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Index of Subjects --000000000000393a0f058b9770ad Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable John That question..what's it good for..started me thinking about Endangeted Eastern Mountain Avens. And got me thinking that one main role these species play is as sentinels of environment integrity. We lose Avens or Plymouth Gentian but despite environmental abuses, we maintain the common species. We convert a high biodiversity world with myriad niches and high functionality to a low diversity world. The loss of the rare, of the warblers of the flycatchers goes hand in hand with degradation of habitat. Loss of woodland humus loss of floodplain loss of water quality, bank shading , temperature controls. The public will not experience this but will hear reports of less trout of more invasive species of lakes closed to summer camps. We must up our game of communicating why it matters What they are good for in plain speech Very glad the warblers and chimney swifts showed that intensive poorly timed forestry operations were counter indicated. Here's to Minister Rankin, Lahey and a New Forestry. In the words of Ringo Starr You know it dont come easy Nick On Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:47 AM John and Nhung, <nhungjohn@eastlink.ca> wrote= : > Yup, we sure present migratory birds (and a lot of other species) with a > bewildering number of challenges, as we reduce the challenges ma nature > throws our way. Gonna be interesting to see how it ends, but I hope I ge= t > to do without that level of excitement. We do have an ethical obligation > as a species to do what we can to do unto them as we would have nature do > unto us. What goes around comes around. > > > > Anyway, I=E2=80=99m preaching to the converted. > > > > Makes me think of a conversation I had with a coupla guys about ten days > ago. I was waiting for my number to be called and was talking about the > work our group (Tusket River Environmental Protection Association) is doi= ng > to protect some rare lakeside plant species in the catchment. > > > > The question I got was, =E2=80=9CWhat good are they?=E2=80=9D > > > > I appreciate that question. It tells me we still have an enormous amount > of public education to do, if we want a critical mass of the public to > support some of the worthy initiatives we espouse. > > > > *From:* naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto: > naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] *On Behalf Of *John Kearney > *Sent:* June 17, 2019 9:40 PM > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *Subject:* [NatureNS] Bird Habitats > > > > Hi All, > > Most birds in Nova Scotia are migratory and thus occupy four different > kinds of habitat over the course of a year; breeding habitat, aerial > habitat, stopover habitat, and winter habitat. Birds are subject to > increasing levels of human-induced mortality in all of these habitats. > > > > Mortality in breeding habitats is particularly worrisome since it can > involve the death of all the young of local populations as in the case of > clearcutting. The relationship between local and regional populations is > not well understood or documented. There is scientific evidence that adul= t > forest birds show fidelity to a breeding site while yearling birds > disperse. We don=E2=80=99t know how resilient these adult birds are to la= ndscape > changes when they return in the next breeding season, and if there is a > threshold of change at which resilience is no longer possible. > > > > Since a great part of our migratory birds are neotropical migrants, they > spend a very large part of the year flying to and then flying back from > Mexico, and Central and South America. One has only to look at a satellit= e > photo of North America at night to see how this aerial habitat is highly > polluted by lights which disorient migrants, causing death by exhaustion = or > from collision into wind turbines, gas flares, and urban buildings. Birds > from all types of breeding habitats are represented in this aerial habita= t > and the piles of dead birds collected in a morning on a city block > represent birds of the fields, forests, and wetlands. > > > > During this voyage, the Nova Scotia birds must come down in the morning t= o > refuel. As they get further from Nova Scotia, the availability of habitat > similar to their breeding habitat may decline or refueling for > long-distance flight might require quite a different diet than one for > nourishing nestlings, and hence quite a different type of habitat. At the > Mount Auburn Cemetery in the middle of the city of Boston, one will find > hundreds of forest birds in the ornamental trees surrounding the groomed > lawns and quiet pools of the large cemetery. In these stop-over habitats > birds may be particularly vulnerable to predation by cats and other > predators, like the Peregrine, that specialize in hunting in open areas > like cities and coastal thickets. > > > > Birds spend the winter in habitats that are under increasing levels of > destruction and disturbance through the growth of coffee plantations, oth= er > types of deforestation, mining, tourism, and urbanization. Mortality in > these winter areas is not well understood but appears to be very > substantial for some species. > > > > Finally, on top of all these threats to birds, is climate change which > drastically affects all four of their habitats. > > > > Conservation efforts are required on a very broad front, and habitat > preservation and restoration are a continent-wide problem affecting the > survival of Nova Scotia=E2=80=99s birds. > > > > John > > > > > > > > > > > > > --000000000000393a0f058b9770ad Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"auto">John=C2=A0<div dir=3D"auto">That question..what's it = good for..started me thinking about Endangeted Eastern Mountain Avens.=C2= =A0</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">And got me thinking = that one main role these species play is as sentinels of environment integr= ity.</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">We lose Avens or Pl= ymouth Gentian but despite environmental abuses, we maintain the common spe= cies. We convert a high biodiversity world with myriad niches and high func= tionality to a low diversity world.=C2=A0</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div>= <div dir=3D"auto">The loss of the rare, of the warblers of the flycatchers = goes hand in hand with degradation of habitat. Loss of woodland humus loss = of floodplain loss of water quality, bank shading , temperature controls. T= he public will not experience this but