Category: Biodiversity News

Tree surgeons in Barcombe save endangered bird’s habitat. The company tasked with trimming treetops at Barcombe’s disused railway station in East Sussex worked with Barcombe Community Wildlife Group to help maintain the important breeding ground for endangered nightingales. The tree surgeons enhanced the habitat for nightingales and the insects they feed upon along the 33,000-volt 3km route, while still maintaining the power network. The trees and surrounding vegetation were recycled into woodchip mulch to use in the soil, and wood stacks were also made for the area to encourage wildlife.

Grey wolves have had their federal protections restored across much of the US. In 2020, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decided to delist wolves from the Endangered Species Act. However, it was suggested by wolf advocates that the USFWS failed to show that wolf populations could be sustainably managed by states in the Midwest and parts of the West without federal protection. A US District Judge stated that the USFWS had not considered species-wide recovery and instead focused on individual recovered populations, such as in the Northern Rockies. Thus, he ruled to immediately restore federal protection to wolves in the Midwest and parts of the West.

Paignton Zoo is freezing the DNA of endangered animals in hopes to save them from extinction. In a project called “Noah’s Ark of DNA”, the zoo has frozen samples from 82 species, including mouse deer, Humboldt penguins and panther chameleons, with the aim of collecting samples from hundreds of the world’s 40,000 endangered species. This is one of several DNA preservation projects in the UK, acting as a potential safeguard for many species.

A study has found that air pollution makes it tough for pollinators to stop and smell the flowers. Researchers have found that common, ground-level air pollutants react with floral scents, leading to reduced pollination. The presence of nitrogen oxides and ozone resulted in up to 90% fewer flower visits, as well as one-third less pollination than in a smog-free field. The concentrations of pollutants used in the study were less than half the average levels of air pollutants considered safe under US law.

River pollution is a significant issue in the UK; many rivers are contaminated with sewage, agricultural and road run-off, microplastics and litter. One council is now attempting to protect one river from this by looking to grant it the ‘Freedom of the City’, usually granted to people and organisations to recognise their contributions to a city. Norwich City Council hopes that this honorary title, in combination with other new measures, such as developing planning policies to protect biodiversity, will protect River Wensum from pollution and invasive species. The council will also be asking Anglian Water for evidence on what is being done to prevent sewage spills.

A new leafhopper has been discovered on a student field trip to Kibale National Park, in west Uganda. Dr Alvin Helden of Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge named the insect Phlogis kibalensis and said it’s from an “incredibly rare” group of leafhoppers, whose “biology remains almost completely unknown”. The last recorded sighting of a species from the Phlogis genus was in the Central African Republic more than 50 years ago, in 1969.

After the devastating bushfires between 2019 and 2020, some koala populations in Australia were on the brink of extinction. Now, the Australian federal government has committed a further $50 million for the next four years to aid koala population recovery, bringing the total federal investment to $74 million since 2019. This funding will also go towards habitat and health protection projects and extending the national koala monitoring program.

A new species of angel shark (Squatina mapama) has been identified in the Central American Caribbean. Angel sharks are flat-bodied, bottom-dwelling species that resemble stingrays. The species was identified through genetic analysis, as it’s a cryptic shark species: they’re morphologically indistinguishable from one or more other Squatina species. S. mapama, whose suggested common name is the ‘small-crested angel shark’, is the fourth new Squatina species to be identified in the last decade.

Loss of animal biodiversity is impacting the survivability of some plants. Species that rely on animal-facilitated dispersal are unable to keep up with climate change as they cannot disperse their seeds far enough to shift their geographic ranges, due to the decline in biodiversity of birds and mammals. Published in Science, a new study has shown that 60% fewer seeds are being dispersed far enough to reach newly suitable habitats, with North America, Europe, South America and Australia the most affected.

A number of environmental organisations, including Wildlife Trust and the RSPB are warning that permitted use of the banned pesticide thiamethoxam by sugar beet farmers threatens bees. The Government has announced that it will permit the use of thiamethoxam on sugar beet in England in 2022, because of the threat posed by a virus, transmitted by aphids. Neonicotinoids are banned within the UK and the EU, as even small traces of these chemicals can reduce bees’ ability to forage and navigate, threatening whole colonies.

Norway has blown up a dam that blocked the Tromsa River for more than 100 years to free up migratory routes for fish. The dam has not been used for over 50 years and the river, which feeds into Norway’s biggest lake, will allow fish in the area to thrive, including grayling, Alpine bullhead and common minnows. Prior to this, the fish were only able to live and spawn in 950 metres of the river. Now that the dam has been removed, these species will be able to swim 10km upriver.

A new study suggests that the sixth mass extinction is currently underway.  The planet has undergone five major extinction events but, according to the study published in Biological Reviews, the current one is entirely caused by human activities. Since the year 1500, between 7.5% and 13% of 2 million known species could have already been lost, with drastically increasing rates of species extinctions and declining abundances. However, a bias towards evaluating birds and mammals and an under-reporting of other fauna such as invertebrates may be leading to many denials that the current rate of species die-offs amounts to a mass extinction.

Chester Zoo helps reintroduce ‘extinct fish’ to Mexico. The tequila fish (Zoogoneticus tequila) is a small species of goodied fish that disappeared from the wild in 2003 due to water pollution and the introduction of invasive fish species. A team of conservationists from Chester Zoo and the Michoacana University of Mexico have returned over 1500 fish to a number of springs in the Teuchitlán River in south-west Mexico, with the fish now thriving and breeding in the river. This project is hoped to have created a blueprint for future reintroductions of other endangered fish species.

Baby hellbender salamanders hatch at the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri, with hopes of restoring this species in the wild. The population of this species in Missouri has declined by over 75% since the 1980s, as they’re sensitive to environmental changes caused by climate change, pollution, disease and habitat modification. Chytridiomycosis, the deadly amphibian disease linked to massive worldwide amphibian die-offs, has also been detected in Missouri hellbenders. These captive-bred eggs will be carefully monitored and the hatchlings will be released into the wild when they are two years old.

19 bird species have been added to Nepal’s list of nationally threatened birds in the past decade. As of 2018, this list consists of 168 birds, with aquatic species making up 49 of these. The nationwide count of aquatic birds is taking place between 1st and 16th January, and will show the latest condition of the threatened bird species in Nepal. This increasing number of threatened species is thought to be due to a number of issues, including shrinking forest cover and wetlands, habitat destruction, chemical poisoning, land fragmentation, climate change and hunting.

The National Trust, RSPB, Woodland Trust and The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the Prime Minister to make New Year’s resolutions to tackle the climate and nature crises. These conservation charities are asking the UK government to make seven commitments for 2022 that focus on the protection and restoration of peatlands, protection for our marine environments and paying farmers to restore nature.