Everyday Thinking

'Ladybug Blitz' in Ithaca

“Ladybugs serve as a major form of biological pest control,” said Molly Trufant, a graduate student in biology education at Ithaca College. “Without them, we’d all be at a loss, crop farmers and recreational gardeners, alike.”

Because several ladybug species native to the Northeast are declining (the nine-spotted ladybug, the New York State insect, hasn’t been sighted in New York since the 1980s), Trufant, along with Ithaca College associate professor of biology Jason Hamilton and Cornell’s associate professor of entomology John Losey, are inviting local residents to the second annual Ladybug Blitz on Friday and Saturday, July 11 and 12. Taking place on both days from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the research plots across from the Tompkins County SPCA on 1640 Hanshaw Road, the goal of the Blitz is to collect as many species of ladybugs as possible to help the researchers understand the declining populations.

“We’ll collect ladybugs, take digital pictures of them, and then return them to the field,” Trufant said. “We’ll supply the collection equipment, but those interested in participating should bring their own water, hat, sunscreen and lunch. It will be a great time, and everybody loves ladybugs.”

The effort is part of a Citizen Science Project, which is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. For detailed directions and more information, send an e-mail to ladybugblitz@gmail.com or contact Trufant at molly.j.trufant@gmail.com. 

NestWatch project leader to speak at the Roberson Museum in Binghamton

What could be cuter than baby birds all atwitter in the nest? But amid the “oohs” and “aahs” are real data about the rhythms of bird biology and how they may be changing as the result of human activity. Combine the “wow” factor of the former with the scientific value of the latter and you have NestWatch - ­a new, free citizen science project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and funded by the National Science Foundation. Participants visit nests during spring and summer to collect simple information about location, habitat, species, number of eggs, and number of young in the nest. Then they submit their observations online.

“NestWatch introduces birding and simple methods of scientific inquiry to families, children, retired adults­people of all ages and skills,” says project leader Tina Phillips. “It’s easy and fun. It helps people reconnect with nature in their own yard, nearby park, or nature preserve.”

Peter Marra from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center at the National Zoo says, “Each and every observation is important because it helps scientists measure the impact of such things as climate change and habitat destruction. Without citizens across the country collecting this information for us it would be almost impossible to track these large-scale destructive processes.” 

In addition to Nestwatch, the NestCams companion site has been revamped and is now up and running. Live cameras show the nesting activities of Barn Owls, Wood Ducks, and Northern Flickers in Texas and California. More cameras will be going online across the country in the weeks ahead.

All NestWatch materials and instructions are available online including directions on how to find nests and how to monitor them without disturbing the birds.

“One of the most exciting things about NestWatch,” says Phillips, “is that we’ll be able to take in data from as far back as 1900!”

Anyone who’s been keeping nest records on their own will now have a way to put that important information to use. With all this information from NestWatchers, scientists will be able to track changes in reproductive timing and fledging success which may be linked to climate change.

The lecture on Friday evening will cover several topics - the relationship between citizen scientists and birds, practical ways people can bring nesting birds to their backyards, and the diversity of avian breeding biology.

"There's so many fascinating aspects of avian breeding biology," says Phillips, "I want to be able to give people a sense of just how different these breeding systems are, even within our country with the 700 species of birds that breed in North America."

The guest lecture with Tina Phillips takes place on Friday, May 9th at 7 .m. at the Roberson Musuem and Science Center, Binghamton.

Nature: Penguins of the Antarctic

Tonight's episode of Nature will air at 8 p.m. on WSKG Public Television.

Add PBS Nature to your page

WSKG celebrates Earth Day with special programming

During the week of April 21 and through the end of the month, WSKG invites you to tune in and learn about the current status of our environment, scientific innovations and how to become more environmentally conscious.

On Tuesday, April 22 at 1 pm, WSKG radio’s Crystal Sarakas hosts Thinking Green, a special Earth Day call-in program featuring a discussion of how we can make changes in our lives that are Earth-friendly, whether it’s a large project like building a new home or something as ordinary as changing a shower curtain. Thinking Green airs at 1 pm with a rebroadcast at 7 pm on WSKG radio. The program will also be available for on-demand listening at WSKG.ORG.

