Indirect Dependence and Extinction

Something new that was highlighted in Science Daily:

Neighbors gone, sex gone, fruits gone, species gone. This is the ultra-short conclusion of the findings in a study by Dennis Hansen, Heine Kiesbüy, and Christine Müller from Zurich University, and Carl Jones from the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, who found that an endangered plant in Mauritius depends on a neighboring plant to provide a safe home for its pollinator, a day-active gecko.

No sex needed for diversity, for bdelloid rotifers at least

An interesing article by Liza Gross.

Bdelloids are small microscopic invertebrates found in mosses and various freshwater bodies. Since 100 million years ago, all bdelloids are female and yet they have apparently diverged into nearly 400 species, with evolutionary patterns of divergence similar to sexually reproducing taxa. Main reason for the divergence apparent arose as adaptations to different food sources encountered in different niches.

For the whole article please read:

Gross L (2007) Who Needs Sex (or Males) Anyway? PLoS Biol 5(4): e99 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050099

"new" big cat

According to genetic evidence, the Clouded Leopard from Borneo and Sumatra has been designated as a new distinct species, Neofelis diardi.

Someone should take a look at the Clouded Leopard subspecies from Taiwan, Neofelis nebulosa brachyurus. it might be a new genetic species as well since it is an island endemic. However, the cat has not been sighted for 20 years, it might be extinct in the wild already. but enough skins should be available in museums.

A wordwide warning about mercury in fish

'Many of the world's leading mercury scientists were assembled into four expert panels in a year-long effort to review and synthesize the major mercury science findings. Every member of all four scientific panels endorsed the declaration.'

The key findings comprising "The Madison Declaration on Mercury Pollution" published on 08 Mar 2007 in a special issue of the international science journal Ambio are:

• The health risks posed by mercury contaminated fish is sufficient to warrant issuing a worldwide general warning to the public, especially children and women of childbearing age, to be careful about how much and which fish they eat.
• On average, three times more mercury is falling from the sky today than before the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago as a result of the increasing use of mercury and industrial emissions.
• The uncontrolled use of mercury in small-scale gold mining is contaminating thousands of sites around the world, posing long-term health risks to an estimated 50 million inhabitants of mining regions. These activities alone contribute more than 10 percent of the mercury in Earth's atmosphere attributable to human activities today.
• Little is known about the behavior of mercury in marine ecosystems and methylmercury in marine fish, the ingestion of which is the primary way most people at all levels of society worldwide are exposed to this highly toxic form of mercury.
• Methylmercury exposure now constitutes a public health problem in most regions of the world.
• Methylmercury levels in fish-eating birds and mammals in some parts of the world are reaching toxic levels, which may lead to population declines in these species and possibly in fish populations as well.

Source: "Mercury contamination of fish warrants worldwide public warning." U. Wisconsin-Madison Press Release 08 Mar 2007.

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