HERPDIGEST Sunday January 4 2005
HERPDIGEST Sunday January 4, 2005
Volume # 5 Issue # 20
Allen Salzberg -- Publisher/Editor
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Table of Contents
1) Despite Environmental 'Fish Lists', Many Chefs Rely On Their Suppliers
For Seafood Knowledge
2) Effects Of Direct Human Disturbance On The Endemic Iberian Frog Rana
Iberica At Individual And Population Levels
3) In Illinois, May The Best Reptile (And Amphibian) Win
4) Evidence For Self-Cleaning In Gecko Setae
5) Grip Minus Grime: Consider the Gecko (Or How The New York Times Wrote
About the Same Discovery Mentioned in the Above Abstract)
6) Biologists: 2004 Hurricanes Storms Took Toll On Turtles - Reptiles
Smothered In Excess Sand, Scientists Say
7) Researcher Says Animals Heard Tsunami Coming: What Did The Animals Know
And When Did They Know It? (See Paragraph 5 and on for Specific Mentions
About Snakes and Earthquakes)
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1) Despite Environmental 'Fish Lists', Many Chefs Rely On Their Suppliers
For Seafood Knowledge
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Christian Science Monitor] - December 8, 2004
-Boston-Stop by the seafood section of a typical supermarket these days,
and you'll see a vivid testimony to the bounty of the oceans: piles of
snowy white North Atlantic cod, glistening red snapper, and thick
swordfish, halibut, and sea bass.
(Editor -Which is probably why all the Fish watch/boycott lists don't
work. The lists I have seen are all aimed to the consumer, not the Chef
for their suppliers.) _________________________________________________________________________
2) Effects Of Direct Human Disturbance On The Endemic Iberian Frog Rana
Iberica At Individual And Population Levels
Biological Conservation
Volume 123, Issue 1, May 2005, Pages 1-9
Iñaki Rodríguez-Prietoa and Esteban Fernández-Juricicb, Corresponding
Author -- efernand@csulb.edu
aDepartamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales,
CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
bDepartment of Biological Sciences, California State University - Long
Beach, Peterson Hall 1-109, 1250 Bellflower Building, Long Beach, CA
90840, USA
Abstract
There is widespread concern about the global decline of amphibians, but
little is known about whether and how direct human disturbance might
affect populations. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of
recreational activities on Iberian frogs Rana iberica, an endemic and
vulnerable species of the Iberian Peninsula, through observation and
manipulative approaches. At the population level, we found that frog
abundance decreased with the proximity to recreational areas. At the
individual level, the behavioral responses of frogs to repeated
disturbance events increased the time to resume pre-disturbance
activities, but did not affect significantly flight initiation distances.
We simulated different levels of human visitation to the stream banks, and
found 80% and 100% decrease in stream bank use with a fivefold and a
12-fold increase in direct disturbance rate, respectively.
nd temporal availability of resources. To reduce the level of local
disturbance to this species, we recommend setting up buffer areas >2.5 m
from the streams or reducing visitor rates to fewer than 5 visits per hour
(either groups or individuals). The role of direct human disturbance
should be considered further as a potential factor affecting local
amphibian declines.
Keywords: Buffer areas; Direct human disturbance; Population decline;
Risk-disturbance hypothesis; Tourism
Corresponding author - efernand@csulb.edu
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3) In Illinois, May The Best Reptile (And Amphibian) Win
Quad City Times, Iowa, 12/29/04
Chicago, Il, - The slate is filled with slimy candidates.
Illinois is urging its residents to go onto the Internet to elect the
official state reptile and amphibian.
"Finally, an election where there's no mud-slinging," Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn
said. "Maybe our human candidates should try living in the mud for a
while."
Quinn and state Rep. Bob Biggins - who worked with the Chicago
Herpetological Society and the Brookfield Zoo - thought holding a mock
election might help highlight the role these creatures play in Illinois'
ecosystem.
So far, the Eastern tiger salamander is leading the amphibian pack,
followed by the gray tree frog and the American toad. Zoo officials say
the race is close among the reptiles, with the painted turtle and the
garden-variety garter snake coming in neck-and-neck, followed by the
Eastern box turtle.
"It's sort of appropriate that we'd have an official reptile, given how
much corruption happens in this state," said Kelly Killian, 32, a graduate
student who was told about the run-off while she was buying a cup of
coffee. "At least this is something to do with snakes that we can all
support."
