July 2005

This month in the CSI Report you can read about Juerg Brunnschweiler, a CSI Fellow who has been working on his Ph.D. at the University of Zurich. Brunnschweiler's Ph.D. thesis title is 'Movement patterns and habitat use of satellite-tagged bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas. Brunnschweiler uses state of the art pop-up satellite tags to determine bull shark movements; the researchers were very surprised by the results. Find out more in the CSI Fellow's Report below or go to Brunnschweiler's research web page at http://www.conservationinstitute.org/fellowbrunnschweiler.htm.

CSI is pleased to announce our newest fellow, Dr. Russell Bellmer, who is presently the project leader for the Stockton U.S. Fish and Wildlife Office. I met Dr. Bellmer when we worked together on the restoration effort of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was the Restoration Research Program manger with NOAA Fisheries in the NOAA Restoration Center in Silver Spring. You can learn more about Dr. Bellmer's work by going to his web page at http://www.conservationinstitute.org/fellowbellmer.htm and more about the CSI Fellows program at http://www.conservationinstitute.org/fellowships.htm. We welcome nominations for CSI fellows at anytime; send us an e-mail.

The Predator Conservation Network manager, Mary Sweeters, added a new species account, the lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus. The Predator Conservation Network is dedicated to revealing the importance of predators and dispelling myths about these important species. Read about lingcod at http://www.conservationinstitute.org/pcnlingcod.htm.

Juerg Brunnschweiler is investigating where mature bull sharks migrate to when they leave the local habitat and the locations of their nursery and mating grounds. Pop-up satellite tags are being deployed to monitor large scale movements of otherwise difficult to observe animals. Brunnschweiler began his bull shark research in the Bahamas. He deployed six tags on bull sharks in April of 2003. Within two days of tagging completion all the bull sharks within that population vanished. When they began receiving signals from the satellite they were surprised that in a matter of just a few days a female bull shark had swum all the way from the Bahamas to the Florida coast into a fresh water river system. This river had been long thought to be a bull shark nursery ground. Brunnschweiler's team had just made the first confirmed observation of seasonal migration of bull sharks between the Bahamas and the Florida coast.

In 2004 Brunnschweiler equipped 11 adult bull sharks with satellite tags. All of the tags had been programmed to pop up at the end of 2004. After being attached to the sharks for up to seven months they had popped up as expected and transmitted their data to satellites. The majority of the tagged bull sharks had migrated away in a westward direction covering an area of hundreds to thousands of kilometers. Some of the sharks turned up near the islands of Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The record for distance traveled, however, was held by one female shark that turned up close to northern Australia. Read more about Brunnschweiler's research at http://www.conservationinstitute.org/fellowbrunnschweiler.htm.

In its 2001 assessment of global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected that global mean sea level is expected to rise between 9 and 88 centimeters by 2100. The global mean sea level has already risen by around between 10-25 centimeters during the past century. It wouldn't take much of a rise in sea level to wash away island nations such as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.

The Republic of Maldives extends from west of India into the Indian Ocean and consists of about 1,190 low-lying islands forming 26 natural atolls (a coral island consisting of a ring of coral surrounding a central lagoon). Eighty percent of the Maldives is one meter above normal sea level, and the highest point is only 2.4 meters above sea level. A crude rule of thumb is that, for every centimeter of sea level rise, the shoreline retreats by one meter. If the sea levels continue to rise, the Maldives could eventually become covered with water. Sea level rise would also aggravate the problem of beach erosion for the Maldives' 1200 islands. As all human settlements and industry lie very close to the beach, coastal erosion threatens to damage houses, schools, and other infrastructure.

The response of coral reefs to the predicted sea level rise due to global warming is a major concern for the Maldives due to the importance of reefs to the very existence of the country. In 1998, the hottest year in history so far, between 95% and 99% of the corals in the Maldives died from heat stroke. With global warming, Maldives might lose this wall of protection from normal storms. The corals already growing at highest tolerable temperatures have a very grim possibility of survival given the predicted rises in temperature of 1.4 to 5.8oC for the period of 1990 to 2100 (IPCC 3rd Assessment Report).

The economic well being of the country may also be adversely affected due to possible impacts on the tuna fishery, tourism, and water resources. The island produces over 100,000 tonnes of tuna a year which accounts for more than three-quarters of the total exported merchandise. Seasonal monsoon changes linked to global warming have been found to affect the tuna fishery. Changes in temperatures also drive the tuna stock to more favorable temperatures, reducing the number of fish on the traditional fishing areas. Tourism contributes to about a third of the GDP of the country. Tourism is also affected by the changing beaches, coral bleaching, and damaged dive sites. Rising sea level is causing saltwater intrusion into groundwater, deteriorating the quality of groundwater. This may reduce or eliminate the major source of water for the country.

Global warming and associated sea level rise will lead to devastating consequences for life in the Maldives. Although the Maldives contributes minimally to the global greenhouse gas emissions: 0.001% (it the first country to sign the Kyoto Protocol), it is among the most susceptible to the impacts of global warming.

The issue of climate change has garnered increasing attention in the last decade. Today, it appears on a regular basis in print, radio, and on television, and figures prominently in many of the most prominent academic journals.

