Audubon: Field Notes

From: Subject: Audubon: Field Notes Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 11:53:20 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C60F93.2071B5D0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C60F93.2071B5D0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://magazine.audubon.org/fieldnotes/fieldnotes0601.html Audubon: Field Notes

fieldnotes

Hogwash?=20
There=20 Goes the Neighborhood
= On=20 the Hot Seat
The=20 Eyes of an Astronaut=20
= Love=20 Flap=20
The=20 Monster Lives!=20
Flower=20 Power
The=20 Lowdown on National Parks=20
Toughing=20 It Out

Energy = Conservation
Hogwash?

After hurricanes Katrina and Rita knocked out oil rigs, = refineries, and=20 natural gas processing plants in the Gulf of Mexico, President = George W.=20 Bush ordered the White House and all government agencies to = curtail=20 nonessential travel and reduce their electricity use. So far, so = good:=20 Many staffers now carpool, and photocopiers and computers are = turned off=20 at night. Additionally, thermostats have been lowered from an = average of=20 73 degrees to 71 degrees. =93The White House staff takes this = effort=20 seriously,=94 says Michele St. Martin, a spokeswoman for the = administration.=20

To inspire Americans to follow its lead, the Bush = administration has=20 buffed up a government-sponsored cartoon character known as the = Energy=20 Hog. (It's =93a half human, half hog that can suck the energy out = of your=20 home faster than you can say, =91Why did the lights go out, Mom?' = =94 says the=20 website, http://www.energyhog.org/, which also offers = games and=20 conservation tips.)

The national campaign, run by the Alliance to Save Energy, a = consumer=20 group, in conjunction with the Ad Council and the U.S. Department = of=20 Energy, is aimed primarily at young children. Never mind that the = biggest=20 energy consumers are SUV-owning adults; the Hog has provided a = sizzling=20 target for critics of the administration's focus on stepping up = oil and=20 gas production rather than developing renewable energy sources. =

Other skeptics dismiss the President's steps at the White House = as just=20 an expression of personal virtue. =93If the entire staff followed = Bush's=20 advice, it might save about five minutes of fuel flying to a = worthless=20 photo op,=94 says Jerry Taylor, director of natural resource = studies at the=20 Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank. =93High gas prices are = an=20 environmentalist's best friend.=94 Taylor points out that SUV = sales have=20 dropped by 51 percent since July.

Meanwhile, the White House repeatedly rejects efforts to = legislate=20 energy conservation. For example, it has held firm against raising = standards for automobile fuel economy and for higher efficiency = for such=20 household appliances as furnaces and room air conditioners.

Never mind that = the biggest=20 energy consumers are SUV-owning adults; the Hog has provided a = sizzling=20 target for critics of the administration's focus on stepping up = oil and=20 gas production.

Even as the administration encourages children not to be energy = hogs,=20 its pork barrel policies have led to $14 billion in tax breaks and = subsidies to the oil, gas, and coal industries (breaks = incorporated into=20 the recent energy bill). At the same time the U.S. Department of = the=20 Interior has accelerated and expanded drilling on public lands. =

Thousands of new natural gas wells are popping up in the West, = and=20 plans are in motion to legalize natural gas exploration off the = Atlantic=20 Coast. The President also continues to advocate drilling in the = Arctic=20 National Wildlife Refuge, despite the government's own estimates = that=20 there's only enough oil there to satisfy U.S. demand for less than = a year.=20

=93If there's any oil there at all it would simply be a drop in = the=20 bucket,=94 says Katherine Kennedy, a senior attorney for the = Natural=20 Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.=93The = administration=20 needs to get off its obsession with drilling in the Arctic and = really=20 focus on the larger issue of how we can make better cars.=94 = Increasing the=20 fuel efficiency of all new automobiles by one mile per gallon, per = year=20 for the next 15 years, for example, would save more than 10 times = the=20 amount of recoverable oil in the Arctic refuge, says Luke = Tonachell, an=20 NRDC fuels analyst.=93If we adopted better policies and backed = them up with=20 real actions, then Americans could use energy more efficiently = without=20 sacrificing their lifestyles,=94 says Kennedy. A cartoon hog was = not what=20 she had in mind.

