Monday, April 27, 2020

North Atlantic right whales are in much poorer condition than Southern right whales

by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

New research by an international team of scientists reveals that endangered North Atlantic right whales are in much poorer body condition than their counterparts in the southern hemisphere.

This alarming research, led by Dr. Fredrik Christiansen from Aarhus University in Denmark, was published this week in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. The study is the result of a collaborative effort by scientist from 12 institutions across 5 nations. Among the coauthors are Senior Scientist Peter Corkeron and Associate Scientist Heather Pettis of the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium and Michael Moore and Carolyn Miller of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The analyses revealed that individual North Atlantic right whales—juveniles, adults and mothers—were all in poorer body condition than individual whales from the three populations of Southern right whales. This is alarming, since poor body condition for North Atlantic right whales helps explain why too many of them are dying and why they are not giving birth to enough calves. It could also be affecting their growth and delaying juveniles reaching sexual maturity. These combined impacts on individuals help explain why the species is in decline.

Since the cessation of large-scale commercial whaling in the last century, most populations of southern right whales have recovered well. Now there are about 10,000-15,000 southern right whales. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the North Atlantic right whales, found today mostly off the east coast of North America. There are now around 410 individuals left, and the species is heading to extinction. Lethal vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear continue to kill these whales. Individual North Atlantic right whales also have to cope with the energetic expense and other costs that are caused by frequent entanglements in fishing gear, in particular lobster and crab pots. These burdens, along with a change in the abundance and distribution of the rice-sized plankton that they eat, have left these whales thin and unhealthy, which makes them less likely to have a calf. This, in turn, contributes to the current overall decline of the species. To quantify "thin and unhealthy," Dr. Christiansen and his colleagues investigated the body condition of individual North Atlantic right whales and compared their condition with individuals from three increasing populations of Southern right whales: off Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

"Good body condition and abundant fat reserves are crucial for the reproduction of large whales, including right whales, as the animals rely on these energy stores during the breeding season when they are mostly fasting," said Dr. Christiansen. Stored fat reserves are particularly important for mothers, who need the extra energy to support the growth of their newly born calf while they are nursing.

The study is the largest assessment of the body condition of baleen whales in the world. The international research team used drones and a method called aerial photogrammetry to measure the body length and width of individual right whales in these four regions around the world. From aerial photographs, the researchers estimated the body volume of individual whales, which they then used to derive an index of body condition or relative fatness.

"This started out as a conversation between a few of us over dinner at a conference in 2015. Now that the results are out, they're quite shocking," said Peter Corkeron of the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. "We know that North Atlantic right whales as a species are doing poorly, but this work brings home that as individuals, they're also doing poorly. Their decline has been so rapid that we know it's not simply because not enough calves are being born—too many whales are also dying from human-caused injuries. But this study also shows that their decline isn't solely due to these deaths. Their problems are more insidious, and we need to find a way to ensure that the health of all individual whales improves."

"For North Atlantic right whales as individuals, and as a species, things are going terribly wrong. This comparison with their southern hemisphere relatives shows that most individual North Atlantic right whales are in much worse condition than they should be," said Michael Moore from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "As a veterinarian, I've long been concerned about how entanglements affect the welfare of these whales. Now we are starting to draw the linkages from welfare to this species' decline. Sub-lethal entanglement trauma, along with changing food supplies is making them too skinny to reproduce well, and lethal entanglement and vessel trauma are killing them. To reverse these changes, we must: redirect vessels away from, and reduce their speed in, right whale habitat; retrieve crab and lobster traps without rope in the water column using available technologies; and minimize ocean noise from its many sources."

This work was supported by funding from NOAA, US Office of Naval Research Marine Mammals Program, World Wildlife Fund for Nature Australia, Murdoch University School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, New Zealand Antarctic Research institute, Otago University and New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust and Argentina National Geographic Society.

For 40 years, the New England Aquarium's right whale team has extensively researched and tracked individual right whales and curates the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog. The scientific team monitors the whales' arrival at breeding and feeding grounds, registering new calves, death rates, and also measuring changes in stress and reproductive hormones.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is dedicated to advancing knowledge of the ocean and its connection with the Earth system through a sustained commitment to excellence in science, engineering and education, and to the application of this knowledge to problems facing society

Lobstering gear could be reduced, changed to save whales

More information: F Christiansen et al. Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale, Marine Ecology Progress Series (2020). DOI: 10.3354/meps13299

Journal information: Marine Ecology Progress Series

New research explores the impact of cover crop residues on weed control

by Cambridge University Press

Cover crops have a well-documented role to play in suppressing troublesome weeds. But what happens as those cover crops degrade?

A new study featured in the journal Weed Science explores whether cover-crop residues help to suppress summer annual weeds and promote greater crop yields. Researchers planted single cover-crop treatments of cereal rye, hairy vetch, crimson clover and forage radish in the fall, as well as two-way and three-way mixtures. Each was followed by corn and soybean crops.

The team tracked the biomass of each cover crop and the residual components produced—uncovering several key trends. They found that cover-crop biomass and the ratio of carbon to nitrogen influenced weed suppression and its duration. For example, a 9 to 1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen suppressed pigweed by 50 percent at four weeks after treatment, while a 20 to 1 ratio delivered the same level of control eight weeks after treatment.

Similarly, a cover-crop biomass of 2,800 kg per hectare was needed for 50 percent suppression four weeks after treatment, while a biomass of 6,610 kg per hectare was needed for the same level of suppression at eight weeks after treatment.

In fields where the cover crop was the only weed control measure used, corn and soybean yields increased as both cover crop biomass and carbon to nitrogen ratios increased.

Researchers found that most mixtures of cover crops produced more biomass than individual cover crops alone. Carbon to nitrogen ratios produced by cereal rye and a cereal rye-forage radish mixture were 36 to 1—greater than all the other cover crop treatments. Hairy vetch and crimson clover had ratios of 12 to 1 and 17 to 1, which were the lowest ratios produced by any of the cover crops.

"Our study shows that the biomass of the cover crop isn't all that matters," says Kara Pittman of Virginia Tech, lead researcher for the study. "The composition of the residues the cover crop leaves behind are also important to weed control."

Impacts of cover crop planting dates on soil properties after 4 years

More information: Kara B. Pittman et al, Cover crop residue components and their effect on summer annual weed suppression in corn and soybean, Weed Science (2020). DOI: 10.1017/wsc.2020.16

The basis of glyphosate resistance in amaranth

by American Society of Plant Biologists

William T. Molin (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Stoneville, MS) teamed up with Allison Yaguchi, Mark Blenner, and Christopher A. Saski (Clemson University, SC) to sequence and dissect the structure of the extrachromosomal DNA replicon that underlies the molecular and biochemical basis of resistance to the herbicide glyphosate in Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri). This work aids our understanding of adaptive evolution in plants and has implications for optimizing pesticide use in the environment.

Glyphosate is a widely used broad-spectrum herbicide that targets both broadleaf plants and grasses (dicots and monocots). It kills plants by inhibiting the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), found only in plants and in some bacteria. EPSPS is a key enzyme for the biosynthesis of essential amino acids and is an ideal target for herbicides because animals and humans use another enzyme that is insensitive to glyphosate to fulfill the same function. Some plants, including A. palmeri, can develop resistance to glyphosate toxicity by massively raising the expression of the EPSPS gene during glyphosate stress, essentially flooding the system with extra EPSPS enzyme and thereby counteracting the effects of the herbicide.

Making more copies of a gene is one possible means to increase gene expression: the phenomenon of amplification of genes or gene clusters is a common stress-avoidance mechanism in animals, plants, and microorganisms and is at play here. The amplified genes are often contained within extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) fragments known as replicons, circles of DNA that are maintained and replicated outside of the normal linear chromosomes in an organism. In humans, eccDNA is a prevalent feature of many cancers and a variety of diseases associated with developmental defects and premature aging. In such cases, eccDNAs carry oncogenes and other genes that may boost the survival and proliferation of diseased cells.

Molin et al. provide the complete sequence of the eccDNA replicon responsible for glyphosate resistance in A. palmeri, reveal its structural organization and genomic content, and examine some of the features that enable it to replicate and persist in the genome through multiple generations. The eccDNA replicon was found to contain 59 genes, a subset of which (including the EPSPS gene) show higher expression after treatment of the resistant plants with glyphosate. In addition to the presence of amplified genes, the eccDNA structure consists of a complex arrangement of repeated sequences and mobile genetic elements—so-called transposable elements—that might play a role in its maintenance and replication based on analogy with other eccDNAs. Author Christopher Saski noted that "the DNA content of the eccDNA replicon is sophisticated. Sequencing this element was difficult, and this complete assembly became possible only when DNA sequencing technology advanced to the single-molecule level, such as developed by Pacific Biosciences" (the biotechnology company that pioneered these methods, based in Menlo Park, CA).

