Speciose Weekly - February 21st, 2021
In Brief: China to Protect More Species; Mackerel at Risk of Over-Harvesting; Phosphorus at Risk of Over-Mining; Biden Advances Environmental Plan; and more...
Welcome to this week’s edition of Speciose Weekly, a newsletter about biodiversity and why it matters, by me, Nick Minor.
After a brief, one-week hiatus, Speciose Weekly is back with two weeks’ worth of events where biodiversity counts—in obvious and not-so-obvious ways.
For more about the Speciose Weekly newsletter, check the about page and my recent post on the stakes for biodiversity in 2021.
THIS WEEK, the southern United States received the most vivid imaginable demonstration of the word unpredictable. As an arctic air mass leaked south into Texas and the southeastern states, we humans faced our particular brand of struggles: power outages, food shortages, strains on the healthcare system, and wholesale disruption of a usual, day-to-day activity. The unpredictable weather is, as Eric Holthaus at The Phoenix put it, a humanitarian crisis.
We humans are not alone in struggling with unpredictability. Other species—like the many species in Texas’ that are adapted to dry heat, not Arctic cold—can only adapt to their world within the bounds of what has come before. Living beings, including humans, carry genes adapted to the environment of their ancestors—not current-day.
It’s no accident that the world’s most species-rich places are also the most stable. Tropical rainforest regions, where there are hardly seasons at all, and where plants shunt moisture into the air to ensure cycles of rain, have remained predictable for many thousands of years. In these conditions, species don’t just thrive; they subdivide. When the weather, the soil, and the community of species stay the same indefinitely, it pays to specialize, to get better at harnessing just one, very specific resource better than any other species. As a result, species split into increasingly specialized species. Let this process play out for thousands to millions of years, and the land gradually “fills up” with species—exactly what has happened across the rainforest belts of the world. The key to all this richness, to this speciose, tropical world, is that the tropics are predictable.
Life gets harder when the world is unpredictable. Of course, nature on its own has a Pandora’s box of random insults—hurricanes and tornadoes, earthquakes, lightning-sparked wildfires, landslides, droughts, heat waves, cold snaps, the list goes on. And it would be one thing if, like in the days long before human-activity-driven climate heating, natural disasters had nothing to do with us. But of course, we humans do play a role in natural disasters now. The most insidious part is that climate heating doesn’t just make unpredictable disasters more intense; it also makes them more frequent. It makes the climate more shifty, day to day and week to week. Weird disasters, like more than a week of snow and single digits in Houston, are getting harder to forecast. Put another way, we are directly making the world around us less predictable, for us and for other species.
When people are suffering, of course, we have a moral obligation to respond (like many are to the climate-driven humanitarian crisis in Texas). But as we do so, we could do better to remember that these outlandish disasters, these unpredictable crises, is part of a broader pattern in nature.
So perhaps a helpful question is this: How do we help the world get predictable again? How can we keep random disasters, population crashes, multi-year droughts, or historic floods from straining people and the ecosystems they’re entwined with? How do we keep things same-old-same-old?
This question, unlike purely climate-driven or purely conservation-driven questions, brings us all under the same umbrella—we’re here with other species, species we depend on, that are struggling with the same things we are.
We really are, if you can forgive the banality, all in this together.
With that, let’s get to the past two week’s events.
News
Simple, concrete connections between biodiversity and current events.
1. China Doubles the Size of Its Endangered Species List, Now Protecting 980 Species
Long decried as inadequate, China’s List of Wild Animals Under State Priority Conservation just got a big update: an additional 517 species. Three-quarters of the additions to the List, which protects species from harm with fines up to $15,500, are birds, including the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Yellow-breasted Bunting.
