Researchers at EPFL present new evidence for the
crucial role of algae in the survival of their coral hosts. Ultra-high
resolution images reveal that the algae temporarily store nutrients as
crystals, building up reserves for when supplies run low
Researchers at EPFL present new evidence for the crucial role of
algae in the survival of their coral hosts. Ultra-high resolution images
reveal that the algae temporarily store nutrients as crystals, building
up reserves for when supplies run low.
The relationship between corals and the microscopic algae they
harbor is a classic example of biological symbiosis - the mutually
beneficial interaction of two species. But crucial details regarding
their relationship have remained elusive until now. Using
state-of-the-art imaging techniques, Anders Meibom and his team of
researchers in the Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry have found new
evidence on the vital role algae play in helping corals survive in
environments where nutrients are scarce. Their findings were published
in the journal mBio on May 16, 2013.
"Coral reefs are the jungles of our oceans - hotspots of
biodiversity that easily outcompete all other marine ecosystems," says
Christophe Kopp, first-author of the publication. Coral bleaching occurs
when the colorful algae abandon their coral host because of
environmental strains like rising sea temperatures. On their own, corals
struggle to survive in tropical waters where nutrients are scarce, and
persistent starvation can have irreversible effects. While it is well
known that algae help corals to assimilate certain nutrients, such as
nitrogen from seawater, how this occurs, and to what extent the corals
can get by on their own, are less clear.
To study how nitrogen-rich nutrients are taken up and processed by
the corals and the algae that inhabit them, Meibom's research group
teamed up with the Aquarium Tropicale Porte Dorée in Paris to run a
series of experiments. There, they fed the corals nitrogen-rich
compounds labeled with a heavy nitrogen isotope that they could later
trace in the lab. Every few minutes, they extracted bits of coral, which
they fixed and analyzed with a state-of-the-art isotopic imaging
instrument, a so-called NanoSIMS.
Next, they assembled a timeline of how the nitrogen is processed by
the corals and their resident algae by lining up the images of the
samples extracted at different times. A combination of electron
microscopy and mass spectrometry allowed them to study with
unprecedented precision into which cellular compartments the heavier
nitrogen isotopes had been incorporated.
Crystal food banks
The research revealed that the corals depend strongly on the
algae to extract sufficient nutrients from the water. This was
particularly true when the corals were exposed to nitrate, a compound
that they are unable to process and assimilate on their own.
But most interestingly, the scientists observed that the algae act
as tiny food banks. Their images revealed that the algae temporarily
store the nitrogen in the form of uric acid crystals – a fact they later
confirmed using crystallographic analysis. This way, the algae can
stock up on nutrients when supply is abundant and draw on them when
supply drops, leaching some out to their coral host.
Because coral reefs are at the foundation of immense economic
activity, both as tourist magnets and as the habitats of some of the
most productive fish populations, understanding their fate as the
environment they inhabit changes is not only of ecological, but also of
economic importance.
The impact of industrial fishing on coastal ecosystems has been
studied for many years. But how it affects food webs in the open ocean―a
vast region that covers almost half of the Earth's surface―has not been
very clear. So a team of Smithsonian and Michigan State University
scientists and their colleagues looked to the ancient bones of seabirds
for answers, revealing some of the dramatic changes that have happened
within open-ocean food webs since the onset of industrial fishing. The
team's research is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Few records of species that live in the open ocean date back more
than 60 years, and the sheer size of open-ocean regions makes their food
webs difficult to study. The Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis),
a crow-sized oceanic bird, offered the team a solution. These birds
range widely over the northeast Pacific, and their diets integrate food
webs from that vast area.
400 to 1,000-year-old bones from an endangered seabird, the Hawaiian
petrel. These bones represent a small fraction of those collected from
the species. They offer a window into the lives of seabirds before and
after the arrival of humans in the open ocean environments of the
Pacific. Credit: Brittany Hance, Smithsonian Institution
What the petrels have eaten is recorded in the chemistry of their
bones. By extracting protein from bones and feathers and studying stable
isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the protein, the scientists were
able to assess the birds' diet and how it changed over centuries. What
they found from bones 100 to 4,000 years old were nitrogen isotope
ratios that were consistently high, indicating a diet of relatively
large prey. Those less than a century old, after industrial fishing
started, had low ratios, revealing a shift to smaller fish, squid and
other prey.
