hyperfixation station

Excerpt from this story from Audubon:

“I can’t tell you how many people come that are like, ‘I grew up seeing fireflies, and I don’t see as many now,’ ” says Matt Johnson, the center’s director.

Candace Fallon, a conservation biologist at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, had long heard similar concerns. But when she checked the literature in 2018, she found little to no information on firefly trends. In fact, there was no comprehensive population data for any of the 179 known firefly species in the United States.

Fallon and a team at the International Union for Conservation of Nature set out to determine how American fireflies are faring. In 2021 they published their findings, the first list of conservation statuses for U.S. fireflies. Of the 132 species they reviewed, more than half lacked enough data to conclude anything for certain. But among the species whose status was clear, the scientists found 20 to be threatened or near threatened.

Fireflies, which are actually bioluminescent beetles, face many of the same threats as birds. Habitat loss—especially of wetlands, given the insects' preference for moist areas—is a major issue. (Indeed, the most threatened fireflies are the species that depend on only one type of landscape, such as the critically endangered Bethany Beach firefly, which primarily occupies freshwater wetlands between sand dunes along a 20-mile stretch of the Delaware coast.) Rising seas and extreme weather events drown coastal birds' nests as well as firefly habitat, while pesticides kill insect prey that both fireflies and birds rely on—and likely fireflies themselves. Light pollution, which can disorient nocturnal migratory birds and contribute to fatal building collisions, also disrupts lightning bugs’ ability to communicate: Flashing in a brightly lit environment is like trying to yell across a crowd.

To help fill critical knowledge gaps, researchers are turning to community science. The Fireflyers International Network collects data on iNaturalist from all over the world, and in 2022 Fallon and the Xerces Society launched the Firefly Atlas, where U.S. participants can share incidental observations and even conduct field surveys. These crowdsourced records can illuminate how species are trending in the face of threats.

> that country

Oh, to be a brown bear tearing a huge chunk out of a dripping honeycomb

edit: STICKER!!!

For months I've been trying …

Trying to hold onto hope, to convince myself that years of hard work won't be in vain, that there's still goodness in people and a supportive heart in times of need .. 💔💔❤️‍🩹

But after all this time, the entire campaign only raised 994 euros… a small amount compared to the magnitude of the need, the pain, and the exhaustion I've endured .. 💔💔

Honestly, I'm starting to feel immense despair and a painful sense of betrayal.

Not just because of the lack of donations… but also because of the lack of participation from people who could have amplified my voice but didn't . 💔

The hardest feeling is when you feel like you're pleading for help, and the world just walks by as if you don't exist 💔💔

I expected to find people to stand by me, people to share my burden, even if just with a word or a gesture, but today I feel completely alone in facing everything .. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

And every day that passes, I feel even more trapped inside, like the world has let me down, and that the dream I've worked so hard for for years is crumbling before my eyes, and I'm helpless. 💔💔

If you are unable to help, at least participate… your participation could be the reason for saving what remains of my hope 🙏🙏🙏

This campaign was shared by @90-ghost here