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Sea level rise causes local extinction of rare cactus, an omen for conservation efforts

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Tuesday, July 16, 2024

As out-of-control heat cooks our planet, shattering temperature records for the last 13 consecutive months, it melts polar ice and raises sea levels. Most people are familiar with how this works, but we typically only think of the consequences of sea level rise as threatening to drown Miami, for example. But extinction is also a factor, as evidenced by recent news that the United States has suffered its first-ever local extinction as a result of sea levels rising. The victim is the iconic 20-foot tall Key Largo tree cactus (Pilosocereus millspaughii). The prickly behemoth — encased in light green skin and sporting cream-colored, garlic scented flowers — was first discovered in 1992, according to the study published in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. From an initial population of more than 150 stems in the Florida Keys, the once-thriving Key Largo tree cacti began dwindling due to salt water intrusion, soil depletion, intensified hurricanes and unusually high tides, all of which are either caused or exacerbated by global warming. As a result, the Key Largo tree cactus is now locally extinct from both the Florida Keys and the United States as a whole, though other related cacti are indigenous to Cuba and the Bahamas. Even worse, the scientists who chronicled the Key Largo tree cactus' extinction are now predicting that this is only foreshadowing future local extinctions as part of the ongoing sixth mass extinction driven by human activity. A 2023 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that humans have caused as many extinctions over the past 500 years as would have occurred without them over 18,000 years. Similarly, a 2021 study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment reported that the average predicted extinction rate for freshwater animals and plants today is three orders of magnitude higher than it was 66 million years ago, when the dinosaurs famously went extinct during the so-called Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. "This is the first of many losses likely to be suffered in the coming decades." One of the primary culprits behind these mass extinctions is climate change, in which the planet overheats because humans burn fossil fuels that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Among other things, climate change melts Earth's ice caps and thus causes sea levels to rise. As for the Key Largo tree cactus, "This is the first of many losses likely to be suffered in the coming decades," research botanist Jimmy Lange told Salon. "Much of the unique Keys flora are found at relatively low elevations, even for the Keys. This situation is confounded by decades of habitat loss, degradation and other factors like invasive species that threaten the integrity of these terrestrial ecosystems. Luckily, there are so many great land managers, NGOs and [government] agencies working together to preserve these unique habitats and the natural resources they support." Though this extinction is ominous for other flora and fauna in ecologically precarious regions, Lange also notes that the Key Largo tree cactus has intrinsic value of its own. Its loss in the United States is irreplaceable. "I remember the first time I hiked out through the mangrove swamp and into the dense brush where this population occurred and being amazed by the sheer size of the stand," Lange said. "Dozens of large stems towering above the shrub canopy, covered in large tufts of hair. It was quite the site to behold. It speaks to the treasure that is the Florida Keys flora, where so many unique plants, many at the northern extent of their tropical range, make a home on the rocky substrate formed by ancient coral reefs during periods of much higher sea level." Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. "Apart from species like this that are found in other parts of the tropics, many plants and animals are endemic (found nowhere else) to the Keys." Lange added, "Apart from species like this that are found in other parts of the tropics, many plants and animals are endemic (found nowhere else) to the Keys." This is not to say that the Key Largo tree cactus is incapable of a comeback in the United States. Quite to the contrary, Jennifer Possley — the director of regional conservation at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden — hopes that it can be revived. “We have tentative plans with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to replant some in the wild,” Possley said in a statement. The conservationists became aware of the need for major restoration efforts over the past decade, as one natural event after another took a recorded toll on the cactus population. This included Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm that created a 5-foot surge as it swept across southern Florida in 2017. Because the highest point on Key Largo is only 15 feet above sea level, large portions of the island were flooded for days after the storm. Exceptionally high king tides in 2019 likewise flooded large portions of the island for months, and by 2021 only six Key Largo tree cactus stems remained alive. To salvage the plants that at this point were obviously doomed, a team of scientists allowed the plants to flower and fruit before saving as much green material as possible, to replant it in greenhouses or outdoor controlled settings. So while technically the plant isn't extinct on the same level as a Tyrannosaurus rex, it is still severe and can negatively impact ecosystems. These are the patchwork efforts made by local scientists to protect their ecosystems from global warming — but they know that, while they may win a few battles, they are losing the larger war. "People should get out and experience the unique ecosystems of the Florida Keys while they can," Lange warned. As the study notes in its abstract, "The other cacti in the region, and all rare plants in the Florida Keys, are threatened with a similar fate." Read more about climate change

The Key Largo tree cactus is the first locally extinct species due to sea level rise — but it won't be the last

As out-of-control heat cooks our planet, shattering temperature records for the last 13 consecutive months, it melts polar ice and raises sea levels. Most people are familiar with how this works, but we typically only think of the consequences of sea level rise as threatening to drown Miami, for example. But extinction is also a factor, as evidenced by recent news that the United States has suffered its first-ever local extinction as a result of sea levels rising. The victim is the iconic 20-foot tall Key Largo tree cactus (Pilosocereus millspaughii).

