Cool paper in @animalecology.bsky.social from last year.
Quote: "Our findings suggest that naïveté may contribute to the vulnerability of some species to invasive predators even in large continental systems." #invasivespecies
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Quote: "The Canadian beaver’s introduction [to Finland in the 1930s] was an ecological blunder."
An example of a conservation paradox: Barbary sheep is threatened in its native North Africa, but invasive elsewhere. www.themeateater.com/conservation...
When we talk about climate change, a lot of weird looking numbers can get tossed around. Metric tons, millions of tons, and so on.
How do we make sense of this, and put it all in context?
Welcome to “Carbon in Context” by Project Drawdown. It helps you see the bigger picture.
Check it out!
Quantifying and modelling zoogeochemical effects in freshwater ecosystems will allow ecologists and managers to make informed decisions that balance biodiversity conservation with healthy ecosystem function 🌍 🌱
📖 Read more: buff.ly/BXQqKQo
The notion that "eating invasive species [invasorism] can help protect native animals and plants" persists. I'm not aware of any study (maybe I missed one?) that empirically demonstrates impact being mitigated by invasorism.
A supercolony of the freshwater bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica. Each patch on the large mass is itself a colony of animals. The colonies grow on a common base (in that sense, similar to coral) which is gelatinous. Each animal (or 'zooid') has a crown of tentacles used for suspension feeding.
Escobar’s last empire is now a budget line item: tourist mascot, invasive species, political taboo. Colombia waited until neutering got too expensive, then rediscovered “ecosystem protection.” Real lesson: governments tolerate absurdity until maintenance costs beat symbolism.
I share their skepticism.
A humpback chub fish covered in irridescent silver skin with orange fins is seen underwater. Text overlay reads, "The Bureau of Reclamation is risking an unstoppable biological invasion that wipes out the world's last source population of humpback chub in the Grand Canyon," attributed to Taylor McKinnon, Southwest Director.
New projections released today by the Bureau of Reclamation show sharply declining Colorado River flows and plummeting reservoir levels at Lake Powell, conditions that increase threats from invasive species to endangered humpback chub populations in the Grand Canyon. ➡️ biodiv.us/3ON3RD1
"Perhaps the perpetrators thought they could be an effective natural way to manage aquatic vegetation on their private property...Or it could have been malicious, in hopes that they would cause environmental damage. It’s hard to know.” #invasivespecies
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/l...
The global wildlife trade—especially in illegal and live-animal markets—is fueling the spread of diseases from animals to humans, according to a new study in Science.
The findings show that traded mammals are more than 40% more likely to harbor human-infecting pathogens. https://scim.ag/41SZkSq
Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years
New in @science.org ‼️ In the most comprehensive study to date, we show that wildlife trade is driving animal-to-human zoonotic spillover at a planetary scale, with +1 spillover per host every 10 years. Live animal markets and illegal trade pose even greater risks. 🔓 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#BOTD: Happy 84rd birthday, Dan Simberloff (PhD Harvard 1969; ESA Eminent Ecologist, 2006; Ramon Margalef Prize, 2012).
One of the most influential ecologists in modern history, with a research legacy spanning >50 years. Unwavering champion of invasion biology. Superb mentor, colleague & friend.
"That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives."
- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
Ellie Arroway vibe. #Contact
#Alberta’s #water reckoning: Conservation is now an economic imperative
calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...
"We shall not cease from exploration;
and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started,
and know the place for the first time."
- T.S. Eliot
#ArtemisII
Add this to the growing list of novel biological entities (synthetic cells, hybrids, GMOs, chimeric organisms) that could ultimately be released into the natural environment.
Golden cowrie
Golden cowrie
#molluscmonday
Newly added to my shelf: a dark orange form of the golden cowrie (Cypraea aurantium). A beautiful seashell.
Christina Koch’s facial profile backlit by Earth in the background, through the spacecraft window
So, to sum up, a couple of days ago Christina Koch became the first woman to see Earth in its entirety, and today – right now, in fact – she is the first woman to see the Moon up close, and the first woman to see the far side. 🥹
Congrats! I think the next step for using this metric to understand the impacts of #bioinvasions would be to develop 'dose-response' curves that relate invader biomass to changes in (e.g.) native populations, species richness, & ecosystem function.
