‘New’ finch in time for Christmas

Having just learnt about the Grants in community ecology class, who famously continued Darwin’s work in studying the finches of Galapagos Islands for some 36 years, I was bemused and surprised when WIRED reported a new species discovered by them yesterday. Topics brought up in community ecology class keep popping up in the news! Read about it here.

Source: Wired.com

So what is it with all this species talk? Here’s some quick background.

The systems of classification we have today in biological science for living organisms have many levels. They start from Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and finally Species. Of all of these levels, note that the only “natural” classification is species – why? Because we recognise the individual for itself, and the species is a fundamental unit that is not grouped together with other individuals based on a set of characteristics that people think is important, because this can be flawed. Note that classifications are a human construct after all, just as the theoretical science we make our rules in the world by are simply hypotheses that have yet to be proven wrong.
Source: Wikipedia
Scientists in the past first started classifying animals much like how a 5 year old kid naturally learns to put things together. If they look like the same thing, it makes sense that they are the same kind of thing. Fishes look like fishes, and insects look like insects. We call this morphology (structure, or external form). Are things really that simple though?

Source: Corbets.

As the earth aged and thousands and millions of years passed, species on different continents adapted to the different conditions present there. In certain parts of the world however, this set of abiotic conditions (things like amount of moisture, air, temperature, nutrients, etc) were similar – and living organisms living by this same set of conditions may have adapted to this set of conditions, growing to have the same kind of external form, and thus looking the same. We call this convergent evolution. Click here for more examples of convergent evolution.

Source: Ivana Stehlik’s lecture notes for Environmental Biology, University of Toronto.

Lineage-wise though, they may come from extremely different ancestors. Cacti are one example. Desert conditions are so harsh that only a certain set of characteristics have prevailed, and plants from different families (DNA-wise) in different deserts have the same characteristics: needle-like leaves, succulence, deep roots, etc. On the other hand, two individuals that look completely different can be the same species: a few cases in point are ants and termites. Ever see how different soldier ants are from worker ants? And look at the queen!

 
Soldier termite with big bulbous red head; alate reproductive is whitish in colour, worker termites are the rest in dull grey and cream colour. Picture by Nuwan, from my collection (for more termites, see my page here)

Okay, so we know morphology isn’t enough. So what exactly is a species? This kinda seems pretty clear cut, doesn’t
it? Well it actually is kind of fuzzy – though most scientists agree on
using the Ernst Mayr biological species concept:

“Groups of populations that can actually or potentially exchange genes with one another and that are reproductively isolated from other such groups”

Why is that unclear? It sounds like its pretty clear-cut. Theoretically, that is. Realistically, its difficult to actually determine if individuals from two populations are capable of reproducing together and producing viable offspring. Take for example some common birds of Singapore. To test with certainty if the mynahs, crows, sparrows and pigeons are different species (setting aside structural differences), one would have to place them together in a setting and allow for enough time to see if they would breed together. If they breed and produce infertile offspring, it’s ruled out. But if they do produce viable offspring, one would then have to follow the case back to the wild, to see if their territories overlap enough that copulation is possible, and then observe if breeding between the two occurs. Extrapolate that to birds of a country. To test this with all the birds of a country, would be a nightmare. Read more about other species concepts here.

It’s not so clear after all, and there are many other things to take into account. What about organisms that breed asexually, such as fungi and aphids? Or living things that hybridise? The picture gets more fuzzy as we consider more things. Remember though, that this is a human construct, and we can keep coming up definitions that fit best as they can; sometimes they don’t fit for all cases, and we may need separate definitions for others. It’s not made in stone! For a quick, easily absorbed lesson in speciation, go here (recommended!).

Eco-corridor for Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserve

Yes, if you don’t already know this, you read right! I was just messing around with my computer system when I stumbled upon this: Ecological Corridor for Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

REALLY??

And this is recent too! Oh, how I wish I subscribed to newspapers here in Toronto, and that they were free. I don’t visit news webpages enough, it seems.

So back to this. Finally! Some people would diss the building of an ecological corridor, because being a relatively new field (the concept is not that new, it dates back to beyond 1986), coupled with the fact that ecological experiments and results take years and decades to show, they’d say it’s doesn’t work. Of course, there’s a lot of theoretical work.

