The most endangered whale in the world, the North Pacific Right Whale, numbers only a few hundred individuals in the waters of Russia and only 30 individuals in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. There are different species of Right Whales including the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Right Whales. All of them are critically endangered and will become extinct if more is not done to protect them.
Right Whales got their name because whalers thought they were the “right” whale to hunt. Their enormous amount of blubber makes them slow swimmers that were ideal to hunt for meat, oil, and apparel materials. In addition, the whales swim within sight of shore and float when they are killed, unlike other whales. Right Whale populations were destroyed in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries until the whaling ban of 1937. Even so, manmade dangers remain the largest threat for Right Whales today.
Right Whales swim with their mouths open to feed on zooplankton. As a result, ropes from fishing nets tangle on the whale’s jaw, flippers, and tails. This can lead to a painful death lasting up to several months. Right Whales also commonly fall victim to ship strikes because they migrate through the world’s busiest shipping lanes. In addition to these problems, Right Whales have an extremely slow reproduction rate. According to Gliving, females only become sexually mature at 6-12 years old and only give birth to one calf after a year-long pregnancy.
North Pacific Right Whales in particular have been difficult to protect, but advancements are being made. This whale has been officially endangered for about 40 years. Unfortunately, the North Pacific Right Whale shared its endangered species listing with the North Atlantic Right Whale until 2008 when it was listed as a distinct species. This action was only taken after the Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2006.
Over the past decade, the Center for Biological Diversity has had an ongoing battle to protect the North Pacific Right Whale from extinction. The 2006 lawsuit also caused the Fisheries Service to designate the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska as critical habitat for the North Pacific Right Whale. Another lawsuit filed by the CBD in 2010 led to the cancellation of plans to drill for oil and natural gas in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, within the critical habitat.
The most recent development came last month when the Center for Biological Diversity threatened to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service yet again for failing to develop a plan to recover the Right Whale population. In response, the NMFS announced preparations for a Right Whale recovery plan a few days ago on April 17. Hopefully, the Fisheries Service will be true to its word and actually come to understand the importance of protecting Right Whale habitat before it is too late.
I’ve always been fascinated by bats, even as a child when I read the storybook Stellaluna about a lost baby fruit bat. In my neighborhood, during warm spring and summer nights, it is typical to see about four or five bats zinging back and forth through the air on their great insect hunt. Wouldn’t it be sad if the bats disappeared? It could happen in the United States.
There are about 1,000 species of bats worldwide, and 45 of those species live in the United States. Extremely shy and vulnerable, bats prefer to avoid humans, living in hollow trees and caves. However, widespread habitat destruction, pollution, and a lack of adequate protections for bats have led to population declines over the past century. In fact, more than half of the bat species in the U.S. are either endangered or threatened. Now, seven bat species are in danger of extinction, largely because of a killer disease that appeared five years ago—White Nose Syndrome.
An Ecological Disaster
During the winter of 2006-2007, biologists in upstate New York discovered a cave of dead bats with a white fungus covering their faces, bodies, and wings. They dubbed the disease White Nose Syndrome.
Since then, White Nose Syndrome has become the worst wildlife disease outbreak to ever hit North America. Over the past five years, the disease has spread to 19 states and 4 Canadian provinces, killing over 5.7 million bats in the two countries. If White Nose Syndrome continues to spread, it could affect at least half of the bat species in North America. It has had a particularly harmful effect for bats that were endangered already. These include the Virginia Big-eared Bat, Indiana Bat, Gray Bat, Eastern Small-footed Bat, and Ozark Big-eared Bat.
This is a video from 2009 discussing White Nose Syndrome and how it had affected bat populations, specifically the Indiana Bat, by then. The source of White Nose Syndrome had not been found at that point:
What is White Nose Syndrome?
White Nose Syndrome attacks by covering the bats with a fungus that damages their connective tissues, muscles, and skin. It also disrupts the bats’ physiological functions such as sleep patterns, causing them to wake up every 3-4 days during hibernation instead of the normal every 10-20 days. This uses up precious energy that the bats need to make it through the winter. Bats that wake up become dehydrated and hungry because there are no insects to eat during the winter. According to the Organization for Bat Conservation, 90-100 percent of affected bats die from starvation. There is no cure.
