I thought I'd take a break from stories of Doom & Gloom for a moment, and write up three recent news stories that are good news.
First up, New Scientist reports rebounding sea otter populations are having a big effect on areas where they have returned.
Their favourite food is sea urchins – some of which may be a century old – and the result of their feasting is striking. Around the rocky islet, the ocean surface has been transformed, with bulbous kelp bobbing in the water where there was none a few months ago. With the remaining kelp-grazing sea urchins hiding in rock crevices to avoid otters, the ecosystem reaches a tipping point and the kelp forests return. "The urchins become lazy, scaredy-pants drift feeders and eat dead kelp as it passes them by," Rechsteiner says. "They no longer graze on kelp in the open or get out to mow down the kelp forest because if they're out in the open, an otter eats them."
The return of kelp forests greatly improves habitat for fish and other marine organisms - plus kelp growth helps tie up CO2. Here's a video of the cute little guys. Sea otters are about the lower size limit for sea-going mammals; there are no sea squirrels or sea mice because their smaller bodies would not be able to retain enough heat to stay alive. Sea otters only manage it because of their special pelts. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/...
The NY Times has a look at how returning beaver populations greatly affect their habitat for the better.
BUTTE, Mont. — Once routinely trapped and shot as varmints, their dams obliterated by dynamite and bulldozers, beavers are getting new respect these days. Across the West, they are being welcomed into the landscape as a defense against the withering effects of a warmer and drier climate.
Beaver dams, it turns out, have beneficial effects that can’t easily be replicated in other ways. They raise the water table alongside a stream, aiding the growth of trees and plants that stabilize the banks and prevent erosion. They improve fish and wildlife habitat and promote new, rich soil.
And perhaps most important in the West, beaver dams do what all dams do: hold back water that would otherwise drain away.
One of the problems with evaluating the condition of ecosystems today is that we can't really have a good understanding if we fail to account for the missing pieces. After being heavily trapped for centuries, the return of beavers to landscapes where they have long been absent is proving to have some surprises - along with a few problems as we learn how to cope with their presence. (Not unlike
the return of wolves to Yellowstone.)
The last item is a bit of a surprise - a new species of frog has been found - in the New York City area! The BBC has the details.
It is a rare finding in North America: the continent's frog species are well documented.
"This is only the third new species of frog to be discovered north of Mexico since 1986," said Mr Feinberg. [Jeremy Feinberg, of Rutgers University in New Jersey]
"What also makes this crazy is that it's in a urban area - [that's] what makes it a double whammy."
But he explained: "You wouldn't find it hopping around Times Square" - or even in the ponds in Central Park.
"[These frogs] probably require wetland areas of something on the average minimum of 10 acres or more," said Mr Feinberg.
The frogs are found on Staten Island; they may have had a larger range in the past but that's where the habitat they need is still to be found. They look not terribly different from other related species. What is different about them is the call they make (there's a video at the BBC link) - and that's how they find each other among all the other frogs out there who otherwise look just like them.
It took genetic analysis to confirm their identity.
With the latest IPCC report calling for urgent action on Climate Change, it's not a bad thing to have a better appreciation that it's not just humans on the line here, and that our fellow critters can and should be part of the solution as well.