Category: Biology

Posted on

Whale strike

To avoid striking
whales, great creatures of the sea,
use the app. Impact!

Blue whales can be injured or killed in collisions with ships, particularly in regions where migration routes cross shipping lanes. Yet because they travel huge distances, predicting where whales will be at any given time is difficult. However, now research by Abrahms et al (2019) suggests that statistical modelling techniques may be able to help.

The researchers used satellite tracking data from 104 blue whales across 14 years along with daily information on three-dimensional oceanic habitats to model the whales’ daily distribution. By using an ensemble modelling approach they were able to produce daily, year-round predictions of blue whale habitat suitability in the Californian Current Ecosystem.

The statistical approach allows the researchers to quantify the spatial and temporal distribution of exposure to ship strike risk within shipping lanes in the Southern California Bight. The researchers plan on converting this approach into a downloadable app which would alert ships to the risks of whale collision and could recommend alternative shipping lanes or vessel slow-downs.

It’s a truly fascinating piece of research that seems likely to have a huge impact upon a real-world problem – research at its best.

The sciku also includes a line from Mr Scruff’s truly excellent track ‘Shanty Town’ from his ‘Keep It Unreal’ album released in 1999. The full line is ‘Whales! Great creatures of the sea! Please listen to me!’ It’s well worth checking out!

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12940

Posted on

Fatal Attraction by Fred Mason

Sundew enticement.
Sweet nectar beyond compare.
Come hither, dear midge.

By Fred Mason

Philippe Martin revolutionized digital nature photography by “stacking” multiple images of the same subject to create a single, startlingly focused image. The resulting sharpness and brilliance create an almost three-dimensional quality. His book Hyper Nature (Firefly Books, 2015) advances the study of nature’s smallest creatures. The image which inspired this haiku shows a small (3 mm) midge, Anthomyia pluvialus, trapped in a sundew.

About the author:

My name is Fred Mason. I spent 37 years working for IBM Corporation. After retiring, I embarked on several new activities, including the writing of poetry. Most recently, I have written many Hiakus. My approach is to start with an exceptional photo, then to give it a voice of its own. My range of subjects runs the gamut from Comedy Wildlife Animals, to weird and unusual scenes (sculptures, buildings, nature, etc.).

Editor’s note: This is actually the first image featured on The Sciku Project. I very much enjoy Fred’s approach to writing haiku and am so pleased to have been able to feature his poem and the image that inspired it. The image is from Hyper Nature by Philippe Martin, published by Firefly books, you can find more about it here.

Posted on

Indigenous Engagement

The benefits of
indigenous engagement:
Ethics and Science.

Local knowledge and an awareness of local context can be integral to conducting a variety of research. However, one thing that’s less often considered is the impact of the diversity of the research team itself.

Conservation research by Ward-Fear et al (2019) into the impact of cane toads on yellow-spotted monitor lizards in Australia has unintentionally produced evidence of the scientific benefits of collaborating with local indigenous people.

Large cane toads are spreading through tropical Australia but are fatally toxic if eaten by yellow-spotted monitor lizards. Ward-Fear et al (2016) trained lizards with smaller, non-lethal cane toads and then compared the survival rates of trained and non-trained lizards in the wild over an 18 month period. They found that trained lizards had a greater survival rate than non-trained lizards, suggesting that the training helped the lizards to avoid eating the larger toxic cane toads.

Yet their study also revealed the importance of researcher diversity. In monitoring the population of lizards over 18 months, the research team included western scientists (professional, nonindigenous ecologists) and indigenous rangers (Australian-Aboriginal Traditional Owners of the region).

The indigenous rangers saw lizards from a greater distance, in more dense vegetation, under poorer light levels, and more frequently when the lizard was stationary. Additionally, when assessing the behavioural traits of the lizards, those that were spotted by the indigenous rangers were found to be more shy. What’s more, the ranger caught lizards appeared to benefit more from the training against the toxic cane toads.

All this highlights the importance of cultural diversity within research teams and in particular shows that indigenous collaboration can be utterly crucial for conservation efforts.

Original research:

Training of predatory lizards reduces their vulnerability to invasive toxic prey: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0863

Collaboration with indigenous peoples can alter the outcomes of conservation research: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12643

Posted on

Adaptation by Prof Fred W. Allendorf

Survive, reproduce
Mendel rules, pass on your genes
That’s adaptation

by Prof Fred W. Allendorf

Natural selection is one of the primary mechanisms of evolution. Those individuals with higher survival and greater reproductive success are more successful at passing on their genes to future generations. This brings about adaptation which increases the fitness of individuals in future generations.

Further reading: A brief history of the genetic theory of adaptation by H. Allen Orr (2005): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrg1523

Prof Fred W. Allendorf is Regents Professor of Biology Emeritus at the University of Montana. His primary scientific interest is the application of population genetics to conservation biology. He is senior author of the book Conservation and the Genetics of Populations. Check out Fred’s other sciku on Genetic Drift, Inbreeding Depression and Gene Flow.

Posted on

Supine Risks

Supine position,
dreaming towards tragedy.
The risk of stillbirth.

New research has found that the risks of stillbirth are higher when the mother falls asleep lying on her back. Cronin et al (2019) analysed sleeping position and resulting birth success. Whilst no difference was found between going-to-sleep on the left or right side, the researchers found evidence that the supine going-to-sleep position is a contributing factor for late stillbirth. In fact, they suggest that if every pregnant woman of 28 weeks gestation and beyond settled to sleep on her side the number of late stillbirths could be reduced by 5.8%.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.03.014

Posted on

Drug-Induced Hip Fractures

psychoactive drugs
flood and fog brains soon before
falls and hip fractures

by Dr Michael J. Leach

There is an inherent poetry to pharmacy whereby medicines can help people through intended beneficial effects and harm people through unintended adverse events, including side effects and drug-drug interactions. It is crucial for prescribers to carefully weigh up the risks and benefits of treatment whenever a new medicine is considered for any given patient. As the modern world has an aging population, there have been rises in frailty, multiple morbidities (i.e. multimorbidity), and multiple medicine use. Multiple medicine use can be defined in terms of polypharmacy, which denotes the concurrent use of five or more drugs, and hyper-polypharmacy, which denotes the concurrent use of ten or more drugs. The increasing prevalence of polypharmacy and hyper-polypharmacy means that, in modern society, there is high potential for harmful side effects and drug-drug interactions.

Psychoactive medicines are examples of drugs that have unfavourable side effects and that can interact with one another to cause harm. Psychoactive medicines act on the central nervous system in different ways to elicit therapeutic and adverse effects. The main types of psychoactive medicines are antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine-related drugs, opioid analgesics, anticholinesterases, antiepileptics, and anti-Parkinson medicines. A common side effect across all these psychoactive medicines is sedation. While treatment with benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine-related drugs, and antipsychotics may be aimed at helping people to relax or sleep at night, the sedative effect can still be harmful when there is unwanted daytime sedation or oversedation. The sedative effects of psychoactive medicines likely explain why these drugs increase the risk of falls and fractures, especially in older, frailer individuals. Furthermore, when any one psychoactive medicine is taken with another psychoactive medicine, there is an increased sedative burden on the patient. This increased sedative burden can place people at an even greater risk of falls and fractures.

Pharmacoepidemiology is the population-level study of medicine use. In original research conducted as part of my PhD in Pharmacoepidemiology, I used a number of study designs and statistical methods to quantify the risk of hip fracture following psychoactive medicine use in older people. I focused on particular types of psychoactive medicines (e.g. antipsychotic drugs and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor [SSRI] antidepressants) used individually and in combination with one another. The risk of hip fracture was increased for a range of psychoactive medicines, most notably when they were used concurrently. This research is relevant to real world medical practice because the risk factors identified are potentially modifiable. If prescribers better understand the risks associated with psychoactive medicine use, then they can make more informed prescribing decisions and de-prescribe psychoactive medicines where appropriate. Older patients, their carers, and their family members, as well as nursing home staff, would also benefit from better understanding the significant risk posed by the use of psychoactive medicines.

The pharmacoepidemiological studies that make up my PhD thesis have been published in peer-reviewed journals and are available online:

Leach MJ, Pratt NL, Roughead EE. The risk of hip fracture due to mirtazapine exposure when switching antidepressants or using other antidepressants as add-on therapy. Drugs – Real World Outcomes. 2017; 4(4): 247-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40801-017-0120-y

Leach MJ, Pratt NL, Roughead EE. The risk of hip fracture in older people using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other psychoactive medicines concurrently: a matched case-control study in Australia. Drugs – Real World Outcomes. 2017; 4(2): 87-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40801-017-0107-8

Leach MJ, Pratt NL, Roughead EE. Psychoactive medicine use and the risk of hip fracture in older people: a case-crossover study. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2015; 24(6): 576-582. https://doi.org/10.1002/pds.3785

Leach MJ, Pratt NL, Roughead EE, Hayward K, Jenkins N. Medicine use among the elderly before and after hip fracture. Australian Journal of Pharmacy. 2014; 95(1125): 72-74. [A secondary publication arranged by the original publisher]. Available here.

