NUMBER 44 OCTOBER 2005
IN THIS ISSUE: - DARYL
DOMNING STEPS DOWN AS EDITOR
OF SIRENEWS AFTER 21 YEARS OF
SERVICE (p. 1)
- STATUS
OF SIRENIANS REVIEWED AT IMC9 (p. 4)
Sirenews
– An Evolutionary Perspective
A little over 20 years ago,
in 1984, Daryl Domning had a conversation with Clayton Ray of the Smithsonian,
about what to call the new publication Daryl wanted to produce. He envisioned
that the publication would be an important conduit for sharing information on
the most recent sirenian research and conservation activities from around the
world. Daryl does not have a clear recollection of the exact beginnings, but he
does remember that a number of conversations emerged out of the IUCN Sirenian
Specialist Group (SSG) about the need for sharing information through some type
of news bulletin. Daryl, with his
incredible productivity and energy, said he would be able to take on the task.
Robin Best, who was the SSG chair at the time, had been keen to see something
like this happen, particularly after Helene Marsh had produced a dugong
newsletter. So Robin enthusiastically gave his blessing to publish under the
auspices of the SSG.
The format Daryl used was
inspired by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology News Bulletin which was
started in the late 1940s. Daryl wanted
something that would be chatty, rather than formal, and would not evolve into a
peer-reviewed journal. He wanted a newsletter format that kept people with an
interest in sirenians up-to-date on activities, the latest news, publications,
and meetings. For a title, the name “Siren”
had already been taken by IUCN for their seas program. Clayton Ray suggested “Sirenews” and it fit well. The first copy in 1984 was published by
IUCN. Daryl published subsequent issues
himself with contributions from various organizations over the years to cover
costs. The US Marine Mammal Commission has been a strong supporter throughout
the newsletter’s existence.
Sirenews’
Guiding Principles are hinged primarily on getting news from the field whenever
and however possible and to provide free communication. Daryl rarely turned away contributions to the
newsletter and he strongly encouraged (having been on the receiving end of the
phone/letter/e-mail) reports from students and scientists about what they were
doing in their own fields of research.
That is, what they wanted to let the rest of the world to know or as
Daryl summed up the concept “what I did last summer, a chatty organ of
communication not to evolve to a peer-reviewed format”. The newsletter has also included various
announcements, memorials, and miscellaneous content of interest. Daryl often
provided an abstract in the absence of a published paper elsewhere - simply to
get information out to the community.
The newsletter has always been done in hardcopy form so it could be
easily reproduced and mailed at minimal cost.
Daryl’s intention from the outset has been to include references to
current literature and sirenian news for those that did not have easy access to
libraries. He always wanted people
without easy access to a computer to have a means of communication that kept
them within the informational loop.
Rarely has an article in Sirenews elicited much controversy and
only occasionally did Daryl receive a letter to the editor, a correction or
comments from someone taking issue. Not many “scoops” have occurred either,
with the exception of Tony Preen’s documentation of a lack of dugong mortality
in the southern
Daryl began producing Sirenews 20 years ago using the word
processing program WordStar (for those of us old enough to remember when
WordStar was about the only word processing program around). Only two years ago, Daryl stopped using
WordStar to produce the newsletter for one reason, “Well it seemed to throw off
that new mail-merge program I bought; I think my Wordstar program became
corrupted over the years - I probably just wore it out”, he said. Following his personal philosophical
approach, he just stuck with what worked.
With Daryl’s approach
squarely in mind, Cyndi and I as the new
editors of Sirenews are very excited
to take on this challenge but at the same time, we are quite apprehensive about
following in such powerful fluke strokes.
Daryl has urged us to solicit editorial comment from many sources. There is also a strong need to keep abreast
of sirenian population issues and encourage more submissions of abstracts and
information of interest that may not make it into mainstream publications. Daryl has encouraged us to pursue more
“investigative reporting” of emerging issues and topics of common interest.
Original news is needed, not just what can be gleaned from the wire
services. Most importantly, people are encouraged to submit
items of interest to increase the number of direct contributions.
