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As mangrove forests shrink worldwide, a menagerie of specially adapted animals that depend on them are at risk, too
July 3, 2009 | 5
Aside from being a unique home for many animals, mangroves serve an important function for people, as well. Like other coastal buffers, they help shield land from storms and high seas....[More]
The mangrove terrapin ( Malaclemys terrapin ), aka the diamondback terrapin , is one of the only turtle species that can survive in brackish water and is a common coastal resident along the East Coast....[More]
Although most mangrove residents are birds and reptiles, some mammals also make their home in the tangled trees, including bats and even a sloth....[More]
Also known as the red-vented cockatoo (owing to its red under-tail feathers), the Cacatua Haematuropygia is native to the Philippine archipelago....[More]
Madagascar teals, also called Bernier's Teal ( Anas bernieri ) live only in mangrove forests along the west coast of this Indian Ocean island nation....[More]
This endangered blackbird ( Agelaius xanthomus ) doesn't live exclusively in Puerto Rico's mangrove forests—it can also make a home in pastures and seashore cliffs....[More]
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species as well? And if cognitive ability confers an evolutionary advantage, why
are humans (apparently) so unique in this trait?
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5 Comments
Add CommentWhy do articles like this quote the reactions of officials to statistics? "Alarming?" No kidding. What were you expecting him to say? "That's wonderful?" "Thank goodness we're getting rid of those pesky mangroves?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Alarming" is the political answer that is to be expected from a politician. It has no meaning. I can tell for myself that the loss of 20 percent or more of a habitat is alarming. There's nothing newsworthy in printing a statistic and the obsequiously aped concern of a politician.
Wha Ta Snoz! Move over Jimmy Durante (whoops, he has already moved under)! Attempt at humor aside, isn't this quote an understatement?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"The impact on creatures that depend on mangroves remains poorly documented."
Is this article an example of science reporting that outgoing Scientific American Editor in Chief John Rennie critiqued elsewhere at this website (see http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=future-of-science-coverage-09-07-06 )? If David Luther and Russell Greenberg aren't just publishing to beat the "publish-or-perish" dynamic of academia (or strategizing-for-funding meme), was this the best point that this paper--and the field of study it represent--has to report (I ask for I would have to pay to find out the answer myself)? Are pictures of 6 animal species (and leaving out homo sapiens) an example of science appealing to the sensibility" of feelings that I commented about at that post?
BTW, P.H. the reason for doing the quote thing is explained in a February 2001 Scientific America article on persuasion. Connecting information with an authority is persuasive (if not all that scientific). My query about the pictures, and this article itself, relates to the role scarcity plays in persuasion. Is a picture of humans not included as that such honesty is something that what is currently validated socially as persuasive (being "positive" with ones message) would be violated and this article would not be as consumable as it would be felt to be otherwise? Is this an in-house example of why science reporting is as it is in our culture?
Thank you for the beautiful photography.
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