Tag: species

Bird Decline Tied to Exotics

According to the National Audobon Society, some species of
songbirds have experienced a 30 percent decline in their population
over
the past decade. Now, there’s evidence that non-native plant species
may
be contributing to the problem. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Karen Kelly reports:

Transcript

According to the National Audubon Society, some species of songbirds have experienced

a thirty percent decline in their population over the past decade. Now, there’s

evidence that non-native plant species might be contributing to the problem. The Great

Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:


American robins and wood thrushes like to build their nests in shrubs. Typically, they

choose tall bushes with long thorns that keep predators away. But as those plants are

replaced by non-native species, the birds are forced to move into the new shrubs. And

that makes them vulnerable to predators.


Christopher Whalen is an avian ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. His

study found birds that nest in exotic shrubs were twenty percent more likely to lose

their eggs to a predator.


Because of the different way these plants grow, the exotic shrubs provide a

suitable-looking confluence of branches at a lower height above the ground. So, nest

height drops a meter and a half to two meters on average.”


That makes it easier for raccoons to invade. Whalen’s study focused on Illinois, but

he says birds are doing this throughout the Northeast and Midwest.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

Appreciating the Exotics

If you live in a city or a suburb, chances are that you see non-native
species every day. They might be birds originally from Europe, or a
tree imported from Asia. They’re almost always referred to as pests and
weeds. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator, Chuck Staresinic
, suggests that instead of despising these invaders,
perhaps we should admire them. At the very least, we should get used to
them:

Beetle Controls Purple Loosestife

A European plant called purple loosestrife is increasingly making
itself at home near lakes, wetlands, and meadows throughout the Great
Lakes region. That’s bad news for native plants that are pushed out by
the aggressive newcomer. But help could be on the way. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports on a program to
introduce a loosestrife-munching beetle:

The Business of Fish Management

  • Similar scenes can be found up and down the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Now that summer’s officially here, beaches around the region are packed with
tourists and locals. But this year many beaches have been plagued with
unwanted visitors: tens of thousands of dead fish in the water and on the
sand. It’s a revolting sight-and smell – but in fact, the fish play an
important role in the lakes…and present an ongoing management challenge to
biologists. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson explains:

Peter Raven-Are We Facing a Mass Extinction?

  • Peter Raven is the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. More than that, Raven is a world-leader in the effort to classify, understand, and use plants in a sustainable fashion.

Recently Time Magazine labeled Peter Raven one of the "Heroes of the Planet"
for his work in understanding plants and the environment. Raven is the
director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the first installment of a
three-part interview at the botanical garden, the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham talked with Peter Raven about his conclusion that
we’re facing a mass extinction of species:

Wolf Killed by Government Order

A timber wolf has been shot by a federal officer in Wisconsin. For the
past twenty-five years the wolf has been listed on the federal
endangered species list. But now the wolf’s status is being changed from
endangered to threatened making it easier to use lethal force on problem
wolves. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nick Van Der Puy has more:

Cormorant Control

In April, the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service denied a permit request
from New York State to kill three-hundred cormorants on eastern Lake
Ontario. The proposed management plan as well as previous killings by
individual sportsmen has Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Don
Ogden reflecting:

The Comeback of the Wood Frog

Scientists are concerned about a world-wide decline in amphibian
populations. But one scientist has been bringing a frog back to its
native habitat. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports
the Wood frog is once again thriving in an area where it was pushed out
more than 75 years ago:

Exotic Species Conference

Zebra mussels are the best known exotic species, but a whole host of
other nuisance invaders are causing headaches around the Great Lakes.
At a conference this week (April 26-30) in Duluth, scientists from
around the world will share recent research and strategize about how to
deal with exotic species. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie
Hemphill reports:

Musician Harmonizes With Nature

Music has often imitated nature. Flutes trill to sound like birds.
Cymbals crash and drums thunder like storms. One musician has taken it
a step further and harmonizes with nature. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on an artist whose life-long pursuit
has been a musical communion with the earth and its creatures: