Every year, mammals, birds, fish and insects make epic migrations between habitats. The humpback whale, famously, can travel 5,000 miles in a trip.
But because these animals cross national borders and frequently congregate at predictable way stops, they are uniquely vulnerable to human predation, pollution and habitat loss. As a result, one in five migratory species is at risk of extinction, according to a new report by the United Nations.
State of the World’s Migratory Species is a first-ever global survey focused solely on migratory species. The key findings are grim. Of the roughly 1,200 species already listed and protected under the UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), a 1979 global conservation treaty, 44 percent have declining populations. It’s even worse if you look at migratory reptiles, 70 percent of which are facing extinction, and fish, a shocking 97 percent of which are in danger of going extinct. Migratory species, a group that includes iconic animals such as Monarch butterflies, comprise a major food source for other wildlife and perform critical roles like pollination in ecosystems.
Photo: K. Grosskruetz /Wikimedia Commons I 照片:K. Grosskruetz /維基共享資源
It’s clear that humans are the primary cause of this apocalypse, said Kelly Malsch, the report’s lead author and head of the species program at the UN Environment Program’s World Conservation Monitoring Center. While these species face many barriers to health, “there were two underlying threats, overexploitation and habitat loss, that were affecting most,” she said. “This includes direct exploitation like hunting and fishing but also indirect takings through bycatch or mist nets.” (Mist nets are hard-to-detect nets used to capture birds and bats or prevent them from accessing gardens and crops.)
The report is not the first to sound the alarm about the vast wildlife-extinction crisis facing the planet. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species is perhaps the best-known inventory of all endangered species. But this is the first report solely on the status of migratory species, which face conservation challenges that require cooperation from multiple countries — the reason for creating the CMS in the first place.
The goal of the survey was not only to point to the dangers facing species but to help identify crucial habitat areas that should be a priority for protection. Just under half of sites identified as important are now subject to some level of protection, the report says, but “many critical sites for CMS-listed species are yet to be mapped.”
Photo courtesy of Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Ministry of Agriculture 照片:農業部林業及自然保育署提供
If there is a silver lining, it is that some conservation partnerships have been successful at protecting individual species. Whaling bans, for example, enabled the western South Atlantic population of humpbacks to rebound from 450 individuals in the 1950s to 27,000 by 2019, close to their pre-whaling abundance.(Bloomberg)
每年,許多哺乳動物、鳥類、魚類及昆蟲都會進行史詩般漫長艱辛的遷徙,到另一個棲息地。眾所周知,座頭鯨一次可以航行5,000 英里。
但由於這些動物的遷徙跨越國界,中途常有固定的停留聚集處,因此特別容易受到人類捕食、污染與棲息地消失的影響。聯合國新發布的報告指出,這造成了五分之一的遷徙物種瀕臨滅絕。
Photo: Lee Zi Xin / Wikimedia Commons 照片:Lee Zi Xin /維基共享資源
《全球遷徙物種現況》是首次專門針對遷徙物種的全球調查。主要的調查結果令人憂心。1979年簽署的全球保育條約《保護野生動物遷徙物種公約》所列出並保護的約1,200個物種,有44%其族群數目正在下降。更糟的是,其中爬蟲類有70%面臨滅絕,魚類則是令人震驚地有97%面臨滅絕的危險。遷徙物種包括帝王蝶等代表性動物,是其他野生動物的主要食物來源,並在生態系中發揮授粉等關鍵作用。
該報告的主要作者、聯合國環境規劃署世界保護監測中心物種計畫負責人凱利? 馬許表示,很明顯,人類是這場災難的主要原因。雖然這些物種面臨許多健康上的挑戰,但「影響最大的是過度捕撈和棲息地消失這兩個潛在威脅」,她說。「這包括狩獵及捕魚等直接獵捕,也包括混獲或霧網的間接捕獲」。(霧網是難以察覺的網,用來捕獲捉鳥類和蝙蝠,或阻止其進入花園及農作物間)。
該報告並不是第一份對野生動物所面臨巨大滅絕危機發出警示的報告。國際自然保護聯盟發布的「瀕危物種紅色名錄」或許是最著名的瀕危物種名錄。但這是第一份專門針對遷徙物種現況的報告,遷徙物種面臨的保育挑戰需要多國合作才能解決——這也是當初訂定《保護野生動物遷徙物種公約》的原因。
Photo: Pierre-Marie Epiney /Wikimedia Commons 照片:Pierre-Marie Epiney/維基共享資源
該調查的目的不僅是指出這些物種所面臨的危險,而且有助於確定應優先保護的關鍵棲息地區域。報告寫道,近一半被認定為重要的地點現在受到一定程度的保護,但「《保護野生動物遷徙物種公約》所列物種的許多關鍵地點尚未勘測出來」。
如果說還有一線希望的話,那就是一些保育夥伴在保護個別物種方面取得了成功。例如,捕鯨禁令使南大西洋西部的座頭鯨數量從1950年代的450隻增加到2019年的27,000隻,接近捕鯨活動尚未開始時的數量。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
Huge stretches of coral reef around the world are turning a ghostly white this year amid record warm ocean temperatures. On April 15, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed the world’s fourth mass global bleaching event is underway — with serious consequences for marine life and for the people and economies that rely on reefs. WHAT ARE CORALS? Corals are invertebrates that live in colonies. Their calcium carbonate secretions form hard and protective scaffolding that serves as a home to many colorful species of single-celled algae. The two organisms have evolved over millennia to work together, with corals providing shelter to algae,
Taiwanese cuisine boasts a rich culture of thick soups, with various options available at street vendors or high-end restaurants. In English, this style of dish is typically called “thick soup.” Western cuisine typically uses flour, cream, or mashed vegetables to create a creamy consistency, while in Taiwan, thick soups are made by simply incorporating food starch into the soup and creating a smooth and silky texture. Tutuo fish in thick soup is such a soup with fried tutuo fish chunks, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and wood ears. 台灣羹品飲食文化豐富,無論是巷口小店或是高檔餐廳,都有提供羹料理。羹在英文稱作「濃湯」,西式濃湯是以麵粉、鮮奶油、蔬菜泥等達到濃稠的口感,台灣的羹湯用太白粉即能做出濃稠絲滑的湯頭。土魠魚羹就是在勾芡的羹湯中加入炸土魠魚塊、香菇、竹筍、木耳等食材的料理。 boast (v.) 擁有(令人驕傲的事物) consistency (n.) 濃稠度 chunk (n.) 厚塊,大塊 wood ear (n. ph.) 木耳 The star of this
In Taiwan, a quick stop at a local convenience store allows you to grab a hot dog whenever you want. But have you ever wondered how this popular snack got its unique name and became a leading light of American cuisine? First, the name “hot dog” is actually a combination of different ideas. Vendors called the sausages “red hot” to get customers to buy one fresh off their grills. As for the “dog” part, it’s a playful joke to compare the meat of the sausage to that of a dog—specifically , a dachshund. This small, long dog breed was
A: Entertainer Mickey Huang’s #MeToo scandal has kept snowballing. B: Didn’t Huang just escape prosecution on several sexual misconduct charges due to a lack of evidence? A: He has now been accused of raping a woman identified as "Miss K." B: It’s like one trouble follows another! A: His decent “persona” in the showbiz has totally collapsed. A: 藝人黃子佼的#MeToo事件真是沒完沒了。 B: 他的性騷擾案不是因為證據不足獲得不起訴? A: 但他又被某位「K小姐」指控性侵。 B: 天啊,真是一波未平,一波又起! A: 他在娛樂圈的優質「人設」都崩壞啦。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)