anne marie higgins is dedicated to monitoring red-tailed hawks in syracuse, new york. she often spends hours daily observing and documenting them. hawks are a vital part of the ecosystem we live in, helping to control populations of rodents and small mammals, therefore maintaining an ecological balance. due to the nature of being a top predator, hawks face a wide variety of threats including rodenticide poisoning and avian influenza. higgins founded the red-tailed hawk tales facebook page and helped fund syracuse university’s first hawk nest camera in 2016. through her facebook page and the nest-cam, higgins educates and inspires, fostering awareness and appreciation about and for the natural world.

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sea turtles have been navigating the world’s oceans for millions of years, and they have a timeless ritual of returning to the same sites to lay their eggs. but now, climate change is forcing these ancient nomads to face an uncertain future, turning them into climate refugees. 

the exact locations where sea turtles have lived for generations are in danger due to rising sea levels, deteriorating beaches, and more harsh weather. we explore the difficulties these animals encounter in this comic, including how storms and warming temperatures are changing their environment and driving them to extinction.

but amid this crisis, there’s hope, as sea turtles continue their struggle for survival. this story serves as a call to action and a reminder that our destiny is linked to that of sea turtles. come learn how climate change is affecting these beloved animals’ futures and what we can do to help preserve them.

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giant clams are iconic animals on the corals reefs and in some pacific islands. they also play an important role in food security and cultural practices for the people of guam.

due to climate change and outside influences, giant clam populations have been declining around the pacific. in response, local communities and governments have been working together and across borders to restore their numbers.

earlier this year, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration put forward a proposal to update the status of giant clams under the endangered species act and increase federal protections. however, many local researchers and community members oppose this, as they believe such projects would make local restoration initiatives and cultural practices more difficult, if not impossible. this story follows indigenous scientist frank roberto’s project in giant clam restoration on guam and his response to the proposal within his community.

salmon is one of the most-farmed fish in norway’s aquaculture industry, which works by raising fish offshore in large open-net pens. norway’s salmon farms produce the highest amount of farmed salmon in the world at about 1.2 million tonnes each year. 

but tiny organisms known as “sea lice” are infecting farmed salmon populations at high levels. 

for the salmon industry, “sea lice is the number one problem here in norway,” said jelena kolaveric, a professor and researcher at the arctic university of norway in tromsø. 

a growing problem for arctic salmon farms

first prevalent in salmon farms along the southern coast of the country, the lice have spread to affect farms along the northern coast. and the climate change connection is clear: warmer water temperatures allow sea lice to reproduce faster. so as northern waters rise in temperature, even just a few degrees, the problem is spreading into the arctic.

monica eide, a community contact for gratanglaks, a salmon farming company based in the grantangen municipality in troms, norway, said this summer was particularly bad for salmon farms in northern norway.  

“we had a marine heat wave in the arctic this summer, and the temperature increased by 4-5 degrees,”  said elisabeth ytteborg, a senior researcher at nofima, whose research focuses primarily on climate change impacts to aquaculture. all that heat, says ytteborg, has led to “a sea lice explosion in the north”

but the process of fighting off the lice has its own challenges. the salmon farming industry in norway, and across the world, has received criticism for some of its negative environmental impacts. these include dumping chemicals into the oceans to get rid of the lice, diseases spreading to wild salmon populations, and farmed salmon escaping and interbreeding with wild salmon.  

delousing: harder than it looks

a longstanding method of treating the lice is to take the salmon out of the sea, remove lice in tanks on land, and return the salmon to their offshore pens. but this method isn’t ideal. 

