Wildlife

Roads and Amphibians: An Issue in Conservation and Policy

Evan 17 Comments

By: Jacob Balcanoff, Stephanie Brown, and Amanda May

The Problem

Our road system is paved in a legacy of conflict between engineering and the environment. Humans have always sought ways to travel faster, safer, and farther. As early Americans steadily moved westward, our technological capacity grew. All around this nation, people held steadfast to the myth of natural resource inexhaustibility. Berms and bridges were built to connect wagon trails and to reach further into the fruitful wildlands. The Ford Model T is an emblem of American ingenuity, which inspired asphalt pavement technology and more and more roads. In 1959, Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the Federal Highway Act, to liberate and protect the American public. The project took 35 years to complete (Blas, 2010). However, it wasn’t until 1977 that wetlands became federally protected. Still, landowners and project managers can apply for a waiver permit to backfill or alter wetlands. Due to this history, our roads not only shape American culture, they shape the future of American wildlife. Continue Reading →

Shade Grown Coffee, Not just for the birds

Evan 50 Comments

shade-coffee-pic-300x225introduction

                   Imagine a lush plot of rainforest, filled with a vast and diverse community of fauna and flora, but contraire to popular believe, this is actually a productive shade grown organic coffee farm. Usually when one thinks of agriculture, thoughts of fertilizers and pesticides slip through our mind, and unfortunately these thoughts are correct, new age coffee farming embraces all the things sustainability doesn’t simply put. Truth is, conserving our rainforests and biodiversity of our planet is only a sip away with shade grown coffee. With the current state of deforestation and monoculture operations, the sustainability of these systems isn’t present, that’s why shade grown coffee is a viable alternative which can reduce the harmful effects of sun grown coffee. The coffee plant, naturally being an understory plant which requires shade offered by trees to protect its leaves from browning and burning. Over time through selectively breeding the coffee bush, farmers were able to develop a coffee strain which can be grown in full sun which allowed a more profitable and larger harvest. This growing technique though profitable to industry, does not include the many external costs produced such as deforestation and loss of biodiversity of song birds. By practicing sustainable agroforestry such as shade grown coffee, the benefits far outweigh the cons derived from costs and smaller yield (Donald, P). With a multiple-phased approach through converting current coffee monoculture lands to shade grown coffee and by encouraging new farming plantations to be established in the rainforest responsibly, we can mitigate the many harmful effects of sun grown coffee and ensure the health of one of earths most precious and productive biomes.

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Using Prescribed Burns in New England to Create Early Sucessional Habitat

Evan 15 Comments

Kate Emond

Halilu Daraja

Mallory Durkee

12/5/2013

Biodiversity within New England is a cornerstone of our regions identity. The beauty of our landscapes and wildlife inspire and enrich our lives. Although many may not readily appreciate it, biodiversity provides us with many of the things that sustain our lives. By maintaining a wide range of biodiversity, both humans and wildlife are offered a range of ecosystem services. Changes in biodiversity can influence the supply of ecosystem services and displace wildlife that depends on certain habitats. One threat facing biodiversity and wildlife within New England is the loss of early successional habitat. “Early successional habitats include weedy areas, grasslands, old fields or pastures, shrub thickets and young forest” (NRCS, 2010). Continue Reading →

De-extinction: Guidelines for Species Revival

Evan 56 Comments
De-extinction Candidates (Ashlock, 2013)

De-extinction Candidates (Ashlock, 2013)

Bethany Gately, Animal Science
Mark Pastore, Natural Resource Conservation
Mark Salhany, Environmental Science

De-extinction: Guidelines for Species Revival

Jurassic Park, an island attraction full of resurrected dinosaurs, is often what comes to mind when we think of extinct species being brought back to life. This widely acclaimed tale evokes excitement and curiosity at the prospect of coming face-to-face with creatures long extinct, but viewers understand that the premise is fictional and that dinosaurs will never again roam the earth. Today, however, the prospect of reviving extinct species is no longer science fiction. Advancements in technology have now made de-extinction, the term used to describe the revival of extinct species back to living animals,  a scientific possibility. While current de-extinction projects are not looking to resurrect Tyrannosaurus rex, scientists are hoping to revive species they feel left the world too soon. De-extinction should not be taken lightly however, as the return of each species comes with its own set of obstacles and consequences. Instead, scientists interested in the de-extinction of a specific species should check each potential applicant against a defined system of evaluation that dictates whether or not the species is ripe for revival. These criteria will act as an insurance policy so that species will only be brought back if they can be successfully reintroduced and have limited negative impacts. With this system in place, de-extinction can be carefully used to bring back animals we had a hand in destroying, but that are ready for return.

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Implementing GM Technology in Order to Safeguard Endangered Species in Our Continuously Changing Environment

Evan 11 Comments

 

Fig 1 Endangered Mouflon

Fig 1 Endangered Mouflon  (www.jigsawexplorer.com/?s=mouflon)

Renee LaFort (Pre-Vet), Kersten Laveroni (NRC), Mariam Tiraspolsky (PSIS)
University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

Introduction

     Plants and animals are very much like us humans; they are not immortal and therefore after a specific point in their life, will cease to exist for future generations. We need to ask ourselves if we want our grandchildren and their children to be deprived of the spectacular creatures and plants that have contributed to our lives and the biosphere. There is a continuously increasing number of animal and plant species that are becoming endangered around the world. Studies report that nearly 10,000 species go extinct every year (WWF, 2013). The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is the most endangered of the world’s five rhinoceros species, and is a prime example of a species who may not exist in the future. There is only an estimated 40-60 animals remaining in Indonesia, due to poaching for their horn which is used to make Asian folk medicines (Guernsey, 2013). Even though this species is protected, it may not have a large-enough breeding population to prevent the species from going extinct (Guernsey, 2013). The Amur Leopard is a critically endangered species native to southern Russia (WWF, 2013). There are only around 30 of these solitary cats left in the entire world, due to hunters illegally invading their habitat and killing them for their beautifully spotted fur that they sell for only $500-$1,000 (WWF, 2013). Hundreds of endangered species, like the Javan rhinoceros and the Amur leopard, around the world will continue to disappear if change is not implemented. Continue Reading →