0 Restoring The Ecology Can Boost The Economy

Research co-authored by Bournemouth University (BU) Professor Adrian Newton and published in the journal Science shows that ecological restoration in areas of environmental degradation can help reverse global biodiversity losses, as well as promoting recovery of ecosystem services.

However the research also showed that measures of biodiversity and ecosystem services are higher in pristine land, freshwater and marine systems than in restored systems.

Examples of ecosystem services include improved water quality and increased carbon storage, services which benefit human well-being.

The research was carried out by an international team from the University of Alcalá in Spain, the UK’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and Bournemouth University in the UK.

Professor Newton, an environmental conservation expert from BU’s Centre for Conservation Ecology and Environmental Change said: "These results highlight the importance of ecological restoration approaches for addressing the environmental degradation that has occurred in many parts of the world. The research suggests that restoration can offer a 'win-win' solution, by increasing the provision of environmental benefits to people, while at the same time increasing biodiversity."

Lead author, Professor José M. Rey Benayas from the University of Alcalá and President of the International Foundation for Ecosystem Restoration said: "In addition to the improved biodiversity resulting from ecological restoration, our findings show that such restoration also has benefits for ecosystem services. These services can act as an engine of economy and a source of green employment, so our results give policymakers an extra incentive to restore degraded ecosystems.”

Ecological restoration is widely used to reverse the environmental degradation caused by human activities. However, the effectiveness of restoration actions in increasing provision of both biodiversity and ecosystem services has not previously been evaluated systematically.

The research team analysed results from 89 restoration assessments carried out in a wide range of ecosystem types across the globe. On average, ecological restoration increased provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 44% and 25% respectively. Increases in biodiversity and ecosystem service measures following restoration were positively correlated. However, values of both remained lower in restored than in intact (undamaged) reference ecosystems.

The results indicate that restoration actions focused on enhancing biodiversity should support increased provision of ecosystem services, particularly in tropical terrestrial areas, which hold the largest amounts of biodiversity and are usually subject to high levels of human pressure."

Co-author, Professor James Bullock from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said: "We have shown that across the globe restoration projects are able to help reverse loss of the biodiversity and ecosystem services in areas degraded by human activities. While restoration can help reverse losses, this research shows it is critical for human well-being that we conserve pristine habitats and the biodiversity and ecosystem services they provide."

Source: Bournemouth University (2009, August 31). Restoring The Ecology Can Boost The Economy. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 8, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2009/08/090828150735.htm

Journal Reference: Benayas et al. Enhancement of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by Ecological Restoration: A Meta-Analysis. Science, 2009; 325 (5944): 1121 DOI:10.1126/science.1172460

3 Backyard Aquaponics: DIY system to raise fish with veggies

Rob Torcellini bought a $700 greenhouse kit to grow more vegetables in his backyard. Then he added fish to get rid of a mosquito problem and before long he was a committed aquaponic gardener. Now his 10 by 12 foot greenhouse is filled with not only vegetables, but fish. And the best part is: the poo from that fish is what fertilizes his garden.

Fish poo as fertilizer
“The fish excrete ammonia through their gils as their waste and that ammonia travels in the water and gets pumped into the growbeds," explains Torcellini, "and there's a naturally occurring bacteria that converts the ammonia into nitrites and then the nitrates and then the nitrates are absorbed by the plants as a fertilizer. So it's a whole natural process that breaks it down.” You don’t have to understand the chemistry to grow this way. There are hundreds of Americans, and thousands of Australians (it’s popular in this drought-prone country because aquaponics uses 80-90% less water than traditional agriculture), who are growing fish in a symbiotic environment with their vegetables.

Aquaculture + hydroponics
Aquaponics combines fish farming (aquaculture) with the practice of raising plants in water (hydroponics). It’s organic by definition: instead of using chemical fertilizers, plants are fertilized by the fish poo (and pesticides/herbicides can’t be introduced to kill pests because they could harm the fish). Since the plants don’t need dirt, aquaponics allows gardeners to produce more food in less space. And in addition to the vegetables they can grow, most aquaponics gardeners cultivate edible fish as well.

Backyard fish farming
The most popular choice of fish is tilapia because it’s breeds well, grows fast and can survive in fluctuating water conditions (i.e. changes in temperature, pH and oxygen). Though tilapia are a warm water fish so for people in colder climates- like Torcellini who lives in Eastford, Connecticutt-, it’s not a great option. Torcellini is currently farming goldfish and some koi, but he explains that if he wanted to grow edible fish, he could switch to a cold water fish like trout or perch. In the video above, Rob shows us the aquaponics greenhouse in his backyard, that he built mostly from scavenged parts, as well as his DIY indoor system where he’s growing lettuce under a grow light. He also shows us how he built his systems and talks about how most aquaponics farmers are do-it-yourself types.

