DEMOCRACY IS LOUD & NOISY

'Democracy' governs mass jackdaw take-offs

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

 

IMAGE: JACKDAWS ROOSTING view more 

CREDIT: ALEX THORNTON

Jackdaws use a "democratic" process to decide when to leave their roosts en masse, new research shows.

In winter, jackdaws roost in groups of hundreds or even thousands, and it is common for most or all of the birds to take flight in a sudden mass departure around sunrise.

In the new study, a team led by the University of Exeter recorded the rising racket of jackdaw calls that happens before mass departures at various roosts in Cornwall.

By combining this with tests in which pre-recorded jackdaw calls were played at a colony, the team found evidence that the birds' calls are used in a form of "consensus decision-making".

"After roosting in a large group at night, each jackdaw will have a slightly different preference about when they want to leave, based on factors like their size and hunger," said Alex Dibnah, who led the study as part of a Masters by Research at Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"However, it's useful to reach a consensus. Leaving the roost together has various benefits, including safety from predators and access to information such as where to find food.

"Our study shows that by calling out jackdaws effectively ‘cast a vote’ and, when calling reaches a sufficient level, a mass departure takes place."

The research team – which included the University of Cambridge and Barcelona's Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications – also found:

• Mass departures happened almost instantly, with all departing birds in the air within less than five seconds on average.
• These departures took place in the period from 45 minutes before sunrise to 15 minutes afterwards. Rain and heavy cloud tended to delay departures.
• When the intensity of calling rose more steeply, birds departed earlier.
• Playing recordings of roosting calls brought forward the time of the first mass departure by an average of more than six minutes.
• Recordings of wind noise did not lead to earlier mass departures, suggesting that the birds respond specifically to calls of their fellow birds (not to noise in general).

Jackdaws did not always leave their roost in mass departures. If the level of calling did not rise sufficiently, roost members failed to reach a consensus and instead left in a stream of small groups.

Commenting on the wider significance of the research, Professor Alex Thornton – of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation – said: "It helps us to understand how really large groups of animals can coordinate their actions – something that has rarely been tested in detail before.

"Also, our findings provide further evidence that vocalisations are really fundamental in allowing some species to reach group decisions – so we need to investigate what happens when we as humans create noise pollution that might influence how information spreads through these social groups.

"The next stage of our research will look into this."

The research was funded by the Human Frontier Science Program.

The paper, published in the journal Current Biology, is entitled: "Vocally-mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts."

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JOURNAL

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.032 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Vocally-mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-May-2022

JACKDAWS ARE CORVIDS, THIS APPPLIES TO RAVENS, CROWS & MAGPIES ALSO TALKING/SQUAKING CORVIDS

 

Noisy jackdaw birds reach “consensus” before taking off

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CELL PRESS

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VIDEO: OVER A THOUSAND JACKDAWS PERFORMING A SUDDEN AND FAST MASS DEPARTURE THAT LASTS ONLY SECONDS, WITH BIRDS TRAVELLING IN ONE COHESIVE FLOCK IN THE SAME DIRECTION. view more 

CREDIT: DIBNAH ET AL./CURRENT BIOLOGY

On cold, dark winter mornings, small black crows known as jackdaws can be heard calling loudly to one another from their winter roosting spots in the U.K. before taking off simultaneously right around sunrise. Now, researchers who’ve studied their daily activities in unprecedented detail report evidence that these groups of hundreds of individuals rely on a “democratic” decision-making process to coordinate with one another and take to the skies all at once. The findings are reported in the journal Current Biology on May 23.

“Like humans, large animal groups can use decision-making processes to overcome their individual differences and reach a kind of ‘democratic’ consensus,” says Alex Thornton (@CornishJackdaws) of the University of Exeter.

Previous studies had investigated consensus decision-making in animal groups that were relatively small or made up of family members, he explained. What struck them about the jackdaw roosts was their sheer size. Not only are their groups large, they also include individuals of different ages, sexes, family groups, and colonies all spread across the treetops.

It’s not likely that all those different individuals would just naturally prefer to take off at precisely the same moment. And, yet, sticking together has advantages, such as reducing the risk of predation and giving individuals information from their peers about where to find food. The researchers wanted to explore how the birds decide when it is time to go.

To look more closely, Thornton and colleagues, including first author Alex Dibnah (@alexdibnah01), recorded hours and hours of audio and video of six different jackdaw roosts in Cornwall, U.K. over the course of the winter months. The size of the roosts varied from 160 to almost 1,500 individuals. They quantified the intensity of the birds’ calls leading up to and right after they took off in flight.

The evidence shows that the timing of departure is tightly linked to calling intensity within the roost. While on some mornings, the birds left in a stream of small groups over about 20 minutes, most of the time they set out in mass departures, with hundreds of birds taking off within about 4 seconds of each other.

