NatGeo News Watch: August 2009 Archives

120,000-year-old Ice Yields Clues to Climate of a Warmer Earth

Posted on August 27, 2009 | 3 Comments

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More than a mile of ice core was pulled from the Greenland ice sheet by scientists this summer, setting a new record for single-season deep ice-core drilling.

The researchers, from 14 countries and led by the University of Copenhagen, are on a quest to recover ice formed 120,000 years ago, the last time our planet was in a period of warm climate such as the one many scientists think we are now entering.

Pushing an ice core out of the drill.

Photo courtesy NEEM ice core drilling project

"Evidence from ancient ice cores tell us that when greenhouse gases increase in the atmosphere, the climate warms," says University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Jim White, who is leading the U.S. research contingent. "And when the climate warms, ice sheets melt and sea levels rise.

"If we see comparable rises in sea level in the future like we have seen in the ice-core record, we can pretty much say good-bye to American coastal cities like Miami, Houston, Norfolk, New Orleans and Oakland."

"If we see comparable rises in sea level in the future like we have seen in the ice-core record, we can pretty much say good-bye to American coastal cities like Miami, Houston, Norfolk, New Orleans and Oakland."

This year's drilling operation reached a depth of 1,758 meters (5,767 feet) in early August, where ice layers date to 38,500 years ago during cold glacial period preceding the present interglacial, or warm period.

"The team hopes to hit bedrock at 2,545 meters (8,350 feet) at the end of next summer, reaching ice deposited during warm Eemian period that lasted from roughly 130,000 to 120,000 years ago before the planet began to cool and ice up once again," says a statement about the project released by the National Science Foundation yesterday.

The goal of the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) project is to retrieve ice from the the Eemian Period.

Annual ice layers formed over millennia in Greenland by compressed snow reveal information on past temperatures and precipitation levels and the contents of ancient atmospheres, said White, who directs CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. "Ice cores exhumed during previous drilling efforts have revealed abrupt temperature spikes of more than 20 degrees Fahrenheit in just 50 years in the Northern Hemisphere."

The period was warmer than today, with less ice in Greenland. That led to 15-foot (5-meter) higher sea levels than present--conditions similar to those Earth faces as it warms in the coming century and beyond, White says.

While three previous Greenland ice cores drilled in the past 20 years covered the last ice age and the period of warming to the present, the deeper ice layers representing the warm Eemian, and the period of transition to the ice age were compressed and folded, making them difficult to interpret, he says.

"Radar measurements through the ice sheet from above the NEEM site have indicated the Eemian ice layers below are thicker, more intact and likely contain more accurate, specific information.

"Every time we drill a new ice core, we learn a lot more about how Earth's climate functions," White said. "The Eemian period is the best analog we have for future warming on Earth."

Increased warming on Earth has a host of potentially deleterious effects, including changes in ecosystems, wildlife extinctions, the growing spread of disease, potentially catastrophic heat waves and increases in severe weather events, according to scientists.

While ice cores pinpoint abrupt climate change events as Earth has passed in and out of glacial periods, the warming trend during the present interglacial period is caused primarily by human activities like fossil fuel burning, White says.

"What makes this warming trend fundamentally different from past warming events is that this one is driven by human activity and involves human responsibility, morals and ethics."

The NEEM project is led by the University of Copenhagen's Centre of Ice and Climate directed by Professor Dorthe Dahl-Jensen. The U.S. and Denmark are the two leading partners in this project. The U.S. effort is funded by the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs.

The project began in 2008 with the construction of a state of the art facility, including a large dome, the drilling rig for extracting three-inch in-diameter ice cores, drilling trenches, laboratories and living quarters. The official drilling started in June 2009.

The United States is leading the laboratory analysis of atmospheric gases trapped in bubbles within the NEEM ice cores, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

Other nations involved in the project include the United States Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Why do we Sleep? Scientists are Still Trying to Find Out

Posted on August 26, 2009 | 7 Comments

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NGS photo by David Boyer

"Theories range from brain 'maintenance'--including memory consolidation and pruning--to reversing damage from oxidative stress suffered while awake, to promoting longevity," says a statement released this week by the University of California in Los Angeles. "None of these theories are well established, and many are mutually exclusive."

A new analysis by Jerome Siegel, UCLA professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Sleep Research at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the Sepulveda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has concluded that sleep's primary function is to increase animals' efficiency and minimize their risk by regulating the duration and timing of their behavior, the UCLA statement said.

The research appears in the online edition of the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

NGS photo by J. Baylor Roberts

"Sleep has normally been viewed as something negative for survival because sleeping animals may be vulnerable to predation and they can't perform the behaviors that ensure survival," Siegel said. These behaviors include eating, procreating, caring for family members, monitoring the environment for danger and scouting for prey.

"So it's been thought that sleep must serve some as-yet unidentified physiological or neural function that can't be accomplished when animals are awake," he said.

But after monitoring the sleep times of a broad range of animals--from the platypus and the walrus to the echidna--the team led by Siegel concluded that sleep itself is highly adaptive, "much like the inactive states seen in a wide range of species, starting with plants and simple microorganisms."

"These species have dormant states as opposed to sleep--even though in many cases they do not have nervous systems," UCLA noted.

NGS photo by Anthony Stewart

That challenges the idea that sleep is for the brain, Siegel said.

"We see sleep as lying on a continuum that ranges from these dormant states like torpor and hibernation, on to periods of continuous activity without any sleep, such as during migration, where birds can fly for days on end without stopping," he said.

NGS photo by Chris Johns

Hibernation is one example of an activity that regulates behavior for survival. A small animal can't migrate to a warmer climate in winter, Siegel said. "So it hibernates, effectively cutting its energy consumption and thus its need for food, remaining secure from predators by burrowing underground."

Sleep duration, then, is determined in each species by the time requirements of eating, the cost-benefit relations between activity and risk, migration needs, care of young, and other factors, the research team said.

"However, unlike hibernation and torpor," Siegel said, "sleep is rapidly reversible--that is, animals can wake up quickly, a unique mammalian adaptation that allows for a relatively quick response to sensory signals."

Humans fit into this analysis as well.

NGS photo by W. E. Garrett

What is most remarkable about sleep, according to Siegel, is not the unresponsiveness or vulnerability it creates but rather the ability to reduce body and brain metabolism while still allowing a high level of responsiveness to the environment.

"The often cited example is that of a parent arousing at a baby's whimper but sleeping through a thunderstorm. That dramatizes the ability of the sleeping human brain to continuously process sensory signals and trigger complete awakening to significant stimuli within a few hundred milliseconds."

NGS photo by James L. Stanfield

In humans, the brain constitutes, on average, just 2 percent of total body weight but consumes 20 percent of the energy used during quiet waking, so these savings have considerable adaptive significance, UCLA said.

"Besides conserving energy, sleep also invokes survival benefits for humans."

Besides conserving energy, sleep also invokes survival benefits for humans, including, according to Siegel, "a reduced risk of injury, reduced resource consumption and, from an evolutionary standpoint, reduced risk of detection by predators."

"This Darwinian perspective can explain age-related changes in human sleep patterns as well," he said.

"We sleep more deeply when we are young, because we have a high metabolic rate that is greatly reduced during sleep, but also because there are people to protect us.

"Our sleep patterns change when we are older, though, because that metabolic rate reduces and we are now the ones doing the alerting and protecting from dangers."

NGS photo by Joe Scherschel

You might also be interested in:

Dolphins can stay sharp and alert, monitoring their environment for days on end without getting the least bit tired because they send half their brains to sleep while the other half remains conscious, researchers have learned.

Sex Evolved as an Escape From Parasites, Study Suggests

Why is sex the dominant form of reproduction on the planet? Scientists think they know why--and it all has to do with evasion of parasites.

Ancient Species of Eyeless Crustacean Found in Ocean Tunnel

Posted on August 25, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Cave divers and scientists exploring the Tunnel de la Atlantida, the world's longest submarine lava tube, on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, have discovered previously unknown species, including an ancient form of eyeless crustacean.

Picture of Speleonectes atlantida by Ulrike Strecker (Naturalanza)

The newly discovered species of crustacean was named Speleonectes atlantida, after the cave system it inhabits, deep under the Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern coast of Africa, according to research to be published in the Springer journal Marine Biodiversity.

Speleonectes is a species of Remipedia, a class of predatory crustaceans that instead of eyes "rely on long antennae which search the lightless void in all directions," Springer says in a statement about the research.

"Like some type of science fiction monster, their head is equipped with powerful prehensile limbs and poisonous fangs."

"Like some type of science fiction monster, their head is equipped with powerful prehensile limbs and poisonous fangs."

The appearance and behavior of Remipedia, swimming though the complete darkness of submarine caves, constantly on the lookout for prey, has led to them being given names that sound menacing, Springer says. "There is the "Secret Club Bearer" (Cryptocorynetes) or the "Beautiful Hairy Sea Monster" (Kaloketos pilosus)."

Japanese Movie Monsters

"The names of some genera were inspired by Japanese movie monsters, for example, the "Swimming Mothra" (Pleomothra), the "Strong Godzilla" (Godzillius robustus) or the "Gnome Godzilla" (Godzilliognomus)," Springer's statement adds.

The new species is morphologically similar to Speleonectes ondinae, a remipede that has been known from the same lava tube since 1985.

DNA comparisons proved that the lava tunnel harbors a second remipede species.

Divergence of the two species may have occurred after the formation of the six-kilometer [3.7-mile] lava tube during an eruption of the Monte Corona volcano some 20,000 years ago, researchers believe.

"Remipedia are among the most remarkable biological discoveries of the last 30 years," Springer said.

Divers in the submarine lava tube (cave system) in the Canary Islands.