Since the introduction of glyphosate in the 1970s, the rise of glyphosate-resistant weeds has been a growing problem in agricultural settings. The original glyphosate-resistant amaranth weedy plant that started this project was collected from a soybean field that had been routinely sprayed with the herbicide for a decade. The origin of this eccDNA replicon is unknown but is likely a result of transposable element activation and genomic shuffling that might have been pushed along by the use of glyphosate. That is, plants like A. palmeri that contain the eccDNA are able to survive and propagate where glyphosate is used frequently; additionally, glyphosate stress might contribute to the activation of the transposable elements that influence eccDNA formation and activity. Understanding the complete genomic structure and function of the eccDNA replicon will aid our knowledge of how glyphosate resistance develops and evolves in plants and help to further refine herbicide treatment strategies and combat the rise of resistant weeds.

The authors also identified structural features consistent with tethering of the eccDNA to chromosomes, which may facilitate maintenance of the fragment during normal cellular mitosis. Future work will focus on how the eccDNA self-replicates in plant cells, and identifying the essential functional elements of the replicon. This discovery could lead to "new approaches to genome engineering and the possibility of expressing useful agronomic traits outside of the nuclear genome," said Saski.Researchers make breakthrough in glyphosate resistance in pigweeds

More information: Plant Cell, DOI: 10.1105/tpc.20.00099

Journal information: Plan Cell

Provided by American Society of Plant Biologists

Supreme Court rejects EPA's narrow view of Clean Water Act

by Mark Sherman

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that sewage plants and other industries cannot avoid environmental requirements under landmark clean-water protections when they send dirty water on an indirect route to rivers, oceans and other navigable waterways.

Rejecting the Trump administration's views, the justices held by a 6-3 vote that the discharge of polluted water into the ground, rather than directly into nearby waterways, does not relieve an industry of complying with the Clean Water Act.

"We hold that the statute requires a permit when there is a direct discharge from a point source into navigable waters or when there is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court.

The decision came in a closely watched case from Hawaii about whether a sewage treatment plant needs a federal permit when it sends wastewater deep underground, instead of discharging the treated flow directly into the Pacific Ocean. Studies have found the wastewater soon reaches the ocean and has damaged a coral reef near a Maui beach.

The Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump reversed the agency's position that Breyer noted has appeared to work well for more than 30 years. That's among many actions the administration has taken to change course on environmental regulations, including making official just days ago a sweeping rollback of the Clean Water Act that would end federal protection for many of the nation's millions of miles of streams, arroyos and wetlands. Public health and environmental groups and some Western states, among other opponents, say the rollback would leave the waterways more vulnerable to pollution from development, industry and farms, and they have promised court fights.

In the Hawaii case, Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented. "Based on the statutory text and structure, I would hold that a permit is required only when a point source discharges pollutants directly into navigable waters," Thomas wrote.

David Henkin, a lawyer for the environmental group Earthjustice who argued the case in the high court, said, "This is unquestionably a win for people who are concerned about protecting clean water in the United States."

Sewage plants and other polluters must get a permit under the Clean Water Act when pollutants go through a pipe from their source to a body of water. The question in this case was whether a permit is needed when the pollutant first passes through the soil or groundwater.

Maui injects 3 million to 5 million gallons a day of treated wastewater into wells beneath the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility, which sits about a half-mile from the Pacific shoreline. Environmental groups in Hawaii sued Maui after studies using dyes to trace the flow showed more than half the discharge from two wells was entering the ocean in a narrow area. They won a ruling from the federal appeals court based in San Francisco.

Breyer raised concerns during arguments in November that a ruling for Maui would provide a "road map" for polluters to evade federal permit requirements.

Still, the court did not go as far as the federal appeals court, which adopted a standard that would have brought even more groundwater discharges under the clean water law.

Learn from past to protect oceans

by University of Exeter

History holds valuable lessons—and stark warnings—about how to manage fisheries and other ocean resources, a new study says.

Researchers examined 20 historical examples of fisheries and aquaculture (fish farming), dating from 40 to 800 years ago.The study, led by the universities of Exeter, Hull and Boston, found consistent patterns that resulted in so-called "blue growth"—the development of sustainable ocean economies that benefitted whole communities.

