Previously overlooked algae toxin widespread in southern Indian River Lagoon

FAU Harbor Branch study of algae blooms and domoic acid finds potential threat to lagoon’s ecosystem health

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY IMAGE OF PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA CELLS. view more 

CREDIT: FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

Spanning about one-third of Florida’s East coast, the Indian River Lagoon has faced frequent harmful algal blooms in recent years. Among them, Pseudo-nitzschia spp., algae that produces the neurotoxin domoic acid.

Domoic acid can bioaccumulate within food webs, causing sickness and death in higher trophic level organisms such as marine mammals and birds, and have been documented in sea turtles in Florida coastal waters and in bull sharks within the Indian River Lagoon system. In humans, consumption of shellfish contaminated with domoic acid can cause harmful symptoms.

Unlike other harmful algal blooms, Pseudo-nitzschia are not bioluminescent and do not cause water discoloration or large fish kills. Because there are no obvious visual cues of these blooms and monitoring them is event based, documenting their presence is challenging.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute have conducted the first widespread molecular study of domoic acid produced from Pseudo-nitzschia in the Indian River Lagoon. Their results, published in the journal Harmful Algae, suggest domoic acid may be a significant threat to the lagoon’s ecosystem.

To gain a better understanding of the ecology of Pseudo-nitzschia in the central and southern portions of the Indian River Lagoon system where monitoring has been less frequent, researchers collected surface water samples from five locations along the lagoon between October 2018 and May 2020. They analyzed 158 samples for phytoplankton concentrations via cell counts that were collected on 68 different dates. Scanning electron microscopy was conducted on cultured material, which enabled them to morphologically identify six distinct species of Pseudo-nitzschia and compare them with sequencing data.

Results showed Pseudo-nitzschia was present in 87 percent of the samples, which were associated with relatively high salinity waters and cool temperatures. All isolates demonstrated toxicity, and domoic acid was found in 47 percent of surface water samples. Although Pseudo-nitzschia concentrations were more prominent during the first half of the study, cells were often present at lower concentrations throughout the entire study period. Notable differences between the Indian River Lagoon system and other water bodies where Pseudo-nitzschia blooms occur include water temperatures, water clarity, residence times and salinity.

“The frequent presence of Pseudo-nitzschia, including bloom level concentrations, which we observed in our study, could lead to domoic acid integrating into the food web affecting shellfish, finfish, birds, sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, rays and humans,” said Malcolm McFarland, Ph.D., senior author and a research associate at FAU Harbor Branch. “As a nursery for many organisms, and supporting a high amount of biodiversity, the presence of domoic acid could negatively impact the biodiversity of the Indian River Lagoon system.”

In addition to a positive relationship with salinity, researchers also found that Pseudo-nitzschia had an inverse relationship with temperature. This suggests Pseudo-nitzschia in the Indian River Lagoon prefers cooler water temperatures for growth. Cell abundances of Pseudo-nitzschia were highest during the late fall, winter and early spring, when temperatures in the lagoon are cooler. Some of the highest abundances of Pseudo-nitzschia in the southern Indian River Lagoon system occurred at sampling sites with the closest proximities to inlets.

“Given the characteristics of the Indian River Lagoon system, such as warm water temperatures, high nutrients, and shallow depths, we think that Pseudo-nitzschia may be a resident population, that is, present year-round,” said Stephanie Schreiber, first author and a coordinator of research programs and services at FAU Harbor Branch. “Results from our study suggest Pseudo-nitzschia could be considered a key contributor to phytoplankton community composition in the southern Indian River Lagoon system as well.”

As one of multiple toxic harmful algal blooms-forming organisms within the Indian River Lagoon, understanding its distribution and population dynamics is critical to protecting biodiversity as well as human, animal and ecosystem health. 

“Accurate identification methods are critical to determine the presence or absence of toxigenic species of Pseudo-nitzschia and to assess the potential threat posed by blooms of these algae,” said McFarland. “Although domoic acid is not present at all times in the southern Indian River Lagoon system, its frequent occurrence suggests it is an important toxin to monitor in the lagoon. Continuous exposures to domoic acid, even at low levels, may have unknown impacts on the lagoon system over time.”

Study co-authors are Dennis Hanisak, Ph.D., research professor; and Carlie Perricone, a graduate student; FAU Harbor Branch; Andia Chaves Fonnegra, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biology, FAU Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College; and James Sullivan, Ph.D., executive director, FAU Harbor Branch.