Photo by Jill Heinerth

"The first specimens of this crustacean group were discovered in 1979 during dives in a marine cave system on Grand Bahama in the Bahamas archipelago. Since then, 22 species of Remipedia have been discovered.

"The main distribution area of the cave-limited group extends from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, through the northeastern Caribbean.

"However, two geographically isolated species inhabit caves in Western Australia and Lanzarote."

Evolutionary Origins

The occurrence of these disjunct species continues to give rise to speculation about the evolutionary origins and history of Remipedia, Springer says.

"Since it is assumed that the relatively small (largest specimens are up to four centimeters long) and eyeless cave-dwellers could not cross an entire ocean by actively swimming, there must be other reasons for their disjunct global distribution.

"It has therefore been suggested that Remipedia are a very ancient crustacean group, which was already widespread in the oceans of the Mesozoic, over 200 million years ago. For these reasons, remipedes are often considered as a primeval group of crustaceans."

According to this evolutionary scenario, Springer explained, the newly discovered species Speleonectes atlantida and the previously known species Speleonectes ondina, both occurring in the undersea lava tube on Lanzarote, would represent ancient relicts that became isolated from the main Caribbean group during the formation of the Atlantic Ocean.

Diver in the submarine lava tube in the Canary Islands.

Photo by Jill Heinerth

The research team consisted of scientists from Texas A&M University and Pennsylvania State University in the U.S., the University of Laguna in Spain, and the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and University of Hamburg, both in Germany.

The extensive results of the Atlantida Diving Expedition will be presented in a special issue of Marine Biodiversity, comprising seven articles, to be published in September 2009.

Satellite Tool Will Help Africa Manage Dwindling Mangroves

Posted on August 24, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Mangrove forests thrive in the salty tidal zone between ocean and land. They play an immensely important role in stabilizing the coastline against erosion, moderating storm surges, and as a nursery and sanctuary for hundreds of species of fish, birds, and other animals.

It's too bad then that in many parts of the world mangrove forests are disappearing faster than they can be surveyed and appreciated for the life-giving services they provide.

Mangroves in Africa have been particularly impacted by human development and many countries may be in danger of losing these vital shoreline woodlands completely, which could threaten food security and expose coastal communities to natural disasters.

"Impoverished fishermen along the coast of tropical African countries like Mozambique and Madagascar may have only a few more years to eke out a profit from one of their nations' biggest agricultural exports," says NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in a recent news release.

"Within a few decades, they may no longer have a livelihood at all."

"Mangrove forests--essential breeding grounds for fish and shellfish in these countries--are being destroyed by worsening pollution, encroaching real estate development, and deforestation necessary to sustain large-scale commercial shrimp farming."

That's because swampy mangrove forests--essential breeding grounds for fish and shellfish in these countries--are being destroyed by worsening pollution, encroaching real estate development, and deforestation necessary to sustain large-scale commercial shrimp farming, NASA explains.

"The decline of these forests threatens much of Africa's coastal food supply and economy. The destruction of mangroves--one of Earth's richest natural resources - also has implications for everything from climate change to biodiversity to the quality of life on Earth."

But help may be on the way.

Lola Fatoyinbo, an evironmental scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has helped develop a tool that will help African countries manage their dwindling mangroves.

Growing up in Cotonou, Benin, West Africa, Fatoyinbo passed polluted mangroves daily, NASA says. "Inspired to help save the forests, she began a mission as a graduate student in the United States to gain more insight about African mangroves."

Her studies have brought Fatoyinbo back to Africa, where she has journeyed along the coastlines to test a new satellite technique for measuring the area, height, and biomass of mangrove forests.

"She developed and employed a method that can be used across the continent, overcoming expensive, ad hoc, and inconsistent modes of ground-based measurement," NASA says.

Fatoyinbo's approach recently produced what she believes is the first full assessment of the continent's mangrove forests.

"We've lost more than 50 percent of the world's mangrove forests in a little over half a century; a third of them have disappeared in the last 20 years alone," said Fatoyinbo, whose earlier study of Mozambique's coastal forests laid the groundwork for the continent-wide study.

"Hopefully this technique will offer scientists and officials a method of estimating change in this special type of forest."

NASA researcher Lola Fatoyinbo (left), seen here in June 2005 on the site where she conducted some of her field measurements, stands among the large branches of a Rhizophora mucronata tree in a mangrove forest on Inhaca Island, Mozambique with one of her research assistants, a student from the University Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, Mozambique.

Photo courtesy NASA/Temilola Fatoyinbo

Mangroves are the most common ecosystem in coastal areas of the tropics and sub-tropics, NASA says. "The swampy forests are essential--especially in densely-populated developing countries--for rice farming, fishing and aquaculture (freshwater and saltwater farming), timber, and firewood. Some governments also increasingly depend on them for ecotourism."

The large, dense root systems are a natural obstacle that helps protect shorelines against debris and erosion, NASA explains. "Mangroves are often the first line of defense against severe storms, tempering the impact of strong winds and floods."

Mangroves also have a direct link to climate, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere at a rate of about 100 pounds per acre per day--comparable to the per acre intake by tropical rainforests (though rainforests cover more of Earth's surface), NASA adds.

"To my knowledge, this study is the first complete mapping of Africa's mangroves, a comprehensive, historic baseline enabling us to truly begin monitoring the welfare of these forests," said Assaf Anyamba, a University of Maryland expert on vegetation mapping, based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Fatoyinbo's research combines multiple satellite observations of tree height and land cover, mathematical formulas, and ground-truthing data from the field to measure the full expanse and makeup of the coastal forests.

Her measurements yielded three new kinds of maps of mangroves: continental maps of how much land the mangroves cover; a three-dimensional map of the height of forest canopies across the continent; and biomass maps that allow researchers to assess how much carbon the forests store.

Fatoyinbo and colleague Marc Simard of JPL used satellite images from the NASA-built Landsat and a complex software-based color classification system to distinguish areas of coastal forests from other types of forests, urban areas or agricultural fields.

They also integrated data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) to create relief maps of the height of the forest canopy.

Finally, they merged the broad radar maps with high-accuracy observations from a light detection and ranging (commonly called lidar) instrument aboard NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) to obtain accurate height estimates.

"Fatoyinbo double-checked the accuracy of her satellite measurements at the ground level in the only way possible: She went to Africa to measure tree heights and trunk diameters in person," NASA says.

Swine Flu Outbreak Among Amazon Tribes Alarms Anthropologists

Posted on August 20, 2009 | 0 Comments

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"Tribal peoples across the world are particularly vulnerable to swine flu, as many have poor immunity, live in poverty, and have high rates of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease," the organization said.

"In Australia, Aborigines, who have a life expectancy 15-20 years less than non-Aborigines, account for almost one in ten deaths from swine flu.

"In Canada, First Nations communities in Manitoba have seen infection rates of 130 per 100,000, compared with 24 per 100,000 among the general population".

Anthropologist Glenn Shepard, an expert on the Matsigenka Indians, said, "The arrival of swine flu amongst the Matsigenka is especially worrying as they are known to have intermittent contact with quite isolated Indian groups living nearby."

"Isolated tribes have no immunity to the infectious diseases that circulate though our industrial society and will be particularly susceptible to swine flu."

Stafford Lightman, Professor of Medicine at Bristol University told Survial, "Isolated tribes have no immunity to the infectious diseases that circulate though our industrial society and will be particularly susceptible to swine flu. This could be devastating, infecting whole communities simultaneously, leaving no-one to care for the sick or bring in and prepare food."

Stephen Corry, director of Survival, said, "This news is very worrying indeed. Isolated tribes across the world already face threats from illegal loggers, ranchers, poachers, and even over-zealous tourists, encroaching on their lands and bringing diseases against which they have no immunity. In times of a global pandemic, it is even more important than ever that their land rights are recognised and protected before it is too late."

Also read:

Five "Uncontacted Tribes" Most Threatened With Extinction

Cocaine Found on Most Dollar Bills Circulating in U.S., Canada

Posted on August 20, 2009 | 0 Comments

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North America

Nine out of ten banknotes circulating in cities in the U.S. and Canada are tainted with cocaine, according to a news report published by National Geographic News.

"What's more, researchers were surprised to find hints that more Americans are using the illegal drug," writes our staff editor, Christine Dell'Amore.

University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth researchers collected banknotes in Brazil, Canada, the U.S., China, and Japan. A higher percentage of notes circulating in the U.S. and Canada were found to be tainted with cocaine than in the other countries sampled.

Dell'Amore was interviewed yesterday about her story by RT (Russia Today). Watch the clip below. Read the full National Geographic News story here: Cocaine on Money: Drug Found on 90% of U.S. Bills.

Video broadcast by RT

Squirrel Photo Interview on National Geographic Weekend

Posted on August 19, 2009 | 0 Comments

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It's what you've been waiting for...Boyd Matson of the radio show National Geographic Weekend gets a one-on-one interview with Melissa Brandts, who took the famous squirrel photo that's been catching like wildfire on the Internet.

Catch the full interview this weekend on National Geographic Weekend, on the Salem Radio Network, XM/Satellite Radio, or as a free podcast through iTunes.

See many more photos of "Nuts," the Banff squirrel popping up in photos of Presidential news conferences, famous moments in history, even with the first people on the moon >>

Squirrel Crashes Pictures Pop Up Everywhere

Posted on August 18, 2009 | 5 Comments

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Photo of squirrel crashing Banff picture by Melissa Brandts

It all started when Melissa Brandts and her husband were hiking in Banff and decided to take a portrait of themselves with spectacular Lake Minnewanka in the background, writes Marilyn Terrell on the Intelligent Travel blog.

"Melissa set up the camera's timer and went back to pose," Terrell writes.

"Meanwhile, attracted by the ticking timer, a Columbian ground squirrel, common in the park, popped up to investigate. Click! 'Self-Portrait With Ground Squirrel' was born."