It also noted common "recipes for failure"—and the authors say these offer grave warnings for today.

"Our aim was to see if we could learn from past successes and failures," said Dr. Ruth Thurstan, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"We often assume our problems are new, but a look at the past shows societies have faced similar issues before—though many of our challenges today are on a bigger scale.

"Some past societies ultimately failed at blue growth, while others succeeded in balancing economic growth, social equity and sustainability for varying lengths of time."

Dr. Thurstan added: "In basic terms, success came when societies managed to achieve fair—rather than unlimited or open—access to resources, and when they were responsive to change.

"Basing decisions on evidence, getting all parties involved and planning for the long-term were also key.

"Failure occurred when short-term gains were prioritised over long-term sustainability."

Dr. Bryony Caswell, of the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment at the University of Hull said: "Worryingly, the recipes for success that we discovered are rarely included in even the most advanced blue growth agendas today.

"The seas are destined to play an ever-more vital role in food security. If we don't take this chance to learn from history, we may be condemning ourselves to repeating past mistakes."

The study, by an international team of 28 historians, environmental scientists and marine ecologists, looked at examples from around the world.

These included:

Galway Bay in Ireland where, before the 1850s, community-based management led to equitable access and sustainable management of fish stocks. In the 1850s, trawlers from England arrived. Locally agreed rules were ignored and fish stocks were over-exploited.
In the Lagoon of Venice, Italy, local regulations achieved a "balance" between the economic freedom of citizens and the protection of shared resources, lasting from the 12th to the 18th Century. After that, political instability and growing demand for food led to regulations being scrapped, resulting in over-exploitation.
In Japan, access to seaweed resources that benefitted the majority rather than a minority of people, use of traditional knowledge systems and enhanced seaweed cultivation techniques, helped achieve a balance between market demand and ecological sustainability from the 1600s onwards.
In the east USA, two centuries of over-exploitation and worsening water quality led to a 20th Century collapse of once-widespread oyster reefs. While oyster production today is still far lower than historical levels, a growing appreciation of their benefits to coastal ecosystems has led to large-scale efforts by local communities to restore oyster reefs.

"The question is, can our modern societies achieve blue growth rather than exploiting and depleting our oceans?" said Dr. Emily Klein, of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University.

"History shows us that there are ways to balance sustainability, social equity and economic growth.

"It is difficult, but we believe there are opportunities to make it happen—especially if we can learn from the past."

The paper, published in the journal Fish and Fisheries, is entitled: "Something old, something new: Historical perspectives provide lessons for blue growth agendas."

East African fish in need of recovery

More information: Bryony A. Caswell et al, Something old, something new: Historical perspectives provide lessons for blue growth agendas, Fish and Fisheries (2020). DOI: 10.1111/faf.12460

Journal information: Fish and Fisheries

No time to waste to avoid future food shortages

by ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis

Professor Robert Furbank, CoETP Director and Professor John Evans, CoETP Chief investigator at the ANU glasshouses in Canberra, Australia Credit: Natalia Bateman, ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis

During the past few weeks, empty supermarket shelves, without pasta, rice and flour due to panic buying, has caused public concerns about the possibility of running out of food. Australian farmers have reassured consumers saying that the country produces enough food to feed three times its population. However, will this statement remain true in ten to twenty years in a country severely affected by climate change? The answer is yes, if we are prepared for this and if there is continuous funding towards creating solutions to increase crop production.

"Plant scientists are punching above their weight by participating in global, interdisciplinary efforts to find ways to increase crop production under future climate change conditions. We essentially need to double the production of major cereals before 2050 to secure food availability for the rapidly growing world population," says ANU Professor Robert Furbank from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CoETP).

"It is similar to finding a virus vaccine to solve a pandemic, it doesn't happen overnight. We know that Australia's agriculture is going to be one area of the world that is most affected by climate extremes, so we are preparing to have a toolbox of plant innovations ready to ensure global food security in a decade or so, but to do this we need research funding to continue," Professor Furbank says.

Several examples of these innovative solutions were published recently in a special issue on Food Security Innovations in Agriculture in the Journal of Experimental Botany, including five reviews and five research articles.

Co-editor of the Special Issue, ANU Professor John Evans, says that this publication highlights the now widely accepted view that improving photosynthesis—the process by which plants convert sunlight, water and CO2 into organic matter—is a new way to increase crop production that is being developed.