On most mornings, they found that calling intensity increased over the hour before the biggest group departure. It sometimes got delayed by rain or heavy cloud cover. They concluded that changes in calling intensity could serve as a reliable source of information, enabling the birds to synchronize their daily takeoffs.

To confirm cause and effect, the researchers played the sounds of conspecifics calling to them to see if they could get the birds to take off earlier than they otherwise would have. And they found that they could. By adding calls into the mix, the birds took flight an average of about 6.5 minutes earlier.

“Through their calls, jackdaws appear to effectively signal their willingness to leave, providing large groups with a means of achieving consensus to perform cohesive, collective departures from the roost,” the researchers write.

They say the observational data indicate that consensus is achieved as the intensity of calls build to a point that triggers them to act. The playback experiments help to show a causal link between calling intensity and takeoff. Together, they offer new insight into the ways that animals make decisions about mass movements in nature.

It is also notable that, on the few occasions when the intensity of calling did not build up sufficiently, the birds apparently failed to reach consensus. As a result, they took off in “dribs and drabs” instead of all at once.

In future studies, researchers hope to learn more about how human activities may affect these dynamics.

“As human impacts on wildlife grow, we are very interested in understanding to understand whether and how human disturbance—for instance, from light and noise pollution—may affect animal groups’ abilities to communicate and reach consensus decisions,” Thornton says.

CAPTION

Jackdaws roosting in a tree

CREDIT

Jolle Jolles

This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council, the Human Frontier Science Program, the Whitten Lectureship in Marine Biology, the Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship, and a Severo Ochoa Postdoctoral grant through the Spanish Program for Centres of Excellence.

Current Biology, Dibnah et al. “Vocally mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts” https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00601-7

Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.

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J 

CAPTION

Jackdaws roosting in a tree

CREDIT

Jolle JollesOURNAL

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.032 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Vocally mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-May-2022

Disclaimer: AAAS and 

UH OH
Alberta confirms 5 cases of avian flu spreading to mammals

Alberta now has five confirmed cases of avian flu that have spread from birds to mammals.

© Carolyn Kury de Castillo/Global News

This red fox at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre is recovering from an illness believed to be avian influenza, although that hasn't been confirmed by labs just yet.

Five skunks from central Alberta have been lab-confirmed as having avian influenza.

"We had an unusually large number of calls about skunks that were acting strange or being found dead and it was all within the area where we had confirmed that the avian influenza virus was present in the snow geese," Dr. Margo Pybus, a provincial wildlife disease specialist with Fish and Wildlife Alberta Environment and Parks, said.

"We believe that the skunks are feeding on the dead geese and they are getting enough virus that it's actually affecting the skunks."

Read more:

Avian flu found in 3 more Alberta communities: CFIA

Pybus said it's uncommon to see avian flu cause sickness in mammals, and added it's uncertain at this point which species are more at risk.

"(It's) very uncommon, but everything is uncommon this year. This is all new to North America. We are learning about this as we go," Pybus said.

She added that avian influenza is a naturally occurring virus in birds, particularly in waterfowl.

"As we learned with COVID, viruses constantly change and avian influenza virus definitely changes very, very often."

Bird flu outbreak on Canadian farms

Staff and volunteers at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre west of Innisfail, Alta., have been dealing with five sick foxes that were brought in recently.

All five had the same symptoms -- blindness, seizures and cloudy eyes, according to executive director Carol Kelly. She said three of them died and two have recovered.

She said Avian influenza wasn't even on the radar as a cause until staff started talking with two other wildlife centres.

"We realized that we were all dealing with a total of around 15 foxes, all with identical symptoms," Kelly said.

"By the time we got the third fox in, we thought this is something very strange. We got an email from an Edmonton rehab centre to say they had just learned that a fox can get this (avian flu) by eating dead birds. It was at that point that we connected this," Kelly said.

"We are learning on the fly because it’s so new."

Read more:

Urban hen owners take precautions amid unprecedented spread of avian flu

The fox cases haven't been confirmed yet by any Alberta labs, which are currently swamped dealing with poultry infections.

However, one dead fox from the Edmonton area is being tested now.

"The labs are entirely focused on trying to provide results that help control that disease in poultry so it doesn’t spread any further," Pybus said. "Alberta is one of the hardest-hit provinces for the poultry industry with this virus and so our labs are just overwhelmed with poultry samples right now."

The foxes that survived at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre have been nursed back to health. They were treated with plenty of hydration and eye drops and are expected to be released this week.

Sick birds have not been as lucky.

Around 20 birds have died from avian flu at the wildlife centre.

According to Pybus, Alberta's outbreak is believed to be on the decline due to the natural migration of geese.

"We do believe that the outbreak is on the downside. We have far fewer calls about dead birds or dead skunks last week than the previous weeks, and that would be consistent with most of the virus now having moved out of the province," Pybus said.