Leach MJ, Pratt NL, Roughead EE. Medicine use among older Australians before and after hip fracture. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research. 2013; 43(4):265-268. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2055-2335.2013.tb00271.x

Michael Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian health researcher, biostatistician, and poet with a PhD in Pharmacoepidemiology and a passion for health humanities. Examples of his science poems are online here: https://imagesofhealth.wordpress.com/.

If you enjoyed this sciku, check out Michael’s other sciku ‘Quality of Life at Seven Years Post-Stroke‘ and ‘The Psychopharmacological Revolution‘, ‘The Core Correlate of Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance’, ‘The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian General Practice‘, ‘The Burden of Bushfire Smoke‘, and ‘Australian Science Poetry‘ with science communicator Rachel Rayner.

Posted on

Astonishing carrier

Angolan spider –

astonishing carrier.

What is your horn for?

A new species of horned baboon spider has been described that has a soft horn on its back, unlike any spider previously found in the world. The species was found in Angola and Midgley and Engelbrecht (2019) have named it Ceratogyrus attonitifer – its name being a combination of the Latin for astonishment (attonit-) and carrier (-fer). The purpose of the large and soft horn on the spider’s back is currently completely unknown.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.60.32141

Posted on

Gene flow by Prof Fred W. Allendorf

Move away from home

Find a mate and reproduce

That is called gene flow

by Prof Fred W. Allendorf

Gene flow is the movement of alleles or genes from one population to another (Slatkin, 1987). Gene flow is crucial in reducing the harmful effects of genetic drift and inbreeding depression in populations. As global change, habitat destruction, and fragmentation rapidly progress, many natural populations are becoming smaller, more isolated, and more affected by inbreeding depression. However, Sewall Wright (1951) demonstrated that even very small amounts of gene flow are sufficient to avoid the harmful effects of genetic drift and inbreeding within local populations.

Original research:

Slatkin, M. 1987. Gene flow and the geographic structure of natural populations. Science 236: 787-792.

Wright, S. 1951. The genetical structure of natural populations. Annals of Eugenics 15: 323-354.

Prof Fred W. Allendorf is Regents Professor of Biology Emeritus at the University of Montana. His primary scientific interest is the application of population genetics to conservation biology. He is senior author of the book Conservation and the Genetics of Populations. Check out Fred’s other sciku on Genetic Drift, Inbreeding Depression and Adaptation.

Posted on

Couple affection

Art class and board games –

oxytocin released for

couple affection.

Oxytocin is often known as the ’hugging hormone’ and is important for attachment forming in relationships. Shared activities between two individuals in a relationship can help with bonding and release oxytocin. But what sort of activities can promote this?

Melton et al (2019) investigated the impact of two activities on couple’s oxytocin levels: playing board games and attending art classes. Both activities resulted in an increase in oxytocin in both men and women but there were interesting differences between the activity, sex and location of the activities.

The greatest increase in oxytocin was in men during the art class. Interestingly, greater levels of eye contact were observed between couples playing board games but greater physical contact observed during art class, whilst couples in a novel setting and doing a novel activity also released more oxytocin than couples in a familiar environment. These results show that whilst joint leisure activities do result in increased oxytocin, the type of activity and the novelty can affect the amounts.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12556

Posted on

A body projects by Prof Tania Douglas

A body projects

to a model of others

and finds its own shape

by Tania Douglas

Reyneke et al (2018) review the state of the art in 3D reconstruction of bone from 2D images, based on deformable models. Such reconstructions are useful in a variety of clinical applications such as surgery planning and postoperative evaluation, and implant and prosthesis design.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1109/RBME.2018.2876450

Prof Tania Douglas is the South African Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering & Innovation at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. You can follow her on Twitter under the handle @tania_douglas

Posted on

Armyworms

Armyworms. Crop pests.

Inflict losses with our help.

Where will you strike next?

