The exact ingredients of the chemical mixture being sprayed on and pumped into the spreading BP oil spill are secret, even though some are rated toxic and may endanger the health of Gulf residents and ecosystems.

Bat losses can have major impacts on ecosystems, as they routinely consume large quantities of insects and themselves provide food and nutrients for other plants and animals. There also are economic impacts as caves close to recreational use, in an effort to combat the spread of the disease.

 By CHRISTINE HEINRICHS

Mute Swans retain a mythic grip on people, touching the hearts of those who glimpse these graceful white birds gliding across a misty lake. Yet many now regard Mute Swans as unwanted invaders that trash fragile wetland and aquatic habitat and chase out other birds.

This dichotomy confounds wetlands managers, who want at least to control growing populations of Mute Swans, if not eliminate them entirely.

Find out if an endangered or threatened animal or plant species lives in counties of interest to your audience, and cover it in the context of current news developments or some other at-risk-species angle.

For the first time in 25 years, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has updated the list of federally-protected migratory birds. The net result is the addition of 175 species, bringing the total to 1,007.