“we’re hoping to find a system where we don’t have to take them up because that’s stressing the fish,” said eide. “what we really would like to do is to get rid of lice without handling the fish that much, without taking it out from the sea.” 

another, more recent method, which is employed at gratanglaks, is to use lasers to detect lice, and once detected, the lasers shoot at the lice to kill them off one by one. according to kvaroy arctic, a salmon farming company, the salmon aren’t hurt by the process. however, individually killing off the lice is time consuming. 

kolaveric’s research aims to address some of those environmental concerns with salmon farming. what if salmon farming could be done in tanks on land kept free of sea lice or other pathogens?  her research is primarily on recirculating aquaculture systems (ras). this is a relatively new type of technology where seawater is recycled and reused to produce salmon in water tanks on land. a challenge this system faces is that trying to replicate on land the ecological needs the salmon receive from ocean water can be expensive and energy intensive. however, kolaveric hopes it will push the industry forward to a more sustainable method of salmon production. 

“these recirculation systems, they give you an opportunity to better control the environment, and also give you flexibility,” said kolaveric. “because in a ras system, you can adjust your temperature, you can adjust your oxygen.” that control, she says, can prevent lice from infesting the pools. 

seeking holistic solutions

ytteborg emphasizes that it’s important to keep in mind that the fish aren’t solely affected by rising temperatures, but also the various stressors associated with salmon farming in general, such as viruses, bacteria and parasites. there is also the stress coming from the production itself, vaccinations, transportation and treatment. 

she emphasizes the value in doing more research to try to understand how a fluctuating environment will affect the fish on top of other stressors.  

“we need to work more trans-sectoral. biologists like me need to work with the climatologists to understand how the environment will change and how it may impact the animals, and then we need to work with the industry to see what kind of measures they have and what kind of procedures they do,” said ytteborg. “and then it’s not like one size fits all because climate change will affect one area very differently from another one and different strategies are needed.” 

eide, whose company aims to find more sustainable methods of lice treatment and salmon production, highlights the relationship between salmon farmers and the fish themselves. 

“we want them to be healthy, we want them to have a good time. we don’t want to hurt them, but there’s also a lot of things happening in the industry that aren’t good,” said eide. “not all of us are aware of what we’re doing to the fish so i think we have a lot of things that we could be better on, and i think we should be open about that too.”

the reason you may want to: native plants support a greater abundance and diversity of wildlife by providing habitat that directly supports populations of butterflies, bees, and birds. native plants make landscapes more adaptable to future environmental stressors caused by the climate crisis, including temperature swings, drought, flooding, and pest outbreaks.

in martha’s vineyard, off the coast of massachusetts’ cape cod, the polly hill arboretum has spent decades creating an online record of more than 200 island native plants that you can browse using its plantfinder resource.

timothy boland, executive director of polly hill, says that planting native plants helps to prepare for the unknowns. “native plants are uniquely adapted to soils and stressors, and more so have a really tight connection with the animals in an environment,” boland said. 

polly hill not only informs, it sells native plant plugs to people interested in adding natives to their landscaping. some of the plants they propagate, like red columbine, which flowers in the spring, have had limited populations on the island, and polly hill has helped to restore them. 

“we knew it was here and only here, and now we can propagate it. from a conservation standpoint, with an endemic plant, what we’ve done here is kind of cool,” boland said.

orange butterfly weed is its most popular native plant due to its bright orange flowers and attractiveness to monarch butterflies, but boland encourages people to look beyond the beauty of a plant and consider what it can provide to the environment: “we tend to be enamored with just the beautiful, and don’t understand the functionality of what we would consider a grass. a lot of things have equal value, even though they don’t have the startling beauty.”

a convenient place to “check out” native seeds, the west tisbury library in massachusetts offers a seed library which contains a unique collection of seeds suited to the local environment, and the library hopes to create a locally adapted collection of seeds over time. 

the seed library there has been focused mostly on food seeds until recently. mary sage napolitan, the regenerative landscape manager at island grown initiative, has worked with the organization to create a native plants section.

“there’s a lot of energy behind it, but it’s really hard to get the plants. you can buy seeds from some companies, but they’re not always from the vineyard. the hope is that at least we’ll have some bank of seeds so that people can start,” napolitan said. 

although people are often hesitant to add native plants to their gardens, napolitan says you can still have a gorgeous, well-manicured garden made up of mostly, if not entirely, native plants.