"We are working on improving photosynthesis on different fronts, as the articles included in this special issue show, from finding crop varieties that need less water, to tweaking parts of the process in order to capture more carbon dioxide and sunlight. We know that there is a delay of at least a decade to get these solutions to the breeders and farmers, so we need to start developing new opportunities now before we run out of options," says Professor Evans, CoETP Chief Investigator.

The special issue includes research solutions that range from traditional breeding approaches to ambitious genetic engineering projects using completely different ends of the technological spectrum; from robot tractors, to synthetic biology. All these efforts are focused on finding ways to make crops more resistant to drought and extreme climate conditions and being more efficient in the use of land and fertilisers.

"Our research is contributing to providing food security in a global context, and people often ask what that has to do with Australian farmers and my answer is everything. Aside from the fact that economy and agriculture are globally inter-connected, if Australian farmers have a more productive resilient and stable crop variety, they are able to plan for the future, which turns into a better agribusiness and at the same time, ensures global security across the world," says Professor Furbank.

Too much sugar doesn't put the brakes on turbocharged crops

More information: John R Evans et al, From green to gold: agricultural revolution for food security, Journal of Experimental Botany (2020). DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eraa110
Provided by ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis

Zero-emissions Boston could save 288 lives and $2.4 billion annually

by Boston University School of Medicine

Air pollution from just the City of Boston contributes to nearly as many deaths across the wider region as car crashes do, as well as non-fatal cardiovascular and respiratory disease and days of missed work.

With much of the City of Boston shut down by COVID-19, the region is enjoying better air quality than it has seen in decades, a preview of the reduced emissions that will come as part of the city's ambitious "Carbon Free Boston" goals.

But what if Boston eliminated all emissions—and not just because of a pandemic, but for good? That is the question asked by a new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The study estimates that a zero-emissions Boston would mean over 200 deaths avoided in the city (and the rest of Suffolk County) each year, with reductions in fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular and respiratory illness extending all the way from Worcester to Barnstable and into southern New Hampshire and northern Rhode Island, with 6 deaths avoided per 100,000 people in the whole region—which the researchers note is roughly equivalent to the Massachusetts motor vehicle crash fatality rate.

"Public health and climate policymaking are intertwined," says study lead author Matthew Raifman, a doctoral student in environmental health at BUSPH. "While Boston's climate policies are focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, these actions will also likely reduce deaths and improve the quality of life of residents of Boston and the surrounding region."

The researchers also estimated that the resulting decrease in medical costs and lost/reduced work could save $1.7 billion in Suffolk County, and $2.4 billion for the entire 75-square-mile zone modeled in the study.

"In showing the substantial health and economic benefits that clean air can bring to Boston area residents, this study demonstrates that climate action isn't just about saving the planet; it's also about making us healthier," says study senior author Dr. Patrick Kinney, Beverly Brown Professor of Urban Health and professor of environmental health at BUSPH.

Raifman, Kinney, and colleagues used the US Environmental Protection Agency's Community Multiscale Air Quality model to estimate the 2011 emissions and air quality status quo for Boston and the surrounding 75 square miles, focusing on air pollutants known to harm health: PM2.5 (particulates with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, or 3 percent of the diameter of a human hair) and O3 (ozone). They then set the model's human-made emissions—including motor vehicles, generators, rail, industry, all oil- and gas-burning, shipping and boating, and residential wood fire—from within Boston's city limits to zero.

They found that a zero-emissions Boston would halve PM2.5 concentrations in the city itself, and slightly decrease concentrations for the rest of the modeled zone. Concentrations of ozone would also decrease across much of zone, although Boston and areas west of the city would actually see an increase in ozone during warmer months—which the researchers explain is because of the reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions that would normally transform ozone into other compounds.

The researchers then used the EPA's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP) Community Edition v1.5 to estimate how these changes in PM2.5 and ozone would affect health at the county level. The health benefits from the decrease in PM2.5 would mainly override the health harms of increased ozone, resulting in 288 fewer deaths per year across the 75-square-mile area, mainly in Boston and the Greater Boston area. A zero-emissions Boston would also prevent 116 non-fatal heart attacks, 46 cardiovascular hospitalizations, 117 cases of chronic bronchitis, and over 17,000 asthma attacks across the zone, again mainly in Boston. However, the high ozone levels would increase emergency room visits for asthma and respiratory hospitalizations.

