110 Success Stories for Endangered Species Day 2012

Critics of the Endangered Species Act contend it is a failure because only 1 percent of the species under its protection have recovered and been delisted. The critique, however, is undermined by its failure to explain how many species should have recovered by now. It is a ship without an anchor.

To objectively test whether the Endangered Species Act is recovering species at a sufficient rate, we compared the actual recovery rate of 110 species with the projected recovery rate in their federal recovery plans. The species range over all 50 states, include all major taxonomic groups, and have a diversity of listing lengths.

We found that the Endangered Species Act has a remarkably successful recovery rate: 90 percent of species are recovering at the rate specified by their federal recovery plan.

You can read a copy of the report, “On Time, On Target: How the Endangered Species Act Is Saving America’s Wildlife” here. Click here to see a regional map of species recovering around the country.

On average, species recovered in 25 years, while their recovery plan predicted 23 years — a 91 percent timeliness accomplishment.

We confirmed the conclusion of scientists and auditors who assert that the great majority of species have not been listed long enough to warrant an expectation of recovery: 80 percent of species have not yet reached their expected recovery year. On average, these species have been listed for just 32 years, while their recovery plans required 46 years of listing.

The study’s findings are similar to a 2006 analysis of all federally protected species in the Northeast, which found 93 percent were stabilized or improving since being put on the endangered species list and 82 percent were on pace to meet recovery goals.

When judged in the light of meeting recovery plan timelines for recovery, the Endangered Species Act is remarkably successful. Few laws of any kind can boast a 90 percent success rate.

Loss of rare species can harm ecosystems

Bracken and Brown University student Natalie Low conducted several experiments that analyzed the impact of removing seaweed and sessile animals, such as mussels and barnacles, from the rocky shores of Northeastern’s Marine Science Center in Nahant, Mass. The experiments were designed to mimic naturally occurring changes in biodiversity on rocky shores.

The findings were startling. “We have shown that the loss of these extremely rare species — which collectively represent less than 10 percent of the seaweed and animal biomass at the base of the food web — causes major declines in the abundance and diversity of animals, such as snails, crabs and other mobile animals,” Bracken said. Prior research on the extirpation of rare species from a particular ecosystem focused on how the loss of top predators — often referred to as “keystone” species — affects plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain. Bracken and Low, on the other hand, have shown that the loss of rare species from the base of the food chain, which they call “cornerstone” species, can also reshape marine systems. A pattern of decline emerged after only three weeks of experiments and persisted for the remainder of the five–week study. “Previous work on the effects of rare predator removals took months to years to show strong effects,” Bracken said. “We found strong effects of rare seaweed removals after only a few weeks.”

Dino Snores for Grown-ups at the Natural History Museum at 9th June 2012

Come along to our new sleepover event for a stylish night of music and science, art and cinema, and dinner in London's celebrated dinosaurs home.

Event info: 

First sleepover: 17 August 2012
Event starts at 19.30, ends 9.30 the following day
Cash bars open in Fossil Way and the Central Hall Cafe
£175 per person, Members price £160

Event Highlights:

• 3-course dinner and breakfast in the Museum's Restaurant
• sleeping in the Central Hall under our iconic Diplodocus frame, Dippy
• Nature Quiz at dinner with wonderful prizes to win, including Museum Memberships and Crime Scene Live tickets
• science show featuring gruesome forensics and the sex lives of insects
• A hilarious comic set with award-winning comedian Tom Allen
• Unusual midnight feast with an edible-insect tasting.
• Free admission to special exhibitions, Scott's Last Expedition and Animal Inside Out
• life-drawing class in the Darwin Centre hall
• live tune in the Central Hall Cafe

Note:

Places are limited so you'll require to book early to secure your place. This event is not appropriate for hen and stag parties.

Modern Birds are actually Baby Dinosaurs

Modern birds hold the physical individuality of baby dinosaurs, according to a new Nature study that found birds are even more closely linked to dinosaur than before thought.

Depending on the non-avian dinosaur and bird compared, that might be tough to consider. When researchers go beyond the surface to the tissue and skull levels, however, the similarities become extra obvious.

"The evaluation of the many characteristics of birds –- things like feathers, flight, and wishbones -– has usually been a hard problem for biologists," Mark Norell, chair of the division of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and one of the paper's co-authors, added.

"By analyzing fossil proof from skeletons, eggs, and soft tissue of bird-like dinosaurs and primitive birds, we've learned that birds are living theropod dinosaurs, a group of carnivorous birds that include Velociraptor," Norell sustained.

"This new work advances our knowledge by providing an authoritative example of how developmental changes played a main role in the source and development of birds."

Science casts a fresh eye on dinosaur history

Much of what we thought we knew about dinosaurs is altering as fresh science creates new pictures of these antique creatures and how they lived.

New discoveries of smaller dinosaurs from China have exposed many were enclosed in feathers. Paleontologists now consider many dinosaurs were warm-blooded and some even lived in areas that saw snow.

"What you used to think about dinosaurs, maybe you should imagine about them in a different way," says Richard Hebda, paleontologist with the Royal B.C. Museum, where the travelling show Dinosaurs, antique Fossils, New Discoveries opens Thursday.

 "It tries to offer a look at how these organisms lived and behaved and there is  a bit on what type of world they lived in."

The show, assembled by the famous American Museum of Natural History in New York City, runs until Sept. 16 in Victoria.

Scientists now consider dinosaurs were much more active than the ponderous, giant lizards once imagined. Instead of spending most of their time in water to support their giant size, they likely ran, jumped and even migrated over dry land.

Long-necked dinosaurs were before pictured living and feeding from treetops with their necks extensive straight upwards, like giraffes.

Robotic Dinosaurs on the technique for Next-Gen Paleontology

Researchers at Drexel University are bringing the newest technical advancements in 3-D printing to the study of antique life. Using scale models of real fossils, for the first time, they will be able to check hypotheses about how dinosaurs and extra primitive animals moved and lived in their environments.

"Technology in paleontology hasn't tainted in about 150 years," said Drexel paleontologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, and relate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences. "We use shovels and pickaxes and burlap and plaster. It hasn't distorted until now."

Lacovara has begun creating 3-D scans of massive dinosaur bones and other fossils in his lab. The 3-D scan puts a virtual picture in a digital workplace that researchers can control and analyze.

To transport these scans to life, Lacovara is also teaming up with mechanical engineer Dr. James Tangorra, an assistant professor in Drexel's College of Engineering, to use 3-D printing technology to make and check scale models of fossil bones.

A 3-D printer is a technology for fast prototyping and developed objects based on a digital design. Common models work by regularly extruding very thin layers of a resin or added material, building up strata to make a physical object.