In Daryl’s vision, which we
share, Sirenews should remain and
continue to grow as the authoritative
source of sirenian news. As Daryl told
me, “There’s much going on in the sirenian world that’s not being reported, and
the goal of Sirenews is to get it out
there”. Daryl also reminded us that “content is more important than form”. Keep it simple to keep it flowing.
According to Daryl,
electronic media often operates on a shorter news cycle, tends toward a
discussion board format, and has certain limitations because of the need for
computer access. Sirenews, as the voice of the IUCN/SSG, will remain a broadly disseminated
permanent hard-copy record that can be kept filed in personal and public
libraries around the world, admittedly with its own limitations. But now with the help of Sirenian
International and the Society for Marine Mammalogy, Sirenews can also be found on the internet, the best of both
worlds.
In 2003 at the 2nd
International Sirenian Symposium in
We aim to maintain and
contribute to Daryl’s legacy by keeping as close to his vision as we can. We
aim to keep Sirenews readers up on
the latest news and views. We will do
our best to follow Daryl’s suggestions based on over 20 years of experience and
dedication to keep Sirenews simple,
make it easily available, keep it free, keep it informative, promote discussion
and, of course, keep nagging you to send in articles and news.
As the first order of
business and as a tribute to Daryl, the editors invite you to send in any
thoughts, remembrances or interesting tales you wish to share about the two
decades of Sirenews and its long-time
editor. We will be pleased to put them
in print for the next edition of Sirenews. Oh yes, one final note -- please don’t forget
to send in your articles for the next issue -- the deadline is 01 April 2006.
Thank you very much, Daryl,
for your invaluable legacy. --Buddy
Powell and Cyndi Taylor, Editors
SSG SYMPOSIUM AT THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL MAMMALOGICAL
CONGRESS IN
A
symposium and workshop to re-assess the status of all sirenian species
(manatees and dugongs) and subspecies worldwide was hosted by the Perry
Institute of Marine Science and Wildlife Trust through funding from the Marine
Mammal Commission. Staff from Wildlife
Trust and the Marine Mammal Commission, as part of the IUCN Species Survival
Commission (SSC) Sirenia Specialist Group, traveled to
All
living species and subspecies in the Order Sirenia are classified by the World
Conservation Union (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction. A vulnerable taxon is considered to be one
that is “not Critically Endangered or Endangered, but is facing a high risk of
extinction in the wild in the medium term future” (IUCN 2001). If the status of the various sirenian taxa
is not formally reviewed and justified by the Sirenian Specialist Group before
2006, a default listing of “data deficient” will occur in the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species. This category would
indicate that there is inadequate data available on which to assess risk of
extinction. A data deficient Red List
classification would not only misrepresent current knowledge of the sirenians,
but could potentially have significant and negative consequences for sirenian
conservation if it diminishes conservation or research activity or urgency of
action by governments or agencies.
The symposium and workshop
were organized to develop formal justifications and recommendations regarding
updated status of sirenian species worldwide for the IUCN Red List. The morning symposium consisted of presentations
on the status of species and subspecies.
Speakers included Dr. John Reynolds, head of the U.S. Marine Mammal
Commission and co-chair of the Sirenia Specialist Group, who gave a welcome and
introduction; Dr. Helene Marsh, James Cook University, on the status of dugongs;
Dr. Chip Deutsch, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, on the
status of Florida manatees; Dr. Miriam Marmontel, Instituto de Desenvolvimento
Sustentável Mamirauá, on the status of Amazonian manatees; Dr. Akoi Kouadio,
Wildlife Conservation Society, on the status of West African manatees; and Ms.
Caryn Self Sullivan, Texas A&M University and Dr. Tony Mignucci, Caribbean
Stranding Network, on the status of Antillean manatees (see
Abstracts below). In addition,
Mr.
