The BioFresh blog

Thought-to-be-extinct frog found to be ‘living fossil’

biofreshblog — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:22:00 +0000

This week the remarkable story of a one of the rarest frog in the world got even more incredible. Thought to be extinct, but rediscovered two years ago, the hula painted frog has now been declared a ‘living fossil’.

The elusive hula painted frog now turns out be a ‘living fossil’. Photo: Frank Glaw.

Last year, as part of our amphibian special feature the BioFresh blog reported on a campaign called the ‘Search for the Lost Frogs‘, which aims to find 100 species of frogs and other amphibian species that have been deemed ‘lost’. The hula painted frog was among them, and when it was rediscovered in 2011 it was one of the most highly prized finds of the whole campaign.

The frog, which has a distinctive dark belly with white spots, had only been seen 3 times and the last time had been nearly 60 years ago in 1955. Scientists had feared the worst for the species when it’s only known habitat, the Lake Hula marshes in Israel, was drained in the 1950′s. But, during a routine patrol in 2011, the frog hopped back into existence into the path of a stunned park ranger. There have since been another 10 sightings.

Now, scientists have added another layer to the story of this elusive amphibian: it is a ‘living fossil’. A living fossil is a term given to a species that has largely stayed the same over millions of years and that has few or no living relatives. This frog hasn’t just survived, hidden for 60 years in a swampy marsh in Israel. It has survived 15,000 years longer than its closest relative! The hula painted frog was originally thought to be a member of the genus Discoglossus. Scientists have now realised that the Hula painted frog is actually a member of the genus Latonia, previously only known through the fossil record and once widespread throughout Europe.

Female Hula painted frog (top left) and the typical habitat in the Hula reserve. Photo: Biten et al.

The revelation was made after scientists at Israel’s Ruppin Academic Centre performed DNA tests on tissue samples of the frog and the findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. ”Nobody ever had a chance to see a Latonia because it went extinct in Europe. The only way anyone could see it was through looking at fossils,” said Professor Sarig Gafny, co-author of the study. ”But then with every characteristic that you look at in the current Hula painted frogs, it matches that of the fossils of Latonia and not that of the Discoglossus… So this is a living fossil.”

Other amazing amphibians that have been rediscovered are the Rio Pescado stubfoot toad, the Chalazodes bubble-nest frog, last seen in 1874 and the Silent Valley tropical frog, which was incredibly found sitting in the bottom of a rubbish bin!

While this is a huge win for conservation, there are still over 200 species of amphibians that remain ‘lost’, perhaps forever. Amphibians the world over are facing an extinction crisis with the main threats coming from habitat loss, climate change and a deadly fungal disease. The rediscovery of the hula painted frog is a reminder not only of the resilience of nature, but also of what we stand to lose. It is at once a sign of hope, and a call to further action.

New campaign to shed light into the hidden world of microbial life in our rivers

biofreshblog — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:31:20 +0000

Freshwater biodiversity ranges from the giant Mekong catfish to the myriad microscopic aquatic lifeforms. But these tiny examples of freshwater life seldom receive attention. In this guest post, Katja Lehmann, a microbial ecologist with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, joins BioFresh to discuss a new campaign called River Sampling Day to help us learn more about these important microbial freshwater organisms. River microbes are at the heart of many essential ecosystem services, playing important roles in the cycling of nutrients and carbon, maintaining water quality and the clean-up of pollution in our waterways. Despite the importance of microbial diversity in rivers, these microscopic bacterial communities are greatly under-researched. The lack of comprehensive data prevents us from fully understanding even basic processes.

Katja Lehmann in the lab.

What, for example, are the main actors influencing microbial communities in rivers? Do river microbial communities differ from river to river or are there clear patterns? Can we determine the nature of the river by looking at its biofilm? How do pollutants in run-off and sewage effluent change river bacterial communities? And, does pollution damage riverine communities – and ourselves – by breeding riverine ‘superbacteria’?

To help address this gap in knowledge and pose answers to some of these question, we are launching River Sampling Day (RSD), a simultaneous sampling campaign of the world’s rivers. River Sampling Day will be held on the solstices with the first ever pilot event to be held on June 21, 2013. River Sampling Day is a sister initiative to Ocean Sampling Day, the global marine sampling campaign which is part of the EU-funded Micro B3.