Much of the attention from academics and scientists has focused on understanding the process of climate change and detailing its direct impacts on glaciers, ecological systems, and ocean currents. The popular media has covered the projected costs of offsetting climate change, alternative energy options, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge controversy, and in their view the controversy as to whether or not human activities have altered climate. The Kyoto Protocol, seen by many as the solution to the problem of climate change, has also received significant attention.

What has not received the attention it deserves are the efforts currently underway to reduce carbon emissions to stave of climate change. This is partly due to the fact that the United States has not taken the lead on climate change. Those countries that ratified Kyoto have begun discussions for the eventual implementation of a carbon cap and trade policy.

Counties and cities have also begun implementing their own policies for addressing carbon emissions and climate change. Two examples in the United States deserve attention. The city of Portland Oregon has recently reduced their carbon emissions to below 1990 levels. In 1993 the city became the first in the country to voluntarily adopt a global warming plan. The plan resembled Kyoto in working towards a 10% reduction of 1990 carbon emissions by 2010. While striving for this in the short term, the city has recognized that halting climate change will require reductions of up to 60-70%.

Per capita carbon emissions have dropped by 13%, while population has risen sharply in Portland. The city undertook a stringent planning process to make such significant progress towards their goal. Portland has a strict growth management plan, a green building policy, and a successful recycling program that has diverted significant amounts of solid waste from the landfill. In addition, the city gets 10% of its energy from renewable sources. Perhaps most impressive, the city has an integrated public transportation network that includes light rail, street cars, and buses that has increased use of public transportation by 75% since 1990.

Another major effort by a city to combat climate change started in Seattle, Washington. Frustrated by the lack of action by the Bush Administration to address climate change, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels took matters into his own hands. In addition to initiating measures in Seattle to reduce carbon emissions, he embarked on a mission to persuade mayors across the country to sign on to his US Mayor Climate Protection Agreement. It asks mayors to voluntarily agree to reduce carbon emissions to 7% below 1990 levels.

Mayor Nickels initially had hoped to have 141 mayors on board by June. To date 161 mayors have signed on including the mayors of Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Topeka, Louisville, Philadelphia, Austin, and Salt Lake City.

In the April 2005 issue of Ecological Applications, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) published a position paper on Genetically Engineered Organisms (GEOSs). The paper focuses on the current status of the use of GEOs and puts forth recommendations for their use and monitoring.

Humans have used selective breeding for millennia to produce plants with beneficial characteristics. To some, this type of manipulation constitutes a genetically modified organism. The ESA in their analysis makes a clear distinction between genetic engineering and selective breeding. Breeding produces genetic variations in plants through sexual crossing. An example in the article refers to crossing a high yielding line with a line resistant to disease. In so doing, only a small proportion of the progeny will exhibit both high yield and disease resistance characteristics. In contrast, genetic engineering allows for the insertion of genes directly into the genome, producing organisms with both characteristics present.

This streamlined genetic manipulation has proven incredibly effective and thus raises concerns about the consequences of the proliferation of GEOs. The ESA states that GEOs could prove beneficial in a number of capacities and circumstances. They are also quick to point out the potential risks of GEOs. These risks include the creation of new pests exacerbating the effects of existing pests, harm to non-target species, disrupting biotic communities, and the potential loss of species and genetic diversity.

The commercial use of GEOs began relatively recently. As a result, little empirical data exists documenting the long-term impacts of their use. Their use is proliferating while government regulation and oversight remains low. In order to negate dire consequences in the future the ESA has put forth 6 recommendations “regarding the development, evaluation, and use of GEOs in the environment.”

The first recommendation addresses the development of GEOs. Development of GEOs should include early planning to help reduce the risk of environmental damage. This might include the use of particular gene features whose insertion would ensure sterility or reduced fitness levels. Second, a full analysis of the potential risks and benefits should be carried out. This would involve well-designed studies by highly trained scientists in a number of disciplines. These studies should be carried out over various spatial and temporal time scales, something that does not currently accompany the introduction of most GEOs into the environment.

Many GEOs commercially sold have large distributions. In the event that a negative consequence of a specific GEO occurs, limiting its spread or minimizing the adverse impacts proves difficult. Preventing the release of potentially harmful GEOs is the third recommendation. GEOs have the potential of persisting in populations indefinitely because the transgenes are incorporated in the genome the same way as all other genes. Once introduced, these genes can spread throughout the population.

In order to identify what impacts GEOs will have on the environment, the ESA recommends the implementation of a well designed monitoring system to detect both large and small scale effects. This will prove particularly important because pre-commercial testing will not identify every possible consequence. Long-term monitoring will help to ensure the control of problematic GEOs. This monitoring will support the fifth recommendation dealing with science based regulations, which should be science based and should strive to not impede the progress of the biotech industry.

Lastly, the ESA recommends the multidisciplinary training of ecologists, molecular biologists, and agricultural scientists in an effort to help implement the previous five recommendations. Individuals with a broader knowledge base will have the ability to design more effective research plans to determine the potential risks and benefits of GEOs and will also enable them to more accurately assess the impacts of commercial GEOs.