Human influence is the culprit for warm and wet winters in northwest Russia

Peer-Reviewed Publication

POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (POSTECH)

 

IMAGE: CHANGES AND CONTRIBUTION OF ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCE AND GREENHOUSE GAS CHANGES AFFECTING THE UNUSUAL CLIMATES OF 2019-2020 WINTERS IN RUSSIA’S NORTHWEST. view more 

CREDIT: POSTECH

During the smoldering hot days of summer, we miss the cool breeze of winter. Both intense cold and heat are unbearable but warm and wet winters also lead to problems. For example, northwest Russia experienced the warmest and wettest 2019/20 winter on record since 1902. Because of this, the permafrost melted, raising the risk of floods and landslides in the following spring, as well as rapid melting of snow and ice, which reduced available water resources and increased the risk of droughts in summer. What is the cause of this abnormal winter climate that increases the likelihood of sequential natural disasters?

A POSTECH research team led by Professor Jonghun Kam (Division of Environmental Science and Engineering) has pinpointed human influence as the reason for the warm and wet 2019/20 winter in northwest Russia. This is the result of analyzing the climate model data from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) and places humans as a greater influence than the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is one of the natural variabilities.

The NAO is a phenomenon in which the difference in sea level pressure between the Icelandic low pressure and the Azores high pressure fluctuates like a seesaw, and is one of the major meteorological phenomena in the North Atlantic. It is known that hot winters may occur in certain regions due to changes in this oscillation, but it is still unknown why hot and wet weather appears simultaneously in winter.

According to the analysis, the NAO was strong during the given period but the chance of warm and wet weather was extremely slim if greenhouse gas did not increase due to human activity. In the northwestern region of Russia, the probability of a warm winter has increased by about five times due to human activity, and the probability of a wet winter has increased by about 20 times. The probability of hot and wet winters from greenhouse gases increased by about 20 and 30 times, respectively.

The research team warned that hot and wet winters may occur frequently in northwest Russia in the future since the region is sensitive to temperature changes caused by global warming. In particular, the winter weather in the region plays an important role in determining the spring and summer weather in Eurasia. These conditions cannot be overlooked by Northeast Asia including the Korea Peninsula.

Professor Jonghun Kam explained, “We need to pay more attention to the climatic change in winters because it increases the probability of natural disasters during the spring and summer in the following year.” He added, “We must preemptively respond to climate change by continuously studying the changes in the risk of floods in spring or droughts in summer in not only the given region but also other Northeast Asia region.”

Recently published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, this research was also published in Explaining Extreme Events of 2020 from a Climate Perspective, which reports on the causes of abnormal climates across the globe in 2020.

This study was conducted with the support from the Ocean, Land, and Atmospheric Carbon Cycle System Research Project (NRF-2021M3I6A1086808) of the National Research Foundation of Korea, and from the Korea-Arctic Ocean Warming and Response of Ecosystems funded by Korea Polar Research Institute (K-AWARE, KOPRI, 1525011760) funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea.

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JOURNAL

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

DOI

10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0148.1 

ARTICLE TITLE

Anthropogenic contribution to the record-breaking warm and wet winter 2019/20 over northwest Russia

Climate change threatens people's health dramatically but solutions are within reach, say the world’s academies in a new report

New global report of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP)

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE INTERACADEMY PARTNERSHIP (IAP)

Climate change is having a range of impacts on health today that will become more severe unless urgent action is taken. Vulnerable populations will see their health increasingly undermined by both direct impacts, such as from extreme heat, and indirect ones, e.g. from reduced food and nutrition security. To produce science-based analysis and recommendations on a global scale, outstanding scientists from around the world – brought together by the world’s science academies under the umbrella of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) – have teamed up to collect and evaluate relevant evidence. The three-year project involving well over 80 experts from all world regions also examined a number of climate mitigation and adaptation actions that could bring significant improvements to health and health equity.

Trieste, 24 May 2022. Climate change threatens the health of billions of people, especially those who contribute least to climate change, but many strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions can improve health in the near-term. The new report 'Health in the climate emergency – a global perspective', launched today by the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), examines how the climate crisis is affecting health worldwide and calls for urgent action: "Billions of people are at risk, therefore we call for action against climate change to benefit health and also advance health equity", says Robin Fears, IAP project coordinator and co-author of the IAP report.

In a three-year global project, IAP has worked together with its regional networks in Africa (NASAC), Asia (AASSA), the Americas (IANAS) and Europe (EASAC) to capture diversity in evaluating evidence from their own regions to inform policy for collective and customised action at national, regional and global levels. A team of more than 80 scientists from all regions of the world has contributed to the project.

