A new study from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> reveals what is going on inside of your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-brain-interactions-have-an-influence-on-diseases/">brain</a> when you get lost in a fictional fantasy. The experts discovered that the more immersed we become in the lives of our favorite characters of fiction, the more our brain activity reflects how much we identify with them.
&#8220;When they think about a favorite fictional character, it appears similar in one part of the brain as when they are thinking about themselves,&#8221; said study lead author Timothy Broom.
The research was focused on self-described fans of the HBO series &#8220;Game of Thrones.&#8221; The individuals were instructed to think about themselves, nine of their friends, and nine characters from the drama series. The participants also reported on which character they felt closest to and liked the most.
According to Broom, Game of Thrones was ideal for this study because it attracted a devoted fan base and the large cast presented a variety of characters that people could become attached to.
One of the key findings involved participants who scored highest on &#8220;trait identification.&#8221; These individuals agreed most strongly with statements like &#8220;I really get involved in the feelings of the characters in a novel.&#8221;
&#8220;People who are high in trait identification not only get absorbed into a story, they also are really absorbed into a particular character,&#8221; said Broom. &#8220;They report matching the thoughts of the character, they are thinking what the character is thinking, they are feeling what the character is feeling. They are inhabiting the role of that character.&#8221;
The researchers used an fMRI machine to measure activity in various parts of the brain through small changes in blood flow. As the participants&#8217; brains were scanned, they were evaluating themselves, their friends, and Game of Thrones characters. 
A part of the brain called the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) is known to show increased activity when people think about themselves and, to a lesser extent, when they think about close friends.
While in the fMRI, the individuals were shown a series of names &#8211; including themselves, friends, or characters &#8211; along with a trait, such as lonely, sad, trustworthy, or smart. The participants simply said &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221; to imply whether the trait fit the person.
As expected, the vMPFC was most active when people were evaluating themselves, less active when they evaluated friends, and least active when they evaluated characters from Game of Thrones.
However, among those who were high in trait identification, the vMPFC was more active when they thought about the fictional characters than it was for participants who identified less with the characters. This region of the brain was particularly active when the individuals evaluated the character they identified with the most.
Study co-author Dylan Wanger said the findings help explain how fiction can have such a big impact on some people.
&#8220;For some people, fiction is a chance to take on new identities, to see worlds though others&#8217; eyes and return from those experiences changed,&#8221; said Wagner.
&#8220;What previous studies have found is that when people experience stories as if they were one of the characters, a connection is made with that character, and the character becomes intwined with the self. In our study, we see evidence of that in their brains.&#8221;
The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan">Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience</a>.
&#8211;&#8212;
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What happens in your brain while you're lost in fiction

Rustic,Old,Medieval,Wooden,Dining,Table,With,Antique,Pottery

In the modern age, leadership is generally earned through respect and democracy, but this was not always the case. In fact, a new research study has concluded that the Peruvian Wari Empire used hallucinogenic seeds and beer to help cement leadership relationships with citizens over 1,000 years ago.



Researchers from Dickinson College in Carlisle, the University of Rochester in New York, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada discovered that during communal feasts, leaders of the Wari Empire in Quilcapampa would add hallucinogenic seeds to a beer-like fermented drink called chicha. The potent cocktail has been hypothesized to have been used to make citizens respect the Wari leaders as drug providers.



"This was a turning point in the Andes in terms of politics and use of hallucinogens," explained study co-author Matthew Biwer. "We see this kind of use of hallucinogens as a different context than in prior civilizations, who seem to have closely guarded the use of hallucinogens to a select few, or the latter Inca Empire who emphasized the mass-consumption of beer but did not use psychotropic substances such as vilca at feasts."&nbsp;



The assumptions were made based on jars, cups, vilca seeds, and botanical remains that were found by archeologists around the site, evidence that is highly suggestive of large-scale brewing operations. While vilca seeds were commonly used by the neighboring Tiwanaku through inhalation in addition to other South American civilizations for over 4,000 years, the Wari empire is the first documented to combine it with alcohol in order to enhance the effects.



Furthermore, other South American uses of the drug suggest exclusivity for spiritual and visionary purposes, whereas the Wari empire’s use seems to have been centered around communal feasts to act as a socio-political tool.



"By tying their esoteric knowledge of obtaining and using vilca as an additive to molle chicha, an intoxicant that stimulated communitas, Wari leaders were able to legitimize and maintain their heightened status," the researchers explained. "These individuals were able to offer memorable, collective psychotropic feasts, but ensured that they could not be independently replicated."



This ultimately means that by obtaining, brewing, and distributing the vilca-beer combination during communal feasts, the Wari elites gained a reputation for providing a desirable experience that could not exist without them, thus giving them social control.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://antiquity.ac.uk/">Antiquity</a>.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Peruvian empire kept control with beer and hallucinogens

In the modern age, leadership is generally earned through respect...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-spaces-provide-a-refuge-for-urban-pollinators/">Green spaces</a> are known to greatly improve the well-being of people living in urban areas, and a new study shows they can also help mitigate climate change. Katja Schmidt and Ariane Walz of the <a href="https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/university-of-potsdam">University of Potsdam</a> quantified different aspects of urban green spaces to take a closer look at their positive impacts.



"Climate change adaptation is essential to mitigate risks, such as extreme weather events triggered by global warming and amplified in dense urban environments," wrote the study authors.&nbsp; 



"Ecosystem-based adaptation measures, such as urban greening, are promoted in cities because of their flexibility and their positive side effects, such as human health benefits, ecological effects, climate mitigation and a range of social benefits."&nbsp;



"While individual co-benefits of greening measures are well studied, often in public green spaces, few studies quantify co-benefits comprehensively, leaving social benefits particularly understudied."



The scientists looked at aspects of thermal comfort, biodiversity, carbon storage and social interaction. The research draws on interdisciplinary knowledge from health, ecology and socio-ecological research. The study points to the idea that knowing an ecosystem better can help us prepare for climate change.&nbsp;



The scientists compared four green residential courtyards in Potsdam using methods ranging from local climate measurements to habitat and plant mapping. The comparison showed that the areas were similar but had differently sized features, such as lawns, flowerbeds, paths, etc.&nbsp;



While carrying out the research, the scientists noticed that even these small differences can impact climate change benefits. One thing remained constant however, the greener the courtyards, the larger the benefits.&nbsp;



Trees are hugely beneficial in cooling and creating an increase in thermal comforts. Green courtyards had an additional cooling impact of up to 11°C more. This is a large benefit for human populations wanting to stay cool during summer time highs when asphalt and concrete bake in the sun.&nbsp;



Green courtyards are also beneficial for carbon storage in urban areas. The most carbon is stored by larger trees that are well-maintained.



“Considering the trend of increasing quantity and magnitude of extreme weather events and the vulnerability of urban areas, green spaces are known to provide great potential to increase urban climate resilience," said Dr. Schmidt."Our work highlights the widespread positive effects of additional green structures in residential open spaces, a type of urban green space that is frequently understudied."



According to the researchers, these benefits could be capitalized upon with government incentives designed to encourage the creation and maintenance of green spaces in urban areas.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/">One Ecosystem</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Green yards promote climate resilience in urban areas

Green spaces are known to greatly improve the well-being of...

Bumblebees are important <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollutants-confuse-pollinators-and-reduce-food-production/">pollinators</a> for many plants. They can fly in colder temperatures than many insects and they’re very hardy. Despite these traits, bumblebees along with many other insects are in a state of decline that is largely associated with human activities.&nbsp;



Now, new research from the <a href="https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html">University of Göttingen</a> shows that a diverse diet is important for bumblebee reproduction. The study suggests that a diverse diet of pollen fed to young bumblebees can possibly even help with infestations of parasitic wax moth larvae.  



"Our study shows that it is not individual habitats, such as flower-rich gardens, or semi-natural habitats (such as hedgerows or flower strips), that contribute to reproductive success for the large earth bumblebee Bombus terrestris. In fact, it is rather the diversity of habitats across the entire study landscape that is important," said first author Sandra Schweiger, a researcher in Functional Agrobiodiversity.



"So a wide variety of flower-rich landscape elements must be present. In addition, a diverse pollen diet can contribute to better colony growth and more offspring, especially for young queens."&nbsp;



According to study co-author Professor Catrin Westphal, a balanced pollen diet also reduces the negative effects of parasitic wax moth larvae infestations, which can severely harm the reproductive success of the bumblebees.



For the investigation, the scientists established bumblebee colonies in two regions of Germany and collected pollen samples from bees returning to their hives. The samples were used to research the importance of habitat diversity and thus pollen nutrition in agricultural landscapes as it relates to reproduction. 



Monoculture blooms that provide steady unvaried nutrition as well as landscapes with diverse flowers were both analyzed. The upshot of the research shows that bumblebee bees fare better in diverse landscapes providing a variety of pollen to feed their colonies rather than typical monoculture agricultural fields.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



"Our study showed that high landscape diversity and diverse pollen diets can enhance the reproductive success of bumblebees," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"A diverse diet even mitigated depredation by wax moths. To sustain vital bumblebee populations and their pollination services, diverse and floral rich habitat types should be conserved or restored in agricultural landscapes."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment">Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A balanced diet improves bumblebee health

Bumblebees are important pollinators for many plants. They can fly...

Iris,Recognition,Concept,Smart,Contact,Lens.,Mixed,Media.

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can identify patients with a high risk of a heart attack by analyzing retinal scans. The study, which involved a worldwide collaboration of scientists, engineers and clinicians, could revolutionize the way patients are regularly screened for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-foods-linked-to-drastically-lower-risk-of-heart-disease/">heart disease</a>.&nbsp;



“The AI system is an excellent tool for unraveling the complex patterns that exist in nature, and that is what we have found here - the intricate pattern of changes in the retina linked to changes in the heart," said study co-author Professor Sven Plein.



Previously, experts had discovered that changes among tiny blood vessels in the retina may indicate an underlying vascular condition such as heart disease.&nbsp;



The Leeds team used machine learning techniques to train an AI system to automatically read retinal scans to look for people who were likely to have a heart attack over the following year.



