Sara Handrigan

❗What can you do to help tackle invasive non-native species? If you see something you think may be a non-native species, take photos at different angles and send them to the iRecord website⬇️ https://bit.ly/3K11whY The sooner we know about a non-native species’ arrival, the sooner we can take action. Once established, aquatic non-native species can be extremely difficult to eradicate. By having current information about the locations of non-native species, we can evaluate our success in reducing their introduction, spread and impact. By understanding where non-native species are and which areas are vulnerable, we can better focus mitigation efforts. See it, Snap it, Report it! #InvasiveSpeciesWeek #INNSweek @InvasiveSp

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Hunting seasons vary by state and species and are subject to regulations, but fall is a popular time for this activity. While some people oppose hunting, this activity can help conservation in different ways. "Some people don't see us hunters as conservationists, but the reality is that we are essential to conservation," said Eddy Corona, a hunter, conservationist, and outdoor enthusiast from Arizona. Watch this video to learn more about the impact of hunters and anglers on Arizona conservation efforts. #Hunting #Huntingseason #outdoors #conservation #Latinos4conservation

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Grant opportunity! People's Trust for Endangered Species will be accepting applications for Conservation Insight Grants until 25 August, 2024! These grants are for projects focusing on endangered species for up to two years. They offer funds between £3,000 and £10,000 per annum up to a maximum total of £20,000. Successful projects will seek to: 🔎 Find critical scientific evidence to facilitate species conservation; ❓ Provide the answer to a key conservation question, enabling conservationists to undertake critical conservation action; 👉 Work towards implementing a key local action that will have a positive impact for an endangered species. Grant requests are only accepted from applicants already working and established in any country NOT classified by the World Bank as high-income, and in the UK or UK overseas territories. More details here: https://lnkd.in/edifZAkJ #Conservation #Funding #Grants

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Everyday I'm rustlin' 🍂 But not all deciduous trees drop their leaves. Species like beech (Fagus spp.), oaks (Quercus spp.), and Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) tend to keep their dead leaves through winter, sometimes into the spring. This is called marcescence and it's a bit of a mystery. Typically deciduous species lose their leaves to conserve energy by creating an abscission layer between the base of the leaf and the twig. This layer seals off the leaf from the twig and allows the leaves to fall away harmlessly. In some species, this abscission layer doesn't get activated until the spring, so their leaves wither and turn brown without falling off from the tree. This may happen because: 🍂 Once the leaves fall in the spring, they provide nutrients to the tree during the growing season that may have otherwise blown away. This is particularly helpful for sites that are nutrient-poor or dry 🍂 The presence of marcescent leaves deter grazing wildlife from eating the nutrient-rich twigs 🍂 A rapid blast of frost can disrupt the leaf drop process Whatever the reason, we're grateful for the beautiful backdrop these leaves add to the winter landscape. Image: American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) leaves in the Don Valley attached to a twig

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Species highlight: Tamarack, our native deciduous conifer. While not impossible, the combination of a species that’s both deciduous and coniferous is uncommon. Luckily, we have the native Tamarack (Larix laricina) that checks these boxes. To spot it, look for clusters of 10-20 short, soft needles that are flat and blunt tipped. These grow all along the branch, and tufts can sometimes be found on the trunk. As a deciduous species, the needles will turn yellow every autumn before falling off. In the spring, a new set of needles will emerge from the nubs. As a coniferous tree, the Tamarack has cones that are around the size of a fingernail and resemble woody flowers with straight, rounded scales. It’s a charming feature of this species! Tamaracks grow in every province and territory in Canada. In the city, you can find them in parks and ravines. So, explore your community and see if you can spot this species, and we'll catch you later for more Toronto Trees. Descriptive transcript: City of Toronto staff, Lam, is outdoors on a cloudy afternoon in Toronto. She is speaking into a portable microphone while pointing out details of Tamarack trees in Toronto, including the needles and cones.

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🌍🌿 Fonseca Species Conservation Fund: Call for Proposals 🐢🐒 📣 The Fonseca Species Conservation Fund is now accepting proposals for amphibians, freshwater fish, primates, small mammals, and tortoises and freshwater turtles in Africa and the Indian Ocean! Re:Wild and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) launch this fund to support early-career conservationists from GEF-recipient countries.First Request for Proposals Now Live! 🌍 Region: Africa and the Indian Ocean 📅 Deadline: 19 July 2024: https://lnkd.in/eUN93YpS Requests for proposals will open for Asia-Pacific later in 2024, and the Americas in early 2025. Please share! 🔍 About the Fund: Established in 2024, the FSCF honours Gustavo Fonseca's legacy, providing grants up to $25,000 for species conservation projects in GEF-recipient countries. The fund leverages IUCN expertise to ensure priority projects receive support. #Conservation #Wildlife #GEF #Rewild #Biodiversity #FonsecaFund #EarlyCareerConservationists #AfricanWildlife #IndianOceanSpecies

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ICYMI: The latest issue of our newsletter is out! ✔️Download a free copy using the link below 👉 https://bit.ly/460EnpY Don’t forget to share. #NCF #Newsletter #Nature #Conservation

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Biodiversity target habitat – Native Hedgerows Hedgerows are generally made up of 80% native woody species. Hedgerows can support hundreds of species of plants and animals, especially if they are maintained in a sympathetic way. They form a valuable nesting and food resource for a variety of birds and small mammals. They also act as a significant connectivity highway for numerous species including invertebrates, reptiles, mammals and birds to help them move freely and keep populations healthy. #NationalTreeWeek More on our target habitats and species - https://ow.ly/xfOF50UeX2H