"The question is, have the effects of open-ocean fishing gone beyond
targeted species, like tuna," said Anne Wiley, lead author, Smithsonian
postdoctoral researcher and former MSU doctoral student. "Our study is
among the very first to show that it has, and because Hawaiian petrels
eat such a wide variety of prey over a large area, our results suggest
that fishery influence may be widespread and profound in the Pacific.
Understanding the influence of fisheries on open-ocean food webs has
been one of the great mysteries of biological oceanography."
The team's isotope records are unusual because they are from all the
known populations of the species, which breed on different Hawaiian
Islands. The records show that separate populations of Hawaiian petrels
hunted in different areas of the open ocean for thousands of years. The
scientists revealed a foraging shift in multiple Hawaiian petrel
populations, emphasizing that the petrels' diets changed across a very
broad expanse of the ocean. This sudden shift in the past 100 years
suggests a relatively rapid change in the composition of oceanic food
webs in the Northeast Pacific.
"Conservation efforts for endangered seabirds take place mainly on
land at breeding colonies where there are obvious threats like
introduced predators," said Helen James, coauthor and research zoologist
at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. "Our study
suggests we should pay more attention to the lives of these birds at
sea."
Further studies are needed to explore how the change in foraging is
affecting the Hawaiian petrel. Similar shifts down the food chain in
other species have been associated with decreases in population
size―potentially a bad sign for the Hawaiian petrel, which already has a
small population restricted to the Hawaiian islands and is listed as
"vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources.
150 years later, research result proves Darwin prediction
Environments containing species that are distantly related to one
another are more productive than those containing closely related
species, according to new research from the University of Toronto
Scarborough (UTSC).
The experimental result from Marc William Cadotte confirms a
prediction made by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species, first
published in 1859. Darwin had said that a plot of land growing distantly
related grasses would be more productive than a plot with a single
species of grass.
Since then, many experiments have shown that multi-species plots
are more productive. Cadotte's experiment showed for the first time that
species with the greatest evolutionary distance from one another have
the greatest productivity gains.
"If you have two species that can access different resources or
do things in different ways, then having those two species together can
enhance species function. What I've done is account for those
differences by accounting for their evolutionary history," Cadotte says.
Cadotte grew 17 different plants in various combinations of one,
two, or four species per plot. As in previous experiments, he found that
multi-species plots produced more plant material.
But when he analyzed the results he also found that combinations of
plants that were distantly related to one another were more productive
than combinations of plants that were closely related. So, for instance,
a plot planted with goldenrod and the closely related black-eyed susan
wasn't as productive as a plot with goldenrod and the more distantly
related bluestem grass.
What's going on isn't mysterious, Cadotte says. Distantly related
plants are more likely to require different resources and to fill
different environmental niches – one might need more nitrogen, the other
more phosphorus; one might have shallow roots, the other deep roots. So
rather than competing with one another they complement one another.
What's interesting about his result is that evolutionary distance
is all you need to know to predict productivity.
The result suggests that as plant species disappear the Earth will
become less productive, and plants will draw even less carbon from the
atmosphere, possibly increasing the rate of global warming.
On the other hand, the results could give a valuable tool to
conservation efforts. Environmentalists trying to restore damaged
habitats could use the information to help them pick which combinations
of species to introduce.
This research will be published in the upcoming edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS).
Fin whale surfacing in Greenland. Photo by Aqqa Rosing-Asvid. (CC)
The fin whale is the second-largest animal ever to live on Earth. It
is also, paradoxically, one of the least understood. The animal's huge
size and global range make its movements and behavior hard to study.
A carcass that washed up on a Seattle-area beach this spring
provided a reminder that sleek fin whales, nicknamed "greyhounds of the
sea," are vulnerable to collision when they strike fast-moving ships.
