Threatened List (Corals)
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By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press Writer
Fri May 5, 6:35 PM ET
MIAMI - Two coral species in Florida and the Caribbean now have a spot on the federal threatened list because of dangers posed by human activity, hurricanes and higher water temperatures.
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The elkhorn and staghorn coral species have suffered a 97 percent decline in areas off the Florida Keys and in the Caribbean since 1985 and must be protected, National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Stephania Bolden said Friday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the fisheries service, made the announcement Thursday in Washington, making the species the first coral to earn a threatened distinction. The move was praised by scientists and environmentalists.
The federal government will hold forums in Florida and the Caribbean to discuss suggestions for rules to protect the coral under the Endangered Species Act, Bolden said.
A species is considered threatened if it's likely to become an endangered species. The rules involving threatened species are not as strict as those involving endangered species, which face extinction.
Both coral species have protruding branches that look like antlers. They are part of reefs that are home to fish, crustaceans and other invertebrates. Reefs also serve as barriers from storm waves.
Several factors have harmed the coral in the past 20 years. Disease, temperature-induced bleaching, hurricanes, more nutrients in the water, damage from anchors or boat groundings and increased sediments and contaminants from land-based sources have hurt the coral species.
Off the U.S. Virgin Islands, as much as 40 percent of coral died in some reefs last year, and the coral that survived probably isn't healthy enough to survive another hot summer, U.S. Geological Survey biologist Caroline Rogers told The Associated Press last month. Some 100-year-old colonies are reported to have died.
Coral bleaching is attributed to higher-than-normal water temperatures and causes the coral to lose color and its food source. Hurricanes have always been present, though Bolden points out that the most recent die-off also corresponds with a cycle of increased storm activity.
Tyler Smith, a coral researcher at the University of the Virgin Islands, welcomed the ruling because it will "give a respect for the species." Smith and other scientists were mapping reefs around the islands and Puerto Rico to asses the extent of the massive coral die-off last year.
The California-based Center for Biological Diversity had filed a petition to raise the coral from a "species of special concern."
"If these losses are not arrested and reversed, Florida's corals could go extinct within the foreseeable future, resulting not only in the loss of these irreplaceable forms of life, but also billions of dollars in tourist, recreational, medicinal, and subsistence income," the group said in praising the government's decision.
___
Associated Press Writer Mat Probasco in the U.S. Virgin Islands contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
National Marine Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov
AND ON THE GOOD SIDE:
Scientists probe Atlantic, find new species of life By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
Thu May 4, 11:04 AM ET
OSLO (Reuters) - Scientists have found about 10-20 new species of tiny creatures in the depths of the Atlantic in a survey that will gauge whether global warming may harm life in the oceans, an international report said on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The survey, of tropical waters between the eastern United States and the mid-Atlantic ridge, used special nets to catch fragile zooplankton -- animals such as shrimp, jellyfish and swimming worms -- at lightless depths of 1-5 km (0.6-3 miles).
"This was a voyage of exploration ... the deepest parts of the oceans are hardly ever sampled," said Peter Wiebe, the cruise's scientific leader and senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States.
"We found perhaps 10-20 new species of zooplankton," he said of the 20-day voyage by 28 scientists from 14 nations in April.
Most life, including commercial fish stocks, is in the top 1 km of water, but the scientists said the survey showed a surprising abundance even in the depths. The survey will provide a benchmark to judge future changes to the oceans.
New finds among thousands of zooplankton species caught included six types of ostracods, a shrimp-like creature, and other species of zooplankton such as swimming snails and worms.
Zooplankton are animals swept by ocean currents, mostly millimeters-long but ranging up to jellyfish trailing long tails.
Among 120 types of fish caught, the scientists found what may be a new type of black dragonfish, with fang-like teeth, growing up to about 40 cm (15 inches), and a 20-cm-long great swallower, with wide jaws and a light-producing organ to attract prey.
"By 2010, the research ... will provide a baseline against which future generations can measure changes to the zooplankton and their provinces, caused by pollution, over-fishing, climate change, and other shifting environmental conditions," said Ann Bucklin, lead scientist for the zooplankton census project at the University of Connecticut.
GLOBAL WARMING
Most scientists believe the planet is warming because of a build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mainly from human burning of fossil fuels in power plants, vehicles and factories since the Industrial Revolution.
The oceans absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide but the process raises levels of carbonic acid in the seas. That build-up could threaten marine life, for instance by making it harder for crabs or oysters to build shells.
Zooplankton are a key to transporting carbon dioxide to the depths because they can swim 500 meters (yards) up and down daily. Many species eat their own weight every day in plant phytoplankton species near the surface.
By one estimate, 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) of plant phytoplankton is needed to feed 1,000 kg of small zooplankton.
The expedition was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and used NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown. The findings are also part of a wider Census of Marine Life trying to map the oceans.
Scientists from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States took part.