The afternoon workshop
consisted of a smaller group of invited participants and focused on the formal
species status assessments, with discussions of the robustness of the
scientific information available for each taxon. For
INTERNATIONAL SIRENIAN WORKSHOP
11 December 2005 at the 16th Biennial Conference on
the Biology of Marine Mammals,
You are invited to participate in the Third
International Sirenian Symposium on Sunday, December 11, 2005 from 8:30AM-12:00
PM, prior to the 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine
Mammals. The goal of the symposium is to
foster communication between researchers, managers, and policy makers. Sirenian scientists and resource managers were
invited to submit abstracts to speak at the symposium. Deadlines for abstract submission and early
registration have passed. Please contact
Nicole Adimey (Nicole_Adimey@fws.gov) for further information.
LOCAL NEWS
References
Adam, S. 1998. Dugong-human
interactions. Sirenews 30: 13-16.
Croll, G. 2002. Cocos Capers. Greg Croll. 200 pp.
De
Iongh, H. H., Langeveld, P., and Van der Wal, M. 1998. Movement and home ranges
of dugongs around the
Marsh,
H., and Rathbun, G. B. 1990. Development and application of conventional and
satellite radio tracking techniques for studying dugong movements and habitat
use. Australian Wildlife Research 17(1): 83-100.
Marsh,
H., Penrose, H., Eros, C. and Hugues, J. 2001. Dugong Status Reports and
Action Plans for Countries and Territories in its Range. UNEP,
Preen,
A. 2001. Dugongs, Boats, Dolphins and Turtles in the Townsville-Cardwell
Region and recommendations for a Boat Traffic Management Plan for the
Hinchinbrook Dugong Protection Area. GBRMPA, Townsville.
- Whiting, Scott
D. (Biomarine International, P.O. Box
376u, Charles Darwin University, NT 0815, Australia; tel.: +61 8 89327607; fax:
+61 8 89327607; e-mail: <s_whiting@biomarine.com>; Web page:
<www.biomarine.com>), Robert Thorn, and Wendy Murray (Parks Australia North, P.O. Box 1043, West Island, Cocos
(Keeling) Islands, Western Australia 6799)
Bacterial Survey in Captive Amazonian Manatees
Indicates the Presence of Campylobacter
sp., a Potentially Harmful Pathogen.
- Bacterial infections can be related to 30-50% of mortality in aquatic
mammals and in most cases the infection agent is not identified. A bacterial
survey study was conducted in July 2004 in the pools of the Laboratório de
Mamíferos Aquáticos, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), where
30 Amazonian manatees are kept under veterinary supervision.
Ninety-eight samples were collected
from all the Amazonian manatees whenever the opportunity permitted. Swabs from
the nostrils, mouth, genital opening, anus, eyes, wounds, and, in one case,
from an abscess were collected during the cleaning of the pools. Some manatees
behaved very passively during the swab collection, while others were very
sensitive to the touch of the swab, despite their having lived in captivity for
many years. In these cases we did not insist and decided to collect from another
manatee.
A total of 22 samples (22.45%), corresponding
to 17 manatees (56.7%), were positive for Campylobacter
sp. We observed that 28.12% of the collected samples from the nostrils were
positive; 27.6% from the mouth; 13.3% from the genital opening; 6.25% from the anus;
and 50% from wounds; while samples from the eye and from one abscess were
negative. Based on this, we inferred a significant prevalence of Campylobacter in the nostrils, mouth and
wounds, which indicates possible sites for easy colonization for these
bacteria. Contaminated vegetation collected from the waters surrounding
We consider these results to be of
high significance, since such a survey was never conducted before, and as a
contribution to the biology and ecology of Amazonian manatees. This could help
to minimize potential threats to the species as well as increase the knowledge
and perceived importance of Campylobacter
in these aquatic mammals and their environment.
We thank the keepers and interns of the
Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos/INPA for helping during collection of swabs.
This
study was funded by the Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/FIOCRUZ. - Ana Luzia Lauria-Filgueiras*, Sheila S.
