Stephen Ambrose, Ph.D’s Post

The #woylie, a critically endangered Australian #marsupial, is showing signs of recovery in Western Australia due to #conservation efforts. The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has recorded a significant increase in sightings, with 34 woylies tagged with GPS trackers compared to just 2 in 2019. Woylies play a crucial role as #ecosystem engineers by digging for roots and tubers, impacting their #habitat. Conservation efforts also address the threat of feral foxes and cats, introduced by European settlers, which disrupt local #ecosystems. The resurgence of woylies and other #endangered marsupials like the Western quoll in Batalling State Forest signals positive progress in Australian #wildlife conservation. https://lnkd.in/dZ-hKm5Z

Today is Endangered Species Day Being an ecological based firm, Equinox has a close association with an informed approach to planning and design around ecology. Often this information is directly related to endangered species and their habitats. A large component of what we do is identify sensitive habitats and analyze the potential to impact rare and endangered species. The primary goal being to ensure that our projects maintain a balance of function and environmental sustainability. Rare species often occupy niche habitats such as mountaintops, rocky escarpments, wetlands, waterfall spray zones, in areas with unique soils, and vegetative communities that are rare themselves.    What is it to be endangered? The textbook definition is (broadly) defined as to have one’s continued existence threatened.  In common speech, threatened and endangered are synonymous. In the realm of federal protection, the two have vastly different meanings. To be endangered, is to have been brought to the brink of existence while threatened is being likely to become the former.  A sobering reminder of the value of any given moment in time.  A Bill recently reintroduced in the Senate by Senators Heinrich and Tillis, has reinvigorated a push for the funding of research, management, and recovery of rare species. The bill, Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), would provide dedicated funding for more than 12,000 species of wildlife and plants identified as in need of conservation measures. It takes a tremendous amount of work by agencies and researchers to stay ahead of the curve on species decline.  Hopefully everyone will take a moment today to reflect on rare species and those who work diligently to protect them.  

A fascinating (and terrifying) article

Bison That Became Extinct in the Middle Ages Born in Europe: https://lnkd.in/gKffDHGk Bison are often associated with North America, but the wisent (Bison bonasus) is native to Europe. It was driven to extinction in the wild in the early 20th century (it had been extirpated from western Europe for several centuries), but reintroduction efforts began a few decades later. As with American bison (Bison bison), the wisent is an important keystone species, and its reintroduction stands to benefit the ecosystems it is returning to. As browsers, wisent help keep plant growth in check, and their manure is valuable both for the plant community as well as detritivores and decomposers like various insects, fungi, and microbes. Native large carnivores are generally as scarce as the bison, but in places where wolves and other predators still exist, the bison could be important sources of food. The hard truth about restoration ecology is that we will never be able to get ecosystems back to how they were before humans so heavily altered them. We can't even necessarily return them to when our impact was much lighter, given all the changes we have made. But if we can at least create pockets of biodiversity with safe travel corridors between them, that will go a long way in at least keeping native wildlife from disappearing entirely. The reintroduction of the wisent in Europe, and the bison in North America, represent important steps in undoing at least a little of the damage done.

Although approximately 40,000 species are currently included in the CITES Appendices. A recent study has identified that 904 species that are likely to be threatened by international trade are not covered by current CITES protections, 370 of which are classed as endangered or critically endangered. These include species such as Shark & Palm. https://lnkd.in/egBh_RJe #globaltrade #internationaltrade #cites #customs #endangered #risk #plant #animal #species #globaltradeprotections

#TheYearAhead: Protecting #OceanBiodiversity becomes more critical than ever. #NoOceanNoUs. "It’s an audacious plan. For decades, captive breeding programs have successfully reinvigorated struggling populations of orangutans, California condors and other wildlife. But the approach had never been tried with marine species. “Witnessing those first zebra sharks swim away was simply electrifying, ..." - Conservation International. #ForNature #OceanProtection #MarineBiology #MarineLife #MarineConservation #Biodiversity #PictureOfChange #OceanBiodiversity #BiodiversityConservation #Biodiversity #Biodiversidad https://lnkd.in/dzdBt4nr

