Challenges associated with biodiversity loss for 21st century conservation biologists

Biodiversity is the variability found within a species, between species and the variability among ecosystems.  It plays an irreplaceable role in our lives as we depend on biodiversity for many requirements including food, energy, medicine and other material. It also has a significant importance in the traditional culture, religion and social practices. Apart from the tangible and intangible resources that directly affects us biodiversity also provides priceless services as ecosystem services which are crucial to maintain the natural balances on earth. Therefore, maintaining the biodiversity in a natural state and allowing it to alter following the natural patterns is critical for the existence of all life in the biosphere.

However, in recent centuries humans have been altering the natural systems and endangering the biodiversity around them in a drastic manner resulting in a rapid loss of biodiversity. This has been intensified since the industrial revolution and many accepts that we are causing a mass extinction event. Currently biodiversity loss has been identified as one of the leading global environmental issues we are facing. Anthropogenic activities such as habitat loss and degradation, spread of invasive alien species, climate change, over exploitation and environmental pollution are the major drivers of the ongoing biodiversity loss.

Conservation biology is a crisis discipline that developed in recent decades as a response to this ongoing crisis of biodiversity loss with the aim of combating it. Conservation biologists are attempting to minimize the negative human impact on biodiversity and allowing the natural dynamics with a scientific approach. However, as anthropogenic causes are the main driving forces behind the ongoing biodiversity loss, the role of conservation biologists is becoming more challenging day by day.

Human population on earth has undergone a rapid expansion in the last centuries mainly with the recent development in health and agriculture. At the dawn of the 21^st century the world population was around 6 billion but it reached 7.3 billion by 2015. Even though the rate of human population growth is declining at present, the magnitude of the current population is so significant that it is impacting on the earth in severe scales. Fulfilling the needs and wants of this huge population of one species is having a negative effect on many other species as well as ecosystems putting them on a knife-edge situation.

Many species are already facing a severe threat of extinction. The global and local red lists made and updated time to time are alerting the society including the conservation biologists on the species which are at the brink of extinction. However, conserving these species and minimizing their extinction risk is not easy as it has to be done in a way that does not interfere the human activities to an extent that would cause a negative reaction from the stakeholder communities. Therefore, conservation biologists have a challenge to maintain the social, economical and ecological balances in order to make conservation a reality.

Agricultural lands are expanding in certain areas to supply the food resource requirement of the human population and human settlements are similarly expanding. Altogether, with other human land-uses, these are consuming about 13 million hectares of natural forests annually and converting them to different land-uses. The expansion of human modified land-uses are pressing the wildlife to their survival and causing a conflict among humans and wildlife. In other areas, agriculture is becoming intensified using the novel agricultural practices and human settlements are becoming concentrated to urban areas generating higher pollution and causing a chain of negative effects on biodiversity. Over exploitation of biological resources, which is evident in many cases including the well known “fishing down the food web” are also throwing out the natural balance in ecosystems. Conservation biologists are facing the challenge of establishing a balance to these systems which is in favour of biodiversity but also fulfills the growing requirements of the human population in the 21^st century.   

Conservation is not an activity that can be achieved single-handedly. Conservation biologists require the support and commitment from various stakeholders to make a significant positive effect on the biodiversity. These stakeholders include local communities, government authorities, political movements, industries, funding agencies and many others. However, these stakeholders may not share the same objectives or views that the conservation biologists have. With their own agendas and targets, some of them are in a state of competition with the many competitors in a large population and some are trying to meet the demands of the growing population. This will be even more significant in developing countries where poverty and political unrest are common and widespread issues. Therefore, bringing these different minded stakeholders together and making a positive dialog between them is challenging for the conservation biologists and it requires many skills.

One thing we have to understand is that the world has already being changed drastically to meet the needs of the human population and the 21^st century will not see any significant difference in this process. Understanding this, 21st century conservation biologists and the society must find ways to carry out their activities with a minimal effect on biodiversity thus the benefits of the biodiversity will be perpetual. In order to achieve this, novel methods must be identified and developed to attract and sustain biodiversity within human modified landscapes and incorporate them to the biodiversity conservation efforts. This is a challenging task for everyone including the conservation biologists as these methods will have to be applied for different situations and will require specific modifications for different cases. This also involves the challenge of overcoming the mental hurdle that would prevent us from seeing human-modified land-uses as different units from areas for conservation. 