The prickly behemoth — encased in light green skin and sporting cream-colored, garlic scented flowers — was first discovered in 1992, according to the study published in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. From an initial population of more than 150 stems in the Florida Keys, the once-thriving Key Largo tree cacti began dwindling due to salt water intrusion, soil depletion, intensified hurricanes and unusually high tides, all of which are either caused or exacerbated by global warming. As a result, the Key Largo tree cactus is now locally extinct from both the Florida Keys and the United States as a whole, though other related cacti are indigenous to Cuba and the Bahamas.

Even worse, the scientists who chronicled the Key Largo tree cactus' extinction are now predicting that this is only foreshadowing future local extinctions as part of the ongoing sixth mass extinction driven by human activity.

A 2023 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that humans have caused as many extinctions over the past 500 years as would have occurred without them over 18,000 years. Similarly, a 2021 study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment reported that the average predicted extinction rate for freshwater animals and plants today is three orders of magnitude higher than it was 66 million years ago, when the dinosaurs famously went extinct during the so-called Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

"This is the first of many losses likely to be suffered in the coming decades."

One of the primary culprits behind these mass extinctions is climate change, in which the planet overheats because humans burn fossil fuels that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Among other things, climate change melts Earth's ice caps and thus causes sea levels to rise.

As for the Key Largo tree cactus, "This is the first of many losses likely to be suffered in the coming decades," research botanist Jimmy Lange told Salon. "Much of the unique Keys flora are found at relatively low elevations, even for the Keys. This situation is confounded by decades of habitat loss, degradation and other factors like invasive species that threaten the integrity of these terrestrial ecosystems. Luckily, there are so many great land managers, NGOs and [government] agencies working together to preserve these unique habitats and the natural resources they support."

Though this extinction is ominous for other flora and fauna in ecologically precarious regions, Lange also notes that the Key Largo tree cactus has intrinsic value of its own. Its loss in the United States is irreplaceable.

"I remember the first time I hiked out through the mangrove swamp and into the dense brush where this population occurred and being amazed by the sheer size of the stand," Lange said. "Dozens of large stems towering above the shrub canopy, covered in large tufts of hair. It was quite the site to behold. It speaks to the treasure that is the Florida Keys flora, where so many unique plants, many at the northern extent of their tropical range, make a home on the rocky substrate formed by ancient coral reefs during periods of much higher sea level."

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

"Apart from species like this that are found in other parts of the tropics, many plants and animals are endemic (found nowhere else) to the Keys."

Lange added, "Apart from species like this that are found in other parts of the tropics, many plants and animals are endemic (found nowhere else) to the Keys."

This is not to say that the Key Largo tree cactus is incapable of a comeback in the United States. Quite to the contrary, Jennifer Possley — the director of regional conservation at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden — hopes that it can be revived.

“We have tentative plans with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to replant some in the wild,” Possley said in a statement. The conservationists became aware of the need for major restoration efforts over the past decade, as one natural event after another took a recorded toll on the cactus population. This included Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm that created a 5-foot surge as it swept across southern Florida in 2017. Because the highest point on Key Largo is only 15 feet above sea level, large portions of the island were flooded for days after the storm. Exceptionally high king tides in 2019 likewise flooded large portions of the island for months, and by 2021 only six Key Largo tree cactus stems remained alive.

To salvage the plants that at this point were obviously doomed, a team of scientists allowed the plants to flower and fruit before saving as much green material as possible, to replant it in greenhouses or outdoor controlled settings. So while technically the plant isn't extinct on the same level as a Tyrannosaurus rex, it is still severe and can negatively impact ecosystems.

These are the patchwork efforts made by local scientists to protect their ecosystems from global warming — but they know that, while they may win a few battles, they are losing the larger war.

"People should get out and experience the unique ecosystems of the Florida Keys while they can," Lange warned. As the study notes in its abstract, "The other cacti in the region, and all rare plants in the Florida Keys, are threatened with a similar fate."

Read more

about climate change

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Related News

Europe saved its predators from the brink of extinction. So why is it killing thousands of bears, wolves and lynx?

