Mangroves as carbon sinks

A new reason to care about mangroves: they are extremely important capturers of carbon. Cutting down mangroves for ports, aquaculture and coastal development releases carbon stored in mangroves, adding to our greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper published online yesterday, Donato et al. provide a much-needed analysis of the role mangroves play in carbon storage. They find that mangroves from the Indo-West Pacific hold a large amount of carbon, not only in their large tree trunks and branches, but underground in their extensive root systems. Carbon stored in the sediment of mangrove forests was found to be on average five times the amount of carbon storage in other forests (tropical, temperate and boreal). The authors find that of all the carbon released annually due to deforestation, 10% may come from mangroves despite the fact that mangroves comprise less than 1% of tropical forests.

Plants are so cool

This picture is of some chamomile seeds I planted three days ago. This is what they looked like this morning:

This is what they looked like this afternoon. They are all sprouting so fast! Similarly, these are some California wildflower seeds I planted three days ago, photo was taken this morning. You can barely see the hypocotyl of one pushing up through the soil.

And eight hours later, what do I have? A whole bunch of seedlings! Now the wait to see what species they are...

A little ditty

Here is a little song I made up, in a sort of Winnie-the-Pooh fashion (he is very fond of making up little tunes).

(Sung to the tune of "Dreidel dreidel dreidel")
Data data data
I got you out of plants
And when you're nice and analyzed,
I'll do a little dance. Hey!

Urban wildlife?

In the middle of a big city, the wildlife viewings are much fewer than they are out in THE WILD. However, the urban jungle provides different observation opportunities: wildpeople. I have had a lot of interesting wildperson sightings, usually while on the bus. For example, the other day a man sitting across from me pulled a lighter out of his pocket and kept flicking it on and off. Fortunately I was getting off soon after this started so I didn't worry too much about the possibility of becoming an arson victim. Today I am pretty sure a satanist boarded the bus with me, judging from his pentagram necklace and the evil eyed face he wore. He was not taking life lightly. Surprisingly, he was polite and let me board before him. Then of course you have the various people who obviously don't care anything about how they look or smell. These people, often mistaken for homeless people, might have legitimate jobs but do not believe in cutting their hair, washing their hair or beards, or other matters of personal hygiene. I believe these wildpeople sightings can be found on public transportation in most cities, with local flavor varying from city to city. For example, you are much more likely to observe other people begging, peeing, or shouting about the size of your rear end while taking the red line on the El in Chicago than say, taking BART in San Francisco.

Panda caretakers

This is a few weeks old, but I still can't get over it:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterwedderburn/100067202/scientists-in-panda-suits-theres-method-in-their-madness/

More zoo animals

Since I haven't been doing fieldwork lately, I'm getting my wildlife fix from the zoo--I realize that captive animals by definition are not wildlife, but they are still really awesome. Take this Chinese leopard, for example. How often have you gone to the zoo and all the animals are asleep? This guy was up close and personal, pacing (in his enclosure) just a few feet from me! I practically could have touched him, though I would have lost a few fingers in the process.Alas, I cannot have an awesome leopard as a pet, but I can have a leopard's diminutive cousin in my house! Housecats at least retain the athleticism of their wild relatives, if not the size or spots. And they are pretty cute:

I didn't go to China...

...but I DID get to see pandas! I went to the San Diego zoo for my annual homage to my favorite animal, the giant panda. I had a panda obsession as a child and it is definitely resurfacing. Last year when I saw the newest member of the San Diego clan, Yun Zi, he was just a baby and was only in the exhibit for a few hours each day. This is Yun Zi a year ago, when he was 5 months old (pictured with his mom):
And this is Yun Zi now, happily eating bamboo. He is 17 months old and is almost fully weaned from his mother--they are still in the same enclosure but he will be independent in another month.

Interestingly, China owns all pandas, even if they were born in the United States. Apparently China does not recognize US citizenship laws--because if they were human, the pandas born here would be US citizens!