How the width and nature of different corridors are suited to different functional groups (ie. predators, prey groups); how vegetation types planted there affect movement of these animals; whether to build above ground or below ground corridors, so on and so forth. Most of the time the conclusion ends up with: what corridor is constructed is specific to what species it is directed towards, and that affects the success of the corridor. And the funny thing is that we just went through this in class last week (again, because in Community Ecology we’re studying the theory of Island Biogeography and patchiness, etc).

So how do we justify building one?

Well it seems that in systems where we cannot afford to lose something, the precautionary approach is one that should be taken (read: we should build it if predicted benefits > costs). In this case, perhaps some would say building one is better than having none at all. For Bukit Timah however, it may prove a case of “too little, too late”. Let’s hope that won’t come true.

Supposedly the link will be done by 2013, if all goes to prediction. Taking into account that the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) was built in 1986, that’s some 27 years of physical isolation between the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR). Will behaviour and migration patterns of local animals have changed? Will animals, used to a relatively ‘quiet’ habitat within the forest (especially of the CCNR that is >3000ha large), move to the BTNR, and vice versa, over cars and vehicles zooming past below them? Noise and lights are a significant disturbance to many animals, and enough to induce behavioural changes.

So many more questions could arise regarding the specifics of the corridor. Is 50m at its narrowest enough? How strong do you build it? Of course, these questions should not promote inaction, but they should be tackled so that we think critically about our actions, and their consequences.

Grace Chua writes in the Straits Times: “..[the corridor will be] planted with dense trees resembling a forest habitat, could help populations of animals like the critically-endangered banded leaf monkey to recover”.

Banded-leaf monkeys are extremely shy, arboreal creatures, hardly seen by people because they live so high up, avoiding noise and disturbance. The media has an important role in education, and should moderate the public’s expectation of a result like this. Should their movement patterns not include the eco-corridor in a couple of years, critics may claim eco-corridors don’t work after all, when in fact there are many things we have yet to learn not only about eco-corridor functionality, but also about even the banded-leaf monkey life history and characteristics.

Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada has been a leader in eco-corridors (refer: wildlife crossings) and they are in a similar state with BTNR-CCNR road bisection by the BKE. They have been successful in promoting the movement of many animals, but one should note that different animals have different characteristics and functionalities. While concepts such as learning curves and infrastructure to improve corridors can be generalised for application, we should take note not to promote high expectations of corridors that might eventually lead to a ‘perceived failure’ of them when they do not deliver within a given timespan.

Again, because of generational times of animals and plants, their population dynamics and disturbances, results of building the corridor may be difficult to predict, or discern even after a decade. As Navjot Sodhi of the Conservation Ecology Lab at NUS says, “only time will tell.”. Meanwhile, as we wait, we should continue our efforts to preserve biodiversity, educate the masses and re-tune attitudes of today towards making an effort for the environment we live in, if not for the environment/animals, then for ourselves.

It is heartening then, to note that the National Parks has come up with a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. As a citizen and as a human being, we all have a stake in what surrounds us. Sacrificing nature for pure concrete buildings without a thought for leaving the same or more capital and environmental wealth for the next generation to carry on is not mature, it is not smart. We are fortunate to be living in Singapore, where majority of us can afford to address our basic necessities and focus on other interests such as culture, arts, etc – so in this day and age, let us not only learn more, but take action for our lives and for the generations to come.

Creek breach

The topic of water source protection brought us to the York Region in Newmarket today to listen to the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection program. Here you see Brook talking to us about the creek in the Eastern Creek Naturalisation Project under the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

To break down the complicated scenario here, we have urban development located on a floodplain that can potentially flood; a man-made pond introduced into the middle of a natural creek (that is unmanaged nor maintained); manicured lawns that perimeter the creek and pond that allow all rainwater to drain directly into the creek/pond without filtration; and water runoff from urban development (carparks and buildings surround the area).

This is how the creek looks like now, and the vegetation has grown back in part because of the efforts of the LSRCA. One of the main methods that have worked really well seemingly (it has only been a year since they’ve done it) is to place Willow and Red Osier Dogwood clippings into a fascine. Growth from the clippings then strengthen the soil and earth structure around the bank, and prevent erosion. 

