Blue whale foraging and reproduction are related to environmental conditions, study shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A NEW ZEALAND BLUE WHALE SURFACES IN THE SOUTH TARANAKI BIGHT. view more 

CREDIT: DAWN BARLOW, MARINE MAMMAL INSTITUTE, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

NEWPORT, Ore. – A new study of New Zealand blue whales’ vocalizations indicates the whales are present year-round in the South Taranaki Bight and their behavior is influenced by environmental conditions in the region.

The findings are a significant advancement in researchers’ understanding of the habitat use and behavior of this population of blue whales, which Oregon State University researchers first identified as genetically distinct from other blue whale populations less than a decade ago.  

“We went from not knowing 10 years ago whether this was a distinct population to now understanding these whales’ ecology and their response to changing environmental conditions,” said the study’s lead author, Dawn Barlow, a postdoctoral scholar in OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute. “These findings can inform conservation management of this blue whale population and their habitat.”

The patterns and intensity of the whales’ calls and songs over two years showed strong seasonality in their foraging and breeding behavior, and the vocalizations changed based on environmental conditions such as a documented marine heatwave, Barlow said.

“During the marine heatwave, feeding-related calls were reduced, reflecting poor foraging conditions during that period,” Barlow said. “But we also saw changes in vocalizations in the next breeding period, an indication that they put less effort into reproduction following a period of poor feeding conditions.”

The study was just published in the journal Ecology and Evolution. Barlow conducted the research as a doctoral student in the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, led by associate professor Leigh Torres, a co-author of the new paper.

Blue whales are the largest of all whales and are found in all oceans except the Arctic. Their populations were depleted due to commercial whaling in the early 1900s, and today they are listed as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

The New Zealand whales’ habitat overlaps with a wide range of commercial activities, including oil and gas exploration and extraction, vessel traffic, fisheries, wind energy development and possible seabed mining.

Torres first hypothesized in 2013 that the South Taranaki Bight, between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, was an undocumented blue whale feeding ground. Following comprehensive data collection efforts, and using multiple lines of evidence, Torres, Barlow and colleagues were able to document in 2018 that the population in this region was genetically distinct from other blue whale populations.

Previous research was primarily based on observations researchers made during visits to the region in the summer months. But the researchers wanted to know more about the whales’ behavior during other parts of the year. They placed five hydrophones – a type of underwater microphone – that recorded continuously between January 2016 and February 2018, with only brief gaps to retrieve data every six months.

“Unlike many other baleen whales, this population stays in this region year-round,” Barlow said. “That means we can monitor what they are doing from one location. Listening is an effective way to do that.”

The hydrophone recordings showed that the whales’ “D” calls were strongly correlated with oceanographic conditions related to upwelling in the spring and summer. Upwelling is a process where deeper, cooler water is pushed toward the surface; the nutrient-rich water supports aggregations of krill that the blue whales feed on. The whales’ D calls were more intense during periods of strong upwelling.

The recordings also showed that the whales’ song vocalizations, which are produced by males and associated with breeding behavior, followed a highly seasonal pattern, with peak intensity in the fall. That timing aligns with past whaling records’ estimates of conception, Barlow said.

The hydrophone evidence of the breeding behavior and the whales’ presence in the region year-round can influence the animals’ national threat classification status, which impacts management practices, the researchers said.

Blue whales in New Zealand had been classified as migrant, but as a result of the research by Torres, Barlow and colleagues, the classification of has changed from migrant to data deficient. If the whales are reclassified as a resident population, that could impact management practices, but evidence of breeding in New Zealand is needed for that change to occur, the researchers said.

“Although no one has actually documented blue whales mating – it is hard to observe that directly – the increase in song during the expected time of mating is a strong indication of breeding in New Zealand waters,” Torres said. “Our study adds more evidence that these are resident New Zealand blue whales.”