“there are nonnative plants that aren’t bad; some of those plants are totally harmless. it’s just a matter of also making a point to incorporate native plants, because we know that they support so many insects and other wildlife,” napolitan said.

napolitan recommends native garden plants such as penstemon digitalis, a tall white flower, penstemon hirsutus, which produces a similar purple flower, and monarda fistulosa, a lavender flower that attracts a variety of bees and butterflies. napolitan herself is very fond of asters, which can be small blue, white, or purple flowers, and goldenrods, a tall golden flower that is natural bird food.

christine wiley, a horticultural expert and greenhouse grower for more than 30 years, owns vineyard gardens with her husband chuck, a self-proclaimed “plant-aholic.”

“we want to have a positive environmental impact and do anything we can to slow down climate change,” christine wiley said. “native plants have been here for a long time, and we know they do very well here.”

vineyard gardens hosted a garden worksop on june 22, 2024, where attendees were taught how to plant for climate resilience. the workshop was led by guest speaker andrea berry, executive director of the wild seed project in maine. “it’s nice to host a well-known speaker and to support ecology. we are a small island here, and it’s nice to support our environment,” wiley said.

wild seed project is a maine nonprofit that works to build climate-resilient habitats in northeast landscapes. its mission is to inspire people to take action in increasing the presence of native plants grown from wild seed that safeguard wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

“native plants are plants that have evolved in the place they are for millennia in relation to the creatures. therefore they are really critical parts to a healthy and vibrant ecosystem,” berry said. 

native plants have interrelated partnerships with insects. milkweed is a good example, as the plant is a select place for monarch butterflies to lay their eggs. those eggs hatch and the caterpillars feed on the milkweed exclusively, then as adults, the monarch feeds off the plant’s blooms. “they have evolved this beautiful relationship with this plant over time that is really critical,” berry said. 

berry included that native plants can be wonderful garden plants because they are adapted to the environment they are experiencing. “when you actually stop and slow down and take a look at a garden, the beauty of a garden is in all the different pieces moving within it, and all the life that it supports. a healthy, living place where all different creatures live and can thrive is actually what i define as beautiful,” berry said.

native plant adaptation continues. the island’s recent rainstorms and windstorms resulted in a great amount of erosion, and conservation efforts have turned towards native plants. 

“when plants evolve in parallel with stressors coming at them from our ecosystem, they develop adaptations that allow them to respond to or mitigate some of those outside challenges. if we have a biodiverse ecosystem, then we are going to have a population of plants diverse enough to be resilient in the face of whatever nature is throwing at us,” berry said.

this story was originally published in mv times.

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though they are small compared to other ground-nesting birds like grouse or wild turkeys, they are a keystone species and play an important role in their ecosystem.  

“quail are what i would call a canary in the coal mine for the grassland or prairie ecosystem. finding management ways to help quail is also going to help a lot of other grassland birds, which are in decline,” said brad dabbert, ph.d ., the burnett foundation professor of quail ecology at texas tech university.  

according to the texas parks and wildlife 2023-24 bobwhite quail forecast, quail populations in the high plains of texas, the region that’s home to texas tech, were up from last year but down almost 50% compared to the 15-year average. 

counting quails

scientists perform the research for the forecast by counting all the quail seen from a vehicle on designated routes throughout the state. researchers saw almost four birds per research route this year compared to less than one last year, while the 15-year mean sits at almost seven.  

dabbert leads texas tech quail, a research program aiming to understand how to increase quail populations. he and his team conduct experiments, publish research and educate landowners and biologists.  

dabbert said quail populations naturally vary year-to-year, and one important factor is droughts, which are becoming more frequent.  