Knowing their swimming behaviors could help vessels avoid the animals.
Understanding where and what they eat could also help support the fin
whale's slowly rebounding populations.
University of Washington oceanographers are addressing such
questions using a growing number of seafloor seismometers, devices that
record vibrations. A series of three papers published this winter in the
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America interprets whale
calls found in earthquake sensor data, an inexpensive and non-invasive
way to monitor the whales. The studies are the first to match whale
calls with fine-scale swimming behavior, providing new hints at the
animals' movement and communication patterns.
The research began a decade ago as a project to monitor tremors
on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a seismically active zone more than a mile
deep off the Washington coast. That was the first time UW researchers
had collected an entire year's worth of seafloor seismic data.
"Over the winter months we recorded a lot of earthquakes, but we
also had an awful lot of fin-whale calls," said principal investigator
William Wilcock, a UW professor of oceanography. At first the fin whale
calls, which at 17 to 35 vibrations per second overlap with the seismic
data, "were kind of just a nuisance," he said.
In 2008 Wilcock got funding from the Office of Naval Research to study the previously discarded whale calls.
A seismometer inserted into a hole drilled in seafloor lava. Eight of
these instruments were installed at an ocean spreading-center volcano
150 miles off Vancouver Island. A data recording device is enclosed in
the yellow sphere. In three years of operation the network detected
nearly 40,000 small earthquakes, and hundreds of thousands of fin-whale
calls. Photo credit: John Delaney and Deborah Kelley, UW (taken with remotely operated vehicle Jason)
Dax Soule, a UW doctoral student in oceanography, compared the calls
recorded by eight different seismometers. Previous studies have done
this for just two or three animals at a time, but the UW group automated
the work to analyze more than 300,000 whale calls.
The method is similar to how a smartphone's GPS measures a
person's location by comparing paths to different satellites.
Researchers looked at the fin whale's call at the eight seismometers to
calculate a position. That technique let them follow the animal's path
through the instrument grid and within 10 miles of its boundaries.
Soule created 154 individual fin whale paths and discovered three
categories of vocalizing whales that swam south in winter and early
spring of 2003. He also found a category of rogue whales that traveled
north in the early fall, moving faster than the other groups while
emitting a slightly higher-pitched call.
"One idea is that these are juvenile males that don't have any
reason to head south for the breeding season," Soule said. "We can't say
for sure because so little is known about fin whales. To give you an
idea, people don't even know how or why they make their sound."
The fin whale's call is not melodic, but that's a plus for this
approach. The second-long chirp emitted roughly every 25 seconds is
consistently loud and at the lower threshold of human hearing, so within
range of earthquake monitoring instruments. These loud, repetitive
bleeps are ideally suited for computer analysis.
Michelle Weirathmueller, a UW doctoral student in oceanography,
used Soule's triangulations to determine the loudness of the call. She
found the fin whale's call is surprisingly consistent at 190 decibels,
which translates to 130 decibels in air – about as loud as a jet engine.
Knowing the consistent amplitude of the fin whale's song will
help Weirathmueller track whales with more widely spaced seismometer
networks, in which a call is recorded by only one instrument at a time.
Those include the Neptune Canada project, the U.S. cabled observatory
component of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, and the huge
70-seismometer Cascadia Initiative array that's begun to detect tremors
off the Pacific Northwest coast.
"We'd like to know where the fin whales are at any given time and
how their presence might be linked to food availability, ocean
conditions and seafloor geology," Weirathmueller said. "This is an
incredibly rich dataset that can start to pull together the information
we need to link the fin whales with their deep-ocean environments."
Self-assured entrepreneurs are more likely to act against their own pro-environmental values
Many entrepreneurs claim that they care about sustainability, yet
they make decisions that are harmful to the environment. Economic
researchers from Germany and the USA have discovered that many bosses do
indeed have firm convictions when it comes to the environment – but
that they then unconsciously disengage their values from their business
actions. The type of entrepreneur most likely to fall into this category
are those who perceive themselves as highly influential or who are
operating in a challenging industry environment. The researchers’
findings have shed new light on the significance of moral values and the
subconscious in the context of making business decisions. The study
could influence environmental legislation and the training of the next
generation of entrepreneurs.