Where did it come from, and how does it spread?
Biologists and wildlife conservationists reported five days ago on Monday, April 9, that the disease was caused by a fungus from Europe brought to New York by cavers with spores attached to their shoes, clothing, or equipment. European bats are not harmed by the fungus because they evolved with it in the same environment. White Nose Syndrome is now spread from bat to bat and by people who go in the affected caves. Spores attach to the cavers or tourists who then unknowingly carry them to the next cave, causing more bats to become infected.
Environmental and wildlife conservation groups such as the Organization for Bat Conservation and the Center for Biological Diversity have been trying to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome. The Organization for Bat Conservation has donated large sums of money to researchers trying to find a cure. Three days ago on April 11, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the White House Council on Environmental Quality to stop the spread of the disease. The CBD asked the White House to direct land management agencies to limit human entry to caves on public lands. Some agencies have already closed caves or enacted mandatory decontamination procedures, but many in the west have not. So far, the disease has been confirmed as far west as Oklahoma and Missouri on March 29, 2012. It is crucial that western land management agencies close the caves or enact decontamination protocols before White Nose Syndrome spreads out there and decimates even more bat populations.
In addition to the intrinsic importance of conserving wildlife and biodiversity, bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects such as moths, beetles, and mosquitos. Each bat can eat thousands of insects every night, meaning they are important for maintaining ecological balance. They are critical to forestry, human health, and the agricultural industry. Fewer bats would lead to more mosquito-borne diseases. Bats act as pollinators and save the agriculture industry about $23 billion in pest control. Increased insect populations will cause agriculture industries to use more pesticides, negatively impacting other wildlife and beneficial insects as well as leading to a possible increase in the cost of food.
What can you do to help?
If you find a live or dead bat with White Nose Syndrome, DO NOT TOUCH. Contact the state wildlife agency or a nearby U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office.
Do not enter caves that are blocked or have signs posted.
Avoid caves with large populations of hibernating bats.
Follow decontamination protocols when caving or visiting mines.
Support efforts to block all but the most essential human travel into caves and abandoned mines, especially in the west, to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome.
Write to your congressman asking him to support the Wildlife Disease Emergency Act and support the allocation of additional funds for research to find a cure.
Plant wildflower gardens that attract moths to provide a food source for bats.
If dead or dying trees do not pose a threat to you, leave them up because they provide great natural shelter for bats.
Build or buy a bat house to provide shelter. (This will also help you if you are having trouble keeping bats out of your house).
Thanks for reading! I really wish there was more we could do to help the bats. I hope they find a way to get rid of the fungus in our caves without hurting the ecosystems inside them.
What do you think? Please let me know in the comments.
The northwest coastline of Australia is a fairly pristine, isolated region that is home to many rare, vulnerable, and endangered animals. Known as the Kimberley, this region is the last wild area left in Australia and one of the few remaining in the world. A natural treasure, the Kimberley is also sacred ground for the aboriginal tribes of Australia and the site of some of the oldest known human rock paintings. Even so, this culturally and environmentally rich region is now under threat from energy and mining industries.
Several energy companies, including an American company called Woodside Energy, now have plans to drill for oil and natural gas in the Browse Basin, a geographic underwater area just off the pristine Kimberley coastline. The other energy companies are BP, Shell, Chevron, and BHP Billiton. Natural gas will be extracted through a process called fracking, which can have devastating consequences for marine life such as endangered Humpback Whales that use the area for breeding and a nursery. Fracking has a high probability of releasing toxins into the water.
A few days ago on April 5, the Australian federal government delayed Woodside’s dredging project until late May pending the receipt of more information. In its assessment, Woodside did not address concerns about the possibility of releasing arsenic, nickel, and zinc into the water. The Wilderness Society has asked the Australian federal government to conduct a fully independent scientific review of all data submitted by Woodside. For the most up-to-date information concerning the Kimberley, visit this link.
The energy companies involved have proposed sending the oil and natural gas to processing plants by way of pipelines that would run through the Kimberley. There have been protests at every stage of development by aboriginal tribes and those living in towns neighboring the Kimberley. As of right now, the plan drawing the most fire is the proposed construction of a massive natural gas hub or processing plant at James Price Point in the Kimberley region. The plant would be located right in the middle of the area where a cultural aboriginal ceremony has taken place for hundreds of years.