With Sweden issuing permits to kill a fifth of its bears, and Romanian MPs voting to double its quota, and the debate over hunting season has become a political issueThe forest was unnaturally still when Soňa Chovanová Supeková first picked up the bear’s scent. It was roe deer rutting season in southern Slovakia, and the hills below the Carpathian mountains were busy with tourists biking and foraging for mushrooms. Fellow hunters who had come face to face with bears had told Supeková the fear had been so great they could not lift their rifles. Sitting with her father, a hunter in his 80s who had killed a few bears, she found herself in a similar state of dread – she was out on that trip expecting to kill deer, and did not want to come on a bear unexpectedly.“Fear permeated me … the smell penetrated to the tip of my bones,” says Supeková, the founder of the Club of Slovak Lady Hunters. But the bear never appeared. The next morning, the daughter-and-father hunting duo saw its droppings. “We breathed a sigh of relief only in the car.” Continue reading...

The forest was unnaturally still when Soňa Chovanová Supeková first picked up the bear’s scent. It was roe deer rutting season in southern Slovakia, and the hills below the Carpathian mountains were busy with tourists biking and foraging for mushrooms. Fellow hunters who had come face to face with bears had told Supeková the fear had been so great they could not lift their rifles. Sitting with her father, a hunter in his 80s who had killed a few bears, she found herself in a similar state of dread – she was out on that trip expecting to kill deer, and did not want to come on a bear unexpectedly.“Fear permeated me … the smell penetrated to the tip of my bones,” says Supeková, the founder of the Club of Slovak Lady Hunters. But the bear never appeared. The next morning, the daughter-and-father hunting duo saw its droppings. “We breathed a sigh of relief only in the car.”A 124kg male bear was one of 19 shot during the first day of hunting in Ljusdal, central Sweden, on 21 August 2020. Photograph: Adam Ihse/TT News Agency/AlamyEurope’s brown bears are a protected species. But they – alongside wolves and lynxes – are increasingly crossing paths with farmers, forestry officials and hunters such as Supeková. The appetite for killing big carnivores has shot up as wolf and bear populations have grown, several bear attacks have made headlines, and politicians have taken aim at laws that brought back them back from the brink of extinction.Sweden has issued permits to kill 486 of its brown bears, about 20%, this hunting season, which runs until mid-October. In 2023, the country conducted record-breaking culls of lynxes and wolves. Romania’s MPs voted in July to double its hunting quota from 220 brown bears to 481. In Slovakia, where a bear was recently filmed rampaging through a village, lawmakers voted in June to allow hunting near villages under certain conditions. In July, the European court of justice ruled that recent wolf culls in Austria and Spain were unlawful. Earlier in the year, Switzerland also faced legal challenges for its proposal to kill 70% of its wolf population.The wolf is no longer an animal with two ears, four legs and one tail; it is a political subjectThe debate around shooting protected species has provoked such fury among farmers, hunters and conservationists that it has bubbled up to the highest levels of bureaucrats in Brussels. The European Commission, whose president, Ursula von der Leyen, had a pony killed by a wolf two years ago, is seeking to downgrade the animal’s protection status.“The wolf is no longer an animal with two ears, four legs and one tail; it is a political subject,” says Luigi Boitani, a zoologist at the Sapienza University of Rome and chairman of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, a conservation group. “There’s a lot of polarisation. When you speak about wolves and bears, the world is not a variety of greys, it’s black or white.”Wolves were killed off across much of Europe in the 19th and 20th century, but began to bounce back in the 1970s as people moved from villages to cities, and governments later protected the animals and their habitats. A similar shift happened with brown bears and lynxes, with conservationists resettling them in regions from which they had been wiped out.Wolves shot in a hunt on 1 January 2020, as filmed in the Guardian documentary The Wolf Dividing Norway. Photograph: Kyrre Lien/The GuardianThe continent is now home to six species of large carnivore, and the EU bans killing them, with some exceptions – for example if they pose a danger to the public. Perched at the top of their food chain, the animals help ecosystems thrive by regulating prey populations. There is also some evidence they can limit the spread of disease.But the scale and speed of their return – there are thought to be more than 20,000 wolves and 17,000 bears in Europe – has increasingly led to conflicts with humans. Farmer and hunting lobbies have pushed to reduce the number of hurdles needed to kill them as the animals have expanded their territory and attacked people and livestock.A week after Supeková found the bear’s tracks in the forest, she says: “A farmer’s son met a bear on a forest road when he was mushroom picking in a place only about 2km away. Luckily, the bear ran away.”Footage of a bear barrelling down the streets of a small Slovakian town captured international attention in March, with five injured in the attack. So too did the death of a Belarusian hiker who died when fleeing from a bear the day before. The attacks prompted a change in law to let Slovak security services shoot brown bears that come within half a kilometre of a human settlement. A few months later in Romania, the death of a 19-year-old hiker at the hands of a bear led to the prime minister calling lawmakers back from their summer break for an emergency session in which they voted to cull more bears.A bear ran amok in the Slovakian town of Liptovský Mikuláš in March this year, leading to a change in the law on shooting bears. Photograph: undefined/Courtesy of Trnkova BizubovaPeople from villages and the countryside want to reduce the numbers of bears because attacks are increasing, says Supeková. “What’s very tragic is that one bear in the town of Liptovský Mikuláš injured five people, running across the town where children were outside playing games.”The issue has become fodder for populist parties courting rural votes, with politicians blasting Brussels for putting their children at risk and abandoning villages out of elitist environmental concerns.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionCritics say the deaths are tragic but have been blown out of proportion. In Romania, which is home to the most brown bears in Europe, the animals killed 26 people and injured 276 over 20 years, according to the environment ministry. Data from Eurostat shows that motorised vehicles killed 45,000 people in the country in that time.Cultural associations are a problem for the wolf, which has long been portrayed as the villain of fairytales. Helmut Dammann-Tamke, president of the German hunting association and politician with the centre-right Christian Democrats, says the threat of wolf attacks on sheep is “like something on a serving platter” for the far right because it reaches people on an emotional level. “This issue is an incendiary force in the hands of populists.”A 2022 study of German municipalities found that wolf attacks on livestock predict far-right support. After controlling for factors such as immigration and jobs, the researchers found wolf attacks were associated with far-right gains in municipal elections of between one and two percentage points. “The evidence points to wolf attacks as one potential driver of electoral radicalisation,” the authors wrote.Environmental activists question whether blanket policies to cull animals will do much to avoid conflicts with humans and have called for measures to promote peaceful coexistence that range from fences and guard dogs to awareness campaigns for visitors.Scientists are not yet troubled by the wolf’s population across the continent, but have warned that killing wolves in countries with small populations could prove catastrophic. Large-scale culls could put populations of these predators below local survival levels, they warn. Culls can even increase predation of livestock, as packs are disrupted, sending lone, vulnerable wolves venturing on to farms to hunt. The same “backfire” effect has also been documented with cougars and coyotes.Spanish farmers protest against the protection of wolves and bears in Madrid in 2021, ahead of the country’s ban on wolf hunting later that year. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty ImagesCiprian Gal from the Romanian branch of Greenpeace said the Europe-wide trend of weakening protection for big carnivores was “a step backwards” that echoed times when humans felt a strong sense of competition with wildlife.“European governments, influenced by dominant populist rhetoric and powerful hunting and agricultural lobbies, seem to be choosing solutions based on fear and rapid economic return,” he says. “In a way, this is a backlash against the ambitious green policies of recent years and a valve for those still struggling to cope with the climate reality we’re facing.”

