The survival of the endangered snow leopard is looking promising thanks to Monash University scientists who have, for the first time, produced embryonic stem-like cells from the tissue of an adult leopard.
Never before have induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which share many of the useful properties of embryonic stem cells, been generated from a member of the cat family. The breakthrough raises the possibility of cryopreservation of genetic material for future cloning and other assisted reproduction techniques.
The study, published in Theriogenology, is part of the PhD project of Rajneesh Verma, supervised by Dr Paul Verma, both from the Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR). Associate Professor Peter Temple-Smith of Monash University's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Professor Michael Holland of the University of Queensland also collaborated.
The researchers used ear tissue samples taken from adult snow leopards at Mogo Zoo, in NSW, to generate the iPS cells.
Dr Verma said the breakthrough was significant due to the difficulty of obtaining reproductive cells, or gametes, even from animals in captivity.
"There is a lot of interest in cryopreservation of tissue from endangered species, but for this to be useful for conservation, both sperm and an egg are required."
"The power of stem cells is that they can differentiate into all the cell types in the body. This means, they have the potential to become gametes. In fact, mouse iPS cells have given rise to entire off-spring, so the possibilities are enormous," Dr Verma said.
Mr Verma said the benefits of the breakthrough for the conservation of cat species, and biodiversity were clear.
"By generating these stem cells, we've taken the first step in creating reproductive cells from adult tissues of an endangered animal. In the future, we aim to harness the potential of the iPS cells and create off-spring. This would help save species from extinction," Mr Verma said.
The snow leopard is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. Their high-altitude habitat and shy nature make accurate population counts difficult, but it is estimated that between 3500 and 7000 snow leopards exist in the wild, with numbers on the decline.
Mr Verma said he became fascinated with large cats during his childhood in India.
"I'm really following my passion in applying my expertise in stem cells to help save these animals. I am applying the same techniques to other members of cat family, including the Bengal tiger, the jaguar and the serval."
A butterflyfish, Chaetodon rainfordi, feeding on coral polyps. Coral reefs are both a museum and a cradle for reef fishes. Association with coral reefs has provided fishes with both a stimulus for diversification, and a potential refuge in a time of high extinction. Photo courtesy of João Paulo Krajewski.
Lessons from tens of millions of years ago are pointing to new ways to save and protect today's coral reefs and their myriad of beautiful and many-hued fishes at a time of huge change in the Earth's systems.
The complex relationship we see today between fishes and corals developed relatively recently in geological terms – and is a major factor in shielding reef species from extinction, says Professor David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.
"Our latest research provides strong evidence for a view that today's coral hotspots are both a refuge for old species and a cradle for new ones," said Peter Cowman, lead author of a recent report. "This is the first real inkling we've had that just protecting a large area of reef may not be enough – you have to protect the right sorts of reef."
Early coral reefs, 300-400 million years ago were much simpler affairs than today's colourful and complex systems, Prof. Bellwood says. The fish were not specialised to live on or among corals – either lacking jaws altogether, or else feeding on detritus on the seabed or preying on one another.
"By 200 million years ago we are starting to see fish with jaws capable of feeding on corals, but the real explosion in reef diversity doesn't occur till about 50 million years ago when we see fishes very like today's specialist coral feeders emerging."
It is the ever-increasing complexity of this relationship between corals and fishes over the last 20 or 30 million years that produces the wondrous diversity of today's reefs, he says. Each has become more critical to the survival of the other as their lives have become more interwoven.
"When people think of coral reefs, they usually think of the beautiful branching corals like staghorn (Acropora) – well the evidence is now fairly clear that Acropora needs certain fish for it to flourish. But, it now appears that this may be a reciprocal relationship with Acropora being important for the evolution and survival of fishes on coral reefs. "
Unfortunately Acropora corals are highly vulnerable to external impacts like Crown-of-Thorns starfish, coral bleaching, climate change and ocean acidification. Their demise will have far reaching effects on the fishes which interact with them, such as damsels, butterfly fish, cardinals and wrasses.
"The study of the past tells us that reefs are all about relationships and, like a family, for them to survive those relationships need to remain strong," Peter Cowman said.
"In coming years it is probable reefs will be subject to relentless presses that may cause them to change fundamentally. Those with the best long-term prospects of survival will be the ones where the relationships between fish and corals are healthiest.
Both fish and corals managed somehow to survive the five great mass extinction events of the past, though they sustained massive loss of species. Over time these have left us with a world focus of reef biodiversity centered on the Coral Triangle region to Australia's north, which in turn helps recharge Australian coral reefs, especially in the west.
"The Coral Triangle is currently subject to intensifying human and ecosystem pressure. The latest work by Peter Cowman and Prof Bellwood suggests it is both a cradle for new species and a refuge in troubled times – so it is vital that it remain intact.
"This isn't about saving individual species or particular reefs, it's about maintaining the basic relationships which ensure the survival of the whole," says Prof Bellwood.
"We've had a 'heads up' from the past that is giving us fresh insights into what is most important on reefs and why we must protect our precious reefs and fishes into the future."
Their paper "Coral reefs as drivers of cladogenesis: expanding coral reefs, cryptic extinction events, and the development of biodiversity hotspots" by Peter F. Cowman and David R. Bellwood was published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24: 2543-2562. DOI 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02391.x
Janez Potočnik is the European Commissioner in charge of Environment. His job is to deal with things like waste, pollution and air and water quality, as well as other complex issues such as the protection of European biodiversity and making the European economy more environmentally friendly, or 'greener'.
New study brings to light physiological, cognitive differences of political left and right.
From cable TV news pundits to red-meat speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, our nation's deep political stereotypes are on full display: Conservatives paint self-indulgent liberals as insufferably absent on urgent national issues, while liberals say fear-mongering conservatives are fixated on exaggerated dangers to the country.
A new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests there are biological truths to such broad brushstrokes.
In a series of experiments, researchers closely monitored physiological reactions and eye movements of study participants when shown combinations of both pleasant and unpleasant images. Conservatives reacted more strongly to, fixated more quickly on, and looked longer at the unpleasant images; liberals had stronger reactions to and looked longer at the pleasant images compared with conservatives.
"It's been said that conservatives and liberals don't see things in the same way," said Mike Dodd, UNL assistant professor of psychology and the study's lead author. "These findings make that clear – quite literally."
To gauge participants' physiological responses, they were shown a series of images on a screen. Electrodes measured subtle skin conductance changes, which indicated an emotional response. The cognitive data, meanwhile, was gathered by outfitting participants with eyetracking equipment that captured even the most subtle of eye movements while combinations of unpleasant and pleasant photos appeared on the screen.
While liberals' gazes tended to fall upon the pleasant images, such as a beach ball or a bunny rabbit, conservatives clearly focused on the negative images – of an open wound, a crashed car or a dirty toilet, for example.
Consistent with the idea that conservatives seem to respond more to negative stimuli while liberals respond more to positive stimuli, conservatives also exhibited a stronger physiological response to images of Democratic politicians – presumed to be a negative to them – than they did on pictures of well-known Republicans. Liberals, on the other hand, had a stronger physiological response to the Democrats – presumed to be a positive stimulus to them – than they did to images of the Republicans.
By studying both physiological and cognitive aspects, the researchers established unique new insights into the growing notion that political leanings are at least partial products of our biology, UNL political scientist and study co-author Kevin Smith said.
Recent research on the subject has focused mostly on physiological reactions to negative stimuli. The new study's use of cognitive data regarding both positive and negative imagery adds to the understanding of how liberals and conservatives see and experience the world, Smith said.
UNL political scientist and co-author John Hibbing said the results might mean that those on the right are more attuned and attentive to aversive elements in life and are more naturally inclined to confront them. From an evolutionary standpoint, that makes sense, he said.
The results also are consistent with conservatives' support of policies to protect society from perceived external threats (support for increased defense spending or opposition to immigration) and internal ones as well (support for traditional values and being tough on crime), Hibbing said.
The researchers were careful to not make a value judgment on either political orientation. But they did note that their discovery provided an opportunity to recognize the relevance of deeper biological variables in politics and turn down political polarization.
Rather than believing those with opposite political views are uninformed or willfully obtuse, the authors said, political tolerance could be enhanced if it was widely understood that political differences are based in part on our physiological and cognitive differences.
"When conservatives say that liberals are out of it and just don't get it, from this standpoint, that's true," Hibbing said. "And when liberals say 'What are (conservatives) so frightened of? Is the world really that dangerous?' Given what each side sees, what they pay attention to, what they physiologically experience – the answer is both sides are right."
Invented by Devon engineer Alvin Smith, Searaser harnesses the almost constant power of ocean swells to create electricity on demand. It’s a very simple design which could produce electricity cheaper than any other wave-power technology, or indeed any other type of renewable energy. Potentially it could be cheaper than all existing sources of electricity – including gas, coal and nuclear – and it’s carbon free.
The following animation shows how Searaser produces electricity. As the ocean swell moves two buoys up and down, it pumps seawater through a pipe to an onshore turbine. The green energy company Ecotricity, which has a controlling stake in the technology, believes it is potentially a cheaper way of producing electricity than any other form of generation including all fossil fuels.
As Head of the LIFE Nature Unit, Angelo Salsi has spent much of his last year overseeing progress of these two LIFE + Components and preparing the ground for the next period of LIFE Programme funding from 2014-2020.
Angelo Salsi. Credit: Jon Eldridge
Mr Salsi notes that, “The present LIFE + regulation still has two calls to be implemented before its application process formally closes at end of 2013. This means that potential applicants and interested parties should continue to look at the present regulation for guidance on Programme priorities”.
Reflecting on the overall state of the Programme in its current form Mr Salsi draws attention to the fact that, “The application rounds continue to become more and more competitive. In 2011 for instance we saw that the numbers of applications peaked and 50% more proposals were submitted than before. We had a 100% increase in the numbers of some types of proposals, especially for the LIFE Information and LIFE Environment Components. Stronger competition was also seen for LIFE Nature and LIFE Biodiversity. The biggest increases we found were in proposals coming from the public sector. This was interesting because countries like Greece and Italy were able to submit a useful collection of proposals.”
“Factors affecting the increase in competitiveness are difficult to definitively assess but we must assume that one of the biggest drivers is the financial crisis. As budget cuts get worse we expect that competition will become even fiercer because there are very few areas in the field of environment where you find cash available from instruments like LIFE to make additional investments.”
Mr Salsi points to the quality of LIFE project proposals becoming a vital success ingredient for applicants. “Quality factors remain relatively constant from one year to another,” he says, and continues, “The ambition of the proposal to achieve added value at an EU level, not just nationally or regional, to address a priority environmental issue is crucial.”
“Ambitious projects can involve a lot of quite complicated inter-related issues and actions which can be a challenge to explain concisely in the application form. The quality of the basic project description is therefore more and more important as a determinant for accessing the LIFE co-finance. This is true for all of the Programme’s Components.”
For LIFE Nature and LIFE biodiversity, Mr Salsi believes that demand will continue to increase as the implementation of the Habitats Directives moves from planning to active management. “Money is needed to manage the land and waters that support species and habitats in our Natura network. LIFE remains the main dedicated source of co-finance for such actions so we suspect that Member States’ interest in LIFE Nature will increase.”
“During the next funding period after 2013, LIFE’s Natura investments will be joined by EU funds from rural development and cohesion policy, but until then LIFE is still the core financial instrument for Natura.”
