Extinction Resources: Information, Opinion, Ideas, & Questions

Posted on July 22, 2015 by GarryRogers

Extinction Information Resources

Passenger Pigeon

Stopping human-caused extinction of Earth’s plant and animal species is the greatest challenge of our time. This post provides access to the latest articles on extinction. The first item (Ceballos et al. 2015) is the latest detailed report on what we know and how we acquired the information.

Ceballos, Gerardo, Paul R. Ehrlich, Anthony D. Barnosky, Andrés García, Robert M. Pringle, and Todd M. Palmer. 19 June 2015. Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction. Science Advances Vol. 1, no. 5 (e1400253, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1400253). Corresponding author. E-mail: gceballo@ecologia.unam.mx.

More than a thousand recent articles are linked to my blog (https://garryrogers.com/blog):

Causes of Extinction

My blog covers the things that people do to cause extinctions and reduce biodiversity. These deeds of ours are woven into individual and our collective habits and beliefs. Stopping them will alter our society and our culture. It will be difficult. Our population must be reduced, our food choices must change, and our resource harvest must decline. Nothing less will succeed. Search the blog using the following terms for recent reports: Burning, Coal, Construction, Deforestation, Desertification, Energy, Farming, Fishing, Fracking, Grazing, Hunting, Invasive Species, Logging, Mining, Oil, Pesticides, Pet Trade, Pollution, Population, Roads, and Soil.

Climate change will become the major cause of extinction. Here’s its search link on my blog: Climate Change.

For more reading, my Internet newsletters include a wider variety of articles than my blog.

Global warming could spread US ragweed to UK, causing misery for hayfever sufferers

Posted on May 26, 2015 by GarryRogers

Climate change could help the invasive weed from north America, that triggers severe allergic reactions, become common across the UK by 2050, experts have warned Climate change could help a notorious invasive weed known to trigger severe allergy… Source: www.theguardian.com

GR: Over recent centuries, people have introduced many invasive species to North and South America. New World invasive species are fewer, but there have been a few troublesome species introduced to the Old World. One should note that most of the damage caused by invasive species is by replacing native species. Whole ecosystems can collapse if too many natives are lost.

See on Scoop.it – GarryRogers NatCon News

Watch “The Sagebrush Sea” Tomorrow

Posted on May 19, 2015 by GarryRogers

The sagebrush vegetation of the Great Basin is the most abused and devastated ecosystem in America. Livestock grazing, introduced invasive plants, and wildfire have replaced it with invasive alien plants.

Natural History Wanderings

This Wednesday, May 20 the PBS show Nature is showing “The Sagebrush Sea”, a documentary shot, edited, and produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s multimedia team. The film focuses on wildlife and conservation in the threatened sagebrush region that covers 250,000 square miles of North America. Watch the trailer at Sagebrush Sea Trailer. Check your local PBS station for broadcast time. Learn more at The Sagebrush Sea.

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International travel is changing biodiversity

Posted on May 4, 2015 by GarryRogers

Erin Brodwin says along with international travellers often travel dozens of tiny hitchhikers – foreign plants, insects, and sometimes other animals too. Source: agenda.weforum.org

GR: Before plants and animals can invade a habitat and become problems, they must reach the habitat. Potentially invasive species are no threat if they stay home. For centuries, we have been spreading plants and animals around the globe, and some of them have invaded the new habitats. Human sailing ships that began crossing the oceans 500 years ago gave a tremendous boost to natural plant and animal dispersal. Though some plant seeds can blow or float across the oceans, most cannot. Many, however, can stow away in cargo and on ship hulls. Regular human travel across deserts and through the jungles began even earlier. A friend once counted the plant seeds in car-wash drains and found more than 400 species. Human assisted dispersal is continuing and after global warming and habitat destruction, is the most critical impact that humans have on natural ecosystems. If Elon Musk and Pope Francis can convince our leaders to solve the global warming crisis, we can turn our attention to other critical issues including population and pollution. Learn more about invasive plants (https://garryrogers.com/invasive-plant-articles-by-garry-rogers).