According to the researchers, the new AI system has an accuracy of between 70 and 80 percent and could be used as a second referral mechanism for in-depth cardiovascular investigation.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research was supervised by Professor Alex Frangi, who holds the Diamond Jubilee Chair in Computational Medicine at the University of Leeds and is a Turing Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute.&nbsp;



“Cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks, are the leading cause of early death worldwide and the second-largest killer in the UK. This causes chronic ill-health and misery worldwide," said Professor Frangi.



“This technique opens-up the possibility of revolutionising the screening of cardiac disease. Retinal scans are comparatively cheap and routinely used in many optician practices. As a result of automated screening, patients who are at high risk of becoming ill could be referred to specialist cardiac services. The scans could also be used to track the early signs of heart disease.”&nbsp;



Professor Chris Gale explained that the AI system has the potential to identify individuals attending routine eye screening who are at higher future risk of cardiovascular disease. As a result, he said that preventative treatments could be started earlier to prevent premature cardiovascular disease.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natmachintell/">Nature Machine Intelligence</a>.



---



By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Retinal scans can reveal early signs of heart disease

Researchers at the University of Leeds have developed an artificial...

In the mid-1990s, scientists discovered the deep seafloor biosphere - a surprisingly varied population of microorganisms that thrive in the isolated and generally food-deprived environments from the depths of seas and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-heat-reached-a-record-high-for-the-sixth-straight-year/">oceans</a>. Two decades later, in 2016, an international team of scientists embarked on the Japanese scientific drillship Chikyu to collect sediment samples from a drill hole cutting through the geological subduction zone of the Nankai Trough on the coast of Japan, in order to investigate the temperature limit of the deep seafloor biosphere.



At this site, the researchers were amazed to discover a very small, but active microbial community thriving at temperatures occasionally reaching even 120°C. By using highly sensitive radiotracer measurements of methane production and sulfate reduction, the scientists assessed the metabolic rates of these organisms and were surprised to find that they were extraordinarily high for such an unfriendly environment.



"We propose that the organisms are forced to maintain a high metabolic turnover, which approaches the activity of microbes living in surface sediments and in laboratory cultures, to provide the energy required to repair thermal cell damage," said study lead author Felix Beulig, an ecological microbiologist at the <a href="https://uni-bayreuth.de/en">University of Bayreuth</a>.



"The energy required to repair thermal damage to cellular components increases steeply with temperature, and most of this energy is likely necessary to counteract the continuous alteration of amino acids and loss of protein function," added study senior author Tina Treunde, a professor of Marine Geomicrobiology at the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a>.



This high per-cell activity of sulfate reducers and methanogens in the deep, hot sediment appears to be fueled by hydrogen and acetate from the sediment porewater. Acetate, a small organic molecule which is also present in vinegar, is of particular interest as a potential food source, according to co-chief scientists of the expedition Verena Heuer, a researcher at MARUM in Germany. “Acetate reaches concentrations of more than 10 mmol per liter in the sediment porewater, which is exceptionally high for marine sediments,” she explained.



The detection of high metabolic rates in the deep seafloor biosphere is a fascinating, surprising discovery. "We always found that microbes in the deep biosphere are an extremely sluggish community that slowly nibbles on the last remains of million-year-old, buried organic matter. But the deep biosphere is full of surprises,” said Bo Barker Jørgensen, a pioneer of deep biosphere research from <a href="https://international.au.dk/">Aarhus University</a>.



“To find life thriving with high metabolic rates at these high temperatures in the deep seabed nourishes our imagination of how life could evolve or survive in similar environments on planetary bodies beyond Earth.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.



&nbsp;---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Organisms can thrive on the seafloor in extreme heat

In the mid-1990s, scientists discovered the deep seafloor biosphere -...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.17904">New Phytologist</a> has investigated how changes in temperature affect the height of sorghum plants. The research is shedding new light on the mechanisms which determine how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetics-not-environmental-stress-increases-thc-in-hemp/">genetics</a> interact with changing environmental conditions during crucial developmental stages in plants – a process called “phenotypic plasticity.”



According to a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a>, understanding phenotypic plasticity will not only shed more light on the mechanisms that play a critical role in plant growth, but will also help plant breeders design more resilient crop varieties that perform well under a variety of environmental conditions.&nbsp;



In order to clarify this intricate process, the scientists examined the growth rate of sorghum, a globally cultivated cereal crop, during a critical stage of development (40 to 53 days after planting), by measuring plant height at several points during the growth season, over multiple years. Then, they applied statistical regression analyses to clarify the relationship between height and diurnal temperature change (the difference in temperature between daytime highs and nighttime lows). The database the researchers used was highly substantial, including 3,500 phenotype records collected in four years, which were further validated with 13,500 records in another four years.



The results suggest that increase in diurnal temperature change tended to produce shorter plants. “We found that these genes actually interact with environmental stimuli and control the maximum growth rate as well as time to reach maximum growth rate,” said study first author Qi Mu, a postdoctoral research associate in Agronomy. “And that eventually determines the final plant height.”&nbsp;



According to Dr. Mu and her colleagues, climate change increases the urgency to understand phenotypic plasticity, since it causes more volatile swings in weather, and thus influences the development of crops. Research into phenotypic plasticity will allow plant breeders to develop more efficient tools for predicting how different types of crops will perform across a variety of environmental conditions.



“With climate change, crops need to adapt to different climates and environments. In order to breed crops that are more adaptive we have to understand the mechanism of how they respond to environments. With that knowledge, we can design resilient crops that thrive in future environments,” Dr. Mu concluded.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Genetics and the environment interact in plant development

A new study published in the journal New Phytologist has...

Food production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), thus contributing to climate change. In comparison to livestock farming, marine aquaculture, or mariculture, has a significantly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-seafood-has-one-sixth-the-carbon-footprint-of-red-meat/">lower carbon footprint</a>. This means that mariculture is a more sustainable option than land-based food production.&nbsp;



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a> and the <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/">Nature Conservancy</a> has investigated mariculture’s unique potential to sustainably feed a rapidly growing human population.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, mariculture already constitutes 52 percent of the aquatic animal products people consume. These high-protein products have a markedly lower carbon footprint than terrestrial ones and, unlike in the case of livestock grazing, they don’t require substantial land-use change such as deforestation to make room for cattle.&nbsp;



"The GHG emissions per unit of protein produced by aquaculture generally compare favorably with most livestock production,"&nbsp;reported the study authors.



In order to further improve marine aquaculture’s sustainability advantage, the scientists lay out additional ways to reduce emissions related to this sector. For instance, an increased focus on supply chain improvements could permit the transport of mariculture products to consumers with a largely improved GHG footprint. Relying on regional markets would be crucial and would also provide greater food security.



Furthermore, at the mariculture sites, there are several ways to reduce emissions, such as "co-farming bivalves with seaweed, which can lead to a net reduction in CO2 emissions, and co-farming fed finfish with seaweed or bivalves." These measures would result in greater absorption of excess nutrients which would reduce <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/eutrophication.html">eutrophication</a> and the further degradation of marine habitats that already act as major <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-sinks-are-a-powerful-weapon-against-climate-change/">carbon sinks</a>.



In conclusion, the researchers hope that efforts to improve mariculture’s environmental benefits will support the development of climate-friendly practices that generate sustainable ecological, social, and economic outcomes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/production_in_progress.pdf">BioScience</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mariculture is highly sustainable and climate friendly

Food production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions...

Great,White,Shark,Fin,Above,Water

According to data recently published by Florida Museum of Natural History’s <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/">International Shark Attack File</a> (ISAF), 2021 marked the first increase in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-attacks-linked-to-phases-of-the-moon/">shark attacks</a> after three consecutive years of global decline. Overall, there were 73 unprovoked shark bites, 39 provoked bites, and nine fatalities recorded.



The number of unprovoked shark bites aligns with the five-year global annual average of 72, yet is significantly larger than the 52 bites recorded in 2020 (the lowest number in over a decade). In ISAF manager Tyler Bowling’s view, the beach closures associated to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-booster-shots-are-highly-effective-against-hospitalization/">COVID-19</a> pandemic may have played a large role in the decline in shark attacks in 2020.



“Shark bites dropped drastically in 2020 due to the pandemic. This past year was much more typical, with average bite numbers from an assortment of species and fatalities from white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks,” said Bowling.



In 2021, the United States continued to be the world leader, with a total of 47 attacks (64 percent of the global cases), all but five taking place along the Atlantic Seaboard. Australia had the second-highest number of bites (12), representing a decrease from its five-year annual average of 16. Brazil and New Zealand each had three recorded attacks, while Canada, Ecuador, and St. Kitts and Nevis followed with a single incident each.



Although last year saw a marked increase in shark attacks as more people flocked to beaches after the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, deaths seem to become less frequent in the long run.



“The overall decline in mortalities from shark bites is likely due to a combination of improved beach safety protocols around the world and a diminishment in the number of sharks of various species in coastal waters,” said Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Museum’s<a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/sharks/">&nbsp;shark research program</a>.&nbsp;



“The spike in 2020 and 2021 is almost certainly because of the expanding numbers of white sharks, which have been increasing in various localities likely in response to a boom in the seal populations they feed on.”



Most of the people bitten by sharks were surfers or boarders, who usually spend a large amount of time on the water in and around surf zones. According to ISAF’s <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/reduce-risk/">guidance</a> on how to decrease the risk of shark bites, people should avoid splashing in open water, which sharks may mistake for struggling fish, as well as refrain from wearing reflective jewelry, which may glint in the sunshine, resembling fish scales.&nbsp;



The ISAF 2021 shark attack report can be read <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/">here</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shark attacks are rising, after a three-year decline

According to data recently published by Florida Museum of Natural...

A research-industry collaboration has developed an innovative and environmentally friendly method for combating a variety of severe crop diseases using native, beneficial soil bacteria.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-plants-wont-survive-the-loss-of-seed-dispersing-animals/">Plant</a> infections and crop diseases are major agricultural issues that can decimate crop yields, and scientists are working to find sustainable solutions. Streptomyces scabies, a bacterial pathogen that produces potato scab, and Phytophthora infestans, an oomycete disease that causes potato blight, are major potato infections and were significant causes of the Great Famine in Ireland.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://www.jic.ac.uk/">John Innes Centre</a> team extracted and analyzed hundreds of Pseudomonas bacteria strains collected from the soil in a commercial potato field and conducted genome sequencing on 69 of them.



The researchers were able to uncover a crucial mechanism in some of the strains that protected the potato crop from hazardous disease-causing bacteria by comparing the genomes of those demonstrated to decrease pathogen activity with those that did not.



The agri-tech breakthrough aims to provide farmers with a means to lower the expense and reduce the environmental impact of chemical crop disease treatments that are widely used.



“The massive advantage of this approach is that we are using bacterial strains that are taken from the environment and put back in the same specific biological context in larger numbers so there is no ecological damage," said study co-author Dr Jacob Malone.



Using a mix of chemistry, genetics, and plant infection experiments, the researchers demonstrated the creation of tiny molecules known as cyclic lipopeptides, which is vital in the control of potato scab. This particular bacterial disease causes significant losses in potato yields.



The lipopeptides are tiny compounds which have an antibiotic impact on the pathogenic bacteria that cause potato scab, and they aid in the movement and colonization of the plant roots by the protective Pseudomonas bacteria.



The study offers a strategy for screening the microbiome of nearly any crop site, taking into consideration different soil, agronomic, and environmental circumstances.&nbsp;



“By identifying and validating mechanisms of potato pathogen suppression we hope that our study will accelerate the development of biological control agents to reduce the application of chemical treatments which are ecologically damaging." said study first author Dr. Alba Pacheco-Moreno.



“The approach we describe should be applicable to a wide range of plant diseases because it is based on understanding the mechanisms of action that are important for biological control agents."



The technique involves scanning the soil microbiome for therapeutic bacteria to determine which chemicals are being created to suppress pathogenic bacteria by utilizing breakthroughs in high-speed genetic sequencing. This method can also show how these beneficial soil bacteria are affected by agronomic factors such as soil type and irrigation.



According to the study, irrigation induces significant alterations in the genetically varied Pseudomonas population in the soil. The next step for the new approach is to put the beneficial bugs back into the same field in greater numbers or in cocktails of mixed strains as a soil microbiome boosting treatment.



The bacterial combinations could be introduced to the fields as seed coatings, as a spray, or by drip irrigation to improve the microbiome.



“In the future <s>&nbsp;</s>it's not the molecule produced by the bacteria that we would use, it would be the Pseudomonas strain itself," said study co-author Dr. Andrew Truman.



"It offers a more sustainable route - we know these bacteria colonize the soil where potatoes grow, and they provide protection to the crop. Using a bacterium, you can easily grow and formulate it in an appropriate way and apply it to the field, and it is much greener than using a synthetic chemical.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>.



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By <a href="http://mailto:ashikha92@gmail.com">Ashikha Raoof</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Soil bacteria can help farmers control crop diseases

A research-industry collaboration has developed an innovative and environmentally friendly...

In a new study led by scientists from <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/">Simon Fraser University</a>, the relationship between productivity in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and water flow in the Nicola River watershed has been investigated. This river is a tributary of the Thompson River, which flows into the Fraser River in British Columbia. The team used an advanced time-series model to understand 22 years (1992 to 2013) of variation in stream-type Chinook salmon productivity, as measured by the number of adult offspring per reproducing parent. 



River systems are being affected by climate change and human activities worldwide. The flow cycles of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-dissolved-in-rivers-is-damaging-our-planet/">rivers</a> are influenced by increased temperatures, changes in precipitation, removal of water for land use, and transformation of catchment areas. These changes have potentially serious impacts on freshwater biodiversity, but the consequences of past, present and future changes in flow regimes for river ecosystems and fish remain uncertain. 



Stream-type Chinook salmon are likely to be especially affected by flow changes because the offspring are reared in fresh water and the adults spend more time in river systems than do their ocean-type counterparts. It has, however, been difficult to isolate the effects of changing flow regimes from other processes, such as ocean survival, fishing mortality and interactions with hatchery-origin salmon.



In the Nicola watershed area, Chinook salmon support indigenous, commercial and recreational fisheries and are prey for endangered southern resident killer whales. However, the average August flow of the Nicola river has decreased by 26 percent, on average, over the past 100 years and recruitment into the Chinook salmon population has been below replacement level for more than half the cohorts since 1992. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is currently assessing whether to recommend Nicola Chinook salmon for listing under the&nbsp;Species at Risk Act.&nbsp;



“These long-term changes are probably the cumulative effect of climate change, water withdrawals for agricultural and other uses, and land use such as forestry,” said study co-author Professor Jonathan Moore.



The researchers examined how changing flow regimes and other variables influenced the productivity of the Chinook salmon population. The experts considered variables such as average August flow, fall flooding, and duration of winter ice cover. The analysis also took into account variable ocean survival, mortality from fishing and hatchery demographics.&nbsp;



The results indicated that the river flow during August, when Chinook are rearing as juveniles, was the most important predictor of productivity. Higher August flows during adult spawning and migration also likely boost productivity, while lower flows during this time are linked to decline. Although other factors, such as the extent of ice cover and salmon density also had an effect, river flow in August explained most of the variation in salmon productivity.



“We found that August flows during juvenile rearing had the greatest impact on Chinook productivity out of any factor; the effect was very large,” said study lead author Luke Warkentin, who carried out the project as part of his masters research in SFU’s Salmon Watersheds Lab. “If there isn’t enough water during the summer, Chinook populations tend to decline.”&nbsp;



On average, cohorts that experienced 50 percent below average flows in the August of spawning and rearing had 29 percent lower productivity.



The researchers feel that these results could help to inform water management in the Nicola watershed. From their model, they calculate that mean August flow during rearing would need to be 17.2 m3s−1&nbsp;to allow a harvest of 30 percent of the salmon for fisheries each year. This would help to protect this culturally and economically important species in the face of the numerous pressures it now faces.



“This data is helping to inform ongoing watershed planning and on-the-ground action in the Nicola by the five Nicola Bands and the Province,” said Leona Antoine who helps lead the Nicola Watershed Governance Project, and is associated with the Scw'exmx Tribal Council, but was not involved in the study. “Science such as this, as well as traditional knowledge and other sources of expertise, are guiding real change on the ground to steward this watershed.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26888319">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

River flow affects imperiled Chinook salmon population

In a new study led by scientists from Simon Fraser...

In a new collaborative study between <a href="https://www.tcd.ie/">Trinity College Dublin</a> and Hokkaido University, experts have found that predators help protect the biodiversity of ecosystems against the negative impacts of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-has-a-delayed-response-to-climate-change/">climate</a> change.



"Amidst the global extinction crisis, climate change will expose ecosystems to more frequent and intense extreme climatic events, such as heatwaves. Yet, whether predator species loss - a prevailing characteristic of the extinction crisis - will exacerbate the ecological consequences of extreme climatic events remains largely unknown," wrote the study authors.



For the investigation, the researchers observed communities of freshwater organisms in an experimental stream at the Tomakomai Experimental Forest in Northern Japan. The purpose of this experiment was to expose the animals to weather extremities similar to those produced by climate change in an attempt to understand how biodiversity would be affected.



Some of the stream communities included sculpin fish, a prime example of a dominant predator, while others did not include a predator. All of the communities were exposed to realistic heatwave conditions.



Ultimately, the team discovered that communities which included a predator were buffered against the extreme heat conditions more than those that did not include a predator. The heatwaves destabilized algal (plant) communities in the streams which resulted in biodiversity losses, but this was only the case when predators were absent.



“We found that predator extinctions can interact with heatwaves to further undermine the stability of ecosystems,” explained lead researcher Dr. Samuel Ross. “This highlights how the climate and biodiversity crises are completely intertwined, really just two sides of the same coin.”



“Taken together, our results show how the ecological consequences of heatwaves can amplify over time as their impacts propagate through ecological communities. However, predator species help to buffer such impacts, acting as allies in the fight against climate change.”&nbsp;



Algal communities provide the energy base for all other organisms, so the lack of predators which led to reduced algal biodiversity would ultimately result in less energy and biodiversity for other organisms. The researchers also found that these cascading effects were not apparent until long after the heatwave had passed.



"Taken together, our results suggest that the ecological consequences of heatwaves can amplify over time as their impacts propagate through biological interaction networks, but the presence of predators can help to buffer such impacts," wrote the study authors.



"These findings underscore the importance of conserving trophic structure, and highlight the potential for species extinctions to amplify the effects of climate change and extreme events."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Predators help prevent biodiversity loss

In a new collaborative study between Trinity College Dublin and...

Because hippopotamuses are vocal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-with-strong-site-fidelity-face-an-uncertain-future/">animals</a> whose wheezy, honking voices carry over long distances, scientists suspected that vocalizations might be an important part of their lives. A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, shows that hippos can recognize each other’s voices. The research also shows that hippos respond more aggressively to the calls of strangers than to their neighbors.&nbsp;



“We found that the vocalizations of a stranger individual induced a stronger behavioral response than those produced by individuals from either the same or a neighboring group,” said Nicolas Mathevon, a professor at the University of Saint-Etienne in France.&nbsp;



“In addition to showing that hippos are able to identify conspecifics based on vocal signatures, our study highlights that hippo groups are territorial entities that behave less aggressively toward their neighbors than toward strangers.”



Professor Mathevon and colleagues studied hippos in Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique, an area with several groups of hippopotamuses inhabiting different lakes. First, they recorded calls from all hippo groups. Next, they played back all the calls to each group to see how they’d react.&nbsp;



The researchers specifically wanted to see if the hippos would react differently to recordings of neighbors as opposed to strangers. The hippopotamuses responded by vocalizing, spraying dung (a territorial display), or approaching.



It turns out the hippos responded more strongly to the voices of strangers than to those of animals they were familiar with. This result has important conservation implications. Hippos are often relocated to maintain healthy populations,&nbsp;



“Before relocating a group of hippos to a new location, one precaution might be to broadcast their voices from a loudspeaker to the groups already present so that they become accustomed to them and their aggression gradually decreases,” explained Professor Mathevon. “Reciprocity, in which the animals to be moved become accustomed to the voices of their new neighbors before they arrive, could also be considered.”



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hippos can recognize the voices of their friends

Because hippopotamuses are vocal animals whose wheezy, honking voices carry...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> and the National Administration of Parks in Argentina has investigated the sarcoptic mange outbreak which decimated the vicuña and guanaco populations in Argentina’s San Guillermo National Park.&nbsp;



The findings suggest that domestic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/llama-antibodies-have-potential-to-treat-coronavirus-variants/">llamas</a> introduced to the site may have been the source of the outbreak which began in 2014 and wiped out 95 percent of the guanacos and 98 percent of the vicuñas by 2017, and all the remaining ones in the following two years.



Vicuñas and guanacos&nbsp;are species of wild camelids native to South American countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. These animals provide an important source of income for indigenous communities, who shear the animals for their soft, valuable fur. Moreover, by being preyed upon by animals such as mountain lions and condors, these camelids play a crucial role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem in the high Andes plateau.



According to researchers, the introduction of domestic llamas to areas near the San Guillermo National Park in 2009 was the cause of the devastating mange outbreak that destroyed most of the park’s vicuñas and guanacos.&nbsp;



Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious disease in which mites burrow under the skin of an animal, causing it to become itchy, crusty, thick, and cracked. This leads to debilitating pain. While mange is rarely fatal for llamas, it makes many vicuñas and guanacos almost unable to move or forage when infected, and they become easy prey or even starve to death.



“Several factors combined to create the perfect storm of this epidemic at a high cost to the ecosystem of San Guillermo National Park,” said study lead author Hebe del Valle Ferreyra, a wildlife veterinarian at the National Administration of Parks in Argentina. “Animal health management, conservation, and agriculture should not be regarded as opposing, incompatible and disconnected activities. A change of approach is needed that recognizes the links between all these sectors.”



According to the researchers, the decimation of these camelids will likely have cascading consequences for their predators and scavengers, such as mountain lions or condors. In the absence of vicuñas and guanacos, mountain lions could turn to livestock for their meals, while condors may need to search food outside the park, where they can be exposed to risks such as poisoning by pesticides or lead from hunting ammunition.



“Hopefully, within a few years, the animals will slowly return,” said study corresponding author Marcela Uhart, the director of the <a href="https://whc.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/latin-america-program">Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center’s Latin America Program</a> at UC Davis. “But in the meantime, we don’t know what will happen with the predators and scavengers because there is basically nothing left for them to eat.”



The study, published in the journal PLoS One, suggests that a better, ongoing communication between the conservation and livestock sectors is necessary for warding off future outbreaks.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vicuñas and guanacos decimated by mange outbreak

A new study led by the University of California, Davis...

Blue,Wildebeest,Stands,Eyeing,Camera,In,Grassland

Important human traits such as large brains emerged in Homo erectus about two million years ago. According to the widespread “meat made us human” hypothesis in Paleoanthropology, the evolutionary transition to modern humans is often linked to a major dietary shift involving an increase in meat consumption.&nbsp;



However, new research led by the <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University</a> calls into question this hypothesis, by arguing that the increase in archeological evidence for meat eating can largely be explained by greater research attention to that time period rather than fundamental shifts in hominid behavior.



“Generations of paleoanthropologists have gone to famously well-preserved sites in places like Olduvai Gorge looking for - and finding - breathtaking direct evidence of early humans eating meat, furthering this viewpoint that there was an explosion of meat eating after two million years ago,”&nbsp;said study lead author W. Andrew Barr, an assistant professor of Anthropology at the George Washington University.



“However, when you quantitatively synthesize the data from numerous sites across eastern Africa to test this hypothesis, as we did here, that ‘meat made us human’ evolutionary narrative starts to unravel.”



By compiling and analyzing data from nine major research areas in eastern Africa, including 59 sites dating between 2.6 and 1.2 million years ago, Professor Barr and his colleagues have found no sustained increase in the relative amount of evidence for a major shift to meat eating with the emergence of Homo erectus. These results suggest that previous intensive archeological sampling of places where meat eating played a large role, rather than overall changes in human behavior, could explain the prevalence of the “meat made us human” hypothesis in Anthropology.



“I’ve excavated and studied cut marked fossils for over 20 years, and our findings were still a big surprise to me,”&nbsp;said study co-author Briana Pobiner, a research scientist in the <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/">Human Origins Program</a> at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.&nbsp;



“This study changes our understanding of what the zooarchaeological record tells us about the earliest prehistoric meat-eating. It also shows how important it is that we continue to ask big questions about our evolution, while we also continue to uncover and analyze new evidence about our past.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I would think this study and its findings would be of interest not just to the paleoanthropology community but to all the people currently basing their dieting decisions around some version of this meat-eating narrative. Our study undermines the idea that eating large quantities of meat drove evolutionary changes in our early ancestors,” concluded Professor Barr.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115540119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What role did meat eating play in human evolution?

Important human traits such as large brains emerged in Homo...

Diplodocus,Dinosaur,Scene,From,The,Jurassic,Era,3d,Illustration

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has recently reconstructed the limb musculature of Thecodontosaurus&nbsp;antiquus, a wolf-sized Triassic-period <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dinosaur-species-discovered-in-brazil/">dinosaur</a> considered to be an early ancestor of the iconic long-necked, quadruped Diplodocus, and found that this magnificent creature ran on its two back legs and used its shorter forelimbs to grasp food.



“The University of Bristol houses a huge collection of beautifully preserved Thecodontosaurus fossils that were discovered around Bristol,” said study lead author Antonio Ballell, a paleobiologist at this university.&nbsp;



“The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is that many preserve the scars and rugosities that the limb musculature left on them with its attachment.” If they are well-preserved, these features - in tandem with an understanding of the musculature of closely-related, modern animal species - can be used to infer the shape and direction of dinosaur limb muscles, and shed more light on the way such dinosaurs looked and moved.&nbsp;



“In the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodilians and birds, that form a group that we call archosaurs, meaning 'ruling reptiles.'&nbsp;Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage,” said Dr. Ballell. “Due to evolutionary resemblance, we can compare the muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars that they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of those muscles in dinosaurs.”



By employing this methodology, Dr. Ballell and his colleagues inferred the orientation and size of Thecodontosaurus' limb muscles, and found that this dinosaur was able to run quite fast on its hind legs and likely used its forelimbs not to walk but rather to grasp various objects, such as food items.&nbsp;



These features are surprisingly different from Thecodontosaurus' giant sauropod relatives such as Diplodocus, who were slow, massive quadrupeds. However, according to the scientists, the muscular anatomy of Thecodontosaurus did show signs of having developed many of the structural features which will allow its descendants to switch to quadrupedalism and reach such colossal dimensions.



“From an evolutionary perspective, our study adds more pieces to the puzzle of how locomotion and posture changed during the evolution of dinosaurs and in the line to the giant sauropods,” said study senior author Michael Benton, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol.



A better understanding the anatomy of dinosaurs such as Thecodontosaurus will likely help scientists clarify how limb muscles modified in the evolution of multi-ton quadrupeds from tiny bipeds. “Reconstructing the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus gives us new information of the early stages of that important evolutionary transition,” concluded Professor Benton.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211356">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Thecodontosaurus could run fast on its hind legs

A team of researchers from the University of Bristol has...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> has found that black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) can dive up to 62 feet (19 meters) into the sea in pursuit of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-are-not-short-of-prey-in-southwestern-canada/">prey</a>, and can stay under water for up to 52 seconds – three times the maxima previously recorded for this species.



“Albatrosses are the iconic aerial wanderers of the oceans, supremely adapted for long-distance dynamic soaring flight. Perhaps because of this they are considered poorly adapted for diving in contrast to many smaller shearwater and petrel relatives, despite having amphibious eyes, and an&nbsp;a priori&nbsp;mass advantage for oxygen-storage tolerance,” wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



“Modern biologging studies have largely confirmed this view,&nbsp;casting doubt on earlier observations using capillary tube maximum depth gauges, which may exaggerate depths, and emphasizing albatrosses’ reliance on near-surface feeding.”



By using accelerometers, depth sensors, and GPS technology, the researchers studied the diving behavior of the albatross population of New Island (one of the Falkland Islands), and found that they can reach much more impressive depths in pursuit of prey than previously estimated.



Clarifying these issues is highly important for the conservation of these magnificent seabirds. According to the scientists, 15 of the 22 albatross species are currently at risk of extinction. One of the key drivers of their decline is <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lighted-nets-help-protect-endangered-marine-wildlife/">accidental catch</a> in the hooked, baited fishing longlines used by commercial fisheries to trap large oceanic species such as tuna.&nbsp;



Since albatrosses were previously considered to be surface feeders, traditional approaches to protect them have only paid attention to the initial sinking of the fishing lines, without taking into consideration their possible bycatch during their deep dives.



“A better understanding of the unobserved behavior of the albatross and other endangered seabirds is essential to conservation efforts,” said study co-author Dr.&nbsp;Oliver Padget, a zoologist at the University of Oxford. “That black-browed albatrosses are physically capable of such deep dives will now need to be considered when thinking about the effectiveness of mitigation strategies that rely on the species being restricted to the surface.”



Moreover, the scientists noticed that black-browed albatrosses did not dive at night, suggesting that they rely on vision to track shoals of fish in the depths of the sea. “We found that deep diving was restricted to daylight hours,” said Dr. Padget. “So one potential mitigation could be for pelagic long lines to be set at night when albatross might be less likely, or able, to chase baits and become caught.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.036">Current Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Albatrosses can dive much deeper than previously thought

A new study led by the University of Oxford has...

New research published in the journal <a href="about:blank">Current Biology</a> has found that using LED illuminated nets greatly reduced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dynamic-ocean-closures-offer-protection-from-accidental-catch/">accidental catch</a> of sharks, rays, sea turtles or other unwanted fish. This leads to a win-win situation for commercial fisheries and marine wildlife.



Gillnets are one of the most widely used fishing gear in coastal areas of the world’s oceans. However, using them often results in the bycatch of animals not targeted by fishers, including endangered, threatened, or protected species such as sharks, rays, sea turtles, or seabirds. This incidental catching of non-target species has contributed to declines in endangered species and has negatively impacted coastal ecosystems.&nbsp;



Luckily, during the last decade, increasingly more LED illuminated gillnets have been manufactured, which proved to be a highly effective solution to the problems entailed by accidental catch. A research team led by <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) and the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> attached green LED lights every ten meters on gillnets along the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico to assess to what extent could this method reduce bycatch.



The scientists were amazed to find that using this gear reduced total fisheries bycatch by 63 percent, including a 95 percent reduction in the accidental catch of sharks, skates, and rays, an 81 percent reduction in incidental trapping of Humboldt squids, and a 48 percent reduction in catching unwanted finfish. Fortunately for fishers, this technology still allowed continued catches of targeted species, while significantly reducing bycatch.



“These results demonstrate that the potential benefits of illuminated nets extend well beyond sea turtles, while demonstrating the strong promise for net illumination to mitigate discarded bycatch in similar coastal gillnet fisheries throughout the world’s oceans,” said study lead author Jesse Senko, an expert in animal behavior and fisheries management at ASU.



“Making life easier for fishers by reducing the amount of time untangling bycatch is equally essential as reducing the bycatch biomass in nets,” added study co-author John Wang, a fisheries ecologist at the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/pacific-islands-fisheries-science-center">Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center</a>.



“It is important for fishers to know that there are tangible benefits for them. This is critical for the adoption of such technologies by the fishing industry,” he concluded.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lighted nets help protect endangered marine wildlife

New research published in the journal Current Biology has found...

Portrait,Of,White,â??,Haired,Senior,Woman,Relaxing,At,Home

Pope Francis has recently come under fire for his comments about human parenting and companion animals. In a statement made on January 5, the Catholic leader suggested that not having children and living with cats and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tens-of-thousands-of-rescue-dogs-impacted-by-cdc-ban/">dogs</a> are selfish acts.



“Many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one – but they have two dogs, two cats," the Pope said. "And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity... a man or woman who does not develop the sense of fatherhood or motherhood, they are lacking something, something fundamental, something important.”



The Pope’s statement was criticized by In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition and the <a href="https://www.compassionconsortium.org/">Compassion Consortium</a>. Reverend Sarah Bowen is the animal chaplain and co-founder of the Compassion Consortium.



“Animal lovers around the world gasped, yet Pope Francis’ words offer us all an opportunity to deeply consider our relationships with other species," said Reverend Bowen.&nbsp;



"With all due respect to the pope, in a time of climate crisis, economic pressure, war, poverty, hunger, and anthropogenic violence, some of us are lacking nothing by choosing not to have children."&nbsp;



"Rather we are gaining something: true respect and reverence for the complexities of living in an interspecies world where the needs of human animals and other-than-human animals are often in conflict and always entangled.”



For some, the Pope’s words came as a surprise considering that in the past he’s celebrated non-human life and called for respect for the environment we all depend on. In “Laudato Si” his 2015 encyclical on the environment he wrote: “Because all creatures are connected, each must be cherished with love and respect.”



Many animal advocates and environmentalists see the Pope’s most recent comments as a move in the wrong direction - away from meaningful connection with the non-human world.&nbsp;



“Many of our most pressing problems today, including the sixth mass extinction of wild animals, have resulted from human beings’ disconnection of and fear of nature," said Judy Carman, co-founder of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition. "For many, a family dog, cat or bunny may be their only connection to the world of interspecies communication.”&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pope criticized for comments on companion animals

Pope Francis has recently come under fire for his comments...

Since rapid eye movement (REM) <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sleep-improves-memory-formation-and-recall/">sleep</a> brings about brief, period awakenings, scientists such as Dr. Frederick Snyder in the 1960s have assumed that this type of sleep could have a “sentinel” function, helping animals prepare a fight or flight response at the approach of predators. Until recently though, there has been no experimental evidence for this hypothesis. A new study led by the <a href="http://english.siat.cas.cn/">Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology</a> (SIAT) in China could be the first to offer such empirical proof.



By exposing sleeping mice to a trimethylthiazoline (TMT) odor, a stimulus indicating the presence of a predator, the researchers discovered a common brain circuit regulating both REM sleep and innate fear mechanisms.&nbsp;



"TMT triggered rapid arousal from REM sleep but not from non-rapid-eye-movement sleep. This suggests that REM sleep has specific properties that allow rapid arousal in response to predatory stimuli," said study lead author Dr. Liping Wang, a neuroscientist at SIAT.



Dr. Wang and his colleagues discovered that the brain circuits activated during REM sleep consist of the medial subthalamic nucleus (mSTN), a region that contains a high density of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons, which have a crucial role in initiating and structuring stress responses.&nbsp;



By combining in vivo neural activity recording and cell-type specific manipulations, the scientists found that the mSTN-CRH neurons were responsible for a lowered arousal threshold during REM sleep, and increased defensive responses after awakening. Moreover, repeated exposures to predator cues induced an increase in total REM sleep time, but shorter duration of REM sleep episodes and a higher fragmentation of sleep architecture.



These findings show how evolutionary processes can lead to two distinct but related functions for the same group of neurons. "We may hypothesize that natural selection favors optimizing existing neural circuitry for efficiency in signal transduction and energy usage over metabolically more expensive solutions,"&nbsp;explained Dr. Wang.



Since the co-occurrence of increased REM sleep and stress-related mood disorders has already been observed in clinical studies, this new study could be a step forward in designing novel therapeutic frameworks.&nbsp;



“Our study raises the question of whether it is possible to treat mood disorders by targeting the common regulatory circuit of sleep and fear. We will continue working on this question,"&nbsp;concluded Dr. Wang.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.033">Neuron</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

REM sleep may help protect against predator attacks

Since rapid eye movement (REM) sleep brings about brief, period...

While many animal species, including minks, dogs, cats, hamsters, or lions, can become ill when exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cambodian-bats-have-coronaviruses-related-to-sars-cov-2/">SARS-CoV-2</a>, pigs seem to be quasi-immune. Even if they can be infected by the virus when exposed to high doses, the infection is most of the times self-limited and they neither show any clinical symptoms, nor transmit the virus to other animals or to humans. A research team led by <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a> set out to find why are pigs so resistant to infection with the new coronavirus.



By introducing the virus to cultured porcine and human respiratory epithelial cells, the researchers found that pig cells underwent “apoptosis” (or controlled cell death) in response to infection at a much higher rate than human respiratory cells.&nbsp;



“When we looked under the microscope there was an interesting phenomenon going on inside the cells,” said study lead author Rahul Nelli, a research assistant professor of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University. “The nuclei of the infected pig cells were starting to shred into fragments, but not those of the uninfected pig cells.”



According to the scientists, this shredding of the nucleus of infected cells (a telltale sign of apoptosis) soon after the coronavirus entered the cells causes minimal tissue damage and confines viral replication, thus significantly limiting severe illness.&nbsp;



While human cells can also undergo apoptosis in response to coronavirus infection, they are roughly 100 times less likely to do this than porcine cells. Instead, human cells more often go through necrosis, another form of cell death that is less controlled than apoptosis and can trigger dangerous hyperimmune reactions.



“We don’t want to over-conclude, but apoptosis is probably something intrinsic to the pig immune system that is innate and not acquired,” explained study co-author Luis Giménez-Lirola, an associate professor of Veterinary Diagnostic at Iowa State University. “The idea is to kill the virus subtly but fast enough so there’s not an excessive immune response triggered.”



Further research could lead to therapies designed to trigger apoptosis in human cells, and thus help patients avoid severe illness. A first step in this direction would be to identify all the genes activated during the infection process and compare them to those of animal species that appear to be more resistant to COVID-19.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41420-021-00781-w">Cell Death Discovery</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pigs are highly resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection

While many animal species, including minks, dogs, cats, hamsters, or...

Anthropogenic climate change has caused major disturbances to marine ecosystems worldwide. Marine heatwaves have been particularly damaging, leading to mass mortalities of organisms and other deleterious effects. Prolonged rises in ocean temperature (for a few days or weeks) have devastating effects on habitat-forming species, including reef-building corals, sponges, gorgonians, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/" data-type="news" data-id="1899672">seagrasses</a> and kelps. These organisms are major contributors to ecosystem structure and functioning, mostly through the provision of habitat, food, and shelter for other, associated reef species.&nbsp;



In the summer of 2003, a severe marine heatwave (MHW) impacted the NW Mediterranean Sea with temperatures up to 3°C above the average. During this event, several populations of&nbsp;red gorgonian&nbsp;(Paramuricea clavate)&nbsp;and the red coral&nbsp;(Corallium rubrum)&nbsp;suffered mass mortality. Scientists in the region initiated research to monitor the recovery of five impacted populations of these coral reef species from Scandola marine protected area in Corsica, France.&nbsp;



The 15-year study, led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, has revealed that populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum - species that are essential for creating complex habitats on coral reefs - have failed to recover after successive marine heatwaves. The biomass of these species declined by between 80 and 90 percent during the study period.&nbsp;



This is the first study to assess the long-term recovery capacity of populations of these two important species of Mediterranean coral. Initially, the research focused on changes in density, biomass and size structure of these species in the highly protected Scandola marine reserve, as the scientists aimed to provide insights into the recovery capacity of these important reef species.&nbsp;



These are long-lived species that can survive for more than a hundred years in some cases. Their population dynamics are characterized by slow growth and recruitment rates, and individuals take a long time (sometimes up to 10 years) to reach sexual maturity. These statistics indicate that populations of the species may take a long time to recover from ecological disturbances, especially when mortality of adult reproductive colonies across populations is high.



Far from recording recovery, the researchers monitoring populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum witnessed the slow collapse of these species. Fifteen years after the 2003 MHW event, these populations are considered to be practically extinct from a functional perspective.



“We observed an average biomass loss regarding the initial biomass of 80% in populations of red gorgonian, and up to a 93% regarding the studied population of red coral,”&nbsp;noted Daniel Gómez, researcher at ICM-CSIC.



“These data are worrying for the conservation of these emblematic species, and it indicates that the effects of the climate crisis are speeding up, with obvious consequences for the submarine landscapes, where the loss of coral equals the loss of trees in forests,”&nbsp;said Joaquim Garrabou, also member of ICM-CSIC.



Unfortunately, the initial heatwave in 2003 was followed by subsequent warm water events in at least four of the years in the study period: 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2018. These marine heatwaves are clearly becoming more frequent and this is not helping the recovery of the long-lived reef species under investigation.



“We believe one of the main reasons why we observed these collapse trajectories is the potential recurrent exposure to heatwaves, incompatible with the slow populational dynamics of these species," said Cristina Linares, a professor at the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences.



“During these heatwaves, the temperature conditions in the studied area reached extreme levels which are incompatible with the life of these corals, which probably caused new mortality events to the decimated populations and made the recovery impossible.”



As the effects of climate change intensify, the frequency and strength of marine heatwaves is set to increase, which could spell disaster for may coral populations, both in the Mediterranean and on reefs worldwide.&nbsp;



“However, there will probably be some areas in the Mediterranean in which, due to several factors, the recurrence of such climate impacts may be lower. This makes it especially relevant to keep – regarding other potential impacts – these climate refuges where the trajectories of coral populations could be more positive than those observed in this study,”&nbsp;noted the study authors.



“Nevertheless, there is an urgent need for stronger measures to be implemented against the climate crisis before the loss of biodiversity becomes irreplaceable."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mediterranean coral populations collapse after repeated heatwaves

Anthropogenic climate change has caused major disturbances to marine ecosystems...

Thecodontosaurus was one of the first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jaws-of-predatory-dinosaurs-grew-stronger-as-they-evolved/">dinosaurs</a> to evolve (around 205 million years ago) and one of the first to be discovered and formally described by scientists. Despite this long history, the small, bipedal dinosaur is still subject to exciting new research.&nbsp;



Part of the mystery of Thecodontosaurus is that this diminutive, bipedal dinosaur is the ancestor of the massive, quadrupedal sauropods. In a new paper published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos">Royal Society Open Science</a>, researchers reconstructed Thecodontosaurus’ limb muscles. In reconstructing the muscle structure, the scientists were able to unlock the mystery of how small dinosaurs evolved into massive behemoths.&nbsp;



"The <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> houses a huge collection of beautifully preserved Thecodontosaurus fossils that were discovered around Bristol," said study lead author Antonio Ballell, a PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences. "The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is that many preserve the scars and rugosities that the limb musculature left on them with its attachment."



Not only is especially good fossil preservation needed for musculature reconstruction, a close study on the muscle structure of living relatives is needed as well.&nbsp;



"In the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodilians and birds, that form a group that we call archosaurs, meaning 'ruling reptiles,' said Ballell. "Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage, and due to evolutionary resemblance, we can compare the muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars that they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of those muscles in dinosaurs."



"These kinds of muscular reconstructions are fundamental to understand functional aspects of the life of extinct organisms," said study co-author Professor Emily Rayfield. "We can use this information to simulate how these animals walked and ran with computational tools."



The reconstruction of Thecodontosaurus paints the image of an agile dinosaur that used its forelimbs for grasping rather than walking. There are also hints of the musculature necessary for the massive sauropods that evolved later, even in this early dinosaur.&nbsp;



"From an evolutionary perspective, our study adds more pieces to the puzzle of how the locomotion and posture changed during the evolution of dinosaurs and in the line to the giant sauropods," said study co-author Professor Mike Benton.



"How were limb muscles modified in the evolution of multi-ton quadrupeds from tiny bipeds? Reconstructing the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus gives us new information of the early stages of that important evolutionary transition."



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Muscular reconstruction shows how dinosaurs moved

Thecodontosaurus was one of the first dinosaurs to evolve (around...

Mammals have a pharynx, or throat, that starts at the back of the nose and ends below the back of the mouth. Although the pharynx is a single tube, it leads into two separate tubes - the windpipe, through which air reaches the lungs, and the esophagus, through which food reaches the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lizard-preserved-stomach-microraptor/">stomach</a>. The separation of the respiratory and digestive tracts at the base of the pharynx is critical for survival; air must be directed from the pharynx into the lungs, but food must be directed towards the stomach and must not enter the lungs.



This anatomical arrangement presents problems for mammals, who must avoid inhaling their food when they try to swallow it. This is the cause of choking and can be fatal. The situation is even more complicated for baleen whales, which feed while underwater. They open their mouths wide and lunge through a shoal of fish or small invertebrates, taking in numerous small prey items along with thousands of liters of water that must not flow into the windpipe.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Colombia</a> in Vancouver have recently published a study that shows how baleen whales, also known as rorquals, achieve the separation of respiratory and digestive tracts while their mouths experience these extreme physical forces. They identified an anatomical mechanism that protects the whale’s airway as tons of water gushes into its mouth - they term this bulbous region of the soft palate the “oral plug.”



“We discovered a structure in fin whales, which likely exists in all lunge-feeding whales, or rorquals,” said Kelsey Gil of the UBC Zoology Department. “We’ve termed it the ‘oral plug’ and found that it blocks the channel between mouth and pharynx. It means that when a whale lunges, the entrance to the pharynx and thus the respiratory tract is protected.”



Although the mechanics of lunge feeding by whales was well understood, not much was known about how prey such as krill are manipulated and swallowed after a lunge. In addition, the general anatomy of the larynx was also well known. This is a hollow organ in the upper airway that is also the location of the vocal cords and has been investigated in connection with whale vocalizations. However, not much was known about the structure of the rest of the pharynx, the critical junction between respiratory and digestive tracts.&nbsp;



“It’s impossible to study this in a living whale, so we rely on tissue from deceased whales and use functional morphology to assess the relationship between a structure and its function,” said Gil.&nbsp;



By examining and dissecting adult and fetal fin whales, the researchers found that a musculo-fatty structure, the oral plug, seals the back of the mouth and pharynx when the whales feed. They manipulated the various structures to see how they could move. They also looked at the direction of muscle fibers to understand how they would move when muscles contracted and shortened.



“The oral plug is a part of the soft palate, so simply considering the gross anatomy, there is only one direction it should move,” explained Gil. “When the oral plug moves backward and upward to block the nasal cavities, it means that no other structure can be in that same spot below the nasal cavities. This forced us to then examine the larynx, since that spot is where we would expect to see the larynx during breathing, but it cannot be in that position during swallowing.”



During swallowing, the oral plug is lifted and this allows food to pass from the mouth into the pharynx. At the same time, the lifted plug protects the upper airways from food entry. The larynx is positioned at the floor of the pharynx, where laryngeal cartilages close to protect it. A muscular sac attached to the bottom of the larynx is forced upwards into the laryngeal cavity to completely block the lower respiratory tract.



The findings, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, also show that the pharynx in fin whales - and likely all rorquals - can only be used by either the respiratory or the digestive tract at any one time. This protects the animals from choking while feeding.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, no structure like the oral plug has been reported in any other animals. “There are very few animals with lungs that feed by engulfing prey and water, so the oral plug is likely a protective structure specific to rorquals that is necessary to enable lunge feeding,” said Gil.



The study authors conclude that these adaptations to facilitate swallowing in lunge-feeding whales were a critical development in the evolution of large body size. The largest animal species ever to have lived is thought to be the blue whale, which feeds in precisely this way.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

"Oral plug" prevents whales from drowning while they eat

Mammals have a pharynx, or throat, that starts at the...

When a breeder of tarantulas noticed, in 2018, that several of his spiders were becoming sick and dying, he approached parasitologist Adler Dillman from the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a>. The ailing tarantulas were characterized by what appeared to be a white discharge in and around the oral cavity. On closer inspection, however, it became clear that the white mass was a large infestation of nematode <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worms-without-ears-can-hear-through-their-skin/">worms</a> intertwined together inside and around the spider’s mouth.&nbsp;



Dillman and his colleagues examined the worms and, based on a combination of morphological and morphometrical data, and unique DNA sequences, they identified a new species of nematodes. There are more than 25,000 different species of nematode worms and they are among the most abundant animals on Earth. They parasitize a wide range of living organisms, but this is only the second time that a species has been found to infect tarantulas.



The scientists named the new species Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi, after Jeff Daniels, the American actor, musician and producer. They named it in Daniels’ honor because his character in the 1990 film ‘Arachnophobia’ saves a town from a deadly infestation of spiders.&nbsp;



“His character in the film is a spider killer, which is exactly what these nematodes are,” said Dillman, who led the team that discovered the nematode.



“When I first heard a new species of nematode had been named after me, I thought, ‘Why? Is there a resemblance?’” joked Daniels. “Honestly, I was honored by their homage to me and 'Arachnophobia.' Made me smile. And of course, in Hollywood, you haven’t really made it until you’ve been recognized by those in the field of parasitology.”



The scientists investigated the lifecycle of the worms, and where exactly they resided in the infected spiders. They found that infestations of worms occurred in the mouth area and on the pedipalps, special appendages near the mouth that the spiders use to sense and manipulate food. No worms were found in the stomachs of infected spiders.&nbsp;



Once infected, spiders lost the ability to use their jaws and feed themselves, and began to show strange behavior, such as walking on the very tips of their legs. The infection would ultimately prove fatal for a tarantula, as it would starve to death.&nbsp;



“It may take months because tarantulas don’t have to eat particularly often. However, if they get this infection, they will die of starvation,” Dillman said.&nbsp;



When culturing the nematode worms in the laboratory, the researchers noted that they ate bacteria such as E. coli and did not appear to feed off the parasitized spiders themselves. This led the researchers to conclude that the worms may be feeding on the bacteria found around the oral cavity of the spider.&nbsp;



However, there is not yet an understanding of how the worms change tarantula behavior or render the pedipalps and jaws non-functional. Dillman is planning additional studies to investigate this, as well as how breeders can treat or even prevent infections in their captive-bred tarantulas.



The researchers found that the average lifespan of jeffdanielsi nematodes in the laboratory was 11 days. These worms are mostly hermaphrodites – each individual produces sperm as well as eggs. Furthermore, they fertilize themselves and each produces approximately 160 offspring within its 11-day lifespan.



Although this is only the second time that nematode parasites have been found infecting tarantulas, Dillman feels this reflects the fact that little research is done on these spiders. Nematode worms are very common parasites and it would be unusual if there were no species that parasitized tarantulas.



“Nematodes have been around for hundreds of millions of years. They’ve evolved to infect every kind of host on the planet including humans,” he said. “Any animal you know of on planet Earth, there’s a nematode that can infect it.”



The team’s work describing jeffdanielsi has recently been&nbsp;<a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/journal-of-parasitology/article-abstract/108/1/30/476785/TARANTOBELUS-JEFFDANIELSI-N-SP-PANAGROLAIMOMORPHA?redirectedFrom=fulltext">published</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/journal-of-parasitology">Journal of Parasitology</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists have discovered worms that kill tarantulas

When a breeder of tarantulas noticed, in 2018, that several...

Protecting 30 percent of land and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-heat-reached-a-record-high-for-the-sixth-straight-year/">sea</a> by 2030 is an important benchmark, but it will not be enough to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, according to a team of more than 50 scientists from 23 countries. 



The experts delivered a synthesis of the science supporting 21 targets in a draft of the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/article/draft-1-global-biodiversity-framework">Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework</a>, a plan being negotiated by the United Nations.



The scientists are calling for systematic changes, including substantial reductions in damaging fisheries and farming subsidies, great reductions in overconsumption, and limiting global warming to 1.5°C.&nbsp;



Paul Leadley, a professor at Paris-Saclay University, is also an assessment leader and past chair of <a href="http://www.biodiscovery.com/">BioDISCOVERY</a>.



“The target of protecting 30% of all land and seas is important and attracting a lot of attention. And expanding protected areas is a good start if done well, but far short of what's needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss - called ‘bending the curve’ for biodiversity."



"There’s very good evidence that we will fail again to meet ambitious international biodiversity objectives if there’s too much focus on protected areas at the expense of other urgent actions addressing the threats to biodiversity.”&nbsp;



“Governments are clearly struggling with the breadth and depth of the ‘transformative changes’ needed to bend the curve for biodiversity, and sometimes seem unwilling to face up to it.&nbsp; But deep changes are necessary and will greatly benefit people in the long run.”



The key points highlighted in the study were that reversing biodiversity loss requires transformative change, coordinated at every level. Along with these changes, assessments must be carried out and greater monitoring efforts funded. Perhaps most importantly, action must be taken immediately to be impactful.&nbsp;



“The sooner we act the better. Time lags between action and positive outcomes for biodiversity can take decades so we must act immediately and sustain our efforts if we are to reach the global goals by 2050," said study co-author Maria Cecilia Londoño Murcia of the Humboldt Institute.



"The time needed for safeguarding and restoring ecosystem structure, function and resilience is particularly critical for people and communities whose livelihoods and well-being directly depend on these systems and the benefits they provide.”&nbsp;



---By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sweeping changes needed to reverse biodiversity loss

Protecting 30 percent of land and sea by 2030 is...

Insects don’t have noses and are not able to “smell” the roses in the familiar sense of the word. Instead, most odor molecules are detected by chemoreceptors that occur on an insect’s antennae. Using these chemical receptors, insects are capable of perceiving and differentiating between thousands of&nbsp;airborne compounds. They use these chemical signals to locate forage <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-plants-wont-survive-the-loss-of-seed-dispersing-animals/">plants</a> and mates, as well as to avoid predators.



But now, new research indicates that common air pollutants present in rural and urban environments may be hampering the ability of insects to detect the chemical signals so crucial to their activity as pollinators.&nbsp;



A team of scientists from the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a> has conducted the first study to observe that common air pollutants, including diesel exhaust fumes and ozone, have a negative impact on the success of pollination by insects.&nbsp;



“We knew from our previous lab studies that diesel exhaust can have negative effects on insect pollinators, but the impacts we found in the field were much more dramatic than we had expected," said Dr. Robbie Girling, who led the project.



These previous laboratory studies by members of the Reading team showed that&nbsp;chemicals in <a href="https://www.reading.ac.uk/news-archive/press-releases/pr649662.html">diesel fumes react with and can change the scents of flowers such that the insects cannot locate the flowers. </a>The research suggested that pollution could contribute to the ongoing declines in pollinating insects, by making it harder for them to locate the pollen and nectar that form their food.



In the new study, the researchers aimed to gather evidence showing how air pollution affects different species of pollinating insects, some of which rely on scent more heavily than others.



The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, used a purpose-built fumigation facility to regulate levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) – present in diesel exhaust fumes – and ozone in an open field environment. They then observed the effects these pollutants had on the pollination of black mustard plants by free-flying, locally-occurring pollinating insects over the course of two summer field seasons.



Although the experiments made use of pollution levels that were way below the maximum acceptable levels considered as safe in the US, the results of the field experiments were dramatic. The researchers observed 62 to 70 percent fewer pollinator visits to the plants located in polluted air. This reduction was seen in seven different groups of pollinators, including bees, moths, hoverflies and butterflies.&nbsp;



There were also 83 to 90 percent fewer visits to flowers by these insects, and ultimately a 14 to 31 percent reduction in pollination success, based on the measurement of seed yield and other factors.



“The findings are worrying because these pollutants are commonly found in the air many of us breathe every day," said Dr. James Ryalls. "We know that these pollutants are bad for our health, and the significant reductions we saw in pollinator numbers and activity shows that there are also clear implications for the natural ecosystems we depend on.”



Insects are important pollinators of crops upon which we depend for food and so a reduction in pollinating activity could have far-reaching economic and social consequences. Around 70 percent of crop species rely on insects for pollination; these include apples, strawberries and cocoa.&nbsp;



In addition, pollination supports around eight percent of the total value of agricultural food production, worldwide. The pollinating activity of insects thus generates hundreds of billions of pounds worth of economic value each year.&nbsp;



Furthermore, far higher levels of air pollutants are found in many areas around the world where people and businesses breach the regulations. For example, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/air-pollution-england-defra-labour-who-nitrogen-dioxide-luke-pollard-b404484.html?r=55147">2019 analysis</a> recorded illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide present in local authorities, in large areas of northern England (including Cheshire and Gateshead), and in southern England (including Wiltshire, Chichester and rural areas such as the New Forest).



“This truly cross-disciplinary work demonstrated very clearly how atmospheric pollutants negatively impact on pollination with direct consequences for food production as well as the resilience of our natural environment," concluded study co-author Dr. Christian Pfrang.



Their results are published today in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118847">&nbsp;journal&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-pollution">Environmental Pollution</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Air pollutants confuse pollinators and reduce food production

Insects don’t have noses and are not able to “smell”...

In a new study from <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a> (WSU), experts have found that a high protein diet increases the risk of kidney <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-stimulates-digestion-and-protects-against-disease/">disease</a> and premature death among captive polar bears. 



Previous studies have suggested that there is a similar link between kidney disease and excessive protein consumption among humans. The Mayo Clinic reports that a high-protein diet may worsen kidney function in humans, particularly in the long term, because the body may struggle to eliminate all the waste products.



A research team led by WSU wildlife biologist Charlie Robbins investigated what zoos have typically been feeding polar bears. The study revealed that their diet usually consists of a food ratio intended for big cats, containing about two to three parts protein to one part fat. This diet is the opposite of what polar bears would be eating in the wild.&nbsp;



“Zoos made some assumptions in the past about the nutritional requirements of polar bears because their diet is almost exclusively animals,” said Professor Robbins. “But, unlike cats, they do not need and cannot tolerate high protein.”



Even though polar bears are carnivores that feed mainly on seals, researchers have found that they have physiology that is more closely aligned with humans and other omnivores.



Looking at death records of captive polar bears, the researchers discovered that the most common cause of death was kidney disease. Bears with fatal kidney disease died 10 years earlier than bears without the condition. The second most common causes of death were liver disease and cancer, according to the analysis.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Out of more than 600 bears examined in the wild, the team found no evidence kidney disease.



“A slate of early deaths across sexes that is limited to two major organs raised several red flags for us,” said Professor Robbins, who has researched both grizzly and polar bear nutrition for more than 35 years.



Former WSU graduate student Karyn Rode conducted field studies which showed that wild polar bears prefer a diet that is two parts fat to one part protein.



“Although we knew that polar bears selected for the blubber of their prey, this was the first time we were able to quantify how much fat they were actually consuming,” said Professor Robbins. “When it comes to feeding polar bears, the general mindset has been that they are carnivores. No one has really been paying attention to the amount of protein they might need, much less limitations on how much they might tolerate.”



In the current paper, the researchers propose that - like humans - both polar and grizzly bears require relatively low levels of protein. When captive bears were offered their choice of blocks made up of pure lard and blocks made up of high protein meat, they ultimately consumed the same ratio of fat to protein as their relatives in the wild.



The study authors recommend that zoos should adopt alternative foods for captive polar bears that mimic the fat-protein ratio found naturally in the wild. Once these alternatives are introduced, monitoring the animals could help experts determine whether the new diets may improve their health and longevity.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10982361">Zoo Biology</a>.



---



By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

High protein diet causes kidney disease in polar bears

In a new study from Washington State University (WSU), experts...

There are a few species of beetles that can jump, but beetle larvae tend to squirm across the substratum and have never been seen doing acrobatic jumps -- until now.



A team of researchers has published a scientific article documenting the jumping behavior of larval lined flat bark beetles (Laemophloeus biguttatus). This type of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animal-locomotion-natural-energy/">locomotion</a> has not been recorded for beetle larvae before. 



The larvae are able to spring into the air with a speed of around 0.5 meters per second, and to travel forwards a distance approximately equivalent to four times their own body length. While flying through the air, the larva curls itself into a loop and as it lands, it bounces and rolls along until it becomes stationary.&nbsp;



“Jumping at all is exceedingly rare in the larvae of beetle species, and the mechanism they use to execute their leaps is – as far as we can tell – previously unrecorded in any insect larvae,” said study co-author Matt Bertone, director of <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a>’s Plant Disease and Insect Clinic.&nbsp;



“The way these larvae were jumping was impressive at first, but we didn’t immediately understand how unique it was,” said Bertone. “We then shared it with a number of beetle experts around the country, and none of them had seen the jumping behavior before. That’s when we realized we needed to take a closer look at just how the larvae was doing what it was doing.”



Usually when insects make impressive jumps, they rely on a “latch-mediated spring actuation mechanism.” This means that two parts of the body latch onto each other while the insect exerts force using its muscles. When this builds up a significant amount of potential energy, the insect unlatches the two parts and all the stored energy is released at once. This results in an action-packed spring off the ground.



The researchers looked for a two-part latch mechanism on the surface of the lined flat bark beetle larvae and found nothing. Then, they used microCT scans to measure how much muscle the beetle larvae had and calculated whether this would provide enough power to launch the larvae into the air at a speed of 0.5 meters per second. The larvae did not have enough muscle to achieve this by muscle action alone.&nbsp;



The conclusion was that the larvae must be using some form of spring-loaded system to achieve their acrobatic jumps. This is when Bertone and study co-author Adrian Smith decided to film the behavior in order to get a better understanding of what was taking place. Smith is a research assistant professor of biological sciences at NC State and head of the Evolutionary Biology &amp; Behavior Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.