The update to the list also includes protections for the Gray Wolf, a stunning reversal on the part of the Chinese Government. Up until the 1990s, the economic development-focused government called for the extermination of wolves. By 2000, wolf populations across northern China had crashed. Some twenty years later, after the ecological impacts of absent predators have trickled through ecosystems, the Beijing’s about-face may signal its changing attitude toward the exploitation and extermination of its species. Pro-biodiversity attitudes come at a sensitive time for the country, as encroachment into China’s wild spaces are what led to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(SupChina)
2. Jaguar and Ocelet Seen in Arizona this January
Here’s a fun piece of wildlife news for you: on January 6th, Arizona’s only known jaguar was sighted once again in the Dos Cabezas/Chiricahua mountains—the same male that has been photographed sporadically since November 2016. On January 14th in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona’s only known ocelot was seen as well. The Ocelot, also a male, has been sighted there since May 2012.
Both jaguars and ocelots once ranged well into the southwestern United States, regulating animal populations and possibly permitting more species to coexist.
3. US Fish and Wildlife Service Will Not Review Trump-era Decision to Remove Federal Protections for Gray Wolf
Meanwhile, as China chose to expand protections for Gray Wolves, the U.S. delisted the species from the Endangered Species Act late last year. Many under the Trump Administration claimed that the species had shown sufficient recovery to continue population growth without federal protection. The move was also explained as an effort to put states in charge of managing their respective wolf populations.
However, at the time, the decision was harshly criticized, with many arguing that the species still requires federal protection to establish in the Southern Rockies and the Northeast. As it is, most wolves in the United States are clustered in the Northern Rockies and the Western Great Lakes region. The species is virtually nonexistent in the rest of its pre-existing range—many regions of which are experiencing overpopulation and subsequent disease outbreak in white-tailed deer and other wolf prey species.
Two weeks ago, shortly after the Biden-Harris Administration ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to review the decision, the Service chose not to undergo the review, claiming that the Trump-era delisting remained valid in the lower 48. It remains to be seen whether the species continues to gain footholds in additional states.
(Center for Biological Diversity)
4. 2021 May Bring Conflict Among Northern European Countries as They Risk Overfishing Mackerel Stocks
Mackerel has thrived in the past several years, and the stock does not seem to have been depleted yet, even though countries have fished too much. As none of the countries has an agreement for next year, the scene for conflict is set anew. And they might not be as lucky with their fishing’s impact on the resource in the future.
Over the past ten years, for reasons unknown, mackerel patterns have shifted to include waters off the coast of Iceland for part of the year. And since the mid-2000s, Icelandic fishers have harvested this lucrative fishery—despite their lack of traditional claim to the species.
Mackerel migrations have long taken place in waters managed by Ireland, the U.K., the European Union, Norway, and the Faroe Islands. Each year, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea assesses mackerel population sizes, recommending sustainable harvest amounts to the above countries. From there, these countries divvy up the recommended harvest, at least theoretically assuring that mackerel populations will remain viable in the next year.
But since Iceland began fishing the species, mackerel-fishing countries has consistently failed to reach harvest agreements. The result? Countries have annually harvested as much as two times the recommended amount. And while mackerel have seemed to remain viable, the reasons for this viability remain unknown. As we enter an increasingly unpredictable world, many now worry that the species, which feeds millions, may soon crash. Such a crash would cascade through both the European fishing economy and the marine ecosystems they depend on.
5. 1 in 5 Deaths Due to Fossil Fuel Emissions in 2018, New Study Shows
Most often, when we talk about fossil fuel emissions, we’re talking about greenhouse gases and climate change. But these gases aren’t emitted alone. Most forms of fossil fuels, when burned, emit atmospheric particulates as well. These and other particulates are closely monitored, both by satellites and by detectors on the earth’s surface. By analyzing these particulate monitoring data, researchers found more than 8 million people died in 2018 from fossil fuel pollution—about 18 percent of total global deaths in that year.
This brings us to a problem oft-lamented by ecologists and evolutionary biologists: we have far and away the best, most complete data for humans. It would be a huge surprise if these fossil fuel pollutants weren’t also affecting wildlife mortality. But without large-scale mortality data, scientists are unable to study the impacts of pollution on most species.