This project was funded through the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program (Contract Nos. IRL2018-02, IRL2019-24, and IRL2020-15) and the Center for Coastal and Human Health funded by the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation.

- FAU -

About Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute:
Founded in 1971, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University is a research community of marine scientists, engineers, educators and other professionals focused on Ocean Science for a Better World. The institute drives innovation in ocean engineering, at-sea operations, drug discovery and biotechnology from the oceans, coastal ecology and conservation, marine mammal research and conservation, aquaculture, ocean observing systems and marine education. For more information, visit www.fau.edu/hboi.

 

About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.

 

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JOURNAL

Harmful Algae

DOI

10.1016/j.hal.2023.102437 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Pseudo-nitzschia species, toxicity, and dynamics in the southern Indian River Lagoon, FL

Contact lenses shed microplastics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Millions of people around the world wear contact lenses, including reusable ones. But these plastic lenses don’t last forever, and lenses need to be replaced every few days, weeks or months. Now, researchers reporting a pilot study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have developed a method to analyze minute debris in small samples and found that lenses exposed to sunlight over time can shed tiny fragments of plastic, though the health impact is unclear.

Though scientists are still grappling to understand the health and environmental impacts of microplastics, it is important to understand where they can appear and what systems they could impact. When measuring aquatic microplastic pollution, researchers generally filter plastic fragments from large amounts of sampled water. Then, they use a microscope and manually count the fragments, a method that is slow and not very consistent. More automated alternatives have been developed, but the techniques are still time consuming.  So, Bing Wu and colleagues wanted to develop an automated method that could quickly detect and count microplastic particles in small samples, such as contact lenses.

The researchers gathered six kinds of contact lenses from various brands and of different lifespans. To mimic normal wear and care, the lenses were stored in water, kept under a lamp that mimicked sunlight and were rinsed with water three times every 10 hours. After receiving the equivalent of 30 or 90 days of sunlight, the water each lens was stored in was analyzed. To determine the number of microplastics in the small samples, the researchers designed an automated system that took microscopic images of the samples, processed those images, and quantified any microplastics that were present.

In tests with standard amounts of microplastics, the team found that the new system’s analyses were quicker and more accurate than when the samples were analyzed manually. In the absence of any simulated sunlight, no microplastics were detected. However, the researchers observed increasing amounts when the contact lenses were exposed to the equivalent of 90 days of sunlight. Lenses with shorter lifetimes showed the greatest amount of shed microplastics after this exposure. Based on their data in this small-scale study, the researchers estimate that more than 90,000 microplastic particles per year could be shed from some lenses if worn for 10 hours a day. The human health impact of direct exposure of microplastics to eyes is not currently known, but the researchers say their findings indicate that more studies in this area are urgently needed.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Excellent Research Program of Nanjing University.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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JOURNAL

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.3c01601 

ARTICLE TITLE

“High-Content Screening Discovers Microplastics Released by Contact Lenses under Sunlight”

New study reveals willingness of papaya farmers in Kenya to reduce pesticide use

A new study published in the CABI Agriculture and Bioscience journal has revealed a willingness of smallholder papaya farmers in Kenya to reduce their chemical pesticide use to fight the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus)

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CABI

 

IMAGE: TEACHER AND PAWPAW FARMER WILFRED MUTONDI WITH HIS INFESTED PAWPAW FRUITS (CREDIT: CABI). view more 

CREDIT: CABI

A new study published in the CABI Agriculture and Bioscience journal has revealed a willingness of smallholder papaya farmers in Kenya to reduce their chemical pesticide use to fight the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus).

Researchers from CABI surveyed 383 farming households in four counties in Kenya alongside key informant interviews with eight extension agents and thirty agro-dealers, and eight focus group discussions.

They found that in a desperate attempt to control invasive alien pests’ farmers often resort to the use of broad-spectrum insecticides even though biological control is a more sustainable method of pest management that is extremely suitable in the smallholder production context found in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).

Kate Contstanine, Project Scientist at CABI and lead author of the study, said, “In SSA few attempts using biological control for arthropod pests have been successful, with one of the key reasons cited as poor involvement of farming communities and extension in the dissemination of information.

“As a transboundary problem, invasive species present a social dilemma since, for an optimal outcome to be achieved for all affected people, a collective management response is required.”

The scientists sought to determine smallholder farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards biological control; farmers’ willingness to reduce their chemical pesticide use; and levels of support for a classical biological control (CBC) programme for papaya mealybug in Kenya.