Tribe members and the residents of the town of Broome just south of James Price Point have banned together to organize protests and blockades to try to prevent bulldozers and other equipment from reaching the Point. Several participating in the blockade have been arrested. The protesters have also launched a letter-writing campaign in an attempt to convince the Australian government and Woodside that the hub should be built on one of the alternative sites that were proposed instead of on the Kimberley Coast.
Now that the Kimberley has been opened to the fossil fuel industry, the mining industry wants to join the fray. Several companies are interested in strip mining the coastal areas of the Kimberley, which would destroy all of the vegetation in these areas. Some projects that are in advanced planning stages or moving toward development include two bauxite mines in the North Kimberley, two major port facilities that require significant dredging, iron ore mining, and a 200,000 ton-per-year zinc mine at Admiral Bay south of Broome.
The mining projects and the construction of the natural gas hub at James Price Point would be particularly devastating to the endangered and vulnerable species living in the Kimberley. Some of these species include the Gouldian Finch, Purple Crowned Fairy Wren, Loggerhead Turtles, and Australian Flatback Turtles. The turtle populations would suffer because the beaches of the Kimberley are prime nesting places. Strip mining would destroy the vegetation that the birds rely on for habitat. The consequences for the Gouldian Finch in particular would be extremely dire because the population has been decimated by the exotic bird trade as well as the industrialization in the rest of Australia. There are now only about 2,500 Gouldian Finch left in the wild.
Since spring is in the air, I decided to stick with last week’s theme on nesting in my local city of Richmond, VA. Unbeknownst to many people, including myself just a few years ago, the Richmond area is home to two large Great Blue Heron rookeries. Some biologists and wildlife experts have even gone so far as to call the nesting grounds “Richmond’s great hidden treasure.”
On an island in the James River, just west of the 14th street bridge, about 40 pairs of Great Blue Herons congregate to build nests and raise their chicks. Even a few pairs of Great Egrets nest in this area as well. Richmond City’s Great Blue Heron rookery is particularly unique because it is located in an urban setting, and herons are known for being shy birds that like to stay far away from people. However, the Richmond rookery is in a fairly isolated location along the Pipeline Rapids. The Pipeline Trail following the bank of the James offers a great view of the nests, but the rocky island itself is not easy for people to reach, making it tolerable for the herons.
Wildlife experts are pleased that the nesting grounds continue to grow each year. According to them, the presence of the herons shows that the James River is becoming a healthier habitat once again, providing enough fish to sustain the parents and their chicks.
This is a video of the Great Blue Herons’ full nesting cycle from last year. You can see the pools, streams, and rushing rapids for fishing as well as the trees that provide such a great habitat for the birds.
The other heron rookery is located in the Dutch Gap Conservation area in Chesterfield County. The nesting grounds can be found along the original James River channel and are accessible through Henricus Historical Park. Dutch Gap’s 840 acres of tree-lined lagoons and tidal basins are closer to what we tend to think of as prime habitat for the Great Blue Heron. While this rookery started small years ago, it has since grown to over 60 nests.
Friends of the James River and the Richmond Audubon Society have partnered to provide rookery tours on Saturdays this spring. Even though March is gone now, there are still plenty of opportunities to see the Great Blue Herons in April. If you live in the greater Richmond area, this would be a wonderful outing for families or for nature-lovers. The tour guides suggest bringing along water, binoculars, and a good telephoto lens for your camera. You can find a calendar of various tours at this link.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments. I hope all of you are having the same gorgeous spring weather that we’re having right now and that your allergies aren’t too bad.
A little over a month ago, I wrote a blog entry on Bald Eagles and how their population rebounded thanks to federal protections after the DDT lows of the 1970s. Just to refresh your memories, I also noted that the Bald Eagle population in the Chesapeake Bay area is nearing saturation. As the number of eagles exceeds available space, territory battles and injuries will become more common. Eventually, the population will balance through natural competition.
