Damming doesn't hurt salmon? Something is fishy, scientists say.

Darkfrog submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

Damming rivers is an environmental conundrum. On the one hand, hydroelectric power provides clean, relatively reliable energy. On the other, damming rivers can endanger fish populations ...or can it? A recent study performed on the dammed Columbia River and undammed Fraser River suggests that perhaps the smolts are all right.

Salmon travel the rivers at two points in their lives: first, they must find their way downriver to the ocean as smolts (juveniles) and second, they must find their way back upstream to the spawning grounds in the last stage of their lives

3 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: salmon Chinook salmon rivers Columbia River dams alternative energy hydroelectric power endangered species fish fish biology

Leftover logs flummox endangered sea turtles

Darkfrog submitted, created time 10 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

Yet another consequence of rainforest logging in Africa: The logs can escape, float downriver and block the beaches. What may serve as a convenient bench for human beachgoers, however, can be a fearsome barricade to leatherback sea turtles shuffling their way toward nesting sites, not to mention the hatchlings on the return trip.

It may not sound like much, but there has been a 14% drop in successful nesting attempts.

What I like about this article is that it addresses both ecological and economic issues. The logs escape all the time, making boat travel dangerous at night

3 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: sea turtles ecology logging rainforests economics beaches endangered species endangered turtles turtles marine biology rivers forestry