Once the researchers were able to make the link between the whales’ behavior and their calls, they could then look at the calls and behavior relative to environmental patterns. Specifically, they noted how the whales’ foraging and breeding behavior changed during and after a 2016 marine heatwave.

During the marine heatwave, there were fewer aggregations of krill for the whales to feed on, which the researchers documented in a previous study. The reduction in foraging behavior correlated to less intense D calls during that period, and in the next breeding season, the breeding songs were also less intense.

The findings raise additional questions about how changing ocean conditions and human activity in the region are impacting the New Zealand blue whale population and reinforce the need for continued monitoring, the researchers said.

“We have come so far in 10 years in our knowledge of these blue whales - from not knowing this population existed to now understanding their year-round use of this region for feeding, mating and nursing,” Torres said. “New Zealanders should be excited and proud that their country is home to its own unique population of blue whales. We hope our work helps Kiwis manage and protect these whales.”

Additional coauthors are Holger Klinck, director of the Cornell University K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, who also is affiliated with OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute; Dimitri Ponirakis of Cornell; and Trevor Branch of the University of Washington. The Marine Mammal Institute is part of Oregon State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

New Zealand blue whale

CREDIT

Leigh Torres, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University

JOURNAL

Ecology and Evolution

DOI

10.1002/ece3.9770 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Environmental conditions and marine heatwaves influence blue whale foraging and reproductive effort

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Feb-2023

AND VISA VERSA

Adult smokers with mental illness consume the most caffeine in the U.S.

Mood, metabolism and self-medication might explain use patterns among this population, according to Rutgers research

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Americans are drinking more caffeinated beverages than ever before, but Rutgers researchers found one group that tops the charts in caffeine consumption: adult smokers with mental illness.

 

In a study published online ahead of print in the January issue of the journal Psychiatry Research, Jill M. Williams, director of the division of addiction psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, found not only do adult smokers with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia drink the most caffeine, they are at the highest risk of negative health consequences.

 

“Caffeine is generally considered safe and even has some health benefits,” said Williams. “But we just don't understand the cognitive and psychiatric effects of high caffeine intake, especially among smokers with mental illness.”

 

Caffeine is one of the most widely used psychoactive drugs in the United States, with the main effects increased alertness, attention and vigilance. While it’s considered safe for most healthy adults to consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day – the equivalent of about four cups of brewed coffee – consuming more than 600 milligrams isn’t recommended and can lead to anxiety, insomnia, excess stomach acid and heartburn.

 

Little is known about caffeine’s influence on executive functions, such as reasoning and decision making, and the studies that have been done have mostly included healthy adults without mental illness, Williams said. Even less is known about how high caffeine intake may impact psychiatric symptoms or sleep in adults with serious mental illness who smoke.

 

To address these gaps, Williams and colleagues from the Rutgers Department of Psychology and the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine analyzed data from 248 adult smokers recruited during a previous study. Participants were either outpatient smokers with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or from a control group with no psychiatric diagnoses. All participants were pack-a-day smokers.

 

At the beginning of the study, participants completed surveys on smoking history, caffeine use, physical health and psychological symptoms. The researchers also collected blood samples to measure serum caffeine levels.

 

They found caffeine intake was highest among participants with bipolar disorder, followed by adults with schizophrenia. The control group consumed the least amount of caffeine.

 

Williams said there are several theories to explain the relationship between caffeine intake and mental illness. One is a well-established association between caffeine and smoking: People with mental illnesses smoke at rates two to three times higher than the general population, and because the tars in cigarette smoke increase the metabolism of caffeine, it takes more caffeine to achieve stimulating effects.

 

Another theory links high caffeine intake to adenosine receptors and supports a possible self-medication effect among people with mental illness, said Williams. People with mental illnesses also seem to have vulnerabilities to all types of addictive substances, putting them at higher risk for excess intake and more negative consequences. Additionally, the researchers found evidence that mood is linked to caffeine intake, especially bad mood.

