaillie wrote: »
    Often Government want 100% proof which can be hard to get.

    As we have seen from all of the climate change conferences up to now, national governments generally have little interest in looking beyond the next few years, i.e. to the next election. (Hopefully Paris will be different.)

    Nor do they have any interest in issues that their electorates don't care about, or are almost completely unaware of, such as the extinction crisis.

    It's up to every single one of us who care about wild nature to do what we can to change that.


  • #700
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    Jayzesake wrote: »
    As I said in my post above, there is no significant debate on this among those who are best informed on these matters, i.e. conservation biologists.

    "Global warming presents the gravest threat to life on Earth in all of human history. The planet is warming to a degree beyond what many species can handle, altering or eliminating habitat, reducing food sources, causing drought and other species-harming severe weather events, and even directly killing species that simply can’t stand the heat. In fact, scientists predict that if we keep going along our current greenhouse gas emissions trajectory, climate change will cause more than a third of the Earth’s animal and plant species to face extinction by 2050 — and up to 70 percent by the end of the century. Such a catastrophic loss would irreversibly diminish biodiversity, severely disrupt ecosystems, and cause immense hardship for human societies worldwide."

    http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/global_warming_and_life_on_earth/index.html



    As we have seen from all of the climate change conferences up to now, national governments generally have little interest in looking beyond the next few years, i.e. to the next election. (Hopefully Paris will be different.)

    Nor do they have any interest in issues that their electorates don't care about, or are almost completely unaware of, such as the extinction crisis.

    It's up to every single one of us who care about wild nature to do what we can to change that.

    100% agree that global warming is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity on the planet. Just pointing out that it is hard to prove 100% due to the complex nature of it's effects (often non-linear).


  • #701
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    "26 nature organisations call for 1% of NHS England’s £1.8bn public health budget to be spent on helping people access green spaces and the coastline to tackle obesity and mental illness."

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/13/nhs-should-spend-millions-on-nature-for-health-plan-say-wildlife-groups
    “Action can’t be simply hived off to a single, hard-pressed department in Whitehall. It must run as a matter of course through every department, from Defra to the Treasury,” said Backshall. “Every department needs to understand that restoring nature will be a key solution to some of our most pressing social, environmental and economic problems.”


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  • #702
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    The dark side of 'Star Wars'

    http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/dark-side-star-wars


  • #703
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    A lengthy article about the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use, which aims to reduce the amount of rodenticides that end up in the systems of our Barn Owls, Kestrels and other Raptors:

    http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/poisons-pose-serious-threat-to-our-wildlife-31603407.html

    Though the article aimed at farmers, the tips and advice are worthwhile for anyone with a rat or rodent problem.


  • #704
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    A lengthy article about the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use, which aims to reduce the amount of rodenticides that end up in the systems of our Barn Owls, Kestrels and other Raptors:

    http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/poisons-pose-serious-threat-to-our-wildlife-31603407.html

    Though the article aimed at farmers, the tips and advice are worthwhile for anyone with a rat or rodent problem.


  • #705
    kerry4sam
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,127 ✭✭✭✭kerry4sam


    How can, or even Is there, a way to combat the murder of Elephants.

    NSFW the linkie right here <-- Very disturbing images contained within that.
    Cyanide poisoning of elephants in Hwange national park is a continuing problem for conservationists: about 300 were killed by poisoning in 2013
    though I am not sure it's accurate to say
    “All this poaching is because of American policies. They are banning sport hunting. An elephant would cost $120,000 in sport hunting but a tourist pays only $10 to view the same elephant,” she said, adding that money from sport hunting was crucial in conservation efforts.

    I know it's been going on for years like, but seriously, that doesn't mean it should continue.
    Can you think of pro-active measures that have been put in place to combat this cruelty? Even look at the poisoning of our Eagles here in Ireland and how prevalent that still is.

    Thanks,
    kerry4sam


  • #706
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    A piece about Little Terns in Wales and England in the Irish Examiner:

    http://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/animal-life/the-little-tern-britains-smallest-seabird-had-a-devastating-reduction-in-numbers-this-year-359307.html


  • #707
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    A good article about Hen Harriers and upland areas in the Kerryman:

    http://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/lifestyle/upland-areas-are-a-treasure-that-need-to-be-protected-31587570.html


  • #708
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    The results of the UK breeding Woodcock survey are in - a 29% decline in 10 years, which is pretty disastrous!