A CSU experiment spanning more than two decades has found that removal of apex predators from an ecosystem can create lasting changes that are not reversed after they return – at least, not for a very long time. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and published in Ecological Monographs, challenges the commonly held belief that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park restored an ecosystem degraded by their absence. Researchers in CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources examined the effects of three apex predators – carnivores at the top of the food chain not preyed on by other animals – in Yellowstone. Depleted populations of cougars and grizzly bears naturally recovered about the same time wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995. The absence of these predators for nearly a century transformed the food web and landscape. “Our work supports the fact that wolves are important components of ecosystems,” said Cooper, a research scientist emeritus in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship. “They will have some ecosystem benefits by reducing some large herbivore populations. Over the next hundred years, they’ll have a greater role in regulating some of the ecological processes that we’ve been studying.” Read more about this: https://col.st/tBfth

Our stewards are dedicated to protecting Earth's biodiversity through scientific exploration, species safeguarding, and ecosystem rehabilitation. Take a look at some of their recent endeavors: 🇮🇩 Cikananga Wildlife Center, Island of Java, Indonesia  🦜 The onset of the rainy season has sparked breeding activity for montane species at the Cikananga Conservation Breeding Center in West Java. Notably, they've observed multiple breeding pairs of the endemic and critically endangered Javan green magpie (Cissa thalassina). Since 2011, the breeding program at the center has been instrumental in preserving this remarkable species, whose lack of recent sightings has led to speculation of potential extinction in the wild. 🇵🇪 Camino Verde Baltimori, Peruvian Amazon, Peru 🌿 Since the beginning of the year, the team has capitalized on the rainy weather by planting over 20,000 plants comprising more than 50 native species. Operating within the buffer zone of the Tambopata National Reserve, Camino Verde manages a biodiverse region housing over 1,400 plant species, 600 bird species, 180 fish species, 100 mammal species, and 100 amphibian and reptile species. In the upcoming weeks, the team and participating families in their agroforestry programs aim to plant approximately 8,000 additional plants. 🇨🇱 Karukinka Park, Tierra del Fuego, Chile 🔍 Chilean scientists have ventured to the shores of Karukinka to tag six Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) as part of their ongoing research to understand their movements and behaviors in the ocean depths. An interesting fact: these six animals will transmit the information every time they go out for breathing through a satellite tag on their head that will fall the next time they molt. This collaborative research effort involves Universidad de Valparaiso and Universidad Austral de Chile, as well as researchers from Exeter University and Saint Andrews University. Do you want to get involved in conservation actions with our steward’s network and enhance your organization's sustainability efforts? Get in touch! 🌎

A record number of species (144) were added to our national threatened list in 2023. This is 5 times more than the yearly average and double the previous record year set in 2009. An up-to-date list is essential to guide action and provide protection to at risk species. Biodiversity Council member Professor of ecology Sarah Legge from The Australian National University said a lot of this assessment has happened in record time since the Black Summer bushfires. “The whole assessment is rigorous and robust, but you wouldn’t want to speed it up so much that you’re losing faith in its integrity. But I think there are ways of speeding it up a little bit. It’s more important to make sure the list is current and up to date: you don’t want groups of species that aren’t assessed properly.” She added that, historically, invertebrates and fish had been poorly counted which could account for more additions of these species than before. Great article by Laura Chung at The Sydney Morning Herald. It is so valuable for the rapid increase in species becoming threatened to be visible to the community. https://lnkd.in/eheYRfv8

As an aspiring conservationist and ecologist, I would like to offer my take on this subject and why open discussion of conservation is so important to determining the right course of action. 'Flagship species' are specifically used in order to obtain donations, they are charismatic species that are likely to increase public awareness and drive public involvement in conservation projects. While they may not always be the most ecologically significant species, they are one of the best ways to increase public engagement with conservation and hopefully in the not too distant future, more can be done to make more species appealing to the public with the right distribution of information. 'Keystone species' are species identified as having significant ecological importance. While it would be almost impossible to determine the ecological significance of all species in the world, we can determine which species would have the biggest impact on an ecosystem. This is why large grazers, such as Bison, are so important, they create habitat variation within forests and grasslands, creating opportunities for a wider variety of species to establish themselves. Beavers can change entire ecosystems by creating dams and altering the course of rivers, large predators control mesopredator populations and also help to control overabundant grazers. Conservation priorities are important if we want to save as many species as possible. I believe it is important to take a holistic approach to conservation, the harsh reality of conservation is that it is very hard to save everything, not impossible but very difficult. It is important to ensure that the limited resources available to conservationists are used effectively. Saving one species and risking the extinction of another with higher ecological significance will only lead to greater loss of biodiversity. So much is currently being done around the world to improve natural habitats, with conservationists using keystone species to increase biodiversity. If we can continue to do this, I believe we can save a great deal of currently endangered species.