Extinction
Forests
Mountains

Endangered skates saved from extinction by hatching in captivity

The Maugean skate (Zearaja maugeana) is only found in one habitat in Australia, which is under threat from human activity. Now the species has been saved from extinction by hatching in captivity

Newly hatched Maugean skatesJayson Semmens/University of Tasmania One of the world’s most endangered species of marine fish has been saved from extinction, thanks to researchers who captured wild specimens and helped them reproduce in captivity. The Maugean skate (Zearaja maugeana) is only found in Macquarie harbour on the extremely isolated and rugged south-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. The area is already a naturally low-oxygen environment, making it difficult for fish to thrive, but human impacts, especially salmon farming and river flow changes as a result of hydroelectric dams, have made the situation worse. Jayson Semmens at the University of Tasmania says while no-one knows the exact population of these skates, a collapse between 2014 and 2021 saw it halve. There may now be just over 1000 individuals, he says, and of greatest concern is that they are now predominantly adults, meaning that juveniles aren’t reaching maturity. As a marine heatwave tightened its grip last year in this region, off south-eastern Australia, Semmens and his colleagues decided to undertake a radical intervention to try to safeguard the skates from extinction. In December 2023, the team collected 50 eggs and saw over half of them successfully hatch in captivity. They also collected four adults, two of which died within a fortnight. The two survivors were kept separate, so the team was shocked when the remaining female laid eggs. Semmens says this is because the skates are able to store sperm, to fertilise eggs later. “She’s been laying on average every four days, two eggs every time,” he says. “We have over a hundred eggs from her now and the vast majority of them are looking like they’re going to be viable.” In order to maximise the genetic variability of the captive-reared juveniles, the team is considering capturing other females that have already been inseminated, obtaining eggs and then releasing the females back to the wild. But team member David Moreno, also at the University of Tasmania, says captive breeding isn’t the full solution, so the researchers are also working to reverse environmental issues in Macquarie harbour, including a trial of pumping oxygen into the water. There is no quick fix and even if the captive -reared individuals are able to be released immediately, it would be four to five years before they reached maturity and could start contributing to the population. The stakes are high if the recovery effort fails. “This would be the first extinction of a ray or shark species in modern history,” says Moreno. “So it is a really big line in the sand.”