With the growing human populations, complex human life styles and novel needs of the 21^st century humans, the conservation biologists and the society are in a very challenging position to minimise the loss of biodiversity and ensure its sustainability. Therefore, identifying these challenges and finding methods to overcome them are important in order to make conservation a reality. 

Exploring the diversity of odonates: Are we done?

Among the billions of life forms around us, odonates or dragonflies and damselflies have been occupying only a small fraction of it with around 6,000 species currently known to science. The systematic study of odonates began with the birth of Linnaean taxonomy in 1758 and biologists and naturalists have been describing odonates around the world and assigning names for these species. 

So, after the 257 years, where do we stand now? 

Naming a species is the basic requirement in order to truly appreciate it and conserve it. Without giving a name to a species you can not study it, assess it for its conservation value or even discuss it. As odonates are wonderfully colourful, attractive, active, usually diurnal and comparatively large bodied insects, one might think that we already know enough of them after centuries of systematic studies and exploration. 

However, questioning this view, 60 new species of odonates were described from the continent of Africa by a single paper authored by K. D. B. Dijkstra, J. Kippings and N. Mézière just at the end of 2015. If you think about the total number of odonates known from around the world, this has increased the number of species from around 1% single handedly. A very interesting fact regarding these discoveries is that all of them have been made in the field, not inside a lab while studying the molecules. And some of them were not made from remote jungles but from places no one has cared to look intentionally before. 

The important point is, if that many African species were yet unknown to science until the last year, how many undescribed species might be there in the other regions? Especially, in the hottest biodiversity hotspots around the globe, including Madagascar, Indo-Burma, Sundaland, Philippines, Atlantic forests in Brazil and Western Ghats/Sri Lanka. 

As a biologist working in Sri Lanka I am well aware that only seven new species and two new subspecies have been described from Sri Lanka since the year 2000. According to the odonata checklist published by K. A. Subramanian in 2014 and a recent paper by C. G. Kiran, S. Kalesh and K. Kunte, this number is only six species in the whole of India with only two in the Western Ghats.

So, are we done? No, not even close.

You can read the interesting facts about the new discoveries from Africa here. 

https://science.naturalis.nl/media/medialibrary/2015/12/60NewDragonflies_fullsize2.pdf

Reference

Bedjanič, M., van der Poorten, N., Coniff, K. and Salamun, A. 2014. Dragonfly Fauna of Sri Lanka: distribution and biology with threat status of its endemics. Pensoft, Sofia. 321 pp.

Kiran, C.G., S. Kalesh & K. Kunte (2015). A new species of damselfly, Protosticta ponmudiensis (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from Ponmudi Hills in the Western Ghats of India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(5): 7146–7151; 

Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra, Jens Kipping & Nicolas Mézière (2015). Sixty new dragonfly and damselfly species from Africa (Odonata). Odonatologica 44: 447-607.

Subramanian, K.A. (2014). A Checklist of Odonata of India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

An ant? No an ant-mimicking spider!

As a student I wasn't really interested in the small creatures like the arthropods no matter how abundant they were everywhere around me. However, I believed that I knew what an ant is and what a spider is, but nothing much than that. So one day soon after I began my life as an amateur biologist, when my mentor showed me an ant and told me that it's a spider, I wasn't really sure about his identification. But a close examination proved that I was wrong. Indeed there are spiders that look like ants.

Spiders are a divers group of organisms with many different forms and shapes. Among the World's spiders the most abundant group is the Family Salticidae of which the members are commonly referred to as "jumping spiders". Even the jumping spiders are very diverse in their morphology. All these are characterized with two large eyes on the front and a total of eight eyes. Most of the ant-mimicking spiders stands among these jumpers of the Salticidae. The most common of these are found in the Myrmarachne genera which is mainly distributed in the old world even though some members are found in the new world too. In both these regions usually they are more abundant in the tropics. Other than the jumping spiders, there are spiders that mimic ants belonging to other spider families too but usually they are not commonly referred to as ant-mimicking spiders.

