Posted on 03/21/2006 4:31:33 AM PST by Loyalist
A Sudbury biology professor woke up yesterday to hear radio guys snickering about how he studies flying squirrel sex. Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde doesn't, really, but that's what Ontario's Conservative party is accusing him of doing.
What the Laurentian University professor does study is "reproductive fitness" -- which animals are best at bringing up healthy offspring in the face of disease, famine, or in this case, climate change.
He can't study all animals in all places, so he picked one: the flying squirrel population of Algonquin Park.
They're easy to catch, and they'll nest in man-made boxes similar to birdhouses. That makes it easy to take blood samples from their babies, and learn how the animals fare as the climate changes.
It seemed like just another biology project. Then Conservative leader John Tory announced that "taxpayers are paying $150,000 for flying squirrel sex research," part of "a reckless spending spree" by the Liberal government.
So what does $150,000 buy for Canada? It develops serious understanding of our natural world, says the Sudbury researcher.
Climate change is a major environmental theme, he notes.
"Yet there are almost no long-term studies looking at the effects of climate change on animal populations. So what I am doing now is initiating a study of the effects of climate change on reproductive success."
In other words, he's asking what survives and what doesn't as the climate shifts.
To do this, he'll study many families of flying squirrels for as many years as he can, "because they're easy to work with logistically."
The money pays grad students who do meticulous and time-consuming field work. The animals are studied in the wild, not in a lab. His team has just put up nest boxes for the first year's work.
And does he study exactly how the little rodents get frisky?
"No, no, no, no! All I'm interested in is: How many offspring does an individual produce? So we use DNA fingerprinting and that kind of technology to try to figure that out."
Independent science experts praise the flying squirrel project. Asked why it's useful to study "reproductive fitness" in wildlife, Ottawa naturalist Dan Brunton replied: "Because if they ain't got it, we ain't got it."
The flying squirrels are indicators -- one species used to illustrate the health of an ecosystem, said Mr. Brunton, an expert consultant to the committee that draws up Canada's Endangered Species List.
"Indicators are just that. If indicator species are having difficulty in Ontario, we need to look out."
They paint a picture of how healthy Algonquin Park's wildlife is, and by extension, what's happening to Ontario's other natural areas, he said.
Flying squirrels don't really fly. They glide from tree to tree at night using flaps of skin like a paper airplane's wings. Recently their population has crashed in Algonquin; no one knows why.
Mr. Schulte-Hostedde said he had to justify his proposal to a review by independent experts in his field to get funding from Ontario, and also from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the federal body that gives him $110,000 over five years.
Council spokesman Michael Dwyer confirmed the research was independently reviewed.
Biology and climate change "are areas of considerable importance. The environment is of interest to people in this country," he said.
Mr. Schulte-Hostedde's Ontario funding is called an Early Researcher Award. Originally called the Premier's Research Excellence Award, it was founded by former Conservative premier Mike Harris.
Yesterday, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty defended the research by pointing to its link with climate change.
"I happen to believe that climate change and global warming is real," he told reporters at an event in Whitby.
"I know some of my counterparts don't believe in that. For some of you who aren't aware, we just had the hottest winter on record.
"Last summer, by the way, was the hottest summer ever recorded. Of the last 10 years, eight have been the hottest ever recorded," Mr. McGuinty said.
"The recipients of this research funding are determined by a peer review process of expert researchers and I fully support their decision."
Mr. Tory suggested the research was not worthy of government funding and questioned the study's link with important research on climate change.
"We'll be very interested to see the tie-in that is given by the government on a study of the sex life of flying squirrels to the issue of global warming," he said.
"When it comes time to allocate public money ... I am saying there is some discretion that has to be exercised here as to how you allocate that money. And a lot of people among the public would suggest that a study of the sex habits of flying squirrels would not be at the top of their list. In fact, I think most taxpayers would say it wouldn't even make their list."
Mr. Tory, whose staff discovered the research project and subsequently leaked it to a Toronto newspaper, opened his scrum yesterday with a joke. "I think it's probably a day of great celebration in the squirrel community today," he said, adding later:
"I am not saying we shouldn't be doing lots of research on important medical and other kinds of topics including the environment."
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006
I thought "Flying Squirrel Sex" might be a new move of some bedroom maneuver. I then feared my arthritis would prevent from enjoying. Now I realize all I need are my binoculars.
When I was a kid we had this one mutant hamster whose nuts were about half as long as its body. I kind of felt bad for it, the way they dragged around behind it, but it didn't seem to mind. It never used the running wheel though. :)
ROFL!
oh my
BTTT for my old pet Molly the southern flying squirrel. Funniest pet I ever owned.
RIP Molly.
Always thought Rocky J. Squirrel's voice was a little poofie.
yeah and seeing as June Foray did the voice...it is understandable.
(((.)))
Sigh. Is clinton having sex with squirrels on airplanes now?
ping
Squirrel tunes: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman7777/MSR2.htm
Always thought Rocky J. Squirrel's voice was a little poofie.
|
|
And I always thought the moose was a little light in the loafers too. |
Please tell us more!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