So, what can we do? Simple: start by assuming environments that are healthy for humans are probably healthy for other species too, and go from there.
(Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
6. Farmers Express Support and Apprehension for Biden Administration Climate Policy
Climate change is a systemic problem, meaning that we can’t solve it anywhere without solving it everywhere. Even when most countries reduce their emissions, climate change will rage on if other countries continue business-as-usual. But due to the inherently local or regional nature of biodiversity—many regions harbor species that are found nowhere else—ecological breakdown can be solved one place at a time. Local ecological solutions, like habitat restoration or protection, also have a wonderful climate corollary: they naturally sequester carbon, all on their own.
As it happens, agriculture focused on sequestering the maximum atmospheric carbon into crops, is another local solution. If farmers, each working on their own property, prioritize carbon sequestration en masse, as Biden’s policy is likely to encourage, agriculture as a sector may actually be part of the solution to the climate crisis, rather than a persistent stumbling block.
One of the Biden Administration’s top climate priorities, according to Agriculture Secretary-Designate Tom Vilsack, is to work with farmers on their climate policy. In a recent Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, representatives of the U.S. agriculture sector expressed interest in a variety of climate-focused federal incentives, including those encouraging more carbon capture through crop cultivation, as well as tax credits for installing wind and solar on less productive portions of their land. And while the farm representatives also expressed apprehension about retracting Trump-era de-regulations, the spirit at the forum was one of hope and cooperation, not enmity.
Not mentioned, though, were measures in the Farm Bill and other legislation that incentivize conservation easements—essentially money to preserve wild habitat rather than clearing all agricultural land. Actions like these, implemented locally across the country, would work together with larger-scale land preservation to achieve as much as one-third of global climate goals. Nature must be part of a holistic solution to today’s challenges, not a separate issue to be dealt with at some other time.
7. U.S. Interior Department Will Begin Consulting with Tribal Leaders on Climate Change Next Month
Under the leadership of Deb Haaland, the Department of the Interior is on the cusp of lifting up tribal leadership in unprecedented ways (for the U.S., anyway). These growing partnerships come as part of a Biden executive order “aimed at strengthening relations between the federal government and Native American tribes.” As Reuters reports, a “2019 Government Accountability Office report found serious lapses in outreach to tribes, especially on infrastructure projects.”
For biodiversity advocates, this tribal-federal partnership campaign should be watched closely. Coming from a tradition of valuing land and other species as kin, not commodities, Indigenous peoples currently protect about 80% of the biodiversity on earth—despite their representing only 6% of the world’s population. As such, Indigenous stewardship is increasingly recognized as a crucial component of biodiversity solutions. Through their Indigenous Guardians Pilot Program, Canada has been particularly forward-looking in emphasizing Indigenous stewardship.
In the United States, we may be at the very beginning of initiating similar programs.
(Reuters)
8. Biden Restores the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Which Provides Crucial Support for Restoring Ecosystems
Shortly after the inauguration, Speciose Weekly reported on Biden’s executive orders to review or reverse Trump-era environmental deregulations. Now, a month or so later, we’re starting to see the first of the reversals.
Last week, the Biden Administration reversed two decisions that kneecapped parts of the the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The first was a decision that enabled local politicians to veto land purchases, effectively allowing land preservation to be halted when it’s politically convenient. The second decision shifted funds away from urban areas, removing one of the only sources of conservation funding for low-income communities and communities of color.
With these components of the Land and Water Conservation Fund back in place, the program is back on track, and is less vulnerable to expedient political interference.
(The Hill)
9. Sagebrush Ecosystems Will Be A Crucial Part of Biden’s 30 by 30 Plan
Many details for how the United States will preserve thirty percent of the country’s wild lands are yet to be worked out. But however the goal is achieved, it’s clear that sagebrush ecosystems will play a big role. Sagebrush-dominated steppe ecosystems stretch over vast plains and basins across the West. Home to some 350 species, many of which can’t survive in other ecosystems, sagebrush steppes have been increasingly degraded for short-term fossil fuel development:
In recent years, management of our public lands has been driven by short-term gains, compromising the legacy being left for future generations. Habitat for sage-grouse, mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and burrowing owls has been degraded by invasive species, wildfire, and federal policies that elevate oil and gas development above all other uses.
