Climate change

Climate change

Drought, flooding, extreme weather events, invasive species, sea-level-rise (SLR), increasing temperatures of the seas and air, run-off from pesticides and fertilizers, conversion of lands for agriculture and construction, eroding coastal regions due to habitat alteration….All of this is is the focus of the West Indian islands since the affects are much more pronounced in land areas of finite space and resources.

Tracks of 418 Tropical Cyclones reaching tropical storm strength or greater. Most activity occurred between August and October peaking in September. (Sobel, Biasutti, Camargo & Creyts, 2010)
Hurricane levels 1-5 for the years 1979-2009. (Levy et al, 2010)
Total # of tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes of categories 3-5 by year. Black line=mean # of Tropical Cyclones. The broken lines=75th & 25th % of distribution over the entire record. (Sobel, Biasutti, Camargo & Creyts, 2010)

One of the most effective programs to counter climate change in the last 30 years is a program called Participatory Mapping.  Participatory mapping is an attempt to strengthen community-driven public participation in governance and social change through the collaborative collection, validation and display of geospatial data (Degraf, 2015).  It is being used on a global scale targeting the Small Island Developing States and low-lying coastal countries (SIDS).  It involves the feedback provided from local communities as it affects their lands, cultures and livelihoods.

SIDS have a finite amount of land and resources to begin with; this results in the SIDS undergoing a much more  pronounced and retracted recovery period from negative anthropologic and weather affects such as coastal development and natural disasters.  The coastal regions are a great source of revenue for the state and livelihood for the local communities.  Any loss of the costal zone through extreme weather, erosion, and reef damage adversely affects tourism as well .

Using a data driven approach that includes local and traditional knowledge, models can be developed that address the causes and mitigations necessary to implement  solutions as they are needed.  This data is available to everyone in the process and is updated on a regular basis.  Many SIDS, some with assistance from regional/international NGOs, have plans and implementations of one model or another.  The key is including all the stakeholders that have a vested interest in the outcome.

Unfortunately, global warming is here to stay.  Finding a balance between a SIDS’s  economic growth, conservation of its fauna and the independence necessary to become  a self sufficient entity is a difficult path to chart.   We wish success to the SIDS in their pursuit of these goals.

 

Hurricane Dorian, one of the most intense storms recorded in the Bahamas, has hit Abaco Island and turned the island into a disaster zone. The results for the human inhabitants are obvious and somehow measurable. The results on ecosystems or endemic species are much more difficult to measure. See the video below to get an idea how man made climate change can lead to extreme weather events that result in total destruction. We are unaware how the population of the Abaco Island Boa, Chilabothrus exsul has suffered from this event.

 

 

 

 

 

