A once critically endangered species of parrot now under threat from a highly contagious virus may be offered a renewed chance of survival by a conservationist at the University of Kent.

Mauritius parrot. Copyright: Gregory Guida 2007

Dr Jim Groombridge, Lecturer in Biodiversity Conservation at the University’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), has been awarded £215,594 from the Leverhulme Trust to lead a three-year project that aims to determine what factors drive the Mauritius parakeet’s susceptibility to infection, and in particular the spread of the highly contagious (and often lethal) parrot-specific virus Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) that has recently infected this endangered parrot.

This project is all the more important given that the once widespread population of the Mauritius parakeet (Psittacula echo) fell to just 12 individuals by 1987, following a century of habitat loss and competition from the introduced ringneck parakeet. However, following a highly successful avian restoration programme, numbers of Mauritian parakeets eventually recovered to 350 birds (resulting in its downgrading from critically endangered to endangered) but in 2004 an outbreak of PBFD threatened this still recovering population.

Alongside its principal aim of providing important guidance for managing the disease-problems encountered by this endangered parrot, the project will also provide equally important guidance for managing infectious disease in species conservation programmes worldwide. In addition, it will provide a rare opportunity to study the epidemiology of infectious disease as extensive data is available from 20 years of careful monitoring of both the Mauritius parakeet and a closely related, introduced species of parakeet.

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Cloud Illumination Photograph of the Earth in which agglomerations of clouds and the brightness reflected by the illuminated face of our planet can be seen. Terrestrial clouds can reflect up to 80% of the light they receive. Credit: Gabriel Pérez, IAC (Multimedia Service) 3DClouds Clouds are indicative of atmospheric pressure and existing temperature. Terrestrial cloud cover can be seen this three-dimensional representation, obtained from combined measurments from various meteorological satellites. The cloud distribution is represented during the phenomenon known as "El Niño" (1997-98) and shows anomalies in sea surface temperatures. Credit: NASA.

From data obtained over two decades (1984-2005) by a network of meteorological satellites from all over the world, astronomers Enric Pallé, Pilar Monañés-Rodríguez and Manuel Vázquez from the IAC, together with Eric Ford from the University of Florida and Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have produced a computer-generated model of the Earth's brightness. Results have shown that, if observed as a point source, such as an extraterrestrial observer would view it, the Earth's cloud mass would follow a repetitive pattern with a certain frequency.

"The trick lies in interpreting the movement of the Earth's surface and the clouds as periodical signals, just as if we were to observe the spots on a spinning ball appearing and disappearing", explains Enric Pallé, first author of an article to be published next month in the American Astrophysical Journal.

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