Crop pests cause vast economic losses worldwide, having a huge impact on the livelihoods of some of the most vulnerable populations. Originally from the Americas, the fall armyworm recently spread to sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in estimates of 20 to 50% maize yield losses. The armyworm appears to have arrived in sub-Saharan Africa as a result of passenger flights from America and has spread widely across the continent in only a couple of years.

Research by Early et al (2018) has considered where the pest might spread to next. By considering the armyworm’s life-history, current trade and transportation routes and the climates of countries that currently have populations of armyworms, the researchers were able to forecast the most likely next steps for this spreading species. In particular, the researchers highlight that the climactic conditions of South and Southeast Asia and Australia make these regions susceptible to invasion, with Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand the most vulnerable.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.40.28165

Posted on

Resources forecast

Resources forecast

bat foraging. Alone? Group?

You are what you eat.

 

Whilst Darwin’s finches are a classic example of selection acting on bird morphology and resulting in species that are able to eat different seed sizes and shapes, food characteristics can result in evolutionary impacts that are less immediately obvious.

Egert-Berg et al (2018) investigated the impact of ephemeral food sources on bat social behaviour. By tracking the foraging behaviour of 5 species of bats the researchers found that in bat species where food sources were predictable individual bats foraged alone, reducing the impacts of conspecific competition. In contrast, where food resources were unpredictable and transient bat species foraged in groups. The research is a fantastic example of a collaboration between researchers in different countries and continents.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.09.064

Posted on

Spider milk

Unexpected milk –

not a mammalian trait?

Lactating spider.

Caring mothers aren’t the first thing that spring to mind when you think about spiders. Yet plenty of evidence exists of female spiders providing food for their young and protecting their offspring. A recent and very surprising example of arachnid maternal care comes from a species of ant-mimicking jumping spider.

Chen et al (2018) observed female spiders secreting a nutritious milk-like substance, which the offspring first consume from the floor of the nest and once they are a bit older directly from the mother herself. Through a careful set of experiments the researchers found that the spiderlings are entirely dependent on this ‘milk’ for survival, and that there are still huge survival benefits to it even once they are old enough to forage independently.

Milk provision was once seen as an exclusively mammalian trait but this research adds to growing evidence that the practice is more widespread across animal taxa than previously thought.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aat3692

Posted on

Ensnared

Poor social spider.

Ensnared, building its own tomb.

Parasitoid wasp.

 

Parasitoid wasps are known to lay eggs on their victims which are then consumed by the hatching larvae. Some species will even paralyse their victim and place them in a nest to be eaten alive by their offspring. Yet behaviour observed by Fernandez-Fournier et al (2018) has revealed a wasp species that behaves even more disturbingly.

Adult Zatypota sp. wasps were found to target a species of social spider that lives in a colony web and rarely leaves it. The wasps lay their eggs on the abdomen of the spider and when the larvae hatches it attaches to the spider. The larvae influences the spider to then leave its colony and spin a cocoon web in which the spider then waits until the larvae finally kills it. Its meal consumed, the larvae then spins a pupal cocoon within the protection of the outer cocoon web and a few days later emerges as an adult.

The results reveal that the spider is manipulated into performing unusual behaviours, since such social spiders rarely leave their colony and the cocoon web is a complete different form of web. The infected spider makes its own tomb before being eaten alive within it.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/een.12698

Posted on

Domino effect

Domino effect.

Ocean-behaviour-hookworms

lead to seal pup deaths.

 

The web of life, food chains, ecological balance – there are a lot of terms that indicate how interlinked ecosystems are. A recent, tragic example of this is how a rise in ocean temperatures can indirectly result in increased seal pup death from hookworm infection.

Seguel et al (2018) found that sea temperatures influenced the survival of South American fur seal pups. Sea temperatures effect wind patterns and ocean currents, changing the abundance of nutrients and as a result fishes. Higher sea temperatures resulted in lower fish abundance, meaning that fur seal mothers needed to spend more time at sea feeding, consequentially spending less time with their pups. The reduced maternal care led to lower pup growth rates and a less effective immune system, making the fur seal pups more susceptible and less likely to successfully fight off hookworm infection.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38432

Posted on

Small and spherical

Small and spherical,

the eggs of forest blue tits.

Urban differences.

 

Populations of many species live in different environments that provide varied resources and have differing selection pressures. Research by Bańbura et al (2018) investigated the eggs of blue tits living in a forest environment compared to a nearby urban park.

