WERC Highlights -- May 2002

San Diego Fauna, What’s Being Lost and Why Care: USGS research zoologist Robert N. Fisher of the Western Ecological Research Center recently spoke to a group of children from the Preuss charter school on the University of California, San Diego campus, about the importance of endemic animals to San Diego ecosystems. Fisher addressed questions such as: How are native snakes affected by city lights in Southern California, and why are their declining populations a concern to human health? Why is the proliferation of Argentine ants not just a nuisance for California homeowners, but a threat to the state's ecosystems? Why should we care about declines in the biodiversity of microbes, insects and reptiles? Recorded by UCSD-TV, the presentation will be aired in the university’s series “Science Matters,” in the San Diego area via cable June 19th at 8 p.m., June 20 at 6 p.m. and June 24 at 10 p.m. The 25-minute piece will also be available for viewing at the UCSD campus educational website: http://www.ucsd.tv/sciencematters/. (Robert N. Fisher, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6882)

Linking Disease and Wildlife Conservation: Two scientists point out why understanding the effects of infectious diseases on wildlife should be considered with conservation measures in the June issue of the journal Conservation Biology. USGS marine biologist Kevin Lafferty with the Western Ecological Research Center and colleague Leah Gerber at Arizona State University note that, in most cases, impacts to the environment should reduce disease. They examined those situations where disease affected rare species or caused common species to become rare. Introduced diseases could put species at risk and rare species were most impacted by diseases of domestic animals. For example, they analyzed work by other researchers' past studies of California sea otters, a threatened species that has been slow to recover. The data showed that a large portion (26 percent) of otter deaths were due to non-otter diseases, infections that normally occur in other host species. These included infection by a parasitic worm from eating sand crabs when other prey may be scarce, infection from parasites found in cat feces that are washed to the sea, and valley fever from inhaling spores of a soil fungus in dust from construction and agriculture. These are examples of emerging diseases that are occurring with the introduction of exotic species globally, habitat alteration, and increasing proximity of domestic animals to wildlife. (Kevin Lafferty, Santa Barbara, CA, 805-893-8778)

Invasive Species Workshop Proceedings Online: Articles by several USGS fire ecologists writing on the role of fire in the control and spread of invasive species are now available on the Joint Fire Science Program website at: http://www.nifc.gov/joint_fire_sci/invasive%20publications/invasiveproceedings.htm.. (Matt Brooks, Las Vegas, NV, 702-914-2206 x225)

Clues to Living Long in “Fossil Animals”: USGS research ecologist Cecil Schwalbe of the Western Ecological Research Center was quoted in the June/July issue of National Wildlife Magazine’s international edition in a story asking why certain species have lived for millions of years and what scientists may learn from their success stories. The Gila monster, which Schwalbe studies, was reported as having been around for at least 30 million years and has defense mechanisms that include a painfully venomous bite. (Cecil Schwalbe, Tucson, AZ, 520-621-5508)

Fire Science News for Kids: USGS research ecologist Jon Keeley was recently interviewed about prescribed forest fires and fire ecology for Scholastic's Super Science, a classroom magazine for elementary school kids. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170)

Exotic Invaders in the Sonoran Desert: Three USGS scientists of the Western Ecological Research Center contributed chapters to a new book, Invasive Exotic Species in the Sonoran Region. The book, published by the University of Arizona Press and the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, summarizes the threats that invasive plants and animals pose to the Sonoran Desert ecosystem and surrounding grasslands and riparian areas of the United States and Mexico. It also lists more than 500 naturalized exotic species in the Sonoran region. The book resulted from a conference held in Tucson, Arizona, in May 1998, with presentations on plants, fish, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Todd Esque and Cecil Schwalbe co-authored a chapter on alien annual grasses and their relationship to fire and biotic change in Sonoran desertscrub. Schwalbe also co-authored a chapter on the widespread impacts of introduced species on reptiles and amphibians in the region. The concluding chapter is an overview and parting shots by Jeff Lovich. (Jeff Lovich, Sacramento, CA, 916-379-3742)

Removing Plant Invaders in the Sonoran Desert: USGS research ecologist Todd Esque of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed by the Tucson Citizen about a new cooperative research effort to assess methods of chemical removal of buffelgrass infestations in the Sonoran Desert. Buffelgrass is thought by researchers to be the most rapidly spreading of exotic perennial plants in the Sonoran Desert and poses the most serious threat to the Sonoran desertscrub. (Todd Esque, Las Vegas, NV, 702-914-2206 x226)

Summer Bird Life Lags in San Diego: USGS research ecologist Barbara Kus of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed by San Diego Home and Garden Magazine about local bird activities. Kus spoke about the USGS monitoring program for Neotropical migrants and indicated that birds of the area appear to be nesting later than usual this year. Researchers fear that fewer young may be fledged, a concern in sensitive species such as the endangered least Bell’s vireo and southwestern willow flycatcher. (Barbara Kus, 858-637-6881)

Seekers of the Biggest Trees: USGS research ecologist Nate Stephenson of the Western Ecological Research Center, who studies giant sequoias, was quoted in an Associated Press story about hobbyists who search for record-sized trees. (Nate Stephenson, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3176)

Frogs Get the (Pesticide) Drift: USGS research biologist Gary Fellers of the Western Ecological Research Center was quoted in a Newsweek story about the decline of mountain yellow-legged frogs in Sierra Nevada national parks that lie east of California’s agricultural Central Valley. The reporter may also accompany Fellers to field study sites this summer. (Gary Fellers, Point Reyes, CA, 415-464-5185)

The Worms Crawl In and Out: USGS marine biologist Kevin Lafferty of the Western Ecological Research Center was quoted in a story in the Goleta Valley Voice (Calif.) about new research on trematode parasites in salt marshes, flukes whose life cycles require multiple hosts. (Kevin Lafferty, Santa Barbara, CA, 805-893-8778)