Biodiverse Life

World's highest marine biodiversity?

2011-02-26T10:32:00.000+11:00

The preliminary results of the Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition (December 2010) indicate that Semporna may have the world's highest marine biodiversity. The expedition yielded a record number of 43 species of mushroom corals. Furthermore, some new species were discovered, among which at least two shrimps and possibly a number of gall crabs.

The health of the reefs was judged to be relatively poor: 36% of the transects had fair, another 36% had poor live coral cover. Eighteen scientists from Malaysia, the Netherlands and the USA spent three weeks examining the reefs of Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia, situated at the apex of the Coral Triangle. A biodiversity team documented the species richness for mushroom corals, reef fish, shrimps, gall crabs, ovulid snails, and algae. A reef status team documented the health of the coral reefs.

Urgent Need for Media Coverage of Biodiversity Issues

2010-10-16T08:41:00.002+11:00

Journalists need more training and greater access to sources and information if they are to effectively tell an under-reported story that has profound implications for livelihoods, health and businesses the world over -- the silent decline in the planet’s biological resources.

So say media specialists at IUCN, IIED and Internews who will formally launch their Biodiversity Media Alliance (BMA) during the conference of parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity on 27 October in Nagoya, Japan.

“The declining status of the Earth’s natural riches threatens to undermine the future prospects of all people but so far this story has gone unreported, and outside of professional circles very few people are even aware of what is at stake,” says Mike Shanahan of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

The BMA partners will work together to support journalists in developing countries to report on the world’s biodiversity, what its decline means for humanity, and how it can be tackled.

“Journalists generally consider biodiversity loss to be a less urgent issue than climate change or the economy,” says Alison Coleman, IUCN Regional Communications Officer. “The media needs to do a better job of explaining its importance to economies, livelihoods and people’s health. This will be critical to the achievement of the targets in the new strategic plan that 193 governments are due to adopt in Nagoya.”

Already the alliance has created an online social network — http://biodiversitymedia.ning.com — where hundreds of journalists and biodiversity experts can interact. It aims to develop training activities to ensure that journalists can tell the story of biodiversity in ways that are relevant to their audiences.

“Media capacity building programs on climate change have led to a significant increase in public awareness of this issue, but so far donors have not treated biodiversity as enough of a priority,” says James Fahn, executive director of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network. “When supported, media coverage of biodiversity has had a direct impact on policies – such as when Vietnamese journalists helped protect Tam Dao National Park and uncovered a wildlife smuggling ring.”

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) new strategic plan, to be adopted in Nagoya, includes 20 targets to be achieved by 2020 or sooner to limit the loss of biodiversity and ensure that natural resources are used fairly and sustainably.

“Target 1 of the CBD’s new strategy states that, by 2020 at the latest, all people should be aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably,” says Shanahan. “Journalists have a vital role to play in making sure that happens, and the Biodiversity Media Alliance aims to help them do that.”

To join the online social network visit http://biodiversitymedia.ning.com

Contacts:

Mike Shanahan (mike.shanahan@iied.org)

James Fahn (jfahn@internews.org)

Alison Coleman (alison.coleman@iucn.org)

Seamounts are treasure troves of marine biodiversity

2010-05-09T15:44:00.000+10:00

Seamounts, mountains that rise from the seafloor, rank as some of the most common ocean habitats in the world, scientists have found.

The finding by scientists from NOAA and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is published in a new study and reverse previous beliefs about the prevalence of seamounts, which are treasure troves of marine biodiversity.

"Unlike beaches or even coral reefs, most people will never see a seamount, but this study shows that they are clearly one of the predominant ecosystems on the planet," said Peter Etnoyer, PhD, principal investigator of the study and marine biologist at NOAA's Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research. "We can only hope that through this study, people begin to realize what a vast unknown the ocean represents, and what a vital role it plays on Earth."

Although researchers have thoroughly explored some 200 seamounts and mapped and sampled a hundred others, this study is the first to estimate that more than 45,000 seamounts dot the ocean floor worldwide - a total of roughly 28.8 million square kilometers or an area larger than the continent of South America. The discovery was made possible using satellite altimetry data that measured incredibly slight changes in the sea surface height that, along with statistical analysis models, indicated the presence of these submerged mountains.

"Seamounts are biodiversity 'hotspots', with higher abundance and variety of life forms than the surrounding seafloor," said Tom Shirley, PhD, contributing author of the study and a conservation scientist with the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. "In fact, new species are observed or collected on nearly every submersible dive."

Two dozen new species of corals and sponges, for example, have been collected from seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska since 2002.

Seamounts not only make up the largest area of ocean habitat, they are also highly productive environments that can serve as habitats for important commercial fish species like orange roughy and sablefish.

Decade of biodiversity. Japanese Proposal to U.N.

2010-05-09T15:38:00.000+10:00

Japan will propose a resolution at the U.N. General Assembly meeting this autumn to declare the 10 years through 2020 the U.N. Decade of Biodiversity so that the international community can intensively work on preserving biodiversity during the period, Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa said Friday.

‘‘We want to promote the work (on preserving biodiversity) at the United Nations as a whole, including the United States, which is not party to the (biodiversity) convention,’’ Ozawa said at a news conference.

Tokyo has decided on the move as biological diversity continues to be threatened worldwide, with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity set to conclude in its assessment of the current situation to be unveiled on Monday that an international target to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has been missed, government officials said.

Study: World governments fail to deliver on 2010 biodiversity target

2010-05-09T15:27:00.001+10:00

World leaders have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, says a study co-authored by a Visiting Professor from the University of Bath.

Instead there has been an alarming decline in the number of species on the planet.

Simon Stuart, Visiting Professor at the Biodiversity Lab in the University’s Department of Biology & Biochemistry and Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, has called for governments to act urgently.

He said: “We now know that the 2010 target to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss hasn’t been met. It can no longer be ‘business as usual’ without there being serious consequences for all life on earth.

“We need governments and all of society to understand that the biodiversity crisis is real and is happening now. World leaders faced the economic crisis head on. We need that same level of investment and commitment for the environment.”

The study, published last week in the journal Science, used more than 30 indicators to measure different aspects of biodiversity, including species’ populations and risk of extinction. The study was a collaboration of more than 40 international organisations and agencies, including IUCN.

The results form part of the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, the flagship publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to be released on May 10 in Nairobi, when government representatives from around the world meet to discuss the 2010 target and how to address the biodiversity crisis.

Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Head of IUCN’s Species Programme said: “We can no longer use the excuse that we don’t know enough about the loss of diversity of life on our planet. Last year the analysis of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ showed that biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate. This much broader study confirms those findings.

“The role of governments is paramount but the magnitude and rate of loss of biodiversity means that everyone, from individuals to businesses, must act now to save all life on earth before we reach breaking point.”

More information: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1187512