Habitat

• SAN DIEGO, Aug. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has announced construction is officially underway on the largest and most transformative project in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park's 50-year history.
• Elephant Valley will provide guests with new insight into the role San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance pursues as a leader in wildlife conservation.
• "As magnificent as elephants are, their future is equally fragile," said Lisa Peterson, executive director, San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
• Elephant Valley is funded by thousands of generous donors and longtime San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance supporter Denny Sanford.

• These isolated ecosystems present unparalleled opportunities to study evolution, and the archipelagos of the southwest Pacific are no exception.
• So their total land area may be small, but south-west Pacific islands punch well above their weight in terms of their contributions to global biodiversity.
• Let’s meet five charismatic species you’ve probably never have heard of, but simply must get to know.

1. Black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby (Dorcopsis atrata)

• It looms more than 2,500 metres above sea level, but it’s only about 3,900 metres wide – at the widest point.
• Here among the clouds is the only place you’ll find black dorcopsis.
• Black dorcopsis often have very worn claws, suggesting they spend a great deal of time digging for truffles in the rocky soil.

2. Waigeo cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis)

Conservation status: vulnerable Distribution: Waigeo (Indonesia) Waigeo cuscus have a remarkable coat. Irregular black splotches stand out against a background of almost pure white. In young animals these contrasting colours are subdued by the presence of blackish-grey tips to the hairs. The cuscus have been photographed in the branches of fruiting fig (Ficus spp.) and breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) trees, so they have a taste for fruit.

3. Bougainville melomys (Melomys bougainville)

• Conservation status: data deficient Distribution: Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Choiseul and Mono (Solomon Islands) Pacific Island native rodents have proven vulnerable to disturbance, but thankfully Bougainville melomys seems to remain relatively common.
• An active climber, Bougainville melomys can be found tiptoeing along thin woody vines (lianas), in fruiting trees among Bismarck common cuscuses (Phalanger breviceps), or scaling the trunks of wild betel nut palms (Areca spp.).

4. Lesser sheath-tailed bat (Mosia nigrescens)

• Lesser sheath-tailed bats are alert little creatures with good eyesight.
• They rest in small groups huddled together under the cover of a palm leaf where they’re sheltered from the rain.
• Lesser sheath-tailed bats are among the first to emerge of an evening, leaving their palm tree tents while there is still plenty of twilight.

5. Palau flying-fox (Pteropus pelewensis)

• Conservation status: vulnerable Distribution: Ulithi, Yap (Federated States of Micronesia), Palau The south-west Pacific supports an incredible diversity of endemic Pteropus flying-foxes.
• Thankfully the introduction of restrictions under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species stabilised populations of the Palau fying-fox.

So much to learn

• So many unique species evolved here, on discrete areas of land separated by ocean.
• There is still much to learn about many of these mammals.

• Executives and employees from Orange County, Calif.-based loanDepot rolled up their sleeves to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity this week, helping build two homes in Santa Ana, Calif. President and CEO Frank Martell was among nearly 50 members of Team loanDepot who strapped on tool belts to help Habitat families build places to call home.
• The partnership with Habitat was sparked by loanDepot’s commitment to leaving a lasting positive impact on the places where its employees live and work.
• loanDepot’s support for Habitat complements the Company’s Ballpark Bingo Campaign with Major League Baseball, recognizing the joy and power of “firsts” in both baseball and homeownership.
• As part of the partnership, loanDepot is donating funds to Habitat during key moments throughout the MLB season.

• “Nutshimit,” which means “the interior of the land,” is Innu poet Joséphine Bacon’s favourite word because it is intimately linked to Innu identity.
• Atik, the woodland caribou, is the most important element that has helped foster links between the Innu and the land.
• As researchers, biologists (including one of Innu origin) and forestry engineers, we are at the interface of scientific and Indigenous knowledge.

The Nitassinan of Pessamit

• The Nitassinan of Pessamit is a vast territory within the boreal forest of eastern Québec.
• Logging operations are therefore concentrated in the southern portion of Nitassinan, an area approximately 60,000 km2, or twice the size of Belgium.

A changing forest landscape

• As a result, the pre-colonial landscape of Nitassinan was heavily dominated by old-growth forests.
• We can imagine a matrix of old-growth forests that formed the backdrop to the forest landscape, with patches of younger forests superimposed as a result of the passage of fire.
• Since the forest colonized Québec’s North Shore following the retreat of the glaciers, the proportion of old-growth forest has varied over time with climate fluctuation, while remaining the dominant component of the landscape.

Old but rich forests

• In fact, the absence of fire over very long periods allows forests to acquire characteristics that are absent from younger forests.
• For example, old-growth forests typically have a diversity of tree sizes and ages.

The forest is getting younger from south to north

• Since the early 1970s, Québec has periodically carried out an ecoforest inventory to obtain the knowledge necessary to plan sustainable forest management.
• Part of the data is obtained using aerial photographs of the entire forested area of southern Québec.
• These photographs are interpreted, and the boundaries of forest stands are drawn taking into account a number of variables.

Rate of cutting accelerating

• Unlike forest fires, cutting exclusively targets mature forest stands, including old growth forests.
• By comparing forest inventory data from the late 1980s with similar data from the current period (2019), we can see the decline of old growth forests south of the 50th parallel north.

Devastating consequences

• For example, the steady increase in moose and its main predator, the wolf, since the 1990s is a direct consequence of forestry operations and forest rejuvenation.
• The arrival of moose and wolves in the habitat of woodland caribou has had devastating consequences for the latter.
• This has also had a major impact on traditional Innu culture, given their age-old link with the woodland caribou.