Good news for this last 2007. Not a single Iberian lynx were killed this year on Doñana’s roads, in contrast to the five killed last year. This is no doubt much due to the 27 km of special fencing to prevent the lynx from crossing the road (El Mundo). Also the first lynx (a male) taken from Sierra Morena has been released in Doñana to improve the population genetic viability. (Terra)
Hi everybody, hope you’re all having a great festive season. You may have noticed that Iberianature has been up and down over the last few days. This is because it has moved. Apologies for any inconvenience and have a Merry Christmas and New Year
Nick
Excellent post from Steve on the forum “Some 5.5 million years ago the force of Africa colliding with Europe, closed the straits of Gibraltar, sealing off the Med, which then evaporated over 2000 years. The straits were then breached by the Atlantic and the basin filled up again over 100 years. This happened many times and resulted in massive salt accumulations. The Nile and Rhone created deep canyons as they cut down to the deep desert basin than had once been the Med” Read complete post Also watch this video.
I came across this remarkable event while reading about Barcelona in the Civil War
The “aurora borealis” is a luminescent meteor, a phenomenon that frequently happens in areas close to the North Pole and which can also be seen in rather exceptional circumstances in regions of Central Europe. So the aurora borealis that could quite clearly be seen from the Pyrenees, and even from the top of the Tibidabo hill in Barcelona, on the 25th of January 1938, was an absolutely unusual occurrence. It was in fact a unique experience. There are no known accounts of any other event of that kind at such meridional latitudes. Furthermore, the phenomenon took place in the midst of war, thus causing terrible confusion and shock among the soldiers who were fighting on the Aragonese front.
From THE REPUBLICAN YEARS (www.bcn.es) by J. Fabre, J.M. Huertas and. Pradas
The La Palma Giant Lizard (Gallotia auaritae) has remarkably been rediscovered on the Island of La Palma. The photo of a male was taken by Canarian reptile expert José Antonio Mateo, who notes that it is probably an animal in dispersion, from a population some 500-1000m away. The task is now to find it. El Mundo
Wikipedia notes (written prior to this news) “Its decline started 2000 years ago with the arrival of humans on La Palma. It appears to have become extinct in the last 500 years. The main causes of extinction appear to have been introduced cats, consumption by people, and habitat destruction for agriculture. Although the species is believed to be extinct, there is a small chance that it could be rediscovered in a remote or inaccessible location. This happened with other giant lizards of the Canary Islands, like the El Hierro and La Gomera Giant Lizards (rediscovered 1974 and 1999, respectively); the somewhat smaller Tenerife Speckled Lizard was only discovered for the first time in 1996. ”
More here on the species from Wikipedia (English)
Here’s my new Barcelona site. Very early days yet. The idea is to look at the geography, history, culture and architecture of the city I live in and perhaps its quirkier side. When I get round to it I’ll change the design…
According to a new report by Gas Natural, la Sierra de la Demanda between Burgos and Soria absorbs more greenhouse gases than any other forest in Spain. La Demanda in one year absorbed 95,244 tons of co2, twice as much as the entire Cordillera Cantabrica. (Alfredo - Forum)
Wil Luiif sent me these great photos wolves in the Sierra de la Culebra he took this October.
Wil organises English-language trips to watch wolves in Zamora, possibly in the future in collaboration with iberianature. More here at Aragonnatuur or send him an email. Don’t be put off by the Dutch, his English is better than mine. More on Iberian wolves
I came acrosss this interesting map from the Instituto Geográfico Nacional of earthquakes in the Iberian Peninsula in the last ten days equal to above 1.5. As the image is a feed, what you’re seeing is updated (every day I think). Click here for a list of earthquakes with details of location and intensity. More on earthquakes in Spain
After a great deal of work by Clive, we are pleased to announce the start-up of the Iberianature Forum bookshop. It’s one of those Amazon associated schemes. We get 5% from Amazon on any book which you click on and then buy. This will go towards the server costs, which in the case of the forum are rather high. So if you fancy buying someone a book about Spain for Christmas, and you like this site, why not do it through us at no extra cost to you. Spanish language books will also be included soon.
Thanks, Nick Iberianature Forum bookshop
Following on from the Beavers in Spain news, European beaver expert Dr Duncan Halley of the Norsk Institutt for Naturforskning has very kindly written this facinating piece for Iberianature on the Navarran beavers.
“The reasoning of the Spanish authorities, that allowing illegal reintroductions to take place sets a bad precedent, is quite understandable. Conservationists often complain when others take the law into their own hands, e.g. by illegal shooting of protected species; the same principle applies here.
In 2005 I was contacted by scientists working for the Navarrese regional government, who sent some pictures of unmistakable beaver signs they had come across while working on European mink. I later visited the site, and saw from a video that the animals are definitely breeding. The exact site I saw was the most favourable for beavers I think I have ever seen, oxbows off a main river with thick, shrubby growth of poplars (easily the beaver’s favourite tree genus), and lots of herbaceous growth as well. Combined with the very benign climate and the very large amount of suitable habitat available on the Ebro system, I have no doubt the species, left to itself, will become firmly established. Unmanaged the river system could support a large population, probably over a thousand individuals. After at least four breeding seasons, the population, allowing for natural increase, is probably well in excess of 50.