Melissa Brandts sent the photo to National Geographic magazine's Your Shot, and photo editor Susan Welchman chose it for her Daily Dozen gallery.

But that was not the end of it. "Nuts," the scene-stealing squirrel, seems to have made a habit of this. Take a look at some of the pictures found in photography archives:

Photo of squirrel crashing Peary's grand moment at the North Pole

Squirrel crashes picture of the official coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Squirrel crashes first flight of the flying machine built by the Wright brothers

Squirrel crashes picture of General MacArthur wading ashore with his army in the Philippines during World War II.

Squirrel crashes Yalta conference during World War II.

Squirrel crashes picture of President Clinton in North Korea courtesy urlesque

Squirrel crashes Last Supper courtesy warrenkinsella

Squirrel crashes picture of moon landing

Squirrel crashes Presidential press conferences

Squirrel crashes the Presidential salute

National Geographic Weekend Squirrel Photo Interview

Banff Crasher Squirrel: The Movie on YouTube

"The Banff Lunar Squirrel!," sent in by astronengine

Food Shortages Loom in Asia Without irrigation Reform

Posted on August 18, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Without major reforms and innovations in the way water is used for agriculture, many developing nations in Asia face the politically risky prospect of having to import more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize they will need by 2050, according to a report presented today at 2009 World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.

The warning, along with related forecasts and possible solutions, appear in a report entitled, "Revitalizing Asia's Irrigation: To Sustainably Meet Tomorrow's Food Needs", presented by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

IWMI is a nonprofit, scientific research organization focusing on the sustainable use of water and land resources in agriculture, to benefit poor people in developing countries. Its headquarters is in Sri Lanka.

The IWMI study was assisted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) along with researchers from partner organizations with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The report outlines three options for meeting the food needs of Asia's population, which will expand by one and a half billion people over the next 40 years.

Import large quantities of cereals from other regions
Improve and expand rainfed agriculture
Focus on irrigated farmlands.

"In the wake of a major global food crisis in 2007 and 2008, cereal prices are expected to be higher and more volatile in the coming years," said Colin Chartres, director general of IWMI.

"The best bet for Asia lies in revitalizing its vast irrigation systems, which account for 70 percent of the world's total irrigated land."

"Asia's food and feed demand is expected to double by 2050. Relying on trade to meet a large part of this demand will impose a huge and politically untenable burden on the economies of many developing countries. The best bet for Asia lies in revitalizing its vast irrigation systems, which account for 70 percent of the world's total irrigated land."

An example of the irrigation in Uzbekistan.

Photo courtesy IWMI

Asian agriculture registered dramatic advances during the 1960s and 1970s through a combination of irrigation, improved crop varieties and fertilizers, IWMI pointed out in a news statement. "The resulting Green Revolution made it possible to avert widespread hunger and raise living standards. From 1970 to 1995, the area under irrigation in Asia more than doubled, according to the IWMI-FAO report, making this the world's most intensively irrigated continent."

"The option of expanding irrigated land area in Asia to feed a growing population is becoming increasingly problematic due to land or water constraints."

"Today, the option of expanding irrigated land area in Asia to feed a growing population is becoming increasingly problematic due to land or water constraints," explained Aditi Mukherji, IWMI scientist and one of the lead authors of the report.

To meet expected cereal demand by 2050, IWMI's projections show that, with present trends of yield growth, the amount of irrigated farmland in South Asia would have to be increased by 30 percent, and 47 percent in East Asia. Without water productivity gains South Asia would need 57 percent more water for irrigated agriculture and East Asia 70 percent more.

"Given the existing scarcity of land and water, and growing water needs of cities, such a scenario is untenable," IWMI said. "This clearly points to a need for dramatic increases in water productivity, which can only be achieved with a complete revitalization of irrigation infrastructure, management and policy."

The scenarios presented in the IWMI-FAO report do not factor in climate change, which will likely make rainfall more erratic and increase the strain on already overstretched irrigation systems, IWMI noted. "As a result, even the study's pessimistic assumptions may prove overly optimistic."

An example of groundwater irrigation in West Bengal.

Photo courtesy IWMI

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Why are Fall Leaves Red in America, Yellow in Europe?

Posted on August 18, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Autumn leaves of trees in North America often turn red. But in Europe the leaves mostly go yellow. Scientists think that the regional difference can be explained by the geographic orientation of each continent's mountains.

NGS photo by Robert Sisson

A new theory provided by Simcha Lev-Yadun of the Department of Science Education-Biology at the University of Haifa-Oranim in Israel and Jarmo Holopainen of the University of Kuopio in Finland proposes taking a step 35 million years back to solve the color mystery, says a news statement by the University of Haifa.

"According to the theory provided by Prof. Lev-Yadun and Prof. Holopainen, until 35 million years ago, large areas of the globe were covered with evergreen jungles or forests composed of tropical trees," the university said.

"Trees also began an evolutionary process of producing red deciduous leaves in order to ward off insects."

"During this phase, a series of ice ages and dry spells transpired and many tree species evolved to become deciduous. Many of these trees also began an evolutionary process of producing red deciduous leaves in order to ward off insects."

Scientists have determined that leaves turn yellow when the green pigment, chlorophyll, recedes prior to the onset of winter, as trees prepare to shed their leaves for the cold weather. Leaves that turn red are the result of trees producing anthocyanin, a red pigment, which some scientists think is an evolutionary response that deters insects from laying their eggs in the trees.

Whatever the reason for leaves turning red, it occurs a lot more commonly in North America than in Europe. Could it have something to do with the physical geography of the continents?

North-South Mountain Chains

"In North America, as in East Asia, north-to-south mountain chains enabled plant and animal 'migration' to the south or north with the advance and retreat of the ice according to the climatic fluctuations," said the University of Haifa. "And, of course, along with them migrated their insect 'enemies' too.

"Thus the war for survival continued there uninterrupted.

"In Europe, on the other hand, the mountains--the Alps and their lateral branches--reach from east to west, and therefore no protected areas were created. Many tree species that did not survive the severe cold died, and with them the insects that depended on them for survival.

"At the end of the repeated ice ages, most tree species that had survived in Europe had no need to cope with many of the insects that had become extinct, and therefore no longer had to expend efforts on producing red warning leaves."

According to the scientists, evidence supporting this theory can be found in the dwarf shrubs that grow in Scandinavia, which still color their leaves red in autumn.

NGS illustration by Walter A. Weber

"Unlike trees, dwarf shrubs have managed to survive the ice ages under a layer of snow that covered them and protected them from the extreme condition above. Under the blanket of snow, the insects that fed off the shrubs were also protected--so the battle with insects continued in these plants, making it necessary for them to color their leaves red."

The research was published in the journal New Phytologist.

Air Pollution Cuts China's "Useful" Rainfall, Study Finds

Posted on August 17, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country, according to research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.

The results suggest that bad air quality might be affecting the country's ability to raise crops as well as contributing to health and environmental problems, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

"The study links for the first time high levels of pollutants in the air with conditions that prevent the light kind of rainfall critical for agriculture," says a news statement about the research released by PNNL.

This space image of eastern China shows the widespread nature of the pollution problem.

Image courtesy SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

"People have long wondered if there was a connection, but this is the first time we've observed it from long-term data," said PNNL atmospheric scientist Yun Qian, who led the study. "Besides the health effects, acid rain and other problems that pollution creates, this work suggests that reducing air pollution might help ease the drought in north China."

"Rain in eastern China--where most of the country's people and pollution exist--is not like it used to be."

Rain in eastern China--where most of the country's people and pollution exist--is not like it used to be, PNNL noted."China's dramatic economic growth and pollution problems provide researchers an opportunity to study the connection between air quality and climate."

Over the last 50 years, the southern part of eastern China has seen increased amounts of total rainfall per year. The northern half has seen less rain and more droughts. But light rainfall that sustains crops has decreased everywhere, PNNL said.

"Previous work has shown that pollution can interfere with light rain above oceans, so the [research] team suspected pollution might have something to do with the changes over land. Light rain ranges from drizzles to 10 millimeters [four tenths of an inch] of accumulation per day and sustains agriculture. (Compared to heavy rain that causes floods, loss of light rain has serious consequences for crops.)

"While the light rains have diminished, pollution has increased dramatically in China in the last half of the 20th century. For example, while China's population rose two and a half times in size, the emissions of sulfur from fossil fuel burning outpaced that considerably--rising nine times."

Air pollution contains tiny, unseen particles of gas, water and bits of matter called aerosols, the researchers explained. "Aerosols--both natural and human-caused (anthropogenic)--do contribute to rainfall patterns, but the researchers needed to determine if pollution was to blame for China's loss of rain and how.

Data Collected from 162 Weather Stations

"To find out, the team charted trends in rainfall from 1956 to 2005 in eastern China, which has 162 weather stations with complete data collected over the entire 50 years.

"From this data, the team determined that both the north and south regions of eastern China had fewer days of light rain--those getting 10 millimeters per day or less--at the end of the 50-year timespan.

"The south lost more days--8.1 days per decade--than the north did, at 6.9 days per decade. However, the drought-rattled north lost a greater percentage of its rainy days, about 25 percent compared to the south's 21 percent."

Said Qian, "No matter how we define light rain, we can see a very significant decrease of light rain over almost every station."

Pollution over Eastern China in 2002

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC

To probe what caused the loss of rainfall, the researchers looked at how much water the atmosphere contained and where the water vapor traveled. Most parts of eastern China saw no significant change in the amount of water held by the atmosphere, even though light rains decreased. In addition, where the atmosphere transported water vapor didn't coincide with light rain frequency, PNNL said.

"These results suggested that changes in large-scale movement of water could not account for the loss of the precipitation. Some of pollution's aerosols can seed clouds or form raindrops, depending on their size, composition and the conditions in which they find themselves. Because these skills likely contribute to rainfall patterns, the researchers explored the aerosols in more depth.

