[PCA] Fw: Wildlife Corridors Benefit Plants as Well as Wildlife

Tue Sep 19 10:57:58 CDT 2006

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MAGIC <bobdegroot at comcast.net> 
09/12/2006 11:02 AM
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Wildlife Corridors Benefit Plants as Well as Wildlife

Scientists say wildlife corridors benefit plant biodiversity, native 
plants
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Wildlife corridors appear to support not only wildlife 
but also plants -especially the oft-threatened native variety. 
A six-year study at the world's largest experimental landscape devoted to 
the corridors - links between otherwise isolated natural areas - has found 
that more plant species, and specifically more native plant species, 
persist in areas connected by the corridors than in isolated areas. The 
results suggest that corridors are an important tool not only for 
preserving wildlife but also for supporting and encouraging plant 
biodiversity. 
In recent decades, many states and communities have set aside land for 
wildlife corridors. They are even planned on a regional scale, with one 
proposed corridor, for example, stretching 1,800 miles from Yellowstone 
National Park to the Yukon Territory. The rationale behind the corridors 
is that linking natural areas allows plants and animals to spread across 
them, helping them to thrive, reducing localized extinctions and 
increasing biodiversity. But until recently, scientific evidence for that 
rationale was surprisingly slim, with most corridor studies conducted on 
very small scales.
The massive outdoor experiment at the Savannah River Site National 
Environmental Research Park on the South Carolina-Georgia state line is 
steadily filling in the holes in scientists' knowledge. The site consists 
of eight sets of five roughly two-acre clearings in the forest. In each 
set, a corridor connects the central clearing to one peripheral clearing, 
with the others remaining isolated. Plants and animals thrive in the 
clearings, which consist of longleaf pine savannah, an endangered habitat. 
They do not do well in the areas of surrounding forest. The difference 
between the habitats is similar to the difference between the urban and 
natural areas, where corridors are most often used.
In two earlier papers, the researchers concluded that corridors encourage 
the movement of plants and animals across the fragmented landscapes. They 
also found that bluebirds transfer more berry seeds in their droppings 
between connected habitats, suggesting that the corridors could help 
plants spread. The latest research tackled a much broader question: Do 
corridors increase plant biodiversity overall? 
The answer was that native species definitely benefited, and yet there was 
absolutely no evidence that exotic species benefited. Unconnected patches 
gradually lost native species, whereas the natives persisted in connected 
patches. Scientists think that invasive species, which by definition are 
good at spreading, are little affected by corridors. Native species, by 
contrast, are less invasive and so assisted more by the corridors.
Credits
Writer 
Aaron Hoover, ahoover at ufl.edu, 352-392-0186 
Source 
Doug Levey, dlevey at zoo.ufl.edu, 352-392-9169 
 Why are wind turbines killing Alberta's bats?
University of Calgary researchers are trying to understand why hundreds of 
bats are dying each year in Pincher Creek, inexplicably drawn to wind 
turbines. 
"Last year, more than 500 were found. This year, we're following a similar 
trend. And that's just this wind farm," Baerwald said.
The problem was first uncovered about three years ago when bats turned up 
dead at several wind farms in the United States. It is affecting two kinds 
of bats that migrate from Canada to the U.S. in the fall - hoary and 
silver-haired bats.
Bats play a crucial role in the ecosystem. They eat their body weight in 
insects daily. Barclay says they're not endangered, but they reproduce 
very slowly.
Wind energy companies say they're taking the bat problem seriously, paying 
for several studies, trying to figure out what to do.
Sobering wind assessment: It's growing but can't be relied on as capacity 
August 29, 2006 by Esther Whieldon in Platts Power Markets Week 
California legislators need to remember wind generation is not the answer 
to California's growing energy capacity needs. Yakout Mansour, president 
and CEO of the state's Independent System Operator, told California's 
Senate Committee on Governmental Organizations that "while conservation, 
demand response, interruptible programs, and voluntary load reductions 
played a "significant role in making it through the tough days," wind 
resources were on average only supplying about 5% of their installed 
nameplate power capacity during peak hours.
"You really don't count on wind energy as capacity. It is different from 
other technologies because it can't be dispatched," said Christine Real de 
Azua, assistant director of communications for the American Wind Energy 
Association.
Ironically, the very heat storm that caused loads to spike also caused 
decreased wind flows. "Wind doesn't help from a 
keep-the-lights-on-perspective," the source said.
http://www.windaction.org/news/4732
 Pesticide Ban Follows Millions of Bird Deaths 
Washington, D.C. (3:00 p.m. 3 August, 2006) -- Today, American Bird 
Conservancy and Defenders of Wildlife hailed the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to cancel the registration of most uses 
of the highly toxic pesticide carbofuran after a prolonged review. The 
pesticide, which is sold under the name "Furadan" by FMC Corporation, is 
one of the most toxic pesticides to birds left on the market. It is 
responsible for the deaths of millions of wild birds since its 
introduction in 1967, including Bald and Golden Eagles, Red--tailed Hawks, 
and migratory songbirds, as well as other wildlife. 
"Carbofuran has been the greatest chemical threat to wild birds since the 
pesticides DDT and Dieldrin were banned in the early 1970s. In its 2005 
ecological risk assessment for carbofuran, EPA stated that there were no 
legal uses of carbofuran that did not kill wild birds. If a flock of 
mallards were to feed in a carbofuran treated alfalfa field, EPA predicted 
that 92% of the birds in the flock would quickly die," said Dr. Michael 
Fry, Director of ABC's Pesticides and Birds Campaign. 
Carbofuran is one of the most heavily used insecticides in the world, but 
its extreme toxicity to farm workers and wildlife has made it very 
dangerous to use. EPA's cancellation will likely have a domino effect 
internationally, as other countries frequently follow EPA's lead.

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