Wander With Wild Things

I know, I told you I would have posts for you and they have yet to materialize.  They are in my head, I swear!

I have found it hard to write this blog -- because I care about the subject matter so much. I spend all day living and breathing this topic at work and the hugeness of the problems facing the natural world leave me often overwhelmed such that I have to flip the off switch when I walk out the office door. It's a self-preservation thing.

Then when I begin writing posts, I find I want to explain EVERYTHING carefully so it is clear and I want to make sure subjects are appropriately placed in context. The result is an entry so long, I don't think anyone would read it and I give up, daunted again.

But I still believe in the project and I hope I have not lost all of you as I try to figure this out! There is so much going on that I want to write about. There are also things going on that I won't write about. I'm not even going to try to elaborate much on the giant oil plumes spewing about the Gulf of Mexico at the moment because I have no words for either my anger or my lack of surprise.

As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill. -Helen Keller

Speaking of feathers...

I will share with you today though, some simply exquisite pieces of wildlife art that I covet with the depths of my soul. I am quite sure that I could not even afford half of one, but that does not stop me from drooling over them. Each is painted on a feather by Idaho artist Deb Otterstein. She has somehow captured the magic of these wild animals on a medium that is so fitting in its delicacy and grace. If you ever want to just buy me a present, you know, cause who wouldn't buy an extravagent present for a random internet person, you are free to mail me one of these!!

They are dedicated parents, spending as many as 20 days carefully raising their chicks after hatching. Bluebirds also exhibit what is called philopatry, where one chick may remain with the parents after fledging and help to raise the next brood of chicks in an admirable show of sibling support.

In the late 70's, these little gems were declared a rare species; their populations were demolished by a combination of several harsh winters, pesticide use to curtail fire ants, and competition from invasive species. Bluebirds require a cavity to nest in; given that they are not a woodpecker, they cannot excavate their own and thus must rely on the available holes in their territory. Non-native invaders like house sparrows and starlings will fight and even kill a bluebird to steal away a lucrative nest site and as a result, our azure native's reproductive success plummeted.

Campaigns to encourage the installation of bluebird boxes across this animal's range have resulted in a population rebound throughout much of its former habitat. Bring a smile to your backyard today by hanging one in YOUR habitat. You can build your own or order from many sources, including this deluxe edition from Amazon.com (OH! I WANT it!).  Here are some great directions on how to install it for maximum benefit to the birds.

I recently stumbled upon this post on one of my favourite blogs, Cool Green Science (although I can't keep up with it, it moves so fast!).

It hits on an important issue: most people DON'T understand why conservation is important. We, as conservationists, are not vocal enough, not clear enough, with the most vital part of the message: that the well-being of the natural world is indeed critical to human survival and well-being. No plants, no animals, no water = no people, no society. But few are getting that message.

The author, Jeff Opperman, a fellow freshwater conservation biologist, talks about several good points, stating that

Expecting nature to always pay its way, in a strict sense, would be no different than suggesting that the National Gallery should sell its most valued paintings to private collectors because the most economically efficient use of those hundreds of millions of dollars would be to reinvest them in health care or education.

And not only does the natural world provide us emotional and spiritual well-being, but it also provides us with the means to stay alive. Worldwide, people depend on natural ecosystems for jobs, food, and energy and there is often a direct relationship between the health of resources and the health of the inhabitants.

As biologists, we are behind the scenes, under the radar. We snuggle up with the Man Behind The Curtain, although he never lets us pull the control levers. We need to step into full view and in exchange, we need the populace to open their minds to the idea that man cannot live on prime time TV alone...

Looking at the picture in yesterday's post, I am reminded that the the conflict between agriculture and habitat is nothing new. Neither is the demand for people with the passion and conviction to stand in the face of the status quo.

"Ding" Darling (1876-1962) is a name most of us in wildlife biology are familiar with but one that I think the rest of society has missed out on. He was a gifted editorial artist (his cartoons grace this post), which garnered him two Pulitzers. But even more important was his skill and dedication for conservation education. He founded the National Wildlife Federation as well as the US Duck Stamp program, just to name two of his lasting legacies.