 

Each of these explanations warrants further investigation, Williams said.

 

“Today, people consume huge amounts of caffeine in more concentrated forms – like energy drinks or double shots of espresso – far more than when our participants were surveyed,” she said. “And yet, the effects of high caffeine intake remain widely understudied. This is particularly true for people with mental illness.”

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JOURNAL

Psychiatry Research

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114989 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Caffeine levels and dietary intake in smokers with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Better metric for prioritizing conservation of “evolutionarily distinctive” species

EDGE2 adds measures of scientific uncertainty and status of related species to existing metric

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: THE PYGMY SLOTH (BRADYPUS PYGMAEUS) IS ENDEMIC TO THE ISLAND OF ESCUDO, PANAMA, AND IS BOTH EVOLUTIONARILY DISTINCT AND THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION. view more 

CREDIT: ZSL (CC-BY 4.0, HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)

An updated metric for prioritizing species’ conservation that incorporates scientific uncertainty and complementarity between species, in addition to extinction risk and evolutionary distinctiveness, is publishing February 28th in the open access journal PLOS Biology, authored by Rikki Gumbs from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), UK, and colleagues.

In 2007, ZSL established the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) metric to prioritise species for conservation based on preserving evolutionary history embodied within endangered species. The approach allocates each species a score based on the evolutionary distance, measured in millions of years, that separates a species from its closest living relatives, and its conservation status in the IUCN Red List.

EDGE has since been applied to mammals, amphibians, birds, sharks and rays, corals, and flowering plants, and is used to allocate conservation funding. To update the EDGE metric to incorporate recent advances in evolutionary biology and conservation, ZSL hosted a workshop for conservation scientists and practitioners, who reached a consensus on EDGE2 – an updated metric that includes the extinction risk of closely related species and uncertainty in species’ relationships and conservation status.

Applying the EDGE2 methodology to 6,253 mammal species, the researchers found that the Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus) scored highest, representing 25 million years of evolution at critical risk of extinction. They identified 645 priority species that together account for 81% of the evolutionary diversity at risk. Protecting the 100 highest ranking species from this list – representing 1.6% of all mammal species – would preserve over 700 million years of evolutionary history.

EDGE2 lists can help guide the effective and practical prioritization of limited conservation funds to preserve distinctive evolutionary features and ecological functions, the authors say. They also propose an EDGE2 research list, calling for further research on species that are evolutionarily distinct, but whose conservation status is unknown.

Gumbs adds, “The variety of life at which we marvel is the product of the shared and unique evolutionary histories of species past and present, yet many of the most evolutionarily distinct species on Earth today are at risk of extinction. We brought together experts in conservation science and practice to create a robust and coherent framework to prioritise the world’s most evolutionarily distinct species for conservation action, and applied the framework to produce an updated prioritisation of the world’s mammals.”

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In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001991

Citation: Gumbs R, Gray CL, Böhm M, Burfield IJ, Couchman OR, Faith DP, et al. (2023) The EDGE2 protocol: Advancing the prioritisation of Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species for practical conservation action. PLoS Biol 21(2): e3001991. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001991

Author Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand

Funding: RG was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme (grant number NE/L002515/1), the CASE component of which was funded by the Zoological Society of London - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/education/science-and-solutions-forachanging-planet-dtp/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

The Red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) is one of many threatened mammals now recognised as EDGE species following the improved approach to identifying robust priorities.

CREDIT

Rikki Gumbs (CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) is the only extant member of its family, Ailuridae, and is one of the highest priority EDGE mammals.

CREDIT

ZSL (CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

JOURNAL

PLoS Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pbio.3001991 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

Parental investment may have aided evolution of larger brains

New study explores evolution of larger brains in context of energy-intensive needs during growth

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

A review of evidence from prior research provides new support for the possibility that the evolution of larger brains in some species was enabled through increased energy investment by parents in their offspring. Carel van Schaik of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, and colleagues present their arguments in a paper publishing February 28th in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

Between different species, larger relative brain size is associated with cognitive benefits that favor survival. However, larger brains come with higher energy costs. Prior research has examined these costs for adults in order to deepen understanding of evolutionary trends in brain size between different species. However, few studies have focused on the energy costs of the developing brain of young organisms.