    It was carried out in 2013 and results compared with the 2003 survey, and organised by the BTO and GWCT.

    http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/woodcock-survey


  • #709
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    What biodiversity benefits can we expect from EFAs?

    http://capreform.eu/what-biodiversity-benefits-can-we-expect-from-efas/


  • #710
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    Jayzesake wrote: »
    What biodiversity benefits can we expect from EFAs?

    http://capreform.eu/what-biodiversity-benefits-can-we-expect-from-efas/
    No surprise there. The "greening" payments in your SFP are only window dressing. Even the GLAS schemes are next to useless. Most of the schemes are designed so that you do the least amount possible to get the cash.


  • #711
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Capercaillie wrote: »
    No surprise there. The "greening" payments in your SFP are only window dressing. Even the GLAS schemes are next to useless. Most of the schemes are designed so that you do the least amount possible to get the cash.

    The root of the problem is the fundamental contradiction between trying to 'milk' as much as possible from the land and the inevitable detrimental effect that has on biodiversity.


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  • #712
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    Jayzesake wrote: »
    The root of the problem is the fundamental contradiction between trying to 'milk' as much as possible from the land and the inevitable detrimental effect that has on biodiversity.

    With most farmers it is trying to "milk" (accurate term in present day) the land than trying to protect biodiversity. Government and farming organisations are pushing for maximum production at all cost while doing the bare minimum to protect bidiversity so as to escape sanction from the EU.


  • #713
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Capercaillie wrote: »
    With most farmers it is trying to "milk" (accurate term in present day) the land than trying to protect biodiversity. Government and farming organisations are pushing for maximum production at all cost while doing the bare minimum to protect bidiversity so as to escape sanction from the EU.

    Totally agree.


  • #714
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    We treat one elephant culled as a tragedy, 20,000 poached as a statistic

    The death of a single elephant – or lion, such as Cecil – is sad. But our anger should really be aimed at the species-threatening scale of the illegal wildlife trade

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/16/angry-one-culled-elephant-20000-poached


  • #715
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    After 60 million years of extreme living, seabirds are crashing

    A new study finds that the world’s seabird populations have plummeted by almost 70% in just 60 years.

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/sep/22/after-60-million-years-of-extreme-living-seabirds-are-crashing


  • #716
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    http://www.bto.org/Breeding Woodcock decline in Britainnews-events/news/2015-10/breeding-woodcock-decline-britain
    Breeding Woodcock decline in Britain


  • #717
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Capercaillie wrote: »
    http://www.bto.org/Breeding Woodcock decline in Britainnews-events/news/2015-10/breeding-woodcock-decline-britain
    Breeding Woodcock decline in Britain

    That link doesn't seem to be working Cap.


  • #718
    whyulittle
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,878 ✭✭✭whyulittle


    The text got pasted into the URL, it links to this.

    http://www.bto.org/science/latest-research/british-woodcock-show-declines-breeding-population-size-and-range


  • #719
    two wheels good
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,957 ✭✭✭two wheels good


    Scientist "collects" elusive kingfisher in Solomon Islands

    "After setting mist nets across the forest, he [ Chris Filardi of American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)] and his team secured a male specimen with a “magnificent all-blue back” and a bright orange face. The discovery brought quite the declaration – “Oh my god, the kingfisher” – and led Filardi to liken it to “a creature of myth come to life”. And then, Filardi killed it – or, in the parlance of scientists, “collected” it."

    Another source - www.audubon.org

    Filardi stressed that, among Guadalcanal locals, the bird is known to be “unremarkably common”. (Although he's been searching for years to find one)
    "    And he said that killing one kingfisher might help save them all."


  • #720
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    two wheels good wrote: »
    Scientist "collects" elusive kingfisher in Solomon Islands

    "After setting mist nets across the forest, he [ Chris Filardi of American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)] and his team secured a male specimen with a “magnificent all-blue back” and a bright orange face. The discovery brought quite the declaration – “Oh my god, the kingfisher” – and led Filardi to liken it to “a creature of myth come to life”. And then, Filardi killed it – or, in the parlance of scientists, “collected” it."

    Another source - www.audubon.org

    Filardi stressed that, among Guadalcanal locals, the bird is known to be “unremarkably common”. (Although he's been searching for years to find one)
    "    And he said that killing one kingfisher might help save them all."
    I thought those days were long gone - I despair.


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  • #721
    Jayzesake
    Closed Accounts Posts: 392 ✭✭Jayzesake


    Another Life: Leaving it to the fertility gods is tempting destruction

    All populations in nature are eventually controlled by food supply, adequate space, disease or predation. And that carried me on to consider the mad multiplication of the human race, gobbling up the space of a finite planet and wiping out more and more fellow species of its natural world.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/another-life-leaving-it-to-the-fertility-gods-is-tempting-destruction-1.2393469#.Vic-f91xSvU.twitter


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