Conservation of Heysham Moss

Heysham Moss bog fire is 'blow to conservation'
9 April 2013 Last updated at 17:52 GMT 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-22086361

 

A "significant blow" was the description of a fire which basically destroyed a nature reserve on the north LAncashire site. 
The lancashire wildlife trust states that it probably will take years till the raised bog will recover from the fire and go back to the way it was.Reuben Neville, a member of the trust, claims that the fire possibly threatens the survival of several rare endangered species. The reserve was put up to protect these exact species.
He said: "Critically some of the important bog mosses can be damaged or lost completely.
"It is these Sphagnum mosses as they are known, that are vital for a healthy and actively growing bog.
"With an ability to hold and absorb water they are crucial in regulating the flow of rainfall into the lower layers of peat, keeping the surface layers damp and eventually building up to form new peat.
"Fire can also change the surface of the peat itself reducing its water-holding capacity as well as leaving it susceptible to erosion and degradation."
The fire therefore had a huge impact on what happens in the reserve now and the Lancashire Wildlife trust hopes and prays that their reserve will recover properly. Heysham Moss is a supporter to quite a number of bo plants "including round leaved sundew, bog myrtle, bog rosemary, bog asphodel and the locally-rare white beaked sedge."
The fire occurred on the weekend and was only discovered by staff members on Monday.
Much of the site is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and was purchased by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust in 2004.

Reason for memory loss?

Arc protein 'could be key to memory loss', says study

June, 9, 2013

 

 

Discovery about the role of an important brain protein has been made. The protein is necessary in translating learning into long term memories.Research into this protein called "arc protein" may be a new way to cure neurological diseases, but further research has to be conducted.
The study suggests, the same protein may play a big role in the disease of autism. The lack of this arc protein was also found in the brain of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Dr.Steve Finkbeiner, a professor of physiology and neurology at the University of California claims that work done in labs showed that the role of the arc protein was essential.
"Scientists knew that Arc was involved in long-term memory, because mice lacking the Arc protein could learn new tasks, but failed to remember them the next day," he said.

Arc is supposed to be a "master regulator" in the act of forming long term memory.

During memory formation, specific genes have to be switched on and off at specific time so proteins that help neurons lay down new memories can be generated, is what the conducted study suggested. 

Apparently, arc proteins guide this process from inside of the nucleus.

So the reason for memory loss could be the absence of the arc protein.
The study shows that dysfunctions in the production of the arc protein aswell as problems in the transport could be a big part of autism. "The Californian research team said they hoped further research into the Arc protein's role in human health and disease would provide even deeper insights into these disorders and lay the groundwork for new therapeutic strategies to fight them."

 

Hungry caterpillars

Hungry caterpillars invade Pitsea gardens

June, 8, 2013

  

In Essex, a man has experienced something completely new for hi. He awoke to a "perfectly white" scene. Caterpillars had attacked the trees in his garden overnight as seen in the picture.

The ermine moth caterpillars hadn't been there for long and just arrived in Stokefelde, Pitsea, about a week ago. There were so many caterpillars, in only one night the eat their way through the whole tree leaving a "web of white in their wake"/
An observer, the neighbor of the garden where this occurred, says: "It is a dreadful sight.
The caterpillars look like maggots with a yellow white colour and a lenghth of 2.5cm.
Mr. Cassidy, who associated the white webs with halloween decoration states, that he wasn't concerned in the beginning and did not pay a lot of attention until the population started increasing and getting bigger and bigger.
He has talked to Basildon Council and they have observed the situation but claim that nothing can be done right now.They were told that the tree will recover and go back to normal if we only let nature go its own way and not interfere with that.
I think it's interesting how this caterpillar population invaded the tree over night and no one thought it would be something serious. Especially the last statement makes me think.
To what extent should we let nature go its own way? What and what does not give us the right to interfere? It might have helped the tree to spray pesticides and get rid of the caterpillars but we would have killed a whole population of caterpillars and the tree might recover on its own way.

Alpine Lakes Reflect Climate Change

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130606110513.htm

Retired Austrian researcher Dr. Martin Dokulil, once a professor at the Institute of Limnology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria recently predicted changes in water temperatures in large Austrian lakes by 2050.

The lakes of Austria vary in size, altitude, geographical location and many other factors. All of these factors make the ecosystems in certain lakes unique from others. The ecosystems of these lakes are very delicate in the sense that the organisms within them are very sensitive to change. There has been evidence to support that the climate is directly linked with surface temperature. Due to climate change, the surface temperatures of these lakes will also change. It can be argued that these changes may even have economic consequences with relation to tourism.

Dokulil used the Austrian Hydrological Yearbooks to make predictions about the temperatures and surface temperatures of lakes in Austria by 2050. He looked at recorded surface temperatures and air temperatures of 9 different lakes in and bordering Austria situated in different climatic zones. The data used stretched back to the mid 1960's.

His results showed that surface temperatures of water in Austrian lakes could possibly rise by 3 degrees Celsius. This may not seem like a lot to us, however Dokilil suggests that this could have many effects on the water quality and organisms within the lakes. He states that warmer water temperatures would result in changes with regard to nutrient loads which would encourage algal growth, which in turn would affect water quality. Also, some aquatic species cannot perform certain biological function in warmer waters which would also have an affect on the ecosystems. He even suggests that the carbon cycling of the lakes would be much higher in the summers which could also result in further changes in climate.

I chose this article because of our brief overview of the topic of pollution. I found it interesting that climate change can have such a large impact on not only land-based ecosystems, but also aquatic ones. These studies and predictions should be an indicator that things need to change.