In order to study the competition between nesting Bald Eagles and intruders, the Center for Conservation Biology set up eagle nest cams along the James River. You can read more about the CCB’s project at this link. The cams run 24/7 and can be viewed via a live feed on Ustream. Once you go to Ustream, you can also sign in via Facebook and chat with a scientist and others who are watching the live feed.
In Richmond, VA, we have named our eagles James (for the river) and Virginia (for the state). Ginny, as I like to call her, laid her first egg on February 8 and her second egg a few days later on February 11.
I’m going over this again just to lay a little background in case you don’t live nearby or you simply haven’t been following the story. The whole reason for this post is that I want to show you the eaglets hatching. I think it is really amazing to be able to watch baby Bald Eagles hatch right in their own nests.
The first eaglet hatched around 7:30 p.m. on March 16, and the second hatched around 7:30 a.m. on March 18. Here is a video of the first eaglet hatching:
The next video was uploaded on March 22 and shows scenes from the first seven days of the little eaglets’ lives. They’re very fuzzy by this time:
These videos are adorable and amazing, and I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. But beyond that, the Richmond eagles have another meaning for me. I view the CCB’s project as a story of hope. These nests and these chicks would most likely not be here today if it weren’t for the 1940 ban on eagle hunting and the 1972 ban on DDT. When we come together and compromise politically, it is possible to achieve common goals. It is possible to grow food without using pesticides and other chemicals that weaken egg shells, kill bees, and poison the waterways. The recovery of the Bald Eagle population is an example that we can all learn from, and these chicks are a symbol of that in my mind.
Thanks for reading! What do you think of the little eaglets?
Now that the weather’s gotten warmer, bees have started coming out of the woodwork. I saw one in my yard just this morning in a patch of clover. Most people know that bees, honey bees in particular, are important for pollination, but few know exactly how important they are for our survival. Einstein himself said that humans would only survive for about four years if bees were to disappear. Given this sobering prediction, it is alarming to find that bees actually are disappearing, and scientists have yet to determine an exact cause.
According to an online article by Grist Magazine, honey bees have suffered an average population loss of 30 percent a year since 2006. The Pesticide Action Network said that this “presents an imminent hazard for U.S. agriculture.” As of right now, 100 crop species provide 90 percent of the world’s food supply. Honey bees pollinate over 70 of these crops including almonds, apples, blueberries, broccoli, onions, and cabbage.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) among bee populations has increased dramatically in the past few years. This disorder is a mysterious condition in which entire bee colonies disappear by disintegrating, leaving not even their dead bodies behind. Grist interviewed Steve Ellis, secretary of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board (NHBAB). Ellis said that he was able to qualify for disaster relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture because he had so many “abnormal bee die-offs” last year. In addition to colony collapse disorder, bee populations overall have been suffering from poor health and shorter life spans. This means that surviving honey bee populations can pollinate fewer crops.
Potential causes of diminished honey bee health and colony collapse disorder include parasites, viruses, habitat loss, and pesticides. Much of the research conducted recently has focused on improving our understanding of how pesticides affect the health and population size of beneficial insects. Scientists have found that certain pesticides called neonicotinoids or neonics, in particular clothianidin, are deadly for bees. Neonics are used to treat seeds before planting. As the plant grows, the neonics are absorbed by the plant’s vascular system. When honey bees try to collect pollen, the pesticides attack the bees’ central nervous system, killing or sickening them. The genetically modified corn and soybeans that we (unfortunately and often unwittingly) eat today are treated with neonics, and studies have shown that bees do collect pollen from these plants.
Purdue University conducted a study to learn more about neonics and the likelihood that honey bees will be exposed to the pesticides. Researchers found high levels of the neonic clothianidin in the exhaust of planting equipment after the spring planting of treated corn seed. They found neonics in weeds growing near the planted fields, in the soil of nearby unplanted fields, in dead bees found near hive entrances, and in pollen stored inside of the hives. The Pesticide Action Network said that finding neonics in unplanted fields was extremely troubling because these pesticides persist in the soil for years.
This news report discusses Purdue’s study. Pay attention to what the researcher says, but please try to ignore the cheesy reporter.
Do you want further evidence that neonicotinoids are a major problem? A recent article in the International Business Times mentioned another study on these pesticides. Results showed that colony collapse disorder had not been seen in Italy since it banned neonics. While this study does not prove a cause and effect relationship, it does reveal a strong correlation.