The ant-mimicking spiders look similar to an ant in general body colour and shapes. Their cephalothorax appear as two distinct tagma mimicking the head and the thorax of an ant and the first pair of legs are kept lifted in to the air mimicking the antennas of the ants. In size also they are similar to the species of ant they are mimicking. The chelicerae of the ant-mimicking spider males are elongated than that of the females.

However some features makes the distinction of each group from the other easily. A close examination of the antenna looking appendages of the ant mimicking spiders will allow the observer to notice that they are connected to the thorax proving that they are actually legs, not antennas. In many cases that I have observed, the behaviour of these spiders are also different from the ants. It always allowed me to readily identify spiders among ants. Their movements are usually different and they can jump unlike most of the ants. And these spiders can hang from their silky threads, how many ants can achieve that? None.

The reason behind this mimicry is finding protection from the potential predators. As many animals do not prey upon ants due to the formic acid they produce the spiders also can achieve the same protection by mimicking the ants. In some species the spiders use the mimicry to hunt the ants they mimic or to prey upon the aphids that the ants tend to.

Desmond Morris: Most Influential Biologists in 20th Century

He was born in 1928 at Purton, England. He finished his Bachelor’s at University of Birmingham and his Ph.D. at Oxford.
His studies were largely focused on behaviors of animals. He is a well known zoologist, ethologist (scientists who study animal behavior) and a sociobiologist.

His most influential work, the world famous best seller The Naked Ape, was published in 1967. In it he has discussed the behaviors of humans in relation to other animals, mainly other primates and he argues that man even after going through all the evolutionary and cultural transformations, still is an animal who is trying to fulfill its basic animal needs. This was a controversial book and gathered the attention of people from all over the world. He published a sequel to this in 1969 under the title The Human Zoo discussing the modern human behaviors and it’s resemblance to the behavior of animals in captivity. His work is considered as some of the earliest work on Sociobiology. Recently, in 2004 he published another well known book, The Naked Woman discussing the parts of female body and their importance in an evolutionary point of view.
Other than being an eminent biologist, he is a talented artist too. He has conducted many solo art exhibitions in Britain as well as other European countries.
He is un-doubtfully one of the greatest and most influential zoologists in all time.

Edward O. Wilson: Most Influential Biologists in the 20th Century

He was born in Alabama, United States on 1929. He completed his Bachelor’s and Masters at University of Alabama and his Ph.D. at Harvard University. He later joined Harvard as an academic and became a professor in entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.
He is a biologist with expertise on many disciplines. He is the World’s leading authority in Myrmecology (Scientific study about ants) and he is also considered as the Father of Sociobiology. He is an eminent researcher and a talented author.
He was interested in insects from his childhood and developed a strong liking towards ants. He did many researches on their diversity, ecology and behaviors later in his life and published the book The Ants in 1990 with his colleague Bert Hölldobler. This work won the Pulitzer Prize for General non-fiction in 1991.

He studied the evolutionary mechanism behind social behaviors such as altruism and aggression and developed the concept sociobiology, the scientific or systematic study of the biological basis of all forms of social behavior through his book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis published in 1975.
He has authored many more books during his life time. His work On Human Nature (1979) also won him a Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction. He wrote an autobiography titled Naturalist in 1994. One of his recently published books, The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies (2009) which was written by him and Bert Hölldobler is considered as one of the best books on the subject.
He has been awarded by many science and civilian awards throughout his life.

Rachel Carsen: Most Influential Biologists in the 20th Century

(1907-1964) Born in Pennsylvania, United States. She completed her masters in zoology in 1932 and later joined the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries as a junior aquatic biologist.
She eventually became a well known marine biologist and authored three best selling and well known books exploring the life in sea from the shore to the depths. Under the Sea Wind (1941), Sea Around Us (1951) and Edge of the Sea (1955) were those three books and by the time she completed this trilogy she was better known as a full-time nature writer.

Her most influential work, The Silent Spring was published in 1962. This book which was based on her research regarding the environmental and health impact of chemical pesticides including DDT gained a huge attention from various communities. It inspired many environmental movements in the United States which later formed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and also led to a national ban on DDT.
She died from a heart attack on 1964 and she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (highest civilian award in US) in 1980.