Analysing extensive scientific evidence, the recent report offers a global review of the current knowledge and examines how climate change and its drivers are acting through a range of direct and indirect pathways to impact, for example:

• heat-related mortality and morbidity
• extreme events such as floods and droughts
• decreases in crop yield in some regions
• changes in the distribution of vector-borne diseases
• wildfires causing widespread exposure to air pollution

Generally, a wide range of health outcomes are affected including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, water and food-borne diseases, undernutrition and mental health. There is also growing risk of forced migration with its attendant adverse health consequences.

An article published in Nature Climate Change, summarised in the IAP report, shows for example that one third of heat related deaths over recent decades can be attributed to climate change according to analysis of data from over 700 sites in 43 countries (Vicedo-Cabrera et al, 2021). Moreover, other studies have found that extreme heat exposure reduces the ability to undertake physical labour, with a Lancet Planetary Health paper stating that approximately one billion people globally projected to be unable to work safely for part of the year (even in the shade) after an increase in the global temperature of about 2.5o C above pre-industrial (Andrews et al, 2018).

“Many policies and actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions also benefit health in the near term as well as reducing the risks of dangerous climate change", says Andrew Haines, Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and co-chair of the IAP project. Haines is the winner of the 2022 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement – often regarded as the ‘Nobel Prize for the Environment’.

For instance, fine particulate air pollution arises from many of the same sources as emissions of greenhouse gases. Fossil fuel- and biomass-related emissions account for a substantial proportion of the total health burden from ambient pollution. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), phasing out these anthropogenic sources of air pollution is projected to avert millions of premature deaths worldwide each year (Lelieveld et al, 2019).

Climate change is already reducing food and nutrition security and, unless tackled, will have ever greater impacts on undernutrition and deaths. IAP underlines that promoting dietary change – increasing consumption of fruit, vegetables and legumes and reducing red meat intake, where that is excessive – could have major health and environmental benefits. Such diets would enable significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from food systems as well as reducing water and land use demands. Furthermore, through the reduced risk of heart disease, stroke and other conditions, there would be major reductions in non-communicable disease burden.

Climate action could also avert a significant increase in the spread of infectious diseases. For example, a study published in the Lancet Planetary Health estimates that the population at risk of both dengue and malaria might increase by up to 4.7 billion additional people by 2070 relative to 1970-99, particularly in lowlands and urban areas (Colon-Gonzalez et al, 2021). Thus IAP calls for strengthening communicable disease surveillance and response systems that should be a priority for improving adaptation to climate change worldwide.

The IAP report stresses that climate change affects the health of all people, but the burden is not distributed evenly or fairly.

"Instead, it falls most heavily on those in low socio-economic conditions and marginalized people, and is influenced by intersecting factors such as health status, social, economic, and environmental conditions, and governance structures. Climate change impacts exacerbate inequities and injustices already experienced by vulnerable populations, many of which are founded in colonialism, racism, discrimination, oppression, and development challenges", says Sherilee Harper, Associate Professor at the University of Alberta, Canada and Co-author of the report.

"We emphasise that health-related adaptation efforts must prioritize Indigenous Peoples, ageing populations, children, women and girls, those living in challenging socioeconomic settings, and geographically vulnerable populations."

Globally, groups that are socially, politically and geographically excluded are at the highest risk of health impacts from climate change, yet they are not adequately represented in the evidence base.

"Therefore, equity at the local, regional and international scale must be at the forefront of research and policy responses", says Volker ter Meulen co-chair of the IAP project. "Equity is at the core of effective responses."

IAP calls all stakeholders to take action in building climate–health resilience that will limit future risks. The very wide geographical coverage of IAP is invaluable in helping to communicate the voices of those – from low- and middle-income countries and vulnerable populations – who are not always heard during the processes whereby evidence informs international policy.

"Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure, healthcare systems, and policies will support adaptation and decrease future health risks from climate change", adds ter Meulen. "A 'health in all policies' response will support climate change adaptation and mitigation actions to help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, will have co-benefits for health, and will support the achievement of key international initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals."

The report is available for download here: https://www.interacademies.org/publication/health-climate-emergency-global-perspective and will be discussed in an open public webinar on 25 May, 2-4 PM CEST. Registration here: https://tinyurl.com/CCHLAUNCH

IAP representatives and experts from more than 50 countries are available for country-specific interviews.

About the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP)

Under the umbrella of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), more than 140 national, regional and global member academies work together to support the vital role of science in seeking evidence-based solutions to the world’s most challenging problems. In particular, IAP harnesses the expertise of the world's scientific, medical and engineering leaders to advance sound policies, improve public health, promote excellence in science education, and achieve other critical development goals.