They also found that there were high levels of awareness of the negative impacts and risks associated with chemical pesticides on human health and the environment.

Farmers demonstrated some awareness of the concept of biological control but they lacked knowledge, experience and technical support from extension or agro-dealers. Reasons for not using biological control included inadequate awareness and concerns over efficacy and safety.

Ms Constatine added, “Farmers expressed high levels of interest and willingness to support a classical biological control programme.

“Importantly, most farmers were willing to reduce their chemical pesticide use to conserve the parasitoid biological control agent, Acerophagus papayae, and there were indications of the requirements for collective community action.

“Previously, poor attention has been paid to farmer participation, inclusion and social factors in biological control, which has resulted in limited success in developing countries.

“Both farmers and extension personnel highlighted the importance of engaging with the community at the beginning of any initiative to ensure community ownership as well as long-term sustainability.

“The next steps include targeted awareness-raising, capacity building and effective information dissemination.”

The scientists also say that their research demonstrates significant differences in farmer perceptions between counties and gender which are helpful in focussing resources going forward.

For instance, more men perceived biological control to be useful and necessary than women, suggesting a need to increase women’s awareness and understanding of biological control.

 

Notes to editors

Full paper reference

Kate L. Constantine, Fernadis Makale, Idah Mugambi, Harrison Rware, Duncan Chacha, Aylssa Lowry, Ivan Rwomushana and Frances Williams, ‘Smallholder farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards biological control of papaya mealybug in Kenya’ CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, 15 June 2023, DOI: 10.1186/s43170-023-00161-7

The paper can be viewed open access here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43170-023-00161-7#citeas

About CABI Agriculture and Bioscience

CABI Agriculture and Bioscience (CABI A&B) publishes high quality, rigorously peer-reviewed multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research focused on agriculture, food security, and the environment.

Global agriculture faces many challenges today. How can we produce more safe, nutritious food in the face of climate change? Can we balance greater efficiencies with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect biodiversity?  Can we meet changing market demands and yet develop more equitable economies? Can agriculture provide a livelihood and opportunities for women and young people?

These problems require increasingly complex and urgent solutions from researchers and policymakers. That is why CABI A&B is committed to encouraging an inclusive culture of scientific discussion and rapid information sharing among researchers worldwide. We publish both large and incremental advances in science in both primary and multidisciplinary fields across the biosciences, agriculture, agronomy, microbiology, social sciences, and the environment.

CABI A&B is an open access journal, with rapid peer review, making findings immediately available to all readers worldwide. We believe it will help engender a clearer understanding of facts and findings, and help challenge assumptions.

CABI A&B is the official journal of CABI – an international, inter-governmental, not-for-profit organization that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. The organization is governed by 49 Member Countries, many of which are low-income and highly dependent on agriculture to feed their population and generate income. CABI A&B’s supports the organization’s aim to help achieve 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals: (1) No Poverty; (2) Zero Hunger; (3) Quality Education; (5) Gender Equality; (12) Responsible Consumption and Production; (13) Climate Action; (15) Life on Land; and (17) Partnerships for the Goals. CABI A&B is integral to delivering on the organization’s mission, and any surplus derived from the journal is reinvested in its international development activities.

https://cabiagbio.biomedcentral.com/

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JOURNAL

CABI Agriculture and Bioscience

DOI

10.1186/s43170-023-00161-7 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Smallholder farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards biological control of papaya mealybug in Kenya

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jun-2023

Dirtiest snow-year in the Wasatch accelerated snowmelt by 17 days

The dry lakebed of the Great Salt Lake contributed the highest dust emissions per surface area during the 2022 season, which had the most dust deposition events and highest dust concentrations of any year since observations began in 2009

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

 

VIDEO: A DUST EVENT RECORDED ON MAY 17, 2023 BY A CAMERA LOCATED ON THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH CAMPUS, FACING SOUTH. THE CAMERAS ARE MAINTAINED BY THE U'S DEPARTMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND MESO WEST. THIS EVENT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE STUDY, BUT IS TYPICAL OF SPRINGS STORMS THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. STRONG WINDS CAN LOFT DUST INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND DEGRADE AIR QUALITY, AND DEPOSIT ONTO THE SNOWPACK ON THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS. DUST-ON-SNOW DEPOSITION REQUIRES A SPECIFIC SET OF FACTORS; NEARBY DUST SOURCES, RELATIVELY DRY CONDITIONS AND WINDS THAT ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO LOFT DUST INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. THESE CONDITIONS ARE OFTEN MET AHEAD OF WINDY SPRING STORMS. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND MESO WEST.