“what texas tech quail is trying to do is come up with ways to deal with the vagaries of drought. that is an old land manager saying, you know, ‘we’re one day closer to the next drought,’ and good land managers think of and try to prepare for those,” said dabbert.  

three main strategies

dabbert’s team uses multiple approaches and techniques at their field research site at the pitchfork ranch aimed at increasing quail survival. these include ensuring there is quality habitat, feed broadcasting and predator reduction.  

according to dabbert, quality habitat is the most important factor for healthy quail populations. this heavily depends on the amount of available cover, tall bushes and shrubs that grow branches from the top to the bottom of the plant. cover protects the birds from predators and extreme temperatures.   

cover can be controlled by land managers by limiting grazing to maintain existing cover and prescribing controlled burns to allow more suitable plants to grow in areas overpopulated with bad cover. 

“there’s no shortcut for managing the land correctly,” said dabbert. 

broadcasting involves driving a tractor that pulls a feeder through quail habitat and widely spreads supplemental grain and seeds for the birds.  

providing extra food increases bird survival in fall and winter, meaning there are more chances for successful breeding in spring. and it helps them find food with less foraging, which can make them vulnerable to attack from predators. dabbert and his team published their research supporting this in the peer-reviewed journal wildlife society bulletin.  

the third management approach, predator reduction, involves hunting and trapping animals that eat quail and their eggs.  

dabbert said this can be controversial because people see it as an unnatural practice. however, habitat fragmentation has caused a loss of apex predators that would normally control the populations of animals that feed on quail.  

“unfortunately, most of our environment is fragmented now. we don’t have the apex predators that we once had,” said dabbert.  

mesopredators, medium-sized predators, include animals such as coyotes, raccoons and skunks. dabbert said habitat fragmentation has allowed the populations of these animals to flourish because there are fewer apex predators to control them, especially in the heavily farmed lands of the high plains. and too many mesopredators means lower quail populations. 

by hunting and trapping mesopredators, there are more quail able to breed, and nests are more successful because eggs don’t get eaten. 

dabbert said the research his team is conducting has been successful at increasing quail numbers at their research site. according to their published results, quail survival increased by 16% in areas where they used broadcasting, compared to areas without. 

“my name is ignacio vargas sánchez. i am costa rican […] and i’m dedicated to coffee farming, a tradition passed down through my family and one that i enjoy,” my dad said proudly when i asked him to introduce himself. 

coffee culture is a foundational part of our family tradition and who i am. i grew up in a large, close-knit family, where more than 50 aunts, uncles, and cousins would gather once a year in an activity to collect coffee and honor our family’s coffee-growing roots. the fun began when about 30 of us squeezed into the back of a toyota dyna pickup truck, packed tightly together, and laughed and teased each other as we headed to the coffee farm. yes, i know. really unsafe, but also a lot of fun. 

once we got to the coffee farm, we would attempt to collect coffee for a couple of hours, only to realize how hard and labor-intensive it was. i would rapidly give up my dedication to focus on what was naturally most important to 7-year-old me: playing and running around the farm with my cousins. the activity would then transform into enjoying a costa rican breakfast under the trees’ shade, while we teased each other about who had most likely done the worst job at collecting coffee cherries. 

among all the family activities i grew up with, this one was always one of my favorites, and hearing my dad introduce himself as a coffee farmer by tradition, reminds me of it. 

urbanization and coffee growing

in recent decades, costa rica has undergone a large urban and commercial development in the central valley, where cement structures have replaced coffee plantations, a key economic activity since the 1800s. according to the state of the nation report in 2018, just in the past few decades, the urbanized area in the central valley has increased by 65%. 

at the same time, one major climate change threat in cities is heat stress due to the heat island effect, where structures such as buildings, roads, and sidewalks raise temperatures in urban areas as they absorb and release high heat levels. a study in the costa rican central valley shows that coffee farms can reduce surface temperatures by more than 20°c (the equivalent of a 36°f change) compared to fully urbanized areas.

rapid and massive urbanization also threatens the habitats of many urban wildlife species. in costa rica, a study conducted by the university of costa rica and the national autonomous university of mexico (unam) links the decline of coffee farms in the central valley to extinction threats due to habitat reduction for the endemic bird cabanis’s ground sparrow (melozone cabanisi).

la valencia – the neighborhood where my family’s farm is located – in santo domingo, heredia, is no exception to urbanization trends. my dad, ignacio, was born and raised in santo domingo, an area in the central valley of costa rica. he remembers the days when he would go to collect coffee in la valencia. 