Why invasive plants are second biggest threat to biodiversity after habitat loss

Posted on April 19, 2015 by GarryRogers

As experts gather in London for a major conference addressing the often overlooked threat of invasive species to biodiversity, Carrie Madren gets a briefing from those on the frontline in the battle against ‘pest plants’…Source: www.theecologist.org

GR: I reached the same conclusion about invasive plants, but as the symptoms of global warming grow stronger, I am shifting my central focus to another lost cause–leaving fossil fuels in the ground. The photo shows a barren area carpeted by invasive plants. Ninety percent of the native shrubs are gone.

Converting A ‘Weedy’ Grass To Quality Forage For Livestock

Posted on March 31, 2015 by GarryRogers

Messing with Nature and Calling it Range Management

Purple threeawn

“While native plants are adapted to thrive in our region, they don’t always provide the best forage for livestock or wildlife. But what if you could change that? What if you could convert bad forage to good? That’s the question Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Lance Vermeire asked when studying purple threeawn, a decidedly less than…”

Source: www.roundupweb.com

welfare ranching GR: The ignorance displayed by this range manager is shocking. It should remind us all that focusing too closely on a single goal can cause us to overlook critical alternatives. This article describes an instance where managing nature to benefit domestic livestock creates a willingness to take chances. Range managers have gambled on new techniques and new species for many years. They ignore negative possibilities and focus on their goal—more food for cows or sheep. They do not consider ecosystem responses to their new techniques. They do not consider the effects on on soil microorganisms, and they do not worry about future invasion potential. The result of similar “range management” has been the loss of more than 100-million acres of productive native grasslands and shrublands in the western U. S. Go here to read more about the results of foolhardy management of rangelands.

The Fate of Trees: How Climate Change May Alter Forests Worldwide

Posted on March 17, 2015 by GarryRogers

By the end of the century, the woodlands of the Southwest will likely be reduced to weeds and shrubs. And scientists worry that the rest of the planet may see similar effects

Source: www.rollingstone.com

GR: Continued harvest (logging and livestock grazing) will work with wildfires to remove long-lived species. This is already visible in arid regions.

Imported invasive beavers and minks threaten biodiversity in southern Chile

Posted on February 28, 2015 by GarryRogers

The proliferation of beavers and minks at Chile’s southern tip – a legacy of a failed attempt to establish a fur industry – threatens biodiversity in one of the world’s most pristine corners. Source: www.bluechannel24.com

GR: Human introductions (accidental and intentional) account for 99.99% of invasive species problems. It all began more than 500 years ago as sailing ships began crossing the great ocean barriers. Surprising that after all these years, we can still find problem species to transport.

Beetle vs. Bird: Expert Panel Weighs in on Biocontrol of Invasive Tamarisk Trees

Posted on January 27, 2015 by GarryRogers

Anna Sher Simon: “Tamarisk was introduced to the Western U.S. from Eurasia in the late 1800s, and over the next 50 years it was widely planted as a fast-growing, drought-resistant ornamental and riverbank stabilizer. However, the negative impacts of the tree were increasingly evident, leading to the passage of a national bill to address the issue.” Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

GR: Tamarisk became invasive, replacing native plants, and sucking up lots of water that people wanted. It also became home to an endangered bird species. An introduced beetle effectively kills the tree, but also eliminates the endangered bird’s habitat. What to do.

Land managers conclude: “Our primary task, therefore, is to promote desirable replacement vegetation whenever and wherever we can, taking advantage of the opportunity the beetles create and mitigating any unintended effects. The panelists’ report, expected this spring, is a first step in that direction.”

WELL DUH. Why weren’t restoration and unintended effects considered in the first place? In many similar instances of “land-use management,” the U. S. Bureau of Land Management, and most other public land-management agencies, fail to plan ahead. They praise “adaptive management,” and then do not collect the necessary information. They just don’t look before they leap, and they don’t look back to see why their shoes stink.