Category: Threats

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The call of the wild

Not sure how long they’ve been available, but I’ve just learned that the new versions of the Last of the Wild maps are out. The first version is a few years old now.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University have joined together to systematically map and measure the human influence on the Earth’s land surface today. The Last of The Wild, Version Two depicts human influence on terrestrial ecosystems using data sets compiled on or around 2000.

These are Europe’s most untouched areas:
europe

Not much left. There are also global and continental maps of human footprint and human influence index, although I must say I haven’t fully digested the difference between the two. And you can download the data and play around with it yourself, of course. Let the mashing begin!

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Cows manicure Burren

The limestone outcrop of the Burren is one of the natural wonders of Ireland — if not Europe — it’s criss-crossing grikes supporting a unique microenvironment and a similarly unique and varied flora. Not to mention generations of botanists. It is also, incidentally, “rich in historical and archaeological sites,” and a great tourist attraction for all these reasons. Now, cows are to play a part in maintaining the landscape.

Or rather, they are to continue playing such a role:

BurrenLife has provided the evidence that the role of cattle is the key factor in conserving the Burren: in controlling the spread of scrub; in ensuring increased biodiversity and in improving water quality.

I ran the article past the only Irishman to hand, and Danny said that
he thought the Burren is one of the only places in the temperate regions of the world where cattle are housed outside throughout the winter. Something to do with heat retention by limestone, or some aspect of the geology. Can anyone expand on this?

No word on whether the eco-friendly Burren cows are a local breed, though.

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Nibbles: Prickly pear, Corridors, Nutrition, Backyard chickens, SW agriculture, Non-wood forest products, Mexican ungulates, Chinese sheep

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Mini-cows a hit in the recession

I just can’t resist stories about miniature livestock. Despite the fact that we’re still getting 250 hits a week from people looking for the pocket pigs we mentioned in a one-line throwaway post two years ago. Or maybe because of that. But it is a serious thing:

…miniature Herefords consume about half that of a full-sized cow yet produce 50% to 75% of the rib-eyes and fillets, according to researchers and budget-conscious farmers.

Which all reminds me of the dwarf cattle I saw on Socotra some years back. I wonder if anything is being done with them. And with what I suppose must be their relatives in the Dhofar region of southern Oman. I can’t imagine they’ll long survive the rapid development that seems to be going on in both places.

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Discussing threats to livestock diversity

A very informative contribution came in today from the moderator of the DAD-Net e-discussion on analyzing threats to animal genetic resources, listing a number of success stories:

1. Incentives have been used in several cases to conserve and even rescue breeds that were nearly extinct because of the reduction in population size due to the elimination by more productive breeds. Several examples are provided by the EuReCa (European Regional cattle Breeds) network in their breed of the month archive. The site for each breed also shows how breed societies can be effective in the management of AnGR. Notable cases include: Eastern Finncattle, Kerry cattle, Polish Red.

2. Exploration of niche markets through the branding of products from an endangered breed can reverse the trend of a particular breed.

3. Effect of the expansion of industrialised agriculture on indigenous breeds and how the breeds were driven almost to extinction.

4. How crossbreeding programmes (to increase productivity) coupled with unfavourable policies can be a threat to indigenous AnGR. See story on the Vechur cattle breed in India and how it was rescued from extinction.