Duque*, Priscila Oliveira*, Graziele S. Mendes*, Wagner Esteves, Vera da
Silva°, Fernando C.W. Rosas°, J. Anselmo d'Affonseca Neto°, and Salvatore Siciliano# (*Setor de Campylobacter, Laboratório de Zoonoses
Bacterianas, Dep. Bacteriologia, IOC, FIOCRUZ, RJ, Brazil; °Laboratório
de Mamíferos Aquáticos, INPA, Manaus, AM, Brazil; #Grupo de Estudos
de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos, Laboratório de Ecologia, Dep.
Endemias Samuel Pessoa, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, FIOCRUZ, RJ, Brazil)
First Female
Amazonian Manatee Born in Captivity.
- On 2 April 2005, the first female Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis) was born at the Center for the Preservation
and Research on Aquatic Mammals (CPPMA), located near the hydroelectric power plant
of Balbina,
Her mother, named Aira, a 10-year-old
manatee, arrived at CPPMA 12 months after having been rescued from a fish tank
where she was kept inadequately. Her keepers intended to exhibit her in small
communities in the interior of the Amazon.
Aira had a deep harpoon wound on her
back, but was in good nutritional condition. Her pregnancy was constantly
monitored and several ultrasound exams were carried out.
At a local school, a contest to choose a name for the young Amazonian manatee, with the intention of increasing interaction between children and nature conservancy, has come to an end. The winner, Manoel Xavier, age 11, suggested the name Morena (Brunette), with the reason being an homage to the inhabitants of the riverside community: Morenas that have as much difficulty in trying to survive as the manatees. - Stella Maris (e-mail: < cppma@netium.com.br>)
Eight West Indian Manatee Deaths in Maranhão. – An alarming development has the IBAMA Manatee
Project worried. In just the first semester of this year, the Centro Mamíferos
Aquáticos/IBAMA in Maranhão recorded eight deaths of West Indian manatees in
the state, of which seven were caused by accidental entanglement in fishing
nets.
“Despite all our efforts on behalf
of the manatee, these fatal accidents are still happening due to the size of
the coastal zone and the difficulty of access to many areas”, said the Center’s
director, Josarnaldo Ramos.
The director explained that
environmental education and social work are constantly being developed for the
traditional populations to make them aware of the importance of preserving the
critically endangered manatee. As part of this effort, a campaign entitled
“Don’t Kill Manatees!” was implemented on the Maranhão coast in 2004. This
campaign seeks mainly to inform fishermen and populations of coastal
communities of the need to preserve the manatee and prevent manatee deaths,
forming a network of volunteer collaborators of the Manatee Project along the
coast.
In agreement with the national
coordinator of the Manatee Project and chief of CMA/IBAMA, Régis Lima, these
accidental deaths have been registered by the Project since 1993, and from then
till now the Project has succeeded in developing prompt and timely responses in
the state.
Lima also explained that “it has not
yet been possible to build up the Executive Unit of CMA/IBAMA in Maranhão into
conformity with the real needs of the work that should be done in this immense
littoral, which has one of the largest manatee populations on the coast of
The Manatee Project is carried out
by the
Maranhão has the second-longest
coastline in
After this, in 2001, an executive
unit of CMA/IBAMA was installed in the state. In the following year, monitoring
of manatees in the wild was begun. In the course of these sightings, several
groups of animals were observed interacting among themselves. There were groups
of approximately 12 in Baia de Tubarão, 5 in Baia de São José, and 6 in Baía de
São Marcos, the three areas of greatest manatee occurrence on the Maranhão
coast.
Among the deaths noted this year,
only one was a stranded newborn calf, which was beached at Baía de São José do
Ribamar. The carcass was taken for necropsy to the laboratory of the
As with most strandings, this one
was a reflection of the degradation of mangroves, which are an ideal nursery
for manatees because they are places with calm waters, abundant food, and
availability of fresh water. Josarnaldo Ramos noted that “Here in Maranhão, in
the places where manatees are present, mangroves are still intact”, and pointed
out that this was the only recorded case of a dead manatee stranded in the
state. -
Luís Boaventura (IBAMA)
[Translated by DPD]
Amazonian Manatee Symposium held in
Manuas. - On October 17-18 2005, the Department of Fauna and
Fisheries (DIFAP) of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) organized a
symposium about the Amazonian manatee in the city of
Japanese and
The first relocation plan of Futenma Airstation (used
by the United States Marine Corps) to the shallow waters off Henoko
(1500m×700m) was rejected by citizen’s voting in
This new plan is smaller than the former plan, but the
conditions for the coral reefs, seagrass beds, and dugong will worsen due to
landfills in the shallow water, loud noises from the military exercise
airplanes/helicopters, and pollution from the military establishments.