“as soon as we went on school vacation, we would go to collect coffee because our vacation coincided with coffee harvesting season. my whole family would walk to the farm together, filled with incredible joy, carrying lunches prepared in the morning to enjoy in the coffee fields, where we would spend the entire day,” he said, filled with nostalgia. 

“in the past, it was common to see that area (la valencia) bustling during coffee harvests, with many people walking through the streets to collect coffee from the various farms […] large groups of people would walk along streets that were once made of gravel. at that time, vehicular traffic was very rare—only an occasional car. you would mostly see ox carts used for transporting coffee. depending on their financial situation, people would either use an ox cart or a car, though cars were very scarce.” 

today, the same streets my dad used to walk through are full of supermarkets, factories, and commercial offices. i can see a mcdonald’s on the corner and the latest neighborhood acquisition is the first dunkin’ donuts in the country, for which hundreds of people lined up on opening day. “today, the same number of people travel those streets, but in vehicles, heading to work at the various industries around the area,” my dad said. 

among the few things that remain the same in the area is my family’s farm, finca rivera. my dad is one of only two neighbors in la valencia who, despite commercial development in the area, has kept his coffee farm. finca rivera, which spans 10 hectares (approximately 25 acres), belonged to our family for three generations before him, and he has now managed it for 30 years since his father passed on the administration to him.

urban agriculture: an ally in reducing urban heating and enhancing wildlife connectivity

coffee farms in urban areas have a major positive impact because they provide green spaces that help regulate urban temperatures and promote biodiversity. 

“coffee is a tree (plant) species of about 1.5 meters (approximately 5 feet) tall and densely grown in areas dedicated to coffee. in a coffee farm, these plants are spaced 1 to 2 meters apart and have a population of 5,000 plants per hectare,” my dad said. 

“in addition to the coffee trees (plants), you can also find other trees that support coffee production, and other plants grown on the property, like bananas and plantains,” he said. he quickly did some math and assertively said: “the farm (la rivera) contains 50,000 medium-sized coffee (trees), plus shade trees, trees in live fences, and other trees we plant in the farm – these coffee farms are a small green lung within a city filled with buildings!” 

my dad goes on to explain how coffee cultivation practices have changed during his time managing the farm.

over the past years, he has been working on reforesting the farm with poró gigante (erythrina poeppigiana). poró is a legume tree known for its natural nitrogen-fixing properties. 

he shares how it works: “nitrogen fixation in the soil is important because coffee plants, as part of their physiological functioning, capture nitrogen from the soil for their nutrition.” 

having poró trees on the farm reduces the need for nitrogen-based fertilizers, which in large quantities can contribute to environmental issues such as water pollution, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and soil degradation.

my dad continues to point out the benefits of poró trees. he shares that their canopy shelters the coffee plants from the harsh sun and rain. 

“[the] poró tree renews its leaves at a certain time of the year and when the leaves are shed they form a vegetative layer on the soil that will later form an organic fertilizer,” he said. “also, this layer of leaves is a natural mulch in which weeds will not grow.” 

but not all weeds are harmful. “there is also growing awareness about certain plants (weeds) that coexist with coffee crops without causing harm. it’s been proven that some of these weeds can live in harmony with the coffee plants and don’t compete with them at all,” he said.

this is also helpful in reducing the need for chemical products, such as herbicides. “[…] i believe their use is decreasing more and more,” he said. and when you do need to clear weeds, my dad said the use of brush cutters is also replacing herbicides. 

the changes in managing coffee crops on my dad’s farm mainly come from the technical assistance provided by la libertad coffee growers cooperative, where he delivers his coffee, and from the insights he has gained through obtaining certifications like rainforest alliance and starbucks c.a.f.e practices.

