Ecoviews by Gibbons
Ref: Gibbons & Gibbons (1998). Ecoviews: Snakes, Snails, and Environmental Tails. U. of Alabama Press.
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Summary
Our goal in this book is to engender esteem for the wealth of biodiversity on Earth. If we are, indeed, to reverse the current trend towards self-destruction, we must make a unified effort to protect all species of the world and their habitats. To accomplish our stated objective- to engender esteem for the wealth of biodiversity on Earth- we offer perspectives about the ecology of plants, animals, and habitats that we found to be some combination of fascinating, through provoking, and instructive.
The book does not concentrate on the negative aspects of an overpopulated world whose natural habitats diminish daily. Instead, it is designed to help everyone view the urban landscape and its inhabitants as part of a vital, busy, intense, yet natural habitat.
Does destruction of the homes of Myrtle’s Silverspot butterfly, an endangered species in CA, matter when millions of dollars of real estate are being burned to the ground or buried by mud slides? Should the welfare of the ring pink mussel, a WV river clam, really concern us when unemployment lines are longer than the river? Is it important that FL panthers or Yellowstone grizzly bears live on when millions of human beings are dying from AIDS, cancer, and heart disease? With all these problems facing us, one might ask why we should be concerned about too much night lighting or any other part of the environment. These are legitimate questions that deserve an answer. In each case, the answer is yes.
Concern for a butterfly’s natural habitat does not minimize the seriousness of the loss of human homes. It should, instead, focus attention on what ought to be a universal concern: degeneration of the environment- the butterfly’s and our own. Concern for the endangered clam is not trivial, its endangerment signals an unhealthy river environment. Human and environmental concerns are not mutually exclusive.
Wetlands degradation, Destructive lumbering, atmospheric and stream pollution, and the overuse and abuse of herbicides and pesticides continue to threaten the existence of countless wildlife species.
People must collectively and individually accept the intrinsic worth of all the organisms that dwell on Earth. They must recognize that a unified effort to preserve the Earth’s biodiversity will benefit all of us.
We are all in this together: all people, all plants, all animals, and all their natural habitats.
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Sex
Recognition of one’s species close kin is of key importance to most if not all animal species.
Mammals
In most mammal species in which females live in groups, males disperse from the homesite before they become breeding adults, as demonstrated for Belding’s Ground Squirrels. Such dispersal greatly reduces the possibility of genetic inbreeding within a species. Female ground squirrels remain in the general vicinity of where they are born. But juvenile males and males who have mated do not remain in the area. Taken together, these behavior patterns decrease the chance of close inbreeding.
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Animalia
Insects
Insects that can hear have the equivalent of ears, in the form of flat tympana, on their bodies or legs.
Fireflies
The blinking codes of different firefly species vary, hence preventing mating mix-ups.
Beetles
~20% of the recognized species of animals in the world are beetles.
Diving Beetle: Breaths underwater by collecting an air bubble beneath it outer wings. The bubble is placed adjacent to an air tube that allows the beetle to breathe while underwater.
Honeybees: Exchange information through variations in their rate and level of buzzing.
Hornets
Foraging Strategy
1. Hunting; hornet’s fly solo missions in search of bee nests or other social bees and wasps. Upon finding a bee’s nest, the lone hornet crushes individual bees in its jaws. Dead bees are taken to the hornet’s nest to feed larvae. A solitary raider may return to the bee colony several times to take additional bees.
2. Recruitment; The hornet rubs secretions, pheromones, from a special gland onto the area surrounding the honeybee nest. The hornet’s pheromone is a signal for other giant hornets to amass and attack. Nestmates of the giant hornet flying in the area congregate as they sense the pheromone. Then they attack.
Native Japanese honeybees can detect the hornet pheromone, and they understand the message being sent, a trait akin to deciphering an enemy code. When the pheromone is detected, the bees modify their behavior by increasing the number of defenders at the nest. The first hornet to attack is greeted by a swarm of more than 500 bees, which form a large ball around the intruder. The ball of bees may stay intact for up to 20min, with the inner temperature of the ball reaching 116F, which is lethal to the hornet. The bees can withstand temperatures up to 122F, although some bees in the center die from hornet bites, not stings.