Carl Woese: Most Influential Biologists in the 20th Century

He was born in 1928 at New York. He did his bachelor’s in mathematics and physics at Amherst College and Ph.D. in biophysics at university of Yale. Later he joined the staff of University of Illinoise where he still works.
Though he is a physicist by training he has contributed a lot as a microbiologist. He described the Domain Archaea based on phylogenetic taxonomy of 16S ribosomal RNA and introduced the three domain classification in 1977.
His major publication is his 1967’s work The Genetic Code: the Molecular basis for Genetic Expression.
He was awarded by the Leeuwenhoek medal (the world’s highest award in microbiology. Awarded once in 10 years by Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) in 1992.

Robert Whittaker: Most Influential Biologists in the 20th Century

(1920-1980) Born in Kansas, USA and did his doctorate at the University of Illinoise. Later he worked in several universities including the Cornell University.
He was one of the most prominent plant community ecologists. He innovated many methodologies to analyze patterns in succession, diversity, productivity and composition of land plant communities. He proposed the five kingdom classification in 1959 and classified the biota in to Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. He also suggested a biome classification based on temperature and precipitation.
He was awarded by the Eminent Ecologist Award in 1980 by the Ecological Society of America and he has been honoured by many more awards and honours.

Field Notes

A field note of a field biologist is a very important part for his/her study. It must be taken with caution as it's your primary data storage for later analysis.
Every field note must start with date, time or time duration and the location. For some observations data on the exact location is also can be valuable. If an observation was made 100 m towards North from a known location X, the location is X and exact location is 100 m towards North from X. Apart from these data, data on weather conditions are also necessary for a field note as it affects on the environment, activities of organisms, your visibility (due to light intensity) and many other factors that can make a significant difference in your data.

After noting down these things, you can proceed in obtaining data required for your study. There are many things that are important in data gathering, but they vary from a study to study depending on the methodology. Thus it's not practical to state them all here.
Let's just see what we must note down when we need to identify an animal, as a lot of nature enthusiasts are interested in this. When we encountered an animal we can not identify, we have to note down several essential data on it. Such as size, shape, colour, habitat, micro habitat, behaviors and call if possible. In some cases we can measure the size accurately, if not make sure that you note down it comparing to a known object or an animal (length about a pen, slightly larger than a crow). For shape and colour we can make a sketch. Do not forget that a sketch is a sketch not a painting. You don't need to be an artist to draw a sketch and you really don't want to colour it. Just make sure that you draw it with correct proportions and colours can be indicated using arrows.
Both habitat and micro habitat are very important in identifying a species. Thus make sure that those data are obtained properly. For a fish a fast flowing stream can be it's habitat while bottom of the stream is it's micro habitat.
If you can observe the animal for some time, note down any data on it's behaviors. Some special behaviors can help in species identification.
Some species can be determined using one or few characters while you need different characters to identify another. (Usually colours and size is enough to identify a bird, but colour has less importance when identifying a frog) If you are sure of what to look at, you can give priority to observe that. If not, make sure that you gather as much data as possible as it'll give you a bigger chance in determining the species your looking at.

Field Notebook

The field note book is something that every field biologist must carry when he/she is going to the field. It's where you record all your observations and data during the field work for further clarifications and analyzing. Field note books comes in many variations but there are some basic things that should satisfy to be a good and user friendly field note book.
It must not be too large or too small. Otherwise it'll be difficult to carry or easily lost. Personally I prefer A5 size (210 x 148 mm) books. It can be easily carried in your pocket. The number of pages can vary according to your preferences and needs. But its good if it's not too large or bulky. So choose a book with pages between 160-320. It's better to have a book with a hard cover and good quality papers. It'll make sure that it won't be torn or worn out easily and won't get soaked quickly. Personally I prefer books with ruled pages as its easy to make clear and well arranged field notes.
In the inner front cover of the book you can write your name and other contact details including the details of any research institute, university or any other professional institute you are working with. So if you lost your field note book and it was found by some 1 else that person will know where to find you to return the book. (providing those information will increase the chance of having your data back)
Leave the first few pages of the field note book for an index. Number all the remaining pages for indexing to be effective.
Then starting from the page number 1 you can write field notes.