The Illinois Board of Elections said it won't certify the results because
this is a mock election: Voters don't have to show any proof of residency
- they only have to type in a home ZIP code - and theoretically could vote
more than once. Election officials, however, say they support any effort
to get the public to vote.
Since the ballots were posted on the lieutenant governor's and the zoo's
Web sites, more than 56,000 people have cast votes.
When the voting ends at midnight on Dec. 31, the ballots will be tallied
and the winning species will be brought before the state Legislature when
it convenes in January.
The legislators will then decide whether to add the creatures to a list of
the state's existing 17 symbols, which includes the official snack food
(popcorn), flower (native violet) and prairie grass (Blue Bigstem).
Many states have selected their own local slick creatures for such honors.
California named the desert tortoise as its official reptile in 1972,
while Louisiana tapped the green tree frog as its amphibian in 1993._________________________________________________________________________
4) Evidence For Self-Cleaning In Gecko Setae
W. R. Hansen * and K. Autumn
Departments of *Physics and Biology, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
97219
Published online before print January 3, 2005
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0408304102
Abstract
A tokay gecko can cling to virtually any surface and support its body mass
with a single toe by using the millions of keratinous setae on its toe
pads. Each seta branches into hundreds of 200-nm spatulae that make
intimate contact with a variety of surface profiles. We showed previously
that the combined surface area of billions of spatulae maximizes van der
Waals interactions to generate large adhesive and shear forces. Geckos are
not known to groom their feet yet retain their stickiness for months
between molts. How geckos manage to keep their feet clean while walking
about with sticky toes has remained a puzzle until now. Although
self-cleaning by water droplets occurs in plant and animal surfaces, no
adhesive has been shown to self-clean. In the present study, we
demonstrate that gecko setae are a self-cleaning adhesive. Geckos with
dirty feet recovered their ability to cling to
from the gecko. Contact mechanical models suggest that self-cleaning
occurs by an energetic disequilibrium between the adhesive forces
attracting a dirt particle to the substrate and those attracting the same
particle to one or more spatulae. We propose that the property of
self-cleaning is intrinsic to the setal nanostructure and therefore should
be replicable in synthetic adhesive materials in the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Author contributions: K.A. designed research; W.R.H. performed research;
W.R.H. and K.A. analyzed data; and W.R.H. and K.A. wrote the paper.
Present address: Biophysics Graduate Group, University of California,
Berkeley, CA 94720.
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
K. Autumn, E-mail: autumn@lclark.edu
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5) Grip Minus Grime: Consider the Gecko (Or How The New York Times Wrote
About the Same Discovery Mentioned in the Above Abstract)
The New York Times, 1/4/05, by A. O'Connor
Are geckos the clean freaks of the animal kingdom? Their feet will stick
to virtually any surface, yet collect no grime and never lose their grip,
even as they scurry up trees and scamper through dirt.
But a gecko never grooms. It doesn't have to. A gecko's feet, scientists
have discovered, contain a self-cleaning adhesive.
Unlike artificial adhesives, the millions of microscopic hairs embedded in
a gecko's toes counteract the forces of gravity, while at the same time
repelling dirt, the scientists reported. The findings, the researchers
say, may open the door to tape that can be reused endlessly, robotic
rovers that run swiftly over the Martian surface or even fumble-free
football gloves.
"We showed that you can dip a gecko's feet in some of the nastiest dirt
ever, and after five steps the dirt just falls off," said Dr. Kellar
Autumn, a biologist at Lewis & Clark College and an author of the study.
"Our mathematical models suggest that this may be a consequence of their
structure, rather than some special chemical."
The study, being published today in The Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, was led by Dr. Autumn and a colleague, Wendy Hansen.
The gecko's uncanny ability to scale virtually any surface, its body
perfectly flat, legs akimbo, has been the focus of scientific attention
for centuries, dating back to Aristotle. In 2000, Dr. Autumn uncovered
some answers when he found that geckos, instead of using suction or gooey
secretions like insects, relied on faint molecular interactions that
operate over short distances, called van der Waals' forces.
A gecko's foot contains millions of minuscule hairs, or setae, with tiny
pads at their tips. Because they are only 200-billionths of a meter wide,
the tips get close enough to any surface to be pulled by the surface's
weak molecular forces. The combined strength of all the setae on a single
gecko, Dr. Autumn found, is enough to lift an offensive lineman, about 280
pounds.
But that discovery led to another crucial question.
"Nature is a dirty place, so how is it that geckos don't accumulate great
gobs of dirt when they walk around?" Dr. Autumn said.