To help fill that gap, van Schaik and colleagues addressed an apparent paradox: the larger a species’ brain, the more energy it requires during development—but large brains are not fully functional until well after they finish growing. This presents a “chicken-or-egg” or “bootstrapping” problem; most young offspring of larger-brained species should be unable to meet the energy demands of their own developing brains, raising the question of how larger brain size could have evolved.

The researchers hypothesize that warm-blooded species—which tend to have brains many times larger than cold-blooded species—evolved to have greater parental energy investment in their young, and this facilitated the evolution of larger brains.

To examine this possibility, the researchers reviewed evidence from prior studies on the evolution of parental energy investment in young offspring. Warm-blooded species invest energy in their young through such actions as producing eggs, lactating, providing food, carrying, or huddling to stay warm. Most cold-blooded species simply release eggs.

Detailed analyses showed that greater energy investment in young indeed evolved alongside the evolution of larger relative brain size, and that this greater investment also could have improved young offspring’s chances of survival.

These findings support the hypothesis that greater parental energy investment in young offspring facilitated the evolution of larger brains, and that the inability to provide that sustained energy in species that merely lay eggs, in turn, limited the evolution of larger brains. Future research could build on this study to shed further light on how larger brains evolved.

van Schaik adds, “The evolution of extended parental provisioning beyond the egg stage unblocked a major evolutionary constraint on brain size, and therefore unleashed a massive expansion of brain size and cognitive potential among warm-blooded birds and mammals. Almost all of them feed their young after birth or hatching and have much larger brains than their cold-blooded relatives.”

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In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002016

Citation: van Schaik CP, Song Z, Schuppli C, Drobniak SM, Heldstab SA, Griesser M (2023) Extended parental provisioning and variation in vertebrate brain sizes. PLoS Biol 21(2): e3002016. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002016

Author Countries: Switzerland, Germany, Poland

Funding: This work was supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation) Heisenberg Grant No. 4650/2-1 to MG. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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JOURNAL

PLoS Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pbio.3002016 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

Profiling abortions in low- and middle-income countries

Researchers found factors— including marriage, age and education— associated with pregnancy termination in 36 countries

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

Multiple factors including a women’s age, marriage status, education and how many living children she has, are associated with pregnancy termination in low- and middle-income countries, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Djibril Ba of Penn State College of Medicine, US, and colleagues.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a woman’s decision to terminate a pregnancy is often impacted by a patriarchal structure of society, restrictive abortion laws, cultural and religious beliefs and economic factors. About 45% of all abortions are considered unsafe, or which 97% take place in LMICs. To reduce these unsafe abortions, it is crucial to fully understand the factors associated with the prevalence of pregnancy termination.

In the new study, the researchers used data on more than 1.2 million women aged 15-49 who participated in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The women were from 36 LMICs across Africa and Asia and answered the question “Have you ever had a pregnancy terminated?” in addition to providing other health and sociodemographic data.

The average pooled weighted prevalence of pregnancy termination across the entire study was 13.3% (95% CI 13.2%-13.4%), ranging from a low of 7.8% in Namibia to 33.4% in Pakistan. Overall, being married had the strongest association with pregnancy termination (adjusted OR 2.94, 95%CI 2.84-3.05, p<0.001). However women with more than four children (adjusted OR 2.45, 95%CI 2.33-2.56, p<0.001), those over age 30, and those who had higher levels of education were also more likely to terminate pregnancies. Women currently breastfeeding and using contraceptives had lower odds of pregnancy termination. There was not a significant association between household wealth and odds of pregnancy termination.

