The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security is considering a Bill that would classify nonnative pythons, such as the Burmese python, as "injurious animals" and ban their importation into the United States.

Hypothetical diet necessary for a hatchling Burmese python to reach 13 feet in the Florida Everglades (approximately 5 to 7 years)

1 raccoon
1 oppossum
4 five-foot alligators
5 American coots
6 little blue herons
8 ibises
10 squirrels
15 rabbits
15 wrens
30 cotton rats
72 mice

This illustration, and the photos on this page were appended to the SFWMD written testimony handed to Congress today.

(Source: Skip Snow, Everglades National Park & Dr. Stephen Secor, University of Alabama)

"As a top predator and prolific breeder, these exotic snakes threaten state and federal efforts to restore America's Everglades, and they prey on the natural wildlife that call the Everglades home, including species already threatened or endangered," SFWMD's Horne said in its testimony to Congress today.

"We have a long history of successful invasive plant management and experience, but only recently have we had to commit more and more resources to the emerging populations of the Burmese python and other nonnative constrictors appearing across our landscape.

"Today, however, the negative impacts from the unlimited importation of new pest animals require active responses on our part. Effective prevention of additional introductions of potentially invasive constrictor snakes, as proposed in this Bill, is the only path to prevent these costs from continually increasing."

While Florida, California and Hawaii are among the states most impacted by introduced invasive species, every state is affected, Horne added.

Photo of Burmese python killed in Florida courtesy of SFWMD

"Globally, exotic invasive species, including pest animals, weeds and pathogenic diseases, are a major cause of global biodiversity decline. In particular, nonnative animals compete for food and habitat, upset existing predator/prey relationships, degrade environmental quality, spread diseases and, in our case, may threaten the integrity of flood protection levees and canal banks, and electrical power delivery.

"Nationally, more than 50,000 species of introduced plants, animals and microbes cause more than $120 billion in damages and control costs each year. Already, 192 non-native animal species are established in Florida, calling for the development of methods to forecast and respond to the potential economic loss, environmental damage and social stress caused by both new non-native animal introductions and long-established invasive organisms."

The Bill before Congress makes an important contribution towards prevention by limiting the importation of two snake species (the Burmese and African python) with high invasion potentials in the U.S., Horne said.

"The amendment could also be expanded to include all giant constrictor species determined by the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, to have medium or high invasion risk potential. The recently published USGS risk assessment for giant constrictors ranked nine species as having either a medium or high overall risk potential for invasion in the United States.

"These species include the Beni Anaconda, boa constrictor, Burmese python, DeSchauensee's anaconda, green anaconda, northern African python, southern African python, reticulated python and yellow anaconda.

Photo of Burmese python killed in Florida courtesy of SFWMD

"We strongly support inclusion of these species in [the Bill] in order to immediately limit importation of species that our best science predicts will be invasive. Rather than wait for the next Burmese python to become established in the United States, a proactive approach such as the proposed legislation being discussed today is urgently needed to protect our environment, economy and quality of life--not just in Florida but throughout the nation."

The South Florida Water Management District is deeply committed to preserving and restoring South Florida's environmental health and, unfortunately, the Everglades ecosystem is now home to the invasive Burmese python, Horne said.

Photo of eggs in Burmese python killed in Florida courtesy of SFWMD

The snake is a top predator that is known to prey upon more than 20 native Florida species. Notable among these are the federally listed Key Largo wood rat, white-tailed deer, American alligator, bobcat and numerous wading birds common to the Everglades, including the wood stork.

"Attempts to manage Burmese pythons divert taxpayers' funds from these other urgent primary restoration and protection tasks. Yet, failure to do so will leave this aggressive animal as a serious impediment to our Everglades restoration progress," Horne said.

Small livestock likely prey

The Burmese python also threatens agricultural interests as small livestock are also likely prey, Horne added.

Since 2000, the South Florida Water Management District and Everglades National Park, have removed 1,248 Burmese pythons from the Everglades.

"Adverse experience already gained in Florida strongly indicates the need to regulate the importation and sale of this snake. Without stronger regulation and control resources, adverse impacts of Burmese pythons will continue to get worse, and the python's population will continue to expand north of the Everglades and likely into South
Florida's urban areas."

Photo of Burmese python nest eggs in Florida courtesy of SFWMD

Florida's other nonnative giant constrictors

Given South Florida's abrupt boundaries between dense human population centers and vast subtropical wilderness areas, it comes as no surprise that numerous giant constrictor species have been observed in Florida, Horne said.

"While most observed animals are presumed to be released pets, three additional constrictor species are now considered established or potentially established in Florida--the common boa, northern African python and yellow anaconda.

"All three species are identified in the USGS risk assessment as having a high overall risk of establishment in the
United States. The common boa has been repeatedly observed in South Florida, primarily on the Deering Estate in eastern Miami-Dade County, but also near Everglades National Park.

"Between 1989 and 2005, 96 common boas were captured in South Florida.

"Recent confirmed sightings of northern African pythons near the eastern boundary of the Everglades and yellow anacondas near Big Cypress National Preserve and Myakka State Park in southwest Florida are also cause for alarm."

"Recent confirmed sightings of northern African pythons near the eastern boundary of the Everglades and yellow anacondas near Big Cypress National Preserve and Myakka State Park in southwest Florida are also cause for alarm. All three of these species share traits with the Burmese python that are considered important factors for invasive potential, and like the Burmese python all three species will be very costly to control should they become widely established."

As the South Florida Water Management District and other agencies try to contain the documented damage and growing threat of the Burmese python and other invasive animals in Florida, the flow of potentially harmful exotic animals across U.S. borders continues, Horne said.

"To use just one example, roughly 144,000 boa constrictors were imported into the United States between
2000 and 2007.

Federal action is needed now to address the immediate threat posed by giant constrictors which have or are likely to establish in our nation's wilderness areas."

The twin battles to improve food security for a growing world population and contain climate change can be fought on the same front--the world's farmland, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said today.

"Agriculture not only suffers the impacts of climate change, it is also responsible for 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But agriculture has the potential to be an important part of the solution, through mitigation--reducing and/or removing--a significant amount of global emissions," FAO said in a statement.

NGS photo of farming in Ethiopia by James P. Blair

Some 70 percent of this mitigation potential could be realized in developing countries, the agency believes.

"Many effective strategies for climate change mitigation from agriculture also benefit food security, development and adaptation to climate change," said FAO assistant director-general Alexander Müller. "The challenge is to capture these potential synergies, while managing trade-offs that may have negative impacts on food security."

The FAO released its report, Food Security and Agricultural Mitigation in Developing Countries: Options for Capturing Synergies, during the Barcelona Climate Change Talks this week.

Scientists have warned that if carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise because of human activities the planet's climate could change drastically, setting off intense warming, droughts, flooding and rising sea levels.

NGS photo of farming in South Africa by Kip Ross

One of the options that could be part of the climate change mitigation is climate-smart farming.

The most important technical options for climate change mitigation from agriculture are improvements in cropland and grazing land management and the restoration of organic soils and degraded lands, FAO said today.

"Nearly 90 percent of the technical mitigation potential of agriculture comes from soil carbon sequestration. These options involve increasing the levels of organic matter, of which carbon is the main component, in soil. This can translate into better plant nutrient content, increased water retention capacity and better structure, eventually leading to higher yields and greater resilience."

Agricultural mitigation options that sequester carbon can include:

• low tillage
• utilizing residues for composting or mulching
• use of perennial crops to cover soil
• re-seeding or improving grazing management on grasslands.

Other options involve difficult trade-offs, FAO noted, with benefits for mitigation but potentially negative consequences for food security and development. "In some cases, there are synergies in the long-run, but trade-offs in the short-run."

NGS photo of farm in Virginia, U.S., by Anne Francis Revis

"Biofuel production provides a clean alternative to fossil fuel but can compete for land and water resources needed for food production. Restoration of organic soils enables greater carbon sequestration, but may reduce the land available for food production. Rangeland restoration may improve carbon sequestration but involves short-term reductions in herder incomes by limiting the number of livestock."

Some trade-offs can be managed through measures to increase efficiency or through payment of incentives or compensation, the report says. "Many of the technical mitigation options are readily available and could be deployed immediately. But while these actions often generate a net positive benefit over time, they involve significant up-front costs."