Leadership and education like his are priceless in our rapidly changing world. People are bombarded with information and MISinformation from every direction at once on a daily basis. The long term consequences are lost among the trees of the short term gain. More than ever we need voices of reason and compassion, like Darling's to cut through the noise of the everyday.

It is at once hopeful and heartbreaking that even then, over 50 years ago, Darling and others like him saw that without our natural resources, we are nothing. Without clean water and air, without the richness of our global fauna, our future is lost. Darling also understood, in a way so beautifully illustrated in the cartoon above, that conservation and economic development are NOT mutually exclusive. It's not all or nothing, either or, as the naysayers would have you believe. All it takes is some thoughtfulness, common sense, planning and a dash of love to hold on to our invaluable "natural capital" on which our lives are built.

If we can just do that, we can avoid ending up with this:

Friday Fun Fact!

Native freshwater mussels play a variety of important roles in any ecosystem, but perhaps the most important is water filtration. Mussels are filter feeders, that is, they get all of their food and oxygen from the flow over water over their internal gills, much like a fish. And they are REALLY REALLY GOOD AT IT - they can filter, on average, a gallon of water every hour. Observe a simple demonstration set up streamside:

Two small tanks filled with water from the stream in the background. Sediment has been stirred up, as would occur with stormwater flow or someone walking or driving across a stream. The tank on the right has about a dozen native mussels, the one on the left has nothing but water and substrate.



Elapsed time: 10 minutes



20 minutes



30 minutes



35 minutes



The difference is pretty dramatic. These animals are helping to keep your water clean by feeding on algae and bacteria that I'd prefer NOT to be in my glass of water! How effective are they in a large body of water? Take Chesapeake Bay for example: before we buggered it up, that particular gigantic estuary was FULL of oysters, a mussel relative, also a filter feeder. Those oysters kept that water crystal clear, filtering every single drop about every 2 days. In the whole estuary. Just to give you an idea, that's about 19 trillion gallons of water in that particular bay. 19,000,000,000,000 gallons. More than we can comprehend. In two days.

However, there is limit to their "mad filtering skillz." If the water has any toxic chemicals in it (for example, mussels are VERY sensitive to chlorine and ammonia, both commonly found in wastewater outfalls draining into streams and rivers), they cannot survive and typically, fatal levels of these chemicals are far lower than water quality standards set by states. Also, sediment can quickly smother a mussel if the source is ongoing. Think of it this way: if you make a cup of coffee and it has a few grounds in it, you will probably still drink it. However, if it's chockablock full of grounds, you will clam up (haha) and abstain. Same thing for mussels: they can filter out small amounts of sediment but if there is too much, they will be unable to breathe and they will die. Yet another reason to control sediment input into water, which I discussed here.

A new study reported at National Geographic News shows that inhaling polluted air (like that normally encountered in cities, that grey haze we have all witnessed) can mutate your DNA in as little as 3 days. This can lead to cancer and other respiratory and cardiac problems.

Awesome.

You could just hold your breath. But then, chances are, asphyxiation will take a lot less than 3 days. So, breathe we must then.

Folic acid (vitamin B9, found in leafy vegetables such as spinach, turnip greens, lettuces, dried/fresh beans and peas, fortified cereal products, sunflower seeds and certain other fruits and vegetable) has promise, showing that it slows down the damage done by pollutants, so keep that one in your diet.

More importantly, we need to put our foot down and demand that air pollution is reduced. Less driving, stricter emissions rules, cleaner energy sources -- be noisy and be noisy often. It is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, so you, wanderers, need to squeak at your elected officials in counties, cities, states, and in Washington to make these issues a priority.

So who knows what the #1 pollutant in the US is?

I'll give you a hint:





Figured it out yet?

Yep, it's sediment. Dirt. Earth. Soil. Mud. Whatever you want to call it, it is carried by runoff and pulled from banks by erosion and our streams are FULL of it.