They promise to do their bit for the environment and stick eco
labels on their products. But sooner or later someone will point out
that they sell products that are pesticide-ridden or that contain palm
oil sourced from endangered rainforests. Did the entrepreneurs reach
their decision after a rational cost/benefit analysis? Or does
unconscious behavior play a bigger role in entrepreneurial
decision-making than is often assumed? What are the triggers that cause
entrepreneurs to act against their own values? To find the answers to
these questions, economic researchers from Technische Universität
München (TUM), Indiana University, and Oklahoma State University
presented a range of scenarios to around 100 German business founders.
For
the task, the entrepreneurs were asked to assess a variety of business
opportunities against a number of attributes. They were asked first of
all to assess the attractiveness of a particular business opportunity.
They were also asked to make a set of judgments in the context of
environmental impact, respect for nature, entrepreneurial self-efficacy
and perceived business climate. Using the interconnected variables of
this conjoint experiment, the researchers were able to draw conclusions
on how various cognitive processes influence decision-making.
No conscious process
The research team found that even
entrepreneurs with a strong respect for nature made decisions with a
harmful effect on the environment. These decisions were not reached on
the basis of any conscious process, however. “We found that the research
subjects unconsciously adjusted the relationship between their values
and their actions – with the effect that their actions seemed to
coincide once more with their values,” explains Prof. Holger Patzelt of the Chair of Entrepreneurship at TUM.
The
researchers noted, however, that not all of the entrepreneurs displayed
this disengagement of pro-environmental values. What these
entrepreneurs had in common was a high level of entrepreneurial
self-efficacy and a challenging business climate. According to the
received theory up to now, entrepreneurs with low self-efficacy were
thought more likely to experience a conflict with their own values.
Undesired consequences of young entrepreneur's training
Holger
Patzelt comments further on the findings of the “I care about nature,
but ...” study: “Entrepreneurs with very high entrepreneurial
self-efficacy want to exert influence. This makes them more likely to
disengage from values that limit their options. The same principle
applies to an unfavorable industry environment, for example if the
company is facing sharp competition. In such situations, too, company
bosses believe that everything hinges on their decisions.”
Meanwhile,
the researchers’ findings could be used to good effect in environmental
legislation. “Law-makers could pass stronger regulations in industries
prone to challenging economic climates with a view to protecting the
environment,” suggests Patzelt. For the entrepreneurs themselves, the
findings on unconscious decision-making mechanisms could help them gain
more insight into their own business strategies. Last but not least, the
researchers hope that their work will help to improve the structure of
training. “Up to now, economics courses have placed an emphasis on
turning out budding entrepreneurs with a high degree of entrepreneurial
self-efficacy,” remarks Patzelt. “Now we know that this strategy can
also have undesired consequences.”
Citation: Shepherd, D. A., Patzelt, H., & Baron, R. A. Early Online
Publication. "I care about nature, but ...": Disengaging values in
assessing opportunities that cause harm. Academy of Management Journal.
This year’s European Day of Parks has the motto "My Park. My Passion. My Story."
Inaugurated in 1999, the European Day of Parks is organised
by the Europarc Federation, and held on or around 24 May each year. The
aim of the event is to bring people closer to nature and to raise
public awareness about the importance of conservation and sustainable
management of protected areas.
In keeping with this year’s motto, protected areas’
employees, visitors and other stakeholders are being invited to share
their experiences of and passion for nature in some art form, such as
stories, songs, pictures, films or plays.
Activities may be held well ahead of 24 May, as well as on
the day itself, and be linked to the European Day of Parks. The
Europarc Federation has suggestions on possible activities and ways to
explore creatively people’s passion for nature on its website.
International experts recommend key focus areas for next 2 years
As leadership of the Arctic Council passes from Sweden to Canada May
15, experts say it is crucial that northern nations strengthen response
capabilities to shipping-related accidents foreseen in newly-opened
northern waters, as well as to more-common local emergencies such as
floods, forest fires and rescue situations.