Whether you care about the environment or not, this is a problem for everyone, especially since one out of three bites of food on American plates comes directly from honey bee pollination. This is also a problem for big agriculture since the Pesticide Action Network estimates that the crops relying on honey bee pollination are worth over $15 billion per year.
So what can you do?
Sign this petition from the Pesticide Action Network asking the EPA to ban clothianidin and other neonics.
While you’re at it, sign this petition asking the EPA to label genetically modified food. It is currently not labeled. We have 10 days to get 12,500 more signatures.
Support local, organic farmers or grow your own food. This will also help you get fresher, healthier food.
Support organizations like the Pesticide Action Network and the National Honey Bee Advisory Board.
Thanks for reading! What causes do you care about most? Please let me know in the comments.
The Great Bear Rainforest along the Pacific coast of British Columbia is one of the few largely unspoiled areas of the world left. Rich wildlife from lush vegetation to plentiful deer and the packs of wolves that hunt them to grand grizzly bears call the forest home. Orcas and humpback whales live in the channels and coves surrounding the rainforest, while salmon swim freely through the streams. The Great Bear Rainforest is also home to the animal for which it is named—the spirit bear.
Spirit bears, also called Kerome bears, are a subspecies of black bear with white fur. According to a video by Paul Burwell, these bears only live in the Great Bear Rainforest from Prince Rupert Island to Princess Royal Island where most of them are concentrated. They are not related to polar bears, and their black eyes and paw pads show that they are not albinos. Rather, the Nature Conservancy says that their white fur is the result of a recessive gene found in this region. When two black bears with the recessive gene mate, a white cub can be produced. One in ten black bears born in this area is white. Scientists believe that the bears’ coloring helps them blend in with the rapids where they fish, allowing them to catch more salmon than their black counterparts. Even so, spirit bears are endangered with less than 400 living in the wild.
Spirit bears are being threatened by four major sources:
Hunting
Fish farming
The logging industry
The proposed Northern Gate Oil Pipeline
Hunting
Spirit bears themselves are protected from hunting by local laws. However, the black bears that carry the recessive gene are not protected. As Burwell said in his video, “When someone kills a black bear for a trophy on a wall, the special genes that helped create the spirit bear die along with the black bear.” Hunting has decreased gene pool diversity and the number of black bears carrying the recessive gene.
Fish Farming
Fish farms producing Atlantic salmon have been spreading through the channels surrounding the Great Bear Rainforest. Atlantic salmon, which are obviously not native to British Columbia, have a lot of sea lice. When the sea lice get into the channels and streams of the rainforest, freshly-hatched native salmon are forced to swim through lice-infested waters. The lice overtake and kill the young, native salmon. As of 2009, the native salmon population was terribly low. This adversely affects all bear populations in the rainforest because they need the nutrients and fat from the native salmon to sustain them through winter hibernation. Furthermore, wild salmon are crucial to the rainforest ecosystem as a whole because they are a key source of food for many animals.
The Logging Industry
Logging and industrial development fragment the spirit bears’ habitat, which decreases gene pool diversity as well as the likelihood that two bears with the recessive gene will mate. The Nature Conservancy helped with this problem by completing a successful fundraising campaign aimed at historic land use agreements. In 2009, logging was banned in 5 million acres of rainforest. Over 19 million acres were placed under guidelines called ecosystem based management.
Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline
The largest and most pressing threat to the spirit bears and the Great Bear Rainforest comes from an oil pipeline proposed by a company called Enbridge. The Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline would run from Alberta to British Columbia, passing directly through the Great Bear Rainforest and spirit bear habitat so that oil could be shipped to China. Tar sands oil from Canada is the most environmentally hazardous form of oil and spills more often than crude oil. An oil spill would destroy the pristine rainforest ecosystem, killing salmon and the species that depend on them, including the spirit bears. Massive oil tankers in the bay and channels around the rainforest would be terribly dangerous to endangered humpback whales that could collide with the ships. This pipeline would also be awful for the native people of British Columbia who depend on the seafood in the bay for their livelihood.