Referring to LIFE’s Biodiversity Component, the Head of Unit also expects that it will play a bigger role in the future, now that understanding about its role is becoming more widespread. “The context for LIFE + Biodiversity has been better clarified in 2011 following the adoption of the new EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy.”
“Certain elements are well established like the strategy’s mandate covering nature conservation and species protection. These are perceived in EU terms as being under the wing of Natura 2000, and so LIFE Nature, as key delivery vehicles. Other important strategy areas like how to deal with alien species are also well known and we have cases where LIFE Biodiversity is working here.”
Added values:
EU biodiversity policy promotes harmonised approaches to sustainable development which balance socio-economic and environmental objectives. The emphasis on LIFE Nature contributions to this balance is stressed by Mr Salsi as important for the Programme to add value. Talking about moves towards greater consideration of social impacts and ecosystem services, he is pleased to report that, “We are now starting to see a growing number of positive responses to our push for a full spectrum of added value actions in LIFE. Beneficiaries are able to present project proposals which demonstrate clear social dividends from species protection.”
“I am aware that many of the jobs created by LIFE projects in the field of species conservation often have significant knock-on benefits. This is particularly so in rural areas where employment opportunities are commonly limited. We know that LIFE can help provide important jobs in the countryside and also it can show that looking after our natural resources can be a viable career path for young people in rural areas.”
“Furthermore, social dividends from LIFE actions are being achieved as our projects help to change people’s behaviour patterns and convert the perception of species that were formally considered problematic into symbolic icons of regional identity. For instance, species like the Iberian Imperial Eagle had in the past been considered a menace by land owners in Spain but now people are proud to have nesting Eagles on their farms. Similarly, the Brown Bear in Trentino Italy was once ostracised but it is now used as a marketing tool to attract visitors and its paw prints have even been used as the basis for company branding in the region. These types of economic benefits from nature conservation can be measured and we want to see more of these types of social dividends being integrated in LIFE proposals.”
Ecosystem services are another of the added value elements from LIFE that will contribute to the competitiveness of future project proposals. Strategic approaches to the provision and maintenance of ecosystem services at a territorial level are becoming increasingly significant for LIFE and Mr Salsi explains that, “We have welcomed the applications that were submitted in 2011 for methodologies which we have promoted regarding Prioritised Action Frameworks (PAF). These have their legal basis in Article 8 of the Habitats Directive and this year we have for the first time received proposals to use LIFE for helping to develop PAF approaches. This is extremely encouraging and it shows once again how LIFE can be effective for implementing very specific elements of EU Directives.”
PAF methods are based on the concept of a territorial plan that combines, integrates and coordinates sets of actions and measures which address nature conservation needs from a holistic and ecosystem service approach.
“We are still reviewing the proposals that have been submitted and we know now that beneficiaries are able to organise themselves to prepare such territorial approaches” says Mr Salsi who goes on to describe how, “Territorial planning will help overcome difficulties and inefficiencies in managing Natura sites using piece-meal techniques. LIFE co-finance can be used to set up a territorial plan for nature conservation in the same way that territorial plans exist for waste management, river basins, air quality or climate action. LIFE can help with the work involved to prepare a plan, which is an exception in itself because with other types of LIFE support most of the money needs to target more tangible types of habitat or species work.”
“Our promotion of PAF planning corresponds with our intention to focus a growing proportion of the future LIFE funds into integrated projects, which catalyse and mobilise large scale resources geared towards nature conservation outcomes. We want to see more of both of these types of proposals in the last two rounds of LIFE+. By providing funding in the final stages of LIFE+ for this type of preparatory actions, we are aiming to help pave the way for Member States to be ready, from 2014 onwards, for using LIFE more strategically in managing Natura 2000 as a coherent network.”
“Co-finance could be approved in 2012 for successful front runners in this priority area for LIFE. Beneficiaries might take up to 24 months to prepare their plans and so successful applicants should therefore be in a good position to start implementing PAF type approaches with the funds from the new LIFE regulation when it comes on stream in 2014.”
