Out of Bounds

Transboundary Diseases and why we should pay attention to them:

[this entire post was borrowed from the  FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations)]

"All animal diseases have the potential to adversely affect human populations by reducing the quantity and quality of food, other livestock products (hides, skins, fibers) and animal power (traction, transport) that can be obtained from a given quantity of resources and by reducing people's assets. Of these, transboundary animal diseases tend to have the most serious consequences.

Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) may be defined as those epidemic diseases which are highly contagious or transmissible and have the potential for very rapid spread, irrespective of national borders, causing serious socio-economic and possibly public health consequences.

These diseases which cause a high morbidity and mortality in susceptible animal populations, constitute a constant threat to the livelihood of livestock farmers.
Furthermore, their potential consequences are of such a magnitude that their occurrence may also have a significant detrimental effect on national economies.

Transboundary animal diseases have the potential to:

	threaten food security through serious loss of animal protein and/or loss of draught animal power for cropping;
	increase poverty levels particularly in poor communities that have a high incidence dependence on livestock farming for sustenance;
	cause major production losses for livetsock products such as meat; milk and other dairy products; wooland other fibers and skins and hides, thereby reducing farm incomes. They may also restrict opportunities for upgrading the production potential of local livestock industries by making it difficult to utilise exotic high producing breeds which tend to be very susceptible to the transboundary disease;
	add significantly to the cost of livestock production through the necessity to apply costly disease control measures;
	seriously disrupt or inhibit trade in livestock and livestock products either within a country or internationally. Their occurrence may thereby cause major losses in national export income in significant livestock-producing countries;
	cause public health consequences in the case of those transboundary animal diseases which can be transmitted to humans (i.e. zoonoses);
	cause environmental consequences through die-offs in wildlife populations in some cases, and;
	cause pain and suffering for affected animals" (FAO, 2013). _______________________________________________________ Websites and governmental organizations to learn more about animal diseases: 1. APHIS animal health and diseases here 2. Center for Food security and Public Health  disease list here 3. OIE World Organizations for animal Health info here 4. USDA/FAO Unites States Department of Agriculture transboundary disease here ___________________________________________________________ references: FAO. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2013. online. available at:  http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/empres/diseases.asp image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wild_Pig_KSC02pd0873.jpg

“I’m ready for my close up, Mr. Demille”

Photo id software for wildlife conservation

Understanding movements of individual animals is vital to biologists  and can lead to a better understanding of “social interactions, migratory routes, preferred habitats, behaviors within certain settings, life spans, and reproduction rates of various species” (GNB, 2013).

Some of the methods used include radio tagging, banding, notching, branding, and photo id. Most of the methods are labor intensive, expensive and are not guaranteed to stay in place due to outside circumstances.  Photo id is noninvasive and causes no behavioral changes that can occur with the other methods. However, getting good photos that can be compared is not easy.

A new software program, StripeSpotter, is becoming more widely used and more readily available. “With StripeSpotter, a computer program is able to identify individual zebras from a single photograph, field ecologists simply upload a digital photo of a particular animal’s flank. StripeSpotter then analyzes the pixels and assigns a “stripecode.” When a future photo of a zebra is uploaded, it’s run against the stripecode” (GNB, 2013).  The software is highly accurate and is currently being used in Kenya to track zebra.

According to researchers, the software is very useful because it is “tolerant of different sizes of animals in the images, exposure and mild perspective skews. It can be applied to any animal that has a coat with distinct markings. It provides feedback to the user about matching results”(Staeder, 2013).

The article related to the research of this type of photo id can be found here.

References:

( GNB) Good Nature blog, 2013. Online. Available at: http://goodnature.nathab.com/could-new-animal-id-software-aid-in-conservation-efforts/

M. Lahiri, C. Tantipathananandh, R. Warungu, D.I. Rubenstein, T.Y. Berger-Wolf. Biometric Animal Databases from Field Photographs: Identification of Individual Zebra in the Wild. Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Multimedia Retrieval (ICMR 2011), Trento, Italy, 2011.

Staeder, 2013. MSNBC news. Online. Available here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42500680/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/new-animal-barcode-scanner-earns-its-stripes/#.UQALcPLq3Tq

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plains_Zebra_Equus_quagga.jpg

Stop bugging me!