Since the data only included women who self-reported pregnancy termination, they cannot be used to draw conclusions about the general populations of the LMICs studied. However, the authors conclude that the study provides some guidance for targeted public health interventions.

“Our current analysis suggests that policies that will effectively reduce the prevalence of pregnancy termination should target individuals such as married women [and] older women,” the researchers say. “Providing birth control assistance and promoting breastfeeding may also play an essential role in reducing the risk of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions in LMICs.”

The authors add: “There is a need for future demographic and health surveys (DHS) to distinguish between induced abortions, miscarriages, and stillbirths for every country. Such a distinction will guide pregnancy termination specific public health and medical intervention needs in Low-and Middle-Income Countries.”

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Global Public Health: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0001509        

Citation: Ba DM, Zhang Y, Pasha-Razzak O, Khunsriraksakul C, Maiga M, Chinchilli VM, et al. (2023) Factors associated with pregnancy termination in women of childbearing age in 36 low-and middle-income countries. PLOS Glob Public Health 3(2): e0001509. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001509

Author Countries: USA

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

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JOURNAL

PLOS Global Public Health

DOI

10.1371/journal.pgph.0001509 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Factors associated with pregnancy termination in women of childbearing age in 36 low-and middle-income countries

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Feb-2023

To promote exercise, planners must look beyond cities

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ITHACA, N.Y. – To encourage more active lifestyles, public health agencies recommend mixed-use neighborhoods and “complete” streets that are friendlier to walkers and bikers, but new Cornell University research finds that while those strategies increase physical activity, an urban bias limits their applicability in many parts of the country.

Planners in suburban and rural communities should focus more on promoting recreational programs, expanding transportation options and creating safer environments to help an aging population get more exercise, according to the researchers’ analysis of more than 1,300 U.S. counties and cities.

“These are things we can think about doing in any community,” said Mildred Warner, professor of global development and of city and regional planning. “If your community is investing in recreation and social activity, they’re more likely to address obesity and other problems linked to physical inactivity.”

Warner and Xue Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar at Syracuse University, are co-authors of “Linking Urban Planning, Community Environment and Physical Activity: A Socio-ecological Approach,” published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The scholars’ recommendations emerged from models they developed to identify the most important factors – individual, community and policy – influencing physical activity.

Demographic factors mattered most, the models showed. For example, communities with higher minority populations exercised less, likely due to lower incomes and longer commutes, Zhang said. Rural communities, whose populations on average are older and less affluent, similarly report less physical activity.

To better support rural and under-resourced communities, the researchers said, planners should work to broaden transportation options and promote recreation services, emphasizing the importance of collaboration across public health, planning, transportation and parks and recreation agencies. They should also give more attention to concerns about traffic safety and crime, in addition to policies promoting complete streets or mixed-use neighborhoods.

“Our models show safety is as important as transportation and more important than the built environment,” the scholars wrote.

Examples of planning and policy changes that Warner and Zhang have explored in related research could include lowering the speed limit on rural roads to make them safer for walking or biking. Partnerships enabling schools, libraries and fire departments to share facilities for recreation programs, transportation or food distribution could also help overcome limitations in the built environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic, Warner said, demonstrated many local governments’ ability to pivot overnight to alternative ways of doing business, and that spirit of collaboration and creativity will be needed as the U.S. population grays.

“As more of us get older, we’ve got to start designing our communities for everybody,” Warner said. “We can’t just have urban-based recommendations; we also need to think about what you would do in other places.”

The research was supported by a grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

DOI

10.3390/ijerph20042944 

ARTICLE TITLE

Linking Urban Planning, Community Environment, and Physical Activity: A Socio-Ecological Approach

New study shows people are willing to start cycling more post-COVID-19 pandemic

Although the changes to behavior were not always triggered by free will and in many cases forced by external circumstances, the findings show there are some positive consequences of the pandemic

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

ORLANDO, Feb. 28, 2023 – A new study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher has found that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase of people willing to cycle in the U.S.

