Southern Fried Science

The Global Extinction Crisis – species area relationships, habitat loss, and population dynamics

May 23, 2011June 3, 2011 Andrew Thaler 4 Comments

We are in the midst of a global extinction crisis. Biodiversity is in decline as species after species disappear. Some estimates predict that up to 50% of species will be committed to extinction by 2050. Other estimates claim the current rate of extinction may be 10,000 times the background rate. Many ecologists and conservationists have declared the current species decline the sixth great mass extinction.

A recent paper published in the journal Nature argues that our current estimates of species loss are based on a flawed model and tend to overestimate the magnitude of species decline. The paper has received plenty of attention, and has been heavily criticized by ecologists and conservation biologists. The paper is wrong, but it is wrong for the right reasons, and the criticisms it has garnered point to a gaping hole in our understanding of population dynamics.

Shark Science Monday: Claudia Li discusses Shark Truth’s ‘no shark fin soup’ wedding contests

May 23, 2011May 23, 2011 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Conservation, Science

In this week’s edition of Shark Science Monday, Claudia Li of Shark Truth discusses the Happy Hearts Love Sharks wedding contest, which aims to reduce the consumption of shark fin soup at wedding banquets. If you have a question for Claudia, leave it as a comment below and I’ll make sure she gets it.

A Path for Sustainable Development

May 23, 2011May 23, 2011 Bluegrass Blue Crab

Conservation

After our sustainability month, it becomes easy to ask for a plan to become more sustainable. On a national scale, this becomes demand for a blueprint or recipe for how to organize society successfully in the future along sustainability principles. The idea of a given trajectory of development goes back to Walt Rostow, who described development around the world up to 1960, ending with the emergence of a first, second, and third world. More modern theorists realize that the world is not linear, however.

Forum on fish, food, and people at the SeaMonster

May 17, 2011May 17, 2011 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Science

The SeaMonster has posted a lengthy e-mail discussion among several key players in fisheries science regarding Ray Hilborn’s recent “Let us eat fish” Op-Ed in the New York Times. The discussion is, quite frankly, epic, and I encourage anyone interested in fish, ecology, fisheries, or seafood to give it a read. Forum on fish, food, … Read More “Forum on fish, food, and people at the SeaMonster” »

Science to action: A scientist’s guide to influencing decision making

May 17, 2011May 17, 2011 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

This week at the International Marine Conservation Congress, a great resource was introduced. Science to Action, an affiliate of Conservation International, released a dual volume called “A scientist’s guide to influencing decision making /a decision maker’s guide to using science”.

New Ocean Acidification PSA

May 17, 2011May 17, 2011 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

This morning, Plymouth Marine Laboratory launched a new public service announcement about ocean acidification entitled “Connecting science, industry, policy and public”. According to the Official MPA Blog:

The moldy kingdom gets a new neighbor

May 13, 2011May 24, 2011 Andrew Thaler 6 Comments

Science

tree2 — A diagrammatic tree depicting the organisation of most eukaryotes into six major groups. The relationships amongst most of the major groups and the position of the ‘root’ of the tree are shown as unresolved (note however, the grouping of Opisthokonta and Amoebozoa). The arrow shows a possible precise placement of the root, based on gene fusion data. (Simpson and Roger 2004)

Depending on your view of phylogenetics, a recent publication in Nature reporting the discovery of a new kingdom-level branch on the tree of life, basal to Kingdom Fungi, is either a major revision of our current view of taxonomy or completely unsurprising and expected. While we mostly refer to the four kingdoms within Domain Eukarya as Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia, it’s understood by the scientific community that Protista is essentially a catch-all category, not a true clade, for eukaryotes that don’t quite fit into the other three groups. While this is convenient for organization, it fails to adequately express the diversity of protists. Four kingdoms is a useful system, but there’s no reason why diversity at the kingdom level couldn’t be much higher. A strict cladist could create hundreds, if not thousands of kingdoms from Protista alone.

Weekly dose of TED – John Delaney: Wiring an interactive ocean

May 13, 2011May 12, 2011 Andrew Thaler

Uncategorized

Off to the International Marine Conservation Congress!

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011 David Shiffman 2 Comments

Conservation

I’m on my way to the 2nd International Marine Conservation Congress in Victoria, British Columbia. This gathering, organized by the Society for Conservation Biology, brings together leading scientists and conservationists from around the world.

Short update on the North Carolina Wildfire and Red Wolves

May 12, 2011 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Conservation

The wildfire that ignited in Dare County last week is still burning, as many coastal residents were reminded last night when the wind changed and brought smoke inland. Fortunately, the incident command is reporting that the fire is more than 50% contained, has not reached the town of Stumpy Point, and did not penetrate to … Read More “Short update on the North Carolina Wildfire and Red Wolves” »