Thursday, October 26, 2017

The importance of wolves on ecosystem health

While on twitter, I ran across a video short on wolves in Yellowstone National Park. This lead to more research on the importance of large predators related to ecosystem health and balance. 
I thought I would share some of those resources here.



Here is a brief summary on the topic [excerpted from one of the articles listed below].

The extirpation of wolves (Canis lupus) from Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1920s and their reintroduction in 1995 provided the opportunity to examine the cascading effects of carnivore-herbivore interactions on woody browse species, as well as ecological responses involving riparian functions, beaver (Castor canadensis) populations, and general food webs. Our results indicate that predation risk may have profound effects on the structure of ecosystems and is an important constituent of native biodiversity [Ripple and Beschta, 2004, p.755].

Below is the citation for this summary, along with a few other resources for you to explore.



Licht, Daniel S., et al. "Using small populations of wolves for ecosystem restoration and stewardship." BioScience, vol. 60, no. 2, 2010, p. 147+. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.2.9  Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.

Peterson, Rolf O., et al. "Looking to the past for the future: using wolves to restore ecosystems (response to Belant, Mech, and Trimble)." BioScience, vol. 60, no. 7, 2010, p. 486+. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.7.21  Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.


Ripple, William J., and Robert L. Beschta. "Wolves and the ecology of fear: can predation risk structure ecosystems?" BioScience, vol. 54, no. 8, 2004, p. 755+.  http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=bio

Friday, October 13, 2017

Taras Oceanographic hosts a series of science lectures at Jupiter High School

The Meet the Scientist Lecture Series is in its 14th season. Hosted by Taras Oceanographic Foundation  at Jupiter High School, Jupiter, FL 33458. Below is the upcoming calendar. Click on the image to enalrge, or visit their website from the link above.




Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Possible antrax outbreak in Namibia kills hippos

Hippo deaths in Namibia

The Daily mail is reporting that 109 hippos have died in the Bwabwata National Park since Sunday last week. The cause of death is suspected to be a natural outbreak of anthrax. Outbreaks are not uncommon and can occur when rivers are running low. The hippo population before the outbreak was thought to be 1,300. Hippopotamus are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red list. Veterinarians are still working to confirm the cause of death [anthrax].

To read the full report and read more about what Anthrax is, you can follow the Link to the full article on Daily Mail here

The Center for Disease Control also has a page explaining anthrax, which you can access here.

The CDC web page also had this graph of the Anthrax life cycle:





Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Feedspot's list of top science blogs

Top 100 Science Blogs on the Web

If you are searching for science blogs to follow, Feedspot offers a list of The Best Science blogs from thousands of top Science blogs in their index using search and social metrics. Data is refreshed once a week.


Here are the first few on the list. Follow the link above to access the entire list of science blogs.

Australia
About Blog - ScienceAlert features cool and interesting science news and entertainment worth sharing. It provides the latest science news, opinions, and features from Australia & New Zealand.
Frequency - about 42 posts per week
View Latest Posts


New Scientist 
+ Follow

Worldwide
About Blog - New Scientist is the best place to find out what’s new in science. It is the world's number one science and technology magazine, and online it is the go-to site for breaking news, exclusive content and breakthroughs that will change your world.
Frequency - about 84 posts per week
About Blog - New Scientist is the best place to find out what’s new in science. It is the world's number one science and technology magazine, and online it is the go-to
New York City, NY, USA
About Blog - Scientific American provides latest news and features on science issues that matter including earth, environment, and space. Get your science news from the most trusted source.
Frequency - about 56 posts per week