"Cloud droplets form around aerosols, so the team determined the concentration of cloud droplets over China. They found higher concentrations of droplets when more aerosols were present. But more droplets mean that each cloud droplet is smaller, in the same way that filling 10 ice cream cones from a quart of ice cream results in smaller scoops than if the same amount were put in only five cones.

"This result suggested that aerosols create smaller water droplets, which in turn have a harder time forming rainclouds. The team verified this with computer models of pristine, moderately polluted or heavily polluted skies. In the most heavily polluted simulation, rain fell at significantly lower frequencies than in the pristine conditions.

"An examination of the cloud and rain drops showed that these water drops in polluted cases are up to 50 percent smaller than in clean skies. The smaller size impedes the formation of rain clouds and the falling of rain."

Qian said the next step in their research is to examine new data from the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility in the central eastern Chinese city of Shouxian. The data was collected from April to December of 2008.

"This work is important because modeling studies of individual cases of pollution's effect on convective clouds have shown varying results, depending on the environmental conditions," said coauthor Ruby Leung. "The ARM data collected at Shouxian should provide more detailed measurements of both aerosols and clouds to enable us to quantify the impacts of aerosols on precipitation under different atmospheric and pollution conditions."

The work was supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within the DOE Office of Science under a bilateral agreement on regional climate research with the China Ministry of Science and Technology.

Indonesian Police Seize Skins, Arrest Wildlife Trade Suspects

Posted on August 13, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Dozens of skins of various species, including Sumatran tigers, were seized and suspects were arrested in the latest raids on illegal wildlife traders by Indonesian authorities, the Wildlife Conservation Society said today.

Photo courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society

The most recent raid took place in Jakarta on August 7 and recovered two complete tiger skins and those of many other protected wildlife species, the New York-based conservation charity said in a statement. This raid resulted in the arrest of four suspects for attempting to illegally sell a Sumatran tiger skin.

"Four suspects were arrested in the raid and 34 skins of various species were recovered, including two tiger skins," said Colonel Agus Sutisna, Director of the Special Crimes Unit of the Jakarta Police. "The skins were destined for sale to collectors in Indonesia and abroad. This successful operation was a joint collaboration between the Police, the Department of Forestry and NGO partners."

On July 16, a raid in Sumatra recovered 33 tiger skin pieces, ranging in size from a few centimeters to larger pieces, and resulted in another wildlife trader arrested, WCS said.

"Both raids were conducted by the Indonesian Police and the Indonesian Department of Forestry, Directorate-General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA), working in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Wildlife Crime Unit and local partners.

"These raids, part of recent stepped-up efforts by Indonesian authorities to control the illegal wildlife trade, bring the number of arrests to 20 in the last 18 months for trading in tiger parts. Seven of these cases have already resulted in prison sentences and fines, and the rest are awaiting trial."

Last month also saw the sentencing of four traders in Jakarta arrested earlier this year and found guilty of illegally possessing and selling tiger skins, bones, and teeth, WCS added.

Photo courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society

In Indonesia, tigers (Panthera tigris) are now only found on the island of Sumatra, where the subspecies is considered a distinct form: the 'Sumatran Tiger' (Panthera tigris sumatrae), WCS said. "Former populations in Bali and Java are extinct. The total population of tigers on Sumatra is probably now less than one thousand."

Under Indonesian law it is illegal to kill, possess, buy or sell tigers or their body parts.

Tigers are killed by hunters to supply the demand for tiger parts such as skins, teeth, bones, hair, WCS said. "These parts are used as souvenirs, in traditional medicine, and as talismans. Many of the tiger parts traded in Indonesia are bound for export to east Asia. Tigers are also killed when they become involved in conflicts with local farmers."

The WCS Wildlife Crime Unit provides data and technical advice to law enforcement agencies to support the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes. In Jakarta it operates as part of the Forum Against Wildlife Trade, an alliance of local organizations fighting illegal wildlife trade.

"We commend the work of the Indonesian police and forestry department in these recent cases for their commitment to uphold and enforce the law," said Dr Noviar Andayani, Director of the WCS Indonesia Program. "We also commend the courts for the message they send when these cases are tried fairly and sentenced heavily."

"It is only through decisive action against those that participate in this illegal trade that we can stamp it out."

"The illegal trade in wildlife threatens not only iconic animals like the tiger, but also many other endangered species of marine and terrestrial animals," said Dr. Elizabeth Bennett, director of WCS's Hunting and Wildlife Trade Program. "It is only through decisive action against those that participate in this illegal trade that we can stamp it out."

"The Indonesian Government is committed to stopping illegal wildlife trade and strengthening its commitments to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)," said Mohammed Awriya Ibrahim, Director of Forest Protection for PHKA. "We are seeking to put a stop to the capture, possession and trade of protected wildlife in Indonesia,"

Other wildlife traded illegally from Indonesia includes rhino, elephant, orangutan, birds, bears, orchids, marine and freshwater fish, turtles, fragrant timber, pangolins, coral, snakes, bats and sharks, according to WCS.

Wounded AP Journalists Evacuated from Afghanistan

Posted on August 13, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Photographer Emilio Morenatti, whose work has been featured in National Geographic Magazine and on the National Geographic Web site, was among the journalists and U.S. soldiers who were wounded and evacuated to a hospital in Afghanistan yesterday when the vehicle they were traveling in ran over an explosive device.

Here is a report about the incident from the Associated Press:

KABUL (AP)--Two Associated Press journalists wounded in a bomb blast while on assignment with the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan were evacuated to a medical center in Dubai on Wednesday after being treated at a military hospital.

The Army, meanwhile, released additional details of the attack, including word that two U.S. soldiers were also wounded in the bombing of a light armored vehicle called a Stryker near the Pakistani border.

Photographer Emilio Morenatti and AP Television News videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling on Tuesday with a unit of the 5th Stryker Brigade when their vehicle ran over a bomb planted in the open desert terrain, the military said.

All four wounded were taken by helicopter to a military hospital in Kandahar. The journalists arrived around midnight Wednesday in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where they were to receive further treatment.

Jatmiko suffered leg injuries and two broken ribs. Morenatti, badly wounded in the leg, underwent an operation in Kandahar that resulted in the loss of his left foot.

The two soldiers, who were not identified, also suffered leg wounds--one of them severe. One of the wounded soldiers crawled out of the vehicle and applied a tourniquet to the other injured soldier, according to Capt. Denis Lortie, commander of Bear Troop, 8th Squadron of the 5th Stryker. Another soldier also applied a tourniquet to Morenatti.

Four other soldiers in the vehicle were not injured, Lortie said.

The attack took place as four Stryker vehicles were on patrol 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the town of Spin Boldak and 120 miles (193 kilometers) southeast of Dahaneh, a Taliban-held town where helicopter-borne U.S. Marines launched an operation before dawn Wednesday to uproot the militants.

Newspaper Photographer of the Year

Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, is an award-winning photographer based in Islamabad who has worked for the AP in Afghanistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 2009 by Pictures of the Year International.

Morenatti's work was also featured in National Geographic Magazine and on Nationalgeographic.com, including the lead image in this month's photo feature "Visions of Earth." (See this photo below). Morenatti's photographs have also been published by National Geographic News: Refugee in Pakistan, Refugees Waiting for Food, and Burning of Narcotics in Afghanistan.

Pakistan--Women and children await registration and relief at the Jalozai refugee camp. Since last summer, some one million Pakistanis have fled the fighting between the military and militants near the Afghan border.

Photo by Emilio Morenatti, AP Images

In Spain, where Morenatti is widely known, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos spoke with Morenatti's wife, Marta Ramoneda, to offer assistance, the Foreign Ministry said.

Jatmiko, 44, of Indonesia, has reported for the AP from throughout Asia for more than 10 years. Indonesian diplomats contacted the AP in Kabul to express concern for Jatmiko and seek assurances that he would be cared for.

AP President Tom Curley said their injuries reflected "the risks that journalists like Emilio and Andi encounter every day as they staff the front lines of the most dangerous spots of the world. We are grateful for their bravery and their commitment to the news. Our hearts are with them and their families, especially Emilio's wife, Marta, and Andi's wife, Pingkan."

Journalists have faced increasing danger from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, as they go on assignment with Western troops carrying out new offensives as part of the effort by the United States and its allies to turn the tide of the Afghan war.

IED attacks are now the cause of the majority of U.S. and NATO deaths in Afghanistan.

According to figures from the U.S.-based Joint IED Defeat Organization, the number of incidents from IEDs soared to 828 last month, the highest level of the war and more than twice as many as in July 2008.

The IED used in Tuesday's attack employs a pressure-plate detonation mechanism to complete an electrical circuit under the weight of a passing vehicle.

Eighteen journalists were killed in Afghanistan between 1992 and 2008, making it the 11th most dangerous country in the world for media workers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least one more has been killed this year.

Journalists have also been kidnapped in Afghanistan.

In June, New York Times journalist David Rohde and Afghan journalist Tahir Ludin escaped after being held more than seven months by the Taliban. They were abducted Nov. 10 south of Kabul while heading to interview a Taliban leader, and were later moved across the border into Pakistan.

Morenatti, too, has been kidnapped, although not in Afghanistan. In October 2006, the AP photographer was abducted in Gaza City and freed unharmed after 15 hours.

Squirrel Sneaks into Family Photo

Posted on August 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

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The photo of this squirrel crashing its way into the photograph of the couple posing in the background is becoming viral across the Web.

Photo by Melissa Brandts

Melissa Brandts and her husband were hiking in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, and decided to take a portrait of themselves with spectacular Lake Minnewanka in the background, writes Marilyn Terrell on the Intelligent Travel blog.