This is the fascine visible from where I’m standing. You can also notice that the water is pretty clear, not very turbid or silty. The stream floods when heavy rains arrive, and when it floods the erosion isn’t too bad because of the fascines and because manicuring of the banks isn’t done anymore. Planting of vegetation that is able to tolerate water as well as salt (salt that comes from road salt used on the snow in winter to make roads more manageable) is planted, so not just any plant will do.

Fishes are present too! He didn’t mention too much about whether frogs and other animals were here though. Fish population doesn’t seem much affected by the management work done on the creek and ponds (largely because they took a very short time to work – in these situations working as fast as possible and staying in the river as short a time as possible is important).

Wood chips placed on the ground also help retain moisture for the plant as well as prevent the grasses from overcrowding the woody vegetation that they want growing there. Ingenious eh? (:

So with the naturalisation project things seem set to go well, and once they start creating the systems needed to treat water going from the pond into the creek that comes from urban runoff, we’ll really see how things work out. right now, oh man its pretty interesting to see bio-engineering at work!

alvar land

A trip to the Carden Alvar in the morning was overseen by the Couchiching Conservancy, where Kaira, our guide, first brought us around the alvars and told us what they were. Areas with very shallow soil over limestone rock, vegetation on this habitat is very specific and have special adaptations to deal with the drought and floods that come with the seasons, as well as the overall lack of rain/water.

Granite deposited when glaciers retreated resulted in a mix of granite and limestone rock in the area, and this particular alvar is an ecotone that supports many plant and animal species (especially birds like the Nighthawk and Bobolink, which are species at risk in Canada). Alvars have calcareous soil and are nutrient-poor, and this results in low competition: which then allows for more species to move in in a bid for space. Calcareous soil also is better for plants compared to acidic soil, so this type of habitat ends up having more biodiversity than ones with acidic soil.

So enough about the introduction of alvars, here it is:

alvar picture #1

Looks like man-made pavement? That’s exactly what I thought as I stepped into the area, walking from a graveled road to what I thought led to the most bio-diverse habitat in the temperate regions of this part of the world. lo and behold, it actually was limestone alvar that we were standing on, and one must remember that while the tropics are species diverse in every spot you look, temperate regions are different, and that’s still something to celebrate. I was still surprised though, but some of the rock in the area had fossils!

fossils in alvar rock

In one square metre of land the alvars contain as a habitat comparatively more species than any other habitat in the temperate countries, containing lichen, mosses, woody vegetation and grasses, which in turn provide a suitable system for many insects, grassland bird species to nest, as well as snakes and other predators.

alvar #2

You can see tall grasses and some woody vegetation here, and generally it looks like meadows and tall grasses. The alvars cannot support large trees (unless you leave succession to take over in many decades) easily, though Cedar tends to grow here. Even though this particular alvar is largely undisturbed, humans have already introduced a couple of invasive species into the area.

To give you a bit more information about the Couchiching Conservancy, they work like the Nature Conservancy in that they buy land (though funds from the federal and provincial government, as well as through donations/fundraising efforts) and then work on conservation through that. On top of that, the CC also works together with private landowners on managing their land effectively and in an environmentally friendly manner.

Saxifraga virginiana [flower]

I could hear the distinct sound of crunching and crackling as I walked around the dry habitat, and looking down, one could see many plants amongst the twigs and dry grass. There is lichen (white in colour) at the top of this picture, moss in a dark green colour all around, and in the centre stands a succulent plant that is an indicator of alvars, and is also an arctic disjunct species that breaks up stone as they grow, and retain moisture in their succulent state. Click on flower to see photos of their flowers.

clumping effect – caespitose

Plants in water deficient areas also tend to have an adaptation to ‘clump’ at the base to absorb and retain more moisture, and this can be seen in a number of plants in the area. Plants that have this ability are called caespitose plants. Pretty cool eh!

Skullcap

Kaira also talked about indicators of alvar habitats, and these plants include the Skullcap (above) and the Field Chickweed (below). Plants have what is known now as an ‘alvar association’ rank in percentage, and this tells you how much it is dependent on alvars for survival. Plants like Fragrant Sumac and Bee Balm however, can live on alvars (though its tough to do so because of harsh conditions) but do not NEED to live on them. On the far extreme edge of the coin then also presents you with North Honeysuckle and Grey Dogweed that are unwanted species.

