DAILY QUICK READ - AUGUST 18, 2016

Cereal Without Bananas!

Genetic diversity is critical to survival.  Bananas apparently didn’t get the memo.

The Cavendish banana plants all originated from one plant and so as clones, they all have the same genotype — and that is a recipe for disaster.

Researchers have discovered how three fungal diseases have evolved into a lethal threat to the world’s bananas.  

The discovery, reported online in PLOS Genetics, better equips researchers to develop hardier, disease-resistant banana plants and more effective disease-prevention treatments.

 “We have demonstrated that two of the three most serious banana fungal diseases have become more virulent by increasing their ability to manipulate the banana’s metabolic pathways and make use of its nutrients,” says University of California, Davis plant pathologist Ioannis Stergiopoulos, who led the effort to sequence two of the fungal genomes.

In reality, the global banana industry could be wiped out in just 5 to 10 years by fast-advancing fungal diseases. And that would prove devastating to millions of small-scale farmers who depend on the fruit for food, fiber, and income. Already, Sigatoka — a three-fungus disease complex — reduces banana yields by 40 percent.

Unfortunately the current solution may well be massive and frequent drenching of the banana crop in herbicides. 

The constant threat of the disease requires farmers to make 50 fungicide applications to their banana crops each year to control the disease.

And for those growers who can afford fungicide, the applications pose environmental and human-health risks.

Happy Birthday!

At 100 the Migratory Bird Treaty continues to be a brilliant example of international conservation action.

One hundred years ago, on August 16, 1916, the United States and Canada reached a landmark agreement to protect migratory birds, many of which were being hunted to the brink for fashion or food. The Migratory Bird Treaty became U.S. federal law in 1918 as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, one of the nation's earliest and most influential—if least well known—pieces of environmental legislation.

A century later it is clear that the MBTA set a standard for international cooperation that we still follow today. With the centennial of the treaty very much in mind, scientists, conservation biologists, and policymakers from more than 40 countries are descending on the nation's capital this week for the largest gathering of ornithologists in history. The North American Ornithological Conference, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, draws them here to share the latest ornithological research and conservation news.

When we help birds, we help other species, including our own. We find ourselves in a staredown with many global environmental challenges, including food security, energy development, water availability, public health, and climate change—all magnified by the growing global human population, expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050. How we as a society address such challenges will have indirect and direct impacts on the future of birds, other wildlife, and services provided to humans by a healthy environment.

What Is Wrong With Us?

Giraffes murdered for their tails alone.  We can must do better.

Garamba is Africa’s second oldest national park and has been hit hard by poaching in recent years as civil unrest has escalated in the region. Its rhinos have been wiped out, and elephants have suffered huge losses. The same goes for its Kordofan giraffes, one of Africa’s nine giraffe subspecies.

Fewer than 2,000 now roam central Africa, according to Julian Fennessy, co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, a Namibia-based organization. Garamba’s Kordofans represent the last population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “If the number slips in half, then we’re in a real dire situation,” Fennessy says. “Every single giraffe is valuable.”

Congolese usually kill the giraffes for one body part: their tails, considered a status symbol in some communities. Meanwhile men from neighboring South Sudan target the giraffes for their meat to feed impoverished villagers.

One Person Can Make A Difference

For example, Weber Silva, who discovered this species and now works diligently to save them from extinction. 

The discovery of a spectacular new bird species, the Araripe Manakin, in northern Brazil thrilled bird enthusiasts around the world 20 years ago. But as researchers learned more about the manakin, their initial excitement gave way to a sense of urgency.

That's because fewer than a thousand of these endemic birds remain. Making matters worse, Araripe Manakins depend upon a very specific type of forest found only at the base of the Araripe Plateau in Brazil's Ceará state. And encroaching human development—including farming, cattle grazing and home construction—means they face extinction.

But if Weber Silva, a Brazilian ornithologist, has his way, that will never happen.

Silva's painstaking fieldwork provides invaluable information about the Araripe Manakin: everything from breeding habits to population density. This data, Silva hopes, will supply conservationists with the insights they need to make smart decisions and help ensure the manakin's survival. And he's wasted no time putting it to good use.