From BBC News

by Helen Briggs; April 22, 2015

Scientists are calling on world leaders to sign up to an eight-point plan of action at landmark talks in Paris.

The key element is the goal to limit global warming to below 2C by moving to zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The UN meeting in December is “the last chance” to avert dangerous climate change, according to the Earth League.

Scientific evidence shows this can be achieved, but only with bold action now, says an alliance of climate researchers from 17 institutions.

The statement involves eight calls for action:

• Limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius

• Keeping future CO2 emissions below 1,000 gigatonnes (billion tonnes)

• Creating a zero-carbon society by 2050

• Equity of approach – with richer countries helping poorer ones

• Technological research and innovation

• A global strategy to address loss and damage from climate change

• Safeguarding ecosystems such as forests and oceans that absorb CO2

• Providing climate finance for developing countries.

Chair of the Earth League, Johan Rockstrom, of the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, said the statement set out the scientific stance on what needed to happen at the Paris talks.

“Six years after the failure at Copenhagen, the world now has a second chance to agree upon a safe pathway towards a future that does not undermine human well-being in the world.”

He said the statement summarised what the group of scientists believe has to happen at the Paris talks to avoid the risk of severe climate change linked with sea-level rise, heat waves, droughts and floods.

“The window is still open but just barely,” he said. “There is still an opportunity to transition into a safe, reasonably stable climate future.”

Read more…

From VT News

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 21, 2015 – William Hopkins, professor of fish and wildlife conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment (http://www.cnre.vt.edu) at Virginia Tech, received the university’s 2015 Alumni Award for Excellence in Research.

Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the Alumni Award for Excellence in Research is presented annually to as many as two Virginia Tech faculty members who have made outstanding research contributions. Alumni, students, faculty, and staff may nominate candidates. Each recipient is awarded $2,000.

Dr. William A. Hopkins

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 2005, Hopkins is a physiological ecologist who studies the influence of anthropogenic global changes such as pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change, on wildlife populations.

Hopkins, who is a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate, is regarded as the world’s leading expert on the effects of solid wastes produced from coal combustion on wildlife populations. These wastes represent the second-largest type of solid waste produced in the United States and much of it is placed in open settling basins, referred to as coal ash ponds.

Hopkins’ research reveals that these disposal ponds pose a threat to wildlife because the ponds attract wildlife that are then exposed to high concentrations of pollutants, such as arsenic and selenium, which can cause cancer, developmental abnormalities, and reproductive failure. Because of his expertise, Hopkins regularly provides guidance to state and federal agencies and the utility industry; gives expert testimony in Washington, D.C.; and offers perspectives to major media outlets. He also served on the National Academy of Sciences committee on issues related to the disposal and regulation of these materials. His expertise evaluating the effects of solid wastes on wildlife has led him to work on some of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history, including the BP oil spill and the Tennessee Valley Authority ash spill.

In addition, Hopkins is a pioneer in an emerging field examining the effects of microclimate on the early development of wildlife. Specifically, his research group has focused on how habitat conversion for agriculture, pollution, and weather conditions can interact to influence the incubation temperature of bird and reptile nests and how this influences embryonic development and the quality and survival of offspring produced.

Hopkins also has broken ground addressing one of the most fundamental problems in all of modern biology: How do responses at one level of biological organization (for example, cell or individual) translate to responses at higher levels of organization (populations or communities)? Hopkins’ team has integrated field surveys, elegant laboratory and field experiments, and theoretical models to demonstrate that when a mother’s health is compromised by pollution, it can influence the quality of the offspring she produces, which in turn can cause local population declines.

His team’s work goes further to demonstrate that effects on one population can actually influence the viability of other nearby, interdependent populations. These findings have led to a new way of thinking: that pollution in one place might cause wildlife population declines in other places that are not polluted. This work has implications for fields as diverse as human medicine, epidemiology, ecotoxicology, and conservation biology.

Hopkins has published 160 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, more than 110 since joining the Virginia Tech faculty. He has received more than $10 million in external research grants.

Earlier this year, Hopkins helped create and is the founding director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, which seeks to study and address large-scale environmental problems, such as habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, disease, and climate change, with interdisciplinary, innovative team science, drawing on the diverse expertise of researchers across the university. The center is also home of the Interfaces of Global Change Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program.

Hopkins received his bachelor’s degree from Mercer University, a master’s degree from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.

Related Links

• Virginia Tech to confront environmental problems through interdisciplinary Global Change Center (http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2015/02/021615-fralin-globalchange.html)
• Pulse of the Planet: Bill Hopkins (http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/pulse/tags/hopkins.html)
• New interdisciplinary graduate education program examines the effects of global change (http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/11/110813-fralin-globalchange.html)

This story can be found on the Virginia Tech News website:
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2015/04/042115-facstaffaward-hopkins.html

By Lindsay Key (originally published at EurekAlert!)