The IUCN submitted recommendations to the governments
of
We strongly urge the Japanese and
Not Many Know This About Snooty the Manatee's Birth. - The recent birthday celebration for our famous manatee, Snooty, marked his 57th year
of life, and 56 of those have been spent right here in
According to a recent article by
Alice L. Luckhardt in Florida Monthly
Magazine, the Prins Valdemar, a
steel-hulled, square-rigged Danish barkentine with four masts, was sailed to
Now moored at
Our Snooty, first called Little
Snoots and later Baby Snoots, was born there 21 July 1948, and made his first
appearance in
For a time the Prins served as a civic center, but was soon declared unsafe and
demolished. Some of its remains were discovered when a causeway was under
construction in 1964, but the rest is buried beneath the American Airlines
Arena, built in 1998. But Snooty had found a real home in
Now, however, he cavorts, much as a
senior citizen manatee might cavort, in a lavish facility known as the Parker Manatee Aquarium. He is, from time to
time, accompanied by younger manatees
brought to the local facility to recuperate from wounds received in the wild. - Bubbles Greer (Source:
Manatees Appear to Approve of the
Improved Quality of the Water in
"Rarely do you hear about more
than four or five in
Valade said he is "99
percent" certain the manatees are from
The sea cows graze on lake grasses
and look for fresh water to drink along the shoreline and connecting streams
and bayous. The plants manatees eat, including Ruppia and Vallisneria,
have been returning since shell dredging in the lake was stopped in 1993, said
Martin O'Connell, an assistant professor of environmental sciences at the
During a flight over the lake on 21 July,
Carlton Dufrechou, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation,
said he counted about 30 manatees. He said he's reluctant to share information
about the manatees' increasing presence but understands that without
information, the public cannot help protect them.
In late July, two dead manatees
washed ashore near Shelter No. 2 about 1 ½ miles from
Besides collisions with recreational
boats, commercial boats are a concern as well, with the shrimping season
scheduled to start in a couple of weeks, Dufrechou said. Nets could trap the
manatees because they lack hatches to allow the large animals to escape. If the
manatees are treated well, they'll come back, Dufrechou said. "Watch them.
Appreciate them. Don't disturb them," he said.
The "unprecedented" number
of manatees creates "an intriguing possibility," Valade said. One or
more of the female manatees, which have a gestation period of 13 months, could
be pregnant and give birth in
Since the devastation of the
Anyone who sees a manatee in
UNITED
ARAB EMIRATES
Bird-Filled Wetlands to be Site of US$3.3
Billion Luxury Housing Development. - The Khor al-Beidah lagoon in Umm
Al-Quwain,
Developers say the waterfront
complex, called Umm Al-Quwain Marina, will skirt the mangroves and leave most
of the 20 square miles (50 square kilometers) of wetland untouched. "Our aim is to create a community of
special neighborhoods bordering an open stretch of water with views of the
marina against a backdrop of the gulf," says Mohammed Ali Alabbar,
chairman of Emaar, the
Environmentalists are aghast. They
fear construction and people, cars and boats will drive off Khor al-Beidah's
internationally famous wildlife, including birds that migrate from Siberia to
Africa and the rare Socotra cormorant that nests almost exclusively on the
The leaders of Umm Al-Quwain,
however, are eager to bring big projects to their emirate, which is the
least-developed of the seven states in the
Development is coming fast, though.
The deal for the lagoon complex was
signed 23 July, and a few days later developers announced Umm Al-Quwain's
desert interior would be the site for a
Bird enthusiasts are running out of
sites in the Emirates.