Other barriers, such as uncertain property rights, lack of information and technical assistance or access to appropriate seeds and fertilizer, also need to be overcome. "Linking to ongoing agricultural development efforts that address these same issues is one cost effective way of doing this," said Kostas Stamoulis, director of the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Division.

NGS photo of citrus farm in Japan by James L. Stanfield

The report outlines possible design features for financing mechanisms that could help unlock agriculture's potential benefits for climate change mitigation, food security and agricultural development.

"A range of financing options---public, public-private and carbon markets--are currently under negotiation for climate change mitigation actions in developing countries. These could be future sources of finance for agricultural mitigation actions, the report says, as could a dedicated international fund to support agricultural mitigation in developing countries and coordination with financing from official development assistance for agricultural development."

NGS photo of rice farming in China by James P. Blair

Despite its significant potential, agricultural mitigation has remained relatively marginal within the climate change negotiations. FAO said.

"To capture the multiple benefits of agriculture. the report recommends a work programme on agricultural mitigation within the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to help address methodological issues related to implementation. It also proposes country-led piloting of action and field testing, using a phased approach linked to national capabilities and supported by capacity building and financial/technology transfers."

Three decades on she was still photographing the McGarveys, a Louisville, Kentucky family that had grown to five, following daily activities and documenting milestones like births, graduations, marriages, and burials. She was chronicling the family's passage through life.

What became a lifelong passion, perhaps an obsession, for Spaulding has yielded a remarkable archive of photographs that tracks not only the everyday lives of one family, but also the granular details of the changing American way of life.

The only comparable work in the annals of documentary photography is the fascinating 25-year portrait of the four Brown sisters by Nicholas Nixon, says veteran National Geographic photographer Sam Abell. "But those portrait sessions are a once-a-year occurrence. The McGarvey project is of another order, and we are unlikely to see anything like it again."

Spaulding's intimate 30-year photographic study of a single middle-class family from Louisville is represented in An American Family: Three Decades with the McGarveys (National Geographic Focal Point; October, 2009; $35).

How did Pam Spaulding link up with the McGarveys, I asked her in an interview. "I called around Lamaze instructors to get the names of first-time parents. That's how I met John and Judy McGarvey. They were willing to listen to my idea about photographing the life of a new mother for a year. They agreed to a trial period. Then they never got rid of me," Spaulding said.

Photo by Pam Spaulding

What developed was a remarkable relationship, in which the photographer became all but invisible to the McGarveys, even inside their home. Her lens became so familiar it went unnoticed. Years later, when the children looked at the book of photographs of their lives, they remarked that they had not realized that the photographer had been among them on this and that occasion.

"I wanted to make a timeless picture of culture, a vsual history of what we Americans were like in this period of time," Spaulding said. "Already you can see in these photographs how things we used have changed, such as pay phones that have since started to disappear. Looking at these pictures also gives you a sense of how time changes bodies and relationships, seen when the same people are photographed over many years in the same places."

Spaulding has children of her own, but she has not documented their lives as she has those of the McGarvey family. "I couldn't be both an observer and a participant with my own family," she explained. "The photos I made of my own children were the photos any mother would make. I was looking at the McGarveys differently, from a side and through a wider lens that included the context of place and time."

Photo by Pam Spaulding

How did the children react to Spaulding's omnipresence in their lives, the woman pointing the camera at them even in some awkward moments? "I think they accepted me and liked what I was doing," the photographer said. "Why wouldn't they? I was there for them at their ball games and school plays."

Over the years the McGarveys saw few of the pictures Spaulding made of the family. She once overheard one of the children telling a friend not to be self-conscious about the photographer, who apparently shot many pictures, but never processed any of them. "They were generally pleased when they finally got to see the pictures," Spaulding said. "Although Morgan couldn't believe I published one of him sitting on the pot."

Photo by Pam Spaulding

As Spaulding blended into the family's lives she came to know and appreciate their traditions and rituals. The project also changed her photography. "Shooting for a newspaper you want your pictures to be clean, very simple, and covering emotion. You shoot tight pictures. For the McGarveys I constantly had to tell myself to stand back, to shoot a wider scene. It was hard because it was not what I was doing on a daily basis for the newspaper."

So is the McGarvey project finally over? "No," Spaulding said. "I was there to photograph the birth of Sara, so how could I not be there to photograph the birth of her first child?"

Pam Spaulding

Photo courtesy of National Geographic Books

National Geographic Books provided a review copy of An American Family: Three Decades with the McGarveys for this entry. 

"The House is sending a firm signal that the devastating and illegal destruction of Madagascar's natural resources will not be tolerated," Blumenauer said. "Illegal logging not only does irreparable harm to the environment, but it destroys livelihoods.

"In Oregon and across the United States, at a time when we are working to recover the economy, illegal timber imports undermine legitimate logging operations.

"While Madagascar's de facto government continues to use its endangered resources to boost its regime, Congress today joined the administration in calling for an immediate end to these practices."

The Resolution responds to growing anxiety in the international conservation community that the continued plundering of Madagascar's few protected forests, for valuable rosewood and other timber, and with it the destruction of habitat vital for the survival of lemurs and numerous other rare species, has inflicted irreparable damage on the African island country's environment.

Satellite image courtesy NASA

Much of the California-size island has been eroded because of deforestation for farming. Most of the country's twenty million people are poor. Conservation projects such as national parks that would showcase Madagascar's abundance of endemic species were supposed to provide drawcards for tourists and researchers, creating income and work to kick-start local economies. But much of that is at risk because of recent political instability and the destruction of the forests.

There is also concern that what's been happening in Madagascar exacerbates the problem of worldwide illegal logging, which costs countries U.S.$10 billion-15 billion each year in lost revenues for legitimate lumber industries.

"Madagascar is home to almost 150,000 species of flora and fauna. The illegal extraction of these resources threatens biodiversity as well as legitimate logging operations in the U.S.--up to $460 million lost in export opportunities every year," Blumenauer said.

"After a coup in March, the new and weakened government of Andry Rajoelina issued sweeping decrees allowing the harvest and export of wood from protected forests and World Heritage Sites. The Obama administration has condemned the de facto government, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Conservation International have denounced the wholesale exploitation of some of the world's most diverse forests and decimation of the local population's resources and livelihoods. These groups have strongly endorsed Blumenauer's resolution," the Congressman's statement said.

NGS photo by Luis Marden

The House voted 409-5 to join the administration and environmental groups in speaking out against the devastation occurring in Madagascar. The Resolution was co-sponsored by 49 members, representing both Democrats and Republicans and including Congressman Donald Payne (D-New Jersey), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on the Committee for Foreign Affairs, and Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and the Global Environment.

Author of the Legal Timber Protection Act, Blumenauer is a global leader on the issue of illegal logging, his Web site states. The law, signed in May 2008, bans the import of illegally harvested timber and wood products and empowers regulators to keep illegally harvested timber out of the U.S.

NGS photo by Luis Marden

Commenting on today's House resolution, John Calvelli, Wildlife Conservation Society Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, said, "The situation in Madagascar is nothing short of tragic--not only for the people and wildlife of Madagascar, but for the entire planet. I applaud Congressman Blumenauer for his continued leadership in the United States Congress on the issue of illegal logging. This resolution will serve as a clear message to the current Malagasy government that the illegal harvesting of Madagascar's natural resources is unacceptable."

Said Lisa Steel, Deputy Director for Madagascar at WWF, "The loss of Madagascar's spectacular biodiversity would not only be a global tragedy, but it will further impoverish rural communities whose lives are inextricably tied to the health of their natural environments. While Madagascar is under the rule of a weakened government, it is essential that the international community work to stop the harvest and trade of illegal wood and other protected species, and we appreciate this important first step by Congressman Blumenauer."

"Congressman Blumenauer continues to play a leadership role in the global problem of illegal logging and the responsibility of consumer nations like the U.S. to support the fight against it, through policies like the Lacey Act and this resolution," said Alexander von Bismarck, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, which conducted a mission to Madagascar in August 2009 to evaluate the illegal logging situation.

Full text of the Resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives today:

H. RES. 839
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION
Condemning the illegal extraction of Madagascar's natural
resources.