And Canada needs to lead by example. Despite having the world's
longest Arctic coastline and second-largest territory in the region, its
far northern marine and aviation infrastructure badly lags by
international comparison, according to experts with the Munk-Gordon
Arctic Security Program, an initiative of the Canada Centre for Global
Security Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of
Toronto and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
Northern emergency flight rescue operations today originate from the
Royal Canadian Air Force base in the southern Ontario city of Trenton
and involve at least eight hours of flying. The Canadian Coast Guard
aims to respond to requests for icebreaking services within 10 hours.
However, weather and distance often result in response times measured in
days.
By contrast, Russia is building 10 search and rescue stations along its Northern Sea Route, expected to open in 2015.
The Arctic Council ministerial meeting this week is hosted by the
outgoing chair, Sweden, in that country's northernmost city, Kiruna.
The anticipated 300 delegates - perhaps the largest in Arctic
Council history - include noted Canadian historian John English, author
of a forthcoming book - Ice and Water: Power, Peoples and the Arctic
Council - and a senior member of the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program
team. Says Dr. English: "Chairing the Arctic Council represents a real
opportunity for Canada to show leadership in a region whose importance
to global affairs is rapidly increasing."
In Kiruna, specific initiatives and goals of the Canadian
chairmanship will be articulated. Minister Leona Aglukkaq has detailed
Canada's main priorities in the chair as "development for the people of
the North," supporting this with sub-themes of sustainable Arctic
communities, responsible resource extraction, and safe Arctic shipping.
"Underpinning all of the Arctic Council's work must be a commitment
to the full involvement of Permanent Participants from indigenous
communities," says Thomas Axworthy, President and CEO of the Walter and
Duncan Gordon Foundation. "In that regard, as it moves forward on its
priority of safe shipping, Canada should heed the voices of those living
in the north who know first-hand the realities of Arctic emergency
response."
In a May 2012 report, the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program said:
"A proudly northern nation, Canada is the second largest Arctic state.
Half of the country's land mass lies in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. It
has a 162,000-km Arctic coast line, but is the only Arctic nation
without a deep water port."
The report recommended Canada "make the necessary strategic
investments in Canadian Arctic air and marine infrastructure to enable
Canada to effectively implement the Arctic Council negotiated accord on
search and rescue" and be prepared to fulfil its international agreement
obligations.
The "Agreement on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue"
negotiated under Arctic Council auspices and signed in 2011, clearly
defines the territory for which a nation is the primary responder, with
responses augmented as required by other Arctic states.
This Open Canada info-graphic details one of 14 search and rescue
operations executed in Northern Canada since 2010. To view all 14 and
more information visit this page.
Local community members are often the frontline of response to
emergencies in remote Arctic communities, says Sara French, Director of
the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program which, early next year, will
host a major meeting on northern security issues, partnering with
several international organizations sharing common concerns.
A 2010 survey
conducted for the Program showed about 90 per cent of northern
respondents deemed of top importance (a four or five out of five)
national capacity to respond to disasters, such as major northern oil
spills, emergency search and rescue teams and equipment, and basic
public infrastructure.
When asked if Canada is well equipped to respond to emergencies,
including search and rescue teams and equipment, only 40 per cent of
northerners agreed. Just 11 per cent thought there was sufficient
capacity to respond to disasters, such as a major spill. Investing in
infrastructure was virtually tied with better healthcare as an
investment priority among Canadians in the Far North (65 per cent vs. 66
per cent respectively).
As stated in the Program report Canada as an Arctic Power:"For
northern Canadians, fatal aircraft accidents in Resolute and
Yellowknife, and the deadly fire on-board a Norwegian cruise ship - all
in the fall of 2011- further highlighted the need to develop effective
emergency management systems in the Arctic that are matched by adequate
assets to carry them out."
An Institute of the North survey in Alaska found similar thoughts
about Northern priorities among residents of that state, with "capacity
to respond to disasters, such as major oil spills" in first place;
"capacity to respond to emergencies, including search and rescue teams
and equipment" in third place; and "basic infrastructure, like roads,
hospitals, libraries, schools and water treatment facilities" in fourth.
