Kiritimati's corals are dying

Kiritimati is one of the world’s largest coral islands, located near the centre of the Pacific Ocean and part of the island nation of Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands). It is also one of the Line Islands, which is one of the world’s longest island chains. The name Kiritimati is a re-spelling of Christmas, which was the name given to the island by Captain James Cook when he landed there on Christmas Eve in 1777, although he was not the first European to discover it.

Despite being created from coral, the phenomenon known as coral bleaching threatens the future of the island in terms of its ecology and economy. It has been estimated that 95% of its coral reefs may die within the next few years, and it could take decades for them to recover, if they ever do. A recent survey has shown that 80% of the giant table-top corals around the island are already dead and another 15% are dying.

The problem is that rapid increases in water temperature cause the tiny algae that nourish coral and give it its colour to be expelled, leaving behind ghostly white skeletons that are subject to disease and erosion. The algae are at the base of the food chain of a coral reef, so without them there are no fish, which are unable to escape to other islands because of Kiritimati’s remoteness. Without the fish, there is no livelihood for the human population of the island.

At the heart of the problem is the El Nino phenomenon, which is a periodic shifting of warm water within the Pacific Ocean that has worldwide consequences for weather patterns. El Nino events have been known about for centuries and can be expected every three to seven years, but their intensity has been increasing in recent decades, with global warming being a prime suspect. The warming of the ocean around Kiritimati, for example, has been measured at around 3.5⁰ C.

Short-term rises in water temperature can lead to the temporary bleaching of coral, from which a relatively rapid recovery can be expected as things return to normal in non-El Nino years. However, it is expected that future El Ninos will be more intense and more frequent, which means that coral reefs will find it very hard to recover.

Coral bleaching is a worldwide phenomenon, with the Caribbean being another region that has suffered badly. However, the problem at Kiritimati is particularly bad and few scientists are optimistic about its prospects if ocean temperatures continue to rise, as seems likely given current trends.

© John Welford

Can the ivory trade be stopped?

This is an African forest elephant that is native to the Congo basin of Africa. It is different in several ways from the bush elephant of the savannahs of Eastern and Southern Africa; it is smaller, has more rounded ears, and has straighter tusks. It is the tusks that are the reason why the forest elephant is an endangered species.

The ivory trade is illegal across the world but that does not stop it continuing, and on a stupendous scale. Markets in Angola, Nigeria and Sudan blatantly offer for sale thousands of items made from ivory, and there are plenty of willing buyers. An investigator recently came across a market in Luanda, the capital of Angola, where at least 10,000 ivory trinkets were openly displayed.

The trade in ivory claims around 33,000 African elephants every year. The species cannot afford to lose this many animals without being put under serious threat of extinction.

So who is buying the ivory and therefore fuelling the trade? In Angola, it is almost exclusively Chinese expatriate workers who buy the items to take home with them. Ivory has enormous significance as a status symbol among the China middle class, and people will gladly pay ten times the price that is charged by the market traders in Luanda.

There is therefore a very strong temptation for Chinese workers to smuggle small ivory articles out of the country and sell them to eager buyers back home in China. There are around 250,000 Chinese workers in Angola at any one time, so if only a small proportion take this course when they leave, the amount of ivory leaving the country could still be enormous.

The way to stop the trade is to curb the demand. This has been done very successfully in the west, with potential consumers realising the harm that was being done in the wild by their desire to own ivory artefacts. However, this message has still not got home in China. Governments do not like to criticise China, for fear of losing valuable contracts and export markets, so the protests being made are low-key or completely absent.

It is high time that this attitude changed. The Chinese government has it within its power to enforce bans on ivory imports. Searching all workers at the airport as they return from Africa, and punishing anyone found with ivory items on them, would be a good start.

© John Welford

Lady's mantle

Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) grows all over the British Isles, apart from the Channel Islands.

The plant grows to about 18 inches (45 cms) high, with some stems growing upright while others sprawl along the ground. Each leaf has up to 11 toothed lobes.

Lady’s mantle flowers from June to September, the flowers being unusual in having no petals, only sepals in two rings of four. The hairy fruits ripen in loose clusters.

The plant exhibits an unusual feature called guttation. When humidity is high and water cannot be lost from the leaves as vapour, lady’s mantle forces the water out through its “breathing holes”. This gives the impression of large drops of dew which are not found on neighboring plants.

This phenomenon gave rise in medieval times to the notion that this “dew” was “celestial water” that had magical properties. Alchemists would collect it at dawn in the hope of using it in their experiments aimed at turning base metals into gold. One wonders why they kept on trying, given that every experiment must have been a dismal failure!

This usage is the reason behind the botanical name of the plant.