IAP’s four regional networks – AASSA, EASAC, IANAS and NASAC – are responsible for managing and implementing many IAP-funded projects and help make IAP’s work relevant around the world. More information about IAP can be found at https://www.interacademies.org, on Twitter at @IAPartnership, on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Notes for editors

There are about 600 research references discussed in the IAP global report. Studies referred to in this press release should not be taken to mean IAP endorsement but rather as exemplifying key points. The following studies were referred to:

• Andrews et al (2018). Implications for workability and survivability in populations exposed to extreme heat under climate change: a modelling study. Lancet Planetary Health 2, e540-547.
• Colón-González et al (2021). Projecting the risk of mosquito-borne diseases in a warmer and more populated world: a multi-model, multi-scenario intercomparison modelling study. Lancet Planetary Health 5, e404-414.
• Lelieveld et al (2019). Effects of fossil fuel and total anthropogenic emission removal on public health and climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116, 7192-7197.
• Vicedo-Cabrera et al (2021). The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change. Nature Climate Change 11, 492-500.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

Disclaimer: 

Air pollution associated with more severe COVID-19

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL

Some common air pollutants, such as ground-level ozone, are associated with more severe outcomes after SARS-CoV-2 infection, including admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.220068.

To determine whether there was an association between long-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 severity, researchers analyzed data on all 151 105 people aged 20 years and older with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 in Ontario, Canada, not living in a long-term care facility. They modelled historical exposure to three common air pollutants before the pandemic — fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3). The authors adjusted for date of diagnosis, sex and age, being part of an outbreak, essential worker status, neighbourhood socioeconomic status, health care access including previous influenza vaccination history, previous outpatient visits and other factors.

"We observed that people with SARS-CoV-2 infection who lived in areas of Ontario with higher levels of common air pollutants (PM2.5, NO2 and O3) were at elevated risk of being admitted to the ICU after we adjusted for individual and contextual confounding factors, even when the air pollution level was relatively low," writes Dr. Hong Chen, Health Canada and ICES, with coauthors.

They also found an elevated risk of hospitalization with chronic exposure to PM2.5 and O3, and an increased risk of death from COVID-19 with chronic exposure to O3.

These results add to the growing reports linking air pollution to COVID-19 severity from other countries, including Spain and Mexico.

"Given the ongoing pandemic, our findings that underscore the link between chronic exposure to air pollution and more severe COVID-19 could have important implications for public health and health systems," write the authors.

As to the mechanisms of how long-term exposure to air pollution may be influencing severity of COVID-19, the researchers call for more research.

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JOURNAL

Canadian Medical Association Journal

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.220068 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and COVID-19 severity: a prospective cohort study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-May-2022

Price and convenience can drive consumers to purchase cannabis from illegal, rather than legal, sources: Study

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL AND DRUGS

 

IMAGE: CANNABIS view more 

CREDIT: KATHERINE HITT HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/21143648@N05/4420604477

PISCATAWAY, NJ—Despite the legalization of cannabis sales in Canada and many U.S. states, an illegal market still exists. A new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs suggests that higher prices and inconvenience associated with legal sources may be barriers that encourage consumers to seek out illegal providers instead.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario looked at data from the 2019 and 2020 International Cannabis Policy Study, which collected data from 16- to 65-year-olds. Participants were asked how much of the marijuana they used in the past 12 months was purchased from legal or authorized sources. If someone entered a value of less than 100%, they were prompted to choose from a list of reasons for purchasing illegal cannabis.

“Legal sources had higher prices” was the number-one answer for respondents in Canada in both years (35.9% in 2019 and 34.6% in 2020), as well as in the U.S. (27.3% in 2019 and 26.7% in 2020). Convenience—covered by “Legal sources were less convenient” and “Legal stores were too far away/there are none where I live”—was high on the list as well, with the percentage of respondents who named these as reasons ranging from 10.6% to 19.8%.

Other possible reasons—such as low quality, the desire to stay anonymous, delivery speed, and loyalty to a dealer—were selected less frequently by respondents as being factors in choosing a purchase option.

 “We also observed differences across jurisdictions and changes over time—many reasons decreased in later years, which reflects changes in the number of stores and the price of cannabis in Canada and U.S. states that have legalized adult cannabis use,” says study co-author David Hammond, Ph.D., professor and university research chair at the University of Waterloo’s School of Public Health Sciences.

Interestingly, COVID-19 restrictions may be behind some of the changes between the 2019 and 2020 survey responses. More than 10% of respondents in both the U.S. and Canada said the pandemic restricted their ability to buy legally in 2020. However, delivery service of legal cannabis became an option in several U.S. states and Canadian provinces during the pandemic, which may explain some of the decrease in respondents reporting slow delivery times and inconvenience.

A goal of nonmedical cannabis legalization has been to displace the illegal market, so the reasons why this goal hasn’t been completely met are important, and few studies have examined the potential disconnect.

“Cannabis legalization is one of the most notable substance use policies in several decades,” Hammond says. “Transitioning consumers from illegal to legal retail sources is a primary goal of legalization. Indeed, many of the potential benefits of legalization—including product standards, revenue for legitimate businesses, reducing burden on the criminal justice system—depend upon shifting consumers to legal cannabis sources. Given the importance of this issue, there is surprisingly little empirical evidence on the factors that determine where consumers source their products in a legal market.”