"Melissa set up the camera's timer and went back to pose," Terrell writes.

"Meanwhile, attracted by the ticking timer, a Columbian ground squirrel, common in the park, popped up to investigate. Click! 'Self-Portrait With Ground Squirrel' was born."

Read what happened next on the Intelligent Travel blog >>

Melissa Brandts sent the photo to National Geographic magazine's Your Shot, and photo editor Susan Welchman chose it for her Daily Dozen gallery last week. Click here to view National Geographic's Your Shot: Daily Dozen >>

See many more photos of "Nuts," the Banff squirrel popping up in photos of Presidential news conferences, famous moments in history, even with the first people on the moon >>

Serious Drought in Africa Drives Cattle into Wildlife Parks

Posted on August 11, 2009 | 0 Comments

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The drought in East Africa has reached such apocalyptic proportions that desperate cattle herders are invading wildlife parks to find grazing for their animals, according to WildlifeDirect, the conservation blog network.

"Kenya has always had droughts, but rarely this serious," WildlifeDirect noted today.

Photo of dead cow in Nairobi Park courtesy WildlifeDirect

Herders are brazenly and openly leading their cattle into Nairobi Park, on the outskirts of the capital city of Kenya, according to a posting on the WildlifeDirect blog Baraza. The blog said reports had been received of similar invasions in parks elsewhere in the country.

"The cattle have devastated the land outside the park and are dying on the road side. A few have even been slaughted for sale to local residents before succumbing to natural death," a post on Baraza said.

Giant Cattle Herd Flees to Ethiopia

Meanwhile, the BBC reported today that a giant herd of 200,000 cattle has fled into Ethiopia to escape the drought in Kenya.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization told the BBC that it was one of the largest movements of cattle in the region in 10 years. "This large influx may potentially result in the spread of livestock diseases, adversely impacting the cattle export market in Ethiopia," according to a UN statement.

Elephants Die in Amboseli

The drought is killing elephants and other wildlife in Kenya's Amboseli National Park and surrounding ecosystem, exacerbating a situation already critical because of a surge in ivory poaching, Amboseli Trust for Elephants Program Director and noted elephant researcher Cynthia Moss posted on her blog last week. Elephants she has known for decades are succumbing to the lack of water and food.

Gorillas Orphaned by Hunters Begin Journey Back to the Wild

Posted on August 11, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Six orphan gorillas, rescued from the illegal bush meat trade, have begun new independent lives on a lagoon island outside Loango National Park in Gabon, the Société de Conservation et Développement (SCD) said today.

"This is the first step in a reintroduction project that is hoped will allow them to return entirely to the wild and follows a three-year-long 'rehab programme' to prepare them for release," SCD said in a statement.

SCD, an affiliate of Africa's Eden, an eco-tourism company, has conservation partnerships with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Max Planck Institute, the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project (FVGP), and Gabon government agencies. Loango National Park is located on the African coast and is famous for its surfing hippos.

"Halfway through the Year of the Gorilla, the transfer [of the orphans] marks the beginning of the gorillas' independence. They have exchanged their human-built shelters for the palm-fringed forested islet where they can now live in relative safety from threats from poachers or other predators," SCD said.

The relocation was supervised by Nick Bachand, director of the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project, and his team of Gabonese keepers.

"We all felt a hint of sadness as the gorillas left the place where their journey started," said Bachand, a veterinarian. "But this was instantly replaced with a mountain of pride when we observed some of the gorillas starting to build their own nests to sleep outside overnight."

Building nests is an important indication of the young gorillas' progress during this second phase of their rehabilitation, SCD explained.

Photo courtesy SCD B.V.

The six gorillas, three females and three males varying in ages from two to seven, were orphaned by the illegal bush meat trade.

The oldest male, Gimenu, 7, was rescued in an emaciated state from a zoo in Gabon where he had spent three years in complete isolation, SCD said. He is accompanied by Sindila, 4, an abandoned male found by tourists on a river excursion, and Ivindo, also 4, flown in from the Ivindo National Park in 2005.

The youngest female, Wanga, 2, was left on the doorstep of a conservationist's home in the southern half of Loango National Park, while the other two females, Cessé and Eliwa, 3 and 2, were donated by another great-ape rescue center in Gabon.

"The gorillas have spent the past two and a half years undergoing daily forest rehabilitation accompanied by their keepers on Evengue Island, located north of Loango National Park," SCD said.

A small team of local keepers will continue to monitor the progress of the gorillas from a base camp in the center of Orique island, where their new home is.

The Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project comprises a sanctuary and rehabilitation program. All its resident gorillas were rescued after the parents were killed illegally by hunters for bush meat. "The sanctuary provides a safe home for gorillas that can never return to the wild as they lack the critical survival skills usually taught by their parents in the first six to eight years of their lives," SCD said.

"The younger gorillas are part of [the project's] rehabilitation program, however, and have undergone its quarantine and socialization stages. They now have the potential to be reintroduced into the wild, although many challenges and uncertainties remain."

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has identified the use of reintroduction projects as part of a global strategy for the survival of the world's endangered great apes, SCD added. "The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) works closely with the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project and focuses wherever possible on reintroduction programs."

Said Doug Cress, executive director of PASA, "We have to find ways to restore value to Africa's forests, and reintroduction places focus on the African wildlife in the African forests.

"It's no good for any of us to aspire to having the world's largest captive population of chimpanzees or gorillas--even if we are saving lives. That is not conservation and it is not sending messages that can be translated into environmental action."

"It's no good for any of us to aspire to having the world's largest captive population of chimpanzees or gorillas--even if we are saving lives. That is not conservation and it is not sending messages that can be translated into environmental action."

The orhpan gorillas' return to the wild in the Gabonese equatorial forest is expected within two to three years.

"In the meantime, the project is working hard to raise local and global awareness on issues facing the gorillas, to encourage research that emphasises the needs of the local people, and to integrate responsible tourism, as part of a national and international effort to save the gorilla from extinction in the wild," SCD said.

So Many Species, So Little Space

Posted on August 10, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Thirty years ago, Dr. Tom Lovejoy, the chairman of National Geographic's Conservation Trust, set up a unique experiment to monitor biodiversity in Brazil. It's to be repeated in Borneo, conservation biologist Stuart Pimm reports from Borneo for Nat Geo News Watch.

Photo of oil palm plantation by Stuart Pimm

By Stuart L. Pimm
Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

Borneo, Malaysia--The flight from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu across the northern end of the island of Borneo passes south of Mount Kinabalu--at 4,000 metres (13,400 feet) the tallest mountain in southeast Asia. Above it, and towering above us, is a massive thundercloud, threateningly black with its edges backlit by sunlight.

Such storms bring part of the three meters (120 inches) of rain that makes this tropical forest grow.

But exactly the same conditions make the land below a perfect place for oil palms, a crop that has rapidly become the dominant land use in much of southeast Asia. Princeton University ecologists Lian Pin Koh and David Wilcove showed in a paper in Conservation Letters last year that there are now more then 13 million hectares (52,00 square miles) of oil palm.

As we land in Lahad Datu, the land below us is mostly oil palm.

Photo of oil palm fruits on the way to market by Stuart Pimm

Like most monocultures--cropland where only one species is planted--these oil palm plantations are home to very few species.

Many conservation biologists view the expansion of oil palm as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. And Borneo is a country that teems with species of plants and animals. (See Pimm's related story "An Inordinate Passion for Moths."

Experiences elsewhere in the world tell us that some forest will remain after clearing for crops and cattle grazing.

Photo of cattle grazing in a Brazilian clearing by Stuart Pimm

It was the threat posed by cattle-grazing--and the need to understand how many species would remain in small fragments--that led Lovejoy and Brazilian colleagues to create an extraordinary experiment in the middle of the Amazon forest thirty years ago.

It's known as the BDFFP--the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project.

Lovejoy holds the Biodiversity Chair at the Heinz Center in Washington D.C. and also chairs National Geographic's Conservation Trust.

The experiment, north of Manaus, used the forest clearing for cattle ranching to establish a set of plots--of one hectare (roughly 100 by 100 yards), 10 hectares, and 100 hectares. Some control plots of the same size were marked out in forest that would remain intact.

Photo of forest fragments in Brazil by Stuart Pimm

Lovejoy and his team then surveyed the plots for the species they contained and watched, over the years, how they disappeared. "Many and quickly" was the simple answer, from work done with Tom by my former graduate student Gonçalo Ferraz. "We found that even in the largest fragments, many bird species were missing within a decade or so," Ferraz told me. "The majority of the birds were gone from the smaller fragments in a matter of a few years."

Photo of land cleared at the site of Lovejoy's experiment by Stuart Pimm

Would the same be true for forest fragments in Borneo that would be surrounded by oil palm plantations?

That was the question of a new experiment Dr. Robert Ewers, of Imperial College London, explained to me when I met him earlier this year. We sat in the dingy bar at Silwood Park where faculty and research students have crowded on Friday evenings for decades to discuss ecology's latest ideas. It seemed a long way from Borneo's rainforest.

Ewers had lots of good ideas to test--and, of course, the experiences and hindsight of what happened in Brazil. Would such species as orangutans and large birds, such as Borneo's many species of hornbill be able to survive? I thought not, on the basis of what we'd learned in Brazil.

Photos of black hornbill (above) and orangutan (below) in Borneo by Stuart Pimm

The simple comparison of Brazil and Borneo was going to be important -- a means to decide whether we really understood what had happened in Brazil and why.

I was looking forward to being in Borneo. When I finally got there, I talked to Dr. Glenn Reynolds, the director of the Royal Society's Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Programme. The program has been based at the Danum Valley Field Centre since 1985.

He told me that they were about to establish a large forest fragmentation program. Large portions of forest will be planted in oil palm, but some areas will be kept as forest, however.

The sizes of those fragments will be the same as those in Brazil's Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project.