Citations

Tolson, Peter J., and Robert W. Henderson. 1993. The Natural History of West Indian Boas. 1st ed. Taunton, Somerset, England : Excelsior, MN, USA: R & A Pub. ; Distributed in the Americas by Eric Thiss Serpent’s Tale.
Secor, Stephen M., P. J. Tolson, and R. W. Henderson. 1995. “The Natural History of West Indian Boas by P. J. Tolson; R. W. Henderson - Bookreview by: Stephen M. Secor.” Copeia 1995 (1): 254. https://doi.org/10.2307/1446832.
Losos, Jonathan B. 1990. “The Evolution of Form and Function: Morphology and Locomotor Performance in West Indian Anolis Lizards.” Evolution 44 (5): 1189. https://doi.org/10.2307/2409282.
LOSOS, JONATHAN B, and BARRY SINERVO. 1989. “THE EFFECTS OF MORPHOLOGY AND PERCH DIAMETER ON SPRINT PERFORMANCE OF ANOLIS LIZARDS.” Journal of Experimental Biology 145: 23–30.
Hedges, S. Blair, Carla A. Hass, and Linda R. Maxson. 1992. “Caribbean Biogeography: Molecular Evidence for Dispersal in West Indian Terrestrial Vertebrates.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 89: 1909–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2358899.
Murphy, John C., Alvin L. Braswell, Stevland P. Charles, Renoir J. Auguste, Gilson A. Rivas, Amaël Borzée, Richard M. Lehtinen, and Michael J. Jowers. 2019. “A New Species of Erythrolamprus from the Oceanic Island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae).” ZooKeys 817 (January): 131–57. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.817.30811.
Babtiste, April Karen, and Richard Smardon. 2012. “A Review of Wetland Use and Management of the Nariva Swamp,Trinidad.” Caribbean Geography 17 (September): 73–91.
Letsch, Wolfgang. 1986. “Haltung Und Vermehrung von Epicrates Angulifer (Cocteau Und Bibron 1840).” Elaphe 8 (3): 41–44.
Hailey, Adrian, Julia Horrocks, and Byron Wilson. 2011. “Conservation of Insular Herpetofaunas in the West Indies.” In Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 1: Conservation Biology and the Wider Caribbean, edited by Adrian Hailey, Byron Wilson, and Julia Horrocks, 1:181–95. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://brill.com/view/journals/ah/3/3/article-p181.xml.
Booth, Warren, Daniel H. Johnson, Sharon Moore, Coby Schal, and Edward L. Vargo. 2011. “Evidence for Viable, Non-Clonal but Fatherless Boa Constrictors.” Biology Letters 7 (2): 253–56. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0793.
Buden, Donald W. 2007. “Reptiles of Satawan Atoll and the Mortlock Islands, Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia.” Pacific Science 61 (3): 415–28. https://doi.org/10.2984/1534-6188(2007)61[415:ROSAAT]2.0.CO;2.
Buden, Donald W. 2015. “Reptiles of Uman District Islands (Southeastern Chuuk Lagoon and Kuop Atoll), Federated States of Micronesia.” Pacific Science 69 (2): 271–79. https://doi.org/10.2984/69.2.9.
Henderson, Robert W. 1997. “A Taxonomic Review of the Corallus Hortulanus Complex of Neotropical Tree Boas.” Caribbean Journal of Science 33 (3–4): 198–221.
Ford, Neil B., and Richard A. Seigel. 1989. “Phenotypic Plasticity in Reproductive Traits: Evidence from a Viviparous Snake.” Ecology 70 (6): 1768–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/1938110.
Henderson, Robert W., Michael J. Pauers, and Timothy J. Colston. 2013. “On the Congruence of Morphology, Trophic Ecology, and Phylogeny in Neotropical Treeboas (Squamata: Boidae: Corallus ): Morphology, Trophic Ecology, and Phylogeny in Treeboas.” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 109 (2): 466–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12052.
Dunn, R. W. 1979. “Breeding Children’s Pythons Liasis Childreni at Melbourne Zoo.” International Zoo Yearbook 19 (1): 89–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1979.tb00535.x.
Mattioli, Fabio, Claudia Gili, and Franco Andreone. 2006. “Economics of Captive Breeding Applied to the Conservation of Selected Amphibian and Reptile Species from Madagascar.” Natura 95 (2): 67–80.
Mercado, Javier, Esteban Terranova, and Jr Wunderle Joseph. 2002. “Avian Mobbing of the Puerto Rican Boa (Epicrates Inornatus).” Caribbean Journal of Science 38 (1–2): 125–26.
Schwartz, Albert, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, and Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, eds. 1996. Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz. Contributions to Herpetology, v. 12. Ithaca, N.Y.: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Thomas, Richard. 1963. “Cayman Islands Tropidophis (Reptilia, Serpentes),.” Breviora 195: 1–8.
Wagner, Philipp, Adam D. Leaché, and Matthew K. Fujita. 2014. “Description of Four New West African Forest Geckos of the Hemidactylus Fasciatus Gray, 1842 Complex, Revealed by Coalescent Species Delimitation.” Bonn Zoological Bulletin 63 (1): 1–14.
ZIEGLER, THOMAS, NORBERT RÜTZ, JOHANNES OBERREUTER, and SIMONE HOLST. 2010. “First F2 Breeding of the Quince Monitor Lizard Varanus Melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997 at the Cologne Zoo Aquarium.” Biawak 4 (3): 82–92.
Hallowell, Edward. 1860. “On a New Genus of Boidae from Cuba.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 11: 65. https://doi.org/10.2307/3231926.
BAUER, AARON M, TODD R JACKMAN, ROSS A SADLIER, and ANTHONY H WHITAKER. n.d. “Revision of the Giant Geckos of New Caledonia (Reptilia: Diplodactylidae: Rhacodactylus),” 52.
Andrews, Robin M., and Tom Mathies. 2000. “Natural History of Reptilian Development: Constraints on the Evolution of Viviparity.” BioScience 50 (3): 227. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0227:NHORDC]2.3.CO;2.
Wilson, Edward O, and Frances M Peter. 1988. Biodiversity. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10068400.
Costa, Fernando G., and Fernando Pérez-Miles. 2002. “REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF URUGUAYAN THERAPHOSIDS (ARANEAE, MYGALOMORPHAE).” Journal of Arachnology 30 (3): 571–87. https://doi.org/10.1636/0161-8202(2002)030[0571:RBOUTA]2.0.CO;2.
