Algemeen

Despite a steady rise in the manufacture and release of synthetic chemicals, research on the ecological effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals is severely lacking. This blind spot undermines efforts to address global change and achieve sustainability goals. So reports a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Emma J. Rosi , a freshwater ecologist at the Cary Institute and a co-author on the paper, explains, "To date, global change assessments have ignored synthetic chemical pollution.

Eine erschreckende Bilanz hat unlängst NRW-Landesumweltminister Johannes Remmel vorgelegt: Rund 44 Prozent unserer heimischen Tier- und Pflanzenarten sind mittlerweile in ihrem Bestand gefährdet und haben somit einen unrühmlichen Platz auf der Roten Liste ergattert. Und am Niederrhein? Leider ist auch hier das Ergebnis katastrophal. Selbst in den meisten Schutzgebieten geht der Artenschwund signifikant weiter. Insbesondere auf landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen ist die Artenvielfalt in den letzten Jahren rapide zurückgegangen.

Over the past decade, biologists in the United States have been tracking the rise of a deadly disease affecting snakes. Exactly where it came from, how it spreads and what it means for infected snake populations are all still rather mysterious. Now, a new report has revealed the disease is popping up in far more places – and in more snake species – than we thought. Snake Fungal Disease (SFD) is a skin condition that first caught scientists' attention back in 2006, when it struck a population of timber rattlesnakes in New Hampshire, cutting their numbers dramatically.

The common toad is in decline across much of the UK and needs better protection, say conservationists. Data from toad patrols - volunteers who move toads across busy roads - shows the toad population has fallen by more than two-thirds since the 1980s. Once common in the British countryside, the amphibian is now on the brink of qualifying for protection as a vulnerable species, a study suggests. Silviu Petrovan, from the UK charity Froglife, said the information came from Toads on Roads - volunteer patrols established in the early 1970s to move toads over busy roads.

The Caribbean's island geography makes it a highly biodiverse region. It is home to approximately 6,500 plant, 150 bird, 470 reptile, 40 mammal, 170 amphibian and 65 fish species not found anywhere else in the world. The global wildlife trafficking crisis threatens many of these species, which are used, often illegally, as pets, medicine, food, jewellery, clothing, souvenirs and household decorations.

In her recent Environmental Protection Report entitled Small Steps Forward, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Dianne Saxe, called upon the government to put words into action to monitor biodiversity, combat wildlife declines, control invasive species, and follow through on better forest fire management. The large-scale loss of biodiversity is a crisis in Ontario and around the world. Ontario's most "at risk" species are snakes, turtles and freshwater mussels. However, many freshwater fishes, birds and mammals are also experiencing alarming declines.

Amphibians and reptiles are amazing creatures with clever adaptations that have allowed them to brave the millennia. Consider the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard (Uma inornata)’s scaly hind toes, which resemble snowshoes and keep the lizard from sinking into sand as it sprints away from predators; or the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)’s heat-sensing pit organ, which helps it find the small, warm-blooded prey on which it feeds. Such diversity is vital to functioning ecosystems and enriches humankind’s enjoyment of the natural world.