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It’s #FocalSpeciesFriday! 🌿🐾 Spotlight on Mule Deer: Nature's Wildfire Mitigators 🔥🌲 Mule deer play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and reducing wildfire risks. These remarkable animals contribute to natural fuel management through their grazing habits, which help control vegetation growth and reduce the accumulation of flammable plant material. Why Mule Deer Matter: 🔹Vegetation Management: Mule deer primarily feed on shrubs, grasses, and forbs. By grazing on these plants, they help keep vegetation levels in check, naturally reducing potential wildfire fuel. 🔹Ecosystem Health: Their grazing promotes plant diversity and prevents any single species from becoming overly dominant. This balance supports a more resilient and healthier ecosystem, better equipped to withstand and recover from fires. 🔹Habitat Creation: Mule deer browsing creates more open spaces within forests and grasslands. These open areas act as natural firebreaks, slowing the spread of wildfires and providing safe zones for other wildlife. Protecting mule deer and their habitats is essential not only for biodiversity but also for our efforts in wildfire prevention. By preserving these keystone species, we can harness nature’s own tools to manage fire risks more effectively. Learn more about the vital role of mule deer in wildfire risk reduction and how we can support their conservation: https://lnkd.in/eCbubTuu #WildfirePrevention #MuleDeer #EcosystemManagement #NaturalFirebreaks #Biodiversity #WildlifeConservation #EnvironmentalScience #NatureKnowsBest

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It's Impact Friday! The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) has introduced scat detection dogs as a tool in their conservation research efforts, particularly in studying cheetah populations. Scat detection dogs allow researchers to do non-invasively monitoring of cheetah populations. By locating and collecting scat samples, researchers can gather valuable data without directly interfering with the animals. Furthermore, scat dogs can cover large areas more efficiently than human researchers, making them valuable for conducting population surveys. This helps in estimating population size and distribution, which is crucial for conservation planning. For CCF, the introduction of these scat detection dogs in early 2000s has been instrumental in growing their engagement with local communities in conservation efforts by providing evidence that the cheetah was not the cause for the loss of their livestock. This helped CCF maintain an open dialogue with the local community about the cheetah and it's importance to their shared environment. Findings helped CCF in facilitating education and awareness about cheetah conservation and the importance of wildlife preservation. Want to learn more abut scat detection, go here: https://lnkd.in/eU69e3aQ Picture: Dr. Laurie Marker with their first scat detection dog - Finn, in 2009. #ImpactFriday

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New Species Profiles | Interested in learning more about a specific invasive species? Our meet the species page continues to expand with new profiles such as goutweed, Eurasian ruffe, and chestnut blight. https://bit.ly/3WNjT0M

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How well do you know your forage? Check out the publication below for more information on evaluation forages when it comes to horses. https://lnkd.in/gAg5ciXk Authored by: Drs. Zoller, Huseman, and Corriher-Olson

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There are 4 principles of #soilhealth. Can you name them?? The USDA's National Resources Conservation Service has put together this awesome page to help you: https://buff.ly/3JKCch7 #soilhealth #soilhealth101 #agronomy

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Don't miss VIEW Executive Director, Dr. Deborah McCauley, as she interviews with Soledad O'Brien on Matter of Fact. They discuss the alarming spread of bird flu (avian influenza), which has been devastating bird populations since 2022 and has now been detected in humans. Dr. McCauley sheds light on how diseases can transfer between wildlife and livestock, domestic animals, and humans. She emphasizes the importance of rigorous research, surveillance, and testing to understand and mitigate these disease dynamics. Learning from the lessons of COVID-19, it is crucial to understand animal-to-human disease dynamics to prevent future pandemics. Watch the interview to learn more about this crucial issue: https://lnkd.in/gysTChyT VIEW's mission is to protect endangered wildlife by addressing health threats, including disease. We are currently working on improving disease surveillance through the development of our Wildlife Health Information System (WHIS), an electronic health surveillance platform that tracks and shares wildlife health data. This system can help understand diseases like bird flu and provide a deeper understanding of disease dynamics. To learn more about WHIS, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/gRFmWV4 #VIEW #wildlifehealth #diseasesurveillance #matteroffact #wildlifeveternarian #avianflu #birdflu #conservation #wildlifeconservation #soledadobrien

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It's Impact Friday! Many endangered and vulnerable species have studbooks to coordinate management conservation efforts. Dr. Laurie Marker is the Studbook Keeper for the International Cheetah Studbook and has been publishing a revision studbook since 1988. What is the studbook? It is a registry of the captive individuals of a species and is a useful tool to assist in population management. The International Cheetah Studbook has the purpose to register “all cheetahs in the world held in both zoological and private facilities and providing information about existing animals by publishing the studbook contents thus creating the preconditions for selecting breeding animals.” Managers of facilities that house cheetahs use the studbook to optimize breeding efforts by ensuring that cheetahs paired for breeding are not related. Cheetahs are a species that are already genetically compromised, therefore understanding their captive pedigree is important for appropriate breeding and to prevent inbreeding. Cheetahs, like humans, receive two copies of their genes from their parents – one from their mother and the other from their father. With closing monitoring, we avoid that the breeding of cheetahs results in miscarriages, or death of cubs shortly after birth. In other instances, the result could be debilitating diseases that may cause death at a later stage, reduced quality of life, or sterility. As such, it is important to ensure that cheetah that are paired for breeding is not closely related. The captive population is important to the species as a whole – it is a genetic backup for the wild population. It promotes genetic integrity within captive populations, supports scientific research, informs conservation planning, and fosters collaboration across the global conservation community, ultimately contributing to the overall goal of ensuring a sustainable future for cheetahs in the wild. More on the topic here: https://lnkd.in/eReUpp86 #ImpactFriday #Cheetah

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