Tarantulas to Track Deforestation

I found this article interesting and a good exampleof the lengths some people are taking to save our diminishing environment. Tenesse biologist and curator Steve Reichling, with the help of Memphis Zoo, will be using about 50 tarantulas to measure the degree of damage to rainforest habitats in Belize. The tarantulas will be surgically implanted with radio transponders and placed in different spots throughout the Belizean rainforests. Scientists will be able to track the damage to the rainforest based on when the tarantulas die out and are replaced. It is expected that this project will go on for about 20 years.

Tarantulas are being used because they are very good indicators of environmental change. They can live up to 20 years and remain in one burrow for their whole life, making them easy to relocate continuously. The tarantulas will be placed at different sites containing mature old-growth forest, long-barren open pastures, traditionally managed forest, and sites newly cleared for farming. The only problem that has arised with the experiment was getting the radio transponders implanted in an animal that molts annually. This type of procedure had never been attempted. They eventually were able to plant rice grain sized transmitters into their abdomen.