Fri May 5, 6:35 PM ET
MIAMI - Two coral species in Florida and the Caribbean now have a spot on the federal threatened list because of dangers posed by human activity, hurricanes and higher water temperatures.
ADVERTISEMENT
The elkhorn and staghorn coral species have suffered a 97 percent decline in areas off the Florida Keys and in the Caribbean since 1985 and must be protected, National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Stephania Bolden said Friday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the fisheries service, made the announcement Thursday in Washington, making the species the first coral to earn a threatened distinction. The move was praised by scientists and environmentalists.
The federal government will hold forums in Florida and the Caribbean to discuss suggestions for rules to protect the coral under the Endangered Species Act, Bolden said.
A species is considered threatened if it's likely to become an endangered species. The rules involving threatened species are not as strict as those involving endangered species, which face extinction.
Both coral species have protruding branches that look like antlers. They are part of reefs that are home to fish, crustaceans and other invertebrates. Reefs also serve as barriers from storm waves.
Several factors have harmed the coral in the past 20 years. Disease, temperature-induced bleaching, hurricanes, more nutrients in the water, damage from anchors or boat groundings and increased sediments and contaminants from land-based sources have hurt the coral species.
Off the U.S. Virgin Islands, as much as 40 percent of coral died in some reefs last year, and the coral that survived probably isn't healthy enough to survive another hot summer, U.S. Geological Survey biologist Caroline Rogers told The Associated Press last month. Some 100-year-old colonies are reported to have died.
Coral bleaching is attributed to higher-than-normal water temperatures and causes the coral to lose color and its food source. Hurricanes have always been present, though Bolden points out that the most recent die-off also corresponds with a cycle of increased storm activity.
Tyler Smith, a coral researcher at the University of the Virgin Islands, welcomed the ruling because it will "give a respect for the species." Smith and other scientists were mapping reefs around the islands and Puerto Rico to asses the extent of the massive coral die-off last year.
The California-based Center for Biological Diversity had filed a petition to raise the coral from a "species of special concern."
"If these losses are not arrested and reversed, Florida's corals could go extinct within the foreseeable future, resulting not only in the loss of these irreplaceable forms of life, but also billions of dollars in tourist, recreational, medicinal, and subsistence income," the group said in praising the government's decision.
___
Associated Press Writer Mat Probasco in the U.S. Virgin Islands contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
National Marine Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov
AND ON THE GOOD SIDE:
Scientists probe Atlantic, find new species of life By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
Thu May 4, 11:04 AM ET
OSLO (Reuters) - Scientists have found about 10-20 new species of tiny creatures in the depths of the Atlantic in a survey that will gauge whether global warming may harm life in the oceans, an international report said on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The survey, of tropical waters between the eastern United States and the mid-Atlantic ridge, used special nets to catch fragile zooplankton -- animals such as shrimp, jellyfish and swimming worms -- at lightless depths of 1-5 km (0.6-3 miles).
"This was a voyage of exploration ... the deepest parts of the oceans are hardly ever sampled," said Peter Wiebe, the cruise's scientific leader and senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States.
"We found perhaps 10-20 new species of zooplankton," he said of the 20-day voyage by 28 scientists from 14 nations in April.
Most life, including commercial fish stocks, is in the top 1 km of water, but the scientists said the survey showed a surprising abundance even in the depths. The survey will provide a benchmark to judge future changes to the oceans.
New finds among thousands of zooplankton species caught included six types of ostracods, a shrimp-like creature, and other species of zooplankton such as swimming snails and worms.
Zooplankton are animals swept by ocean currents, mostly millimeters-long but ranging up to jellyfish trailing long tails.
Among 120 types of fish caught, the scientists found what may be a new type of black dragonfish, with fang-like teeth, growing up to about 40 cm (15 inches), and a 20-cm-long great swallower, with wide jaws and a light-producing organ to attract prey.
"By 2010, the research ... will provide a baseline against which future generations can measure changes to the zooplankton and their provinces, caused by pollution, over-fishing, climate change, and other shifting environmental conditions," said Ann Bucklin, lead scientist for the zooplankton census project at the University of Connecticut.
GLOBAL WARMING
Most scientists believe the planet is warming because of a build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mainly from human burning of fossil fuels in power plants, vehicles and factories since the Industrial Revolution.
The oceans absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide but the process raises levels of carbonic acid in the seas. That build-up could threaten marine life, for instance by making it harder for crabs or oysters to build shells.
Zooplankton are a key to transporting carbon dioxide to the depths because they can swim 500 meters (yards) up and down daily. Many species eat their own weight every day in plant phytoplankton species near the surface.
By one estimate, 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) of plant phytoplankton is needed to feed 1,000 kg of small zooplankton.
The expedition was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and used NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown. The findings are also part of a wider Census of Marine Life trying to map the oceans.
Scientists from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States took part.
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