3. Attack; As many as 40 European Honeybees are killed per minute, and an attacking force of 20-30 hornets can kill 30K bees in 3h.
Attacks occur in autumn when a surplus of food is needed to feed developing hornet larvae.
4. Occupation; For more than a week, the hornets carry bee larvae and pupae to their own nest as food for the hornet larvae.
Silver Ants: Discontinue foraging when their body temperature approaches 128F.
Arachnids
Aging: Most spiders live a couple years. But some of those in one group, which includes tarantulas, have been known to live for 35y.
Tarantulas: Upon reaching maturity, the female tarantula continues to molt, grow, and reproduce. The male, on the other hand, upon reaching spider manhood at age 10, mates once or twice and then dies within a few weeks.
Mammals
Except for a few primates, mammals are stuck with varying shades of dull grey. One reason mammals have few displays of bright color is that most of them are colorblind. Thus, the common function of color to attract or dispel others of the same species serves no role in most mammals.
Possum: An average possum lives less than 2y.
Reptiles
Gila Monster: The Large rounded tail serves as a storage compartment for fat and water.
Turtles: Show no signs of aging whatsoever, even at what would appear to be old age.
Birds
A bird’s agitation when an intruder is in the vicinity is reflected in the intensity of its song.
Fish
Knifefishes use electric currents to communicate.
Electric Fish: The contraction of muscle tissue in animals generates a slight electrical charge, and in some species specialized cells derived from muscle tissue are arranged to form electric organs that can generated much stronger electric currents. The pinnacle of this potential is found in the torpedo ray, which can generate about 500v, accompanied with an amperage as high as 2, resulting in a power output of 1,000W.
Detection of e- fields is critical to some fishes that live in dark or turbid waters. By sensing changes in the e- field, the fish use electrolocation to detect objects that cannot see.
Electric fish can determine the sex of another individual by the e current.
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Venoms & Poisons
Venomous Animal: Produces a chemical substance in special glands and then injects it into another animal (via spines of a fish, a tail stinger of a scorpion or hornet, the stinging hairs of a caterpillar). In any case, the venomous animal forcibly puts a toxic chemical inside the body of another animal.
Poisonous Plant/Animal: Produces a chemical substance that is destructive only when an animal comes in contact with it, such as by touching, smelling, or eating the poison.
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Pathogens
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS): A respiratory ailment with a mortality rate of 50%; first discovered in the US SW in 1993.
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Plantae
Three basic pigments are responsibly for most color patterns in plants:
Chlorophyll: Makes the leaves of most plants green (the dominant pigment).
Carotenoids: Believed important for capturing light energy, contain mainly yellows and oranges.
Anthocyanins: Involved in sugar storage, are red.
The interaction and expression of the pigments that produce the variety of fall colors are at the mercy of the environment. Temperature, the amount of sunlight, and moisture conditions all effect the pigments. The timing and intensity of environmental events are critical in influencing the color of the leaves. Cool autumn temperatures cause chlorophyll to degrade in many deciduous trees. Thus, the carotenoids and anthocyanins, normally masked by the chlorophyll, are accentuated, creating a colorful display of reds, yellows, and oranges. A sudden, heavy frost, on the other hand, may break down not only chlorophyll but also the accessory pigments. The result is muted colors. If autumn cooling is too gradual, colors may be dull because chlorophyll is still in the leaves, preventing full expression of the brightest yellows, reds, and oranges. To complicate prediction further, the pigments respond differently to temperatures on the basis of when and how much rain fell during the past few days or weeks.
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Ecology
Basic ecological requirements are food, water, cover, and places to raise young.
Species diversity and abundance of snails had declined in regions with poor soils as a result of loss of Ca from the topsoil by acid rain. Reproductive success of birds decreased due to the lack of snail shells, and the result was local decline in bird populations.
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Natural Design
If people want to keep beavers in their ponds, they should plant red maples and willows. The beaver teeth will act like pruning shears, but the tree will not be killed.
Each development project or forestry operation should demonstrate that the economic gains to the community outweigh the environmental losses.
