Falling In Love With Science

Ever wonder why some scientists wind up studying leeches or arachnids? If you study something cute and furry — or at least good to eat, you may be even more curious than the average person why some scientists study things that are decidedly not.

This week’s New York Times Science section has a brief article on how scientists pick their study subjects. Particularly, how biologists pick the animals that they study when those animals don’t generally have any appeal for humans.

I decided it was worth one of my 10 free NY Times articles for the month, and you might find it interesting too.

The article: For Scientists, Falling in Love May Take a Lifetime of Research

Why You Should Care About the Farm Bill

You should care about the federal farm bill that was passed by the Senate last week. By providing funds to farmers, the US Department of Agriculture provides funding for a good chunk of the workaday wildlife conservation that goes on in this country. This is the funding that helps keep common species common (as opposed to the funding that provides first aid to species in critical condition).

I’ve been on the lookout for an article that explains why you should care about the farm bill, and I haven’t found the perfect article yet, but this piece by The Nature Conservancy CEO, Mark Tercek does a pretty good job.

For more about the farm bill than you are likely to want to know, there’s this article in The New York Times last week.

Keep an eye out for news about the farm bill. The resulting legislation is likely to have an impact on your work as a state wildlife biologist — one way or the other.

Why You Should Care About the Farm Bill

You should care about the federal farm bill that was passed by the Senate last week. By providing funds to farmers, the US Department of Agriculture provides funding for a good chunk of the workaday wildlife conservation that goes on in this country. This is the funding that helps keep common species common (as opposed to the funding that provides first aid to species in critical condition).

I’ve been on the lookout for an article that explains why you should care about the farm bill, and I haven’t found the perfect article yet, but this piece by The Nature Conservancy CEO, Mark Tercek does a pretty good job.

For more about the farm bill than you are likely to want to know, there’s this article in The New York Times last week.

Keep an eye out for news about the farm bill. The resulting legislation is likely to have an impact on your work as a state wildlife biologist — one way or the other.

Preventing Wildlife Deaths at Wind Turbines

Last week the journal Nature published a news feature that rounded up various ways wind power companies are trying to prevent the deaths of birds and bats at wind farms.

The article begins with one labor intensive method: a team of scientists spots a migrating raptor, then alerts the wind farm operators, who shut down the turbines until the bird is safely passed. This, it should be noted, happens in Spain, at the Strait of Gibraltar.

In Pennsylvania, a radar system (the same one we discussed earlier, the fact) detects flocks of migrating birds and shuts the turbines down. It’s not so good for single birds, though. The death of one pelican was recorded on video.

The article notes that the wind power company’s records of the radar system haven’t been shared with independent scientists studying wind turbine collisions, so the system is a bit of a black box.

The article also mentions the successful reduction of bat deaths by stopping the turbines when wind speeds fall below a certain threshold when bats are most active.

Read the whole article in Nature, here.

Is Scientific Advocacy Kosher?

When is it OK to advocate in scientific paper? In the discussion section? When the implications of the research are clear? Never?

ScienceInsider reports that the editor of Conservation Biology either asked journal authors to remove “advocacy statements” from the papers before publication, or asked them to label such statements as opinion. No examples of “advocacy statements” were given. The article says that the Society for Conservation Biology’s board of governors was not happy with the editorial nudging, and did not renew the editor’s contract.

However, one member of the Society’s editorial board says in the article that 20 percent of the 60 member editorial board have resigned in protest of the editor’s firing.

Given that the role of advocacy itself is controversial in the field of conservation biology, this issue may be difficult for future editors to side-step.

Read more at ScienceInsider, a news service of AAAS.

At Odds Over Critical Habitat for Caribou

Should a critical habitat designation include the species’ known habitat when it was more abundant, or just the area it was known to use when it was listed as an endangered species?

That’s the question the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is facing as it decides on a critical habitat designation for South Selkirk woodland caribou herd, says an article in the Spokane Spokesman-Review. The USFWS would like to protect 600 square miles of potential caribou habitat in north Idaho and eastern Washington, but Idaho’s two senators say, no, just the area where the caribou were last seen in the US should be protected.

The USFWS critical habitat designation for the caribou has been controversial, says the Spokesman-Review article. The agency received more than 300 comments on it.

Read more in the Spokane Spokesman-Review, here.

Photo: A woodland caribou, but not from the South Selkirk herd. rangifer caribou, by Erwin & Peggy Bauer, 7/93. 11444, 102.3.16

Study of California Gray Squirrels

At first they were, like gray squirrels almost everywhere in the US, abundant to the point of being a nuisance, especially to people with bird feeders. Then they were gone, or almost so. When mange struck the gray squirrels of the San Bernardino Mountains in California, people noticed, particularly in the past year.

While the cause is known, a new study by the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, California Fish and Game Wildlife Investigations Lab and California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab will delve into when and how of the population crash.

The study will rely heavily on reports from citizens in the area.

Read this newspaper article on the study in the Crestline Courier-News.
Or visit the study’s website, here.

Photo: A healthy gray squirrel, courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Game

Non-native Turtle Numbers Up Again in AZ

Turtles from Phoenix Zoo pondThe Phoenix Zoo has been trying to get rid of the non-native turtles in the pond in the park near its entrance since 1999. The number of turtle species not native to Arizona found in the pond had declined over the last 13 years, but this year there was an increase. 142 non-native turtles were trapped, including 139 pond sliders, one spiny softshell, one painted turtle, and one eastern redbelly turtle.

Biologists believe that the turtles are released pets, saying that the turtles show signs of captivity.

The non-native female turtles that are trapped are brought to a turtle sanctuary for adoption, while the males are released back into the pond.

Read a brief story at CBS5 TV, here.
Read a more detailed release from the Arizona Fish and Game Department, here. (Second story from the bottom.)

Photo courtesy Arizona Fish and Game Department

Dam Resources

American River Chinook Salmon. CA DFG photo by Matt Elyash

Building fish passages is an arcane art, enlightened on occasion by scientific research. So many fish passages out there just don’t work, wasting time and money, and dooming fish populations.

If you need to direct a fish passage project, make sure you are up on the latest research. Check out the database of fish passage research from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Find the database here.
Read the press release, from the California Department of Fish and Game, here.

New York State Stops Using Photodegradeable Netting

Dead garter snake in photodegradeable nettingWhether its road construction, utility work, or chemical remediation, many states call for the use of some sort of landscape fabric or biodegradeable netting to prevent erosion at construction sites until plants take root.

New York State has learned that plastic netting advertised as photodegradeable was used at sites in the state, and has killed and injured wildlife at those sites. The netting is an entanglement risk for wildlife for years, a story put out by the State Bureau of Habitat says.

Read the story, here. The link will bring you to a PDF. The netting story is the second story on page 2.

Photo courtesy of NYS DEC