It is not yet known how many, if any, new non-Arctic countries will
be accorded Arctic Council observer status. Their role in shaping Arctic
governance is already being felt at the International Maritime
Organization, however, which is negotiating a voluntary Polar Code for
Arctic shipping. At the talks, Canada articulated a strong stance on
pollution-related issues.
Propose a new funding mechanism to enable Permanent Participants to
fully participate in all of the working groups of the Arctic Council.
Support the Permanent Participants in co-operation with the Arctic
Council member states to jointly review the role of the Indigenous
Peoples Secretariat (IPS) following the creation of the Permanent
Secretariat of the Arctic Council in Tromsø, Norway.
Make the necessary strategic investments in Canadian Arctic air and
marine infrastructure to enable Canada to effectively implement the
Arctic Council negotiated accord on search and rescue.
Encourage the Arctic Council to recognize the special role for
regional, state, and territorial governments in Arctic governance and
particularly in the Arctic Council.
Encourage the Arctic Council Secretariat to create plain-language
summaries of its studies and activities so that the information is
accessible to interested citizens.
Propose that any candidate for Arctic Council Observer status must
publicly declare its respect for the sovereignty of Arctic states and
the rights of Arctic indigenous peoples.
Fund the Canadian Polar Commission to a level equivalent to counterpart institutions in other Arctic states.
The Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program: A partnership between the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies
at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and the
Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security
Program is dedicated to studying and promoting four overarching areas of
concern: public opinion research, Arctic Council, Arctic Peoples and
Security, and emergency management. Program details, publications and
opinion polls can be accessed at this website.
This intact rangeland community, some distance from water, has little
cheatgrass but abundant native bunchgrasses and forbs that help resist
cheatgrass invasion. Photo courtesy of Oregon State University
A new study suggests that overgrazing and other factors increase the
severity of cheatgrass invasion in sagebrush steppe, one of North
America's most endangered ecosystems.
The research found that overgrazed land loses the mechanisms that
can resist invasion. This includes degradation of once-abundant native
bunchgrasses and trampling that disturbs biological soil crusts. The
work was published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology by researchers from Oregon State University, Augustana College and the U.S. Geological Survey.
"We think there are ways to assess the risks these lands face to
reduce the impact of cheatgrass invasion," said Paul Doescher, professor
and head of the OSU Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, and
co-author on the study.
"In the future we should work cooperatively with ranchers and land
managers to promote a diverse sagebrush and bunchgrass ecosystem,"
Doescher said. "That type of community will protect the native plant and
wildlife species and benefit sustainable rangeland use at the same
time."
Researchers suggested that one of the most effective restoration
approaches would be to minimize the cumulative impact of grazing, by
better managing the timing, frequency of grazing and number of animals.
The researchers also determined that, contrary to some previous
suggestions, grazing does not reduce cheatgrass abundance. Cheatgrass
was found by this study to be extremely tolerant of even intensive
grazing, and the findings "raise serious concern" about proposals to use
cattle grazing to help control its spread in areas where native
bunchgrasses still persist.
The study outlines the complex ecological processes that can promote
cheatgrass invasion and the indirect role overgrazing plays in that
process. Increasing gaps and connection of gaps between once-abundant
native bunchgrasses allow "a dramatic increase" in cheatgrass invasion,
the study concluded. Such gaps could serve as a valuable "early warning
indicator" and allow for management approaches that could help conserve
and restore the land.
Cheatgrass threatens vast regions of the American West, especially
the Great Basin in Nevada and surrounding states. These are areas which
were once carpeted by millions of acres of native sagebrush, perennial
bunchgrasses and associated wildlife that had evolved with little
herbivore pressure. Cheatgrass displaces native grasses and wildlife,
can increase fire frequency and ultimately cause an irreversible loss of
these native shrub-steppe communities.
This also has grazing implications: cheatgrass is a short-lived
annual grass that dries out quickly and provides lower quality forage
for much of the year, compared to perennial bunchgrasses.