BirdLife International, an advocacy
group, has designated Khor al-Beidah an "important bird area" for
hosting of 85 species, including the country's largest wintering flock of crab
plovers, one of the world's rarest shorebirds. The wetlands also are stopping
place for the Emirates' only flock of Great Knots, birds that migrate from
nesting grounds on the Siberian tundra. Developing the lagoon also could
threaten endangered sea turtles and dugongs, a manatee-like sea mammal,
The marina project is meant to
resemble canal-side neighborhoods of
Status of Sirenian Bibliography Project.
– The database portions of Domning’s Bibliography
and Index of the Sirenia and Desmostylia, published in 1996 in hard-copy
form, have been migrated from a DOS-based database manager to a
Windows-compatible one (Citation 8.2™). However, I have been advised by a
consultant to migrate it further, to FileMaker Pro™, before publishing it to
the Web. Attempts to do this last year were unsuccessful, and at the moment the
project has been dead in the water for over a year, due in part to heavy and
more urgent demands on my time (which have also precluded updating the database
with the last couple of years’ worth of literature).
If this research tool is ever going to be available in
interactive form on the Internet, I am going to need the prompt assistance of
someone well versed in database software and design of a user interface –
preferably someone who can work with me in person here in
New West African Manatee Conservation
Project. - Wetlands
International (
The objectives of this West African
Manatee Conservation Project are:
· To carry out baseline surveys of the West African
manatee along the West African seaboard, complemented with a literature study;
· To develop a regional network for the conservation
management of the West African manatee;
· To promote the manatee as a flagship species for
wetlands, by virtue of the high level of interest it generates, and for its
importance in local customs and culture;
· To develop an action plan for the West African manatee
along the West African seaboard, using results of surveys and a regional
workshop;
· To raise awareness of the West African manatee and
wetlands along the West African seaboard on national and international levels;
· To develop a proposal for a second phase of the
project.
In this first phase, Wetlands
International needs to collect information (researches, conservation projects,
baseline surveys …), but also experiences in manatee conservation issues. This
information will be useful to build up a base of scientific knowledge on the West
African manatee. Wetlands International needs also contacts (international,
national, regional level) to develop a network, involved in West African manatee
conservation. This network will help us to set up appropriate conservation
measures in the selected areas.
A flyer concerning the project’s objectives
and the expected results is available at Wetlands,
Joint Action for Protecting the West African Manatee. - The West
African manatee (Trichechus
senegalensis) is the most
threatened of all manatee species, and the least studied. They are found
in coastal marine and estuarine habitats, and in fresh water river systems
along the west coast of Africa from the Senegal River south to the Kwanza River
in Angola, including areas in Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau,
Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon,
Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, D.R. of the Congo, Angola, Chad, Niger, Mali
and Burkina Faso.
The Regional Seas Programme
(www.unep.org/regionalseas) of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP-RSP), the Convention for Cooperation in Protection and Development of the
Marine and Coastal Environment (Abidjan Convention; 1984) and the Secretariat
of the Convention of Migratory Species (
This initiative follows the UNEP and
WWF joint effort in 2004 on the development of a Conservation Strategy for the
Dugong in the Western Indian Ocean region, developed within the framework of
the Eastern African Regional Seas program (Nairobi Convention) [see: Eastern African Marine Ecoregion, 2004.
Towards a Western Indian Ocean Dugong Conservation Strategy: The status of
Dugongs in the
There is no international or regional mechanism for sirenian
conservation, and populations are incoherently covered by national and local
laws and customs. The West African Manatee is protected by national law in most
countries in which it occurs, although this is often ineffective. Currently,
there is no comprehensive conservation plan for the West African manatee.
The Abidjan Convention provides the framework for the
protection and conservation of the marine and coastal resources and
environments in the West and Central African region. This activity is supported
by decision 7/5:3 of the Contracting Parties requesting the Secretariat of the
Abidjan Convention to establish new partnerships and networks, e.g. for the
conservation of migratory species of wild animals (including small cetaceans
and sirenians) and to combat invasive alien species in the marine and coastal
environment.
