 |
|
Human influences challenge penguin populations
July 01, 2008Global warming, fishing and petroleum pollution lower breeding success of the seabirds
The ecology of penguins makes these iconic swimming and diving seabirds of the Southern Hemisphere unusually susceptible to environmental changes. Pronounced warming in the Antarctic, as well as commercial fishing, mining, and oil and gas development at lower latitudes, has led to declines in many species, according to P. Dee Boersma, of the University of Washington in Seattle. In the July/August 2008 issue of BioScience, Boersma provides a first-person account based on 30 years of studying the birds. Counts of the penguin populations at the 43 remaining breeding "hotspots," even once every five years, could provide valuable insights into the variability of the ocean ecosystem and the populations' viability, Boersma writes. Yet counts are carried out only rarely, if at all.
The task is urgent, because many populations seem to be in rapid decline even as some temperate populations have expanded their range southward. Rapid reductions of sea ice off Antarctica in recent years threaten Adélie and emperor penguins, which need ice, but may benefit some populations of relatively ice-intolerant gentoo and chinstrap penguins. Increased snow and rain, another result of the changing climate, reduce breeding success in some gentoo and Adélie penguins.
Temperate penguins, such as Galápagos, Peruvian, and African species, are all declining. Mining of guano, egg harvesting, commercial fishing, and oil spills are the chief causes, according to Boersma, although tourism and increasingly severe El Niño events, probably resulting from climate change, are also partly responsible.
The threats to all penguin species are likely to grow in coming years. Boersma recommends the formation of a nongovernmental organization dedicated to monitoring major aggregations of penguins. Such an organization could provide advance warning of urgent threats and thus make amelioration possible.
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Temperate penguins, such as Galápagos, Peruvian, and African species, are all declining. Mining of guano, egg harvesting, commercial fishing, and oil spills are the chief causes, according to Boersma, although tourism and increasingly severe El Niño events, probably resulting from climate change, are also partly responsible.
The threats to all penguin species are likely to grow in coming years. Boersma recommends the formation of a nongovernmental organization dedicated to monitoring major aggregations of penguins. Such an organization could provide advance warning of urgent threats and thus make amelioration possible.
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Penguins News and Current Penguins Events RSSPenguins setting off sirens over health of world's oceans
Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, penguins are sounding the alarm for potentially catastrophic changes in the world's oceans, and the culprit isn't only climate change, says a University of Washington conservation biologist.
Passports for penguins
Ground-breaking technology that will enable biologists to identify and monitor large numbers of endangered animals, from butterflies to whales, without being captured, will be shown to the public for the first time at this year's Royal Society Summer Science exhibition [30 June to 3 July].
Tuatara, the fastest evolving animal
In a study of New Zealand's "living dinosaur" the tuatara, evolutionary biologist, and ancient DNA expert, Professor David Lambert and his team from the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution recovered DNA sequences from the bones of ancient tuatara, which are up to 8000 years old.
Satellite tracking will help answer questions about penguin travels
University of Washington scientists will attach satellite tracking devices to the backs of six penguins that have been treated at two centers in northern Argentina after their feathers were fouled with oil. The birds will be released into the Atlantic Ocean and their movements traced using satellites and the Internet.
March of the giant penguins
Giant prehistoric penguins? In Peru? It sounds more like something out of Hollywood than science, but a researcher from North Carolina State University along with U.S., Peruvian and Argentine collaborators has shown that two heretofore undiscovered penguin species reached equatorial regions tens of millions of years earlier than expected and during a period when the earth was much warmer than it is now.
Stray penguins probably reached northern waters by fishing boat
Guy Demmert got quite a surprise when he hauled a fishing net into his boat off the coast of southeast Alaska in July 2002. There among the salmon, in living black and white, was a Humboldt penguin, thousands of miles from where any of its kind should have been.
Want to monitor climate change? P-p-p-pick up a penguin!
We are used to hearing about the effects of climate change in terms of unusual animal behaviour, such as altering patterns of fish and bird migration.
Huddling and a drop in metabolism allow penguins to survive the South Pole cold
March of the Penguins, the Oscar® winning documentary, showed how the emperor penguins endure their incubation and fast for four dark and bitterly cold months each year. The tight huddling among these South Pole penguins is a key energy-saving mechanism that allows them to endure their extremely harsh conditions.
Volcanic blast likely killed and preserved juvenile fossil plesiosaur found in Antarctica
Amid 70-mile-an-hour winds and freezing Antarctic conditions, an American-Argentine research team has recovered the well-preserved fossil skeleton of a juvenile plesiosaur-a marine reptile that swam the waters of the Southern Ocean roughly 70 million years ago.
Global warming capable of sparking mass species extinctions
The Earth could see massive waves of species extinctions around the world if global warming continues unabated, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Conservation Biology.
More Penguins News Articles
 | Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different... |
 | Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished... |
 | A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) by Eckhart Tolle Amazon.com Exclusive Content Click on the image below to download an exclusive essay by Eckhart Tolle, in .pdf format. More From Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now Practicing The Power of Now Stillness Speaks Living a Life of Inner PeaceUnabridged Audio CD Gateways to Now(Inner Life Series)Audio CD Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn Retreat: Stillness Amidst the... |
 | The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan A New York Times bestseller that has changed the way readers view the ecology of eating, this revolutionary book by award winner Michael Pollan asks the seemingly simple question: What should we have for dinner? Tracing from source to table each of the food chains that sustain us—whether industrial or organic, alternative or processed—he develops a portrait of the American way of eating. The... |
 | Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen With first-chapter allusions to martial arts, "flow," "mind like water," and other concepts borrowed from the East (and usually mangled), you'd almost think this self-helper from David Allen should have been called Zen and the Art of Schedule Maintenance. Not quite. Yes, Getting Things Done offers a complete system for downloading all those free-floating gotta-do's clogging your brain into a... |
 | In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan Amazon Significant Seven, January 2008: Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it's at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food? What follows in In Defense of Food is a series of wonderfully clear and... |
 | Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury We're constantly negotiating in our lives, whether it's convincing the kids to do their homework or settling million-dollar lawsuits. For those who need help winning these battles, Roger Fisher has developed a simple and straightforward five-step system for how to behave in negotiations. Narrated soothingly by NPR announcer Bob Edwards, Fisher adds the meaty portions of the material with a sense... |
 | The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books) by Norman Doidge An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. In this revolutionary look at the brain, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., provides an introduction to both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they’ve transformed. From stroke patients learning to speak again... |
 | Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School by Philip Delves Broughton As One L did for Harvard Law School, Ahead of the Curve does for Harvard Business School—providing an incisive student’s-eye view that pulls the veil away from this vaunted institution and probes the methods it uses to make its students into the elite of the business worldIn the century since its founding, Harvard Business School has become the single most influential institution in global... |
 | Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independ ent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |