The worlds oldest trees are dying. Trees that are around 300 years old are dying off rapidly. This could be come a serious issue for the ecosystems in the world. These trees have been dying off at a rate that is around 5 times faster than ever before.
It is interesting that so many of these trees are dying so quickly all of a sudden. It is not like it is in just one area either. It is spread out around the world. The raising deaths of trees in many areas can be found anywhere from national parks in Montana to the African Savahana. The trees are even dying in the more human inhabited areas where people take efforts to preserve them. There are some obvious possibilities for deaths of trees, logging, diseases, etc, but not that would have this big of an effect. What is causing the trees to die so quickly? The scientists who are trying to make sense of it even seem to be having some trouble with the issue.
"It is a very, very disturbing trend. We are talking about the loss of the biggest living organisms on the planet, of the largest flowering plants on the planet, of organisms that play a key role in regulating and enriching our world" This quote from one of the scientists questioned in the article opens up even more questions. What will happen to all those who are dependent upon the trees? The animals who live in them and seek protection in them. The animals that rely on them for a food source... If all these trees are dying are species going to be hugely impacted? I wonder if there will be a loss of species slowly, obviously because a huge change like that wouldn't happen immediately. However if trees that are so carefully preserved are dying, what can we do to stop it?
When an animal is sick or dying you can nurse it back to life. If there is a threat of extinction you can help them to reproduce, and honestly the majority of people care a lot more about animals than trees. In this situation it isn't the threat of extinction though, its death. What can we do to save the trees, is there really anything we can do?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206162519.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News+--+Top+Science%29
Friday, December 7, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Spade-Toothed Beaked Whale
The world’s rarest whale, the spade-toothed beaked whale has been seen for the first time. Before recently, little was known about the spade-toothed beaked whale. All scientists had to go on were three partial skulls that had been found in Chile and New Zealand over 140 years. In fact, scientists were not even sure if this type of whale still existed.
These whales, mother and baby, were discovered on a New Zealand beach, they had gotten stuck there and died. Whenever a whale is beached in New Zealand the New Zealand Department of Conservation takes pictures and tissue samples. After this the whales where at first identified as Gray's beaked whales. It was not until a DNA analysis was performed on the whales that scientists realized their mistake. The whales were spade-toothed beaked whales, not Gray's beaked whales. If not for the data analysis scientists could have been easily mislead.
There are three very interesting points that stand out to in this article. The first and most obvious is the fact that this whale was discovered after so many years of not knowing if it even still existed. The second that DNA analysis is done with whales. This is definitely important because you can never know enough about the species around you and this allows scientists to learn about changes in whales DNA over time. The third is the fact that the ocean is so big that scientists had no clue if this type of whale still existed. It’s a whale... it’s not like they're small by any means (this one was over five meters long). If scientists were unsure that this mammal still existed what else don't they know about? This article brings a bit of perspective in how large the ocean truly is. There could be millions of species we are unaware of, ranging from something as big as a whale to as small as a bacterium. It is crazy how much we don’t know about the world around us, especially the ocean. The ocean is so huge; will we ever truly be able to identify every type of specie in the ocean, or at least half of them?
These whales, mother and baby, were discovered on a New Zealand beach, they had gotten stuck there and died. Whenever a whale is beached in New Zealand the New Zealand Department of Conservation takes pictures and tissue samples. After this the whales where at first identified as Gray's beaked whales. It was not until a DNA analysis was performed on the whales that scientists realized their mistake. The whales were spade-toothed beaked whales, not Gray's beaked whales. If not for the data analysis scientists could have been easily mislead.
There are three very interesting points that stand out to in this article. The first and most obvious is the fact that this whale was discovered after so many years of not knowing if it even still existed. The second that DNA analysis is done with whales. This is definitely important because you can never know enough about the species around you and this allows scientists to learn about changes in whales DNA over time. The third is the fact that the ocean is so big that scientists had no clue if this type of whale still existed. It’s a whale... it’s not like they're small by any means (this one was over five meters long). If scientists were unsure that this mammal still existed what else don't they know about? This article brings a bit of perspective in how large the ocean truly is. There could be millions of species we are unaware of, ranging from something as big as a whale to as small as a bacterium. It is crazy how much we don’t know about the world around us, especially the ocean. The ocean is so huge; will we ever truly be able to identify every type of specie in the ocean, or at least half of them?
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