Archive for the "conservation" Category

  • Help rebut misleading and mean-spirited anti-biodiversity Forbes article

    [caption id="attachment_1136" align="alignleft" width="185" caption="Forbes blogger Larry Bell is wrong about the biodiversity crisis and wrong about global warming"][/caption] I've used this blog as a forum to highlight authors who deny the biodiversity crisis as a scam or hoax. We now have another example, unfortunately featured on the widely-read business website Forbes. I posted

  • Amazon rainforest turning from a carbon sink to a source of carbon

    [caption id="attachment_1109" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The increased fire risk in the Amazon could turn the region from a carbon sink to a net source of atmospheric carbon. (Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory.)"][/caption] Often cited as the lungs of the planet, it's well-known that the Amazon rainforest is under attrition. Agriculture, mining, urban development, hydroelectric dams and global warming each pose separate threats. It seems that the lungs are suffering from the equivalent of lung cancer or emphysema. But just how bad is it, and

  • Andean birds are now at higher elevations than 40 years ago

    [caption id="attachment_1102" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sampling locations along the elevation gradient in the Cerros del Sira (see article for more information)."][/caption] A recent paper published by members of The Pimm Group confirms that wildlife is being affected by increasing global temperatures. Forty years ago, ornithologist John Terborgh collected data on various bird species along an altitudinal gradient on a tropical mountain, Cerros del Sira, in Peru. In 2010, Pimm's team returned to the same location and recorded the elevations at which those same

  • Climate change: “one of the most brazen scams in the history of the world”

    [caption id="attachment_1074" align="alignleft" width="313" caption="Is climate change a scam?"][/caption] A RepublicanConservative friend of mine kindly asked for my response to a December 12 article by Jack Kelly about the lackluster negotiations in Durban on global warming. My friend thought that the report, by Jack Kelly, titled Long Faces in Durban, deserved a point-by-point response. Here is my rebuttal (lightly edited from the response I provided to

  • Linkedin group for biodiversity professionals

    [caption id="attachment_1006" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Our logo for the Biodiversity Professionals group on Linkedin"][/caption] Biodiversity has been in the news recently (yay!). And thousands of people are actively engaged in various aspects of biodiversity (also yay!). But there are not a lot of professional networking resources specifically for folks in biodiversity careers (boo!). A lot of the social networking resources revolve around Facebook and Twitter. These are great, but the conversation tends to be a bit scattered and is often cause-based or promotional. Biodiversity professionals need a place where they can engage in more focused conversations.

  • Losers in the skeeter wars

    [caption id="attachment_949" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Monarch butterflies were among the most visible casualties of the spraying in Grand Forks, ND. (Images courtesy of Wikipedia.)"][/caption] An article in North Dakota's Grand Forks Herald reports that residents woke last Thursday morning to a " jarring spectacle of dying butterflies and dragonflies on the sidewalks." The die-off, including thousands of monarch butterflies, was brought about by routine seasonal spraying to control mosquitoes. An editorial points

  • Online network connects journalists with biodiversity information

    [caption id="attachment_913" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Biodiversity Media Alliance aims to boost the quantity and quality of media coverage of biodiversity issues."][/caption] Biodiversity Media Alliance is a Ning social network for media professionals who are covering biodiversity issues. The International Institute for Environment and Development, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Internews created the site to help connect journalists with sources of information about biodiversity. The site's tagline is "Linking Journalism With

  • Our beautiful Planet Earth (video)

    According to the video producers: "The Secret Team has created a gift for you. This clip features our beautiful Planet Earth. As you experience this clip you will emit positive forces of energy across Planet Earth that will reach every single living thing on it. You will lift yourself, and as you lift yourself, you lift the entire world." Not particularly scientific but it will inspire and help you understand why conservation of Earth's beauty is our passion here at The Pimm Group. HINT: Clip is 3:06 minutes. Allow to load before viewing.

  • Listen to Dr. Pimm podcast on the BP oil spill

    [caption id="attachment_882" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="An oiled bird struggles to get over a boom in the middle of the Gulf oil spill. AP Photo"][/caption] Stuart Pimm is interviewed by the Endangered Species Coalition about the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Listen to this podcast (with intro

  • Help stop trade in conflict minerals

    [caption id="attachment_865" align="alignleft" width="178" caption="Cellphone illustrating how conflict minerals are used in its production (Image credit: Enough Project)"][/caption] You've probably heard of blood diamonds, which fund armed conflict in mostly poor and underdeveloped parts of these worlds. Blood diamonds are part of a larger market in conflict minerals. These similarly rare and valuable commodities are mined by corrupt governments or marginal paramilitary

  • Tyler Prize interview with Stuart Pimm

    Prof. Pimm's interview in Los Angeles, prior to his receiving this year's Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. (HD, 2:20 mins)

  • Stuart Pimm National Geographic interview

    Click below to listen to the National Geographic interview with Stuart Pimm. NatGeo's Boyd Matson talks with Stuart about his Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, which will be formally awarded this coming week in Los Angeles. BTW Stuart regularly writes for the National Geographic blog (check here or on

  • Tropical Forests and Global Warming: Fulfilling the United States’ Copenhagen Commitment

    [caption id="attachment_559" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Giant log awaiting the sawmill, Iquitos, Peru. Image courtesy of Jungle Photos."][/caption] When the Copenhagen climate talks ended without a solid treaty, most environmentalists were bitterly disappointed. Meanwhile, politicians went home saying they'd done their jobs. But one of the positive outcomes of Copenhagen was that the United States committed $1 billion over the next three years to help protect tropical forests. This is hugely important given that tropical deforestation and degradation account for about 15% of global

  • Community-based Ecology Education and Resource Monitoring

    At the Pimm Group, our stated purpose is "A Future for Species Preservation and Conservation." And we understand that people are the key to long-term success. So we are very proud when one of our own is directly on the front lines -- in this case, Ciara Wirth. She is working with the Waorani, an indigenous people who live in one of the world's most biodiverse places, the Ecuadorian Amazon. We wholeheartedly offer our collective congratulations to Ciara who has just been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to spent the next year with the Waorani. She spent spent the last two summers

  • Paul Ehrlich’s solution to stem environmental collapse

    [caption id="attachment_540" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Paul R Ehrlich. Image courtesy of Wikipedia."][/caption] Stanford professor Paul R. Ehrlich has published an interesting article in PLoS Biology: The MAHB, the Culture Gap, and Some Really Inconvenient Truths. According to PLoS: "Humanity's failure to take adequate actions to stem a likely environmental collapse calls for extraordinary measures to understand and alter human behavior... [Ehrlich's] Millennium Assessment of Human Behavior (MAHB) aims to chart the path to a sustainable future." This

  • Q. What’s the greatest threat to endangered species? A. The Internet.

    A study by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, reported at the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, Qatar, says the Internet is the biggest threat to endangered species. (See BBC report.) According to the BBC report, online stores and auction sites help buyers and sellers connect with ever greater ease and simplicity. And they can do it anonymously. At the same time people can easily ship items practically anywhere, given the efficienc y of global shipping and mail services. Bad news. And combined with the

  • Leading the Bioblitz

    Dr. Pimm is taking a leading role in this year's Bioblitz. According to Wikipedia, a Bioblitz is "a special type of field study, where a group of scientists and volunteers conduct an intensive 24-hour (or 48 hour) biological inventory, attempting to identify and record all species of living organisms in a given area." Stuart led the birding contingent for a Bioblitz in Indiana in 2009. (Read the blog posts about the 2009 bioblitz, in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.)

  • Conserving indigenous areas would significantly reduce carbon emissions caused by deforestation

    [caption id="attachment_511" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Courtesy of NASA"][/caption] According to a PLOS Biology study reported March 15 in NatureNews, "deforestation in protected areas and indigenous lands is 7–11 times less than in the surrounding areas." Such an observation offers a clear way ahead for advocates of rainforest conservation. By supporting preservation of indigenous lands and other protected areas (ILPAs), organizations "could slow forest loss, conserve biodiversity and preserve local cultures." Given the failure of last December's climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark,

  • Stuart Pimm is awarded the Tyler Prize

    [caption id="attachment_497" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy conferring great benefit upon mankind."][/caption] This morning sees the following announcement from Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement website. "Two conservationists whose careers have centered on understanding ecosystem functions as the essential foundation for ecosystem restoration will share the 2010 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. The award, consisting of a $200,000 cash prize and

  • Engaging conservationists through social media

    The Neotropical Conservation Foundation provides a great example of how a conservation organization can use social media to engage its audience while at the same time meeting its own needs. The NCF wants a new logo. Rather than roll out a new logo fait accomplis, it posted ideas on its Facebook page and asked "Fans" of the page to comment. Ted Kahn, Executive Director of the NCF and who founded its Facebook Fan page, posted the logo to the page’s photo album and wrote "I created a new logo for NCF. I value your

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