Thursday, December 1, 2022

Do Rivers Have Rights?

Some say they do: https://theecologist.org/2022/aug/09/rights-rivers "

" "Other rivers around the world have already been granted this status, such as the Whanganui River in New Zealand, which in 2017 became the first river in the world to be given legal personhood." "India, Ecuador, Columbia, Australia, the US and Bangladesh have all begun to review their own legal systems following this historic decision. "

news on insect and related avian population losses

If you've been reading posts on this site for a while, it won't surprise you to learn that declines in insects and their links to avian population changes are an important focus here. In fact, two linked groups have flowed out of this concern: the Facebook discussion group Conservation and Ecology - Insects in the Midwest, and the group Midwest Aerial Insectivore Discussion Group came about directly or indirectly from the Midwest Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership. "

" These papers are significant, and could be among your readings if this is a topic of interest to you: "

" Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317823 "

' Are declines in insects and insectivorous birds related? https://bioone.org/journals/ornithological-applications/volume-123/issue-1/duaa059/Are-declines-in-insects-and-insectivorous-birds-related/10.1093/ornithapp/duaa059.short "

" Here are important facts from the latter paper, presented as the LAY SUMMARY: " There may be a link between declining insect populations and bird population declines. Bird populations are often limited by the amount of insect food available to them. Most of the bird species that have declined in the last 50 years are those that depend on insects for food. One cause of insect declines is the widespread use of non-native plants in forestry and horticulture that do not support insects. The loss of insects, birds, and other forms of life is important because those are the species that run the ecosystems that support humans. One solution to this problem is to increase the populations of the insects that birds depend on by increasing our use of native plants in managed landscapes."

Monday, November 14, 2022

learn about the Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative

See the document at: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/2355/AMBI_Workplan_2019-2025_revised_May_2021.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y "Priority Conservation issues 1. The loss or degradation of terrestrial and pelagic habitats along the flyway is a key conservation issue for this work plan. The underlying threats are numerous and include climate change effects; expansion of white geese on tundra habitats; anthropogenic impairment of interior and coastal habitats; direct take of shorebirds via legal and illegal harvest; and plastic pollution in pelagic areas. 2. Climate change is associated with loss of shorebird productivity in the Arctic, changes in habitat quality and quantity throughout the flyway, and effects on shorebird migration. Indirect consequences of human activity, including habitat destruction by overabundant populations of Snow (Chen caerulescens) and Ross’s (Chen rossii) geese (collectively referred to as ‘white geese’), are of concern for shorebird conservation on portions of the breeding grounds. Development of coastal infrastructure, such as farming that necessitates impoundment or draining of coastal wetlands and disturbance at shorebird roosting sites, are issues directly related to human activity in the southern parts of the AMBI Americas Flyway Priority species Semipalmated Sandpiper Lisa Pirie/ Environment and Climate Change Canada Red Phalarope WHSRN Buff-breasted Sandpiper Shiloh Schulte/USFWS Red-necked Phalarope USFWS Red Knot (ssp. rufa and roselaari) Loss, degradation and change in land use due to energy production, mining and agriculture (annual non- timber crops, livestock farming and ranching) are also impacting inland habitats important for breeding, migration and wintering of Arctic birds. The effects of plastic pollution in the world ́s oceans on Arctic shorebirds are only beginning to be understood. However, due to the scale of this issue both in geographic extent and amount of plastic in the ocean it is well anticipated that the impacts could be significant."

Friday, October 28, 2022

The medical journal The Lancet's new report: "Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels"

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01540-9/fulltext "The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown is published as the world confronts profound and concurrent systemic shocks. Countries and health systems continue to contend with the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a persistent fossil fuel overdependence has pushed the world into global energy and cost-of-living crises. As these crises unfold, climate change escalates unabated. Its worsening impacts are increasingly affecting the foundations of human health and wellbeing, exacerbating the vulnerability of the world's populations to concurrent health threats."

new research on bird migration

New frontiers in bird migration research https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960982222013057 "Bird migrations are impressive behavioral phenomena, representing complex spatiotemporal strategies to balance costs of living while maximizing fitness. The field of bird migration research has made great strides over the past decades, yet fundamental gaps remain. "

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

raptor watch

Time to watch for, and count raptors: The next 3 months are the time to watch the skies for migrating raptors. Depending on where you live, there's probably a good raptor watch location not far away. There are a number of well-known locations in Wisconsin where raptors have been known to concentrate during migration, with long-term data still being collected at most of them. See the map reproduced here at left, for approximate locations in eastern, western, and northern Wisconsin.

September and October are peak months for Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks, Merlin, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, and Broad-winged Hawks. Bald Eagles, American Kestrels, and Turkey Vultures are also fairly numerous, with Peregrine Falcons, Northern Goshawks less so. On the Lake Michigan shoreline sites, the best days are those with west and northwest winds.