Whereas Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island, and
home to up to 150,000 species of unique flora and fauna;

Whereas during the last 20 years, with the support of the
U.S. Government and others, Madagascar has made substantial
progress in stopping environmental degradation,
effectively managing natural resources and preserving its
unique biodiversity;

Whereas these natural resources provide essential benefits
and services for the basic needs of the majority of
Madagascar's people, three-quarters of whom live in rural
areas and two-thirds of whom live on less than $2 per
day;

Whereas these natural resources also provide economic development
in the tourism sector, drawing an estimated
$390,000,000 per year;

Whereas the Obama Administration has condemned Marc
Ravalomanana's forced resignation as President of the
Republic of Madagascar, and Andry Rajoelina's installation
as de facto head of state, as tantamount to a coup
d'etat, undemocratic, and contrary to the rule of law;

Whereas in March 2009, the Obama Administration announced
a suspension of non-humanitarian assistance to
the de facto Andry Rajoelina government;

Whereas, given that 2⁄3 of people live off the natural resources,
decreased assistance for conservation efforts is
having dire humanitarian consequences;

Whereas the African Union and the Southern African Development
Community have suspended Madagascar's participation
until constitutional order is restored;

Whereas in October 2009, the World Wide Fund (WWF),
Conservation International, and the Wildlife Conservation
Society condemned an interministerial order issued by the
current administration granting sweeping authorization
to export raw and semi-processed hard wood as
''legaliz[ing] the sale of illegally cut and collected wood
onto the market; allow[ing] for the potential embezzlement
of funds in the name of environmental protection
and constitut[ing] a legal incentive for further corruption
in the forestry sector'';

Whereas the following natural resource degradation is occurring
under the de facto government's watch--

(1) open and organized plundering of precious wood
from natural forests, including World Heritage Sites such
as Marojejy and Masoala National Parks;

(2) intimidation and menace of legitimate local community
management structures, and expropriation of revenue
and benefits from them, causing suffering and impoverishment;

(3) intensified smuggling of endemic and protected
species and species parts and/or products to the national
and international markets;

(4) proliferation of destructive practices such as illegal
mining and slash-and-burn agriculture within protected
areas and environmentally sensitive areas;

(5) degradation of forests, pushing some rosewood
and ebony species to the brink of extinction; and

(6) the degradation of the resource base upon which
rural communities depend representing an immediate and
future threat to local governance, local incomes, and food
security; and

Whereas the vast majority of this precious wood is destined
for global export markets: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) calls on people of Madagascar to immediately
undertake a democratic, consensual process
to restore constitutional governance, culminating in
free, fair and peaceful elections;

(2) strongly condemns the illegal extraction of
Madagascar's natural resources and its impact on
biodiversity and livelihoods of rural communities,
including illegal logging, smuggling of wild species,
and illegal mining;

(3) supports action by competent authorities
and the people of Madagascar to stop this illegal
devastation and bring those perpetrating these
crimes to justice;

(4) calls upon importing countries to intensify
their inspection and monitoring processes to ensure
that they do not contribute to the demand for ille10
gally sourced precious woods from Madagascar; and

(5) calls upon consumers of rosewood and
ebony products to check their origin, and boycott
those made of Malagasy wood, until constitutional
order is restored.

 

You might also be interested in:

The call to boycott Madagascar's rosewood and ebony explained
Conservation biologist Stuart Pimm writes about his observations of the diversity in Madagascar and how the current pillaging of the country's natural heritage threatens not only to destroy decades of conservation work, but also ruin the one chance that communities adjacent to national parks have to escape poverty.

Conservationists Call on Malagasy People to Stop Forest Plunder
Eleven groups that fund and help manage conservation of Madagascar's remaining wilderness heritage issued a joint statement deploring the invasion by armed looters of national parks and forests, illegal timber extraction, illegal mining, and intensified smuggling of endangered species.

Act Aggressively to Curb Illegal Logging, Madagascar Urged
Madagascar's efforts to curtail illegal logging in the World Heritage Sites of Masoala and Marojejy National Parks and their peripheral zones have not reduced the impact of logging in the immediate term, say governments, international agencies, and conservation groups that support conservation of the country's natural heritage.

Lemurs, Rare Forests Threatened by Madagascar Strife
Looters are invading Madagascar's protected wildlife sanctuaries, harvesting trees and threatening critically endangered lemurs and other species. (March 2009)

 

Homo sapiens is not at the top of the list.

In fact, we humans, who like to imagine that we are the masters of the universe, don't even rank in the top five.

The most influential species (defined as the species that has most changed life on Earth) is ... the earthworm.

Photo courtesy USDA

"According to Charles Darwin, no living thing has had such a profound impact on history as has the earthworm," says Christopher Lloyd, a history scholar at Cambridge University, UK, and author of What on Earth Evolved?: 100 Species that Changed the World (Bloomsbury, November 2009, $45).

After considering the most important species that evolved before the ascent of human civilization, from the beginning of life on Earth until about 12,000 years ago, and then mulling all the species that have been successful since 12,000 years ago--that is the species that have flourished because of modern humans--Lloyd finds that he agrees with Charles Darwin: The earthworm is indeed the most influential species in the history of the planet.

Descendants of sea worms that existed five hundred million years ago, earthworms came ashore with the first invertebrate invasions of the land, making their living in damp soils broken up by bacteria, fungi and the roots of colonizing plants, Lloyd writes. "These earthworms have been ploughing up the earth, ventilating the soil and nourishing terrestrial ecosystems with their excrement ever since."

The survivors of five mass extinctions, earthworms have had profound impacts on human history, Lloyd says.

"Were it not for their continuous regeneration of soils around damp river valleys such as the Nile, Indus, and Euphrates, early agricultural societies in Egypt, India, and Mesopotamia could never have succeeded in building humanity's first large-scale urban communities." 

"Wherever eathworms plough, people thrive. When worms perish, societies collapse."

Throughout human history earthworms have unintentionally but undeniably triggered the rise of civilizations, Lloyd adds. "Wherever eathworms plough, people thrive. When worms perish, societies collapse."

The European earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) is probably the most prolific and invasive species in the world, Lloyd says.

"Its success is largely thanks to the spread of Europeans, c. 1600 onwards.

"Immigrant farmers inadvertently brought these earthworms, sometimes called 'night crawlers,' in everything from the soil in their potted plants and their horses' hooves, to the treads of their boots and the wheels of their wagons.

"Today there is hardly a region of North America where Europe's earthworms have not made a home for themselves. There they continue to plough, ventilate and fertilize the soil to the general benefit of life in and on the Earth."

Before Man, After Man

What on Earth Evolved? is divided into two sections--Before Man and After Man. Starting with the early Earth, when loose strands of genetic code swarmed the planet, Lloyd explores the most significant lifeforms that evolved in the deep oceans and then wriggled ashore to become pioneers of life on land. In the second section, the author shows how co-evolution of humans and numerous other key species transformed Earth over the past 12,000 years.

A newspaper science and technology correspondent in a previous career, Lloyd has produced an accessible read, guiding the reader through capsule biographies of a hundred of the most influential species. They include slime, sea scorpions, dragonflies, potatoes, ants, tulips, sheep, dogs, cats, coca, opium, poppies, and grapes.

He ranks the species into a table of influence, revealing those that have most changed life on Earth. Academics will no doubt debate the selection and process, but Lloyd makes a compelling, albeit concise, case for each species. The full list of the hundred most influential species may be seen on the book's Web site, or in the book itself.

Covering all of life in one book would be impossible, of course, but Lloyd has taken an interesting approach to some of the most marvelous products of evolution, leading to renewed appreciation of how much life has succeeded through both competition and collaboration.

Here is Lloyd's top ten most influential species of all evolution:

Evolution's top ten species

1. Earthworm
Made it possible for humans to cultivate the planet, settle, and build civilizations.

2. Algae
Without the countless forms of microscopic algae, larger forms of sea life would never have been able to evolve. All land plants are descended from ancestral forms of algae.

3. Cyanobacteria
Plants, trees, and animals all owe their existence to the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans, supplies of which were originally established by cyanobacteria, a photosynthesizing bacterium that breaks down carbon dioxide and excretes oxygen.

4. Rhizobia
Organisms capable of "fixing" atmospheric nitrogen into soluble nitrates that fertilize the soil so that plants and trees can thrive.

5. Lactobacillus
Bacteria that live inside the human colon, providing beneficial services such as assistance with digestion of milk and protection against harmful bacteria and organisms such as viruses and fungi.

6. Homo sapiens
Humans did not crack the No. 1 position on Lloyd's list, but we merit five pages in his 416-page book and we are the only mammal in the top 10. We lose points chiefly as a result of our recent evolutionary emergence.

We may not rank as the most influential species in this analysis, but our impact pervades the past 12,000 years as we learned to farm animals and plants and harness mch of the resources of the planet.  In that time humans have had a profound impact on many other species, nurturing those useful to us and driving many that are of little value to us into isolation and even into extinction. Our impact on evolution is clearly in its early phases.

7. Stony corals
Coral reefs are powerful places for the natural conservation and co-operation of species, resulting in the construction of massive undewrwater mountains that house an extraordinary diversity of life.

8. Yeast
It is almost exclusively thanks to the action of this single-celled microscopic fungus that humanity has been able to enjoy everything from leavened bread to fine wine. Some of our best prospects for fuelling sustainable industrialization and transportation in the future are based on ethanol, a by-product of yeast.

9. Influenza
One of humanity's biggest ever killers and still the largest threat to populations on Earth.

10. Penicillium
A naturally occurring antibiotic that has transformed modern medicine and substantially increased human populations.

Bloomsbury Publishing provided a copy of What on Earth Evolved? for this entry.

Geneticist and author Sean B. Carroll will explain how DNA holds a living record of the evolutionary adaptations that allow species to evolve and thrive in diverse environments all over the Earth.

By Brian Handwerk,
Special contributor to NatGeo News Watch

The story of evolution is written in our genes. But that story isn't merely the "survival of the fittest," it's also a story about how the fittest are made.

"It's a look at evolution at its most fundamental level, the genetic changes that make individuals and species different. Species change because of changes in their DNA," said University of Wisconsin geneticist Sean B. Carroll.

Sean B. Carroll is the author of The Making of the Fittest (2006, W.W. Norton) and of Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo (2005, W.W. Norton).

His book, The Making of the Fittest, describes how scientists have learned to pinpoint the specific genetic changes that cause evolutionary adaptations. DNA evidence records the many gene shifts that gave rise to incredible species like fish able to live in sub-freezing waters, or birds that see in ultraviolet light, as well as others no less incredible but more familiar--including ourselves.

Carroll will take listeners inside the gene, and celebrate the 150th anniversary of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, in a lecture, "The Making of the Fittest," delivered Wednesday, November 4 (8 p.m. ET) at the University of Wisconsin and live to the Web audience around the world.

Listen to the Lecture >>

Drinking out of the firehose

The past decade has seen the discovery of a massive new record of evolution, locked in the DNA of species both living and extinct. Geneticists working with this material are learning to pinpoint the specific DNA changes that have enabled species to adapt to wherever they may live on the planet

In fact, in recent years DNA studies have begun to produce so much evidence that Carroll calls the analysis "drinking out of the firehose." The amount of information contained in the genes of a particular creature is simply enormous.

"All the sets of changes that have occurred that make it different from its existing relatives or previous species [are in evidence]," he explained. "Which ones account for changes in form, physiology, behavior--it's just a massive amount of information."

Evolution itself only moves forward, but evidence of the process may be traced in either direction.

"Information in DNA can tell us how current species are different from their ancestors, not just in new information that's gained but also in old information that's lost or decayed--fossil genes," Carroll said. "Those broken pieces of genetic information give a hint as to how these species' ancestors lived."

The record not only shows when successful adaptations occurred. It also evidences what kinds of genes, slowly decaying through the generations, are no longer important to species but were once vital to their ancestors.

"For example a lot of our human genes for detecting odors are in the process of decay, whereas they are intact in animals like mice that are still living by their noses. A shift in our lifestyle made us probably more dependent on vision and has relaxed pressure on our olfactory system. The evidence of that is right here in the DNA."

Darwin's Mystery Solved

Carroll adds that the evolutionary study of DNA is replete with surprises, like finding the same type of adaptations happening again and again, in different species, in different parts of the world, at different times. In that case the DNA record shows that different animals came up with the same genetic solution to the same survival problems.

"There is nothing like repetition to drill home the message, and that's what biology has conveniently [provided]," he said.

Charles Darwin himself, of course, couldn't pursue his theories into the study of DNA. The science simply didn't exist. But the father of evolution understood that the mechanism of heredity was essential, though he didn't know exactly how traits were inherited at the most basic level.

"He knew in time that if we understood heredity we'd understand variation," Carroll said.

Darwin Live on the Web

"The Making of the Fittest" is the third of a free Webcast lecture series in which some of the world's top scientific minds tackle evolutionary topics.

Later speakers will include E.O. Wilson on the future frontiers of evolutionary biology (November 24).

The first lecture, Everett Mendelsohn on The World Before Darwin, is archived here.

The second lecture, Jonathan Weiner' On Variation, can be heard here.

The series was organized by a group of volunteer Darwin devotees who also hope to rally 1,000,000 users to a Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53320310123) celebrating this year's 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species.

Darwin Facebook campaign:

Darwin Devotees Make "Father of Evolution" Facebook Superstar
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life joined a Facebook group devoted to the celebration of this year's 200th anniversary of the birth of the "Father of Evolution," Charles Darwin. Now the organizers of the Facebook group are hoping hundreds of thousands more will sign up to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Darwin's famous book, On the Origin of Species.

The World Before Darwin
Travel back in time to visit "The World Before Darwin," courtesy of a free webcast lecture with Everett Mendelsohn, emeritus professor at Harvard University. (See the lecture here.) Mendelsohn explored the milieu in which Darwin published "On the Origin of Species" 150 years ago, reveal its other evolutionary thinkers, and shed light on skeptics from the worlds of religion and science.

Darwin on Variation
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Columbia University professor Jonathan Weiner delved into Darwin's evolutionary theories in the webcast lecture "On Variation." (Hear the podcast here.) Weiner tracked Darwin's footsteps to reveal how the Father of Evolution deduced that many species are descended from common ancestors, and that the variation among them evidences their evolutionary journeys of natural selection.

Darwin resources:

Darwin's First Clues (National Geographic Magazine)

Was Darwin Wrong? (National Geographic Magazine)

PHOTOS: 7 Major "Missing Links" Since Darwin (National Geographic News)

"Instant" Evolution Seen in Darwin's Finches, Study Says (National Geographic News)

Darwin's Secret Notebooks (National Geographic Channel)

PHOTOS: How Do Species Evolve? (National Geographic News)

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online

Darwin Correspondence Project

Darwin Digital Library of Evolution

The Charles Darwin Trust

Threatened with extinction are:

• 21 percent of all known mammals
• 30 percent of all known amphibians
• 12 percent of all known birds
• 28 percent of assessed reptiles
• 37 percent of assessed freshwater fishes
• 70 percent of assessed plants
• 35 percent of assessed invertebrates

"The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," said Jane Smart, director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group, in a news statement accompanying the 2009 Red List.

This gorgeted puffleg (Eriocnemis isabellae) entered the IUCN Red List in 2009 as Critically Endangered. The species is known from southwest Colombia, where it occurs in a tiny area of the Serraníadel Pinche. The global population is not known but is presumably very small given that the area of suitable habitat available for this species is thought to be less than 2,500 acres, and it is suspected to be decreasing as elfin forest habitat is converted for agriculture and illegal coca plantations. The primary threat to this bird is the shifting of the agricultural border towards remaining primary forests, causing a loss of vegetation cover, contamination of watersheds and soil degradation. Illegal coca cultivation is a major threat due to the lack of governmental presence, with 8.3 percent of potentially suitable habitat reportedly damaged annually by coca cultivation.

Photo © Alex Cortes. Photo supplied by BirdLife International.

"It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

"January sees the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity," Jane Smart added in today's statement. "The latest analysis of the IUCN Red List shows the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met.

"It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

Tip of the iceberg

"This year's IUCN Red List makes for sobering reading," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit. "These results are just the tip of the iceberg. We have only managed to assess 47,663 species so far; there are many more millions out there which could be under serious threat. We do, however, know from experience that conservation action works so let's not wait until it's too late and start saving our species now."

Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) entered the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered in 2009.

