Tag Archives: species

New study offers innovative model to reindeer conservation with global potential

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A groundbreaking study from the University of Calgary presents a novel method for identifying wildlife populations at risk—such as caribou and reindeer—based on their individual movement patterns. This approach could revolutionize future conservation strategies.

Published in Biological Conservation, the study utilizes a long-term dataset from GPS-collared caribou across Western Canada. Researchers identified six distinct behavioral groups, each requiring tailored conservation actions.

Spanning vast regions of the Rocky Mountains, particularly in British Columbia, the study area encompasses protected parklands as well as private and multi-use public lands. This diverse landscape, with its rugged topography and climate of long winters and short summers, has been increasingly impacted by habitat fragmentation due to roads, seismic exploration, railways, and logging.

The research analyzed key movement behaviors—such as migration patterns, range sizes, and elevation shifts—to gain deeper insights into caribou ecology. Lead author Margaret Hughes, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences, explains that the study revealed subtle but significant differences from current caribou management practices in Western Canada.

“Our approach focuses on behavior to distinguish differences between individuals and groups, clustering them based on movement patterns,” Hughes says. “By understanding where they go and why, we can better inform conservation efforts.”

Behavioural Analysis

This behavioral analysis offers a more comprehensive framework for defining population boundaries, optimizing conservation resource allocation, and improving biodiversity management. While genetic studies have traditionally guided caribou conservation, Hughes emphasizes the added value of integrating movement behavior into conservation planning.

“It helps managers recognize ecologically meaningful variations within species, ultimately leading to more effective conservation strategies,” she explains.

Caribou, an iconic member of the deer family, face mounting threats from habitat loss, industrial development, and climate change. Professor Marco Musiani, a co-author from the University of Bologna and adjunct professor at UCalgary, underscores the species’ significance.

“Caribou are one of the most affected species in Canada due to oil and gas development, forestry, and climate change. Their sensitivity makes them a key indicator of ecosystem health,” Musiani says.

Beyond caribou, the study’s methodology holds promise for broader conservation efforts. Hughes notes that the findings could inform habitat protection, ecological corridor design, and even species translocation strategies—critical areas receiving increasing conservation investment.

By incorporating behavioral science into conservation, this research offers a powerful tool for safeguarding not only caribou populations but also broader biodiversity in a rapidly changing world beset with human activities which have driven species extinction rates to nearly 1,000 times from the natural background rate.

What IUCN says?

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that over 42,100 assessed species are at risk, including 25% of mammals, 14% of birds, and 40% of amphibians. However, the true numbers could be far higher, as not all species have been evaluated.

A 2019 UN biodiversity report estimated that up to one million species worldwide could face extinction, highlighting the urgent need for conservation. Yet, limited resources often force conservationists to prioritize species based on economic, ecological, or aesthetic value—leaving many vulnerable species without sufficient protection.

Ecosystems supporting endangered species are also disappearing at an alarming rate despite the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in vogue to protect vulnerable species and habitats across the planet. Beyond government efforts, conservation organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International are playing a crucial role in safeguarding biodiversity.

As global collaboration model remains essential to preserving the planet’s natural ecosystems for future generations, “This approach can be applied to other at-risk species, helping guide habitat restoration and protection on a much larger scale,” Hughes says.

Sound reveals ‘Ocean giants’ dance with wind to find food

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A study by MBARI researchers and their collaborators published today in Ecology Letters sheds new light on the movements of mysterious, endangered blue whales. The research team used a directional hydrophone on MBARI’s underwater observatory, integrated with other advanced technologies, to listen for the booming vocalizations of blue whales. They used these sounds to track the movements of blue whales and learned that these ocean giants respond to changes in the wind.

Along California’s Central Coast, spring and summer bring coastal upwelling. From March through July, seasonal winds push the top layer of water out to sea, allowing the cold water below to rise to the surface. The cooler, nutrient-rich water fuels blooms of tiny phytoplankton, jumpstarting the food web in Monterey Bay, from small shrimp-like krill all the way to giant whales. When the winds create an upwelling event, blue whales seek out the plumes of cooler water, where krill are most abundant. When upwelling stops, the whales move offshore into habitat that is transected by shipping lanes.

“This research and its underlying technologies are opening new windows into the complex, and beautiful, ecology of these endangered whales,” said John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at MBARI and lead author of this study. “These findings demonstrate a new resource for managers seeking ways to better protect blue whales and other species.”