But, you say, dirt is part of nature, that's no pollutant! Well, you know the saying, "all things in moderation?" Well, that applies to ecology too.

Because of a variety of factors that have to do with channel shape, current speed, and stream path, a running body of water has a limit to the amount of sediment it can carry and move without becoming overloaded. Each stream, therefore, does have the ability to clear sediment out by carrying it and depositing it either along the bottom, on a bank or bar, or at its mouth. Likewise, the animals that live in the stream, mussels, fish, bugs, etc, each have their own tolerance to limited amounts of sediment for short periods of time.

It's when those tolerances are exceeded that this sediment becomes, in fact, a pollutant. When streams are frequently running muddy, when the bottom is nothing more than shifting mud or unconsolidated sand, when the banks are cut by erosion, dumping their clay into the water itself, problems abound.

Sediment smothers mussels so they cannot feed or breathe. Fish gills get clogged so the fish can no longer absorb oxygen. Many fish also rely on their excellent eyesight to find food; in muddy water, they are hungry and helpless. By blocking light, sediment also suffocates plant life beneath the surface that may be vital to fish and insect life. When all of this happens, it is an ecosystem in chaos and it also means the water supply is in trouble.

I mentioned that this sediment can come from bank erosion -- this erosion is often caused by a stream trying to channel more water than it is built for. This is usually due to our compulsion to pave and cover everything we can. Every square inch of ground we pave or harden with a rooftop is one less square inch that can absorb water. Thus, every drop of water that hits there will become runoff and we all have seen what a powerful force runoff can be.

In developed areas, most of the time, runoff is channeled into storm drains. Which usually then lead directly to a stream or other body of water, they ARE NOT filtered or cleaned in any way. This water also usually enters the stream at a single point -- it's like turning a fire hose on and blasting sediment right off of the banks, that's what kind of power this water has, especially during rain events. I remind you again, streams are your water supply, so anything you dump down that storm drain, you are effectively pouring into your glass of water. Sediment often enters the water supply here, running off from construction sites and yards. Most counties do have regulations about sediment control on construction sites, but the problem is that, even if these regulations are enforced (the enforcers are often far too few), the conventional technologies they require (silt fences, stormwater ponds) are very ineffective.

If you see a stream choked with sediment, especially if it is not raining, you can and should notify your county and notify your state water quality agency. A simple Google search can direct you right to them. Notice silt fences around a construction site are collapsed or leaking mud everywhere? Call and report it to your county, contractors and developers ARE required by law to maintain those. You have a right to clean water, wanderers, and it is up to each of us to stand up for that!

Drugs. Good for you (and by this, I do NOT mean "recreational medication"). But bad for you.

Eh?

They are good for you when prescribed by your doctor and taken to address medical problems. Bad for you when you ingest someone ELSE'S drugs via your faucet.

You heard me right.

There are two ways for drugs to get into water. (1) The human body is obviously not 100% efficient at processing stuff. So some of whatever medication you might be taking comes out when you pee (I could say this more delicately, but what the hell for, everybody pees, right?) and goes into the wastewater system. (2) A common disposal method for leftover drugs is to flush them. And they then go into the wastewater system.

Problem: wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove the pharmaceuticals from the water, so most of the time, they go straight through and end up back in the stream, which is your drinking water source. And just in case you are thinking, "Oh well, too bad for the person downstream" -- that is exactly what the person upstream from YOU is thinking!

So, now we've got drinking water full of hormones (from birth control), anti-depressants, steroids, whatever else people take. This is already causing real changes in the aquatic community. A recent study at NC State University placed native freshwater mussels in the stream below the wastewater outfall of a very ritzy Raleigh suburb. Turns out that water was chock-a-block full of fluoxetine (the active ingredient in Prozac -- I guess money can't buy happiness after all) and this caused the mussels to prematurely abort young and the young to suffer stunted growth rates and death.

