Scientists at the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra, Australia, have found a turtle that does better in a suburban habitat than it does in nature reserves. Eastern long-necked turtles (Chelodina longicollis) living in the suburbs of Canberra occupy home ranges nearly three times larger than turtles in the nature reserves. They are better able to cope with periods of drought, have higher population abundances and growth rates, and at last equivalent recruitment levels.

Eastern long-necked turtles, common across much of south eastern Australia, can be found in many freshwater habitats in the wild and in towns and cities. The researchers compared turtles that lived in the suburbs of Canberra to those in adjacent nature reserves, attaching miniature radio transmitters to the turtles in each habitat and following their weekly movements over the course of a year. Both turtle populations made long journeys of up to two and a half kilometres between bodies of water. It was expected that given their extensive movements, the suburban turtles would have a high rate of encounters with vehicles on roads, and thus fewer would survive. In fact, suburban turtles did not suffer appreciably higher mortality than their counterparts on reserve lands, only one of the 36 radio tracked turtles being hit by a vehicle. Vegetated drainage lines and drainage culverts running under roads protected the turtles.

Given the severe droughts that have been affecting much of Australia, the different populations’ response to drought was also notable. Turtles in the nature reserves responded to the drying up of the wetlands by lying dormant buried under leaf litter. However, suburban turtles were able to maintain aquatic activities throughout periods of drought as suburban water bodies remained flooded. Suburban landscapes, despite their unique challenges, may therefore be higher quality habitats than nature reserves for turtles during drought. The researchers hope to further evaluate whether well-designed urban areas hold any promise as long term drought refuges for some turtle populations.

For further information, please see here.

Speaking to the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General introduced proceedings highlighting the important role wetlands have in the fight against climate change.

The Secretary General recognised how wetlands contribute to livelihoods and human well-being. Wetlands also provide ecosystem services, and are an important sink for carbon, hence play a key role in the fight against climate change.

The conservation of wetlands will play an important role in reaching the Millennium Development Goals too, he said.

Ban Ki-Moon spoke of the unsustainable way we are currently using water, and how this use is set to increase in the near future:

“Our unsustainable use of water coupled with growing demand is making it worse… …that is why the Ramsar Convention has never been more important. It enjoys global consensus. It provides technical know-how. It gives rise to guidance and support networks.”

A new report by Frontier Economics commissioned by NGOs including the RSPB and National Trust, suggests that a tidal barrage is the least cost-effective way of generating renewable energy for the UK.

The barrage could potentially supply 5% of the UK’s electricity in less than two decades, however the independent report suggests that not only will the barrage waste taxpayers’ money, but cause widespread environmental damage to 85k hectares of protected wetlands. The wetlands support numerous important species of wading birds as well as permit salmon, sea trout and sea lampreys to reach spawning grounds.

The projected costs are in the region of £15 billion, however it is thought that this figure could be much greater. This figure does not take into account the value of the ecosystem services the wetlands provide, which it is anticipated would have to be considered as part of the forthcoming legislation in the Marine Bill.

However, given the UK target of obtaining 40% of its energy from renewables by 2020, serious consideration must be given to alternative renewable energy projects.

Link to RSPB Press Release (12 June 2008)

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