Enbridge has been campaigning hard by creating commercials about how the pipeline would be good for Canada. In reality, 90 percent of jobs related to the pipeline would go to current Enbridge employees rather than Canadians. The oil being shipped to China would not heat the homes of Canadians. Wildlife in the Great Bear Rainforest and the surrounding waters would suffer, while the native people could lose their livelihoods. The only ones who will benefit from this pipeline are Enbridge and China, and you can be sure that the company knows that.
Purchase only wild-caught rather than farm-raised fish at grocery stores and in restaurants.
Support organizations like Pacific Wild and the Nature Conservancy that are dedicated to protecting our fragile ecosystems.
Visit the Raincoast Conservation Foundation online to learn more about ways you can help. This site provides updated information about the ongoing pipeline battle as well as a letter that can be e-mailed to British Columbia Premier Christy Clark at premier@gov.bc.ca.
Thank you! This issue is very important to me, and I sincerely hope that you will take the time to help protect the Great Bear Rainforest. Please let me know what you’re doing to help in the comments.
As a nod to leap day a few days ago, I decided to continue the frog theme for this week’s post by discussing the trials and tribulations of the California red-legged frog. This frog, whose scientific name is Rana draytonii, is the largest native frog in the western United States. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, it is also one of the top ten most threatened frogs in the country, having lost 90 percent of its historic population.
Amphibian populations around the world have been falling victim to a fungal disease called chytridiomycosis, and the California red-legged frog is no exception. The spores of the fungus burrow into the skin of frogs and other amphibians while they are swimming. As the fungus spreads, it prevents the skin from transporting nutrients necessary for the heart to function, killing the amphibian. According to the Biodiversity Group, this disease causes more than half of local amphibian species to become locally extinct within six months in any area that it strikes. Any amphibian species remaining only retains about 20 percent of its former population levels.
Frog infected by chytrid fungus (By: Forrest Grem, Source: wikipedia.org)
Invasive Predators
Predators that have been introduced to California from other parts of the U.S. have been detrimental to the red-legged frog population. Invasive species include the crayfish, mosquitofish, and the American bullfrog. While all of these predators eat large amounts of the California red-legged frog, the American bullfrog causes the most damage. Native to the eastern U.S., bullfrogs were introduced throughout the western states to help supply the frog leg industry in these states. In addition, the American bullfrog acts as a carrier for chytrid fungus because it is resistant to the disease.
Habitat Destruction
Save the Frogs, American’s only public charity dedicated to amphibian conservation, estimates that 95 percent of California’s coastal wetlands have been destroyed or damaged. This has had severe consequences for the endangered red-legged frog.
Protecting California red-legged frog habitat has been an ongoing struggle. In 2007, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for designating only 450,288 acres of habitat for the frog in a decision that bowed to corporate interests and ignored scientific evidence. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service responded by increasing the protected habitat to 1.6 million acres. This was a great victory for wildlife conservation, but efforts to protect the red-legged frog have not been as fruitful as hoped.
A current example of habitat destruction is the development of California’s Sharp Park Wetlands, an important habitat for the red-legged frogs. The mayor of San Francisco vetoed legislation to protect the wetlands opting instead to approve the construction of a golf course. As San Francisco pumps water out of the wetlands every year, tadpoles are sucked out to sea, and large egg masses are left on the ground to dry out. Because the red-legged frogs are endangered, killing them is a violation of state and federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act. Save the Frogs has created a petition to stop the wetland draining, but only 3,109 people have signed so far.
Contamination of Freshwater Habitats
Despite the acreage set aside in 2007 to protect California red-legged frogs, they are still in danger because pesticides and other chemicals have contaminated their habitats. In 2002, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit to force the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that chemicals registered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service would not be detrimental to the red-legged frog. In 2006, these agencies developed a list of 66 harmful pesticides that could not be used in or near California red-legged frog habitats. Unfortunately, the EPA and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service failed to uphold the agreement. The Center for Biological Diversity sued again in 2011, and the litigation is still ongoing.
What can you do to help?
Sign the petition asking San Francisco’s mayor to uphold the Endangered Species Act and stop draining Sharp Park Wetlands.
Spread the word that non-native species should not be released into the wild.
Do not buy amphibians as pets. This encourages the pet trade, which depletes natural populations, introduces invasive species to new areas, and can lead to the spread of disease.