"So what?" you say -- "I'm not a fish or a mussel." Well, what is going on here is that these substances are causing changes in reproductive and nervous systems and developmental problems. And you can bet that that can occur in people too. It's just that we are bigger and so will require bigger doses. But if we are constantly exposed, we may be able to build up those doses over time.

"Crap," you think, "this blog always scares me, I'm not reading this anymore." BUT, the point is that you can DO something about it. Ok, I'm not saying never pee, because obviously that would be a whole lot worse a lot faster than any drugs will be! But, you can dispose of your leftover prescriptions in a better way. Remove them from their bottle and mix them up with food scraps or put them in your grease jar so they cannot be stolen and reused from the trash. NEVER flush or pour down the sink.

Also, (and here's that annoying "BE HEARD" part again) contact your local wastewater authority and TELL THEM that they need to be finding out how to remove these substances from our drinking water because you do not like being dosed without your knowledge! You DO have power over your elected officials because YOU can get them voted out of office. They are supposed to be protecting your interests and making sure you have a clean, safe place to live and that includes having clean, safe water to drink and cook with!

Look at this -- a Friday Fun Fact on Friday!!! Small miracles happen every day.

Today's "wow" factor comes from the sea otter, a charming little mammal that inhabits the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of California, Alaska, and Siberia. Otters have the thickest fur of any animal in the world and rely solely on that fur for insulation in the chilly aquatic home. They have no blubber beneath their skin, so if that fur becomes slicked down by oil or other contaminants, the unlucky otters will quickly die of exposure.

Otters are the largest members of the weasel family, weighing in between 45-65 lbs in their southern range, but reaching a whopping 100 lbs in the northern reaches of their territory. They also have the distinction of being the only other mammals besides primates to routinely use tools -- I'm sure we all were charmed growing up by footage of sea otters lying on their back in the water, cracking open tasty abalone with rocks.

So this Friday, take a minute to appreciate these fascinating furry beasts -- they are a crucial part of the coastal ecosystem and are still threatened after being driven nearly to extinction by pelt-hunting two hundred years ago. They are constantly at risk from oil slicks and entanglement in nets and fishing gear, so we need to do our best to ensure that the probability of otter encounters with these risks are minimized. They do fall under the jurisdiction of the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, which also shelters whales and dolphins. You can help them by adopting an otter through Defenders of Wildlife. You can also learn more and take action throuhg The Otter Project and at Otternet.com.

Compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs): great for saving energy and last much longer than conventional lightbulbs. By all means, buy them and use them in the place of the old incandescent bulbs. They even have great natural light now, no more harsh florescent glare.

But.



All CFLs contain mercury, which we all know is bad to release into the environment. It is toxic to humans and animals -- put in landfills, it leaches through the soil into groundwater and you drink it. Once it's in the water, it is also bioavailable to fish and, through the food web, is integrated into their tissues, so when you eat them, you get an extra dose of "quicksilver." Mmmm-mmmm, mercury! Well, crap, you say, what the heck am I supposed to do with the stupid things if they burn out or break then?!

Green Guardian is a great start for any questions on how to dispose of pretty much anything you can think of -- for CFLs, just click on "florescent bulbs" in the dropdown list. Your county will also have an answer for you.

And just in case you're feeling particularly lazy (hey, I don't like working too hard either, you never know when it might kill you!), I've got some ready options for you right here!

(1) Home Depot has a nationwide CFL recycling program, just drop 'em off
(2) Check your local Ace Hardware, availability may vary.
(3) My favourite because you don't even have to leave home: Waste Management's LampTracker program -- they send you cartons, you pack up your bulbs and just mail them back. Think of it as Netflix for CFL's!

So sorry, so sorry for my lapse in posting. Travels, work, they all get in the way of what SHOULD be the most important part of my life -- entertaining YOU!

So back on the 9th of February, I believe I promised you how we could solve a few of the ills of parking lots and their rather catastrophic levels of runoff. Well, look no further, wanderers, for the answer is a simple one: use smart design to let nature do all the work for you for free!