“this information helps us raise awareness about the use of chemicals in coffee farming. there is still a long way to go, but progress has been made,” he said. he also highlights that his work to increase tree coverage on the farm came from a growing technical trend he noticed. as he read and informed himself, he recognized the significant benefits of shade for coffee plants and began incorporating it into his own practices.

listening to him reminds me of the importance of working directly with farmers when transitioning to sustainable practices. his message brings up his courage and humility to recognize that even after 40 years of experience, there is still more to learn. it makes me reflect on how this blend of openness and practical guidance is powerful and essential for fostering local sustainable change.

the motivation behind this positive impact

my dad unknowingly combats the urban heat island effect and enhances urban biodiversity connectivity in santo domingo, heredia. if you ask him, he probably would not even know what this climate jargon and concepts mean, yet he is doing it. his motivation for preserving his coffee farm in a highly urbanized area is not driven by economic gain or even elevated climate change awareness. his motivations are rooted in his deep love and the sentimental value of his family’s coffee legacy and a deep connection with the healthy lifestyle farm life offers. “you enter the coffee farm and you breathe a different kind of air […] and start to enjoy things that no longer exist out there,” he said. 

my dad’s story is one of the power of personal passion and cultural heritage to preserve our environment. it demonstrates that impactful actions can stem from a sincere connection with nature and one’s roots, not just from scientific and technical knowledge. by preserving his coffee farm, my dad not only honors my family’s coffee roots but also leaves a legacy for the quality of life in his — and my — hometown.

north america has the highest diversity of freshwater mussels in the world, with almost 300 different species. also known as the “liver of the river,” freshwater mussels filter and protect aquatic ecosystems. despite being able to filter between eight and 15 gallons of water per day, mussels face a myriad of threats including industrial development which affected these populations as factories popped up along the schuylkill river during the industrial revolution. 

at its worst, philadelphians said the river did not even resemble water. now, scientists at the fairmount water works (fww) freshwater mussel hatchery are working tirelessly to create a space where visitors can learn firsthand about the life of a freshwater mussel and how cleaner river water depends on one of the most imperiled aquatic animals in north america.

in 2017, the philadelphia water department teamed up with the partnership for the delaware estuary to open the hatchery, which is free to the public, and located within the fww interpretive center. the hatchery was designed and imagined by the academy of natural sciences at drexel university, victoria prizzia of habithéque, inc., and artist stacy levy.

introducing philadelphians to the power of the mussel

the hatchery sits along the schuylkill river, which provides 40% of philadelphians with drinking water, with the other 60% being provided by the delaware river. the location of the hatchery, along with preserving pieces of architecture from the original waterworks building are all intentional. according to stacey heffernan, the environmental education planner, “mussels are the gateway animal to get people to care for the waterways.” the hatchery’s proximity to the schuylkill, one of philadelphia’s most iconic green spaces, places it in a culturally significant and emotionally resonant site for many locals.  

in addition to this, the hatchery also runs educational programs for philadelphia youth. four schools from the surrounding area participate in the “mussels in the classroom” program. this provides teachers with their classroom’s own recirculating aquaculture system and some juvenile mussels. with this, students are able to engage first-hand with measuring mussels and monitoring water quality. 

the hatchery also runs a “mussels in the field” program located at the audubon discovery center, which provides youth from six nearby school districts with similar hands-on interactions, as well as introduces students to blue-green infrastructure. once a month, the discovery center also hosts “mussel maniacs” where adults can participate in similar field work and connect with other conservation enthusiasts. 

