Grasshopper

• Thus, edible insects have emerged as an important alternative source of protein for livestock production and human consumption, driving demand and boosting the growth of the edible insects market.
• Key Findings in the Global Edible Insects Market Study:
  On the basis of product, the edible insects market is segmented into whole insects, insect powder, insect meal, and insect oil.
• On the basis of insect type, the edible insects market is segmented into crickets, black soldier flies, mealworms, buffalo worms, grasshoppers, ants, silkworms, cicadas, and other edible insects.
• The Asia-Pacific edible insects market is estimated to be around USD 6 billion by 2033.

• But people killed them indiscriminately year-round – sometimes for their meat and feathers, but settlers also took turkey eggs from nests and poisoned adult turkeys to keep them from damaging crops.
• Thanks to this unregulated killing and habitat loss, by 1900 wild turkeys had disappeared from much of their historical range.
• Turkey populations gradually recovered over the 20th century, aided by regulation, conservation funding and state restoration programs.
• We are wildlife ecologists working to determine why turkey populations are shrinking in portions of their range.

Fewer open spaces

• While turkeys may appear at home in urban areas, their habitat is open forest – areas with sparse trees that allow near-full sunlight to reach herbaceous plants at ground level.
• In 1792, naturalist William Bartram described the eastern U.S. as “Grande Savane,” or big savanna, a landscape with abundant wild turkeys.
• The open spaces that are left often are not suitable for wild turkeys: They need a well-developed layer of vegetation at ground level that includes mainly wild flowers, native grasses and young shrubs and trees to provide cover for nesting and raising their young.
• Turkeys can persist in these denser, shaded forests, but they don’t reproduce as successfully, and fewer of their young survive.
• Over the past 50 years, populations of bird species that live in open forests and grasslands have fallen by more than 50%.

The roles of food, predators and hunting

• For example, blame is often placed on more abundant predators that eat turkey eggs, such as raccoons and opossums.
• But these predators probably are more abundant in part due to changes in turkey habitat.
• This suggests that prescribed fire across the wild turkey’s range creates an environment that’s more favorable for turkeys than for their predators.
• Lastly, some observers have proposed that the timing of hunting could be affecting turkey reproduction.

Creating space for turkeys

• Land owners can help by managing for native grasses and wildflowers on their property, which will provide breeding habitat for turkeys.
• We have produced podcast episodes that discuss which plants are valuable to turkeys and other wildlife, and how to promote and maintain plants that are turkey-friendly.

Marcus Lashley receives funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and Turkeys for Tomorrow. William Gulsby receives funding from the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Turkeys for Tomorrow and the National Wild Turkey Federation.

• This fate is all too common for migratory species.
• Today, we get a global glimpse of how migratory species are faring, in the first-ever stocktake produced by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.
• After all, the migratory humpback whale was headed for rapid extinction – until we stopped whaling.

Why are migratory species at higher risk?

• Some bar-tailed godwits fly 13,000 km without stopping – one of the longest known continuous migrations.
• On land, roads and fences carve up migratory routes for animals like wildebeest.
• While a few species are benefiting greatly from farming and artificial wetlands, many more are being severely harmed.

Overexploitation is the top risk

• Animals often migrate in large groups, making them an appealing target for hunting or fishing.
• Bycatch in commercial fisheries is a huge problem for sharks, turtles, mammals and birds, but it can be massively reduced with existing technology, if deployed across all fleets Overexploitation can be stopped.
• In 1981, Australia and Japan agreed to stop hunting Latham’s Snipe, a migratory shorebird that travels between the two countries.

On fences and stepping stones

• Light pollution can mess with navigation, climate change plays havoc with the timing of migration, and underwater noise pollution can confuse marine migrants.
• Even simple actions like building fences, roads and dams can disrupt migrations over land and through rivers.
• Many migratory species need stepping stones: resting sites linking up their whole migratory route.

What the report didn’t cover

• First, it only covers species listed under the UN convention, a tiny fraction of all migratory species.
• Listing unlocks stronger protections and urgently needs to be rolled out to more species.
• For instance, around 60 migratory fish species are covered – but more than 1,700 others are not.

Can we save these species?

• More than 90% of the world’s migratory birds aren’t adequately protected by national parks and other protected areas.
• Only 8% of the world’s protected land is joined up, preventing migrating animals from moving safely across their routes.
• Because of this, animals have to make daring sorties across unprotected land or sea to complete their journeys.

• Richard Fuller receives funding for migratory species research from the Australian Research Council and the National Environmental Science Program.
• Lily Bentley works on the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO; mico.eco) system, which has been previously supported by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) and UNEP-WCMC, the authors of the UN report.

• The province’s GDP is forecast to increase 2.7 per cent in 2023 and an additional 1.0 per cent in 2024.
• This year’s growth can be attributed to elevated investment in the non-residential sector of the economy, particularly in the energy sector.
• Overall, the provincial economy is expected to growth by just 1.0 per cent in 2023 and a further 0.8 per cent in 2024.
• Demand for some of the province’s key exports is also subdued, as the economies of key trading partners have decelerated.