Looking at the effects by race and ethnicity, the researchers found that the greatest reduction in deaths and non-fatal health issues relative to population size would be in black residents, who the researchers note currently bear the greatest burden of environmental injustice and are more likely to live in Boston than any other area in the larger modeled zone.

The researchers estimated that the decrease in deaths, hospitalizations, days of missed work, and other benefits of a zero-emission Boston would translate to savings of $1.7 billion for Suffolk County, $182 million for Norfolk County, $159 million for Middlesex County, and tens of millions of dollars in savings for other surrounding counties in eastern Massachusetts and bordering states.

"In this study, we focused only on the City of Boston's climate action plan, but it's important to note that Boston's actions will not occur in a vacuum," Raifman says. "Many cities across the region are pursuing similar climate goals. The sum may be different from the parts."Health effects of China's climate policy extend across Pacific

More information: Matthew Raifman et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 2020 in press https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab842b

Journal information: Environmental Research Letters

SMU professors detail how homeless students are doing educationally in Houston ISD

by Southern Methodist University

A new report by SMU professors Alexandra Pavlakis and Meredith Richards details how homeless students in Houston ISD are faring educationally.

Released by the Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice University, the report makes clear that homeless students are at an elevated risk of a range of adverse educational outcomes, and the findings also highlight the complexity of the relationship between homelessness and student outcomes. Pavlakis and Richards, who are both assistant professors at SMU's Simmons School of Education & Human Development, looked at students who were homeless from 2012-13 to 2016-17, the years immediately preceding Hurricane Harvey.

Some of the key findings include:

Students experiencing homelessness were more likely to drop out of school than their matched, non-homeless peers.
Students who were homeless four and five years tended to have higher attendance than students who were homeless for shorter periods of time.
Unaccompanied youth had substantially lower attendance than accompanied homeless students, and less likely to pass the STAAR exams than accompanied homeless students.
Where students sleep matters. Attendance gaps were large for unsheltered students and students in motels.
Interestingly, homeless students tended to perform better on STAAR exams than their matched peers. This could hint at the potential value of educational supports and resources inherent in McKinney-Vento Act or provided at shelters or drop-in centers for homelessness. However, homeless students were also somewhat less likely to take STAAR tests—particularly in math.

Pavlakis and Richards also make recommendations on what the school district might consider to improve student outcomes. Simmons post doctoral fellow Kessa Roberts, Ph.D. assisted with the research. The Moody Foundation and SMU's University Research Council supported the research. This is a long-term project for the researchers.

Homeless on campus? New social work study examines student homelessness

More information:

https://kinder.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs1676/f/documents/Complexity%20in%20Student%20Homelessness.pdf

Provided by Southern Methodist University

Pet stress has increased during COVID-19, bringing behavior problems

by Genevieve Rajewski, Tufts University

As the COVID-19 pandemic closes many schools for the rest of the year and confines nonessential workers and the unemployed to staying at home, many of us are going a little stir crazy, not to mention experiencing feelings of anxiety about what the future holds.

Even the youngest elementary school kid can probably understand to some degree why what's happening is happening—and how she feels about the loss of her usual routine.

But dogs and cats aren't equipped to process what has happened or to guess how to adapt.

"Pets' world just suddenly turned upside down," said Stephanie Borns-Weil, V07, head of the behavior service at Cummings Veterinary Medical Center. "And while individual dogs and cats may vary in their reactions, change in general is very challenging for most animals."

Although our pets may enjoy getting to spend more time with us, the dramatic shift in their routines stresses many of them out. As a result, many people who may have dreamed of being home all day with their pets have realized that, in reality, it can be. . . challenging.

Many pets are acting needier than usual, noted Borns-Weil. This may include constantly being underfoot, relentlessly nosing us to pet them, or barking incessantly to go outside.

"A lot of it is because routines are upended, and pets have no idea how to function in the new world order," she explained. "Some of it is due to opportunity—pets have us around all the time, so why not keep begging for their next meal or sitting at the door? And much of it is that pets are looking for our attention to relieve their own stress or anxiety, and they only have one or two ways of asking us for that."

Other pandemic pet problems are behaviors that probably happened at other times, such as barking at passersby.

"Everybody and their brother are out walking their dogs or taking walks all day because that's the only exercise we can get with the gyms closed and our schedules disrupted," said Borns-Weil. "So now you may be seeing more territorial barking. When you used to experience that on the weekend, it wasn't a big deal. But when you're on a teleconference call with an important client, the constant barking becomes a big issue."