It is known only from central Panama, where it occurs in tropical forest canopy. In 2006, the chytrid fungus was reported in the area where this species is known to occur. Since then, only one individual has been heard calling. There is also some ongoing forest clearing within the species' range for the development of luxury holiday homes, although this potential threat has not yet reached critical levels. This treefrog is one of several species collected for captive breeding efforts, however so far attempts at captive breeding have not produced positive results.

Photo © Brad Wilson

Switzerland-based IUCN is a global environment organization that works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting research, managing field projects, and bringing governments, NGOs, the United Nations and corporations together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is a comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken. Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as "Threatened."

Photo © Gerald Allen

Highlights from today's IUCN statement:

Mammals

Of the world's 5,490 mammals, 79 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, with 188 Critically Endangered, 449 Endangered and 505 Vulnerable.

The eastern voalavo (Voalavo antsahabensis) appears on the IUCN Red List for the first time in the Endangered category. This rodent, endemic to Madagascar, is confined to montane tropical forest and is under threat from slash-and-burn farming.

Reptiles

There are now 1,677 reptiles on the IUCN Red List, with 293 added this year. In total, 469 are threatened with extinction and 22 are already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild.

The 165 endemic Philippine species new to the IUCN Red List include the Panay monitor lizard (Varanus mabitang), which is Endangered. This highly-specialized monitor lizard is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and logging and is hunted by humans for food.

The rare Panay monitor lizard occurs in large trees in primary lowland tropical moist forest. The species is a highly specialized frugivorous monitor lizard (it feeds on fruit). The loss and degradation of lowland forest habitat through conversion of land for agricultural use and logging operations is a threat to this lizard. The species is also hunted by humans for food and overhunting is a serious threat to the remaining population.

Photo © Tim Laman 

The sail-fin water lizard (Hydrosaurus pustulatus) enters in the Vulnerable category and is also threatened by habitat loss. Hatchlings are heavily collected both for the pet trade and for local consumption.

"The world's reptiles are undoubtedly suffering, but the picture may be much worse than it currently looks," says Simon Stuart, chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission. "We need an assessment of all reptiles to understand the severity of the situation, but we don't have the U.S.$2-3 million to carry it out."

Amphibians

The IUCN Red List shows that 1,895 of the planet's 6,285 amphibians are in danger of extinction, making them the most threatened group of species known to date. Of these, 39 are already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, 484 are Critically Endangered, 754 are Endangered and 657 are Vulnerable.

Photo © Tim Herman

The fungus also affected the Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog, which enters the Red List as Critically Endangered. (See photo and description higher on this page.)

Plants

Of the 12,151 plants on the IUCN Red List, 8,500 are threatened with extinction, with 114 already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild.

The Queen of the Andes (Puya raimondii) has been reassessed and remains in the Endangered category. Found in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, it only produces seeds once in 80 years before dying. Climate change may already be impairing its ability to flower and cattle roam freely among many colonies, trampling or eating young plants. Other threats include young plants being eaten or trampled by livestock, fires, and removal of pith from trunks.

Photo © Antonio Lambe (Acción Ambiental)

Toussaintia patriciae is an Endangered shrub species native to Tanzania. It is known from less than 30 trees in the Udzwunga Mountains National Park and West Kilombero Nature Reserve, and occurs in very low numbers where found, though it is cryptic when not flowering and may be more common that is currently known. It is considered relatively secure at present, as the population is present in protected areas and occurs above the altitude to which firewood collectors are allowed to operate. However, this species could become more threatened very quickly if the impacts of human activities, especially wood collection, were to increase.

Photo © Quentin Luke

Invertebrates

There are now 7,615 invertebrates on the IUCN Red List this year, 2,639 of which are threatened with extinction. Scientists added 1,360 dragonflies and damselflies, bringing the total to 1,989, of which 261 are threatened.

The giant jewel (Chlorocypha centripunctata) is known from the Obudu Plateau, Nigeria and from Mount Kupe and the Bakossi Mountains Cameroon. The species occurs in and around rain forest streams above 700-meter altitude. Habitat loss through selective logging and forest destruction for agricultural expansion is the main threat to this species. The species entered the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable in 2009.

Photo © Kai Schütte

Molluscs

Scientists also added 94 molluscs, bringing the total number assessed to 2,306, of which 1,036 are threatened.

All seven freshwater snails from Lake Dianchi in Yunnan Province, China, are new to the IUCN Red List and all are threatened. These join 13 freshwater fishes from the same area, 12 of which are threatened. The main threats are pollution, introduced fish species and overharvesting.

Freshwater Fishes

There are now 3,120 freshwater fishes on the IUCN Red List, up 510 species from last year. Although there is still a long way to go before the status all the world's freshwater fishes is known, 1,147 of those assessed so far are threatened with extinction.

Photo © Chavalit Vidthayanon

The brown mudfish (Neochanna apoda), found only in New Zealand, has been moved from Near Threatened to Vulnerable as it has disappeared from many areas in its range. Approximately 85-90 percent of New Zealand's wetlands have been lost or degraded through drainage schemes, irrigation and land development.

The status of the Australian grayling (Prototroctes maraena), a freshwater fish, has improved as a result of conservation efforts. Now classed as Near Threatened as opposed to Vulnerable, the population has recovered thanks to fish ladders which have been constructed over dams to allow migration, enhanced riverside vegetation and the education of fishermen, who now face heavy penalties if found with this species

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected."

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected. This year we have again added a large number of them to the IUCN Red List and are confirming the high levels of threat to many freshwater animals and plants. This reflects the state of our precious water resources. There is now an urgency to pursue our effort but most importantly to start using this information to move towards a wise use of water resources," said Jean-Christophe Vié, deputy head of the IUCN Species Programme.

Downlisted bird species

The Mauritius fody (Foudia rubra) was downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered because its extremely small population has been stable since the early 1990s and is now increasing following an island translocation. The species is restricted to southwest Mauritius, and suffered rapid population declines between 1975 and 1993. However, since 1993 the population has been stable, and there is evidence that dispersing juveniles are now setting up new breeding territories, expanding the range of the species. Historically, clearance of upland forest, particularly for plantations in the 1970s, catastrophically affected this species. Introduced predators (e.g. black rat (Rattus rattus) and crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis)) caused almost total breeding failure in most areas, and nest predation is still the major threat to the species.

Photo © Lucy Garrett (Rare Birds Yearbook). Photo supplied by BirdLife International.

Global figures for 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Total species assessed = 47,677
Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 875 (2%) [Extinct = 809; Extinct in the Wild = 66].
Total threatened = 17,291 (36%) [Critically Endangered = 3,325; Endangered = 4,891; Vulnerable = 9,075].
Total Near Threatened = 3,650 (8%).
Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 281 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
Total Data Deficient = 6,557 (14%)
Total Least Concern = 19,023 (40%)

Global figures for 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Total assessed = 44,838
Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 869 (2%) [Extinct = 804 ; Extinct in the Wild = 65]
Total threatened = 16,928 (38%) [Critically Endangered = 3,246; Endangered = 4,770; Vulnerable = 8,912]
Total Near Threatened = 3,513 (8%)
Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 283 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
Total Data Deficient = 5,570 (12%)
Total Least Concern = 17,675 (39%)

Not all species on the IUCN Red List are threatened. There are now more species on the IUCN Red List. This means that the overall percentage of threatened species has gone down by two percent. This is not because the status of the world's biodiversity is improving, IUCN noted, but because we have assessed more species.

"In the past, Red List assessments often focused on species that were already thought to be threatened, but as the Red List grows to include more complete assessments across entire groups, we are beginning to have a better idea of the relative proportion of species which are threatened against those which are not threatened."

The route stretches from the base of Idaho's Pioneers Mountains to the continental divide's Beaverhead Mountains, passing through Craters of the Moon National Monument and Reserve--a round trip of more than 160 miles.

"The route crosses federal, state, and private land and narrows in one stretch to a bottleneck less than two football fields wide.

Migration map courtesy of WCS

There, animals are restricted by mountains, fences, a highway, and fields of jagged lava from Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve," WCS said.

The discovery is part of an ongoing study to track pronghorn using GPS and radio collars. Investigators include Scott Bergen of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Tess O'Sullivan of the Lava Lake Institute of Science and Conservation, and Mark Hurley of Idaho Fish and Game.