Hammond and his colleagues write that future research should focus on how perceived barriers to legal markets change as those markets evolve.

“As markets mature, the number of stores per capita tends to increase, and inconvenience is expected to become less of a hurdle,” the researchers conclude. “Regulators will need to balance public health and criminal justice priorities in order to establish a competitive market for legal cannabis that encourages legal purchasing.”

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Goodman, S., Wadsworth, E., & Hammond, D. (2022). Reasons for purchasing cannabis from illegal sources in legal markets: Findings among cannabis consumers in Canada and U.S. states, 2019–2020. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 83, 392–401. doi:10.15288/jsad.2022.83.392
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To arrange an interview with David Hammond, Ph.D., please contact him at dhammond@uwaterloo.ca.
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The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is published by the Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. It is the oldest substance-related journal published in the United States.
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The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs considers this press release to be in the public domain. Editors may publish this press release in print or electronic form without legal restriction. Please include proper attribution and byline.
 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

DOI

10.15288/jsad.2022.83.392 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Reasons for purchasing cannabis from illegal sources in legal markets: Findings among cannabis consumers in Canada and U.S. states, 2019–2020

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-May-2022

COI STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Foreign fishing fleets and trade are taking fish nutrients away from malnourished people

by Lancaster University

Cold storage lorries and fishing boats in Morocco. The lorries will transport the fish inland

 as part of the seafood trade. Credit: Nick Graham

Foreign fishing fleets, as well as international seafood trade, are diverting vital micronutrients away from malnourished populations, a new study reveals.

Fish are an important source of micronutrients and essential fatty acids which have the potential to substantially reduce rates of malnutrition and its associated health conditions, which includes maternal mortality, stunted growth and pre-eclampsia.

However, this new study, the first of its kind and six years in the making, shows that foreign fishing (fleets fishing in foreign waters) and international seafood trade exacerbate nutrition insecurity, taking fish away from the waters of nations experiencing high prevalence of malnutrition and diverting the catches predominantly to wealthier countries.

There has been vigorous debate focused on international fish trade and foreign fishing as driving unequal distribution of fish and their economic return. However, their impact on the supply of nutrients to local populations was unknown, until now.

The international team of researchers analyzed global fish catches, trade and nutrient composition (calcium, iron, selenium, zinc, omega-3, vitamin A and protein) for global marine fisheries. The research team used a model previously developed by this study's Principal Investigator, Professor Christina Hicks of Lancaster University. This enables detailed calculations of nutrients based on fish species within fisheries' catches, rather than simply the amount of fish caught.

They found that more than 60% of countries receive net gains in fish-derived nutrients through international trade—Nigeria, France, Japan and Italy gaining the most.

Tropical parrot fish and red mullet for sale in a London market. Credit: James Robinson

Around a third of nations have net trade losses of nutrients. While this includes a few prominent exporters such as China and Russia—more than half of nations losing fish-derived micronutrients are vulnerable small island states and African nations, such as Namibia and the Maldives.

While trade drives significant nutrient flows among nations, the study's findings suggests that foreign fishing fleets taking catches from the waters of other nations may be a more important cause of fish-derived nutrients not reaching vulnerable people. Their findings suggest foreign fishing relocates one and a half times more nutrients than international trade in fish.

The research found that more than 30% of nations experience net nutrient losses from foreign fishing. These countries experiencing nutrient losses from foreign fishing include developed resilient nations like Norway, and the United Kingdom. However, around half of the nations that experience net losses from both foreign fishing and trade are small island states and African nations, many of which have populations where malnutrition is more prevalent.

And the study reveals that fishing in foreign waters predominantly, though not exclusively, benefits nutrient-secure nations—with several countries benefiting disproportionately—including Japan, China and South Korea.

These findings add to concerns about agreements allowing foreign fishing fleets to fish in low and middle-income nations—highlighting that such agreements reduce nations' ability to direct their own food production toward citizens experiencing nutritional insecurity.

Dr. Kirsty Nash, lead author of the study, said: "The findings suggest that when nutritional differences among fish species and nations' nutritional needs are considered, distributions of fish supplies through foreign fishing, and amplified by international trade, may be undermining nutritional food security and international equity."

Tropical red snapper for sale in a London market. Credit: James Robinson

"Marine fisheries hold unrealized potential to help address global nutrient deficiencies but we need to harmonize fisheries, health and trade policies to ensure nutrients reach people vulnerable to undernutrition. And decision-makers must consider nutrients derived from fisheries as a key resource that needs protection."

Professor Christina Hicks of Lancaster University said: "Nutrient insecurity is a pressing global concern and fisheries have the potential to reduce the health burden of malnourishment. However, our analysis shows that foreign fishing fleets and international trade contribute substantially to broad-scale redistribution of fish from the waters of the countries where they are caught and, in many cases, away from where the people who most need these vital micronutrients.