Qualities of a good field biologist.

This post is to discuss some of the qualities a person must have to become a proper field biologist. I'm writing this according to my own understanding of the field and what I have come across during my field work. Though I'm still an amateur in the field, personal experiences has proved to me that these are some of the essentials to be a better field biologist.

First of all lets see who a field biologist is.

A field biologist is a biologists who use nature as a laboratory and combine the principles of biology with other sciences to study the diversity and interactions of plants, animals and microorganisms in their natural environment. Thus field biologists include zoologists, botanists, microbiologists, ecologists, ethologists, marine biologists, paleontologists, conservation biologists etc.

A field biologist works in the natural environment most of the time. Therefore the following qualities will help him/her to work with both nature and people.

Physical fitness : Field work often includes working for long hours, trekking in wilderness

and sometimes even mountain climbing. Therefore enough physical fitness to carry your own weight, back packs, instruments etc for hours or even for days in any terrain is a must for a field biologist.

Ability to work in unfavorable conditions : Depending on the purpose of your study field works has to be carried out in various ecosystems ranging from deserts to misty mountains. If the study is done throughout the year it will include working under various conditions in both wet and dry seasons. Thus working in extremely dry, warm, cold, rainy and misty conditions can be involved in your work. Therefore the ability to withstand any of this conditions up to a certain extent is important.

Basic survival skills : Field studies always involves

outdoor life. Thus some basic skills on camping, hiking, first

aid, dealing with wild animals and extreme weather etc. is clearly an advantage for a field biologist.

Been systematic : What we primarily do in the field is collecting and recording data we need for the particular studies we are involved with. The data collection and recording has to be done in a systematic manner to minimize errors and unnecessary confusions. Therefore been systematic will always help for a field biologist to do there field work properly.

Critical thinking : Nature is not a controlled environment like a laboratory. The conditions we face there may alter from moment to moment. Also the dangers you may face are numerous. Storms, snake bites, animal attacks are just a few examples. If some one is good in critical thinking he/she can handle any of these situation with minimum risk of been harmed. Thus its a good quality a field biologist should have.

Team spirit : Almost all the time field studies are carried out as a team. Every member of the field team has a certain role to play for the common goal. So a field biologist must always fulfill his/her duty to the team and care for all the members. Personal needs should not come in front of the needs of whole team.

Patience : Field work often requires long hours of working. If you are observing the behaviors of a particular animal or a population for a certain time period the ability to be patient for the whole duration of working hours is really helpful to obtain the data required for the study properly. Sometimes you won't come across the subject of interest so easily, especially if your working regarding a rare species. We have to be patient in such situation and continue the work until we complete the necessary field work and gather enough data.

Punctuality : Any research has a defined methodology designed to obtain the data necessary for the study and to analyse them. These methodologies usually define the limits and boundaries of the research and provide a set of instructions that must be followed precisely. Time period that data collecting is carried out has a significant important to the analysis and the final result you obtain. Therefore a good field biologist must be able to be punctual and carry out the data collecting process only within the determined time duration. Not a second less, not a second more.

Simple life style : If you wanna have meals from KFC, McDonald's or Pizza hut every day and sleep in a comfortable bed every night then the field of field biology isn't the suitable path for you. A field biologist must always be satisfied with the available resources because resources are limited when you are working in the field. Specially if your spending a long time continuously in remote areas. So one must have the ability to adapt to a simple lifestyle during the time spent in the field.

Documentation skills and computer literacy : Data collecting in the field always involves noting down necessary data arranged in to a systematic way. To obtain every important information on what you observe, its better to keep everything written in your field note book while observations are made thus data can be retrieved easily when you get back to base camp/home/university etc. Then the data must be managed properly using a digital database or any other suitable option. To do all these, a field biologist must have some documentation skills and basic computer literacy. Advanced knowledge on database management and GIS is an additional help.