The concept is very simple, as shown by this diagram.



You dig a hole. Install a pipe that is an underdrain for excess. Dump in some gravel, some nice sandy/loamy stuff on top of that that drains well. Then plant some native plants that like living in soggy places. Voila! Lovely stormwater control that filters AND drains water far better and much more prettily than any conventional engineered solution!

We are all used to the stupid useless landscaped islands that are standard issue for parking lots -- some pine straw or mulch with a thirsty looking tree or some scruffy bushes sitting there. They are usually elevated above the lot surface and mounded so that little if any water is actually absorbed by plants and soil. Each one a collassal waste of time and money.

You can easily and cheaply install a raingarden in the place of each of these during initial construction or retrofit later. Key elements: (1) The elevation of the soil surface must be slightly lower than the lot itself. (2) Vegetation must be appropriate for wet environments so it doesn't drown. (3) Curbs must be notched to allow water entry into each patch of raingarden. To the right is a great example of parking lot application.

So why aren't these already all over the place if they are so easy?? Simple: developers and engineers seem to be rabidly afraid of change, even when it saves them money and looks better. The train of thought appears to be that the way things must be done is the way they have been done for the past 30 or 40 years. But you don't have to stand for this. Call or email your local government, city planner, county commissioner and ask that these raingardens be required in all new development. They are an effective and beautiful addition to residential lots too; you can easily add one to your own yard, let your creativity run wild and set an example for your community. Wouldn't you love to have this beautiful garden in your yard? I sure would!

The week begins again and my brain already has its gears grinding in neutral. I have been wanting to start a feature on here inspired by Fugly Horse of the Day's "Friday Featured Rescue" spot, only instead of torturously charming rescue prospects, I offer you Friday Fun Facts. However, since I have a fun fact now and it's Monday, I don't care and I'm going to give it to you anyway!

One inch of rain falling on one acre of native, forested land produces zero runoff. That water is absorbed into the soil and vegetation where it is filtered and returned to groundwater and streams until it evaporated by a plant or sucked up by you to drink (after being treated with your stunning new UV filtration system, of course!).

One inch of rain falling on one acre of concrete produces a little over 27,000 gallons of runoff. Just stop for a second and think about how much water that is: 102,206 one liter water bottles all dumped out at the same time. 772 bathtubs full of water all getting the plug pulled at once. That's a crapload of water, folks!! In many cases, this is funneled into storm drains which then drain directly into streams (no, they do NOT, in most cases, connect to the sewer system). This water carries with it all the chemicals, sediments, and other pollutants it has picked up as it flows across the concrete, including copper from brake pad dust, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's, a carcinogen) from exhaust, oils and antifreeze from leaks, pesticides from yards, etc. All these goodies shoot straight into your water supply completely unfiltered along with a massive quantity of water that is guaranteed to erode the banks off of whatever unlucky stream is its recipient, unleashing a whole host of new problems that will need their own post!

Moral of the story: concrete BAD, native vegetation GOOD (note, fescue grass is NOT native vegetation). Planted swales along street sides GOOD, curb and gutter BAD (we will explore that more in the future as well). Forests GOOD, shopping malls, big box stores, and ginormous parking lots with no opportunities for soil infiltration BAD.

Obviously, much as I desire it, we cannot get rid of all the parking lots and warehouse-sized buildings in the world. Sigh. But we can make them MUCH more functional and MUCH less damaging. It's all about good design. And you'll just have to stay tuned until the next post to find out!

Here's a hint until next time:

…yet you should pause before you drink.

I have about 412 water-related issues I want to address, but today, prompted by a friend’s helpful tip on Facebook, I want to talk about water treatment, i.e. the process of making streamwater (yup, this is where all your drinking water comes from) into the tapwater that you drink (bottled water included since it is just water that came out of a tap somewhere else, another topic for another day).