Duméril, A. M. C., and G. Bibron. 1841. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle compléte des Reptiles. 8th ed. Paris: Libraire Encyclopédique de Roret.
Barichivich, Jonathan, Emanuel Gloor, Philippe Peylin, Roel J W Brienen, Jochen Schöngart, Jhan Carlo Espinoza, and Kanhu C Pattnayak. 2018. “Recent Intensification of Amazon Flooding Extremes Driven by Strengthened Walker Circulation.” SCIENCE ADVANCES, 8.
Williams, R. H., D. McGee, C. W. Kinsley, D. A. Ridley, S. Hu, A. Fedorov, I. Tal, R. W. Murray, and P. B. deMenocal. 2016. “Glacial to Holocene Changes in Trans-Atlantic Saharan Dust Transport and Dust-Climate Feedbacks.” Science Advances 2 (11): e1600445–e1600445. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600445.
Lovejoy, Thomas E., and Carlos Nobre. 2018. “Amazon Tipping Point.” Science Advances 4 (2): eaat2340. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2340.
Bathiany, Sebastian, Vasilis Dakos, Marten Scheffer, and Timothy M. Lenton. 2018. “Climate Models Predict Increasing Temperature Variability in Poor Countries.” Science Advances 4 (5): eaar5809. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar5809.
Levine, Naomi M., Ke Zhang, Marcos Longo, Alessandro Baccini, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Esteban Alvarez-Dávila, et al. 2016. “Ecosystem Heterogeneity Determines the Ecological Resilience of the Amazon to Climate Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (3): 793–97. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1511344112.
Antunes, A. P., R. M. Fewster, E. M. Venticinque, C. A. Peres, T. Levi, F. Rohe, and G. H. Shepard. 2016. “Empty Forest or Empty Rivers? A Century of Commercial Hunting in Amazonia.” Science Advances 2 (10): e1600936–e1600936. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600936.
Bello, C., M. Galetti, M. A. Pizo, L. F. S. Magnago, M. F. Rocha, R. A. F. Lima, C. A. Peres, O. Ovaskainen, and P. Jordano. 2015. “Defaunation Affects Carbon Storage in Tropical Forests.” Science Advances 1 (11): e1501105–e1501105. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501105.
Ineich, Ivan. 2011. “Amphibians and Reptiles of Vanuatu (Melanesia).” In The Natural History of Santo, 187–236. Paris; Montpellier: Publications scientifiques du Museum ; IRD.
Miller, Aryeh H., Anna C. Jackson, Matthijs P. van den Burg, Charles R. Knapp, Mark E. Welch, and R. Graham Reynolds. 2019. “The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Critically Endangered Lesser Antillean Iguana ( Iguana Delicatissima ; Squamata: Iguanidae).” Mitochondrial DNA Part B 4 (2): 2479–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2019.1637789.
Coke, Rob L., Ramiro Isaza, David E. Koch, Marie A. Pellerin, and Robert P. Hunter. 2006. “PRELIMINARY SINGLE-DOSE PHARMACOKINETICS OF MARBOFLOXACIN IN BALL PYTHONS (PYTHON REGIUS).” Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 37 (1): 6–10. https://doi.org/10.1638/04-102.1.
White, Stephen D., Patrick Bourdeau, Vincent Bruet, Philip H. Kass, Lisa Tell, and Michelle G. Hawkins. 2011. “Reptiles with Dermatological Lesions: A Retrospective Study of 301 Cases at Two University Veterinary Teaching Hospitals (1992-2008): Reptiles with Dermatological Lesions.” Veterinary Dermatology 22 (2): 150–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3164.2010.00926.x.
Ruhe, Brandon, and Amy Ruhe. 2019. “First Record of the Mourning Gecko, Lepidodactylus Lugubris (Duméril & Bibron),from the Turks and Caicos Islands with Additional Observations Fromthe Bahamas.” Caribbean Herpetology, March, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.31611/ch.66.
Huchzermeyer, F. W. 2003. Crocodiles: Biology, Husbandry and Diseases. Wallingford, Oxon, UK ; Cambridge, MA: CABI Pub.
Cacciali, Pier, Norman J. Scott, Aida Luz Aquino Ortiz, Lee A. Fitzgerald, and Paul Smith. 2016. “The Reptiles of Paraguay: Literature, Distribution and an Annotated Taxonomic Checklist.” Special Publication of the Museum of Southwestern Biology 11 (11): 1–373. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/.
Hallinger, Malek J., Anja Taubert, and Carlos Hermosilla. 2020. “Occurrence of Kalicephalus, Strongyloides, and Rhabdias Nematodes as Most Common Gastrointestinal Parasites in Captive Snakes of German Households and Zoological Gardens.” Parasitology Research 119 (3): 947–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06526-0.
Wellehan, James F.X, and Cornelia I Gunkel. 2004. “Emergent Diseases in Reptiles.” Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine 13 (3): 160–74. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.saep.2004.03.006.
Reynolds, R. Graham, and Alberto R. Puente-Rolón. 2016. “Chilabothrus Strigilatus Geographical Distribution.” Herpetological Review 47 (3): 425.
“Reptiles.” 1997. International Zoo Yearbook 35 (1): 354–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1997.tb01233.x.
“REPTILES BRED IN CAPTIVITY AND MULTIPLE GENERATION BIRTHS 1995/1996.” 1998. International Zoo Yearbook 36 (1): 383–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1998.tb02915.x.
“Species of Wild Animals Bred in Captivity during 1965.” 1967. International Zoo Yearbook 7 (1): 300–356. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1967.tb00416.x.
Ettling, Jeff, and Fabian Schmidt. 2015. “Introduction to Reptile Conservation: Introduction: Reptile Conservation.” International Zoo Yearbook 49 (1): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12099.
Hailey, Adrian, and Michelle Cazabon-Mannette. 2011. “Conservation Of Herpetofauna In The Republic Of Trinidad And Tobago.” In Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 1: Conservation Biology and the Wider Caribbean, edited by Adrian Hailey, Byron S. Wilson, and Julia A. Horrocks, 183–217. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004183957.i-228.64.