The researchers found that urban-dwelling blue tits produced eggs that were on average 5% larger than their forest-dwelling counterparts, and the urban eggs were less spherical as well. These differences are potentially the result of blue tit diets in each environment – the forest is caterpillar-rich but calcium-poor whilst the urban park is the opposite, with 5-6 times the density of snails which have calcium-rich shells. The smaller, rounder forest egg shape requires less calcium compared to the less spherical urban egg shape.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12983-018-0279-4

Posted on

Wild, rural, urban

Mammal density

wild, rural, urban – the same.

Rocking the suburbs.

 

Urban development encroaches on natural spaces, reducing and altering animal habitats. A consequence of this is that many species have evolved to live around humans, although developed areas are thought to have low species diversity and abundance.

Yet research by Parsons et al (2018) in coordination with citizen scientist volunteers suggests this might not be the case. Using camera traps placed in areas of varying development (from wild to urban) and scale (from forests to yards) the researchers found that mammals were found in similar or higher levels of abundancy and species richness in developed areas compared to wild areas. The research highlights the need to conserve wild areas and preserve green spaces within cities.

The keen eyed may spot that the final line of this sciku is a reference to Ben Folds’ first solo album ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’, released in 2001.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.38012.001

Posted on

Absentee parents

Absentee parents.

Selection pressure leads to

self-sufficiency.

 

Parents invest in the survival of their offspring to differing amounts across the animal kingdom. Some parents provide for their young until they reach independence, whilst in other species the parents are absent from birth onwards.

The burying beetle shows a mix of these tendencies. The parents use small dead mammals and other vertebrates as edible nests for their young. The larvae hatch and enter the carcass, while the parents may help the larvae enter the nest by biting small incisions in the carcass and may even feed them. Yet the larvae can also survive without parental care, using their mandibles to enter the edible nest and feed themselves.

By experimentally manipulating the levels of parental care across 13 generations, Jarrett et al (2018) found that both parental behaviour and offspring anatomy changed. Parents removed before larval hatching began to make the incisions earlier to provide support for the offspring before they hatched. The larvae of such absent parents also evolved larger mandibles to help enter the carcass and feed themselves.

In contrast, when parents were present the larvae had smaller mandibles, as the production of large mandibles is costly and unnecessary when parental support is provided. The research is nice evidence of evolutionary changes to different partners in the parent-offspring dynamic.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06513-6

Posted on

Lingering threat

PCB. Lingering threat.

Slinking up food chains, silent.

Killing the killers.

 

PCBs – polychlorinated biphenyls – were widely used in a variety of manufacturing techniques until they were linked to health problems such as increasing the risk of cancer, disrupting the immune system and impairing reproduction. Despite a ban on their use, the compounds remain an environmental contamination and can accumulate in the tissues of animals, passing up the food chain to accumulate in dangerous levels in apex predators.

Whilst killer whales are one of the most populous mammal species on the planet, research by Desforges et al (2018) suggests that PCB pollution could result in a collapse in over 50% of the world’s killer whale populations. The researchers amalgamated data on PCB concentrations in killer whale tissues from across the world and modelled the predicted impacts of PCB pollution over the next 100 years. The results highlight how important it is to be aware of potential environmental issues, even with species that appear to be thriving.

Original research: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6409/1373

Posted on

These membrane proteins by Chris Gillen

These membrane proteins

might reclaim salt from urine

or suck it from ponds.

 

Mosquitoes face extraordinary challenges to their salt and water balance during their complex life-cycles. Larva of most species live in freshwater environments in which they lose salt by diffusion and gain water by osmosis. In contrast, adults live in terrestrial environments where water loss is a problem. Finally, female mosquitoes ingest large amounts of salt and water when they take a blood meal.

In vertebrates, the sodium-potassium-chloride cotransporters (NKCCs) participate in both salt secretion and absorption. Whereas secretory roles for this group of transporters are well-described in insects, their roles in salt absorption are less well studied. Piermarini et al (2017) recently identified yellow fever mosquito transport proteins that have sequence similarity to the vertebrate NKCCs. Two of these transporters apparently resulted from gene duplications early in the insect and mosquito lineages, suggesting that they have diverged into roles related to mosquito osmoregulation. The transporters may contribute to salt absorption, because the researchers found them in adult hindgut and larval anal papillae, both tissues that transport salt into the body.