Using a dust made of fine particles, Dr. Autumn's team coated the feet of
geckos and watched as the dirt sloughed off after the lizards took five
steps on a clean surface. The setae, they found, repelled dirt even when
isolated from the gecko. They then calculated that a particle of dirt is
too small to be attracted by the number of setae required to overcome the
pull from any surface.
Other researchers have already created synthetic setae, and Dr. Autumn is
convinced the possibilities are infinite. Imagine bandages that leave no
residue. Gecko-inspired climbing equipment. Cellular phones that never
shatter.
"We're not talking about just the glue of the future, we're talking about
the screw of the future," he said.
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_
6) Biologists: 2004 Hurricanes Storms Took Toll On Turtles - Reptiles
Smothered In Excess Sand, Scientists Say
By Sammy Fretwell, Knight Ridder, MyrtleBeachOnLine.com
Dec. 28, 2004
COLUMBIA, SC, - Biologists who tried to save imperiled sea turtles at
Cape Island last summer have grim news: Nearly 9,000 baby turtles died
after hurricanes raked the coast.
Despite efforts to protect the loggerhead turtles, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service found just 62 percent of the eggs hatched after
hurricanes and tropical storms at the undeveloped barrier island north of
Charleston.
In a normal year, about 80 percent of the island's eggs would hatch, the
service said.
Cape Island, in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, is one of the
most important sea turtle nesting sites in South Carolina. About one-third
of the nests established in the state are built in the sand dunes of Cape
Island.
This year's losses mark the worst sea turtle hatching season in about five
years.
"If we didn't have hurricanes last summer, we probably would have produced
many more hatchlings," said federal biologist Sarah Dawsey, who spent
hours in sweltering summer heat in August trying to free turtle eggs from
mounds of excess, storm-driven sand.
Dawsey and Sally Murphy, a loggerhead researcher with the S.C. Department
of Natural Resources, said losing turtles at Cape Island was particularly
painful in 2004.
Loggerhead sea turtles laid far fewer nests from Florida to North Carolina
than they typically do during the summer.
Overall in South Carolina, only about 1,100 nests were laid in 2004; in
recent years, between 2,000 and 3,000 nests have been established, Murphy
said. Murphy said she thinks cooler ocean temperatures chilled breeding
among log-gerhead sea turtles.
The loggerhead is the only sea turtle to nest regularly on S.C. beaches,
where it deposits eggs in sand dunes.
The reptile, which can live 75 years and weigh 350 pounds, is listed by
the federal government as a threatened species because of dwindling
populations.
It is found from the Florida Keys to Virginia during the summer, its prime
nesting season.
For more than two decades, loggerhead populations have declined as a
result of pollution, overdevelopment of beaches and commercial fishing.
That's part of the reason Dawsey spent days last summer trying to dig out
sea turtles buried under deep sand from hurricanes Charley, Ivan and
Gaston. Although sea turtles bury eggs in the sand, excessive sand can
smother turtles that hatch because they can't reach the surface as
easily.
Dawsey said the work she and others did to free baby sea turtles was worth
it, even though many of the infant reptiles apparently were smothered or
drowned from over-washing waves.
"You would find either dead turtles in the nests or eggs that had
completely developed but had drowned," she said.
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7) Researcher Says Animals Heard Tsunami Coming: What Did The Animals Know
And When Did They Know It? (See Paragraph 5 and on for Specific Mentions
About Snakes and Earthquakes)
Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2005
By Andrew Browne In Hong Kong, John Larkin In Bombay, India, And Rasul
Bailay In New Delhi, Staff Reporters Of The Wall Street Journal
Just minutes before the tsunami crashed into a southern Indian wildlife
sanctuary, a lighthouse lookout reported an unusual sight: a herd of
antelope stampeding from the shoreline toward the safety of a nearby
hilltop.
"The man said he saw the animals on the seafront running away from the
coast towards the forests," said A. D. Baruah, a wildlife warden in the
state of Tamil Nadu, recounting the story of the desperate flight of the
animals as told to him by the startled lookout. "Ten minutes later the
waves hit. The animals had run to safety." Added Mr. Baruah: "I'm sure
animals have a sense of foreboding -- a sixth sense."
In Sri Lanka, the island nation off India's southern tip, more than
30,000 people were killed. Yet at Yala National Park, just up the coast
from where the destruction was most severe, all the elephants, leopards,
deer and other wild animals managed to survive the mighty waves, said H.D.
Ratnayake, deputy director of the country's wildlife department.
"I haven't seen any effects on the animals," he said. "They all escaped."