The
West African manatee is included in Appendix II of
Recommendation
7.3 further encourages the participation of all stakeholders, including
government agencies responsible for the conservation and management of
sirenians, as well as relevant non-governmental organizations and the
international scientific community. The
Recommendation builds upon the result of a workshop in
The
Abidjan Convention Secretariat will work collaboratively with the World
Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) in
Steps
to a strategy. National status reports will be compiled into a
comprehensive Regional Status Report, which will be used to develop a
Conservation Strategy which will include identification of threats and
recommendations for protection, including a description of the roles of the
different stakeholders involved in the protection of the West African Manatee –
UNEP, Abidjan Convention, national authorities,
A Stakeholders Meeting will be
organized to discuss the draft Regional Status report and the Conservation
Strategy. After endorsement by the stakeholders and final review by all
relevant parties, the Regional Status Report and Conservation Strategy will be
printed and published into an official publication.
The project will work closely with
the national Focal Points of the Abidjan Convention and the CMS Focal Points
and for range states which are not a Party to any of the conventions (
The project is expected to start towards the end of 2005. - Hanneke Van Lavieren (Programme Officer,
UNEP Regional Seas Programme, P.O. Box 30552, Room T-235, Nairobi, Kenya; tel.:
(254) 20 624052; fax: (254) 20 624 618; mobile: ++ (254) (0)735-267 939;
e-mail: <Hanneke.VanLavieren@unep.org>)
BOOK REVIEW
E. P. Green and F. T. Short (eds.). 2003. World Atlas of Seagrasses. Prepared by
the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
Comprising
only a dozen genera and 50+ species, marine angiosperms form a minuscule
fraction of the world’s flora, and are unimpressive to behold. Hence they get
little respect – despite constituting one of Earth’s most productive and
economically important biotopes, and one increasingly imperiled by human
activities. This book seeks to change that, by clarifying where seagrasses
live, what they do for us, and what we are doing to them.
This
handsome, well-produced volume grew out of international workshops in 1998 and
2001, and includes contributions from 58 authors in 25 countries. A synthesis
of the distribution and status of seagrasses and their habitats, it describes
their ecology, summarizes studies to date, and focuses on threatened areas and
on problems of conservation and management.
The
contents comprise a global overview of the present state of knowledge; 24
regional chapters (with references in endnotes to each chapter); and an index.
Appendices and sidebars include estimates of area of seagrass beds; species
lists for almost 180 countries and territories; a list of protected areas; case
studies on areas and habitats of concern; and numerous colored maps showing
species distribution and diversity. Other illustrations comprise small
green-and-white photographs, maps, and graphs throughout, plus six color
plates. One of the latter portrays fruits and flowers, but the poor photos
barely persuade that these are flowering plants. Seagrass inflorescences are
admittedly not much to look at, but I wish that at least the pink-and-white
blossoms of Thalassia hemprichii had
been included to do them more justice.
“Atlas”
here is meant literally. Emphasis is on where seagrasses live and how they are
faring, not taxonomy, morphology, or autecology, for which see works such as
den Hartog (1970) and Phillips and Meñez (1988). Still, for the non-botanist
like myself, interested mainly in how seagrasses interface with other
organisms, the distribution maps and well-referenced accounts of ecology will
make this a most useful resource.
It
now remains to supplement these compendia with a careful phylogenetic analysis
of this polyphyletic group, using both morphological and molecular data.
Combined with the seagrasses’ scanty fossil record, and reevaluation of their
biogeography using these updated distribution maps, this will start us toward
the reconstruction of their 100-million-year evolutionary history that this
book (p. 10) acknowledges as needed.
Literature Cited
den Hartog, C. 1970. The Seagrasses of the World. North
Holland Publishing,
Phillips, R.C., and E.G.
Meñez. 1988. Seagrasses. Smithsonian
Contributions to the Marine Sciences 34.
- Daryl P. Domning [reprinted from Quarterly
Review of Biology 80(2): 256, June 2005.]
ABSTRACTS
The following abstracts are
of papers and posters presented at the Ninth International Mammalogical
Congress,