Working with their local partners in Borneo, the Sabah Foundation, researchers will spend two years surveying the areas for their biodiversity before the forest is cleared. This will establish the baseline.

Then after fragmentation, teams will follow the change.

Photo of forest cleared for cattle pasture in Brazil by Stuart Pimm

Deciding how large fragments were needed to protect different kinds of animals and plants provided very important advice to managers in Brazil. We now knew that forest fragments had to be large enough if they were to protect biodiversity.

But there were many ecological variables that the Brazil project had not measured. The new experiments in Borneo would give scientists a chance to address so many questions they wished the Brazil project had tested.

"What will you measure?" I asked Reynolds. "Beetles, moths, butterflies--birds certainly," he explained. "But one of the strategic aims of this project is to set up a platform, so that scientists in different disciplines from Malaysia and around the world can work on this problem."

Reynolds plans were ambitious--but then there are so many things we need to know about what happens as humanity shrinks Earth's tropical forests.

Watch Stuart Pimm's video report and interview with Glenn Reynolds:

Professor Stuart L. Pimm is a conservation biologist at Duke University, North Carolina. A former member of the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, Pimm is the author of dozens of books and research papers, including the book "The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth."

Photo Brazilian rain forest by Stuart Pimm

Read earlier blog posts by Stuart Pimm:

An Inordinate Passion for Moths

Florida Panther Fights for Survival Again--This Time in Washington D.C.

Many Mammal Migrations Are at Risk of Extinction, Research Finds

Related NatGeo News Watch content:

Support for Sustainable Palm Oil Gains Traction in China

Giant Freak Wave Hot Spots Identified

Posted on August 10, 2009 | 1 Comments

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"The Great Wave," print by Katsushika Hokusai, 1760-1849

Changes in water depth and currents, which are common in coastal areas, may significantly increase the likelihood of extreme waves, according to research published in Physical Oceanography, a journal of the American Meteorological Society.

"Stories of ships mysteriously sent to watery graves by sudden, giant waves have long puzzled scientists and sailors," says a San Francisco State University statement about the study.

Now wave model simulations by Tim Janssen, an assistant professor of geosciences, show that focusing of waves by shoals and currents could increase the likelihood of a freak wave by as much as ten times, the university adds. "Although scientists cannot predict the occurrence of individual extreme waves, Janssen's findings help pinpoint conditions and locations favorable for giant waves."

Extreme waves, also known as "freak" or "rogue" waves, measure roughly three times the size of the average wave height of a given sea state, San Francisco State says. "Recorded monster waves have exceeded 60 feet--the approximate size of a six-story building.

"Janssen's research suggests that in areas where wave energy is focused, the probability of freak waves is much greater than previously believed."

"Janssen's research suggests that in areas where wave energy is focused, the probability of freak waves is much greater than previously believed."

Wave focal zones are particularly common in coastal areas where water depth variations and strong currents can result in dramatic focusing of wave energy, the university explained.

"Such effects are particularly well known around river mouths and coastal inlets, restricting accessibility for shipping due to large, breaking waves near the inlet, or resulting in erosion issues at nearby beaches.

"Extreme examples of wave focusing over coastal topography include world-class surf spots, such as Mavericks and Cortez Banks in California.

"The identification of freak wave hot spots is also important for shipping and navigation in coastal areas, and the design of offshore structures."

Says Janssen, "In a normal wave field, on average, roughly three waves in every 10,000 are extreme waves. In a focal zone, this number could increase to about three in every 1,000 waves. In a focal zone, the average wave height is already increased due to the focusing of energy so that an extreme wave in such a high energy area can potentially be very energetic and dangerous."

Evolution of Waves

Janssen's wave simulations estimated the evolution of waves in open oceans, waves interacting with an opposing current, and waves traveling over a topographical feature such as a reef.

"The simulations show that freely developing waves maintain normal statistical properties with a small likelihood of extremes. But when the waves are focused by variations in water depth or currents, the rapid increase in energy drives wave interactions that enhance the likelihood of extreme waves."

"We found that if the focusing is sufficiently strong and abrupt, wave interactions create conditions favorable to extreme waves," Janssen said.

"When we gradually increase the focal strength, initially wave interactions are weak and statistics remain normal. However, when increasing the focal strength beyond a certain threshold, suddenly wave interactions are enhanced and freak waves are much more likely than normal. It appears that wherever waves undergo a rapid transformation, freak waves can be much more likely than we would otherwise expect."

Hyenas Laughing Again in New York

Posted on August 5, 2009 | 0 Comments

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The hyena's cackle can curdle the blood when it is heard in the African wilderness. It is the sound of one of the continent's most efficient hunters. Even lions have been observed to flee in terror when faced by a pack of determined hyenas.

Now the hyena's "laugh" may be heard in New York--at least in the neighborhood of the Bronx Zoo.

Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © WCS

"More than 30 years have passed since hyenas have been part of the Bronx Zoo," said Jim Breheny, director of the Bronx Zoo and Senior Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Living Institutions. (WCS operates the Bronx Zoo.) "We are pleased to have hyena back at the zoo so that our visitors can get a glimpse of these amazing creatures and learn more about their importance to the ecosystem."

Two spotted hyenas recently joined the lions, gazelles, zebras and other wildlife in the zoo's African Plains exhibit.
The hyenas are male and female siblings born in March 2008, at the Denver Zoo. The female's name is Kubwa (Swahili for "big" because her head is bigger than the male's) and the male is Kidogo (Swahili for "small," since he has the smaller head). Kubwa weighs approximately 91 lbs. and Kidogo is 75 lbs.

"Most people associate the hyena with its raucous vocalizations that earned it the nickname 'laughing hyena,' WCS said in a statement. "However, it is no laughing matter for the hyena's prey in the wild, as spotted hyenas are serious hunters. These predators are the largest members of the hyena family and live in sub-Saharan Africa on savannahs and open woodlands."

While spotted hyena are not considered endangered, their habitat is under increased pressure from human incursion, WCS added. "There has been a great decrease in the hyena population of western Africa. The Wildlife Conservation Society has a strong presence in Africa, including Southern Sudan where hyenas roam in the wild."

Seattle Zoo Seeks Name for Snow Leopard

Posted on August 5, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Help choose the name for this furball and be eligible for a prize by taking part in a poll to name one of the newest snow leopards born at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.

The naming poll kicks off today and continues through midnight, August 12. To vote, visit http://www.zoo.org/ and click on "Name a Snow Leopard Cub." Ballots also are available at the zoo. All ages are eligible to vote.

The poll offers four Mongolian names in honor of one of 12 countries that is home to the endangered snow leopard:

Gobi (go-bee)--Gobi Desert in Mongolia
Boke (rhymes with poke)--Strong
Irbis (ear-biss)--Leopard
Vachir (voch-err)--Thunderbolt

"The cub's twin sister has been named Batu (pronounced BAH-too), Mongolian for firm, hard, honest," the zoo said.

"The naming poll invites snow leopard fans ages 18 and older to enter to win a fabulous snow leopard prize package: a 12-month ZooParent adoption (with a plush and certificate); a signed copy of "Saving the Ghost of the Mountain: An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in Mongolia by award-winning author Sy Montgomery; and a commemorative framed photo of the snow leopard cubs," said a statement released with this photograph.

The cubs were born on Memorial Day to first-time parents. They and their mother remain off public exhibit to ensure continual bonding and proper nursing, the zoo said. "Since snow leopards are solitary animals in the wild, the father is separated and is in the snow leopard exhibit with Nadia, another adult female."

The winning name will be announced when the cubs make their public debut at noon, Saturday, August 15, during the zoo' Snow Leopard Day. The annual event is hosted by the zoo and its conservation partner, the Snow Leopard Trust.

The Snow Leopard Trust was created in 1981 by the late Woodland Park Zoo staff member Helen Freeman, the namesake of the mother of the new cubs. "Through innovative programs, effective partnerships, and the latest science, the Snow Leopard Trust is saving these endangered cats and improving the lives of people who live in the snow leopard countries of Central Asia," the zoo said.

Photo credit: Ryan Hawk

Russia's Arctic Park Imaged from Space

Posted on August 5, 2009 | 0 Comments

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This satellite image of Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in Russia's Arctic, launches a new ad hoc series on this blog I will call Earth from Space.

Look out for regular updates for unusual, beautiful, educational, newsworthy images released by public and commercial space agencies. I will be looking particularly for images that highlight the special geographic features of our planet.

Today's NASA Earth Observatory image of Novaya Zemlya gives us an opportunity to view not only a magnificent view but also the terrain that Russia recently proclaimed as a national park, a 3.7 million-acre zone that includes the northern part of Novaya Zemlya and some adjacent marine areas. The park will provide a much-needed sanctuary for polar bears and other Arctic species.

Novaya Zemlya consists of two major islands, Severny in the north and Yuzhny in the south, separated by a narrow strait, Matochkin Shar.

An extension of the Ural Mountains, this mountainous archipelago has an average altitude of roughly 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above sea level, and glaciers cover much of the northern island, according to the original NASA caption.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, Novaya Zemlya was used as a nuclear test site.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Novaya Zemlya on July 27, 2009. (This image focuses primarily on the northern island. See an image for the entire archipelago on NASA's Web site.)

The sparsely vegetated land appears in shades of beige and icy white, NASA says. "Hints of turquoise along the northwestern coast likely result from sediments running off the island, or getting churned up by currents from the ocean floor, A narrow band of sea ice hugs the southeastern coast, and smaller pieces of sea ice float off the northern island's northeastern tip."

Before the turn of the twentieth century, Arctic sea ice used to linger along the coast of Novaya Zemlya's larger island each July. After the turn of the century, however, increased summertime melt made open ocean more common, NASA says.

NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Original NASA caption by Michon Scott based on interpretation by Walt Meier, National Snow and Ice Data Center.

San Diego Panda Celebrates Birthday With Giant Fruit Cake

Posted on August 4, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Zhen Zhen celebrated her birthday yesterday in style--with cake and presents, the zoo added. "The gift boxes contained biscuits, specially made for pandas. Her sister, Su Lin, 4, celebrated her birthday today too, but her two-tiered larger cake had a big '4' on top."

Zhen Zhen, whose name means "precious," is the fourth panda cub born at the San Diego Zoo. Su Lin, who turned 4 Sunday, is the third. Her name means "a little bit of something very cute."

Photo taken August 3, 2009, by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo

Philippines President Arroyo Briefs Nat Geo on Coral Triangle Initiative

Posted on August 4, 2009 | 0 Comments

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After meeting with President Obama last week, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stopped by National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to talk about conservation in the Pacific's Coral Triangle region.

Spread across a vast swath of ocean spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and the Solomon Islands--an area half the size of the United States--the Coral Triangle has the highest diversity of marine life of any area on Earth.

The Philippines and other Coral Triangle nations this year launched officially the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security, It is the largest reef conservation program ever undertaken. (Read more about this here.)

Arroyo (in the picture on the left) was a featured speaker during a program at National Geographic, and she also met privately with NGS President and CEO John Fahey (in the center of the picture) and National Geographic Fellow and marine ecologist Enric Sala.

"President Arroyo has shown global leadership in marine conservation," Sala said after the meeting. "She is one of the key leaders of the Coral Triangle Initiative, an example of international cooperation to ensure economic and ecological sustainability in a region of unique biodiversity value.

"As President Arroyo said, 'this is not an either-or choice.' We must ensure a healthy environment for the sake of healthy and wealthy coastal communities. This includes the people who don't live in the Coral Triangle region but who enjoy the goods and services provided by the marine ecosystem of the region, such as tuna," Sala said.

Fahey and Sala briefed Arroyo on National Geographic's developing ocean initiative, and offered to help publicize her pioneering efforts in order to inspire other leaders to follow. "She was happy to hear about our plans and agreed to help," Sala said.

Fahey presented Arroyo with a framed clown fish photo taken by NG photographer David Doubilet in the Philippines.

NGS photo by Mark Thiessen, reporting by Karen Gilmour

An Inordinate Passion for Tropical Moths

Posted on August 3, 2009 | 0 Comments

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National Geographic grantee Professor Roger Kitching wants to know how much less diversity there is in tropical rainforest that has been logged than in unlogged "primary" forest. He finds some clues from the moths he draws to his lamp, Stuart Pimm reports in words, images, and video from the field, deep in the Borneo jungle.

By Stuart L. Pimm
Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

Borneo, Malaysia--Nothing quite captures the idea of "biodiversity" than standing in front of a white sheet lit by a mercury vapor lamp in the equatorial jungle at night. Mercury vapor lamps emit a lot of ultraviolet light which seems to be particularly attractive to moths.

Even though the sun has set, it's still hot, the humidity is 100 percent, sweat drips down our faces and into our eyes, making the mill of flying insects into our faces even more annoying.

National Geographic grantee, and Griffith University Professor of Ecology, Roger Kitching keeps up a running commentary on the insects as they land on the sheet. "That's a plecopteran--stone fly, and that's a stinging nocturnal wasp--don't let it get in your hair. Catch that one! We need to identify it."

This light trap is in the middle of the largest remaining fragment of tropical forest in Borneo, the Danum Valley.

We're here to teach a group of undergraduates from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia about the basics of tropical rainforest natural history.

Photo of Roger Kitching
by Stuart Pimm

Before this course, Roger had been here to ask a particular question, one with important implications for protecting global biodiversity.

The field center accommodates not just us, but an enthusiastic set of visitors who come to the forest to enjoy its wildlife.

Over the last ten days, we've seen five species of monkey. Pig-tailed macaques feed around the center; their small young generate whoops of pleasure from their undergraduate audience as they play in a nearby fig tree, grabbing fruit from branches their parents cannot reach.

It's the gibbons that have everyone getting their cameras and, on several days, the orangutans. They are close enough to us evolutionarily that it's hard not to read human interpretations into their behaviors and expressions.

Photo of maroon langur
by Stuart Pimm

When one makes a tree-top nest in which to sleep for the night just opposite the center's open dining room, our loud chatter turns to whispers. We wouldn't want to disturb its sleep.

With every day, we add to our list of birds, mammals, lizards, and frogs. And every night, small groups go out with spotlights to add to the totals those species that only emerge at night.

Exciting though these vertebrates are, Kitching's focus on insects--and moths in particular--is deliberate.

The Danum Valley is a large tract of "primary" or largely unlogged rainforest. Surrounding it, however, are large areas of "secondary" forest--forest that has been logged, sometimes extensively, and which is re-growing--either on its own or with some help with replanting.

Photo by Stuart Pimm

Kitching's question is how these two kinds of forest differ.

Everyone expects there to be fewer species in the secondary forests.

How many fewer is the easier of two questions. One counts the species in primary and secondary forest--and compares them.

Ecologists call these counts "alpha diversity"--they are measures of how many species there are at a particular place.

Kitching could do this easily--running his sheet and UV light in primary and secondary forests close to the center.

The second question is the more difficult one. "We need to know beta-diversity--how much turnover there is from place to place."

Watch Stuart Pimm's video report:

Video copyright Stuart Pimm

Kitching explained the general idea that logging tends to homogenize the forest. Just as you can get the same hamburger in New York, London, Beijing and even Borneo, so in secondary forest the same species may occur everywhere.

"Moths are a good test of this--because they are herbivores that are tied to specific plant species. They reflect the likely homogenization of the logged forest--the fact that only a few common tree species survive in the canopy there."

The primary forest, in contrast, is more variable from place to place with a sometimes bewildering variety of tree species making up its dense canopy.

So, for the last two years, Kitching has trapped moths at sites in primary forest separated by 100 meters (yards), to 60 kilometers (40 miles) apart and a similar set in secondary forest. At each site, he identifies the first one thousand individuals to species--and there are a lot to choose from.

"We have firm estimates that there are nearly 4,000 species of the larger moths around Danum and perhaps 10,000 species in Borneo as a whole," he says.

"And the answer, Roger?" I asked. "You have to wait for that, we've only just finished counting and identifying all those species!"

Photo by Stuart Pimm

Professor Stuart L. Pimm is a conservation biologist at Duke University, North Carolina. A former member of the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, Pimm is the author of dozens of books and research papers, including the book "The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth."

Read earlier blog posts by Stuart Pimm:

Florida Panther Fights for Survival Again--This Time in Washington D.C.

Many Mammal Migrations Are at Risk of Extinction, Research Finds

Sunset Seen From Space Colors Earth's Atmosphere

Posted on August 3, 2009 | 0 Comments

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To the many beautiful pictures made of our planet from space, add this one, released today by NASA as its image of the day. It reminds me how thin and fragile is our precious atmosphere.

Image Credit: NASA

"Layers of Earth's atmosphere, brightly colored as the sun sets, are featured in this image taken by the STS-127 crew on the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Endeavour," says the NASA caption. "This image was taken on July 29, 2009, one day before the shuttle landed, completing a 16-day, 6.5-million mile journey."

Rangers Rout Illegal Charcoal Operations in Africa's Gorilla Park

Posted on August 3, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Hundreds of illegal charcoal kilns have been destroyed in dawn raids by armed rangers deep in the forests of Virunga National Park in Eastern Congo in recent days, according to a news statement released by park authorities today.

Virunga is Africa's oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and home to 200 of the world's last remaining mountain gorillas and a small population of eastern lowland gorillas.

The park has been caught up in the region's swirling conflict for many years. There have been periods when rangers were forced to flee the park, including the gorilla areas. Many rangers have been killed in conflict.

"The Congolese National Park Authorities have sent the biggest ever deployment of armed rangers to strike at charcoal-making operations run by armed groups," the park said in today's statement.

"The move, undertaken in collaboration with the UN peace-keeping forces MONUC, follows a report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo identifying charcoal from Virunga National Park as a major source of revenue for illegal armed groups. These include the FDLR, the Rwandan militia whose members are held responsible for the Rwandan Genocide in 1994."

Five specially-trained platoons of 30 Rangers have been conducting dawn raids in the forests on the flanks of the Virunga volcanoes, the park said.

"In the past week 252 charcoal kilns have been destroyed, at an estimated commercial value of U.S. $378,000, and 57 arrests made, including a militia officer.

"The rangers have engaged in three armed contacts with the FDLR and three rangers have so far been evacuated with gunshot injuries.

Copyright Gorilla.cd

"On the evening of the 28th July a patrol post was partially burned down during a retaliatory attack by the FDLR."

The goal of this offensive is to inflict maximum possible damage to the trafficking of illegal charcoal, estimated at over U.S. $30 million a year, much of which is benefiting the militias," says Virunga Park Director Emmanuel de Merode.

"The trafficking of natural resources such as charcoal is an underlying cause of instability in Eastern Congo. This operation is a first step towards re-establishing the rule of law, a condition for bringing peace to the region."

The park authorities with support from the European Union and other donors have also launched a major initiative to provide energy alternatives to charcoal for the local population.

Copyright Gorilla.cd

"These include the local production of combustible briquettes produced from grass, leaves and agricultural waste, as well as establishing plantation forest. The program is on track to create 34,000 employments in briquette production and provide a viable substitute to charcoal by 2011," according to the news statement.

Formerly known as Albert National Park, Virunga lies in eastern DR Congo and covers 3,000 square miles (7,800 square kilometers). The park is managed by the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN). See the park's Web site for more information.