As regards the technical aspects of a removal effort, it’s worth recalling how extinction occurred. Beavers were hugely reduced in numbers in most places by mediaeval times, but in most of Europe, including Spain, small populations hung on for well over 500 years until the 17th-19th centuries, the 17th century seeing the arrival of accurate firearms and efficient steel traps. These last beavers tended to be in the best beaver habitat, marshes or large rivers with plenty of cover and no need to dam, or even fell trees much; beavers were therefore hard to find there. The conditions for final extinction also included the very high value of beaver fur combined with the value of the castoreum gland (medicine, perfume), literally worth more than its weight in gold. One beaver was worth more than a Norwegian farmhand’s annual wage in the 18th century, to give perspective. Every man’s hand was turned against them, and by the C17th most people could get hold of a gun or a trap if a beaver was noticed.
Under modern conditions, to remove beavers from a watershed as large as the Ebro requires a professional effort, as the animals no longer have significant commercial value (except for sport hunting in some places). In the case of the Ebro, there are two factors further complicating a removal effort. At low populations beavers typically select strongly the very best habitat patches, living in burrows and felling few trees; in areas with much bushy growth by the waterside, nothing larger than twigs. This will make finding all the sites difficult in a big river system with so much suitable habitat. Interpretation of signs can also be problematic: are they caused by an established family or just a passer by? All this takes time, and so money. Secondly, at least four breeding seasons have occurred since reintroduction. At low population densities, beavers disperse as yearlings and very much evidence shows they will travel long distances - many cases of over 50km are known - to find the very best habitat rather than settle close to their natal territory.
It seems the trapping will be carried out in La Rioja and Navarra only; however, the Ebro runs into Aragon just downstream from the known reintroduction area, the north bank is in the Basque Country not far above it, and the river runs on into Castile y Leon another 20km or so upstream. All these are well within the recorded dispersal distance of beavers in unsaturated habitats, and it is highly probable that some beavers are established there by now. A trapping effort confined to Navarra and La Rioja with therefore probably leave breeding groups both up- and downstream, from which young animals can redisperse into those provinces.
It appears that live trapping will be the preferred method. There are two effective methods, dazzle netting using a trained trapping crew operating at night, effective but expensive given the manpower requirements; or Hancock traps, which are set partly in the water on the riverbank, and baited with territorial scent or poplar twigs. When triggered, they scoop the animal up from below so that it ends up sitting in a basket above water level.
To summarise, an effective removal is technically feasible. However, it will have to carefully check many tens of km of riverbank for beaver signs, a considerable way up and downstream from the known reintroduction area, including stretches beyond Navarra and La Rioja, determine where the settled groups are, and trap them all. The Ebro is a particularly difficult river system for the purpose, being so large and containing so much good habitat; the resources put into the effort would have to be commensurate with this. If the effort is confined to Navarra and La Rioja, the prospects of complete success depend on whether beavers are established elsewhere on the river. Given their known behaviour and the local political geography, this must be regarded as highly probable.”
By Dr Duncan Halley, Norsk Institutt for Naturforskning
An autopsy has shown that the bear found dead in Fuentes Carrionas last week died an accidental death from a cranial injury possibly due to a fall. An example, I think, of the danger of jumping to conclusions. (Fapas)
News has been released today (El Pais) of the existence of a secret colony of beavers in Spain, and the plan to eradicate it. The beavers currently live along the River Aragon and River Cidacos between La Rioja, Aragon and Navarra. The plan to eradicate the beaver is polemical because although it seems they were introduced illegally, probally by a group of European beaver enthusiants, the beaver inhabited these rivers untill some 300 years ago. Under normal circumstances the beaver would be protected by European law. In this case, the EU has given its backing to the cull to avoid setting a precedent, which might open the door to alegal reintroductions of wildlife across Europe, not particularly because these beavers have been causing a lot of damage.
The first signs were detected in 2005 by mammal researcher Juan Carlos Ceña who was studying the European mink in the area. To his amazament, he came across the tell-tale signs of gnawed trunck.
I have known about the beaver colony for over a year now but I promised the people in charge of monitoring the species that I wouldn’t write anything about it as publicity could increase the likelihood of their eradication. I originally began to research beavers in Spain after coming across this quote by Strabo in his Geography (1 Century AD)
“Iberia produces many deer and wild horses. In places, also, its marshes teem with life; and there are birds, swans and the like; and also bustards in great numbers. As for beavers, the rivers produce them, but the castor from these beavers does not have the same efficacy as that from the beavers of the Pontus …And it is peculiar to Iberia , according to Poseidonius, that the crows are black there and also that the slightly dappled horses of Celtiberia change their colour when they brought over to Farther Iberia”.