Extinction
Water

A Record-Breaking 17 California Condor Chicks Hatched at the L.A. Zoo This Year

The successful breeding season offers more hope for the endangered species, which has come back from the brink of extinction due to captive breeding efforts

A California condor chick rests in a clear container lined with paper at the L.A. Zoo. L.A. Zoo via Instagram Weighing 17 to 25 pounds and possessing a wingspan of up to 9.5 feet, California condors are the largest flying birds in North America. But in 1982, only 22 individuals were left in the world. Flash forward to the present, and the Los Angeles Zoo has just reported the hatching of its 17th chick of the year, thanks to a new breeding technique. The zoo announced the happy news, which breaks its 1997 record of 15 condor chicks in one breeding season, in a statement on Friday. “This is a historic moment for the California Condor Recovery Program and the Los Angeles Zoo’s animal care team,” Rose Legato, curator of birds at the L.A. Zoo, says in the statement. “Our condor team has raised the bar once again in the collaborative effort to save America’s largest flying bird from extinction. What we are seeing now are the benefits of new breeding and rearing techniques developed and implemented by our team.” The L.A. Zoo, along with other California Condor Recovery Program (CCRP) facilities in the United States and Mexico, breeds endangered California condors for release into the wild. The breeding birds in L.A. reside in structures the staff calls “condor-miniums,” as zoo spokesperson Carl Myers tells the Los Angeles Times’ Corinne Purtill. Once a pair successfully fertilizes an egg, the animal caretakers put it in an incubator. Then, right before eggs are due to hatch, they place each egg with an adoptive condor parent. In their natural habitats, California condors usually raise one chick at a time—so for a long time, if there were more eggs than condor parents available, the leftover chicks would be raised by humans. Oh, Baby! Meet California Condor Chick LA124! The human surrogate parents tried their best to give the hatchlings a natural experience—even using bird puppets and stuffed animals to prevent them from associating people with food. But in the words of the Verge’s Justine Calma, “condor moms still make much better parents than humans trying to step in.” Young condors raised by condors have a higher chance of survival in the wild. So in 2017, the L.A. Zoo animal care staff tried giving two eggs to a single adoptive condor parent. The technique, which had never been attempted by any other zoo or CCRP partner at that point, was successful. “The result is more condor chicks in the program and ultimately more condors in the wild,” Legato adds in the statement. This year, the zoo team was inspired to try three chicks per single condor. The birds were receptive to this, too, and ultimately the condor surrogate parents raised six chicks in triple broods, eight chicks in double broods and three chicks in single broods. All hatchlings will remain at the zoo for about a year and a half before being evaluated for release into the wild. “Condors are social animals, and we are learning more every year about their social dynamics. So, I’m not surprised that these chick-rearing techniques are paying off,” Jonathan C. Hall, a wildlife ecologist at Eastern Michigan University, tells the Los Angeles Times. “I would expect chicks raised this way to do well in the wild.” Condor keeper Mike Clark gently handles California condor eggs in a green bucket. L.A. Zoo via Instagram California condors used to be a common species across North America, but their numbers began to decline with the arrival of settlers in the 19th century, who killed them and destroyed their nests. In 1967, the federal government declared the California condor an endangered species, but the giant birds’ numbers continued to dwindle because of pesticides like DDT, microtrash, habitat loss and—most crucially—lead poisoning from bullet fragments left in animal carcasses that they scavenge. “California condors are part of nature’s cleanup crew,” Ashleigh Blackford, the California Condor Recovery Program coordinator, tells the Guardian’s Coral Murphy Marcos. “Although it’s not an appealing job, it’s an essential job.” But due to environmental pollutants, this role put the birds at risk. Then, in 1979, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created the CCRP. The program is now a multi-entity mission that collaborates with the L.A. Zoo as well as private and public agencies, NGOs and Indigenous tribes. Recovery efforts have been highly successful—as of the end of 2023, there are 561 living California condors, of which 344 are in the wild. The trouble isn’t over yet, however, as California condors are now facing the risk of avian influenza. In response to this threat, CCRP partners have been vaccinating the birds before releasing them. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Extinction
Animals
Government

Sparrow Spared, Cactus Extinct, and More Links From the Brink

This month’s best and worst environmental stories also include a rebounding lynx, a climate lawsuit boom, and a spa for frogs. The post Sparrow Spared, Cactus Extinct, and More Links From the Brink appeared first on The Revelator.