For more than 50 years, scientists thought that the horned anole lizard — sometimes called the “Pinocchio Lizard” for its long, protruding nose — was extinct. But it turns out this is a tall tale.

Scientists re-discovered the lizard in 2005, living elusively at the tops of tall trees in the cloud forests of Ecuador — the only place in the world that it is known to exist.

A team led by a Virginia Tech scientist recently uncovered new information about the role that the lizard’s long nose plays. Only the males have long noses, and they appear to be used in social interactions, both among males and between males and females.

Previous investigators had wondered if the nasal appendage served as a weapon of some sort in male-male interactions.

Dr. Ignacio Moore

“It’s important that we learn as much as we can about the natural history, social behavior, and ecology of this lizard, in order to save it from true extinction,” said Ignacio Moore, an associate professor of biological sciences in the College of Science, a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate, and a faculty member with the new Global Change Center at Virginia Tech.

Moore and his colleagues presented their findings at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in West Palm Beach, Florida. Quirola is now preparing an article about the findings.

While in Ecuador on research sabbatical, Moore partnered with Omar Torres-Carvajal, a faculty member at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in Quito, and Torres-Carvajal’s undergraduate student Diego Quirola.

Late at night, wearing head lamps and shimmying up trees, the team was able to catch a few dozen lizards. They held them in an outdoor facility built to mimic the lizards’ natural habitat and observed them for a couple days, after which the lizards were returned to the exact branch where they were found.

“We were able to observe and videotape 11 copulations and two male-male combat scenarios,” said Quirola. “The nasal appendage was not used as a weapon in these interactions but was used as part of the social displays. The appendage is lifted during the social interactions although what role this specific movement plays is unclear.”

What is becoming clear is that the appendage is an important part of their social interactions and a unique aspect of the natural history of this remarkable lizard.

“Ultimately we are interested in knowing about the evolution of this appendage, which is only found in two other species of anole lizards from Peru and Brazil. Do males with larger appendages dominate those with smaller ones? Do females prefer males with larger appendages? Did the appendix evolve under sexual selection? We hope to get some answers,” said Torres-Carvajal.

Since it’s rediscovery in 2005, the Pinocchio lizard is quickly becoming a commodity for its strange beauty and rareness, with pet smugglers offering large sums of money for its capture.

“It’s important for scientists to educate the public about the biological importance of this lizard. It is not a pet but a truly remarkable product of nature,” said Moore.

Abstract

Use of the proboscis during social interactions in the Ecuadorian Horned Anole, Anolis proboscis QUIROLA, D/*; MARMOL, A/; TORRES-CARVAJAL, O/; MOORE, I/T; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; Virginia Tech

Sexual selection has resulted in numerous examples of exaggerated traits that often are the focus of investigation. These traits are typically used in mate choice, intra-sexual competition, or both. In males this can result in the evolution of exaggerated secondary sexual characters, which may be indicative of the animal performance. Anolis proboscis is a slow-moving cryptic species, endemic to the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador that was rediscovered in 2005 after it was believed extinct for nearly four decades. Despite its rediscovery, most of the natural history of this species remains almost completely unknown. The males of the species (adults and neonates) have a laterally compressed, soft, flexible, fleshy nasal appendage which they can move at their will. We investigated use of the nasal appendage in social interactions. We captured free-living A. proboscis in the area surrounding the town of Mindo, Pichincha Provence, located on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador and conducted behavioral trials approximately 5 km away from the collecting sites. For each trial, two lizards (two males, or one male and one female) were placed on branches of a tree with two video cameras recording the interactions. We were able to observe and videotape 11 copulations and 2 male-male combat. The nasal appendage was not used as a weapon in these interactions but was used as part of the social displays. Further, the appendage is lifted during the social interactions although what role this movement plays is unclear. Our studies are providing new insights of the social behavior of this species as well as providing clues into the use of exaggerated sexually selected traits.

About the author

Lindsay Key is a lover of words, animals, and all things science. She works as a communications officer for Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech. Previously, she served as research communications specialist for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and journalist for The Roanoke Times. She holds a B.A. in English and Communications, MFA in Creative Writing, and is currently working on a master’s in natural resources.

Lead photo thanks to: Santiago R. Ron-FaunaWebEcuador zoologia.puce.edu.ec/Vertebrados/anfibios/

“Hi! I just arrived at the Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS) in Elgin, Ontario, and while we’re still in the midst of winter up here, the migratory birds are already returning. My personal favorite is the red-winged blackbird, and they are singing right now, even as the snow falls…

My research focuses on the role of hormones in shaping how birds cope with disease.  I have two exciting experiments planned for this summer, and each will become chapters in my Ph.D. dissertation. In the photo to the right, you can see me with the aviaries I am currently setting up for my experiments.