“We are currently reviewing 10 different territorial applications from seven Member States covering north, south, east, west and central Europe. In 2012 it would be good if this number of applications could double. Expectations and demands are rising and we are very glad that there are authorities out there with the political courage to make the commitment to strategic management of nature resources. The New LIFE regulation will be pushing in this direction and this will complement other efforts for more coordinated territorial developments like those through the Common Strategic Framework guiding the common agricultural policy and cohesion policy.”
“There is no doubt that, while retaining a capacity to accommodate traditional LIFE Nature projects, the future of the Programme post 2014 will increasingly focus more of its funding on integrated approaches. We will start slowly but as we move closer to 2020 the relative share of co-finance provided by ‘LIFE Biodiversity’, as it will be called in the next period, for integrated projects will grow. This is why we have been encouraging regions and countries to make use of the opportunities we have under LIFE+ in the final two calls to get ready to manage their Natura sites on territorial basis after 2013.”
The Japanese whaling fleet is not where they should be this time of year. Last year the fleet was operating in the Ross Sea. This year their “scientific survey” was to be in the waters south and west of Tasmania east and south of South Africa.
Every year they alternate. But not this year! Although the whalers attempted to begin their killing operations in the waters southwest of Australia, the Sea Shepherd ships have chased the entire whaling fleet ever eastwards. At 1700 hours AEST, the Bob Barker encountered the Yushin Maru No. 3 at 66 Degrees, 22 minutes South and 179 Degrees, 05 minutes West.
From being intercepted 500 miles west of Fremantle, Australia, the Japanese fleet has run over 4,500 nautical miles for the last 30 days, all the way into the Ross Sea, far to the East of Australia. This is an average of 150 miles a day, leaving very little time to kill whales with only one harpoon vessel. The other two harpoon vessels have either been tailing or searching for the Sea Shepherd ships.
“You can say we chased the whale killers into yesterday since we have crossed the International Date Line,” said Captain Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin. “This illustrates that they really have no scientific agenda at all since their so-called survey requires them to “sample” whales from the two different areas alternatively each year. This is not about science and it never has been. It’s not even about profit anymore because we have negated their profits. It’s simply about pride. Whaling in the Southern Ocean has become a heavily subsidized welfare project for an archaic industry that has no place in the twenty-first century.”
Sea Shepherd’s campaign, Operation Divine Wind, has been challenging this year due to the thirty million dollars allocated to the whaling fleet for added security. This money was taken from the tsunami and earthquake relief fund.
“They have ten million dollars for every one million dollars we have to finance our three ships,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen of the Bob Barker. “They have the full support of their government and literally have a license to kill because if any of us are injured or killed, their government will back them and justify their actions. Our governments condemn us just for tossing rotten butter on their decks.”
The chase across the bottom of the world involves five ships from the Japanese whaling fleet and two ships from Sea Shepherd. The third Sea Shepherd ship, the Brigitte Bardot, was damaged by heavy seas and had to return to Fremantle, Australia for repairs.
Never before has the Japanese whaling fleet abandoned one designated whaling “survey” area for another. Sea Shepherd has apparently seriously disrupted the Japanese whaling plan for this season and has cost them a huge amount in fuel costs. In addition, two of the three harpoon vessels have been taken away from killing whales to tail the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker, with the Yushin Maru No. 2tailing the Steve Irwin and the Yushin Maru No. 3 tailing the Bob Barker. This has left only the Yushin Maru to hunt for whales.
Sea Shepherd has been able to keep the whaling fleet on the move and continues to track their movements by relying on drone operations and ten years of experience following the predictable movements of the whalers.
Last season the Bob Barker was able to chase the Nisshin Maru all the way to the tip of South America before they quit and returned in humiliation to Japan after taking only seventeen percent of their kill quota.
