Penguins at Punta Tombo in Peril
Based at the provincial reserve at Punta Tombo, Argentina, a small group of researchers under the direction of Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the University of Washington, follow individual penguins, monitor the colony and develop the data needed to plan effective conservation efforts. They also try and understand the importance of penguins as indicators of global climate change and environmental health.
Long-term studies such as this one clarify the effects of humans on the environment and help train a new generation of conservation biologists. With funding from the National Science foundation, the study so far has documented a 20 percent decline in breeding pairs of Magellanic penguins at Punta Tombo over the last 15 years.
The researchers believe the decline is partly related to penguins getting caught in the nets of fishing boats and because of the dumping of ballast water contaminated with petroleum. Boersma and her colleagues intend to spend the next decade using the penguins to help in making human ocean uses more compatible with wildlife. One of the first steps is to zone the South Atlantic Ocean with wildlife in mind, and reduce the conflicts between people and wildlife.
Credit: Boersma Lab, University of Washington
http://www.livescience.com/researchinaction/ria-081015.html
Image: National Geographic
No comments:
Post a Comment