rebuilding a population of workhorse filterers

since the hatchery opened in 2017, they have consistently propagated around 10,000 mussels each year. the fww mussel hatchery strays away from what these types of aquatic field stations often aim to do, which is to focus on restoring endangered native populations. instead, the hatchery is working to build up common species that once thrived in the schuylkill prior to industrial development, which could lead in local efforts to purify water sources for philadelphians. 

in the wild, mussels have a few main ways of propagating, but scientists in the hatchery lab do these manually. this past year, the hatchery achieved a new personal record of the highest number of successful propagations with 20,000 mussels. so far this year, the hatchery more than doubled their yearly propagation numbers with just two inoculation trials. they also performed their first study to determine the rate at which two species of freshwater mussels could remove pollutants. 

looking ahead, the results will be used to determine how mussels can work as a complement to traditional pollution control technologies. with all these new milestones, heffernan says, “we have made a lot of strides in a short period of time.

why cleaner wrasses are so important

cleaner wrasses like clewra are vital for the health of coral reefs, ecosystems that are currently under threat. coral reefs are fragile and sensitive to changes in the environment, and climate change has led to widespread coral bleaching. many reefs across the indo-pacific are struggling and cleaner wrasses are part of the solution. they help maintain the balance by keeping the reef fish healthy, which in turn, helps preserve the reef ecosystem.

this is why my research focuses on cleaner wrasses like clewra. as a student at the university of hawai’i studying marine biology, i wanted to understand how their social behavior and cognitive abilities contribute to the reef’s health, especially in areas still relatively unaffected by coral bleaching. by studying these cleaner wrasses, we can compare their behavior and intelligence across different regions, providing insight into how environmental changes might impact the species in the future.

how cleaner wrasses maintain reef health

with her elegant, shiny purple, blue, and yellow body, clewra darts around the reef like a little underwater superhero. her mission is to clean her clients of annoying parasites and dead skin, leaving them refreshed and rejuvenated.

clewra’s unique talent lies in her ability to perform various gestures to attract and calm her clients. she trembles with excitement to signal she’s ready to clean, her flapping fins creating an irresistible invitation. some clients even say her touch is like a gentle massage, building trust and bonding. her “tactile stimulation” helps her clients relax, similar to a relaxing spa experience for humans.

cleaner wrasses don’t just clean fish for the sake of hygiene, they play a crucial role in the reef’s social structure. their cleaning services foster a sense of community where fish of all sizes and species line up to get their parasites removed. even predators like groupers and barracudas show up at the cleaning stations and wait patiently for their turn, demonstrating how cleaner wrasses contribute to peace and cooperation among marine life.

this unique social behavior creates a symbiotic relationship that benefits everyone. cleaner wrasses are essential because they help prevent diseases by keeping fish free of parasites, ensuring the survival of both the fish and the reef ecosystem. this, in turn, impacts human coastal communities, which rely on healthy reefs for resources and protection from storm surges.

clewra’s intelligence and skill

what makes clewra and others of her species truly fascinating is their intelligence. cleaner wrasses are among the few fish species that can recognize themselves in mirrors, a sign of self-awareness, a rare trait among fish. clewra, in particular, has a remarkable ability to remember individual clients and their cleaning preferences. some cleaner wrasses cheat by nibbling at the protective mucus of their clients instead of just eating the parasites, but clewra is honest and trustworthy. her clients keep coming back because they know she does her job well.

researchers have found that the social intelligence of cleaner wrasses may even contribute to the development of their cognitive abilities. fish that interact with these cleaners must adapt and respond to social cues, making the reef a place of constant learning and communication. my research aims to delve deeper into this intelligence by conducting behavioral and cognitive tests on cleaner wrasses like clewra.

the ecosystem’s hidden heroes

cleaner wrasses like clewra are essential for more than just maintaining cleanliness. their role in preventing disease and infection ensures the overall health of the reef. without them, the balance of life on the reef could collapse, causing a ripple effect that would impact both marine life and human coastal communities.