Protecting these wild spaces from fossil fuel development and invasive species won’t just benefit the species that live there. When sagebrush ecosystems are healthy, they also store carbon and control the spread of wildfires—an ecosystem service that could prevent untold expenses in the coming decades.
(Audubon)
10. One of Life’s Essential Nutrients is Nonrenewable—And We’re Flushing it Away with Reckless Abandon
Normally, phosphorus cycles efficiently through ecosystems. Organisms hold it in their bodies, and then, after death, are consumed by decomposers. These decomposers, upon their deaths, temporarily hold phosphorus in the soil, allowing future plants and then animals to take phosphorus into their bodies again. And upon their death, the cycle starts all over. Minimal loss, minimal new phosphorus needed.
This cycle is efficient in part because phosphorus comes from the earth’s crust. It takes an epochal geologic disruption, like scraping glaciers or volcanic eruptions, to unearth it. But since the Second Agricultural Revolution, when industrial agriculture replaced less intensive farming, humanity has interrupted the cycle, turning a circle into a something more like a one-way pipe.
It starts when phosphorus-rich minerals are mined until none remains at a particular source. Next, the minerals are converted into fertilizers, which are then applied to farmlands. There, much of the phosphorus runs off into surrounding watersheds; What doesn’t run off is absorbed by crops. Trouble is, when humans eat these crops, they only absorb about a third of the phosphorus. The other two-thirds come right back out of our bodies in our waste, sending the phosphorus from our bodies into our sewers, and often, from our sewers into our watersheds. There, the added phosphorus super-saturates aquatic ecosystems, leading to excessive plant growth and algal blooms, population crashes, invasions of aggressive species, and, in the end, a collapse of the ecosystem. From that point, much of the phosphorus is lost, gathering on inaccessible sea floors.
With this one-way losing game, farmers a forced into reliance on more and more phosphorus mining—an industry with no promise of lasting indefinitely.
Phosphorus is a classic natural-resource parable: Humans strain against some kind of scarcity for centuries, then finally find a way to overcome it. We extract more and more of what we need—often in the name of improving the human condition, sometimes transforming society through celebrated revolutions. But eventually, and usually too late, we discover the cost of overextraction. And the cost of breaking the phosphorus cycle is not just looming scarcity, but also rampant pollution.
This article by journalist Julia Rosen is fabulous and well worth a read. It’s excellently researched and written, but that’s not why I recommend it. Phosphorus depletion ranks among the antibiotic crisis and micro-plastic pollution as one of our biggest problems that no one’s talking about. And it’s not just a problem for us—it’s a problem for every other species on earth.
Science
Your finger on the pulse of research from ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation, economics, and other fields where biodiversity counts.
Science updates have moved to their own edition of Speciose Weekly.
Check out the latest collection of exciting new science here, and be sure to sign up/subscribe for more in coming weeks.
Media that Matters
1) Hike The Divide
A take on climate action from a backpacker’s perspective. “Hike the Divide is a feature-length documentary that follows jaded millennial filmmaker Connor DeVane 2,700 miles from Canada to Mexico on the Continental Divide Trail as he seeks hope in the face of climate breakdown.”
2) Other Side of the Hill
The award-winning film “explores the impacts of a changing climate in rural Eastern Oregon - as seen through the eyes of local leaders on the ground. From innovative timber operations in Wallowa County to large scale solar in Lakeview, we amplify the voices of rural communities often left unheard. In a time of unprecedented cultural divide between rural and urban Oregon, we find common ground in an urgency to address a changing landscape.”
3) How Xavi Bou Makes His Mesmerizing Portraits of Birds in Flight
4) Looking for some good conservation news?? Look no further than Mongabay’s “Happy-upbeat Environmental News”
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With gratitude,
—Nick