Earlier this month I visited some friends at their home on the banks of the Columbia River — a house that could soon be under the Columbia River due to climate change and sea-level rise. That same week we got news about Hurricane Beryl causing destructive floods around the United States, along with devastating floods in Brazil, India, China, and Kenya. Other floods this month caused destruction and fatalities in Liberia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and several other U.S. states. Is it any wonder that the sound of dripping water plunges me into a panic attack? Welcome to Links From the Brink. Best News of the Month: When I last wrote about the Florida grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) in 2018, the critically endangered bird species had experienced a devastating population crash, leaving fewer than 100 individuals in the wild. As one conservationist told me at the time, “This is going to be North America’s next extinct bird if we do nothing.” Well, we did do something. Some of the last birds were brought into captivity before they could die out, and even since then they’ve been breeding like there’s no tomorrow. As a result, they have a tomorrow. This month the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and partner organizations released their 1,000th captive-bred grasshopper sparrow into the wild. This seems to indicate that these rare birds have been saved from what just a few years ago seemed like an extinction in the making. There’s a lesson in this amazing milestone: “These little birds represent a big beacon of hope that our commitment, partnership and holistic approach can save vulnerable wildlife from the brink of extinction,” as Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida president Andrew Walker told The Guardian. Of course, all the captive breeding in the world can’t save a species if it has nowhere to live. Florida remains one of the most development-hungry places in the United States, and grasshopper sparrows’ habitat still needs protection and restoration. But 1,000 birds in six years is an amazing achievement, and it’s one worthy of celebration and emulation. More Good News That May Have Fallen Through the Cracks: Lynx from the brink: The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), once critically endangered, has recovered thanks to decades of intense conservation effort. The IUCN last month reassessed the species as merely “vulnerable to extinction.” In 2005 the lynx population had fallen to an estimated 84 mature cats; the most recent count put them at a healthy (but still risky) 648. The small predators benefitted from efforts to increase previously overhunted rabbit populations, which, once restored, finally gave the lynx plenty to eat and thrive. The IUCN warns, though, that another rabbit crash, a disease, or high mortality from roads could quickly undo this conservation victory. Wolves: When wolves returned to Washington state in 2008, many hunters bemoaned that white-tail deer populations would suffer. Well, guess what — it didn’t happen. New research shows that wolves have had a minimal effect on deer in the Evergreen State — far below that of cougars (which also get a bad rap in WA) and habitat loss (i.e., development — the bane of communities throughout the West as people flock to this part of the country). Meanwhile Washington rejected a push to remove state endangered-species status for wolves and lowered its previously lax cougar-hunting quotas to more sustainable levels. Conservationists praised both decisions. We imagine wolves and mountain lions were pretty happy, too. Europe: After two years of debate, the European Union passed its Nature Restoration Law last month — which, according to news site Euractiv, “will set legally binding targets to restore 20% of the EU’s degraded land and sea ecosystems by 2030 and all ecosystems by 2050.” The bill got watered down a bit (farmers get a bit of a pass), but this seems like a good model for other 30×30 goals. (Speaking of which, six years is still a pretty tight deadline … ) Sued: A new report finds that the number of companies facing climate-related lawsuits keeps rising dramatically — and that most of these corporations are losing in court. Most of the recent lawsuits target so-called “climate-washing” — a willful misrepresentation of their progress toward promised climate goals. (The lessons: Lies cost you $$$.) Fined: More losing: Marathon Oil just got socked with a $64.5 million fine for Clean Air Act violations at the Fort Berhold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, in the heart of the Bakken shale oil fields. The company must also pay another $177 million toward reducing its future emissions. General Motors, meanwhile, must pony up $146 million in fines because its vehicles emitted at least 10% more carbon dioxide than their compliance reports claimed. (Either of these items could actually go in the “bad news” category, since the spewing of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants went on so long before either company got caught and punished, but we’ll leave them in with the other wins for now as a warning to other gasbag corporations.) Fined, part 2: French regulators this