Entomological Society of America的动态

Wildlife populations?fell by an average of 73% in the past half-century. Experts largely blame habitat loss, which is?driven by human food production. Rebecca Shaw, WWF’s chief scientist, on the implications of the report by World Wildlife Fund and Zoological Society of London (ZSL) : "If you have that kind of decline in vertebrate populations around the globe, you’re going to have troubles supporting and sustaining human health and well-being over time #biodiversity #wildlife #agriculture #speciesdecline #overpopulation #landscapechange WaPO

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This week, the US House of Representatives will vote on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, a bill that attempts to undermine species recovery by making decisions based on politics over science. If this bill passes Congress, the Department of the Interior’s budget would be slashed by 74% to $14.7 billion. Within this total, the US Fish and Wildlife Service budget would be reduced by $144 million to $1.3 billion, including a 20% cut in funding to list new species under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eP5sbDcY

At long last: In response to decades of advocacy from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed protecting critical habitat for the endangered Barrens topminnow, an iridescent green fish from central Tennessee. Critical habitat designation is an additional layer of protection for endangered animals and plants that requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to review any federally funded or permitted activities to make sure the places they live aren’t harmed. Critical habitat is key to the survival of endangered species. Our study found that plants and animals with federally protected critical habitat are more than *twice* as likely to be moving toward recovery than species without it. One way we defend biodiversity is by constantly working to ensure that *every* species listed under the Act is granted critical habitat. Long live the Barrens topminnow!

A long, detailed, and insightful article into the origins of COVID-19. The authors conclude that: 'Extensive epidemiological evidence supports wildlife trade at the Huanan market as the most likely conduit for the COVID-19 pandemic’s origin'. Find the full article titled 'Genetic tracing of market wildlife and viruses at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic' via this link https://lnkd.in/emE59tuc Health and wildlife experts have warned us for decades of the public health risks associated with people mixing with wild animals, including through habitat destruction, illegal, unregulated or poorly regulated wildlife trade, markets and consumption.??We don’t adequately regulate these interactions. Our system is not orientated toward preventing the next pandemic. That’s why, in June 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime was created.?For more see https://lnkd.in/eXFgZmSk Photo credit: Paul Hilton, Earth Tree Images #covid #pandemics #wildlifetrade #wildlifecrime #wildlife ADM Capital Foundation Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime World Health Organization FOUR PAWS Conservation International Neil Vora, MD David Quammen Dan Ashe Sharon Deem Ana Motamayor illuminem

Nice to see Barcode of Life Data Systems playing a role in supporting this important wildlife forensics investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the Results section: "We found no evidence for the presence of any bat or pangolin genetic material, the two known hosts of sarbecovirus relatives of SARS-CoV-2, in the Huanan market. In contrast, the presence of mtDNA of Myotis bats was previously reported(25). To check this, we replicated the methodology of Liu et?al.(25) by mapping reads to the Barcode of Life Data System COX1 gene database, which identified eight reads that mapped to any Myotis sequence with no mismatches. A BLAST analysis confirmed that all were non-specific matches and therefore uninformative. This indicates that neither live bats nor pangolins are likely to have been present in the sampled stalls of the Huanan market during the time period relevant to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2."

Why does wetland loss matter? For starters, it impinges on public health by decreasing supplies of #cleanwater, reduces opportunities for hunting, fishing and ecotourism, and makes the practice of cultural traditions more challenging. Only have a few minutes? Scroll this StoryMap ?? https://arcg.is/zH0v9

The findings of the latest Wetlands Status and Trends report are stark, and they underscore how potentially damaging the impacts of the #SackettvEPA decision could be for wetland habitats across the country. Without state protections for wetlands, more of these incredible ecosystems will be lost. Learn more about what's at risk – and what Environmental Defense Fund is doing about it – here ?? edf.org/wetlands #SCOTUS #wetlands #flooding #habitat #wildlife #climatechange #floodrisk #habitatloss #biodiversity #naturalinfrastructure #naturalclimatesolution #naturebasedsolutions

We just released our Wetlands Status and Trends report, and our findings show that more than half of wetlands in the lower 48 states are gone, and losses continue. Loss rates have increased by 50 percent since 2009. Without additional conservation actions taken to protect these ecosystems, wetland loss will likely continue, reducing ecosystem benefits for people and habitat for fish, wildlife and plants. Wetlands are one of the most productive and biodiverse habitats, with 40 percent of all plant and animal species living or breeding in wetlands. Threatened and endangered species are no exception, with approximately half of all Endangered Species Act species in the United States being wetland dependent. Read the full report here ?? https://ow.ly/w49P50R0erI Photo at Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge by USFWS

https://lnkd.in/e4PTeXkN The challenge of determining impact, identifying compliance and having confidence in trading régimes is severely challenged, if not impossible, in the absence of reliable data. Jonathan Kolby's timely article illustrates a very real situation where the results should have been predictable. In the same light, I bring your attention to a recent paper by Rachel Boratto, Chris R. Shepherd et al finding difficulty in evaluating the impact of #wildlifetrade in #Canada owing to ... a staggering lack of available data and analysis. Both these articles show that without good data, we can 'see no evil'. The theme of UN Environment Programme #WorldWildlifeDay (3 March) this year is Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation. We have more means to track the take and trade of wild species to support good management than ever in history. When we are not collecting and analysing data to better inform decisions, we are simply facilitating the 'monkey business'. https://wildlifeday.org/en