Ontario is ideal for my research because of the high prevalence of focal pathogens: the mosquito-transmitted Haemoproteus and Plasmodium blood parasites that cause avian malaria. In my study population of red-winged blackbirds, about 90% of adult birds are infected with malaria parasites. 

I’m anxious for the season to get rolling. Before I go, here’s a photo of a tree sparrow, quietly waiting for the snow to stop, and a few shots of my “home base” for this summer. Thought you’d like to see what I’m up to…”

—All the best, Laura

Cathy Jachowski

Cathy Jachowski is a Ph.D. candidate in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and a fellow in the Interfaces of Global Change interdisciplinary graduate education program at Virginia Tech.

Her research on hellbenders was recently featured in this Virginia Tech video:

Cathy Jachowski talks about hellbenders*:

“Growing up in Kentucky, I learned the value of maintaining clean and healthy rivers, lakes and streams for both people and wildlife. As humans, we have all contributed to changes in land use patterns, climate and various types of pollution. These changes can affect the quality of water we depend on and the health and abundance of fish and wildlife using that water. I am interested in understanding if, and how, fish and wildlife can handle the rapid changes that we are causing. If they are having trouble coping, it could be an important early warning that humans are going to have trouble as well.

My current research involves work with hellbenders, which are harmless salamanders that can live for over 30 years and grow to over two feet long. They live their entire lives in rivers across Appalachia, hiding under rocks and eating crayfish. Hellbenders are disappearing from many streams for unclear reasons, which could suggest that other species of fish or wildlife are in danger.

I am using hellbenders to understand how alterations to land can influence animals in a stream. For example, are hellbenders in streams surrounded by agriculture exposed to more or fewer parasites than hellbenders surrounded by forest? And does the type of land surrounding a stream influence the ability of hellbenders to survive and reproduce while infected with parasites?

Hellbenders spend most of their lives in a small section of stream, and because we can implant individuals with a microchip, it is easy for us to go out year after year to find out whether individuals are surviving and in good health. One of the most fascinating things we now know about hellbenders is that the fathers protect their eggs and larvae from predators. The dads will stay in a deep rock crevice for months until the young are big enough to head out into the stream on their own. This is important because factors that affect the health of dads at any point during that time period can affect how many babies survive.

Natural nest cavities are very difficult to find, so we don’t know much about what hellbender dads are doing while they are with their young. An exciting part of my research involves using artificial nest boxes to understand what goes on in a typical nest, as well as what can go wrong.”

*Hellbender research in the Hopkins Lab is the result of a partnership with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, funded through the State Wildlife Grants Program.

Cathy Jachowski

Cathy Jachowski is a Ph.D. candidate in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and a fellow in the Interfaces of Global Change interdisciplinary graduate education program at Virginia Tech.

Her research on hellbenders was recently featured in this Virginia Tech video:

Cathy Jachowski talks about hellbenders*:

“Growing up in Kentucky, I learned the value of maintaining clean and healthy rivers, lakes and streams for both people and wildlife. As humans, we have all contributed to changes in land use patterns, climate and various types of pollution. These changes can affect the quality of water we depend on and the health and abundance of fish and wildlife using that water. I am interested in understanding if, and how, fish and wildlife can handle the rapid changes that we are causing. If they are having trouble coping, it could be an important early warning that humans are going to have trouble as well.

My current research involves work with hellbenders, which are harmless salamanders that can live for over 30 years and grow to over two feet long. They live their entire lives in rivers across Appalachia, hiding under rocks and eating crayfish. Hellbenders are disappearing from many streams for unclear reasons, which could suggest that other species of fish or wildlife are in danger.

I am using hellbenders to understand how alterations to land can influence animals in a stream. For example, are hellbenders in streams surrounded by agriculture exposed to more or fewer parasites than hellbenders surrounded by forest? And does the type of land surrounding a stream influence the ability of hellbenders to survive and reproduce while infected with parasites?

Hellbenders spend most of their lives in a small section of stream, and because we can implant individuals with a microchip, it is easy for us to go out year after year to find out whether individuals are surviving and in good health. One of the most fascinating things we now know about hellbenders is that the fathers protect their eggs and larvae from predators. The dads will stay in a deep rock crevice for months until the young are big enough to head out into the stream on their own. This is important because factors that affect the health of dads at any point during that time period can affect how many babies survive.

Natural nest cavities are very difficult to find, so we don’t know much about what hellbender dads are doing while they are with their young. An exciting part of my research involves using artificial nest boxes to understand what goes on in a typical nest, as well as what can go wrong.”

*Hellbender research in the Hopkins Lab is the result of a partnership with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, funded through the State Wildlife Grants Program.