"Cheatgrass changes the fire regime, and as it spreads, can reach a
tipping point," said Michael Reisner, now an assistant professor at
Augustana College who led this study as a doctoral student at OSU.
"After you cross that threshold, a major rangeland fire will come
through that takes out the sagebrush, and in most cases the native
ecosystem never recovers," Reisner said. "Many of the plant and animal
species that were there can disappear, mostly replaced by cheatgrass
that offers poor forage for cattle."
In a more resistant system, abundant native bunchgrasses can limit
the size and connectivity of gaps, which minimizes the water and
nutrients available to cheatgrass. Using data from 75 study sites,
researchers found that high levels of cattle grazing were associated
with reduced bunchgrass cover, with wider and more connections between
the gaps that provided an opportunity for cheatgrass to invade.
Cattle grazing in a rangeland site near water has led to reduced
native bunchgrasses and a higher level of cheatgrass invasion. Photo
courtesy of Oregon State University
Cattle trampling also appeared to disturb biological soil crust that
offers a second defensive barrier against cheatgrass, and further
speeds the invasion. Impacts are greater on the drier and warmer sites
within this region.
If the level and amount of gaps indicates that it's necessary,
changes in grazing could help restore bunchgrass cover, maintain a
diversity of native grass species and provide much better resistance to
cheatgrass invasion, the study concluded. Continued research is needed
to quantify the threshold levels of cattle grazing that would still
maintain a healthy native ecosystem.
Study uses data on 50,000 common plants and animals to predict worldwide range losses without urgent action to limit emissions
Pacific Northwest Rainforest. Credit: Constantine Alexander
Climate change could dramatically reduce the
geographic ranges of thousands of common plant and animal species during
this century, according to research using data made freely available
online through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
Research published today in the journal Nature Climate Change
looked at nearly 50,000 globally widespread and common species and
found that nearly two-thirds of the plants and almost half of animal
species could lose more than half of their climatic range by 2080 if
nothing is done to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
However, acting quickly to mitigate climate change could reduce
losses by 60 per cent and buy an additional 40 years for species to
adapt, the research concludes.
The study, by researchers in the United Kingdom, Australia and
Colombia, defined the climate 'niche' occupied by each species, based on
temperature and rainfall where they live now, and mapped the areas that
would remain suitable for them according to various scenarios of future
climate change.
The information on the current location of common species of
plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians was taken from around
170 million individual data records published freely online through GBIF
by some 200 different institutions around the world. The records
include museum specimens, data from scientific expeditions and the
observations of thousands of volunteer 'citizen scientists'.
One of the co-authors of the study, Jeff Price of the University
of East Anglia's School of Environmental Sciences, United Kingdom, said:
"Without free and open access to massive amounts of data such as those
made available online through GBIF, no individual researcher is able to
contact every country, every museum, every scientist holding the data
and pull it all together. So this research would not be possible without
GBIF and its global community of researchers and volunteers who make
their data freely available."
According to the research, plants, reptiles and especially
amphibians are expected to be at highest risk from climate change. The
climate will become especially unsuitable for both plant and animal
species in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, Amazonia and Australia. A
major loss of plant species is also projected for North Africa, Central
Asia and South-eastern Europe.
The lead author of the study, Dr Rachel Warren, also from UEA's
School of Environmental Sciences and the Tyndall Centre, said: "While
there has been much research on the effect of climate change on rare and
endangered species, little has been known about how an increase in
global temperature will affect more common species.
"This broader issue of potential range loss in widespread species is
a serious concern as even small declines in these species can
significantly disrupt ecosystems.
"Our research predicts that climate change will greatly reduce
the diversity of even very common species found in most parts of the
world. This loss of global-scale biodiversity would significantly
impoverish the biosphere and the ecosystem services it provides.
"The good news is that our research provides crucial new
evidence of how swift action to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases
can prevent the biodiversity loss by reducing the amount of global
warming to 2 degrees Celsius rather than 4 degrees. This would also buy
time – up to four decades - for plants and animals to adapt to the
remaining 2 degrees of climate change."