"This study shows that pronghorn are the true marathoners of the American West," said Scott Bergen, project director for WCS. "With these new findings, we can confirm that Idaho supports a major overland mammal migration--something that is becoming increasingly rare in the U.S. and worldwide."

NGS photo of pronghorn by Sam Abell

To establish the newly discovered migration route, the researchers tracked the pronghorn's daily movements during their annual migration. They estimate 100-200 pronghorn currently use the migration route. During the winter, the pronghorn congregate with other regional herds from the area, making it Idaho's largest pronghorn herd of around one thousand animals, WCS said.

"Growing interest in development of large-scale wind farms and their associated power lines could threaten the migration route."

The newly discovered route is threatened by increased habitat fragmentation from development and other land-use changes, the researchers said. "Growing interest in development of large-scale wind farms and their associated power lines could threaten the migration route."

Both sexes sport impressive, backward-curving horns. The horns split to form forward-pointing prongs that give the species its name.

NGS photo by Bates Littlehales

As the American West continues to face increased development pressure, preserving migratory corridors will become more and more crucial to safeguarding large populations of wildlife like pronghorn, said Jodi Hilty, director of North America Programs for the Wildlife Conservation Society, and author of the book Corridor Ecology. "We have lost so many migrations globally, that these sorts of finds should inspire more of us to help give this uniquely American species a chance to roam in Idaho and throughout its range."

"Recently the Governors of Idaho and Montana signed agreements with the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Energy to improve management on federal lands where pronghorn migrate. In addition, Congress has recognized the value of wildlife migrations corridors as a strategy for adapting to global warming in pending climate change legislation."

Watch this National Geographic Wild Chronicles video "Epic migration seen 'through eyes'of' antelope". It covers the work of National Geographic grantee Joe Riis, a wildlife photojournalist and biologist who was the first to document an entire pronghorn migration on foot.

In a separate project in 2005, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists used GPS collars to document another migratory herd of pronghorn in Wyoming that travel from Grand Teton National Park to the Green River Valley. "With the leadership of the U.S. Forest Service, the nation's first designated wildlife migration corridor to protect 150-mile round-trip movement of pronghorn in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was created. It has since been safeguarded in a unique public/private partnership called 'Path of the Pronghorn,'" WCS said.

The project which led to the discovery of the new migration route is being supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Idaho Conservation League, LightHawk Aviation, National Park Foundation, the National Park Service, The Conservation Fund, Wood River Land Trust, Carey area landowners and ranchers, The Nature Conservancy, and the Craters of the Moon Natural History Association.

National Geographic Channel will premiere an epic series about animal migrations in Fall 2010.

Related National Geographic News stories:

Rallying to Protect US Antelope Migration Route

Photos: Epic Migration Seen "Through Eyes of" Antelope

Zoo photographer Julie Larsen Maher frequently submits photos for our "Zoo News" feature on this blog. Halloween 2009 is no exception.

The animals were photographed in the Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Central Park Zoo,  and the New York Aquarium--all operated in the New York area by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Here is a selection of some of Julie Larsen's Halloween photos:

Photo of snow leopard with pumpkin at central Park Zoo by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of ananconda with pumpkin by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of meerkats and pumpkin by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of radiated tortoise exploring Halloween snack by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of Andean bear demolishing pumpkin by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of leaf insect by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of octopus and pumpkin by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of pumpkin and Madagascar hissing cockroaches by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of saki monkey eyeing a pumpkin by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of porcupine at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of king vulture at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of lace monitor at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of Surinam horned frog at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of python at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of sea lion at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

WCS photo of Pallas's cat at Halloween by Julie Larsen Maher

More photos of animals:  Zoo News >>

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted last week 4-to-1 to give Hawaii Oceanic Technology permission to install three large underwater cages for the tuna, the Associated Press reported. "But the board is requiring the company to return for permission to build an additional nine cages once it has demonstrated the idea works," AP said.

In an artist's conception, Oceanspheres are suspended in the open sea. Each 162-foot-wide (49-meter-wide) aluminum-and-Kevlar cage would be completely untethered to the ocean floor and self-powered by a system that converts the ocean's thermal energy to electricity. The spheres lie about 65 feet below the ocean surface, and the company says they are designed so as not to be a hazard to whales, sharks, or other marine life.

Illustration of oceanspheres courtesy of Hawaii Oceanic Technology

Twelve Oceanspheres will be deployed incrementally over four years, if permission to install all of them is given. Together they would have an annual production capacity of 6,000 tons of tuna, which the company plans to sell primarily to the U.S. mainland and Japanese markets, where prices are highest.

"The company has designed a system that will have no significant impact on the ocean and surrounding environment," Hawaii Oceanic Technology said in a recent news statement. "To do this, the company is building very large submergible fish farming platforms...that adapt technologies from the defense, oceanographic and the offshore oil drilling industries to raise large amounts of seafood in an environmentally responsible manner," said Chief Technology Director, Paul Troy.

Illustration of oceanspheres courtesy of Hawaii Oceanic Technology

"We are reducing the carbon footprint associated with producing seafood by using renewable energy technology and state-of the-art telecommunications techniques to maintain our Oceanspheres in very deep water away from the shoreline in geostatic position," Troy said. 

When fully operational, the 12 Oceanspheres will operate in 247 ocean acres producing the 6,000 tons of Bigeye tuna per year. "More than 21,000 acres of land would be needed to produce the same amount of beef protein," Hawaii Oceanic Technology CEO Bill Spencer said. "By taking advantage of all three dimensions of the ocean, we can be more efficient while using just a tiny speck of ocean when compared to the area of the vast Pacific," he said.

"Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that has an ocean lease regulatory framework that allows a company like ours to lease an ocean column for the purpose of fish farming," Spencer added. "Our goal is to demonstrate that you can move some types of fish farming out into deep water where larger farms can be constructed and environmental impact can be insignificant due to naturally occurring processes."

Illustration of oceanspheres courtesy of Hawaii Oceanic Technology

Fingerlings will be grown in land-based tanks at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center in Hilo and/ or a future Natural Energy Laboratory Hawaii Authority tuna hatchery in Kona from eggs collected from locally-caught broodstock.

About seven additional tuna would be caught each year in local waters to freshen the gene pool of the captured broodstock, the company said.

The 12-inch, 5-pound fingerlings will be transferred by vessel to the Oceanspheres, and grown to 100-pound harvest size using dry fish feed through automated feed dispensers.

The land base for operations and maintenance equipment, vessels, and staff will be Kawaihae Commercial Harbor. Tuna will be harvested at sea for transshipping through Kawaihae or Hilo Harbor to existing processing and packaging vendors for air-freight to US mainland, Japan, and Hawaii markets.

This marks the first time that an Ali family member has returned to Kinshasa, the city where one of sports most historic events occured, said a news statement about Ali's visit.

Photo by Jowan Gauthier

Khaliah Ali's visit to the Congo culminates tomorrow, October 30, at the Mai 20 Stadium, site of "Rumble in the Jungle," when world heavyweight champion George Foreman faced off against former world champion and challenger Muhammad Ali.

In what has since been regarded as one of the classic fights of history, Ali regained the title, defying the predictions of most pundits. "Rumble in the Jungle" continues to be re-aired several times a year on cable television.

"My father and the Congolese people share a remarkable bond born from an event that empowered a country and supported him as he reclaimed his heavyweight crown," Ali said in the statement. "I know that the spirit of the 60,000 people who witnessed the fight lives inside his heart to this day.

"It has been my dream to show my deep affection and gratitude to the Congolese people for the integral role they played in my own family's history."

"It has been my dream to show my deep affection and gratitude to the Congolese people for the integral role they played in my own family's history.

"Additionally, this trip offers an opportunity for me to become further involved in ongoing relief programs and to gain a fuller understanding of the progress underway in the western and southern regions and the tragedies that still exist in the east."

Photo by Jowan Gauthier

Social activist, author, and fashion designer, Khaliah Ali is engaged with numerous philanthropic activities, including serving as board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters International; on-air spokesperson for Youth at Risk; Advisory board member and spokesperson for Help USA; chairwoman for the Friends of The Statue of Liberty Foundation; director of development for the Urban Retrievers Program; youth entertainment consultant to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; and senior staff member with the Job Core Program.