CREDIT:Image: Goldbogen Lab/Duke Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab (NMFS Permit 16111)

The directional hydrophone is a specialized underwater microphone that records sounds and identifies the direction from which they originate. To use this technology to study blue whale movements, researchers needed to confirm that the hydrophone reliably tracked whales. This meant matching the acoustic bearings to a calling whale that was being tracked by GPS. With confidence in the acoustic methods established, the research team examined two years of acoustic tracking of the regional blue whale population.

This study built upon previous research led by MBARI Senior Scientist Kelly Benoit-Bird, which revealed that swarms of forage species—anchovies and krill—reacted to coastal upwelling. This time, researchers combined satellite and mooring data of upwelling conditions and echosounder data on krill aggregations with the acoustic tracks of foraging blue whales logged by the directional hydrophone.

“Previous work by the MBARI team found that when coastal upwelling was strongest, anchovies and krill formed dense swarms within upwelling plumes. Now, we’ve learned that blue whales track these dynamic plumes, where abundant food resources are available,” explained Ryan.

Blue whales recognize when the wind is changing their habitat and identify places where upwelling aggregates their essential food—krill. For a massive animal weighing up to 150 tonnes (165 tons), finding these dense aggregations is a matter of survival.

While scientists have long recognized that blue whales seasonally occupy Monterey Bay during the upwelling season, this research has revealed that the whales closely track the upwelling process on a very fine scale of both space (kilometers) and time (days to weeks).

“Tracking many individual wild animals simultaneously is challenging in any ecosystem. This is especially difficult in the open ocean, which is often opaque to us as human observers,” said William Oestreich, previously a graduate student at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station and now a postdoctoral fellow at MBARI. “Integration of technologies to measure these whales’ sounds enabled this important discovery about how groups of predators find food in a dynamic ocean. We’re excited about the future discoveries we can make by eavesdropping on blue whales and other noisy ocean animals.”

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How songbirds’ striking, unique colors put them at risk [Details]

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Bright, uniquely colored songbirds are at higher risk of extinction and more likely to be traded as pets, according to researchers reporting in Current Biology on September 15. The researchers also predict that almost 500 additional bird species, most of them living in the tropics, are at risk of future trade based on their unique and desirable coloration.

“Aesthetic value is an important part of how people value nature,” said Rebecca Senior (@RebeccaASenior) of Durham University, U.K. “However, there is potential for conflict when what motivates some people to protect certain species is the same thing that makes other people want to own them. Songbirds are highly sought after in the pet trade, particularly for their beautiful songs. However, songbirds can also be remarkably colorful—a highly desirable trait in other commonly traded species, such as parrots.”

In their new study, Senior and colleagues including Brett Scheffers (@BrettScheffers) of University of Florida, Gainesville explored the antagonistic roles of aesthetic value in biodiversity conservation. They used novel metrics of color to evaluate the aesthetics of groups of birds, across the world and the avian tree of life.

Common hill myna (Gracula-religiosa); Least Concern; color uniqueness score of 66.9/Rick Stanley and Gabby Salazar

Their analysis shows that the tropics are the epicenter of bird color, with 91% and 65% of the world’s most diverse and uniquely colored assemblages of songbirds, respectively. They report that the pet trade, which affects 30% of all bird species, targets clusters of related and uniquely colored birds. They went on to identify 478 species of birds that may be at risk of future trade based on their appealing colors.

“We were surprised to see the strength of the latitudinal gradient in color; even when you account for the greater number of species in the tropics, the diversity of color in the tropics dwarfs all other regions,” Senior said.

While one might expect brilliant blues, oranges, and yellows to put species at risk, the researchers were also surprised to discover that pure white is a unique color found in many sought-after species, such as the endangered Bali myna. The findings overall highlight that the same color features that make some people willing to travel around the world for a mere glimpse of a bird through binoculars also potentially puts them at risk for pet trading. The findings have important implications for conservation.

Kuno national park

“Understanding what motivates trade is essential to identify at-risk species potentially requiring more proactive protection from trapping,” Senior said. “Trade has the capacity to be regulated and managed sustainably with a better understanding of what is traded as well as where and why trade occurs. Loss of colorful species also directly erodes aesthetic value, which is problematic because, for better or worse, it is this value that often fundamentally motivates and funds conservation efforts.”

In future studies, they hope to disentangle even more factors that play into regional variation in patterns of trade among birds. They’d also like to explore the role of color in the trade of other groups of animals and plants.