Subscribe to
"As the Earth Turns"

Send email to the author,
Jennifer B Powell

Monday, July 29, 2002

Speaking of travel... Yesterday I pointed out that exotic species move around the globe pretty freely these days. Humans and other mobile mammals have long been a favorite mode of transport for seeds, bugs, and other opportunistic things. Species are also well-known to disperse via water on driftwood and other stray materials. So you can see why I was amused by this April article from National Geographic, which discusses how the general increase in human trash cluttering the ocean has provided increased mobility to travelling species around the globe. 7:01:25 PM    speak up [] Do species recover in "no-take" zones? The Christian Science Monitor says initial reports are promising. One year ago federal law placed 150 sq miles of water around the Dry Tortugas National Park (Florida) under protection as a "no-take" zone, and therfore off limits to all fishing. Scientists monitoring the area report that numbers of fish in some species are already up, though others show less change, and mature fish are of course still in short supply. Many fish populations are already over-harvested and having trouble recuperating. If marine reserves prove their promise, and become more widespread, perhaps we can begin to reverse that trend. 6:49:35 PM    speak up [] Restoring the Everglades I wanted to point you to this excellent four-part article in the Washington Post, about the Everglades, its history, and the hopes for its restoration. The set is a month old, but you never know when they'll pull it into the (for-pay) archives, so if you haven't read it yet, you really should. The author gives a very clear picture of the political and economic pressures that have led to the degradation of what Marjory Stoneman Douglas called "The River of Grass". The link is to the Everglades main page, with all four articles (and some other stuff) linked in the sidebar. 1:22:11 PM    speak up [] Great Barrier Reef is feeling the heat Among the other results of this summer's heat is an increase in coral bleaching. Coral reefs have been under stress for years now, but researchers are particularly concerned for Australia's Great Barrier Reef. As ocean temperatures rise, the organisms which create the reefs become more stressed. Coral bleaching is thought to be one result of this stress, though there is some debate about that. So far this year, the Great Barrier Reef seems to be stressed, but surviving. Reefs can adapt to some level of warmer temperatures and bleaching, but we don't yet know how much adaptability they have. 9:29:56 AM    speak up []

© Copyright 2002 Jennifer B Powell. Last update: 8/1/02; 9:54:00 AM.