Communication skills : A scientist distribute the knowledge they gained by writing research papers, articles, books or presenting them in a research symposium or a conference. Therefore one must have good communication skills to present their findings in any suitable media. Apart from this, good writing and verbal communication skills will help to communicate with co-workers, supervisors, authorities, fellow scientists etc. regarding your study.

Been fully field geared : When a field biologists goes to the field he must always carry all the necessary field gears for the particular study. The things you need depends on the terrain, climate, habitat etc. Though the instruments and some other stuff will be provided to you if the project has a fund for it, the things that is important for your personal needs and safety must be taken with you. It makes sure that you won't get in to unnecessary troubles by been careless. For an example if you are working in an area where poisonous snakes can be found you must wear a pair of protective boots to prevent snake bites. If not, there's a probability of you been bitten by a snake due to your carelessness and that will affect on the schedules and plans of the whole field team.

Enthusiasm for learning : No man stops learning until the final day of his life. But a scientist, including a field biologist is a bit different from this. They do learn everyday but not just by chance. They must learn with a proper intention and a never ending enthusiasm. Been updated about latest findings, current status of relevant issues and ongoing research activities will give them the chance to develop their understanding in the relevant disciplines and direct his/her research in the right direction to obtain a significant result.

Obedience to the law : Every field biologist must obey the laws of the country when carrying out their studies. Permission must be obtained before hand a project for necessary requirements like collecting specimens and working in a protected area. Trespassing in to a protected area or a private land without permission, collecting specimens from such areas without obtaining a proper permission or been involved in any sort of illegal action for the sake of his/her research is highly unethical thing for a field biologist.

Passion : None of the above qualities will make you a good field biologist if you don't possess the passion for the field. One must have a passion to learn new things, to study the natural aspects and contribute to the development of science through their work. The passion cannot be learnt, bought or obtained by any other means..it must come from your own heart.

These are some of the qualities one must have to develop themselves in order to become a better field biologist. This list doesn't end from here. There are many other qualities that can be included in to a list like this. But I hope that this provides a general idea on what you should develop in your self to become a better field biologist and excel in your work.

How to become a Biologist

A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology, the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms, their relationships with each other and the environment. To be a professional biologist you need to do a lot of studies and work really hard. It's not an easy path to tread on. If you are planning to follow it make sure you start early and with proper guidance.

There are biologists studying various aspects related to biology such as zoology, botany, microbiology, ecology, conservation biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, paleontology, evolutionary biology, physiology and many other. As a beginner you'll need some basic knowledge on all the major fields of biology. This foundation is a must to reach the higher levels. Therefore make sure you're pretty familiar with them. School, college or university will provide you some basics & you'll have to broaden your knowledge by reading. Using text books, journals, research papers and scientific articles will expand your knowledge on your interests. Try to get updated on current issues and new research findings related to the field.

Explore nature at every possible occasion. Try to observe what's there and the processes happening around them. If you're interested in zoology, botany, ecology, conservation biology or any other similar field, the experiences you gain at the field is invaluable. Note down your observations and refer to books or any other reliable source and learn more about what you observe. Maintaining a proper field note book will help you on this. (next post will explain you about the field note book)

If you're an undergraduate student, try to get opportunities to work voluntarily in the researches conducted by post graduate students or academics. Don't look for payments at the very beginning. Some times you will get paid. Even though you're not, you might get payments when you become more experienced in the field. At the starting point experience is much more worthy than a payment. The contacts you can develop by working as an assistant will be really useful in your future.

A biologist must have good communication skills. Writing books, scientific articles and research papers and conferences are the main methods that scientists use to share their knowledge with the scientific community as well as the general public. Therefore good writing and presentation skills will always help you immensely. Proper knowledge on both your mother tongue and English language is necessary to communicate with the local people and with the international scientific community.

Computer literacy and some knowledge on mathematics and statistics will also help you a lot. Especially to do the data analysis in researches data base maintaining, calculation skills and statistics is a must. Without them you won't be able to do much.

These are some tips only. There can be many other important stuff that can help you in your path. To reach a good level in professional biology field you'll have to achieve really good results in your studies as there are not much openings to reach a high level through this field. So if you're really looking forward to choose this field, make sure you study well and work hard all the time. Because "Survival of the fittest" will be the rule.