WSKG Television hosts a line-up of science and environmental programming for Earth Day and beyond, as well as special programming for kids.

On the PBS KIDS preschool block, Miss Lori and Hooper teach children how to recycle their trash at home, and new stories from Dot’s Story Factory show how kids at home can celebrate the planet. Earth Day-themed episodes from CURIOUS GEORGE, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG and IT’S A BIG BIG WORLD will air alongside themed music videos from the award-winning kids’ rock band Milkshake.

PBS KIDS GO!, for elementary school kids, celebrates Earth Day with themed programming from ARTHUR, MAYA & MIGUEL and CYBERCHASE. Throughout the late afternoon programming block, PBS KIDS GO! presents creative ideas for kids to take care of the environment by recycling, cleaning up their neighborhoods and more.

Other programming on environmental issues include:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S STRANGE DAYS ON PLANET EARTH
Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

Edward Norton hosts this two-part special. “Most Dangerous Catch”: Over-fishing is affecting life far beyond the shoreline, including Earth’s own life support systems. “Dirty Secrets”: Striped bass are succumbing to flesh-eating bacteria in the Chesapeake Bay. Majestic seabirds are starving in Hawai’i. Coral reefs are weakening under a growing assault of invisible contaminants. How are these mysteries related? In HD where available. http://www.pbs.org/strangedays

NOVA

“Car of the Future”
Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET

Tom and Ray Magliozzi of NPR’s “Car Talk” take viewers on a roller-coaster ride into the world of cars as NOVA takes a look at the latest and greatest in the automotive industry. In HD where available.

FRONTLINE “Hot Politics” (Repeat)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET

FRONTLINE and the Center for Investigative Reporting go behind the scenes to explore how bi-partisan political and economic forces prevented the U.S. government from confronting what may be one of the most serious problems facing humanity today — global warming.

INDEPENDENT LENS “The Creek Runs Red” (Repeat)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET

This program explores the human response to an environmental disaster and the complex connection between people and place in the mining town that the EPA calls the most toxic place in America — Picher, Oklahoma. In HD where available.

'Nature' founder Dr. Thomas Lovejoy to speak at the Museum of the Earth

As part of its Earth Day celebrations the Museum of the Earth will be hosting a special lecture by world-renowned environmentalist Dr. Thomas Lovejoy at 6:30pm on Friday, April 18.  Lovejoy’s talk will focus on the impact of climate change on plants, animals and ecosystems as well as the complex interactions between nature and climate change.

Lovejoy is the creator of the public television series "Nature" and is recognized as conceiving the term “biological diversity.” Currently he is president of The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, located in Washington D.C.  policy through partnerships with industry, government, academia, and ecological organizations. 

Previously, Lovejoy worked as the World Bank's chief biodiversity advisor and lead specialist for Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean, senior advisor to the president of the United Nations Foundation, science advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, and executive vice president of the World Wildlife Fund-U.S.  He also served on science and environmental councils or committees under the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations.

“We’re honored to have Dr. Lovejoy speak at Museum of the Earth,” stated Dr. Warren Allmon, director of PRI and its Museum of the Earth.  “In 2007 we decided as in Institution to make climate change and its effects on life on Earth a major focus for our research and education departments; as well as making it an integral part of our Museum experience.  Our Climate and Energy initiative has put our Institution on the front lines in the discussion on Climate Change.   Dr. Lovejoy’s commitment to science, education, and the effects on climate change globally make his presence here at PRI and Museum of the Earth that much more important.”

Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institution is a natural history museum located in Ithaca, NY.  The Museum offers access to the world-class collections and scientific research of the Paleontological Research Institution, emphasizing New York State and the northeastern United States.  Exhibits at the Museum include a 500-foot mural, Rocks of Ages, Sands of Time depicting 544 million years of Earth’s history, a North Atlantic Right Whale skeleton, an active fossil preparation lab, the Hyde Park Mastodon and much more.

