Salton Sea Experiment Is for the Birds
The Press-Enterprise
04 Apr 2007
J Bowles
Area: California USA
Four seemingly innocuous ponds near the Salton Sea could ensure that California's largest but ailing lake remains a key stopover for millions of migrating birds and one of the nation's most biologically rich areas. State agency officials trying to prevent the saltwater lake from shrinking and becoming too salty for fish and birds are gambling that the test ponds will be a successful substitute and that larger-scale versions can be built into the seabed as the water recedes. California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman is expected to recommend a roughly $6 billion restoration plan for the lake to the state Legislature by the end of this month.
It's likely to call for the construction of 62,000 acres of shallow lakes that, like the test ponds, are dotted with islands and other features to attract birds. "This is my baby," said Doug Barnum, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, as he gazed across the ponds. Built a little more than a year ago on the edge of Niland, a small farming town south of the Riverside County line, the ponds today are teeming with wildlife. Ruddy ducks thud across the surface, swarms of tiny brown swallows flit above, and sandpipers dance on the water's edge.
State Increases Testing Requirements in Bovine TB Affected Area
The Farmer
09 Apr 2007
Area: Minnesota USA
Since deer have been identified as infected with bovine tuberculosis in northwestern Minnesota, the Board of Animal Health announced it will increase testing requirements for cattle herds located within a 12-mile area surrounding the positive deer. Surveillance by the state Department of Natural Resources of hunter harvested free-ranging white-tailed deer during the last two hunting seasons identified seven TB-infected deer within the immediate vicinity of formerly TB-infected cattle premises. The potential for contact with TB-infected deer poses a risk to cattle herds in the area.
BAH, with the input from producers whose herds are located in the core area as well as the state's cattle industry, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the USDA and the state DNR, has outlined a plan for managing cattle herds in this area to protect these herds and the state's beef industry from this risk. Under the plan, the Board will work with cattle producers in the core area to implement measures such as fencing and alternative feeding and watering methods to mitigate the risk of interaction between deer and cattle. Producers will inventory and TB-test their cattle herds annually. All animals in the core area will also require testing prior to moving off the farm.
University of Alaska Fairbanks Stalks Avian FluFar North Science (Posted by alaskareport.com)
03 Apr 2007
D O'Harra
Area: Alaska USA
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will receive $3.8 million to track down the mysterious ecology of bird flu in Alaska.
The study is part of a larger investigation of influenza viruses with the potential to trigger world-wide pandemics - including the deadly H5N1 avian influenza still centered in Asia and Africa. "Our initial focus is on known avian reservoirs of influenza-A viruses such as waterfowl and shorebirds," said Jonathan Runstadler, assistant professor of biology and wildlife with the Institute of Arctic Biology and the lead avian flu investigator at UAF. "However, little is known about the role of the environment and about other groups of birds in the maintenance and evolution of influenza viruses worldwide."
UAF is a partner in an $18.5 million award made to the UCLA School of Public Health by the National Institutes of Health to create a regional Center for Rapid Influenza Surveillance and Research, or CRISAR, one of of six national centers getting launched this year. Under the grant, a small army of biologists and wildlife scientists will examine at least 20,000 wild animals, migrating birds and domestic stock along the Pacific Flyway of North America in Alaska, Washington and California every year. Additional work - often involving the capture of birds in nets and swabbing their anal (cloacal) cavities - will be conducted in far eastern Russia, Japan, Cambodia, Laos and Mongolia.
Australia Mulls Tasmanian Devils RescueThe Associated Press (Posted by timesdaily.com)
10 Apr 2007
R McGuirk
Photo courtesy of Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries
Area: Australia
Scientists are planning to move Tasmanian devils - the Australian marsupial made famous as a snarling, whirlwind character in Warner Bros. cartoons - to an island sanctuary to avert the animals' threatened extinction from a mysterious cancer. But some scientists fear that in their haste to save the species, authorities could wreak further environmental damage and risk the survival of other endangered animals by introducing the devils into a habitat unaccustomed to them. The devils - fox-sized animals with powerful jaws and a bloodcurdling growl made famous by their Looney Toons namesake, Taz - are being wiped out on the island state of Tasmania by a contagious cancer that creates grotesque facial tumors.
The disease was first noticed in the mid-1990s in the state's northeast, where 90 percent of the devils have since perished. It is relentlessly spreading south and west. Scientists estimate that within five years, there will be no disease-free population in Tasmania - the only place in the world where the devils exist outside zoos. "I think there's a real risk of extinction within 20 years across the whole of Tasmania," said Hamish McCallum, a professor of wildlife research at the University of Tasmania. McCallum is among a group of experts who plan to transfer 30 devils off Tasmania's east coast to Maria Island - a former 19th century prison that is now home to several endangered species of birds.
Live Webcast: Is the Bird Flu Threat Still Real and Are We Prepared?
Council on Foreign Relations
On Thursday, April 12, 2007, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. (ET), watch experts discuss the status of the bird flu threat and efforts to prepare for it. To participate, visit the website during the live meeting. If you would like to receive an email reminder, please preregister. We invite you to submit a question via email prior to or during the webcast to outreach@cfr.org.
The audio and video of this meeting will be available on the Council website shortly after its conclusion for those who are unable to log in for the live event. To access these resources, click on the website link below, click on "By Publication Type" and scroll down to the "Meeting Materials" header on the left side of the page. Click on "Audio" or "Video." The most recent meetings will be displayed; to access more meetings click on "Complete List."
To receive technical instructions on how to view the webcast, please email outreach@cfr.org. Should you have any problems or questions during the webcast, please call 212/434-9725.
No comments:
Post a Comment