Use Heritage Trust or similar to calculate the value of land, ecologically, and then require developers to pay a fee equal to the value of the natural environment they want to develop.
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Resources
NWF’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program: https://www.nwf.org/garden
Ecology Scavenger Hunts: Imagine the simple ecological principles and processes that could be examined as part of a science fair or classroom project. Do wood, brick, and concrete walls in an area differ in the number and kinds of plants and animal inhabitants? Does a shaded wall have more organisms than a sunny wall? How important are the wall’s age, height, or position relative to the ground vegetation in determining what grows on the wall?
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Misc Quotes
“To acquire energy, an animal in the wild must keep working. If an animal loses its job, it loses the ability to acquire energy, and it dies.”
“I believe he had a certain fondness for beetles.”-Haldane (on what he believed about God).
“I’m truly sorry man’s dominion Has broken Nature’s social union.”-Robert Burns (1785), after accidentally destroying a mouses nest.
“Sportswriters create hype about sporting events in a most effective manner. Ecologist have not yet developed comparable techniques for focusing public attention on the environment.”
“No matter what justification we offer for not getting rid of our cats, such as emphasizing that they do not destroy natural habitat the way some other species do, the reality is that they kill a lot of small wildlife. One solution for the situation with house cats is simply to keep them indoors.”
“When researchers communicate their findings or justify their research plans to other scientists, the material is often esoteric and theoretically based with no reference to human problems or issues.”
“The two most important ingredients for saving endangered species and preserving natural habitats: awareness and money.”
“Familiarity is a potent tool for engendering support for a beleaguered group, whether it be humans, other animals, or plants.”
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Terminology
Albinism: The expression of a genetic condition that can be inherited, although neither parent need be an albino. An albino is incapable of producing melanin, the dark pigment that normally gives color to hair, skin, feathers, and other surface tissues in birds and mammals.
Bilaterally Symmetrical: (Most organisms) both sides of the body are almost identical.
Climax Forest: A plant community that has successfully adjusted to its environment.
Coevolution: Two species evolve in response to each other.
Critical Thermal Maximum of a Species: The highest temperature that individuals of a species can withstand and still recover from behaviorally and physiologically.
Deflection Mechanism: Deflects an attack away from the most vulnerable part of the body.
Ecological Energetics: A field of science that attempts to measure how different species partition energy among the essential requirements for life.
Ecologist: Someone who specializes in the study of relationships between organisms and their environment, their surroundings, their homes.
Hammock: A wooded area surrounded by open wetlands and with palmettos, cypress, and bay magnolia trees.
Herpetofauna: Reptiles and Amphibians.
Keystone Species: A species that controls the character of an ecological system.
Melanophores: Cells in the skin that manufacture melanin.
Pheromone: A chemical compound used in communicating specific messages to its own or other species of animals, often provoking a behavioral response.
Terpenoids: An odor that attracts an animal that eliminates the one damaging the plant.
A leaf does not release terpenoids if they are simply damaged. The odors are produced only if oral secretions from the caterpillars come in contact with a damaged portion of the leaf.
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Chronology
1994: The Cairo Meetings; world leaders meet in Cairo, Egypt to discuss overpopulation.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
1993: Hantavirus is first discovered in the US SW.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
~1919: The Fire Ant, native to Brazil, is accidentally imported into the Port of Mobile, AL, presumably in a shipment of bananas, timber, or other commerce.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
21 Feb, 1918: Extinction of the Carolina Parakeet after the last confirmed specimen dies in a Cincinnati Zoo.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
1623: English King James I has mulberry trees and silkworm eggs imported to VA colony in the hope of developing a silk industry.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
1600s: Introduction of the Domestic Cat to N. America.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
1490-1700: Earth experiences a long period of below-average temperatures.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
300-470: Earth experiences a long period of below-average temperatures.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
80 BCE- 160: Earth experiences a long period of above-average temperatures.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
~11 Ka: Horses disappear from the W. Hemisphere.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
65 Ma: Evolution of the ancestral “dawn horses” (Eohippus).-Ecoviews by Gibbons.
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