=97Jesse Greenspan

Exotics
There Goes = the=20 Neighborhood

If the hot real estate market is any yardstick, the American = Dream is=20 alive and well. The bad news is that the better the market, the = greater=20 the number of exotic plant species. Kudzu in the South and purple=20 loosestrife in the Northeast are poster plants for exotic and = invasive=20 species that now threaten to destroy biodiversity by crowding out = natives.=20 What's more, these invaders often carry with them foreign insects, = parasites, and pathogens. Researchers Brad Taylor of the = University of=20 Wyoming and Rebecca Irwin of Dartmouth College have examined the=20 relationships between the number of exotic and native plant = species, human=20 population, and real estate development=97in all 50 states. What = they found=20 is that construction often imports soil or sod containing = nonnative=20 species, and introduces newly minted landscapes with foreign=20 ornamentals.=93The link is discouraging,=94 says Taylor,=93but it = also=20 identifies potential solutions, such as providing incentives to = landowners=20 and developers for planting native species and minimizing = disturbance to=20 landscapes by using low-impact, ecologically oriented development=20 techniques.=94

=97Sydney Horton

Alaska
Real Estate Development:	$2.3=20 billion
Number=20 of Exotic Species:	196
For=20 Example:	Canada=20 thistle, hemp nettle, foxtail barley, bird vetch, narrowleaf = hawk's=20 beard

Washington
Real Estate Development:	$28.5=20 billion
Number=20 of Exotic Species:	689
For=20 Example:	Siberian elm, spartina, giant hogweed, parrot = feather=20 milfoil, red canary = gras

Maryland
Real Estate Development:	$29.3=20 billion
Number=20 of Exotic Species:	880
For=20 Example:	Japanese barberry, fire tree, porcelain berry, = garlic=20 mustard, English ivy

New York
Real Estate Development:	$116.5=20 billion
Number=20 of Exotic Species:	1,242
For=20 Example:	Japanese knotwood, pale swallow-wort, Japanese = stilt grass,=20 Japanese tearthumb

Global=20 Warming
On the Hot Seat

Most scientists lead cloistered, anonymous lives, publishing = their=20 findings quietly in peer-reviewed journals. Until recently they = didn't=20 have to worry about Congressional inquisitors banging on their = doors,=20 demanding to see computer data and the funding sources related to = their=20 research. But last June Representative Joe Barton (R-TX), chair of = the=20 House Energy and Commerce Committee, shocked many in the = scientific=20 community=97as well as members of his own party=97when he sent = letters to=20 Michael Mann, a leading climate change researcher, and two of his=20 collaborators, requesting they turn over information related to an = influential study affirming global warming.

=93The precedent your investigation sets is truly chilling,=94 = wrote=20 Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chair of the House = Committee on=20 Science, in a letter to Barton. =93The only conceivable = explanation . . . is=20 to intimidate a prominent scientist and to have Congress put its = thumbs on=20 the scales of scientific debate.=94 Barton, who received more than = $200,000=20 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries in his = most=20 recent campaign, is a longtime opponent of efforts to reduce = carbon=20 dioxide emissions, considered by most scientists to be the main = global=20 warming gas. His congressional probe focuses on Mann's famous = =93hockey=20 stick=94 graph, which shows the 20th century to be the warmest in = the past=20 1,000 years. Barton says his inquiry is looking into alleged=20 =93methodological flaws=94 of the graph, which he learned about = from a=20 Wall Street Journal article featuring the work of two = global=20 warming skeptics (who aren't scientists).

In recent years a vocal minority of nonbelievers, including = novelist=20 Michael Crichton (see =93Pulp = Fiction,=94 May-June=20 2005), have engaged in a =93desperate attempt to cloud the = consensus on=20 climate change,=94 says Mann, the director for the Earth System = Science=20 Center at Pennsylvania State University. Last winter he and = several=20 colleagues started a website and blog (http://www.realclimate.org/) to stem the = spread of=20 misinformation.

