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BIOTOPE PROJECTS IN THE FIELD
Opportunities for Tropical Fish Research in the Field
Earthwatch Institute is a nonprofit organization that engages people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.
Earthwatch offers volunteers short-term opportunities for directly assisting scientists in their field research. These are expeditions for ongoing research projects confronting critical, current issues, run by qualified and respected members of the scientific community. In some cases, Earthwatch volunteers work in areas inaccessible to tourists; pristine regions that only researchers are allowed to enter. Most projects are 10-14 days long, but there are also one-week, three-week, and weekend opportunities available.
The following are projects invloving tropical freshwater fish. These projects may be of interest to hobbyists who would like to work with fish in their natural habitat and contribute to ongoing research in the ecology of freshwater fish.
Rivers of the Peruvian Amazon - Documenting Amazon river biology and hydrology as part of an international program to protect these waters
"Inambari, Tahuamanu, and Manuripe Watersheds, Madre de Dios, Peru - For the plants, animals, and people of the Amazon Basin, rivers are the arteries of the forest. They bring water, remove wastes, provide habitat and food, and serve as highways. Much life depends on them. As this region is developed and more and more people and human economic activity move into the area, however, these watery lifelines could be compromised. But they cannot be protected unless we understand how they work, what animals live there, and how people use them. Until recently in this region, however, there had been little research into these topics."
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Queensland Tropical Fish Ecology - Assessing the impact of floodplain riparian restoration on stream ecology
"Douglas Shire, North Queensland, Australia--Located between the tropical rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef, the rivers of this rolling floodplain provide a vital link in regional biodiversity. The historic clearing of riparian vegetation, trees and other plants that grow along the rivers, has had serious impacts not only on local stream ecology, but also on the coral reefs downstream. Increased nutrient and sediment loads from coastal rivers are considered the most important water-quality issue facing the Great Barrier Reef. Several years of riparian tree planting programs have restored some stretches of river, but the benefits of these efforts have yet to be assessed.
You can help explore the effectiveness of riparian restoration in improving stream health by comparing the ecology of fishes found in streams that are uncleared, cleared, and restored. Working with Dr. Frederieke Kroon (CSIRO), you will collect data on fish habitat, water quality, plant and invertebrate samples, and the distribution and abundance of diverse fish species. Detailed information about many of these species is rare, due to their inaccessibility and lack of commercial value, so expect to make discoveries.
You will do a wide variety of tasks, ranging from assessing the physical structure of riparian habitat to using various traps and nets to collect shimmering samples of fish. You will also collect samples of plankton, use kick-nets to collect macro-invertebrates, and measure water-quality components such as turbidity, temperature, pH, and nutrients. In the field, you'll learn to identify fish, invertebrate, and plant samples, and to record data, while back at base you will help preserve samples and enter data into a computer database. The data you collect will help identify key fish species that will aid land managers in assessing the effectiveness of their restoration practices."
more from Earthwatch
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Recent news
Atlantic sturgeon gains protection under the Endangered Species Act
(02/01/2012)
The U.S. federal government has listed the massive and bizarre Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Historically overfishing decimated the Atlantic sturgeon, while on-going threats include pollution and infrastructure, like dams and bridges that destroy habitat. Fishing for the Atlantic sturgeon has been banned since 1998, they are still caught as bycatch.
Photos: 46 new species found in little-explored Amazonian nation
(01/25/2012)
South America's tiniest independent nation still hides a number of big surprises: a three week survey to the sourthern rainforests of Suriname found 46 potentially new species and recorded nearly 1,300 species in all. Undertaken by Conservation International's (CI) Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) the survey found new species of freshwater fish, insects, and a new frog dubbed the "cowboy frog" for the spur on its heel. While Suriname may be small, much of its forest, in the Guyana Shield region of the Amazon, remains intact and pristine. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 91 percent of Suriname is covered in primary forests, however this data has not been updated in over two decades.
Featured video: tuna industry bycatch includes sea turtles, dolphins, whales
(01/16/2012)
A Greenpeace video, using footage from a whistleblower, shows disturbing images of the tuna industry operating in the unregulated waters of the Pacific Ocean. Using fish aggregation devices (FADs) and purse seine nets, the industry is not only able to catch entire schools of tuna, including juvenile, but also whatever else is in the area of the net.
Bycatch-reducing fish trap wins $20,000
(01/11/2012)
An innovative fish trap that allows small non-target fish to escape won a new content by RARE Conservation and National Geographic to fund solutions to overfishing. Developed through studies in Curaçao and Kenya with the Wildlife Conservation Society, the trap has gaps for juvenile fish to swim out of reportedly reducing bycatch by 80 percent. The entry won a $20,000 grant.
World's most expensive tuna
(01/05/2012)
A 593 pound Pacific bluefin tuna sold for $735,000 (56.49 million yen) in Tokyo's Tsukiji market today. This beats the previous record price hit last year by over $260,000. Why so expensive? Bluefin tuna, considered the best sashimi and sushi in the world, have been fished to near extinction with the population of the Pacific bluefin the most stable to date.
Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2011
(12/22/2011)
Many of 2011's most dramatic stories on environmental issues came from people taking to the streets. With governments and corporations slow to tackle massive environmental problems, people have begun to assert themselves. Victories were seen on four continents: in Bolivia a draconian response to protestors embarrassed the government, causing them to drop plans to build a road through Tipnis, an indigenous Amazonian reserve; in Myanmar, a nation not known for bowing to public demands, large protests pushed the government to cancel a massive Chinese hydroelectric project; in Borneo a three-year struggle to stop the construction of a coal plant on the coast of the Coral Triangle ended in victory for activists; in Britain plans to privatize forests created such a public outcry that the government not only pulled back but also apologized; and in the U.S. civil disobedience and massive marches pressured the Obama Administration to delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands from Canada to a global market.
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