Basque beaver pellets were an imported item in medieval Britian. Documentary records suggest beavers survived in Spain until the 17th century at least. Read the follow up to this article by Duncan Halley
The population of the Iberian lynx needs to increase threefold to ensure its survival according to American cat expert Melody Roelke. Roelke believes that the lynx’s situation in less critical than that of the Florida panther which in the 1990s was down to just 30 pairs, but with transfers has managed to double its numbers and reach an acceptable genetic diversity, and as result she fully supports the transfer of lynx from Sierra Morena to Doñana. (Terra)
Illegal wolf hunting in Castilla-León is responsible for some 300 wolf deaths a year, making it practically impossible for the animal to expand. (Público)
Climate change and excessive picking are threatening many species of mushrooms in Spain. The article notes the extinction of Laricifomes officinalis, last seen in 1917, as a precedent. (El Mundo)
New page on IbNat on Spanish mercury mining. The Almadén deposits account for the largest quantity of liquid mercury metal produced, historically, in the world.
SEO sees Las Vegas II mega-casino project completely environmentally incompatible with the conservation of Los Monegros steppes, one of the most important natural areas in Aragon. (SEO)
The second brown bear in a month has been found dead in Palencia, in the Parque Natural de Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente Cobre. Environmental groups have denounced the widespread use of poison in the area. A bear was found dead in the same area in August 2007. An autopsy revealed that it had been poisoned with carbofuran. (El Pais)
Interesting artcle by Benigno Varillas, founder of Quercus. ”The rural as we know it is coming to an end. It needs reconversion… Nature conservation stands at a crossroads… As the rural population grows older and EU money dries up, the rural world must change…”(Fapas/LNE). I’ll be writing a full article soon on RUNA, a massive project, which aims to find a convergence between the rural world and nature conservation in Spain, and which I’ve been asked to help with. More soon.
Another lovely post from Lucy on the squirrels in her local Barcelona park.
Read
The first loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from eggs brought from Cabo Verde have hatched in Fuerteventura, in the Playa de Cofete in the Parque Natural de Jandía. More are expected to hatch from a total of 781 eggs. The project is planned to last ten years as it will take at least a decade to be able to begin to measure its success when hopefully some of those turtles hatched will return to the same beach as adults.
The Spanish government is planning to give protection to some 2,900km of 357 still-unspoilt stretches of rivers, involving initially the creation of a Catálogo Nacional de Reservas Fluviales, which put a stop to any dam construction, waste disposal or extraction in these areas. The idea comes from a proposal by Ecologistas en Acción who note "It would have a huge importance because it would create biological corridors in almost all mountain ranges and would save what is left of rivers, which are probably the most altered ecosystems by humans."
Doñana has managed to halt the mortality of the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberto). The annual number of chicks has tripled in the last three years from 3.5 to 10.5 chicks a year according to an article by scientists from CSIC in the 'Journal of Applied Ecology', thanks to a reduction in the use of poison in the areas surrounding Doñana. Between 1992 and 2004 there was a dramatic increase in annual adult mortality due to an increase in poisoning in hunting areas surrounding the park. "The use of poison against generalist predators accounted for more than 54% of the total number of breeding eagles found dead since 1990, increasing annual adult mortality from 6·07 to 12·01%."
La Crónica Verde has posted the latest figures for Iberian lynx in Doñana for 2008 complete with maps. A more positive breeding season than the disastrous recent years. 10 females had 23 cubs of which as far as is known 18 have survived. Total numbers of lynxes: 18 territorial females, 4-5 territorial males, 9 sub-adults, 18 cubs. 50-53 known lynxes in Doñana.
Two Eurasian lynxes (Lynx lynx) have been acquired by Les Planes de Son (Pallars Sobirà) run by Territori i Paisatge. The director of Territori i Paisatge Jordi Sargatal made it clear that these lynxes will not be released but does not rule out a release of their offspring. There is however still much work to be done before any reintroduction. Sargatal noted "A viability plan needs to be drawn up a consensus reaached"...but "We all need to understand that reintroducing the Eurasian lynx would be very positive for the ecosystem and for the economy", noting that "the lynx is at the top of the ecosystem and plays a very important role of predation on the smaller predators such as foxes, wild cats and genets, which would have a positive effect on other species in the area". There were Eurasian lynx in the Pyrenees until a few decades ago, possibly more recently, and the species may have also lived in the Cordillera Cantábrica.
Image by FOP
A young brown bear has been run over and killed in Leon in El Bierzo. This is the first confirmed case of bear being killed by a vehicle (a lorry) in Spain. The incident took place along the A16 dual carriageway (autovia). Experts from the Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) are trying to find where the bear entered the autovia as it is fenced. According to the Fundación Oso Pardo, although bears are not common in El Bierzo, it is an area of dispersion from the nearby Alto Sil which supports a small but rising breeding population of brown bears, and so the bear was probably from this latter area. This bear formed part of the much smaller eastern population of Cantabrian bears with at most 30 individuals and so the loss of one is of some concern.
