learn a little about re-wilding

Go to https://rewilding.ecologicalcitizen.net/2023/01/11/rewilding-the-southern-great-plains/ to read a RE-WILDING success story.

New Atlas of “Key Habitat Sites” for Seaducks in North America "

" “The Sea Duck Joint Venture (SDJV) was formed to learn more about sea ducks, make information available to stakeholders, and ensure sustainable populations over the long term.” The Sea Duck Joint Venture has produced a new continent-wide atlas of key habitat sites for sea ducks. This 286-page document describes sites of importance to our seaduck species during both breeding and non-breeding seasons across North America. Which species do we consider “seaducks”? Both Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye, Long-tailed Duck, both Common and Red-breasted Merganser, all of the eider species, all three scoters, Harlequin Duck and Bufflehead fall within this classification. This is of potential interest to Wisconsin birders because approximately 10 to 12 of these species are found within the Wisconsin portion of the Great Lakes at least some time each year. The Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory did federally-funded research in Lake Michigan between 2010 and 2015, and we contributed data and findings to the Key Sites Atlas. Along with a set of partners, we were part of a Great Lakes Commission project named “Monitoring and Mapping Avian Resources in the Nearshore and Open Waters of Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and St. Clair." "" I wrote one of the Key Sites accounts for the Great Lakes region: Key Site 67 - Sturgeon Bay to Manitowoc: https://seaduckjv.org/atlas/pdf/narrative_site67_508.pdf “In autumn of 2013, a total of 52,704 sea ducks were tallied in this area. More than 100,000 Red-breasted Mergansers pass though this offshore zone during both autumn and spring migration seasons. Use of distribution data from these surveys caused boundaries of a group of Wisconsin Important Bird Areas.” You can access the Key Sites Atlas at: https://seaduckjv.org/science-resources/sea-duck-key-habitat-sites-atlas/

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."

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."

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. "