She is using her visit to the Congo to raise awareness fpr the efforts of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and otner humanitarian agencies serving the country.

Prior to her departure for the Congo, Ali prepared this statement about why she identifies with the people of the Congo and wants to help the country overcome its current challenges:

By Khaliah Ali

October 30 will mark 35 years since my father, Muhammad Ali, fought his first boxing match outside the U.S.--the "Rumble in the Jungle," which took place in the Congo.

The Congo was struggling--a young, impoverished country seeking identity on the world stage. My father was struggling too--his opponent was twice his size and younger than he was. A lot was riding on this fight.

But the iconic moment of that trip for him was not his win. It occurred perhaps the next morning, when after a thorough search, no one could find him to engage him in victory celebrations. Finally, he was located in a dusty village doing magic tricks for children.

He had intuitively grasped the bond. Here was a country that had just come out of unimaginable oppression in its successful bid for independence but had far to go.

Khaliah Ali (left) with Noella Coursaris Musunka, a Congolese fashion model who founded the Georges Malaika Foundation. Together they placed the first stone for a new girls' school in Katanga.

Photo by Jowan Gauthier

My father, a black man who had grown up in Louisville, Kentucky, was the embodiment of overcoming every obstacle imaginable, of the notion that you can get "here" from "there." His bringing attention to the Congo, and the plight of the Congolese, was their iconic moment--their own version of George Washington crossing the Delaware.

But the Congo is still crossing. The country is plagued by a horrific civil war in the east where tens of thousands of women are being raped. Rape is being used as a weapon of war, in fact, to damage the population in that region to the point that they won't reproduce.

Photo by Jowan Gauthier

I am too young to remember my father's trip. The day I was born, Father's Day 1974, he gave a press conference to talk about the fact that he would be going abroad in a few months.

But I am not too young to know that my father, who came of age during the Civil Rights era, knows the importance of never allowing anyone else to be devalued, of never accepting the status quo. That is why, with a mixture of pride and determination, I leave for the Congo to continue to help build the humanitarian bridge for which he laid the cornerstone so many years ago.

With Noella Coursaris Musunka, a Congolese fashion model who founded the Georges Malaika Foundation, I will lay the first stone for a new girls' school in Katanga. It's been proven that when girls go to school, a nation's GDP increases, and the rates of HIV infection dramatically decrease. Educated girls are not so easily forced into marriages with men who take many partners at once.

We will also visit a women's entrepreneurship college, where women are taught skills that will allow them to succeed in business, choose their own destinies, and help build a vibrant country. Without women, half of a nation's population, a country has no backbone.

Photo by Jowan Gauthier

We will be visiting programs benefited by UNICEF, The United Nations World Food Programme and other helping organizations.

I will also have the opportunity to speak to the students of The University of Lubumbashi and The University of Kinshasa and learn about the diverse needs of the Congolese people.

My father is no longer in the position to make such a trip easily. But I will be accompanied on this journey "back" by my 10-year-old son. To this young boy's grandfather, that's how it should be. Humanitarian efforts are supposed to stretch seamlessly not only from nation to nation but also from generation to generation.

Representatives of governments, nongovernmental organizations, commercial entities, academic institutions, and indigenous people's organizations will review the treaty as a remarkable accomplishment of international cooperation.

And they will ponder how the Antarctic Treaty shows the way to international management of not only other international spaces, such as the deep seas and outer space, but also shared responsibilities for the atmosphere, fisheries, and similar transboundary resources.

The Antarctic Treaty Summit: Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance will be convened in Washington, D.C. from November 30-December 3, 2009. The organizers invite broad participation in the Summit, "which is being convened with the sprit of balanced international, interdisciplinary and inclusive engagement."  Registration and other information can be found on the Antarctic Treaty Summit Web site. 

Forever Declaration

"We will use the Antarctic Treaty Summit to proclaim a 'Forever Declaration,' which everyone in the world can sign, elaborating on the concept of 'forever' from the preamble to the Antarctic Treaty," says Paul Berkman, chair of the International Board for the Antarctic Treaty Summit.

"The Antarctic Treaty is as an example of how different nations can cooperate for peaceful purposes in ways that are equitable, balanced, continuous, and offer hope to the world."

The Forever Declaration will be introduced on December 1, the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, and will be open for signature by anyone via the Internet.

Image of Antarctica courtesy NASA

"It is something which the entire world can make a shared statement about cooperation, using regions for peaceful purposes only, based on the notion of common interests," Berkman says. "That is the hope and aspiration of the Forever Declaration."

Berkman has a remarkable story to tell about the Antarctic Treaty, from its origins in the Cold War and the superpower race to acquire nuclear weaponry and dominate outer space, to the way the treaty was able to harness science as a framework for diplomacy.

In this three-part series, Berkman tells the story:

The Antarctic Treaty Summit convenes in Washington, D.C., on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the agreement "in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes."

"President Eisenhower's decision to stand back for the Soviet Union in putting a rocket into space opened the possibility for the U.S. to engage the Soviet Union," Berkman said. "Eisenhower recognized that science could be used as a tool of diplomacy to create a vehicle of cooperation where there was none beforehand."

In this second part of a three-part series on the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, Berkman explains how the frozen southern continent presented the opportunity for the leading Cold War protagonists to come together on the basis of "common interests" and, in the name of science, co-manage a vast portion of the Earth for peaceful purposes only.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty on its signature-day in the city where it was signed "with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind," the Antarctic Treaty Summit: Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance will be convened in Washington, D.C. from 30 November 30-December 1, 2009. Its goal is to assess lessons about managing nearly 10 percent of the Earth "for peaceful purposes only." Visit the Antarctic Treaty Summit Web site for registration and other information.

By Paul Berkman,
Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

In May 1958, using the example of cooperation during the International Geophysical Year (read the first part of this series), President Eisenhower suggested that all nations engaged in research in Antarctica come to the U.S. and begin the process of negotiating an agreement to manage the Antarctic collectively.

Eisenhower did this over the objections of his Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the 1950s the U.S. was going through McCarthyism and the whole concept of pinkos and reds and people's lives were damaged because of any word of Russian in their background.

During this period, between May 1958 and October 1959, there were 60 secret meetings between the 12 nations who were involved in studying Antarctica during International Geophysical Year.

In October 1959 the formal Conference on Antarctica began in Washington, D.C. It lasted from October 15 to December, 1, on which day the Antarctic Treaty was signed in the interests of all mankind, that Antarctica shall forever be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and prevent international discord.

So if we combine this history, there are several interesting features. There was a period when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were clearly racing toward ballistic missiles. It was a period of expanding the horizons of humankind to study the Earth on a planetary scale, with rockets that could circle the Earth, and it was a period when the Soviet Union and the U.S. were agreeing to cooperate and work together to manage a vast portion of the Earth for peaceful purposes only.

First nuclear arms treaty

It's fairly well known that the U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to cooperate in the management of the Antarctic. What's less well appreciated is that the Antarctic Treaty also became the world's first nuclear arms agreement, and that the inspection strategy that Eisenhower originally envisaged for Outer Space became part of the Antarctic Treaty.

So in a sense, although Eisenhower wasn't successful in Open Skies in Outer Space, he was able to establish the Antarctic as a region to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes, and he established this as the first non-nuclear region on the planet.

The Antarctic Treaty became what is known as a non-armament treaty. On the high seas there had been ships with weapons in the past, but the idea that Antarctica had never been and would never be armed would subsequently define it as a non-armament region.

That idea of non-armament and peaceful use was similarly extended to Outer Space in the 1968 agreement, and to the Deep Sea in the 1982 agreement. So three of the four international spaces beyond sovereign jurisdictions are specifically defined as non-armament regions.

Now the lessons of the Antarctic Treaty at the time were that the United States and the Soviet Union weren't able to identify agreement explicitly directed at nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles in Outer Space.

However, they were able to look at issues in a sideways manner with science as the vehicle of cooperation.

So science provided a tool for cooperation that didn't exist with other diplomatic means. It allowed the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the two principal protagonists of the Cold War, to set aside their difference and identify what were called common interests.

The notion of "common interests"

Among the lessons of the Antarctic Treaty is this notion of common interests, which is in contrast to the notion of national interests, which are defined by nations in relation to their boundaries, which is the way the world has worked for millennia. This is what nations contest. They defend their boundaries.