"This research highlights that there is a need for greater transparency around distribution of fish, and around the practice of foreign fishing fleets. And if fisheries are to achieve their potential to reduce global malnutrition, and the terrible health consequences associated with it, then nutrition security needs to be considered more centrally when countries develop international trade agreements."

In addition, the researchers developed a novel "nutritional vulnerability framework" that shows that the few small island developing states and African nations that are benefitting from trade and foreign fishing currently are also among the most vulnerable to future changes in nutrient supplies, through changes in trade and foreign fishing practices.

The researchers also modeled the effects of climate change, which is predicted to lead to overall declines in fisheries production. This evaluation exacerbates the nutrient vulnerability of many nations, with the greatest impacts on tropical countries and small island states such as Papua New Guinea and Guyana.

The study's findings are outlined in the paper "Trade and foreign fishing mediate global marine nutrient supply," which has been published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)Fish nutrition database to help combat malnutrition across the globe

More information: 'Trade and foreign fishing mediate global marine nutrient supply', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.212081711

Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 

Provided by Lancaster University 

Low-cost gel film can pluck drinking water from desert air

by University of Texas at Austin

A prototype device for capturing water from the air using the new film. 

Credit: University of Texas at Austin

More than a third of the world's population lives in drylands, areas that experience significant water shortages. Scientists and engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a solution that could help people in these areas access clean drinking water.

The team developed a low-cost gel film made of abundant materials that can pull water from the air in even the driest climates. The materials that facilitate this reaction cost a mere $2 per kilogram, and a single kilogram can produce more than 6 liters of water per day in areas with less than 15% relative humidity and 13 liters in areas with up to 30% relative humidity.

The research builds on previous breakthroughs from the team, including the ability to pull water out of the atmosphere and the application of that technology to create self-watering soil. However, these technologies were designed for relatively high-humidity environments.

"This new work is about practical solutions that people can use to get water in the hottest, driest places on Earth," said Guihua Yu, professor of materials science and mechanical engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering's Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering. "This could allow millions of people without consistent access to drinking water to have simple, water generating devices at home that they can easily operate."

The water-capturing film can easily be molded into many different shapes.

 Credit: University of Texas at Austin

The new paper appears in Nature Communications.

The researchers used renewable cellulose and a common kitchen ingredient, konjac gum, as a main hydrophilic (attracted to water) skeleton. The open-pore structure of gum speeds the moisture-capturing process. Another designed component, thermo-responsive cellulose with hydrophobic (resistant to water) interaction when heated, helps release the collected water immediately so that overall energy input to produce water is minimized.

Other attempts at pulling water from desert air are typically energy-intensive and do not produce much. And although 6 liters does not sound like much, the researchers say that creating thicker films or absorbent beds or arrays with optimization could drastically increase the amount of water they yield.

The reaction itself is a simple one, the researchers said, which reduces the challenges of scaling it up and achieving mass usage.

The process of creating the water-capturing film from its ingredients. 

Credit: University of Texas at Austin

"This is not something you need an advanced degree to use," said Youhong "Nancy" Guo, the lead author on the paper and a former doctoral student in Yu's lab, now a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's straightforward enough that anyone can make it at home if they have the materials."

The film is flexible and can be molded into a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on the need of the user. Making the film requires only the gel precursor, which includes all the relevant ingredients poured into a mold.

"The gel takes 2 minutes to set simply. Then, it just needs to be freeze-dried, and it can be peeled off the mold and used immediately after that," said Weixin Guan, a doctoral student on Yu's team and a lead researcher of the work. The researchers envision this as something that people could someday buy at a hardware store and use in their homes because of the simplicity.Solar-powered moisture harvester collects and cleans water from air

More information: Youhong Guo et al, Scalable super hygroscopic polymer films for sustainable moisture harvesting in arid environments, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30505-2

Journal information: Nature Communications 

Provided by University of Texas at Austin 

Major Step Forward in Monitoring Ocean Health Through “DNA Soup”


By MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE MAY 23, 2022


When outfitted with a groundbreaking “laboratory in a can” to sample environmental DNA (eDNA), nimble robots like MBARI’s long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (LRAUV) can expand the monitoring of ocean health. Credit: © 2021 MBARI/Monterey Bay Aquarium

Autonomous technology uses eDNA to survey biodiversity.

In a major step forward for monitoring the biodiversity of marine systems, a new research study published on May 17, 2022, in the journal Environmental DNA details how Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) researchers are using autonomous underwater robots to sample environmental DNA (eDNA). eDNA allows scientists to detect the presence of aquatic species from the tiny bits of genetic material they leave behind. This “DNA soup” offers clues about biodiversity changes in sensitive areas, the presence of rare or endangered species, and the spread of invasive species—all critical to understanding, promoting, and preserving a healthy ocean.

