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Thousands of undiscovered plant species worldwide face extinction

Date published: July 8, 2010

Faced with threats such as habitat loss and climate change, thousands of rare flowering plant species worldwide may become extinct before scientists can even discover them. Based on data from the online World Checklist of Selected Plant Families at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the scientists calculated that there are between 10 and 20 per cent more undiscovered flowering plant species than previously estimated. A Wildlifewatch report.

Wild cats mimic monkey calls to entice prey

Date published: July 8, 2010

Believe it or not, a wild cat species in South America imitates the call of its intended victim, a squirrel-sized monkey known as a pied tamarin, to trap it. This is the first recorded instance of a wild cat in America mimicking the calls of its prey. Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Federal University of Amazonas confirmed what until now had been only anecdotal reports from Amazonian inhabitants of wild cat species. They include jaguars and pumas - actually mimicking primates, agoutis, and other species in order to draw them within striking range. A Wildlifewatch report.

Mammoth, saber-tooth cat extinctions linked to predation change

Date published: July 3, 2010

A new analysis suggests that woolly mammoths and other large mammals went extinct more than 10,000 years ago because they fell victim to the same “trophic cascade” of ecosystem disruption caused today by the global decline of top predators, including wolves, cougars and sharks. In each case the cascading events were originally begun by human disruption of ecosystems, the new study concludes, but around 15,000 years ago the problem was not the loss of a key predator, but the addition of one – human hunters with spears. A Wildlifewatch report.

Studies confirm presence, severity of pollution in US national parks

Date published: June 26, 2010

In research conducted by an international group of scientists over several years, pollution was found in all eight of the national parks and preserves that were studied, in terrain ranging from the Arctic to southern California. Most of it was caused by regional agriculture or industry, but some had traveled thousands of miles from distant sources in Asia and elsewhere. The two recent reports reinforce previous research that has identified such problems, scientists say, and better quantify the extent of the concerns. A Wildlifewatch report.

Higher wetland methane emissions caused by climate warming 40,000 years ago

Date published: June 26, 2010

Forty-thousand years ago rapid warming led to an increase in methane concentration. The culprit for this increase has now been identified. Mainly wetlands in high northern latitudes caused the methane increase, as discovered by a research team recently. Earlier measurements on ice cores showed that the atmospheric methane concentration changed drastically in parallel to rapid climate changes occurring during the last ice age. Those climate changes were characterised by a sudden warming and an increase in methane concentration. However, it was not yet clear to what extent the climate changes 40,000 years ago led to the methane increase or vice versa. A Wildlifewatch report.