Elephants Fall to Drought in Kenya's Amboseli Park

Posted on August 3, 2009 | 0 Comments

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One of the worst droughts in living memory is killing elephants and other wildlife in Kenya's Amboseli National Park and surrounding ecosystem, exacerbating a situation already critical because of a surge in ivory poaching.

Amboseli Trust for Elephants Program Director and noted elephant researcher Cynthia Moss posted an anguished account on her blog about this yesterday. Elephants she has known for decades are succumbing to the lack of water and food.

Funds are needed urgently to step up measures against poachers.

We are losing old friends in Amboseli.

Amboseli is experiencing the worst drought in decades.

The Maasai elders say it is the most severe drought since 1961 when they lost almost all their cattle.

I have been through two previous bad years: 1976 and 1984. By the end of 1976, 68 elephants had died, many from the drought, others from the competition and conflict caused by the drought, and still others from poaching. During 1984, 70 elephants died, most from the same three causes.

Ulla

There is a pattern in the deaths due to drought. Young calves under three months old die, probably because their mothers do not have enough milk or rich enough milk.

Then older calves 8-12 months old die towards the end of the dry season in September and October when they should be supplementing milk with vegetation.

There is simply nothing for them to eat and their mother's milk is not enough.

Calves 4-5 years old also die. These have been weaned and also cannot find enough vegetation to sustain them.

Once an elephant is over five it seemed to be able to get through the droughts.

Unless elephants are speared or poached they tend not to die as adults until they are in their 50s or 60s.

The adults that suffer particularly during droughts are the old females. Their teeth are worn down and they cannot find enough food that they can process.

Losing these old matriarchs and other big females is by far the hardest thing I have had to deal with over my 37 years in Amboseli.

Grace, Odile and Ebenezer

Now at the end of July 2009 after three years of low rainfall and an almost total failure of the rains this year, there is very little vegetation for the animals to eat. There is still water in Amboseli. The springs fed from Kilimanjaro continue to flow into the swamps, but the vegetation in the swamps has been eaten down to almost nothing and in any case what there is is not very nutritious.

Animals are dying everywhere: zebras, wildebeests, buffaloes, hippos and elephants. It is very depressing and frustrating standing by and watching this tragedy unfold.

There is nothing we can do and we feel so helpless.

Even if it was a policy to feed wild animals during droughts, there is not enough hay in all of Kenya to feed the wildlife for even a week. We try to tell ourselves it is a natural phenomenon, but it doesn't stop the pain of watching the animals suffer.

During 2008, 137 calves were born which broke all previous records for annual births. So far in 2009, another 53 calves have been born.

We fear that most of these calves will die. A minimum of 30 young calves have died.

This is just the beginning of August; it won't rain until late October or early November so there is three more months to go and we have to face the fact that many of the remaining calves will also die. It won't be until it rains again and the families come back into the Park that we will know the total loss.

"I am losing some of my old friends whom I've known for 36-37 years."

In the meantime, I am losing some of my old friends whom I've known for 36-37 years.

So far the matriarchs who have died over the last year are: Echo, Grace, Isis, Leticia, Lucia, Odile, Ulla and Xenia.

Echo, Freda, Isis, Leticia and Ulla had been the matriarchs of their families since the 1970s and some from even earlier. Their families must be very distraught and confused. Personally I will miss them terribly. They have been a part of my life for so long.

Older males are also dying but not from the drought. They are being poached for their tusks.

Just in the last 10 days three more big males have been killed.

One, Ebenezer, had his tusks cut out with a power saw.

The poachers are definitely getting more serious. We are doing everything we can by working closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service and providing support to the Amboseli-Tsavo Game Scouts Association.

On Thursday, at a special ceremony, Soila and Harvey, representing ATE, presented a motorbike, tents, rations, and money for vehicle repairs and running to the Scouts. We were able to give this support thanks to a generous donation from the Elephant Sanctuary.

We need more help.

The day of the presentation the scouts set up two anti-poaching camps, but there is need for another.

It is our estimate that it will cost about $10,000 to set up and run one of these camps. If any of you can help it will be greatly appreciated and I believe it will save elephant lives.

Cynthia Moss

For more information and to learn how you can help, visit the ATE Web site >>>

Can Flies Show Robots How to Navigate?

Posted on August 2, 2009 | 0 Comments

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German scientists have built a flight simulator for flies to better understand how the insects see and coordinate their movements. What they learn might be of use in developing robots that can move around their environment.

Photo courtesy USDA

"A fly's brain enables the unbelievable--the animal's easy negotiation of obstacles in rapid flight, split-second reaction to the hand that would catch it, and unerring navigation to the smelly delicacies it lives on," says Technische Universität München in a statement about the research.

"Researchers have long known that flies take in many more images per second than humans do. For human eyes, anything more than 25 discrete images per second will merge into a continuous movement. A blowfly, on the other hand, can perceive 100 images per second as discrete sense impressions and interpret them quickly enough to steer its movement and precisely determine its position in space.

"Yet the fly's brain is hardly bigger than a pinhead, too small by far to enable the fly's feats if it functioned exactly the way the human brain does.

"It must have a simpler and more efficient way of processing images from the eyes into visual perception, and that is a subject of intense interest for robot builders," TUM says.

Photo courtesy USDA

Robots have great difficulty perceiving their surroundings through their cameras, and even more difficulty making sense of what they see, TUM adds.

"Even the recognition of obstacles in their own work space takes too long. So people still need to protect their automated helpers, for example, by surrounding them with safety enclosures."

A more direct, supportive collaboration between human and machine is a central research goal of the "excellence cluster" named CoTeSys, Cognition for Technical Systems, a collaboration of about a hundred scientists and engineers from five universities and institutes in the Munich area of Germany.

To understand how flies see and process their coordination, the CoTeSys group built a flight simulator for flies.

"Here they're investigating what goes on in flies' brains while they're flying. Their goal is to put similar capabilities in human hands--for example, to aid in developing robots that can independently apprehend and learn from their surroundings," TUM says.

Photo by David Braun

On a wraparound display, the researchers present diverse patterns, movements, and sensory stimuli to blowflies. The insect is held in place by a halter, so that electrodes can register the reactions of its brain cells, enabling the researchers to observe and analyze what happens in a fly's brain when the animal whizzes in criss-cross flight around a room, TUM says.

Moving pictures displayed here simulate flight for an immobilized fly; electrodes give researchers a window into the fly's neural activity and vision processing.

Photo courtesy Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology

The first results show one thing very clearly: The way flies process the images from their immobile eyes is completely different from they way the human brain processes visual signals, the university adds.

"Movements in space produce so-called 'optical flux fields' that characterize specific kinds of motion definitively.

"In forward motion, for example, objects rush past on the sides, and foreground objects appear to get bigger. Near and distant objects appear to move differently.

"The first step for the fly is to construct a model of these movements in its tiny brain. The speed and direction with which objects before the fly's eyes appear to move generate, moment by moment, a typical pattern of motion vectors, the flux field, which in a second step is assessed by the so-called "lobula plate," a higher level of the brain's vision center.

"In each hemisphere there are only 60 nerve cells responsible for this; each reacts with particular intensity when presented with the pattern appropriate to it.

"For the analysis of the optical flux fields, it's important that motion information from both eyes be brought together. This happens over a direct connection of specialized neurons called VS cells. In this way, the fly gets a precise fix on its position and movement."

Image courtesy Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology

"Through our results, the network of VS cells in the fly's brain responsible for rotational movement is one of the best understood circuits in the nervous system," explains Alexander Borst, a neurobiologist from the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology.

Under the leadership of Martin Buss and Kolja Kühnlenz, the TUM researchers are working to develop intelligent machines that can observe their environment through cameras, learn from what they see, and react appropriately to the current situation, the university explained.

"Their long-range aim is to enable the creation of intelligent machines that can interact with people directly, effectively, and safely. Even in factories, the safety barriers between humans and robots should fall. To that end, simple, fast, and efficient methods for the analysis and interpretation of camera pictures are absolutely essential."

TUM researchers are developing small, flying robots whose position and movement in flight will be controlled by a computer system for visual analysis inspired by the example of the fly's brain, the university said.

Robot Asks for Directions

Antoher TUM-built mobile robot, the Autonomous City Explorer (ACE), was challenged to find its way from the institute to Marienplatz at the heart of Munich--a distance of about a mile--by stopping passers-by and asking for directions. To do this, ACE had to interpret the gestures of people who pointed the way, and it had to negotiate the sidewalks and traffic crossings safely, TUM said.

"Increasingly natural interaction between intelligent machines and humans is unthinkable without efficient image analysis. Insights gained from the flight simulator for flies--through the scientific interplay CoTeSys fosters among researchers from various disciplines--offer an approach that might be simple enough to be technically portable from one domain to the other, from the insects to the robots."

Navigating only by asking pedestrians it encountered for directions, the robot called ACE, or Autonomous City Explorer, made its way from the institute where it was built--at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen--to Marienplatz roughly a mile away. A project of the Munich-based CoTeSys collaboration, ACE is part of a larger effort to enable more natural, effective, and safe interaction between machines and people.

Photo courtesy LSR/TUM

Rejected Cheetah Cubs Hand-Reared at San Diego Zoo

Posted on August 1, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Looking like a poster child for South African tourism, Johari, a 2-month-old African cheetah, is one of four cheetah cubs being raised by keepers at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.

The cub and its two siblings, a male named Shiley and a female named Taraji, were born on May 24 and were rejected by their mother, the zoo said.

"On June 17, a single female cheetah named Lindiwe was born to an inexperienced mother, so keepers intervened," the zoo added in a statement. "Often when a single cub is born, the mother chooses to walk away because the chance of one cub surviving is minimal."

All four cubs were moved to the care center where they are being hand-raised by keepers.

The cheetah is listed as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Animals

Photo taken July 31, 2009, by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.

More pictures of animals in Zoo News >>

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