The team filmed some jumps at 60,000 frames per second and were able to see that the beetle larvae actually hook their feet into the ground as they arch their bodies and prepare to jump. As soon as one foot loses its grip on the ground, the spring is released and the larva is propelled into the air under the power of its body’s own potential energy store.



“What makes the&nbsp;L. biguttatus&nbsp;so remarkable is that it makes these leaps without latching two parts of its body together,” said Bertone. “Instead, it uses claws on its legs to grip the ground while it builds up that potential energy – and once those claws release their hold on the ground, that potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, launching it skyward.”



Meanwhile, in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEst5RERHJ4">an unrelated video about jumping maggots</a>, Smith had included a short clip of the jumping behavior in&nbsp;L. biguttatus. That video was seen by Takahiro Yoshida, a researcher from Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan, who had witnessed similar jumps in the larvae of another beetle species called&nbsp;Placonotus testaceus, but had not published anything related to the behavior. Yoshida is a co-author on the publication about this unusual form of locomotion.



“We don’t have high-speed footage of&nbsp;P. testaceus, but the video evidence we do have from Yoshida’s lab suggests that this previously unknown behavior is found in two different genera which are not even closely related,” said Bertone.



“This raises a lot of questions. Has this behavior evolved separately? Is it found in other beetle species? Are these genera more closely related than we previously suspected? There’s a lot of interesting work to be done here.”



Details of this unusual method of locomotion in lined flat bark beetle larvae are published today in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Unusual jumping behavior recorded in beetle larvae

There are a few species of beetles that can jump,...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> has revealed that 45 percent of the fish that cross through two or more exclusive economic zones (EEZs) will shift their movement patterns by 2100. This is expected to possibly bring international conflict.&nbsp;



By 2030, 23 percent of these fish are predicted to change their historic ranges. By 2100, this increases to 45 percent of the transnational fish, along with 81 percent of EEZs seeing at least one species shift. The culprit for these changes is, of course, human-caused climate change.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This is not only an issue of stocks leaving or arriving to new EEZs, but of stocks that are shared between countries, completely changing their dynamics,” said study lead author Dr. Juliano Palacios-Abrantes, who conducted the study while at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF).&nbsp;



“We will see even more dramatic changes by 2030 and onwards, given current emissions rates. Many of the fisheries management agreements made to regulate shared stocks were established in past decades, with rules that apply to a world situation that is not the same as today.”



The researchers tracked the changing ranges of 9,132 transnational fish populations, which account for 80 percent of the catch from the world's exclusive economic zones. The research started in 2006 and continued forward with projections predicted up to 2100.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“By providing estimates of the size and timing of projected shifts, our study offers tangible reference points around which to consider climate change impacts and negotiate fair policies for sustainable management” said study co-author Dr. Colette Wabnitz, lead scientist at Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions.



“We must accept that climate change is happening, and then move fast enough to adapt fisheries management regulations to account for it,” said co-author Dr. Gabriel Reygondeau, a research associate at IOF.



The scientists hope their study can create a framework for international negotiations and planning to create a well designed fisheries management plan for the future. Without this, conflict, even violent conflict could arise over dwindling fish populations supporting a hungry human populace.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nearly half of the world’s shared fish are on the move

A new study from the University of British Columbia has...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/119/2/e2023340118">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> has found that the mechanisms behind the sense of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-can-a-smell-transport-us-to-another-place/">smell</a> may be far simpler than previously thought. By studying the olfactory sense of locusts, a research team led by the <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University in St. Louis</a> mapped the neuronal underpinnings behind invariant odor recognition.



“The smell of coffee is the same whether it is smelled in a coffee shop or grocery shop (different backgrounds), on a hot day or a cold day (different ambient conditions), after lunch or dinner (different temporal contexts), or using a deep inhalation or normal inhalation (different stimulus dynamics),” explained the study authors.



“This feat of pattern recognition that is still difficult to achieve in artificial chemical sensing systems is performed by most sensory systems for their survival. How is this capability achieved?”



In order to answer this question, the scientists first trained locusts to associate a specific odor with some of their favorite foods, such as blades of grass. After staying without food for a day, the locusts were exposed to a puff of odor (hexanol or isoamyl acetate), then given a blade of grass. After only six such presentations, the locusts learned to open their palps (the sensory appendages close to its mouth) in expectation of food immediately after smelling the “training odorant.”



The researchers then mapped which neurons were activated when the locusts were exposed to the odorant under different environmental conditions, such as in conjunction to other smells, in humid or dry conditions, or when the locusts were fully fed or starving. Even though the locusts opened their palps every time, different patterns of neurons were activated, depending upon each specific context.



"The neural responses were highly variable," said study senior author Baranidharan Raman, a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University. "That seemed to be at odds with what the locusts were doing, behaviorally."



To understand how variable neural responses produced stable behavior, Professor Raman and his colleagues used a machine-learning algorithm that exploited two functional types of neurons: “ON neurons,” which were activated when an odorant was present, and “OFF neurons,” which fired only after the odor presentation had ended.&nbsp;



"You can think of the ON neurons as conveying 'evidence for' an odor being present, and OFF neurons as 'evidence against' that odor being present," explained Professor Raman.&nbsp;



To recognize the presence of an odorant, the scientists simply needed to add evidence for the odorant being present (add the spikes across all ON neurons), and subtract evidence against the odorant being present (add the spikes across all OFF neurons). If the result was above a certain threshold, the machine learning algorithm would reliably predict that the locust smelled the odor and opened its palps.



“We were surprised to find that this simple approach is all that was needed to robustly recognize an odorant,” Professor Raman concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Locusts have a surprisingly simple way of sensing smells

A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the...

Observing animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-acidification-disrupts-the-behavior-of-fish-shoals/">behavior</a> and ecology in the wild is the basis of conservation planning. However, the cost, time commitment, and danger involved in basic observational work can make it extremely challenging.&nbsp;



Scientists often substitute observations with data collected through biologging devices. These high-tech devices can monitor heart rate, breathing, animal movement, and more. To accurately interpret data from logging devices, statistical analysis is needed. Like other scientific technologies, statistical tools are always evolving. A new study from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> improves on statistical tools used for interpreting data from biologgers.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The thing we really tackled with this paper was trying to get at some of those fine-scale behaviors that aren’t that easy to model,” said study lead author Evan Sidrow, a doctoral student in the UBC Department of Statistics.&nbsp;



“It’s a matter of finding behaviors on the order of seconds - maybe 10 to 15 seconds. Usually, it’s a matter of a whale looking around, and then actively swimming for a second to get over to a new location. We are trying to observe fleeting behaviors, like a whale catching a fish.”



The researchers improved a statistical tool based on a hidden Markov model, which is used to interpret animal movement datasets.



“Traditional hidden Markov models break down at very fine scales,” said Sidrow. “That’s because there’s structure in the data you can’t capture using the basic type of hidden Markov model. We’re trying to capture it with this model - we’re trying to account for this ‘wigglyness' that a traditional hidden Markov model wouldn’t be able to account for.”



Because modern data logging devices collect data almost continuously, an enormous amount of data points are collected in a relatively short period of time. The Markov model has a hard time interpreting such a large amount of data. The new statistical modeling method allows a finer scale look into the data, which produces greater information for conservation planning by decision makers, including those working on orca conservation.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"As a case study, we use this framework to model the fine-scale kinematic movements of a northern resident killer whale ( Orcinus orca) off the western coast of Canada," wrote the study authors.&nbsp; "Through simulations, we show that our model produces more interpretable state estimation and more accurate parameter estimates compared to existing methods."



According to study senior author Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé, the study is one of the first steps on the road to fully understanding why southern resident killer whales are not faring as well as their northern counterparts.



“Using our methods to detect when the animals are catching prey and to model their energy expenditure will be key to understanding the differences between these neighbouring whale populations,” said Dr. Auger-Méthé.



She explained that the next goal is to understand when the whales are capturing prey and applying the models to both northern and southern resident killer whale populations to see how they are behaving differently.



“The paper offers many ‘building block’ solutions that can be used together or independently,” said Dr. Auger-Méthé. “In essence, we are providing a toolbox to researchers using high-frequency movement data, and other similar high-frequency time series.”



The study is published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1708945x">The Canadian Journal of Statistics</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New statistical tool could improve killer whale conservation

Observing animal behavior and ecology in the wild is the...

Humans have a highly complex culture that enables them to transmit knowledge and learn various types of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-exhibit-behaviors-similar-to-human-adhd/" data-type="news" data-id="1897151">behaviors</a> from others. Thus, since skills and technologies tend to accumulate over generations and become increasingly intricate and efficient, human culture can be described as cumulative.&nbsp;



Until recently, scientists thought that non-human primates are very different and need to reinvent cultural behaviors individually. However, new field research led by the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a> has found that chimpanzees may be more similar to humans than previously thought in terms of their ability of transmitting and learning cultural behaviors.



To explore this problem, a team of primatologists carried out a series of field experiments in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea in order to assess whether chimps can invent by themselves a complex behavior such as nut cracking independently. 



First, the chimps were shown oil palm nuts and stones. Next, the scientists added a palm fruit to the experimental setup. Afterwards, the nuts were cracked open and placed above the stones. And finally, the chimps were presented with another, easier-to-crack type of nuts (Coula) together with stones.



A total of 35 chimpanzee groups visited the experiments, of which 11 parties investigated closely and attentively the experimental items. However, even after years of exposure to these materials, the chimpanzees were unable to learn how to use the stones in order to crack nuts, no matter how much interest they shown in investigating the experimental items. These results suggest that, without a model to teach them how to open the nuts, the chimps are unable to learn by themselves such behaviors.



“Our findings suggest that chimpanzees acquire cultural behaviors more like humans and do not simply invent a complex tool use behavior like nut cracking on their own,” said study lead author Kathelijne Koops, a professor of Anthropology at the University of Zurich.



“Our findings on wild chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, help to shed light on what it is (and isn’t!) that makes human culture unique. Specifically, they suggest greater continuity between chimpanzee and human cultural evolution than is normally assumed and that the human capacity for cumulative culture may have a shared evolutionary origin with chimpanzees,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01272-9">Nature Human Behavior</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Chimpanzees seem to acquire cultural behaviors like humans

Humans have a highly complex culture that enables them to...

species in Scaliolidae