Support the protection of your local wetlands to help amphibians and other wildlife in general. (This includes allowing wetlands to follow their own natural cycles of moisture and drying).
There are several reasons to conserve frogs and other amphibians from environmental, economic, and intrinsic standpoints.
Environmental Importance
Frogs are indicators of the health of the overall environment. According to mongabay.com, amphibians are more susceptible to pollution than either birds or mammals because of their permeable skin. Several species of frogs, salamanders, and newts lack lungs and have evolved to breathe and drink through their skin. Unfortunately, this adaptation also means that toxins can easily enter their bloodstream.
Kevin Zippel, director of the Amphibian Ark Program, stated, “For every one species of bird or mammal in trouble, there are two to three amphibian species on the brink of extinction.” Indeed, 165 amphibians have gone extinct already, and 130 more species are believed to be extinct. A nonprofit organization called Save the Frogs said that in total, nearly 2,000 amphibian species worldwide are on the verge of extinction. Director Zippel likened the possible mass extinction of amphibians to that of the dinosaurs in scale.
In a book called Extinction in Our Times: Global Amphibian Decline, James Collins and Martha Crump explain that all amphibians are extremely important members of the food web in their ecosystems. Because it does not take much energy to sustain frogs and other amphibians, they play a key role in energy flow and nutrient cycling. Declining frog populations will harm the predators that rely on them as a food source including fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Perhaps more important than their role as prey is what the frogs themselves consume. Excessive algal growth is extremely problematic because the algae blooms block sunlight from reaching subaquatic vegetation or SAVs. As lower layers of algae and underwater plants die from lack of sunlight, the decomposition process removes oxygen from the water. The lack of oxygen can kill fish and other marine life, leading to large dead zones such as those found in Virginia and Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Frogs help because tadpoles eat incredibly huge amounts of algae. This reduces excessive algal growth and helps to prevent deadly oxygen depletion.
Economic Importance
For those who may be looking for an economic reason to care about the global amphibian decline, frogs and other amphibians are important from a medical perspective. Venom and other parts of amphibians can be used in medications such as pain killers. Chemical components isolated from the frogs’ skin have led to the development of new drugs useful to humans. Large quantities of frogs are also used in medical research and for educational purposes such as frog dissection.
Intrinsic Importance
Even if frogs and other amphibians had no economic and environmental importance, we would still have an ethical obligation to protect them. All wildlife is intrinsically important whether it be plants, insects, fish, crustaceans, reptiles, amphibians, birds, or mammals. As humans, it is our job to protect the biodiversity of this planet. To do this effectively, we must stay informed about the issues at hand.
In the face of economic difficulties and the importance of job creation, it can be easy to overlook wildlife and think that other issues are more important. However, once our natural treasures have disappeared, they are gone for good. Once extinct, the animals will never come back. There are no second chances, so we need to take the time to care, to educate ourselves, and to get it right the first time.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Each year in the spring, certain species of hummingbirds return to the United States after their winter hiatus in South or Central America. When they return, my mom and I are ready for them, filling our red hummingbird feeders with batches of sugar water and hanging them outside to attract the birds. We love to watch them flit from feeder to flower, their tiny wings quivering as they stop mid-flight and hover a few feet away, eyeing us watchfully. Sometimes as many as five appear in our yard at once. This year, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will be the first to return, arriving around April 13.
In terms of their conservation status, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds are doing just fine. Other east coast hummingbirds are also listed as “of least concern.” But there are many other species throughout Central and South America considered “critically endangered” or “endangered” as a result of toxic pesticides and loss of habitat as the rainforest is destroyed.
According to the Hummingbird Society, hummingbirds are only found in the Americas and the Caribbean islands. They are our natural treasures, and we have the responsibility of protecting them. As the only U.S.-based organization working to save bird habitats across the Americas, the American Bird Conservancy said, “We should no more allow the loss of natural life than destroy a masterpiece of art.” Signing up for the ABC’s e-newsletter will bring petitions and the latest information right to your inbox.
The hummingbirds listed as “critically endangered” have a 50% chance of extinction in ten years. Take a look because this may be your only chance to see them while they are still living:
Marvelous Spatuletail (By: David Cook, Source: Flickr)
One Species at a Time 