Field Chickweed

Butternut

Thoughout our walk through the alvar landscape, Kaira told us about how different plant species were at different levels of endangerment – special concern, threatened, endangered, expatriated, extinct – and giving us examples for some of them. One of them is the Butternut tree, seen above, whose attack by an invasive fungus brought in by numerous vectors (insects, water/wind) was bringing down its numbers and making it almost a matter of time before it would die out. Sad! [comparable to dutch elm disease]

The other example she gave us was about the Red Mulberry, whose situation of limited numbers was brought about both by the introduction of a invasive introduced virus as well as hybridisation with the White Mulberry, of which hybrids are no longer Red Mulberries (which is how they are reducing their numbers).

And here we see two frogs! Not sure what species they are, but this made us recall the various frog sounds Mary taught us the day before (see entry: fields) at Dufferin Marsh.

It was cool to see the alvars and get educated by them – I had never before heard of the term even before this!

So, two concepts for you:

1. The main threat to the alvars now are the lack of natural disturbances. Knowing that grazing and nature fires used to be present but are now gone (as a result of human intervention), the woody vegetation is not being pushed back anymore, and these threaten to take over the alvar area (which is essentially open grassland) and through succession create an entire forest where alvar once was.

Without natural small fires also means that tinder would have built up over the years and if a fire comes one day it would burn hotter and consume more land – eventually resulting in what happened to some other forests that suppressed fires: nearly two feet of burnt soil, barren land, seeds that would not generate because they died due to the too-hot-fires. Extreme, but very possible.

This would mean alvar habitat would be lost and species that depend on alvar habitats are gone – and the most bio-diverse area in the temperate regions are also lost. So now what would one do? Introduce grazers? Carry out prescribed, control fires?

2. When do you know if it is worthwhile to protect an area/species? Do you necessarily have to choose areas to ‘sacrifice’ or ‘keep’? If an area is too small, or a species population is too small to sustain itself, would you invest money to sustain it by hand? What about fragmented areas – if, like the Dufferin Marsh, you know that the marsh was surrounded by urban sprawl and you know that it could not be expanded – is it worth putting in effort to sustain it?

Operations

It’s been a couple of months since I last updated, and I’ll be sending in some entries on the field trips that we did in Toronto for the first part of school, in our summer course (Ecology in Human Dominated Environments).

Those of you from the tropics reading these posts, think about what kind of differences the systems you see in temperate regions have that set them apart from the tropical rainforests as you know it. What are the conditions that temperate species deal with that tropical ones don’t? Are the systems that different after all? What kind of underlying concepts apply to both tropical and temperate?

On a side note, there’s a new interest I have in a project. Operation Wallacea, a collection of scientific expeditions (as modern as you can expect expeditions in this day and age to be), conducts training courses as well as opens itself for research assistance in various countries with Indonesia being it’s first and flagship site, and Madagascar being its newest. Other countries include: Egypt, Peru, Cuba, Mozambique, etc.

Think you’ve got what it takes to be trekking through the jungle, carrying out surveys for rare amphibians and reptiles? Imagine yourself sitting in the boat, looking through the river for caimans and river dolphins for a project. What about identifying birds through calls, or stumbling upon a pride of lions in the savannah, and knowing exactly what to do not to piss them off?

Check the site out. It’s expensive, but it certainly sounds worth it.

Fields in Toronto

So you know I’m at Toronto studying the environment and its systems, as well as doing a bit of anthropology and economics studies on the side. We did a summer field course before officially starting the school year, and the following will be some posts on the field trips we had and issues we covered.

The course was held at Koffler’s Scientific Reserve at Joker’s Hill, a 348 ha reserve that contains the largest site of old growth forest found in the whole of Oak Ridges Moraine. It is owned by the University of Toronto, and also recognised as both an Earth Science and Life Science Area of Natural Scientific Interest – a designation that acknowledges the exceptional quality of the forest at Joker’s Hill.

In the first week we did projects (small group projects on a topic we choose from a list of given topics, and a large group project analysing a dataset together). The second week however, was full of field trips and discussions. We went to Dufferin Marsh Conservation Area with Mary Asselstine leading the lecture about issues and concerns of the DMCA and troubles she has had to deal with.