Nature: What Females Want and Males Will Do

Female jumping spiders will attack and eat anything that moves. This often includes males who may be courting them. So, if a male falls short in convincing a female that he will be a good mate, he may become an excellent lunch. This is a compelling reason for males to work hard in perfecting their courtship dances -- the stakes are far higher than a roll in the web.

"What Females Want and Males Will Do" is about the evolution of sexual strategies and what makes certain species winners and losers in the animal mating game. Courtship drives evolution by controlling whose genes are passed on to the next generation, and intense competition gives rise to a wide array of dazzling displays and impressive ornamentation.

From spiders that dance and monkeys that drum in the name of love, to female geladas that seek male partners with hot, red chest patches -- this program about sexual selection explores the unique behaviors and special adaptations that determine how animals pick their mates, and how these selections affect future generations.

In this exclusive behind-the-scenes podcast, meet three researchers featured in "What Females Want and Males Will Do" who are looking for answers to some burning questions about sexual selection. Chadden Hunter spends time with a group of geladas, close relatives of baboons. Gail Patricelli camps out with sage grouses in the midst of courtship. Rebecca Safran hangs out on the farm with barn swallows. Cutting-edge technology and plain old hard work both play a role in the lives of these trailblazing scientists.

Part of the 26th season of the Peabody and Emmy award-winning series produced by Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS, "What Females Want and Males Will Do" premieres over two Sundays, April 6 and 13, at 8 p.m. on WSKG-TV.  For more information, visit Nature's website. 

Maple weekends could shift two months earlier by 2080

This year, Maple Weekend is March 29-30 since weather patterns are providing good sap flow in the maple trees of northern New York. But by 2080, sugarhouses in northern New York may be humming as early as Jan. 29-30, according to climate change models that predict warmer winters and more thaws.

To evaluate the effects of climate change on the industry, which adds about $1.7 million to northern New York's economy each year, Brian F. Chabot, director of Cornell's Maple Program, and Cornell's Uihlein Maple Research Station Director Michael Farrell are launching a new study with six maple producers.

"Long-term sap collection records on the trees at the Uihlein Forest show that both the start and end of the sap season has moved about a week earlier in the past 30 years with an overall loss of three to four days of production," Farrell said.

Chabot, also a Cornell professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, added, "Climate projection models suggest that the sap season with the freeze-thaw conditions needed to make the sap run will continue to advance. Winter as we now know it may be replaced by spring beginning in early January."

Read the full article here.

(Photograph by Jack Schmidling.)

Bats are dying off and no one knows why

Al Hicks was standing outside an old mine in the Adirondacks, the largest bat hibernaculum, or winter resting place, in New York State.

It was broad daylight in the middle of winter, and bats flew out of the mine about one a minute. Some had fallen to the ground where they flailed around on the snow like tiny wind-broken umbrellas, using the thumbs at the top joint of their wings to gain their balance.

All would be dead by nightfall. Mr. Hicks, a mammal specialist with the state’s Environmental Conservation Department, said: “Bats don’t fly in the daytime, and bats don’t fly in the winter. Every bat you see out here is a ‘dead bat flying,’ so to speak.”

They have plenty of company. In what is one of the worst calamities to hit bat populations in the United States, on average 90 percent of the hibernating bats in four caves and mines in New York have died since last winter.

Wildlife biologists fear a significant die-off in about 15 caves and mines in New York, as well as at sites in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whatever is killing the bats leaves them unusually thin and, in some cases, dotted with a white fungus. Bat experts fear that what they call White Nose Syndrome may spell doom for several species that keep insect pests under control.

Read the full article here.

(Photograph: Michael Durham/Getty Images)

Chimp Chat: Exploring our closest genetic relative

Chimps are our closest living genetic relative but what does it mean that humans and chimps have nearly identical DNA sequences? Put a human and a chimp side-by-side and there’s no confusion about who’s who, so what makes us human and what makes a chimp a chimp? Comparing chimp and human genomes has given us insight into evolution and disease, but how alike are we in mind and spirit? In this web chat we give you the chance to ask two researchers about the similarities and differences between humans and chimps.