The River Sampling Day event aims to build a network of collaborators which we hope will form the core of an international freshwater Genomic Observatories Network.  We aim to use the data generated to develop an index of ‘indigenous’ to ‘transient’ bacteria to serve as a potential predictor of river health, as well as to develop an Ecological Niche Modelling approach in collaboration with BioVEL, a virtual e-laboratory that supports biodiversity research.

A sampling site in Oxford.

For the June solstice water and sediment samples will be collected from various locations to analyse for microbial diversity and function. We currently have a list of 45 locations from Oxfordshire to Australia – and counting – and we would like to invite external researchers to join the River Sampling Day.

River sampling in action.

Ideally, all the samples should be taken between 10.00 and 14.00 GMT on the solstices. If this is not possible, researchers should contact us for alternative arrangements. The sampling itself should take approximately 20 minutes per sampling location. We supply the sampling protocol and also have a limited number of sampling kits available for sites that do not have any microbial sampling expertise.

If you are associated with a river research site or other regular river research activity and would like to participate in the River Sampling Day pilot study please register by clicking here.

For any questions please email riversamplingday@gmail.com.

Leading Conservationist Calls for Freshwater Advocacy Group

biofreshblog — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:55:54 +0000

Will Darwall, Head of IUCN’s Freshwater Biodiversity Unit, has used the International Day for Biodiversity to call for the formation of a single group of freshwater scientists and conservationists to give voice to the myriad of life under and on the surfaces of our lakes, rivers and wetlands.

Speaking with Paul Jepson from the University of Oxford, Will highlighted the need to work together and form a single advocacy group, pointing out that the community of freshwater scientists is quite small and fragmented worldwide relative to other groups working on more charismatic species. Can we bring together all these disparate groups working on freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems and form a much stronger, single ‘expert network’?

The Big Challenges for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation

biofreshblog — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:12:46 +0000

With World Biodiversity Day just one sleep away, Will Darwall, Head of the IUCN Freshwater Biodiversity Unit, sat down with Paul Jepson from the University of Oxford to discuss some of the big challenges facing freshwater biodiversity.

The theme of the International Day of Biodiversity 2013 is ‘Water & Biodiversity’, highlighting the crucial importance of both. However, freshwater biodiversity is currently facing some big challenges. 50% of the world’s wetlands have been lost last century, freshwater species most at risk from extinction, and habitat destruction is making the problem worse, yet the problem often literally remains out of sight and out of mind.

Listen to Will Darwall explore some of the key issues and explain why it is important to be concerned about freshwater biodiversity.

Tune in tomorrow for part 2 of the interview, where Will Darwall discusses a potential solution to address freshwater biodiversity’s lack of visibility.

Meet the BioFresh team: Will Darwall

biofreshblog — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:10:22 +0000

We continue our ‘meet the team’ series, a behind the scenes look into the work of BioFresh, with an interview with Will Darwall, Head of the IUCN Freshwater Biodiversity Unit.

Will has over 20 years experience working on and leading collaborative research projects on the ecology and conservation of aquatic ecosystems in developing countries. We will also be posting a video discussion with Will this week, who outlines some of the key challenges for freshwater biodiversity, to promote the International Day of Biodiversity’s theme ‘Water and Biodiversity’.

Will Darwall (front) on a biodiversity survey on the Mekong – a river where the fish are only really seen by fishermen as the waters are so turbid.

1 What is the focus of your work for BioFresh, and why?

The world’s inland waters are probably the most threatened of our ecosystems, with the best current estimates suggesting around 50% have already been lost over the last 100 years. Loss of habitat clearly also leads to a loss of species and indications from the IUCN Red List put freshwater species as some of the most threatened of all. Given this situation our focus in BioFresh is to improve and make freely available the information needed to guide policy decisions and on-the-ground conservation action to help halt the loss of freshwater biodiversity through effective conservation and development planning. One of the most powerful tools we are developing through the project is the identification and mapping of a network of Key Biodiversity Areas for freshwater species. Key Biodiversity Areas basically represent those areas we need to protect if we are to prevent the loss of species.