Original research: Piermarini, P. M., Akuma, D. C., Crow, J. C., Jamil, T. L., Kerkhoff, W. G., Viel, K. C. M. F., and Gillen, C. M. (2017) Differential expression of putative sodium-dependent cation-chloride cotransporters in Aedes aegypti. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 214, 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.09.007

Chris Gillen teaches animal physiology and science writing at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.  He is author of The Hidden Mechanics of Exercise (Harvard, 2014) and Reading Primary Literature (Pearson, 2007).

Posted on

No catch-22

Does the protected

lion eat conserved zebra?

Phew! No catch-22!

 

Recovering predator populations as a result of conservation work can result in impacts on their prey species populations, causing issues if those prey species are themselves endangered. One case in particular is whether lions exert top-down pressure on Grevy’s zebra in Kenya – does the recovery plan of one species negatively affect the conservation of another?

A study by O’Brien et al (2018) suggests we need not worry in this case – working in Laikipia County in Kenya the researchers found that lions were less likely to prey on Grevy’s zebra than expected. In fact, population trends suggest that the Grevy’s zebra population in Kenya may be stabilising. The researchers conclude that the most likely threat to Grevy’s zebra are competition for grass with Plain’s zebra and the impact of livestock.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201983

Posted on

Fluttering by at dusk by Roy McGhie

Fluttering by at dusk,

dawn, and in between.

Crop diversity!

Recent research by Olimpi & Philpott (2018) concludes that crop diversity as a management practice drives bat activity, and that crop diversity and less frequent pesticide use increase bats’ insect prey populations. The study notes that this could be a useful management tool where other options, such as hedgerow or tree management, are not available.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.06.008

Roy McGhie works for Natural England as an Uplands Advisor. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here. If you enjoyed his sciku, check out his previous poems Ghost Ponds, A Heady Mixture and Hedgerow Snuffling.

Posted on

Where are all the wildflowers?

Monoculture crops.

Where are all the wildflowers?

Where is all the life?

 

Modern intensive agricultural practices have had a devastating impact upon the native wildlife that inhabits arable land, from the density of worms in the soil to the number of apex predators patrolling the skies. In particular, monoculture crops, herbicides, pesticides and the removal of hedgerows have resulted in depleted numbers of invertebrates and subsequently the numbers and variety of birds and other vertebrates that feed upon them.

The farmer and writer John Lewis-Stempel approached this issue by taking a small arable field in south Herefordshire, UK, and spending a year growing wheat following traditional methods. Whilst sowing a mix of wheat he also sowed various species of wildflower, both in the margins of the field and amongst the crop itself. As the year processed he charted the wildlife that appeared in the field, from harvestmen and worms to hares and barn owls.

The blossoming of life was astonishing, absent in the vast, monoculture fields that dominate much of agricultural Britain. Lewis-Stempel’s work begs the question whether such endeavours if repeated across the countryside could transform the levels of biodiversity in the UK? Are the (supposed) gains that modern intensive farming bring worth the environmental devastation they create? As a consumer I am guilty of benefitting from cheap food, it’s hard not to be. But as Lewis-Stempel says “every time one buys the lie of cheap food a flower or a bird dies”. I do believe in flowers and birds, I do, I do.

I can’t recommend his book documenting the project enough: ‘The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland’. From the quality of the prose to the clearly outlined arguments throughout, it is outstanding. If you care about native species, conservation or agriculture then this is essential reading. For everyone else it’s just highly recommended. (And how nice it is to see Herefordshire getting any form of recognition or acknowledgement in the media).

Posted on

Oh ketchup packet!

Oh ketchup packet!

How to get the last sauce out?

Hydrocarbon films!

 

Waste from packaging where food products can’t be completely extracted builds up. Now research by Mukherjee et al (2018) suggests a solution might be at hand. The researchers found that hydrocarbon-based polymer films can be stably impregnated with vegetable oils. The resulting material is slippery and durable, ideal for the inside of packaging to reduce food sticking and waste.

Whilst this sounds high-tech the researchers were actually inspired by the pitcher plant which uses a slippery coating on its leaves to capture visiting insects.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29823-7

Posted on

Eggy difference

The Baltic flounder:

Native to namesake region.

Eggy difference.

 

A new species of flounder has been identified as separate from the European flounder by Momigliano et al (2018). The Baltic flounder (Platichthys solemdali sp.) is native only to the Baltic Sea – the first fish species to be identified as endemic to the area.