As the shrinking Great Salt Lake exposes an ever-growing area of its lakebed, wind-blown dust becomes more dangerous for those living in Utah’s most populous region. It also makes the snowpack dirty, which threatens the state’s most precious resource—water. 

In a new study, University of Utah researchers analyzed the impact of dust on snow during the 2022 season. They found that 2022 had the most dust deposition events and the highest snowpack dust concentrations of any year since observations began in 2009.

The dust caused the snowpack to disappear 17 days earlier than if no dust had been deposited. The researchers say the impact would have been more dramatic if not for the wet spring—frequent snowstorms buried the dusty layers, which delayed the impact on snowmelt.

To understand if record high dust-on-snow concentrations were linked to record low Great Salt Lake water levels, the authors identified the areas where each dust event originated. They found that the Great Salt Lake contributed 23% of total dust deposition and had the highest dust emissions per surface area. The Great Salt Lake Desert and the dry lakebeds of Sevier Lake and Tule Lake contributed 45% and 17% respectively, but with lower per area emissions.

Seasonal snowmelt from the Wasatch Mountains is the primary water source for the metropolitan Wasatch Front, surrounding agricultural valleys and the Great Salt Lake.

“You might see 17 days and think it’s no big deal, but our current snowmelt models don’t account for dust,” said McKenzie Skiles, assistant professor of geography at the U and senior author on the paper. “So, the snow is melting, water is coming out earlier and faster than we expect it to, and we’re not prepared to use it in the most efficient way. The landscape is also not expecting the water earlier, so it impacts watershed functionality as well as water availability downstream.”

The study published on June 15, 2023, in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Skiles authored a 2018 study that found that a single dust event accelerated snowmelt in the Wasatch by one week. That paper identified the Great Salt Lake as a relatively new dust source due to historically low water levels. Subsequent years of prolonged drought, increased evaporation and sustained agriculture and domestic water consumption drove the Great Salt Lake to record lows in 2021 and 2022 and exposed even more dry lakebed.

“Anecdotally, we kept saying, ‘This is crazy—this is the dirtiest snow in the Wasatch I’ve seen since I started making observations,’” said Skiles. “Ultimately, after we analyzed everything, it was the dirtiest year.”

Digging a pit for science

The dust that blows into the Wasatch Mountains deposits a dark grimy layer atop the snowpack and impacts the snow’s albedo, a term that describes the amount of radiation reflected by a surface. The effect is like wearing a black shirt on a hot day—darker colors absorb more solar radiation and heat up faster than light colors. In the mountains, dirty snow heats up and melts faster than clean snow when exposed to the same temperatures.

The Snow Hydrology Research to Operations (Snow HydRO) Lab, which Skiles directs, studies this phenomenon using instrumentation at the Atwater Study Plot, a research site near the Alta Ski Resort in Alta, Utah. Their instruments record the physical elements that control snow accumulation and snowmelt, including albedo. The researchers use these observations and a model to remove the dust darkening impact and estimate how snow would melt if the dust were absent.

“Our model represents snowmelt under observed conditions. We then run the model again with the snow-darkening impact by dust removed. This allows us to say, ‘If there was no dust and the snow surface was brighter, then how much longer would the snow have stuck around?’ The difference between these scenarios allows us to quantify snowmelt acceleration due to dust,” said Otto Lang, PhD student and co-author of the study.

The researchers also regularly dig large snow pits that expose the dirty layers representing all dust events that had been buried by subsequent snowstorms. They sample each layer to measure the amount of dust deposited by each dust event, and to track the different layers through the winter.

Don’t need a weatherman to know which way the dust blows…

…You need Derek Mallia, a research assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the U and co-author of the study. Strong winds can loft dust into the atmosphere and degrade air quality, which can trigger yellow or red air pollution warnings. Dust-on-snow deposition requires a specific set of factors; nearby dust sources, relatively dry conditions and winds that are strong enough to loft dust into the atmosphere. Mallia developed a dust transport model that can pinpoint where the dust on snow originated by synthesizing meteorological and soil data. For every dust event, Mallia ran his model to identify dust sources that were responsible for accelerating snow melt in the Wasatch Mountains.