month fined conservative broadcaster CNews €20,000 (about $22,000) for allowing a pundit to spread climate skepticism (aka disinformation) without editorial follow-up or rebuttal. I’ll admit, as an advocate of free speech and the free press, I have doubts about this approach to forcing balance from news outlets. For one thing, it seems the right wing could have weaponized this approach to water down good climate reporting if they’d come to power in France in this month’s narrowly won elections. Still, I’m intrigued and wonder if this could help stem the tide of further disinformation or if it will just cause pundits to double down on their lies. (Probably the latter, alas.) Spa day: “Frog saunas” could help an endangered Australian species, the green and golden bell frog (Ranoidea aurea), recover from the deadly chytrid fungus, which has caused dozens of amphibian extinctions over the past few years. (This technique hasn’t proven helpful for other species, unfortunately.) Frogs enjoy their day in the sun. Photo courtesy Macquarie University Vroom vroom: Another new report finds that rural families are saving thousands of dollars a year with electric vehicles. (Yes, these are the same rural families who many people assumed would resist transitioning away from gas-powered cars, trucks, and farm equipment. Shows what the “experts” know.) Renewables: China is building twice as much renewable energy (specifically wind and solar) as every other country combined. (How do you say “This should light a fire under everyone else’s ass” in a carbon-neutral manner?) (Seriously though, I don’t want to blindly praise China for this; its environmental record is terrible. But so is ours, so c’mon folks, catch up.) And finally, a peak: Even fossil-fuel companies predict the world will hit peak oil demand next year. They see the writing on the wall (and the lawsuits in the wings?). Worst News of the Month: Getting back to that theme of flooding, the United States just lost its first species due to sea-level rise: the Key Largo tree cactus (Pilosocereus millspaughii). Despite its geographically based monicker, this rare cactus grows on a handful of scattered islands in the Caribbean. But it’s no longer found in its namesake Key Largo — storm surges inundated the limestone outcrop where it once grew, increasing salt levels beyond what the plants could tolerate. The storms also washed away a lot of soil, which is kind of a basic need for plants. It wasn’t just the salt water that caused problems. These cacti stored fresh water in their bodies, which then became a source of hydration for thirsty animals when the coasts became inundated with undrinkable sea water. The cactus declined quickly amidst this one-two-three punch. In 2021 the Key Largo population — previously described as “thriving” — had deteriorated to just six stands. This month scientists announced that even those last individuals had disappeared. But the species still exists on other islands, and scientists harvested the last Key Largo plants’ flowers and fruits in 2021 to cultivate them in a greenhouse setting. So far they’re doing fine, but the chance of replanting them in their native habitat appears slim. This isn’t a full-on species extinction, but it is a local extinction caused by sea-level rise, the first of its kind identified to date in the United States. And it could be a portent of things to come, as botanist Jennifer Possley said in a press release: “Unfortunately, the Key Largo tree cactus may be a bellwether for how other low-lying coastal plants will respond to climate change.” That said, I’m going to nudge this back into the “kinda-good” category, because at least scientists recognized the problem in time, saved what they could, and took the opportunity to warn us about future threats. That’s the type of proactive conservation that we should all aspire to and celebrate, even if it’s a part of the ongoing extinction crisis. Bad News Quick Hits: (Sorry. Let’s not dwell, but let’s not look away, either.) Chevron The Supreme Court in general Fiberglass in oysters and mussels 10.3 billion people by 2084? Protestors jailed Bitcoin = crashed power grids? The last ‘akikiki? (This breaks my heart.) Coal consumption could go up next year? Quote of the Month: “Inside your trash can is the possibility to change the world if you apply some creativity and some love. All trash is treasure.” — Troll artist Thomas Dambo, in The Washington Post   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Thomas Dambo (@thomasdambo) That’s it for this edition of Links From the Brink. We’ll be back in a month or two with another roundup of under-the-radar news stories. Until then, keep an eye on the 2024 election, watch out for heat waves and wildfire smoke (not to mention floods), and check in on your neighbors in need (both human and wild). Meanwhile, mark your calendars for International Owl Awareness Day on Aug. 4, World Krill Day on Aug. 11, Panamanian Golden Frog Day on Aug. 14, and (my favorite) International Orangutan Day on Aug. 19. What will you be watching in the months ahead? Scroll down to find our “Republish” button The post Sparrow Spared, Cactus Extinct, and More Links From the Brink appeared first on The Revelator.