Asked to explain the survival of the animals, he said: "They had a
feeling. Maybe it was the sound waves."
Such reports add to a scientific quandary that stretches back centuries,
to at least as far as ancient Rome and Greece. Can animals pick up signals
that predict the arrival of seismic events? Though history is full of
anecdotes about animals tuning into nature's early warnings, there is no
definitive answer. And despite scientists' compelling theories on the
matter, skeptics still abound. "It's pretty unequivocal that certain
animals can get warnings of quakes before they happen," said Matthew van
Lierop, an expert in animal behavior at the Johannesburg Zoo in South
Africa. But he adds: "It's virtually impossible to prove."
In China, before an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit the
city of Haicheng in 1975 during the depths of winter, locals reported
seeing snakes emerging from hibernation only to freeze to death on the
roads. Strange animal behavior was one of a number of signals that allowed
local officials to raise the alarm several days in advance to save
virtually the entire population of the city, which was camped outside when
the earthquake struck.
In his book "When the Snakes Awake," Helmut Tributsch says he trawled
through ancient history and found evidence that before an earthquake
struck Helice, Greece, in 373 B.C., snakes, weasels and worms abandoned
the city. Seismic activity ahead of earthquakes releases energy in the
form of charged particles, says Mr. Tributsch, a professor of physical
chemistry at the Free University of Berlin. He theorizes that animals --
particularly those that live underground -- can sense big temblors coming
because of various vibrations and atmospheric patterns.
Wang Xiaoqing, a researcher with the China Earthquake Administration,
says that earthquakes affect the flow of underground water, the earth's
magnetic field, temperature and sound waves. "Animals are more sensitive
than human beings, so they feel the changes before humans," he says.
Tsunamis, on the other hand, "may induce a different pattern of signals,"
says Mr. Tributsch, who believes that animals may detect the sound waves
they generate. As tsunamis race across the ocean, he says, they pound the
rock formations beneath the sea floor. Because sound travels faster
through rock than water, animals have time to flee, Mr. Tributsch says.
Even in China, where earthquake officials still set great store by animal
behavior following the Haicheng earthquake, the evidence about beastly
warnings is mixed. A year after the Haicheng quake, another earthquake 400
times more powerful than the atomic bomb that exploded over Hiroshima
swallowed up the city of Tangshan and 250,000 lives. While scientists said
they found evidence of animal warnings, the observations were in
hindsight, calling into question their veracity.
Yet according to a United Nations report, in a county adjacent to
Tangshan, residents were well prepared for the disaster, partly because
they had noticed nocturnal animals such as weasels and rats scampering
around in broad daylight.
Evidence of animal survival instincts around the Indian Ocean is also by
no means clear-cut. In Thailand, on the devastated island of Phuket,
hundreds of street-savvy stray dogs were caught unaware by the killer
waves. Many that did survive were chased inland by Thais, who value animal
life as much as their own.
"Some ran away and are starting to trickle back, but a lot of them got
killed," said Margot Homburg Park, a Phuket resident who volunteers at the
Soi Dog Foundation, which feeds and neuters "soi," or street, dogs. "We
have seen dog footprints in second and third stories of buildings, so some
did get a sense that they have to get up higher. But I have nine dogs at
my house, which is 500 meters from the beach, and I didn't notice any
difference in their demeanor at all. My husband felt the earthquake at 8
a.m., but there was no reaction from the dogs."
At Malaysia's Taiping Zoo, some 70 kilometers south of the city of Penang,
journalist Ian McIntyre said he noticed something strange the morning of
the earthquake, before the tsunami hit. The animals, he said, suddenly
began behaving in a peculiar manner, with some, including hippopotamuses,
running to their shelters and refusing to come out. He joked to a cousin
that on the day after Christmas, even the animals were taking the day
off.
Meanwhile in India, Mr. Baruah said that out of 2,000 beasts at the
wildlife sanctuary, only one -- a wild boar -- had been found dead as a
result of the tsunami.
"The animals are safe," said Mr. Baruah, during an inspection trip around
the sanctuary yesterday evening. "We have not seen any dead black bucks at
all. I am inside the sanctuary now and I can see all the black bucks and
they all look fine."
Saraswathi Haksan, a director at the Madras office of Blue Cross, one of
India's biggest animal welfare organizations, said there were no reports
of animal carcasses in the Madras area. She didn't know whether that was
the result of a special sense, or simply that their losses weren't
reported.
"It's really surprising. Even on the news bulletins there's been nothing
reported," she said. "Perhaps only God knows."
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