Cats in general experience stress differently than dogs, noted Borns-Weil. "Cats can be overwhelmed by having people around when they weren't expecting them, especially young kids, who tend to add more noise and chaos."

Cats can express stress—as do a much smaller number of dogs—through unwelcome changes in bathroom behavior, such as urinating outside the litter box.

And while dogs are more apt to turn toward us when they're feeling stressed, cats are more prone to turn away, Borns-Weil said. "So that's something to look out for—is your cat becoming depressed and hiding all day? If your cat has the opportunity to engage with members of the family, are they avoiding them instead?"

Although none of these pet-behavior problems are insurmountable, "when we're all trapped in the house together 24/7 and have to get things done, any of these situations can put a lot of tension on the human-animal bond," said Borns-Weil.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies you can follow to get back on track.

Be patient with your pet. For all of us, all the rules have changed, said Borns-Weil. "If you feel yourself getting angry with your pet, remember that they're not trying to be naughty. Animals don't know how to be vindictive.

"They don't know our buttons—so if they push them, it's by accident. Our pets are engaging in frustrating behaviors because they don't know what's going on and are trying to communicate an unmet need. What they're saying is, "I need more enrichment' or "I'm worried and I'm trying to get your attention.'"

Create and stick to a routine. The more consistent we can be with a daily routine, the clearer we are about what pets can expect during this time of change. Stick to regular meal and walk times for your pet and schedule in opportunities for social interactions such as play time and cuddling.

And be proactive about avoiding situations that may inadvertently reinforce attention-seeking behavior. For example, Borns-Weil advised, "just before you sit down in your home office, take your dog for a walk and then give him a Kong or another enrichment toy so he is otherwise occupied while you have a Zoom meeting with that important client."

Give dogs and cats some space. Pets need both quiet time and boundaries. "Being around people all day, every day, can be a lot for animals," said Borns-Weil. "To put it in human terms, they may start to feel like they're like they're always on call."

Give dogs and cats places they can escape to for a break. Whether it's a beanbag bed, open crate, or corner of the couch for your dog or a window perch or chair back for your cat, designate their favorite spot as a place where no one is allowed to bother them.

"And when your pet is in that place, don't let anyone pick them up, move them, pet them, or feed them," she said. "This will help your animal build their resilience and ability to cope with unusually high levels of social interaction."

Ensure a child-safe environment. "Parents may be used to keeping an eye on children around pets for limited periods of time," said Borns-Weil. "But with kids around in the house all day, every day, parents need to re-visit if the home is truly a child-safe environment with respect to the pets."

Never leave babies or small children alone with an animal. Make sure there are plenty of elevated surfaces where your cat can quickly get out of reach of a child before she loses her patience. And install a gate if necessary to keep children away from the dog's feeding area and resting place to prevent common dog-bite situations.

Plan for an eventual return to normal. "If your cat is loving having you home all day, she may start to feel some separation distress when we return to real life," Borns-Weil said. Make sure to guard against that by including some time away from pets in your pandemic routine. Go for a drive or walk or otherwise engage in safe activities elsewhere that do not include pets. This will help dogs and cats retain the skills of being able to entertain themselves and enjoy their alone time.

Although the new stay-at-home normal can be tough on us all, Borns-Weil said there may be a silver lining for our pets. "I think we'll come out of this with a much deeper sense of empathy for what our animals go through when we leave them locked in a house alone all day," she said.

"Look at how hard we are all striving to maintain mental stimulation, physical activity, and social connections now that we are stuck at home all day. When we're not doing our jobs from home, we're doing puzzles, watching movies, working out in our basements, and holding online parties with our friends," she said.

"We have gotten a taste of how most pets lived when they were spending all day home alone, every day, during normal times. But they need mental stimulation, social contact, and exercise during the day to be happy, too. And I hope this universal experience will end up being good for our pets going forward."

Is your dog really happy you're home?

Video: Why are we acting like wolves at night?

by University of Colorado at Boulder

Around the world, people are collectively making noise while social distancing. In Colorado, we're howling like wolves. Joanna Lambert, a professor in the Program of Environmental Studies, studies wolf communication.

She discusses with CU Boulder Today why wolves howl, why Coloradans may be howling each night to connect with each other, and how to most accurately join in this nightly chorus.

Wolves howl because they care

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