Researchers combined two novel autonomous platforms developed by MBARI for this study: the long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (LRAUV) and the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP). The LRAUV is a nimble underwater robot that can travel to remote areas of the ocean for extended periods of time. The ESP is a robotic “laboratory-in-a-can” that filters seawater and preserves eDNA for future study. By equipping an LRAUV with ESP technology, researchers can expand the scale of ocean monitoring over time and space. By comparison, traditional sampling of eDNA in the ocean requires weeks on an expensive research vessel limited to a localized area. Technology innovations like this are revolutionizing ocean conservation efforts.



MBARI researchers launch a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (LRAUV) from the R/V Paragon in Monterey Bay. These nimble robots can travel to remote areas of the ocean that are difficult for a crewed vessel to access. Credit: Kim Fulton-Bennett © 2014 MBARI

“We know that eDNA is an incredibly powerful tool for studying ocean communities, but we’ve been limited by what we can accomplish using crewed research vessels. Now, autonomous technology is helping us make better use of our time and resources to study new parts of the ocean,” said Kobun Truelove, a biological oceanographer at MBARI and the lead author on the paper.

Marine biodiversity is a measure of the abundance of individuals and species in the ocean. This interconnected mosaic of organisms—from the smallest plankton to the largest whales—supports food webs, produces the air we breathe, and regulates our climate. Autonomous tools like the LRAUV and ESP enable MBARI researchers to maintain a persistent presence in the ocean and monitor changes in sensitive ecosystems in ways that were not possible previously.

“Organisms move as conditions change in our oceans and Great Lakes, affecting the people and economies that rely on those species. We need cheaper and more nimble approaches to monitor biodiversity on a large scale. This study provides the synergistic development of eDNA and uncrewed technologies we need, in direct response to priorities laid out in the NOAA ‘Omics Strategic Plan,” said Kelly Goodwin, a co-author on the study and collaborator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Background

For this research, MBARI collaborated with researchers at the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and the University of Washington to complete three expeditions in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The team coordinated sample collection between MBARI’s three research vessels, the NOAA Fisheries ship Reuben Lasker, and a fleet of MBARI’s LRAUVs.

A ship-based team lowered bottles to a specific depth to collect and preserve water samples. Meanwhile, an LRAUV equipped with an ESP autonomously sampled and preserved eDNA at similar locations and depths. The eDNA samples were returned to the lab for in-depth sequencing

Related organisms share common sections of DNA, known as gene markers. For this study, researchers analyzed eDNA samples with a technique known as metabarcoding. This method looks for short DNA excerpts and provides a breakdown of the groups present in the sample. This technique is especially helpful for translating eDNA data into a measure of biodiversity. The researchers analyzed four different types of gene markers, each representing a slightly different level of the food web. Together, the results yielded a more holistic picture of community composition. The samples collected from research ships and autonomous vehicles revealed similar patterns of biodiversity.

Truelove noted that the findings from the study mark an exciting step forward for monitoring marine ecosystems. “This work is all about increasing the scale of eDNA research. Instead of looking at an individual species, we can start to more broadly characterize biological community structure in the ocean,” he said.

“Good data are the bedrock of sustainable ocean management,” said Francisco Chavez, MBARI Senior Scientist and a co-author of the study. “Regular environmental DNA monitoring tells us who is there and what is changing over time. When it comes to understanding the impacts of climate change—one of the biggest threats to ocean health—this information is essential.”

LRAUVs are able to travel for weeks at a time and for hundreds of kilometers. They can enable more frequent sampling in areas of interest than traditional research vessels, which typically only visit remote sites infrequently. Autonomous robots will allow researchers to study previously unsurveyed regions of the ocean. Filling in these data gaps is critical to strengthening global ocean health. Ship-based research will continue to play an important role in oceanographic studies, but adding new autonomous technology to the toolkit will expand capacity for research, monitoring, and resource management. Ultimately, MBARI researchers envision deploying a fleet of LRAUVs equipped with ESP technology.

Reference: “Expanding the temporal and spatial scales of environmental DNA research with autonomous sampling” by Nathan K. Truelove, Nastassia V. Patin, Markus Min, Kathleen J. Pitz, Chris M. Preston, Kevan M. Yamahara, Yanwu Zhang, Ben Y. Raanan, Brian Kieft, Brett Hobson, Luke R. Thompson, Kelly D. Goodwin and Francisco P. Chavez, 17 May 2022, Environmental DNA.
DOI: 10.1002/edn3.299

Support for this research was provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, NOAA/OAR/’Omics, NOAA/OAR/NOPP, and NASA Projects #80NSSC20M0001 and 80NSSX21M003.

About MBARI

MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) is a private non-profit oceanographic research center founded by David Packard in 1987. The mission of MBARI is to advance marine science and technology to understand a changing ocean.