These are yellow tangs frolicking among corals. Credit: Dwayne Meadows, NOAA
Nearly one-third of CO2 emissions due to human activities enters the world's oceans. By reacting with seawater, CO2 increases the water's acidity, which may significantly reduce the calcification rate of such marine organisms as corals and mollusks. The extent to which human activities have raised the surface level of acidity, however, has been difficult to detect on regional scales because it varies naturally from one season and one year to the next, and between regions, and direct observations go back only 30 years.
Combining computer modeling with observations, an international team of scientists concluded that anthropogenic CO2 emissions over the last 100 to 200 years have already raised ocean acidity far beyond the range of natural variations. The study is published in the January 22 online issue of Nature Climate Change.
The team of climate modelers, marine conservationists, ocean chemists, biologists and ecologists, led by Tobias Friedrich and Axel Timmermann at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, came to their conclusions by using Earth system models that simulate climate and ocean conditions 21,000 years back in time, to the Last Glacial Maximum, and forward in time to the end of the 21st century. They studied in their models changes in the saturation level of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate) typically used to measure of ocean acidification. As acidity of seawater rises, the saturation level of aragonite drops. Their models captured well the current observed seasonal and annual variations in this quantity in several key coral reef regions.
Today's levels of aragonite saturation in these locations have already dropped five times below the pre-industrial range of natural variability. For example, if the yearly cycle in aragonite saturation varied between 4.7 and 4.8, it varies now between 4.2 and 4.3, which – based on another recent study – may translate into a decrease in overall calcification rates of corals and other aragonite shell-forming organisms by 15%. Given the continued human use of fossil fuels, the saturation levels will drop further, potentially reducing calcification rates of some marine organisms by more than 40% of their pre-industrial values within the next 90 years.
"Any significant drop below the minimum level of aragonite to which the organisms have been exposed to for thousands of years and have successfully adapted will very likely stress them and their associated ecosystems," says lead author Postdoctoral Fellow Tobias Friedrich.
The upper panels shows simulated surface aragonite saturation for the years 1800, 2012 and 2100, respectively. White dots indicate present-day main coral reef locations. The lower panels shows atmospheric CO2 concentration in parts per million simulated for the years 1750 to 2100. Credit: Tobias Friedrich
"In some regions, the man-made rate of change in ocean acidity since the Industrial Revolution is hundred times greater than the natural rate of change between the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial times," emphasizes Friedrich. "When Earth started to warm 17,000 years ago, terminating the last glacial period, atmospheric CO2 levels rose from 190 parts per million (ppm) to 280 ppm over 6,000 years. Marine ecosystems had ample time to adjust. Now, for a similar rise in CO2 concentration to the present level of 392 ppm, the adjustment time is reduced to only 100 – 200 years."
On a global scale, coral reefs are currently found in places where open-ocean aragonite saturation reaches levels of 3.5 or higher. Such conditions exist today in about 50% of the ocean – mostly in the tropics. By end of the 21st century this fraction is projected to be less than 5%. The Hawaiian Islands, which sit just on the northern edge of the tropics, will be one of the first to feel the impact.
The study suggests that some regions, such as the eastern tropical Pacific, will be less stressed than others because greater underlying natural variability of seawater acidity helps to buffer anthropogenic changes. The aragonite saturation in the Caribbean and the western Equatorial Pacific, both biodiversity hotspots, shows very little natural variability, making these regions particularly vulnerable to human-induced ocean acidification.
"Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century," says co-author Professor Axel Timmermann."
This animation was generated as part of a project funded by The Nature Conservancy, the National Science Foundation and JAMSTEC.
Citation: T. Friedrich, A. Timmermann, A. Abe-Ouchi, N. R. Bates, M. O. Chikamoto, M. J. Church, J. E. Dore, D. K. Gledhill, M. González-Dávila, M. Heinemann, T. Ilyina, J. H. Jungclaus, E. McLeod, A. Mouchet, and J. M. Santana-Casiano: Detecting regional anthropogenic trends in ocean acidification against natural variability. Nature Climate Change - DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1372.
