Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Ocean Geoengineering Scheme May Prove Lethal

One proposed method to combat climate change is to dump iron in regions of the ocean where the growth of marine phytoplankton -- tiny organisms that grow via CO2-absorbing photosynthesis -- is limited by the amount of iron available.

Adding iron is intended to cause a bloom of phytoplankton growth, sucking up CO2 in the process.

. . . But new findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that one type of phytoplankton that thrives under such circumstances makes domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin. This neurotoxin can move up the food chain as other animals eat the phytoplankton, harming sea life. The toxin can kill or weaken birds, fish, sea mammals or even humans who eat seafood that contains the toxin.

Discovery News - news.discovery.com
15 March 2010
J Marshall
Photo credit: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

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Swift nesting sites 'hit by home improvements'

A UK-wide survey of nesting swifts has suggested the declining bird species is at risk from improvement work being undertaken on old houses. The RSPB study of more than 3,400 swift nest sites found nearly 80% were on houses, more than half of which were homes built before 1919.

It is not known why the birds are in decline, but numbers have fallen by almost a third in the past decade.

. . . The birds tend to return to the same nesting sites each year and the RSPB said it was concerned the birds were suffering as a result of demolition and improvement works.

BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
16 March 2010
Photo courtesy of BBC News

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Should we be tryi

ng to save the dodo?

Declaring a species extinct and so not worthy of conservation money is not a trivial matter.

. . . It may sound ridiculous to work out whether conservation dollars should be spent on the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), but the question illustrates a problem for biologists: determining when you should give up on a species.

Cut off conservation money too soon and you could drive a species teetering on the brink into extinction. Keep conserving an animal long after it has last been sighted and you risk wasting money that could keep another endangered animal in the game.

Nature News - www.nature.com/news
12 March 2010
D Cressey
Photo credit: Science Photo Library

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Cited Journal Article

Optimal Allocation of Conservation Resources to Species That May be Extinct. Conservation Biology. Published online 05 March 2010.

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: J Connolly