UK Marine Biology Report From DEFRA Shows 70%+ Decline In Zooplankton Since 1960s - BBC

[hatrack]

Experts on invertebrates have expressed "profound shock" over a government report showing a decline in zooplankton of more than 70% since the 1960s. The tiny animals are an important food for fish, mammals and crustaceans.

Figures contained in the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) document, Marine Programme Plan, suggested a fall in abundance. Charity Buglife said it could be a "biodiversity disaster of enormous proportions".

They said it could have implications for creatures all the way up the food chain, from sand eels to the seabirds, such as puffin, which feed on the fish.

EDIT

Buglife director Matt Shardlow has written to Rodney Anderson, director of marine and fisheries at Defra, praising the level of information in the document but also expressing the organisation's serious concerns. In his letter, seen by the BBC Scotland news website, Mr Shardlow said: "The disappearance of butterflies, moth, bees, riverflies and other small animals is an environmental tragedy. "But, despite this experience, we were profoundly shocked to read that zooplankton abundance has declined by about 73% since 1960 and about 50% since 1990. "This is a biodiversity disaster of enormous proportions."

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7499834.stm

[n2doc]

1. Maybe WALL-E is right, we should abandon Earth

May have to anyway. Where's that interstellar cruise ship?

[NickB79]

5. Well, Americans already have a headstart on the morbid obesity of the future humans

After I saw that movie, my girlfriend and I went for a walk around the Mall of America. It made me notice things I had just taken for granted in the past. Quite the eye opener.

[kestrel91316]

2. I was afraid of this. I'm glad I don't have children.

We have, in our hubris, precipitated another Permian-level extinction, I suspect.

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Oh, I don't know...

...in ten years time, you might be glad of the extra protein.

[phantom power]

3. Just the foundation of the food chain. What could go wrong?

[hatrack]

4. Yes, the ghost of Julian Simon spoke to me in a dream last night

He said that we have enough energy and resources to keep human population growing at 3% annually for the next seven million years.

See? Problem solved!!! All you need is a little Lysenko-, uh, I mean, all you need is some elbow grease, some all-American can-do optimism and an ideologically ingrained ability to overlook pretty much all rules of physics and thermodynamics.

Is this a great country or WHAT?

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Oops.

Surely, nobody could have foreseen that.

Sigh.

[gristy]

8. Where were these measurements made?

Is this a local phenomenon or global? The article gives no clue. :shrug:

[Dead_Parrot]

9. If the report was from Defra...

...it would be specific to UK coastal waters and/or fishing grounds, although the problem is global: put "zooplankton decline" into google for instant depression.