By my count, there are basically four ways to treat your water.
(1) Municipal water treatment done at plants off your property.
(2) If you have a well, a filtration system coming into your house
(3) Sink mounted filters
(4) Pitcher filters

We will be discussing primarily option 1. Ok, we won’t really be discussing it, I will just be telling you about it!

Today, probably 99% of municipalies (towns, counties, cities) use chlorine in combination with mechanical filtration to treat their water. Chlorine sucks and I will tell you why.


(1) It is an archaic method of treating water. We are using technology that originated over 150 years ago, even though there are cleaner, safer, and more cost-efficient options out there.
(2) Chlorine is a toxic gas. It causes choking, vomiting, lung damage, and at high enough concentrations, death. Yummy.
(3) When you put chlorine in water (i.e. water treatment), it breaks down into byproducts including trihalomethanes (THMs) which are carcinogenic and can cause spontaneous abortion. Other byproducts, bromate, chlorite, and haloacetic acids increase cases of bladder and rectal cancer (boy, doesn’t that sound fun!), can cause anemia in children, degrade nervous system function in adults, and create kidney and liver problems. Double yummy!
(4) Chlorine is toxic to aquatic life, so when chlorinated water runs out of wastewater treatment plants into streams (which it generally does), the critters living in that stream go belly up – fish, mussels, snails, insects, crayfish, it’s a little holocaust.
(5) Over time, chlorine produces a buildup in water lines that clogs and damages pipes. Guess how this is usually addressed? Flush super-high concentrations of more chlorine through it!

This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s enough for me to say I don’t want this crap anywhere near my water and neither should anyone who wants to avoid lovely experiences like vomiting, loss of nerve function, and ass cancer. In addition, numerous studies have shown that chlorine is not very effective at destroying viruses and of course does NOTHING for pharmaceuticals (oh, you wouldn’t believe what kinds of drugs you’re drinking, wastewater treatment does NOT remove them from water), heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs – hint, things you don’t want to ingest). So the only thing it really is doing (in a piss-poor way) is killing bacteria.

Shrieking in horror, you are now calling your city hall and demanding to know why they are trying to kill you with water (Yeah!!! Way to take action!!!). However, in order to be taken seriously, you must present a viable option. Happily, you have a GREAT one to offer!


Ultraviolet light. UV treatment is slowly building momentum in the wastewater treatment field and is more and more often used to treat well water on-property. Pretty sad considering the technology has been around at least 50 years and is very well-documented. The way it works: multiple UV tubes (think florescent office lights) emitting a specialized frequency are enclosed in sleeves. Water is pumped through the sleeves so that everything is exposed to the light and bacteria and viruses are effectively wiped out. Their DNA is scrambled and all hope for them is lost. You do a happy dance.

Now, in order for this to work, the water must be clear and free of sediments so the light can penetrate it and reach all the nasty bits, so pre-filtration through some kind of mechanical filter is usually required. Installation costs are relatively low and any gaps are rapidly closing because since the ‘70’s, rising energy costs (producing chlorine is VERY energy intensive), freight costs and safety issues have bumped up the price of chlorine steadily. Other reasons UV rocks:
(1) No chemicals are put in the water or used during production = no chemical safety hazard. No byproducts, no associated health risks.
(2) Treatment occurs VERY quickly, almost instantaneously, no soaking or retention time is required, so efficiency is increased.
(3) No wildlife kills, unless you count bacteria as wildlife and well, sorry bacteria, I don’t want to drink you.
(4) Not only do you take out bacteria, but you also take out viruses, molds, yeasts, fungi, nematode (worm) eggs, and algae. Yes, all things that are highly undesirable to find in one’s water glass.
(5) No extra cost whether you treat 10 gallons or 10,000 gallons.
(6) It doesn’t stink or taste bad.

I know which one I vote for! So, wanderers, let your city officials know! The facts are out there and if you need more information, just google “UV water treatment” and a wealth of knowledge and reliable cited research is at your fingertips. Push hard and don’t let lazy municipalities with engineers stuck in the dark ages slowly poison you because change is so harrrrrdddddd! Call them up and give them the kick in the ass they need!