The name “lady’s mantle” has a different origin, in that it is supposedly dedicated to the Virgin Mary. That has led to the plant being used to treat women’s ailments. One notable past use was to help middle-aged women to restore their breasts to the shape and pertness they once had. Did this work? Presumably enough people must have thought so, otherwise the usage would surely not have entered folklore as it clearly did.

© John Welford

Parsley piert

Parsley piert (Aphanes arvensis) grows on arable land and wasteland throughout the British Isles. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with parsley. The name is a corruption of the French “perce-pierre”, which means “stone piercer”.

Parsely piert is a sprawling plant that grows to no more than 8 inches (20 cms) high. The leaves, which grow on short stalks, have three segments that are lobed at the tip.

It flowers from April to September, the tiny flowers being green and having no petals but only sepals. The fruits are oval in shape.

Because the plant often grows in stony ground it was often assumed that it had broken through solid rock to reach the surface, hence the name. However, this is simply not true. This belief led to the notion that a medicine made from parsley piert would break up gallstones and kidney stones. One has to assume that any cures were purely coincidental!

Anther medicinal use in former times was to treat intestinal complaints. This led to the alternative names of “colicwort” and “bowel-hive-grass” (hive is another word for inflammation).

© John Welford

Ermine (stoat)

The ermine (Mustela erminea) is a member of the weasel family that is best known (in Great Britain at least) for supplying the black-spotted white fur that has traditionally trimmed the ceremonial robes of members of the House of Lords.

It is a small animal measuring up to 12 inches (30 centimetres) in length which includes its black-tipped tail (up to 5 inches or 12 cms).

Somewhat confusingly, the ermine only exists during the winter months! At other times its fur is similar to that of the larger weasel, being reddish-brown above and on the head and white below. This is when it is known by the more familiar name of stoat.

The ermine has short legs, a long neck and a triangular head.

In order to survive, an ermine must eat every day. It is therefore a fearsome hunter of small mammals, which it will kill by trapping it with its legs and biting it on the back of the neck. The female ermine is roughly half the size of the male, which allows it to feed its young by hunting underground in burrows where a prey animal might have thought it was safe.

The ermine is sometimes forced to diversity its diet and will take small birds, eggs, fish or insects if necessary.

The fur of victim mammals is used to line the ermine’s nest, where a litter of four to nine offspring will be raised. The young are ready to join their mother in the daily food hunt when they are around two months old.

© John Welford

Moufflon

The moufflon (Ovis musimon) is a wild sheep that is thought to be one of the ancestors of the modern farmed sheep.

A fully grown mouflon is around 120-140 centimetres (47-55 inches) long, 60-120 cms (23-47 inches) high at the shoulder and weighs from 25 to 55 kgs (55-121 lbs).

The coat is reddish-brown with a dark stripe on the back and a light-coloured saddle patch and underparts. Male moufflons have a mane and very large spiral horns.

Evolution is behind the size and splendour of the ram’s horns, which arch back and then swing round to the front in a graceful loop that frames the ram’s face. The bigger they are, the greater the ram’s status in the herd and more likely he is to be able to fight off rivals and ensure that the next generation carry his genes.

Fights only take place when the horns are not impressive enough to frighten off an opponent. The heads go down and the horns bash against each. Hence the reason why rams are called rams!

Unfortunately, mouflon horns are also prized as trophies and many a splendid mouflon ram has lost his life to a hunter as a result. Moufflons originated on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Cyprus, but very few live there now. Fortunately, the species was introduced to mainland Europe where it continues to thrive.

© John Welford

Wood avens

Wood avens (Geum urbanum) is found throughout the British Isles in shady places with damp, fertile soil. It is an upright, hairy plant that grows to a height of between 12 and 24 inches (30-60 cms).

Some leaves grow on stalks rising directly from the base, each bearing two or three pairs of leaflets of unequal size. The upper leaves that grow from the stem of the plant have three lobes.

The yellow flowers, which appear from June to August, are upright with turned-back sepals and spreading petals. The seeds are hooked and spread by being caught in the fur and feathers of passing animals and birds, as well as the clothing of human passers-by.

Wood avens has a remarkable mythology attached to it. It was thought to have an association with St Benedict, who founded the Benedictine order of monks. An alternative name is herb bennet.

This belief gave rise to notions that the plant had mystical or magical powers. A medical treatise of 1491 stated that “if a man carries the root around with him, no venomous beast can touch him”. It was also thought that hanging wood avens over one’s doorway would prevent the Devil from crossing the threshold!

Apart from these remarkable supposed powers, the roots of wood avens, which have a delicate clove-like smell, have been used as a fly repellent and for flavouring.

© John Welford