Its reproductive behaviour differs from the European flounder, spawning eggs that sink in coastal areas as opposed to buoyant eggs in open water. There are also differences between the species in egg morphology, egg and sperm physiology. Unfortunately, the small morphological differences mean that it is difficult to unambiguously distinguish the species and genetic methods or egg/sperm analyses are required.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00225

Posted on

Extrapolation

Extrapolation

from laboratory tests.

Not always correct?

 

Experiments within the laboratory are often used to understand biological interactions in a controlled manner. Yet research by Comforth et al (2018) suggests that what we learn from the laboratory may not always represent what happens in reality.

The researchers found that Pseudomonas bacteria (a pathogen that threatens immunocompromised people) behaved differently in humans compared to under laboratory conditions. This was particularly apparent in the levels of gene expression involved in antibiotic resistance, cell to cell communication and metabolism. The implications of this work suggest laboratory studies only take us so far and further understanding bacterial behaviour in humans is just as important.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1717525115

Posted on

Snakeskin secrets

Learning from nature:

Snakeskin secrets revealing

lessons in friction.

 

The natural world has inspired engineering and design in countless ways. Now researchers are looking at snakeskins in an attempt to better understand an understudied engineering area: friction.

Abdel-Aal (2018) summarises findings from 40 species of snake to understand how the textural traits of snake skin compare to the standard features of textured industrial surfaces. This exploratory framework could subsequently lead to new, nature-inspired smart surfaces.

Original paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2017.11.008

Posted on

Chestnut menace

Invading clonal

wasps. Chestnut menace spreading

yet no males required.

 

The Chestnut gall wasp arrived in Europe in 2006, imported accidentally from China. Since then it has begun to spread and devastate European Chestnut trees.

Bonal et al (2018) have now revealed that the European population has very low genetic diversity due to 1) the founding of the population by a small number of individuals, 2) an endosymbiont bacterial infection present within the population that is known to have male-killing tendencies and 3) it’s parthenogenetic reproduction strategy. This is where females are able to reproduce and produce female offspring without the need to be fertilised by males. No males have been observed in the European population and the females and their offspring are effectively clones of one another.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23754-z

Posted on

Forgotten value

Forgotten value

of seagrass meadows. Crucial

for world’s fisheries.

Life in the ocean is under threat from a variety of manmade issues, including climate change, mining and over-fishing. Yet our understanding of marine ecosystems still remains far from complete.

New research by Unsworth et al (2018) has revealed just how important seagrass meadows are for fish populations and as a result for humanity’s fisheries. Seagrass meadows are found in the shallow seas around all the continents (aside from Antarctica) between the intertidal zone and 60 meters deep.

The researchers found that seagrass meadows provide a nursery habitat for over a fifth of the world’s largest 25 fisheries and provide support to a large number of other small-scale fisheries around the world. The study indicates that these seagrass meadows should be maintained in order to maximise their role in global fisheries production.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12566

Interested in seagrass meadows? They also play a hugely important role in sequestering carbon. Find out more with this sciku here.

Posted on

Giant becomes five

Giant becomes five

endangered salamanders.

Hidden extinction?

 

The Chinese Giant salamander is the world’s largest amphibian, adults can be 2 meters long and weigh up to 50 kg. It’s critically endangered in the wild due to habitat destruction, fungal infection and because the species is used as a luxury food source in China. It is kept in far greater numbers in captivity as a result of it being farmed for food. Two studies published in Current Biology add additional concerns for the future of this species in the wild.

In what is thought to be the largest wildlife survey conducted in China, Turvey et al (2018) found that giant salamander populations were either critically depleted or had been eradicated, as well as finding plenty of evidence for illegal poaching. The researchers were unable to confirm the survival of wild Chinese giant salamanders at any of their survey sites, raising the question of whether this species is all but extinct in the wild.

In a companion piece of research, Yan et al (2018) performed a genetic analysis on Chinese giant salamanders and found that the species actually consists of at least five species-level lineages, potentially up to eight. This suggests that some of these distinct lineages (effectively separate species) may well have already gone extinct in the wild – a phenomenon known as cryptic or hidden extinction. This has crucial importance for conservation efforts, particularly with regards to re-releases from captive populations where the five lineages have been mixed and the resulting offspring are effectively hybrids.

Original research:

Turvey et al (2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.005

Yan et al (2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.004