Six months later Barton opened his probe of Mann. Senator John = McCain=20 (R-AZ) was so outraged by his request that he denounced the tactic = in an=20 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. =93The = message sent=20 by [Barton] to the three scientists,=94 McCain wrote, =93was not = subtle:=20 Publish politically unpalatable scientific results and brace = yourself for=20 political retribution. . . . It represents a kind of intimidation, = which=20 threatens the relationship between science and public policy.=94 =

In July Mann sent an 11-page response to Barton, who plans to = conduct=20 his own analysis of the climatologist's research. =93It's pretty = sad that=20 it's come to this,=94 Mann says, referring to the personal attacks = on his=20 credibility. =93The science supporting global warming is now so = overwhelming=20 that one can't take on the science=97you have to take on the = scientist.=94=20

=97Todd Neale

Space = Photography
The Eyes of = an=20 Astronaut

Early last summer, during the second half of the space shuttle=20 Discovery 's most recent mission=97a rendezvous with the=20 international space station=97there were plenty of things to worry = about:=20 the state of the ceramic pieces protruding from the shuttle's = underside,=20 for instance, and the damaged thermal blanket below the cockpit. = Then, of=20 course, hanging over the mission itself was the specter of the=20 Columbia tragedy in 2003. But when Eileen Collins, = Discovery=20 's commander, looked down at her planet more than 200 miles = below,=20 she had another concern. Something in Central Africa didn't look = right. =93I=20 was just taking a glance out the window,=94 Collins says, =93and I = saw dozens=20 of fires. And the way they were burning, it looked like it wasn't = a=20 natural event. It was widespread.=94

In fact, it wasn't right, and it was visible only from high = above the=20 earth: thousands of fires started by people clearing farmland and = hunting=20 animals. After four shuttle missions, Collins has grown = increasingly=20 concerned about what she has seen below. =93On my second mission, = in 1997,=94=20 she says, =93I photographed almost the whole island of Madagascar. = It had=20 really been deforested, and you could tell from the river deltas = all the=20 erosion that was taking place.=94

Since the late 1990s NASA has been working with scientists to = help=20 monitor large-scale environmental degradation. Biologists are = using the=20 space images to map endangered species, track whale populations, = and=20 monitor coral reefs and wetlands.=93There are still a few places = in the=20 world where the only image out there is an astronaut = photograph,=94 says=20 Julie Robinson, an earth scientist at the Johnson Space Center in = Houston.=20 A number of biologists are also using NASA images to predict = future=20 deforestation.

=93From an astronaut's perspective, you see the earth has = limited=20 resources,=94 Collins adds. =93During sunrise and sunset, when you = look off at=20 the earth's horizon, you can see how thin the atmosphere is. You = can see=20 how people share the air. You also see just how beautiful the = earth is=20 from space. It makes me want to protect what we have more so.=94 =

=97Frank Bures

=A9 2006 National Audubon Society
=20

Sound off! Send a letter to the editor =
about=20 this piece.=20

Enjoy Audubon on-line? = Check out=20 our print edition!=20

DISPATCHES

Love=20 Flap

Most male birds attract = mates by=20 singing. But the club-winged manakin, it seems, takes a = different=20 approach. Males of this tiny, colorful South American = species=20 impress the fairer sex by making music with their wings, = which they=20 vibrate at more than 100 cycles per second=97twice the speed = of the=20 average hummingbird=97creating a violinlike hum. Kimberly = Bostwick, a=20 Cornell University ornithologist, went to study the species = where it=20 lives in a strip of threatened forest on the western slopes = of the=20 Andes in northwest Ecuador and southwest Colombia. Using a=20 high-speed camera, she found that the club-winged manakin's=20 specially adapted feathers create the sound when the males = rub their=20 wings together behind their backs. This dramatic trait = likely=20 evolved because of the competition between males for sexual=20 selection, she says. The study was recently published in the = journal=20 Science. =93In the animal kingdom there are lots of = drummers=20 and lots of whistlers,=94 Bostwick says, =93but there are = almost no=20 violinists.=94

=97Prachi Patel=20

The=20 Monster Lives!

