I caught mine from the Globe:
"Crabs may be killing Cape Cod’s marshes; Researchers see link to humans" by Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff | July 6, 2010
HARWICH — For the past seven years, scientists have been alarmed by the mysterious death of marsh grasses on Cape Cod, which is transforming expanses of lush green wetlands into lumpy mudflats with the appearance of Swiss cheese.
Work over the past few years has provided strong evidence that the marshes are being eaten away by a particular crab, called Sesarma reticulatum, whose appetite for cordgrass is leaving marshes vulnerable to erosion.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
The work is also revealing the possibility that human disturbances may have set off the chain of events that caused the crabs’ hungry assault, in turn endangering some of the world’s most important ecosystems....
Not again, please, not after the global warming lies of ClimateGate.
QUIT BLAMING HUMANS for PROBLEMS no one has ANY IDEA ABOUT!!
You want to BLAME HUMANS how about taking a step up and COMING CLEAN on the WAR LIES that are POISONING the PLANET, BG!
Early findings suggest that predators of the Sesarma — blue crabs, striped bass, or fish called tautog — are less prevalent in marshes disturbed by human activity, including fishing.
Pfffft!
To Mark Bertness, a biology professor at Brown University who has been working intensively to understand so-called die-off on the Cape for three years, that suggests recreational fishing has reached a “tipping point,’’ altering nature’s balance by depleting the crab’s enemies and thus allowing them to thrive in greater number.
I'm really getting sick of the code-word innuendo in my "newspaper."
You see what is going on, right?
Next stop, global control grid monitoring everything you do.
No more "gone fishin'," AmeriKa!
While many scientists agree the crabs are playing an important role in the die-off in the marsh, it is still an open question why the crab chowdown has suddenly become a problem, and how to combat it.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
Should I keep reading?
Marsh health is complicated, affected by rainfall and run-off, the plant and animal life within it, and other factors that make simple explanations elusive.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
Translation: WE DUNNO!!!
My question is why the Globe front-paged this piece of crab crap.
Stephen Smith, a plant ecologist at the Cape Cod National Seashore, spent last summer engaged in the Sisyphean task of attempting to rid an area of the crabs. Now, he is experimenting with biodegradable netting that might be able to control erosion and keep the crabs out of an area to allow marsh to recover.
“It’s looking like a classic story of humans altering one link in a food chain and everything going nutty, having cascade effects,’’ Smith said.
Yeah, a CASCADE of SOMETHING, all right!!!!
Yes, it is starting to smell around here.
Bob Prescott, director of Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, said that yellow-crowned night herons used to show up relatively rarely. But last year, about eight of the birds took up residence in the sanctuary, and in their roosting areas, scientists found remains of the Sesarma crabs. It’s difficult to know yet whether the herons will appear more regularly to feed on crabs, but the unusual number last year suggests one possible outcome of an exploding crab population: As the crabs become more bountiful, predators may find ways to take advantage....
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
Yeah, NATURE will TAKE CARE of the problem -- as she ALWAYS HAS!!!
Efforts to understand the cause will be important as scientists try to decide what can or should be done to help the marshes.
Then why did the Globe take a whole article telling you it is your fault, human?
It’s not clear yet “whether this is an unmitigated disaster or whether it’s just an interesting phenomenon,’’ said Robert Buchsbaum, conservation scientist for Mass. Audubon. “There’s a concern about the viability of marshes anyway, with sea level rise, and now you’ve got this crab.’’
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
--more--"
Yeah, I better go see a doctor and get some treatment, -- and then call the Globe and tell them to see one.