Extinction
Climate
CO2

Jurassic fossils show modern mammals grow faster than ancient ones

The 166-million-year-old fossils of an adult and a juvenile of the same extinct mammal species reveal that they had longer "childhoods" and lifespans than similar species today

Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis, a small mammal that lived during the Jurassic PeriodMaija Karala In the middle of the Jurassic Period, small mammals had much longer lives than their modern counterparts, and spent years instead of weeks being cared for by their parents. This suggests that at some point, small mammals underwent a significant shift in how quickly they grow – but it is unclear precisely what caused it. The finding is based on two fossilised skeletons of an extinct mouse-sized creature called Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis, which lived on the Isle of Skye in Scotland around 166 million years ago. The fossils were unearthed decades apart: the first in the 1970s, and the second in 2016. Together, they are a rare find – two fossils from the same species, one an adult, one a juvenile. The research team could compare the specimens to see how the animals grew and developed. “It meant that we could start asking questions we couldn’t have dreamt of with just one specimen,” says Elsa Panciroli at the National Museum of Scotland. First, the scientists used X-ray imaging to count the annual growth rings in the specimens’ teeth, which, similar to rings in a tree trunk, can be used to estimate age. They found that the adult specimen was around 7 years old and the juvenile was between 7 months and 2 years old. Because the youngster still had its baby teeth, Panciroli says she expected the juvenile fossil to be much younger. “That was quite surprising because this animal is about the size of a squirrel or shrew,” says Panciroli. “We would expect it to be replacing its teeth much earlier – within weeks or months. So we knew immediately that it must have grown very differently [than modern species].” The finding suggests K. kirtlingtonensis took up to two years to wean from its mother, a notable leap from the handful of weeks it takes most modern small mammals. Analysis of the fossils’ bone lengths and size revealed that the animals “were also growing throughout their whole lives”, says Panciroli. Today, small mammals like mice grow rapidly when young, but stall once they reach adulthood. VIDEO Exactly when and why small mammals underwent this developmental shift isn’t clear. Panciroli says it could have been linked to environmental changes, or be the result of mammals developing warmer blood and faster metabolisms. Panciroli’s team returns to the Isle of Skye each year, and she is optimistic that they will be able to more fully understand this change. “Hopefully, in years to come, we’ll find more fossils or new methods of asking those questions,” she says.

Extinction
Animals

Suggested Viewing

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 1: Return to the Wild

Go behind the scenes with Wilderness Documentarian Ross Thomas as he learns the amazing and inspiring stories of the critically endangered California condor. Ross meets the Ventana Wildlife Society experts who have been working since 1997 to restore these majestic giants to the wild Big Sur coast. Ross’s epic journey begins with a once-in-a-lifetime visit with Senior Wildlife Biologist and California Condor Recovery Program Manager, Joe Burnett, to a wild condor’s nest deep in the Big Sur wilderness. Ross witnesses the intimate interaction between a condor parent and its new chick in the crown of a giant redwood tree. Ross then travels with Joe to see the Condor’s Big Sur sanctuary, which was destroyed by the Dolan Fire in 2020.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

Ser Manguezal

Ser Manguezal, created by Eliseu Cavalcante, was inspired by Josué de Castro's book "Of Men and Crabs" from 1967. De Castro was a Brazilian geographer, physician, writer and activist against world hunger. In his book, Castro envisions men as crabs, learning to walk in the mangroves. This relationship between them seems to unify and blend all together making the human being part of that specific biome. This film is part of an ongoing project that examines those who depend on the mangrove ecosystem to survive, and the delicate relationship between humans and this particular ecosystem. It seeks to recognize the hard-working crab hunters of the mangroves and make their work more visible, and to bring awareness about the importance of mangroves to the environment. Worldwide, 3,400 square kilometers (1,300 square miles) of mangrove forests were lost between 2000 and 2016, or about 2% of the global mangrove area (NASA). About 62% of the losses were due to direct human causes such as agriculture and aquaculture. Mangrove degradation is greater than the average for tropical and subtropical forest loss.

Water
Conservation
Plants

Sockeye Salmon. Red Fish

Sockeye, a species of wild salmon, is born in Kamchatkan waters and spends its entire life in the Pacific Ocean. Only once does it return to fresh waters - to give offspring, start the circle of life, and die. It is an inexhaustible resource that feeds billions of people on the planet, restored every year! But soon, we may find ourselves facing the unimaginable: humans will exhaust the inexhaustible!

Animals
Food
Extinction

Talking Trees

Yes, trees can talk. They communicate through their roots. Please listen to what they have to say in this short film.

Forests
Extinction
Climate

The Invisible Mammal - The Bat Rescuer

Bats are struggling to survive, specifically in North America, where white nose syndrome is causing a sharp decline of certain species. Pertinent issues: climate change, habitat destruction, what can humans must do to prevent extinction.

Animals
Climate
Extinction

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