For centuries the = seldom-seen giant=20 squid has fascinated and terrified humans. In 1555 the = Swedish=20 cleric Olaus Magnus described it as a =93monstrous fish=94 = of =93horrible=20 forms with huge eyes,=94 and warned that =93one of these = Sea-Monsters=20 will drown easily many great ships.=94 Its fearsome = reputation was=20 cemented in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the = Sea.=20 Recently, though, the real thing was caught up close on = camera for=20 the first time by Japanese scientists. It turns out that the = massive=20 creature, a relative of the octopus, is not to be tangled = with. The=20 modern-day squid chasers collected more than 550 photographs = by=20 dangling a baited hook and digital camera almost 3,000 feet = into the=20 inky depths of the Pacific Ocean off the Ogasawara Islands. = When the=20 26-foot behemoth with eyes as big as hubcaps attacked the = bait, its=20 tentacles coiled up like a constricting python. After a = four-hour=20 struggle, one of the squid's tentacles broke off, freeing it = to=20 return to the ocean's deepest and darkest = recesses.

=97Todd = Neale=20

Flower=20 Power

In 2004 more than 650 = million cell=20 phones were sold worldwide, and environmentalists expect the = majority of them to end up in landfills within the next year = or two.=20 Still, there are those with a grander plan for the phones: = toss=20 their outer casings on the compost heap and watch a flower = grow. A=20 new, biodegradable material developed by PVAXX Research = &=20 Development looks like any other plastic but breaks down as = easily=20 as grass clippings and eggshells in the soil. Researcher = Kerry=20 Kirwan from England's University of Warwick has used the = material in=20 a prototype phone cover with an unusual twist=97it sports a=20 transparent bubble that contains a dwarf-sunflower seed, = which=20 germinates within a couple of weeks of being =93planted,=94 = he says. =93We=20 chose sunflower seeds simply because they are nice,=94 = Kirwan says,=20 though he adds that his team is =93looking at a range of = seeds for=20 different regions to maximize attractiveness and avoid the=20 introduction of foreign species.=94

=97Hilda = J. Brucker=20

Lowdown on the = National=20 Parks

Internet bloggers are a = new media=20 force to be reckoned with, weighing in on subjects far and = wide,=20 from prospective Supreme Court justices to the breakup = between=20 Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. Kurt Repanshek, author of=20 America's National Parks for Dummies, is carving = out his=20 own niche with National Parks Traveler (nationalparkstraveler.typepad.com), = which covers=20 everything from the dangers park visitors face to assaults = on the=20 parks themselves. When Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA), = for=20 instance, drafted a proposal=97it's since been = withdrawn=97in September=20 that would allow for the sale of 16 national park = properties,=20 Repanshek declared that Pombo was =93in the running for = recognition as=20 the national park system's worst enemy.=94 Says the nature = blogger:=20 =93I'm just one small voice in the wilderness calling = out.=94

=97Todd=20 Neale

Toughing It Out

This winter, when you look = out in your=20 yard and see birds that haven't left for warmer climes, you = might=20 show some respect for the stragglers. They're not there = because=20 they're lazy; new research, in fact, indicates they're the = smart=20 ones. A recent study by Daniel Sol, a biologist at the = University of=20 Barcelona, measured birds' =93behavioral flexibility=94 and = brain size.=20 Species with bigger brains and a higher =93innovation = rate=94 (such as=20 the magpie and great tit) were the ones that stuck around = for the=20 winter, since they could come up with new ways to find food. = Meanwhile, their less-flexible migratory friends (such as = the=20 nightingale) made a beeline for similar terrain down south. = Which=20 adaptation is the real evolutionary advantage remains to be=20 seen.

=97Frank = Bures

For more = Reports, go to=20
Back=20 Issues.

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