Current Water testing for insecticides show shortcomings

A current study conducted by the Landau-based Institute of Environmental Sciences of the University of Koblenz-Landau, reveals that current monitoring methods for insecticides in water resources is inaccurate. Due to staffing, funding and time constraints, most water samples are regularly taken on fixed dates throughout the year.  This leads to inaccurate measures because “insecticides enter water resources very irregularly and, even though their concentrations exceed the threshold levels only for a short time, their harmful effect is present” (SD, 2013).

Fungicides and herbicides are used on a regular basis; unlike insecticides which are used in cases of acute insect infestation. Very High doses are applied. Even though insecticides often have very short half-lives in the environment; they can still have a harmful effect on aquatic insects and other invertebrates. This in the long run may alter the community composition of the water (SD, 2013).

Testing of water resources should be done when these large volumes of insecticides are being used or when heavy rains wash these chemicals into the water resources. According to the study even daily sampling at fixed times detected on 2 of six peaks. On the other hand, event related sampling measures all the peaks. “ Current practice wastes considerable sums of money, as many of the fixed intervals do not coincide with periods of high insecticide concentrations” (SD, 21013).

This inaccurate testing gives a false sense of safety. Tests that reveal no contaminates should be discarded, according to researchers. The article offered the following suggestions to help minimize effects of pollution. “The environmental pollution of water resources could be reduced with a number of cost-effective and efficient measures: For example, the border strips between area used for agricultural purposes and water resources would have to be widened and effectively structured. Hedges at the edge of the field would reduce the spray drift. Furthermore, constructed wetlands should be furnished with plants, which according to previous studies of the Institute of Environmental Sciences in Landau are capable of reducing pesticide exposure up to 70 per cent” (SD, 2013).

You can read the entire article here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114092523.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_environment+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News+--+Top+Environment%29

Find more articles on environmental contaminants by using our online databases here.

References:

SD (Science Daily), 2013. Online. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114092523.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_environment+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News+--+Top+Environment%29

Sebastian Stehle, Anja Knäbel and Ralf Schulz. Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Insecticide Concentrations in Agricultural Surface Waters: A Critical Appraisal. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 12 December 2012

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1264_Rogator_Spraying_Corn.JPG

Read it and weep

How willow trees are invading Florida waterways

Florida has its share of problems with invasive species. Lionfish, pythons, iguana and feral hogs are only a few. There are also several invasive plant species. Why is this important? According to FPL, “Florida's ecosystems are unique. Exotic species alter the landscape of Florida and render habitats unsuitable to native species. This reduces biodiversity and puts additional strain on endangered species, of which Florida has more than any other state in the continental U.S.” (FPL, 2013).

University of Central Florida researchers have completed a study showing the Carolina willow may be thriving because of water-management projects initiated in the 1950s. These man made canal systems that dominate the Florida landscape have  unforeseen consequences. The canals were built to control runoff and provide water for farming. This very stable water environment has allowed the willow to thrive.

Reported by Science daily, willow trees now cover thousands of acres. “Willows form impenetrable thickets that prevent boating and eliminate duck habitat. Willow thickets also use tremendous amounts of water, leaving less available for wildlife and people” (SD, 2013). in the past fluctuating natural water tables kept the trees under control with dry and wet seasons, making it hard for the trees to survive. The Carolina willow is now taking over parts of the St. John's River Basin.

Other countries (i.e. Australia, Korea) have planted willow trees as a source of erosion control and are now facing similar issues (SD, 2013).

To learn more about exotic and invasive species, check out the library’s online databases and research the many topics related to these environmental issues. You can also check out the Florida Fish and Wildlife website for an overview of non-native species in Florida at this link: http://www.myfwc.com/nonnatives

 

References:

FPL, 2013. http://www.fpl.com/environment/exotic/exotic_and_invasive_species_index.shtml

 

Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio, John E. Fauth, Luz M. Castro Morales, Kimberli J. Ponzio, Dianne Hall, Ken Snyder. Taming the Beast: Managing Hydrology to Control Carolina Willow (Salix caroliniana) Seedlings and Cuttings. Restoration Ecology, 7 JAN 2013 

SD (Science daily, 2013) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130108151208.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_environment+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News+--+Top+Environment%29

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Salix_alba_Morton.jpg

Here is a short animation from Steve Cutts on vimeo to kick off our new semester of science postings. Art can be a valuable tool for conservation awareness.Welcome back and hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break.


MAN from Steve Cutts on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/56093731