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An adult leopard frog. Credit: Neal Halstead, University of South Florida
Chemical Fertilizer and Herbicide Linked to Infections in Amphibians
Notes From the Biosphere in the June issue of Spirit Living, reported the link between pesticide use and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) among the world's honeybee populations. Recent research has also linked other common farm and home gardening chemicals to declining amphibian populations.
In the journal Nature, Jason Rohr of the University of South Florida (USF) and colleagues revealed that chemical pollution can increase often deadly trematode (parasitic flatworm) infections in the northern leopard frog, a declining amphibian species.
"The combination of atrazine, a widely used herbicide, and phosphate, a primary ingredient in [chemical] fertilizers, accounted for 74 percent of the variation in larval trematode abundance in the frogs," said Rohr. "These agrochemicals increase trematode infections by augmenting snail intermediate hosts--the source of trematodes that infect amphibians--and suppressing amphibian immune responses."
Like canaries used to gauge the safety of air in coal mines, amphibians are thought to be the "canaries" in our freshwater environments; reductions in their health can warn of subsequent species declines and degradation of ecosystem services. "Many chemicals can be immuno-suppressive, and standard toxicity tests used to register chemicals in the United States and Europe are conducted on isolated individuals, ignoring interactions with other species, such as their parasites. Thus, our findings are likely the tip of the iceberg for pollution-induced disease emergence in both humans and wildlife," says Rohr.
It is clear from this and the honeybee example that organic farming, gardening and lawn care practices may help to save not only these species, but contribute to supporting the overall health of our environment.
Winter is the time of year that we begin to think about the way we will garden in the Spring. Make 2009 the year you go fully organic in your yard and garden! For tips go to National Geographic's Green Guide: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/121/lawn. - Editors.
Source: National Science Foundation: www.nsf.org
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Wabanaki ash baskets are displayed outside a tent at the Native American Festival at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Photo: Ethan Andrews
Wabanaki Natives Work to Stop Asian beetle Theatening Ash Trees
Wabanaki people who include the Abanaki, Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes in Maine, are banding together with conservationists to help stop the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer. This pest is killing the ash trees that crafters of traditional splint baskets depend upon. This invasive insect arrived as a stowaway from Asia over twenty years ago. Wooden pallets of the kind used for shipping may have been the culprit.
Ash is central to an origination story of these people who are collectively known as, "the people of the dawn." According to one legend, the Wabanaki emerged from ash trees shot with arrows by Gluskap, who was their great teacher.
What native basket makers call brown ash - is actually Fraxinus nigra, or black ash. The wood's durability and flexibility make it ideally suited to basket making. When pounded, the rings of the brown ash separate into splints that can be split still further into fine strips for weaving. Black or brown ash grows on rich, moist ground or in cold, wet swamps and along the banks of streams.
The metallic green beetle has been responsible for the devastation of ash forests from Missouri to Maryland, with the most significant damage in southeastern Michigan, where it has destroyed millions of ash trees. This summer, Canadian authorities confirmed the presence of the beetle near Montreal, Quebec, a short drive from the Maine border.
Among efforts underway to save the tree species is an effort to collect ash seeds for the federal seed bank in Fort Collins, Colorado. Grassroots efforts are also underway to teach native people how to store seeds in their own freezers and the basket makers are spreading the word. The technique is less desirable, but it's offering another chance to save the ash trees.
Source: Fresh from the Woods: http://forestsformainesfuture.org
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A photograph of a clay “bundle” filled with about 300 pieces of metal and a stone axe. The object dates to 1700 and differs from religious caches previously found in Maryland. Credit: Matthew M. Palus/Archaeology in Annapolis
Eighteenth-Century African Spirit Bundle Found in Annapolis.
According to a report by John Noble Wilford in the New York TImes, archaeologists have discovered in Annapolis what they say is one of the earliest examples of traditional African religious artifacts in North America. It is a clay “bundle,” roughly the size and shape of a football, filled with about 300 pieces of metal and a stone axe, whose blade sticks out of the clay, pointing skyward.
The bundle, found in April by researchers from the University of Maryland was dated to 1700 and appears to be a direct transplant of African religion into what is now the United States. “The bundle is African in design, not African-American,” Dr. Mark P. Leone, a professor of anthropology at Maryland, said in an announcement of the discovery. “The people who made this used local materials. But their knowledge of the charms and the spirit world probably came with them directly from Africa.”
Credit: Matthew M. Palus/Archaeology in Annapolis
X-rays of the fired clay bundle’s contents revealed an abundance of lead shot, iron nails and copper pins. Metal worked in fire was widely seen as having special power, and combining these materials in compacted clay was believed to increase the power of these objects. According to Frederick Lamp, curator of African art at the Yale University Art Gallery, the practice is well documented to this day among the Mande groups, principally in what are now Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mali, and the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Benin.
Credit: Matthew M. Palus/Archaeology in Annapolis
The bundle’s most striking component, the stone axe, was especially intriguing. Dr. Lamp said this brought to mind the Yoruba and the Fon people of Benin, who considered the axe blade a symbol of Shango, their god of thunder and lightning.
The Annapolis bundle, presumably made by a recent African immigrant in the early eighteenth century, was excavated four feet below the street. The object is 10 inches high, 6 inches wide and 4 inches thick. It remains intact, although an outer wrapping, probably of leather or cloth, has decayed, leaving an impression on the clay surface.
Experts concluded that that the bundle was probably originally placed in the gutter alongside the street, in the open for all to see. At the time the street was paved with logs and sawdust and only later covered with modern surfaces which eventually buried the bundle.
Dr. Leone said the bundle’s visibility suggested “an unexpected level of public toleration” of African religion in colonial Annapolis. Interestingly, according to articles in a newspaper of the period, white people in Annapolis also engaged openly in English varieties of magic and witchcraft. Apparently, both European and African spirit practices were more acceptable then than in later periods.
Source: The New York Times www.nytimes.com
Do you have news that would be right for Notes From The Biosphere? Let us know at: editors@spiritliving.org.
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