You can try this at Home!

0 Amazon's extinction debt still to be paid

Current species losses are just the tip of the iceberg.

• Helen Thompson

12 July 2012

The vast majority of species extinctions in the Brazilian Amazon are yet to come, predicts a paper published in Science*.

Deforestation has declined to record lows in recent years, and just over 50% of Brazil’s rainforest now falls under some form of protected status. But the effects of habitat loss take time to manifest. “Cutting down trees doesn’t kill a bird directly. It takes a lot of time for those birds to actually die. They’re all crammed into the habitat that’s left. Then gradually you’ll have this increased mortality,” says Robert Ewers, an ecologist at Imperial College London and the study's leader.

Previous models of how deforestation affects biodiversity have assumed that deforestation happens in one swoop. But that’s not how it works. Deforestation tends to occur in fits and spurts, and as it continues, the number of species headed for extinction — the 'extinction debt' — rises.

“If you cut down a patch of habitat and, before the effects are felt, you cut down more habitat, you’ve got some outstanding debt,” explains Daniel Reuman, a mathematician at Imperial College, who also worked on the project. “We wanted to figure out how it happens with multiple instances over time instead of just one instance. It’s an amazingly simple model extension that has big implications.”

So, Ewers, Reuman and their colleague Oliver Wearn came up with a formula that relates species extinction to the timing and amount of habitat loss. “It sorts out the bookkeeping of all these different deforestation events and extinction debts,” explains Reuman. When they plugged individual species data for vertebrates that depend on the tropical forest for food and shelter and deforestation patterns from 1970 to 2008 into their model, it projected that 80–90% of extinctions caused by previous rainforest loss are yet to come. Brazil still owes the grim reaper an average of two mammals, five birds and one amphibian per 2500 square kilometres.

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Application: It is crucial to determine at all spatial scales, exactly where you have the highest extinction debt and we can target those particular areas and conserve the species that are still there.

*Wearn, O. R., Reuman, D. C. & Ewers, R. M. Science 337, 228–232 (2012). 

Source: Nature doi:10.1038/nature.2012.11007

0 Value-Addition and Livestock Marketing in Drylands

A Kenya Meat Commission processing plant. Photo/FILE 

Northern Kenya is set to reap from the ongoing construction of abattoirs and tanneries around the country that are expected to provide ready market for livestock, hides and skins. The slaughterhouses will give a big boost to farmers around Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana and Garissa, Wajir, Samburu, Laikipia and Moyale. The Ministry of Livestock Development has earmarked KES1.35 billion for the construction of up to five slaughterhouses to beef up export earnings from livestock products. “These facilities will help traders to shift from selling live animals to processed meat products in higher earnings,” said Dr Mohammed Abdi Kuti, the minister for Livestock Development. Cattle-keepers in the region have not been able to successfully market their products in main urban areas where demand is high and in the export market due to lack of support services.

The abattoirs are being built in the arid and semi-arid areas of West Pokot, Isiolo, Garissa, Wajir and Lokichoggio which supply more than 40 per cent per cent of the country’s total livestock demand, especially for beef, mutton and goat meat. Data from the Kenya Investment Promotion Agency (KIA) shows that rangeland cattle constitute 34 per cent of the national herd. The region has 29 per cent of the total cattle in the country at 2.1 million and 37 per cent of all the goats at 3.1 million. It also has 2.1 million sheep which represent 33 per cent of these animals in the country and 694 camels which is 42 per cent of the national population. 

The proposal is to establish the main abattoir at Isiolo town, which is expected to slaughter 150 cattle and 200 goats and sheep in a day at an estimated cost of Sh656 million. The ministry is also building 14 satellite slaughterhouses at Sh25 million each in North Eastern and Rift Valley provinces to act as collection points and market for the produce. These are expected to increase returns on investment by value addition and also link producers to markets. The 19 abattoirs will be completed in the next one year and will complement private, municipal and KMC slaughterhouses. “The beneficiaries will include livestock herders from the ASAL districts of Northern Kenya, animal traders, and the unemployed youth in the area,” said Ken Manyala, the business development manager at KIA. It will also open up the region that has for long been seen as wasteland. The slaughterhouses are a step towards achieving the Vision 2030 goal that calls for innovative, commercially-oriented and modern farming. 

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Source: Business Daily, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Story by By RAWLINGS OTINI