"We were expecting large areas like the Great Salt Lake Desert to be a major source of dust, but we were somewhat surprised that we observed such large contributions of dust coming from the Great Salt Lake, and especially Farmington Bay. While the lake’s dust sources are much smaller than the West Desert in terms of area, the exposed dry lakebeds are much closer to the Wasatch Mountains,” said Mallia. “These results suggest that the Great Salt Lake is an important factor when it comes to accelerating snow melt across the Wasatch Front and will become a bigger player if it continues to shrink.”

The future of dust in the Wasatch.

There’s no need to imagine what dustier winters would mean to the Wasatch snowpack; just look at Colorado where Skiles also conducts dust-on-snow research. The southern Colorado Plateau deposits dark, red dust onto its slopes that accelerates snowmelt by one to two months. Over the same period of observation, dust-on-snow levels in Colorado have always been higher than in Utah. That may be changing.

“This year we saw dust event after dust event after dust event. I kept saying, ‘It looks like Colorado. It doesn't look like previous winters in Utah to me,’” Skiles said. “We got really lucky that we had so many spring snowstorms. If we are approaching Colorado’s dust-on-snow regime, it will have a dramatic impact that we haven't seen yet. But we could be getting there.”

A snow pit on May 10, 2022. All of the previous dust events are preserved in layers in a snow pit that is maintained throughout the 2022 winter season at the Alta study plot.

CREDIT

Otto Lang

(a) Snow pit at the Alta Study Plot on date of peak Snow Water Equivalent. Melt pooling and ice lenses form when liquid water pools at a capillary barrier within the snowpack and are highlighted in the image so that they can be differentiated from the dust layers. (b) Image showing a typical pre-frontal dust-on-snow event in the Wasatch Mountains.

CREDIT

Enviro Res Letters—June-2023

JOURNAL

Environmental Research Letters

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The shrinking Great Salt Lake contributes to record high dust-on-snow deposition in the Wasatch Mountains during the 2022 snowmelt season

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jun-2023

 

Wildfire smoke threatens already endangered orangutans

Vocal changes monitored in new study

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: BORNEO ORANGUTAN. view more 

CREDIT: WENDY ERB, YANG CENTER, CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY.

Ithaca, N.Y.--For months following peatland wildfires in Borneo, the behavior and voices of critically endangered orangutans change, according to a new study led by a researcher from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

These pronounced changes make it possible to assess the health of wild populations by monitoring the frequency and quality of their sounds – an alternative to the dangers posed by trying to study the animals in person during a wildfire. The study published June 13, in the journal iScience.

“The animals move around less to conserve energy,” said lead author Wendy Erb, a Cornell Lab postdoctoral associate. “The orangutans also don’t vocalize as much and their voices take on the equivalent of a human smoker’s hack. Their voices are deeper, more raspy and shakier. These vocal features have been linked to inflammation, stress and disease–including COVID-19–in human and nonhuman animals.”

Wildfires have been increasing in frequency and severity across Indonesia, as they have in other parts of the world, often related to climate change. In Indonesia, wildfire occurrence is also closely linked to El Niño cycles of warming in the Pacific Ocean. But unlike other types of wildfires, peatland fires can smolder underground for weeks and produce exceptionally high emissions of hazardous gases and particulate matter.

Erb, in the Cornell Lab’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, worked with a team from the Tuanan Orangutan Research Program to collect data on adult male orangutans in Borneo. During the fire season, the region experienced its highest concentrations of particulate matter, with average daily concentrations rising nearly 12 times higher than the amount classified as hazardous to human health by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Critically endangered orangutans are well known as “indicator species” because their health and behavior reflect the quality of their environments. Increasingly frequent and prolonged exposure to toxic smoke could have severe consequences for orangutans and other animals.

This research highlights the urgent need to understand the long-term and indirect impacts of Indonesia’s peatland fires, beyond the immediate loss of forests and their inhabitants.

“By uncovering the linkages between acoustic, behavioral, and energetic shifts in orangutans, this research can help scientists and wildlife managers safely monitor the health of this critically endangered species using acoustic methods,” Erb said. “I see huge potential for passive acoustic monitoring to deepen our understanding of the effects of wildfire smoke on wildlife populations worldwide.”

This project received funding from Rutgers University, the American Association of University Women, and all those who donated to support efforts to fight the wildfires at Tuanan. This research would not have been possible without the Dayak people who have cared for the forests of Kalimantan for millennia and especially the people of Tuanan, who shared their deep knowledge of the forest.