Quantifying the benefit of early climate change mitigation in avoiding biodiversity loss' is published online by the journal Nature Climate Change
on Sunday May 12, 2013. Contributing authors are from the Tyndall
Centre, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK;
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University,
Townsville, Australia; International Centre for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT), Cali, Colombia; School of Earth and Environment, University of
Leeds, UK; School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland,
Australia; the Met Office Hadley Centre, UK; and Department of
Meteorology, University of Reading, UK.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility
was founded in 2001 as an intergovernmental scientific infrastructure
aimed at providing free and open access to biodiversity data, via the
Internet. It currently offers a single online access point to 400
million biodiversity records from over 10,000 datasets published by 460
institutions, ranging from museum specimens collected from the earliest
days of natural history exploration, to current observations by 'citizen
scientists' and monitoring from research expeditions. GBIF operates
through a network of national and thematic 'nodes', and a secretariat
based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Researchers from the Universities of Bamberg and Bonn present causal evidence on how markets affect moral values
Many people express objections against child labor, exploitation of
the workforce or meat production involving cruelty against animals. At
the same time, however, people ignore their own moral standards when
acting as market participants, searching for the cheapest electronics,
fashion or food. Thus, markets reduce moral concerns. This is the main
result of an experiment conducted by economists from the Universities of
Bonn and Bamberg. The results are presented in the latest issue of the
renowned journal "Science".
Prof. Dr. Armin Falk from the University of Bonn and Prof. Dr. Nora
Szech from the University of Bamberg, both economists, have shown in an
experiment that markets erode moral concerns. In comparison to
non-market decisions, moral standards are significantly lower if people
participate in markets.
In markets, people ignore their individual moral standards
"Our results show that market participants violate their own moral
standards," says Prof. Falk. In a number of different experiments,
several hundred subjects were confronted with the moral decision between
receiving a monetary amount and killing a mouse versus saving the life
of a mouse and foregoing the monetary amount. "It is important to
understand what role markets and other institutions play in moral
decision making. This is a question economists have to deal with," says
Prof. Szech.
"To study immoral outcomes, we studied whether people are willing to
harm a third party in exchange to receiving money. Harming others in an
intentional and unjustified way is typically considered unethical,"
says Prof. Falk. The animals involved in the study were so-called
"surplus mice", raised in laboratories outside Germany. These mice are
no longer needed for research purposes. Without the experiment, they
would have all been killed. As a consequence of the study many hundreds
of young mice that would otherwise all have died were saved. If a
subject decided to save a mouse, the experimenters bought the animal.
The saved mice are perfectly healthy and live under best possible lab
conditions and medical care.
Simple bilateral markets affect moral decisions
A subgroup of subjects decided between life and money in a
non-market decision context (individual condition). This condition
allows for eliciting moral standards held by individuals. The condition
was compared to two market conditions in which either only one buyer and
one seller (bilateral market) or a larger number of buyers and sellers
(multilateral market) could trade with each other. If a market offer was
accepted a trade was completed, resulting in the death of a mouse.
Compared to the individual condition, a significantly higher number of
subjects were willing to accept the killing of a mouse in both market
conditions. This is the main result of the study. Thus markets result in
an erosion of moral values. "In markets, people face several mechanisms
that may lower their feelings of guilt and responsibility," explains
Nora Szech. In market situations, people focus on competition and
profits rather than on moral concerns. Guilt can be shared with other
traders. In addition, people see that others violate moral norms as
well.
"If I don't buy or sell, someone else will."
In addition, in markets with many buyers and sellers, subjects may
justify their behavior by stressing that their impact on outcomes is
negligible. "This logic is a general characteristic of markets," says
Prof. Falk. Excuses or justifications appeal to the saying, "If I don't
buy or sell now, someone else will." For morally neutral goods, however,
such effects are of minor importance. Nora Szech explains: "For goods
without moral relevance, differences in decisions between the individual
and the market conditions are small. The reason is simply that in such
cases the need to share guilt or excuse behavior is absent."