AND WE GOT TO SIT ON A MAGIC SCHOOL BUS!! (:

Just about half and hour’s ride from KSR, DMCA is an area almost completely surrounded by residential and commercial development, the 5 ha plot of marsh/swamp land has had to deal with un-cooperative developers and municipals alongside handling and involving the community in conservation and action.

Something I always brought back from class with Prof Peter Ng and Sivasothi was to ‘choose your battles’ carefully (in conservation class), and now it was reiterated here by Mary. With all the problems that have surfaced and all the problems dealing with these problems, hearing about them continuously from Mary for a few hours would just make you either cry or shake your head in disbelief and frustration. Here’s a short list:

With too many agencies employing regulations on one area with no clear jurisdiction, it takes a long, long time (and many tiring communications) to do one thing. It is inefficient, ineffective, and it does not help the community in both humans and animals/plants.

And then there’s the problem of invasives: on one hand you have the Purple Loose Strife (a wetland invasive from europe), and on the other you have hybrid Cattails that are rampaging all over the wetland, causing problems with water flow and nutrient trapping. but wait, the story’s not over, because you also have the Phragmitis (Reed) from europe taking over wetland edges and growing extra fast.

Sometimes action plans work. Mary spoke about how she would have a dedicated team of volunteers from the Village of Schomberg who would gather every other year to clear out the Purple Loose Strife, and who have the ability to because they are trained (by Mary’s team). Successful storm water management ponds built also successfully treated urban runoff and kept out the geese (by sheer mechanical imagination: ropes built across the pond kept the geese from flying in).

But even with all these successes, there  are things to note: animals that live in habitats that require more than one area (e.g. treefrogs need the forest AND the pond to live and breed in); pests that come with urban development (rats, raccoons, feral cats) prey off smaller animals in the communities that are not used to having them around; how do you get the municipals and township on your side; how do you involve the community, and, is it significant to conserve a 5 ha area – or would it just end up as a biological city? The bottom line is, is it worth it?

Trees are dying because of raised water levels that are a result of so many factors, and solutions are stopped dead in their tracks because of regulations placed by agencies that do not claim to then have jurisdiction over the area – but if you do something against regulation you will get prosecuted – what can be done, really? It’s such a tough fight, and it reminds me of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore so much.

It was really inspiring to hear of Mary’s fight (continued, fight) to carry on, and I hope people out there somewhere continue as well. You never know who you touch out there, a child in the crowd, that may become the next mayor, political activist, politician, engineer, who may then have the capability of influencing the environment effectively and in a positive way.

It’s a long road ahead, and a hard fight. keep going, activists.

After months and months,

Finally a post!

I’m sorry to have been gone for so long, but this is what I have been up to:

May to Bali for a few days on holiday.

 

June to July 7 weeks travelling the road and seas in Borneo (Sabah & Sarawak) in Harvard Summer School’s Biodiversity of Borneo field course. Check out my homepage here.

August to present in Toronto, Ontario, Canada having classes in Environmental Biology.

So it’s been really hectic preparing for everything, and also doing projects on the side, taking classes and hiking as well. I’ve actually set up a travelblog now at minstreet.wordpress.com (or click here) and you are most welcome to visit the site if you want. (: Mostly it consists of posts about Toronto now, but in between when I have the time I will update on Borneo’s adventures and pictures too. Have been using Windows Live Writer that NWQ recommended, and I must say this (to give credit to them) because it HAS made writing to different blogs so much easier now.

Take care, and wait for my update. It’ll come. (:

Meanwhile, keep thinking, questioning, challenging, and proposing. (:

Backyard Biology: Field Trip to MMM

Okays, a post that was due a long time ago! Figured you guys wanted some pictorials by now. :D

“Yes, against the better judgement of all the rainy days in this current season (it was february then!), we went to Mandai Mangroves and Mudflats* (MMM). So it rained and it poured cats dogs monkeys and elephants (and for Kim, giraffes too). Still though, we had a fabulous time (: (or at least, I know I did!)

High tide water line can be seen on the propped roots of the Rhizophora, and a solitary seedling amongst the rest of the mangrove trees.

MMM littered. May not look as bad here, but it was really quite a load from where we were looking from. Big trash, small trash, all trash. This is where I’d talk about the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), which is held annually, and all over the world!