2 How is your work relevant to policy makers, conservationists and/or the general public?

A number of important Conventions, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (under Target 11), and policies on environmental safeguards, such as Performance Standard 6 of the International Finance Corporation (guidance to the World Bank Group), specifically state the need to identify and protect important sites of biodiversity. Our work to map these important sites through BioFresh will directly provide the information needed for countries and developers to identify these sites. We are also able to determine how well the current protected area networks, such as Natura2000, incorporate freshwater species and we can identify areas where the coverage is poor and recommend additional or modified protected areas to better represent freshwater species.

Heron eying an alligator in the Forida Everglades

3 Why is the BioFresh project important?

BioFresh is unique in its ability to bring together the widely dispersed information needed to inform policy for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. The BioFresh portal will allow rapid access to much of the latest information on the status of freshwater biodiversity, the threats to that biodiversity, and predictions for the impacts of those threats on species, especially in relation to movements of species to new areas.

4 Tell us about a memorable experience in your career.

One of my more memorable moments was my first dive in Lake Tanganyika as part of a project where we were to train local scientists in underwater survey methodologies. Diving in the lake was like diving on an inland coral reef with a tremendous diversity of fish species, freshwater jellyfishes, crabs, shells and even the endemic water cobra.

Ophthalmotilapia ventralis, a type of freshwater fish only found in Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania, and member of the cichlid family.

5 What inspired you to become a scientist?

I was probably influenced quite heavily by my uncle who is an entomologist and excellent naturalist. He used to take me out “bug hunting” all the time and I became quite an expert on many species at an early age (since forgotten now I fear!). As part of this experience when looking after some of his “pets” I remember watching Atlas moths emerging in my bedroom and hanging from the curtain, and huge stick insects shooting their eggs off the walls! Later on my interest in freshwaters was possibly initiated when my sister won a goldfish at the fair and we set up our first fish tank.

6 What are your plans and ambitions for your future scientific work?

To inspire more people to be interested in the wonders of freshwater biodiversity – I see communication of the value of freshwater biodiversity as a major challenge. Most people will never see the amazing species we know are living in our lakes and rivers as they remain hidden in often murky waters and their loss often goes unnoticed.

World Biodiversity Day 2013 opportunity to raise awareness of freshwater biodiversity

biofreshblog — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:22:38 +0000

Water and biodiversity is the theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the crucial role that water plays in sustaining life on Earth, as well the highlighting the abundance of life found within freshwaters.

It’s a big year for water! The theme of this year’s international day of biodiversity (or world biodiversity day) is ‘water and biodiversity’, which has been chosen to coincide with the designation of 2013 as the International Year of Water Co-operation. The date of the international day of biodiversity (22 May) marks the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 2005-2015 is also the UN decade of ‘Water for Life’. See here for some key messages.

World biodiversity day provides a key opportunity for the freshwater biodiversity community to raise the profile of freshwater biodiversity and highlight both the importance of it and the threats it faces. Please get involved and help us raise awareness of the vital role that freshwater biodiversity plays in our lives and the world around us.

We encourage you to take to twitter and other social media to create some buzz around the issue. You can follow us on twitter: @biofreshproject. Below are some example tweets that you can tweet yourself or use for inspiration. We would also like to encourage the freshwater scientists among us to tweet key findings from any relevant papers you’ve written. And don’t forget to hashtag your tweets (e.g. #water #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay)

Example tweets:

Did you know: #freshwater covers just 1% of Earth’s surface, but harbours 10% of all animals! #water #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

#Water is not only a vital resource, but a medium for life – 35% of all invertebrates found in #freshwater! #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Should awe and wonder be taken seriously as an #ecosystem service? #water #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Millions of people around the world depend on freshwater ecosystems & the #biodiversity in them for their livelihood #water #BiodiversityDay

A shared knowledge base on #biodiversity needed for effective policy & conservation of freshwater ecosystems #water #BiodiversityDay

#Water is life: it underpins human well-being, as well ecosystem health & #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Freshwater #ecosystems & #biodiversity play crucial role for #water #security by regulating availability & quality of water #BiodiversityDay

Freshwater #ecosystems are natural #water infrastructure that can serve same purpose as dams or treatment plants #BiodiversityDay

Without #ecosystems, the #water cycle, & dependent carbon & nutrient cycles, would be significantly altered #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Conserving #wetlands can help regulate #water but can also support significant fisheries #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

… or why not tweet one of John Barlow’s beautiful Haiku’s from our art-science animation Water Lives

waterush

the slow song

of a dipper