What happened from World War II onward is that, while there remains a component of national jurisdictions, confined to national boundaries, we now realize that 75 percent of the Earth is beyond sovereign jurisdictions. The challenge for the future is to how we manage these regions that are beyond sovereign jurisdictions.

One of the components to doing that is to recognize that international spaces have this concept of common interests. These are interests that are shared not only by nations, but by corporations, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and indigenous peoples organizations.

In effect, these are regions that are shared with all humanity into the distant future.

It's an interesting time that we're at in terms of beginning to germinate these ideas, because in a very practical way we are beginning to think as a civilization, not years or decades into the future, but centuries into the future.

Like the Magna Carta

When the Antarctic Treaty was up for ratification in 1960 in the U.S. Senate, Laurence Gould, one of the principal scientists who had been instrumental in using science diplomacy and helping the U.S. cooperate with the Soviet Union, said that in ways the Antarctic Treaty was like the Magna Carta.

Whereas the Magna Carta served as a tool of inspiration for nations and the development of constitutional law, Gould suggested that the Antarctic Treaty would serve similar import at an international scale for the development of international institutions.

It's a fairly presumptuous statement in that in the Magna Carta we have experience from 1215 to the present to think about its role in the development of constitutional law and the development of democracies. To suggest that the Antarctic Treaty would have similar import means that we'd have to have 800 years of perspective.

What Gould suggested was that we have an experiment for the ages, that through time we'd have the opportunity to assess the treaty in terms of the development of international organizations.

So in a very practical way, the Antarctic showed nations how to build on common interests the concept that a region shall be used only for peaceful purposes. Questions of jurisdiction were a common interest, scientific cooperation was a common interest, freedom of scientific investigation was a common interest, conservation and preservation of living resources was a common interest.

In the case of Antarctica these common interests provided the framework for establishing the treaty. But more importantly they established the basis for a process for engagement among the nations to continuously interact and solve problems from 1955 to 1959 and into the future.

Think about, for example, the discussions that are ongoing today with regard to climate change and the upcoming meeting in Copenhagen, and the notion of specific carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In effect the wrong message is being sent to the world because the idea is that if you achieve a magic carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere somehow we've solved the problem.

That's not the case. The climate is a dynamic system operating over decades and centuries, as opposed to weather, which is days to weeks to years. The solution to a climate issue can't be fixed by a specific level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is something that has to be ongoing and iterative and responsive to changing circumstances.

There is no magic bullet. The solution is the process. The Antarctic Treaty demonstrates that the process of consultation to engage the various parties continuously and effectively over time has to be built around common interests.

Common interests correctly phrased provide a beacon for nations to orient and consider and formulate measures and principles for whatever institution that is involved.

The history that built up to the Antarctic Treaty allowed the U.S. and the Soviet Union to identify their common interests, and those common interests became not only the framework for the treaty but also the basis for the process of ongoing consultations.

That allows the parties to continuously adjust to circumstances like living resources and even mineral resources, which weren't envisaged or considered as part of the treaty.

Professor Paul Berkman is the head of the Arctic Ocean Geopolitics Programme at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK.

Special series on the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty by Paul Berkman

Part One: Antarctic Treaty at 50, a beacon for joint management of Earth

Part Two: How Antarctica facilitated science as a tool of diplomacy (this page)

Part Three: Antarctic Treaty lessons have enduring value for humankind

For more information, please visit the Antarctic Treaty Summit Web site.

In this final part of a series on the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, Berkman describes the hopes for building on an international agreement that has been a road map for nations to collaborate on the basis of "common interests" to manage the 75 percent of the planet that does not fall under national jurisdictions.

 The Antarctic Treaty Summit: Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance will be convened in Washington, D.C. from November 30-December 3, 2009. The organizers invite broad participation in the Summit, "which is being convened with the sprit of balanced international, interdisciplinary and inclusive engagement."  Registration and other information can be found on the Antarctic Treaty Summit Web site. 

By Paul Berkman,
Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

Recognition by the U.S. Congress

The United States House of Representatives adopted House Concurrent Resolution 51 (Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Antarctic Treaty) on September 30, 2009. (See full text below.)

The resolution was sponsored by Congressman Pat Tiberi from Ohio along with 33 co-sponsors, including the Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Congressman Howard Berman from California) and Chair of the House Commitee on Science and Technology (Congressman Bart Gordon from Tennessee).

The Resolution was an interesting process from several different angles.

As a citizen of the United States, one individual among 300 million people, to be able to go and interact with the elected officials at the national level and to be able to suggest them a type of legislation and assist with the process of seeing this legislation emerge and finally get approved by one of the branches of the U.S. Congress, was in itself a humbling experience.

An individual in a great nation can contribute to the development and growth of that nation. There's a message of hope in that. Anyone, whoever they are, with the right motivation, insight and sincerity can create positive development and change in the world we live in.

"The idea is to look across the 50 years of international cooperation and identify those lessons that will have meaning and value to international governance into the future."

The full name of the Antarctic Treaty summit is The Antarctic Treaty: Science, Policy, Interactions, and International Governance. So it's not just a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty. The idea is to look across the 50 years of international cooperation and identify those lessons that will have meaning and value to international governance into the future.

Certainly science and policy are two of the ingredients that allowed the Antarctic Treaty system to emerge. The notions of science, policy, interactions are the focus of the Antarctic Treaty Summit.

In developing this Concurrent Resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives, the original resolution was sponsored by Congressman Tiberi, and it was done in a nonpartisan way. Eventually there were 33 co-sponsors of the resolution, which was assigned to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The very last sponsor was Congressman Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Two of the co-sponsors are the chair of the House Science and Technology Committee and the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It's a mirror of the science policy theme. This makes it a special piece of legislation.

The Resolution is now in the U.S. Senate, where it has been assigned to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

The Antarctic Treaty Summit "Forever Declaration"

The intention of the summit is not just to have a meeting, where people get together, discuss things, and leave, and it was relevant only to the people in the room.

The idea is to begin a snowball, a level of momentum in a dialogue where various parties, governments, nongovernmental organizations, commercial entities, academic institutions, indigenous peoples organizations, are all talking together in neutral venues about strategies to manage regions that are beyond sovereign jurisdictions, as well as resources that are transboundary.

Fisheries migrate across boundaries, the atmosphere and oceans move across boundaries, so the issues that are relevant to international spaces are also relevant to things that move across boundaries.

The type of dialogue that is anticipated for the Antarctic Treaty Summit is a demonstration that it is possible to catalyze high-profile international, interdisciplinary and inclusive discussion.

The big difference between the Antarctic Treaty Summit and the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, which is an annual event, is that the consultative meeting is convened by governments, for governments, with government people, whereas the Antarctic Treaty Summit is open to anyone anywhere in the world.

The intention is to reach across all sectors of society internationally in an engaged and inclusive way, welcoming the insights and participation, the enthusiasm, even the questions from anyone, anywhere in the world. So the event itself is open and not restricted in any way.

The tangible outcome of the event, aside from books and things like that, will be discussions that carry over into future meetings.

But what's likely to be of most interest to the average person anywhere in the world is the "Forever Declaration."

The Forever Declaration embraces an interesting concept:

If you think of the eight centuries of perspective of the value of the Magna Carta, and imagine eight centuries into the future, for all intents and purposes that's forever. We know from the Magna Carta that we can see how a legal document can have meaning across centuries.

The idea of elaborating "Forever" from the Antarctic Treaty is not only for the relevance of the Antarctic but for the relevance of international spaces, for transboundary issues, for the elaboration of common interests, as an example of how different nations can cooperate for peaceful purposes in ways that are equitable, balanced, continuous, and offer hope to the world.

This declaration will be introduced on the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, which is on December 1. The declaration will be open for signature by anyone anywhere in the world. And it will be available for signature via the Internet.

It is something in which the entire world can make a shared statement about cooperation, using regions for peaceful purposes only, about the notion of common interests. That is the hope and aspiration of the Forever Declaration.

Special series on the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty by Paul Berkman

Part One: Antarctic Treaty at 50, a beacon for joint management of Earth

Part Two: How Antarctica facilitated science as a tool of diplomacy

Part Three: Antarctic Treaty lessons have enduring value for humankind (this page)

For more information, please visit the Antarctic Treaty Summit Web site.