Tracking data reveals shared political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and petrel

Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels

2021-03-03

(Press-News.org) Researchers have analyzed tracking data for 5,775 birds across 39 species of albatrosses and large petrels -- threatened seabirds whose ranges span many countries and the high seas -- to estimate how responsibility for their protection should be distributed among nations and international organizations. The authors note that albatrosses and large petrels from all breeding countries spend much of their time on the high seas, indicating that effectively managing these waters is of global interest. These estimates are critical to inform ongoing United Nations discussions to design a global treaty for conserving biodiversity in the high seas, beyond national jurisdictions, the authors write. Many species of albatrosses and large petrels are threatened due to overfishing of their food sources, mortality from entanglement in fishing equipment, pollution, and climate-related changes to their habitats. Conservation efforts by one country may be nullified if another country in a species' range does not act, or if high seas regions, such as those governed by regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), are unprotected. Thus, effective conservation requires international agreements. To determine the relative responsibility countries and RFMOs share for protecting these species, the authors collected, regularized, and analyzed tracking data from a variety of sources to determine where the populations breed, which countries or marine regions they visit, and the networks of the species' annual migrations between these places. Their findings support existing agreements, such as the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, but also reveal important gaps. For example, neither Japan nor Australia has agreements with Russia, where many of their birds spend time.

INFORMATION:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Depression and anxiety among first-year college students worsen during pandemic

2021-03-03

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - First-year college students are reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety significantly more often than they were before the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study, embargoed for release until March 3, 2021, at 2 p.m. EST, in the journal PLOS ONE, is based on surveys of 419 Carolina students, and reflects the challenge of colleges nationwide to support student well-being. The study is unique among the growing reports of COVID-19's toll on mental health: researchers followed the ...

Source of hazardous high-energy particles located in the Sun

2021-03-03

The source of potentially hazardous solar particles, released from the Sun at high speed during storms in its outer atmosphere, has been located for the first time by researchers at UCL and George Mason University, Virginia, USA. These particles are highly charged and, if they reach Earth's atmosphere, can potentially disrupt satellites and electronic infrastructure, as well as pose a radiation risk to astronauts and people in airplanes. In 1859, during what's known as the Carrington Event, a large solar storm caused telegraphic systems across Europe and America to fail. With the modern world ...

Swiss statistical systems enhanced by big data

2021-03-03

A huge volume of digital data has been harvested, stored and shared in the last few years - from sources such as social media, geolocation systems and aerial images from drones and satellites - giving researchers many new ways to study information and decrypt our world. In Switzerland, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has taken an interest in the big data revolution and the possibilities it offers to generate predictive statistics for the benefit of society. Conventional methods such as censuses and surveys remain the benchmark for generating socio-economic indicators at the municipal, cantonal and national levels. But these methods can now be supplemented with secondary, mostly pre-existing data, from sources such as cell-phone ...

Immunotherapy drug delays onset of Type 1 diabetes in at-risk group

2021-03-03

More than five years after receiving an experimental immunotherapy drug, half of a group of people at high risk of developing Type 1 diabetes remained disease-free compared with 22% of those who received a placebo, according to a new trial overseen by Yale School of Medicine researchers. And those who developed diabetes did so on average about five years after receiving the new drug, called teplizumab, compared with 27 months for those who received the placebo. The study, which was done in collaboration with researchers from Indiana University, was published March 3 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. "If approved for use, this will be the first drug to delay or prevent Type 1 diabetes," ...

Influenza vaccine produces protective antibodies against diverse flu strains in animals

2021-03-03

A series of nanoparticle-based vaccines elicits protective antibodies against various strains of the influenza virus in nonhuman primates, according to work from Nicole Darricarrère and colleagues. Although more research is needed, the vaccines mark an important step toward a universal flu vaccine for humans, which has long been a major goal for infectious disease researchers. Current seasonal flu vaccines can prevent disease but often only work for a year, after which a new vaccine must be developed. This occurs because influenza viruses evolve extremely quickly, meaning that a year-old vaccine may not prepare the immune system to recognize a new ...

Diversity of fish species supply endangered killer whale diet throughout the year

2021-03-03

Endangered Southern Resident killer whales prey on a diversity of Chinook and other salmon. The stocks come from an enormous geographic range as far north as Alaska and as far south as California's Central Valley, a new analysis shows. The diverse salmon stocks each have their own migration patterns and timing. They combine to provide the whales with a "portfolio" of prey that supports them across the entire year. The catch is that many of the salmon stocks are at risk themselves. "If returns to the Fraser River are in trouble, and Columbia River returns are strong, then prey availability to the whales potentially balances out ...

Scientists investigate 3D-printed high-entropy alloys

2021-03-03

Scientists from the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM) and the Institute for Metals Superplasticity Problems (IMSP RAS) have studied the fatigue behavior of additive-manufactured high-entropy alloys (HEA). The research was published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds. Conventional 20th century materials that are extensively used in industries and mechanical engineering have reached their performance limit. Nowadays, alloying is commonly used to improve the alloys' mechanical performance and increase their operating temperature. ...

Small-scale fisheries offer strategies for resilience in the face of climate change

2021-03-03

Coastal communities at the forefront of climate change reveal valuable approaches to foster adaptability and resilience, according to a worldwide analysis of small-scale fisheries by Stanford University researchers. Globally important for both livelihood and nourishment, small-scale fisheries employ about 90 percent of the world's fishers and provide half the fish for human consumption. Large-scale shocks -- like natural disasters, weather fluctuations, oil spills and market collapse -- can spell disaster, depending on the fisheries' ability to adapt to change. In an assessment of 22 small-scale fisheries that experienced stressors, researchers revealed that diversity and flexibility are among the most important adaptive capacity factors ...

Study: Bahamas were settled earlier than believed

2021-03-03

Humans were present in Florida by 14,000 years ago, and until recently, it was believed the Bahamas - located only a few miles away - were not colonized until about 1,000 years ago. But new findings from a team including a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher prove that the area was colonized earlier, and the new settlers dramatically changed the landscape. Peter van Hengstum, associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Environment Science at Texas A&M-Galveston, and colleagues have had their findings published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Researchers generated a new ...

Mental health treatment rate rose early in pandemic

2021-03-03

A detailed analysis of mental health treatment trends during the COVID-19 pandemic found a 7% increase in visits during the initial shelter-in-place period in 2020, compared with the same 3-month period in 2019. The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry March 3, examined patient visits for psychiatric diagnoses among members of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. The greatest increases in visits were for substance use (up 51%), adjustment disorder (up 15%), anxiety (up 12%), bipolar disorder (up 9%), and psychotic disorder (up 6%). Adjustment disorder is diagnosed when someone responds ...