The findings, which were recently published in Nature Scientific Reports, were the result of an analysis of data from the COVID-19 and the Future Survey conducted by Arizona State University and the University of Illinois Chicago.

Results showed that two factors came out of their findings: people who are more environmentally friendly and those who are more satisfied with their life have a higher probability of cycling more post-pandemic.

Nearly 14% of the respondents stated that they were planning to cycle more, while only 4% of the respondents stated that they were planning to cycle less post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Responses from more than 7,000 people from across the U.S. were analyzed for the research study. The survey was deployed over multiple waves to the same respondents to monitor how behaviors and attitudes evolved over time and was disseminated digitally during April 2020 and October 2020.
 

Why Explore This Research?

Natalia Barbour, an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, teamed up with University of South Florida Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Fred Mannering to conduct the study of the survey data.

After living in the Netherlands for the last few years, Barbour says there had been a lot of research showing that people were cycling there more than they used to before the pandemic for a variety of reasons.

She says that she and Mannering were curious to see if there had been a similar transition of people trying different transportation modes in the U.S. due to having to work from home during the pandemic period.

“The research is important particularly in the context of first, climate change and second, the effects of the pandemic on travel behavior,” Barbour says.

“Globally, 20% to 30% of CO2 emissions come from transport, therefore studying alternative transportation modes is essential to mitigating transport related emissions,” she says. “Second, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives and impacted how we perceive personal mobility. Although the changes to behavior were not always triggered by free will and in many cases forced by external circumstances, some positive consequences of the pandemic were found — people intend to cycle more.”

Implications of the Survey

Barbour says the study results provide insights into socio-demographic and psychological factors that play a role in the planned cycling behavior post-COVID-19. 

For example, the study established that age, race, employment status, gender and household size impacted cycling frequency.

Globally, women have been found to cycle less than men; however, the outcome of the analysis suggests that there is a shift and increase in cycling by women post-pandemic.

“Women respondents without a vehicle in their households had an increase in their mean, implying they were more likely to indicate that they intend to cycle more post the pandemic,” Barbour says.

The study also showed that people who are full or part-time employees have a higher probability to cycle post-pandemic, which indicates a potential increase of commute cycling trips.

As part of UCF’s Smart and Safe Transportation Lab, Barbour says the work adds an additional layer and dimension to their ongoing projects.

“Historically, the lab has studied transportation issues, such as bike and pedestrian crashes, so this paper contributes to gaining a deeper understanding of the cyclists themselves,” she says. “Since the lab is developing new research lines, this study is part of this effort.”

She says future research could include a follow-up study to see if there are long lasting changes in people’s mobility choices.

Researcher Credentials

Barbour received her doctorate in civil engineering from the University of South Florida and completed postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined UCF’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, part of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 2022.

Study title: Intended cycling frequency and the role of happiness and environmental friendliness after COVID-19

Writer: Beatriz Nina Ribeiro Oliveira, UCF Office of Research

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JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-27681-6 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

A new study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher has found that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase of people willing to cycle in the U.S.

The rediscovery of an ethereal fairy lantern brightly illuminates their mysterious past

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KOBE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: AS THE MONIKER FAIRY LANTERN DENOTES, IT LOOKS LIKE A TINY LANTERN THAT ILLUMINATES THE DARK FOREST FLOOR. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHED BY KENJI SUETSUGU.

Green leaves and photosynthesis were once considered key features of plants. However, some plants have since abandoned this process, obtaining their nutrients from other organisms. One such plant is the genus of Thismia, commonly known as fairy lanterns, which is characterised by its unusual appearance, elusiveness, and lack of photosynthesis. Fairy lanterns are rare and only grow in specific places. They live underground with their colourful flowers rising above the soil, which can sometimes make them look like mushrooms. Around 90 species of Thismia have been found, but many are only known from their original discovery location, and some have likely become extinct.

One such species, Thismia kobensis was originally discovered in Kobe City, Japan in 1992. Unfortunately, its habitat was destroyed by an industrial complex and it was subsequently presumed extinct. After more than 30 years, Professor Kenji Suetsugu and his colleagues report its rediscovery in Sanda City, located approximately 30 km away (Fig. 1). This unexpected find and subsequent investigations have shed new light on this remarkable genus and its evolutionary history.

The researchers provided an updated description of Thismia kobensis to flesh out the original description that was based on an incomplete museum specimen. Their close examination highlighted how Thismia kobensis differs from the similar species Thismia huangii. The rediscovered species can be distinguished by its short and wide ring as well as the many short hairs on its stigma (Fig. 2). Based on their analysis of various characteristics, the researchers determined that Thismia kobensis is a distinct species, with unique characteristics and evolutionary history.
The newly discovered location of Thismia kobensis makes it the northernmost known Asian fairy lantern species. This discovery may offer new insights into the systematic affinity and biogeography of the mysterious fairy lantern, Thismia americana, which was originally thought to be related to some species in Australia and New Zealand. Thismia americana discovered over 100 years ago is the only North American fairy lantern species and was observed for a few years on a prairie near Chicago, but is now considered extinct. The presence of the mainly tropical genus Thismia in temperate North America remains a mystery, especially since the species considered to be its closest relative, Thismia rodwayi, is found in Australia and New Zealand. This strange distribution pattern continues to puzzle botanists.

However, a detailed morphological investigation suggested that Thismia kobensis is indeed the closest relative of Thismia americana (Fig. 3). Thus, the similarity in outer floral morphology between Thismia americana and the Australia-New Zealand species may have evolved independently based on pollinator preferences. This suggests that Thismia americana may actually be unrelated to the Australia-New Zealand species. In contrast, the striking similarity in inner floral morphology, such as the lack of nectar glands in both species, suggests a closer relationship between Thismia americana and Thismia kobensis (Fig. 3B & D). Plant species in Eastern Asia and North America having close relationships and disjunct distributions across these regions is not uncommon and can often be attributed to migration through the Beringia land bridge. Therefore, the disjunct distribution of Thismia americana may be due to migration through Beringia (Fig. 4).

Overall, the rediscovery of the Thismia kobensis after three decades has significantly advanced our understanding of fairy lanterns. As the northernmost species of Asian fairy lantern found so far, it also provides crucial insight into the biogeography and evolutionary history of fairy lanterns as a whole. The paper also includes information on conservation measures to help protect these rare plants from human activities. It was published in Phytotaxa on February 28, 2023.

(A and C) Flower, lateral view. (B and D) Stigma lobe. Arrows indicate noticeable differences between the two (a perianth tube mouth [A and C] and hair on each stigma lobe [B and D]). Scale bars: 5 mm (A and C) and 3 mm (B and D).

CREDIT

Photographed by Kenji Suetsugu (A–B), Tian-Chuan Hsu (C) and Tsung-Hsin Hsieh (D).

(A and C) Flower, lateral view. (B and D) Stamen tube. The two are similar not only in their outer floral appearance but also in their internal structure. Scale bars: 5 mm (A and C) and 3 mm (B and D). Photographed by Kenji Suetsugu (A-B). Reproduced from Pfeiffer (1914; C-D).

CREDIT

Photographed by Kenji Suetsugu (A-B). C-D: Pfeiffer, N.E. (1914) Morphology of Thismia americana. Botanical gazette 57: 122–135

The proposed range expansion mechanism of fairy lanterns in the present study.

CREDIT

Kenji Suetsugu

JOURNAL

Phytotaxa

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Rediscovery of the presumably extinct fairy lantern Thismia kobensis (Thismiaceae) in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, with discussions on its taxonomy, evolutionary history, and conservation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Feb-2023