Daniel Povinelli is Professor and Director of the Cognitive Evolution Group, Center for Child Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and author of Folk Physics for Apes: The Chimpanzee's Theory of how the World Works. Povinelli says the genetic similarity tempts us to say maybe we're just a sort of souped up version of the basic ape mind, but he says if you look hard at the experimental cognitive data on humans and chimps, it really looks as if there's a qualitative, fundamental difference in abstract, symbolic level of thought.

William Fields is the Director of Bonobo Research at the Great Ape Trust outside Des Moines, Iowa and co-author of Kanzi’s Primal Language. Fields has studied bonobos and also refers to them as friends. Some of the bonobos and humans at the Great Ape Trust have developed a shared culture, a culture that led to Kanzi and his sister Panbanisha learning to communicate by using lexigrams.

During the week of March 3rd Daniel Povinelli and William Fields will answer one question a day for five days. Check out the Chimp Chat website to submit your own question and to find out more about our genetic relatives.

Chimp Chat is a project of The DNA Files.

Great Backyard Bird Count seeks citizen scientists

Millions of novice and accomplished bird watchers can make their fascination with nature add up for science and for the future during the 11th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, led by Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. During “Presidents’ Day” weekend, February 15–18, 2008, anyone can count birds from wherever they are and enter their tallies online at www.birdcount.org. These reports create an exciting real-time picture of where the birds are across the continent and contribute valuable information for science and conservation.

“These volunteers are counting not only for fun but for the future,” said Tom Bancroft, Chief Science Officer for Audubon. “It’s fun to see how many different kinds of birds can be seen and counted right in your backyard or neighborhood park. Each tally helps us learn more about how our North American birds are doing, and what that says about the health and the future of our environment.”

“The GBBC is a great way to engage friends, family, and children in observing nature in their own backyard, where they will discover that the outdoors is full of color, behavior, flight, sounds, and mystery,” said Janis Dickinson, Director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

People of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part wherever they are—at home, in schoolyards, at local parks or wildlife refuges, even counting birds on a balcony. Observers count the highest number of each species they see during at least 15 minutes on one or more of the count days. Then they enter their tallies on the Great Backyard Bird Count web site www.birdcount.org.

The web site provides helpful hints for identifying birds. Participants can compare results from their town or region with others, as checklists pour in from throughout the U.S. and Canada. They can also view bird photos taken by participants during the count and send in their own digital images for the online photo gallery and contest.

In 2007, Great Backyard Bird Count participants made history, breaking records for the number of birds reported, and the number of checklists. Participants sent in 81,203 checklists tallying 11,082,387 birds of 613 species.

“Literally, there has never been a more detailed snapshot of a continental bird-distribution profile in history,” said John Fitzpatrick, Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Imagine scientists 250 years from now being able to compare these data with their own!”

Already, the count results show how the numbers of some birds species have changed in recent years, such as a decline in Northern Pintails and an increase in Hooded Mergansers, consistent with trends from the Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey.

“People who take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count see the results of their efforts in the news and in bird conservation work taking place across the country, said Audubon Education VP, Judy Braus. “Whether the counts occur at home, at schools or nature centers, they’re more than engaging and educational science activities for young people and adults, they’re a way to contribute to the conservation of birds and habitat nationwide.”

Lt. Daniel Britt, who served in Iraq 16 months, is glad to be back home in Zimmerman, MN, where he and his sons plan to join the GBBC. "We get a bunch of birds in our backyard," Britt said, "but my oldest son, Daniel, and I may cross country ski into the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge to count birds there."

For more information on how to participate, including identification tips, photos, bird sounds, maps, and information on over 500 bird species, visit www.birdcount.org.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited.

(Photo credits: Northern Cardinal by Judy Howle; Cedar Waxwing by James Hendrickson)