Reference:

Wendy M. Erb, Elizabeth J. Barrow, Alexandra N. Hofner, Jessica L. Lecorchick, Tatang Mitra Setia, and Erin R. Vogel. Wildfire smoke linked to vocal changes in wild Bornean orangutans. iScience. June 2023.

 

Smoke from burning peat is especially dangerous because of its particulate matter.

CAPTION

Firefighters and peat fire smoke in a forest.

CREDIT

Wendy Erb, Yang Center, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

JOURNAL

iScience

DOI

10.1016/j.isci.2023.107088 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Wildfire smoke linked to vocal changes in wild Bornean orangutans.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Jun-2023

Shock to the crop system

New study evaluates how climate shocks impact the planted and harvested areas for crops

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

 

IMAGE: DONGYANG WEI, A DOCTORAL CANDIDATE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND SPATIAL SCIENCES, AND KYLE DAVIS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND SPATIAL SCIENCES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCES, AS WELL AS A RESIDENT FACULTY MEMBER WITH UD’S DATA SCIENCE INSTITUTE, LED A NEW STUDY THAT FOCUSED ON CROP PRODUCTION SHOCKS AND HOW THEY ARE AFFECTED BY VARIATIONS IN PLANTED AND HARVESTED AREAS. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE/ EVAN KRAPE

As the world faces more climate variability and extremes in the face of global warming, sudden environmental changes add an extra layer of stress to food production in the United States and around the world. It is critical, then, to figure out how the areas in which crops are planted and harvested respond to these stressors, which can bring on ‘shocks’ in production – or, put differently, sudden and statistically significant crop declines. 

These production shocks are a big concern in terms of food stability and many crops in the United States—such as corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat — are all experiencing more frequent production reductions as a result of these shocks.

A new study published in the Nature Sustainability scientific journal and led by the University of Delaware’s Dongyang Wei looked at these production shocks and, specifically, how they are affected by variations in planted and harvested areas. 

Kyle Davis, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, as well as a resident faculty member with UD’s Data Science Institute, is coordinating author on the paper.

Wei, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, said prior studies have focused on crop yield and how the yield variability affects production but very few studies have looked at the role of planted and harvested areas. Because production is the combined result of how much area a farmer plants (the planted area), how much of that area they can harvest (the harvested area) and the yield of the crop in that area, it is important to evaluate all three of these factors when assessing production stability.

“What we did was to focus on the U.S., the world’s largest producer and exporter of cereal grains, to see how these three components—crop yield, planted area, and harvested area—affected food production stability and to what degree they are related to climate extremes,” said Wei. 

For the study, the researchers looked at county-level data on seven crops: barley, corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, spring wheat, and winter wheat.

These are the main crops that are grown in the United States, accounting for about 70 percent of the country’s total cropland. In addition to being widely produced, they have a lot of readily available data that covers a long time period. As a result, the researchers were able to look at data sets from 1978-2020. 

“Agriculture is one of the sectors most directly exposed to the effects of climate change,” said Davis. “Understanding how the stability of crop production is influenced by variations in yield, planted area, and harvested area – and how these influences may differ between crops – is critical to more effectively adapting agriculture in the face of rising climate change and extreme climate events. Dongyang’s research is an important contribution to our understanding on this topic.”

Using time-series data and statistical methods to detect how frequently shocks occur, they found that shocks in planted and harvested areas co-occur with more than half of the production shocks for the study crops. 

They then looked at the extent to which each of the three components contribute to the size of a production shock and found that while yield fluctuations contribute more than the other two components for corn, cotton, soybean and winter wheat, changes in planted and harvested areas play a more important role in the magnitude of production shocks for barley, sorghum and winter wheat. 

Wei said this is important because it shows that researchers should focus on all three variables instead of simply focusing on the yield and ignoring the planted and harvested areas. 

“We want to raise the importance of considering all three of the components when we are facing rising climate variability and climate disruptions on the food systems,” said Wei. “Yield is important, but an exclusive focus on yield stability severely constrains the solution space. If we want to have greater flexibility in adapting agriculture to climate change, we should focus on ways to stabilize planted and harvested areas too. The producers’ decisions on cropping patterns can play a crucial role in stabilizing food production.” 

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JOURNAL

Nature Sustainability

DOI

10.1038/s41893-023-01152-2 

ARTICLE TITLE

Key role of planted and harvested area fluctuations in US crop production shocks

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jun-2023