And yes, Singapore has it too! Just do a simple internet search and you should be able to find information on it. Institutions and the public join and gather forces, moving to coastal and mangrove areas to do a clean up and weigh-in on the types and amount of trash collected – e.g. 43 tonnes at XYZ Beach, with 36,453 straws, etc.

Great stuff to do it, a big eye opener and again, awareness that hits people when they go ‘oh my, i didn’t know this much rubbish floated out here!’. Grace and I joined Siva one year and we did it at Pandan Mangroves. The year before that I was at Sungei Buloh. Both very different sites to work at, with different litter and characteristics.

Sometimes, TV sets and refrigerator frames are found as well! Tyres are common too, and more dangerously, hyperdermic needles and rusty nails too. Gunny sacks, PVC piping, all sorts of rubbish you can imagine!

Horseshoe crabs (HSCs) getting caught under fishing nets and lines, being unable to reach food for sustanance and water to keep its book gills moist for breathing, it died! Decomposing smell wafting up. :(

Rescue mission got underway with people snipping off abominable abandoned nets and lines and releasing some still-alive HSCs – yay!

With Malaysia opposite us, wading migratory birds way out in front of us, mud on us, us beside us, and static electricity making our hair stand as we walked around, it was really quite an experience!

Lessons:
1. Always wear booties, coz Wincent didn’t get to wade out
as far as we the booties people could, quite a waste!
2. Wear fitting longs – Anne’s longs were loose and the mud was
constantly sucking it down. Haha. Needless to say, not a nice experience.

Our brave team happily muddied, headed along Sungei Mandai Kechil.

Daniel exploring the river bank at top left, Wincent smiling to himself at top right, Grace mischievously taking a photo of unsuspecting Kim at bottom.

More pictures of what it was like.  Siva’s in the orange cap,
Anne in the black shirt, Holly at bottom right picture.

Lessons:
3. Bring a proper poncho – not a groundsheet. Kim only realised her ‘poncho’
was actually a groundsheet when it started to rain, buggers.
4. Bring a poncho. Daniel didn’t have a poncho so used a garbage bag to cover
himself at first, and when that failed, he used it to cover his bag.

Wasp, Sea Holly, Two Collared Kingfishers, Peanut Worm, Onchs, Sandpiper. Look for the bird! Tip: 2pm direction if centre of photo is centre of clock.

Creatures! :D HSCs, mudcrabs, thundercrabs, all sorts of plants.

Seedling’s been barnacled!

Huge trees keeled over because of ground/mud erosion that’s happening more and more nowadays, what with the increase in wave energy resulting from increased activity along the shoreline, as well as damming of rivers preventing sediment flow into estuaries for deposition. That’s Evelyn delicately walking past the tree.

Photo of desolate-looking, dying mangrove trees at low tide.

(:

Almost the core team of Backyard Biology, we’ll be having another field trip soon! This time to Tanah Merah side, where we’ll be exploring the area for the first time. Oh, and Daniel’s back in Toronto now I believe. Evelyn and I will be visiting him very soon when we leave for environmental biology studies at University of Toronto!”

*Don’t know about MMM? See an earlier post on 19th Feb. (:

To save animals, put a price on them

I know, I know. Many weeks have passed since the last post, and its mostly due to converting all of my time to studying, researching or re-activating my social life now and then with friends.

So here’s a quick one.

To save animals, put a price on them – its an article on a radical idea, which is actually so crazy its the kind of idea that gets people (especially me) thinking and puts my mind out of the box so I can actually think radically too. Read it here. I love this kind of stuff. Not that I agree with the idea, I think there’s some serious flaws with it, but I like that the idea makes me think. Hope it does for you too.

Having taken classes on Tropical Conservation, many issues have also been brought up with regards to conservation. Just a quick post on certain concepts and ideas off the top of my head that have to be kept in mind when we are talking about conservation and leading lives with conservation at our core.

There is an article called “When swordfish conservationists eat swordfish“. It’s a good read. You might be able to get it by googling.

So the general idea is when a conservationist doesn’t practice what he preaches, and doesn’t do what he advocates – its like an environmental activist who pollutes the earth and doesn’t bother to save water or electricity. Think about your footprint – calculate it with an online calculator. Think about your lifestyle, and if and how that is aligned with what you believe in.

Next.

That conservation is not a pure subject, like many other things in the world. Pure meaning it only consists of one category of subject, of course. Call it science, call it social science, call it environmental or even philosophy related. It is all of, and much more than these things.

Keep in mind that conservation, without a social, environmental, political component, cannot work.

It’s interesting. People have to have their basic needs taken care of before they can move on to other things. It’s Maslow’s pyramid, period. Culture, environmental activists, choices even, only come when we have our basic necessities met.

So don’t question humanity’s selfishness in wanting to secure our future first – the thing you should question is why we think that economics should be mutually exclusive with the environment? We are slowly being proven wrong on that one, and that is, I believe, the way to go.

Después.

Zoos are temporary. They are not an alternate habitat, they are conservation centres, and Noah’s Arks at best. Look, no one’s disputing that they are great for education here. They are fantastic tools – but that’s all they are. A tool, a mechanism for education and awareness, but never, ever a replacement for what belongs in our natural environment, for what has been there before we removed them from it with our influence.

Nächster.

Cryo banks and seed banks, where sperm and egg of animals and seeds of plants are stored to ’secure’ its future are great ideas. But like zoos, its dangerous if we think they’re going to be our future. They can’t be.

Think: if animals cannot mate naturally any more, and we have to do fertilisation for them, is that natural? If an animal’s habitat is no longer around, and cannot be resurrected, so what if we can artificially produce more of these animals?

Berikutnya.

Beware of crunching numbers. Telling the public that we have 100 hectares (ha) of land designated for nature is only meaningful if that land is not fragmented. If they are taking 100 patches of 1 ha land ‘polka-dots’ and adding them together to produce 100 ha of land, that’s not meaningful at all.

It’s blips of land that not only reduce the integrity of the land, it also brings in accessibility by humans which can mean poaching, besides having the famous edge effect that alters conditions of the fragment such that environment of the fragment starts to degrade.

Made small enough, don’t be surprised if it degrades to nothingness. All while we say we have 100 ha of land set aside of nature.

其次.

Again, like how conservation is a weaving of many subjects and many characters, the change in food chains/webs, ecosystems and environment is compounded.

Think about what animal/plant is affected. How its life history is changed. Does it migrate? What breeding pattern does it have? What does it eat, and what does it get eaten by?

For example. Parasites have primary, and secondary hosts. Bacteria, they’re bad or good in our eyes, just harmful or not to the animal. Migratory birds and fishes, and their prey, be it crustaceans or caterpillars. Climate changes and pollution affecting breeding times, seasons, development – mozzies breed faster or slower, some frogs and molluscs are starting to have pseudo penises and weird number of limbs and development.

Lastly.

Though I’m not done talking about it, I’ll continue another day. Don’t let all of this frighten you into a state of inertia and shock.

Instead, take this as a sign, a challenge for us, the current generation to rise up to and take action. What’s most important, is that we take action. We can sit on our butts the whole day and talk all about the climate change and how animals are dying around the world – but without action, nothing really will get done.

Start simple. Use less things. Then you need to reuse less of them, and recycle even less of them. So start with reducing.

Spread. Blog. Talk to people. Write to your MP, if you’re in Singapore, and your mayor or city council if you’re elsewhere. Highlight issues you think are pertinent, important.

Learn more about whatever it is YOU are interested in. You don’t have to be interested in the environment just because everyone else is – go find out about what’s interesting to you. Knowing about the environment is good – learning about something you have  a passion for, is sustainable. Mebbe you like amphibians. I met a 13 year old girl today who likes rodents, and learnt only today that squirrels, beavers and capibara, saying ‘Cooool’ as she heard it.

We have a choice. Always. And putting yourself in the seat of choice and responsibility means you have power – it means you are the driver, and you decide today, right now, where we go.

Your actions affect someone and something else. You are powerful. You choose. Believe that, and do something good with it.

The world will be better off. (:

Interesting articles

Check these out:

Florida Biologists use Magnets to keep nuisance crocodiles away

If something is difficult, most people believe it must be important to achieving goals

Birds’ movements reveal climate change in action

Mystery of deep-sea fish with tubular eyes and transparent head solved

Fossilised pregnant fish one of first animals to have sex

Shocking photographs expose Florida’s decline in its reef fish

Haha. That said, remind me to cover something about Science and its hypotheses. (: Enjoy!