Study: Vaccination campaign in Cambodia protects endangered wild cattle from highly contagious potentially fatal skin disease

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects domestic cattle and buffalo but can infect wild ruminants

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: A DEAD BANTENG WITH LUMPY SKIN DISEASE. THE ANIMAL WAS ALSO BADLY INJURED IN A SNARE. view more 

CREDIT: WCS CAMBODIA

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries of the Royal Government of Cambodia have documented the first case of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in wildlife in Cambodia.

The case involved a banteng (Bos javanicus), an endangered wild cattle species, that was discovered by community patrol members from Our Future Organization while on patrol in Phnom Tnout – Phnom Pork Wildlife Sanctuary in September 2021. 

It is suspected that the banteng contracted the virus from infected livestock grazing nearby as the virus had already been detected in domestic cattle in the country at that time. To protect free-ranging wild bovids from LSD, a vaccination campaign was launched for domestic cattle ranging within a 20 km radius of protected areas in Mondulkiri and Preah Vihear provinces. WCS and partners published the effort this month in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 

LSD is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects domestic cattle and buffalo but can infect wild ruminants. The virus is transmitted through biting insects and contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids. The disease is characterized by the appearance of raised, fluid-filled bumps on the skin, fever, and other symptoms. In severe cases, LSD can be fatal. It does not infect humans. 

Through this collaborative effort between veterinarians, wildlife experts, NGOs, and government officials a total of 20,089 domestic cattle and water buffalo have been vaccinated to date around banteng habitat in Cambodia. 

“This vaccination campaign serves as an example of protecting both livestock and wildlife health in parallel. Cambodia is conserving wild bovids by taking practical, preventative steps in improving livestock health,” said Mr. Daro Sok, the chief of investigation, Surveillance and Control of Animal Disease for the General Directorate of Animal Health and Production.

“This joint effort to provide this providing vaccination to cattle is verymay have played a crucial roleto  in preventing a larger scale disease outbreak fromin both domestic andto wild cattle, and helped protect community livelihoods and especially to halt public health risks. We thank the Royal Government of Cambodia and our partners for their support in this important effort”, said Mr. Seng Teak, Country Director of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Cambodia. Since the launch of the campaign, no further cases of LSD have been reported in wild banteng or in gaur (Bos gaurus), another susceptible wild cattle species. 

Although LSD is a serious threat to livestock and livelihoods around the world, data are scarce on the impact on and susceptibility of wild ruminant populations. LSD is one of several diseases emerging as a direct consequence of livestock and agricultural encroachment into wildlife habitat. Targeting prevention measures towards domestic animal hosts, as was carried out around Cambodia’s protected areas, is an example of One Health in action to protect biodiversity. 

The banteng was first detected and reported through Cambodia’s wildlife health surveillance network as part of the WildHealthNet initiative funded by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The vaccination campaign in Cambodia was sponsored by WCS’s REDD+ initiative, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, and WWF, and implemented by WCS and government partners together. WCS is working on the frontlines to reduce risk of pathogen spillover, such as African swine fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza, at livestock-wildlife interfaces across the Mekong region. Wildlife health surveillance remains ongoing in Cambodia to ensure early detection and reporting of wildlife health events across the country. 

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Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

WCS combines the power of its zoos and an aquarium in New York City and a Global Conservation Program in more than 50 countries to achieve its mission to save wildlife and wild places. WCS runs the world’s largest conservation field program, protecting more than 50 percent of Earth’s known biodiversity; in partnership with governments, Indigenous People, Local Communities, and the private sector. It’s four zoos and aquarium (the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium ) welcomes more than 3.5 million visitors each year, inspiring generations to care for nature. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society, the organization is led (as of June 1, 2023) by President and CEO Monica P. Medina. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org. Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: +1 (347) 840-1242. Listen to the WCS Wild Audio podcast HERE.

 

 

 

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

DOI

10.3389/fvets.2023.1228505 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Case report: Lumpy skin disease in an endangered wild banteng (Bos javanicus) and initiation of a vaccination campaign in domestic livestock in Cambodia

“Superarthropods”: New publication unravels the impact of the widespread use of insecticides for malaria control

Insights from a recent personal view by Assistant Professor Krijn Paaijmans and colleagues shed light on the potential risks of insecticide resistance in several arthropods due to malaria vector control.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: COURTESY OF KRIJN PAAIJMANS. AN EMPLOYEE OF THE NATIONAL MALARIA CONTROL PROGRAM IN MOZAMBIQUE SPRAYING INSECTICIDES ON WALLS INSIDE A HOME. view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF KRIJN PAAIJMANS

Several diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria, or even parasites. Sometimes, these microorganisms cannot infect humans (or other animals) by themselves, so they rely on other organisms -called vectors- to carry them around and transmit the disease from one host to another. A well-known group of vectors is arthropods. Arthropods have a hard exoskeleton, segmented bodies, and jointed legs. They are incredibly diverse and can be found in various habitats worldwide. They include disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes, sand flies, kissing bugs, and ticks.

Mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria, dengue, Zika, and yellow fever. Over the last century, people have developed various ways to reduce mosquito numbers to avoid spreading life-threatening diseases, mainly malaria. The most common approach is using insecticides added to bednets or sprayed indoors. Although these tools target mosquitoes, they often affect other types of arthropods that might come in contact with them. 

Graduate student Ndey Bassin Jobe, Assistant Professor Silvie Huijben, and Assistant Professor Krijn Paaijmans from the School of Life Sciences and the Center for Evolution and Medicine recently published a personal view in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. In their publication, they discuss how insecticides used in malaria control not only affect malaria-carrying mosquitoes but can also lead to insecticide resistance in other arthropods, several of which transmit overlooked and dangerous tropical diseases.

How these arthropods behave, like when and where they feed and rest, affects how much they are exposed to insecticides used for malaria control. Jobe and colleagues argue that there is an urgent need to monitor the behavior and insecticide susceptibility status of those other arthropods.

When other arthropods are repeatedly exposed to the same insecticides, they might become resistant to the chemicals meant to kill or control malaria mosquitoes. 
“Understanding the extent to which other disease vectors are exposed to insecticides used now is critical because if they already develop resistance, it will be difficult to prevent and control future emerging and re-emerging diseases,” Ndey Bassin explains. 

Unfortunately, many other arthropod species are already resistant to insecticides used in malaria vector control. Scientists still don’t know much about when, where, and how often they come into contact with malaria control tools. Understanding how these organisms become resistant is crucial to ensure insecticides can effectively control and prevent various diseases now and in the future. 

“Effectively combating vector-borne diseases depends very often on the control of arthropod vectors as for many diseases, including West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya, Saint Louis encephalitis and Ross River virus, we do not have vaccines or drugs,” Professor Paaijmans said. 

The authors emphasize an urgent need for a comprehensive approach to managing disease-carrying organisms. Understanding behavioral patterns and the overall characteristics of other organisms that can spread disease is critical to preventing and controlling future health threats. 

“We have to improve our understanding of the distribution, ecology, behavior and insecticide susceptibility status of all other relevant arthropod species, to ensure we develop the most future-proof and holistic vector control strategies and protect future generations,” Professor Huijben concluded.  
 

Courtesy of Krijn Paaijmans. A typical home in southern Mozambique.

  

Courtesy of Krijn Paaijmans. A malaria mosquito resting on an insecticide-treated wall.

JOURNAL

The Lancet Planetary Health

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Non-target effects of chemical malaria vector control on other biological and mechanical infectious disease vectors

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Aug-2023

Meet the Persian Gold Tarantula: a new species discovery just on time for Tarantula Appreciation Day 2023

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENSOFT PUBLISHERS

 

IMAGE: NEWLY DESCRIBED TARANTULA SPECIES CHAETOPELMA PERSIANUM, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE PERSIAN GOLD TARANTULA. view more 

CREDIT: KARI KAUNISTO

The Persian Gold Tarantula (Chaetopelma persianum) is a newly described species recently discovered in northwestern Iran. In fact, the “woolly, golden hairs” the scientists observed and examined on a single specimen, were one of the features so unique that it was not necessary for additional individuals to be collected and physically studied. It was clear enough that it was a species previously unknown to the scientific community. 

The paper, authored by Iranian arachnologist and taxonomist Dr Alireza Zamani (University of Turku, Finland) and his Canadian colleague Rick C. West, was published in the peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal ZooKeys on the observance of the Tarantula Appreciation Day: 8th August. 

The new species belongs to Chaetopelma, a relatively small genus, distributed in Crete, Sudan, and the Middle East. It is also one of the only two tarantula genera inhabiting the Mediterranean region. 

The newly published discovery also presents the first record of this genus in Iran and the third known species of tarantulas in the country. Additionally, it extends the known range of Chaetopelma spiders by almost 350 km eastwards. 

The name of the new to science species, Chaetopelma persianum, pays tribute to its country of occurrence, as Iran has historically been known as Persia. The authors suggest “Persian Gold Tarantula” as a colloquial name for the species.

This tarantula is an obligate burrower and inhabits high elevations in well-vegetated mountainous regions of the northern Zagros Mountains. The collected specimen used to describe the new species was found in a self-made ground burrow on sloped rocky ground, amidst sparse low vegetation and grasses.

It all started with local nature enthusiast Mehdi Gavahyan, who photographed a wandering male and sent the photo to Zamani. Having figured that the spider was likely a species currently unknown to science, the scientist asked Gavahyan to team up with Amir Hossein Aghaei, a nature enthusiast and a friend, and send him specimens of these spiders for further examination. However, Gavahyan and Aghaei managed to only collect and send a single female specimen that would later become the spider used in the species description.

Additionally, thanks to local citizen scientists and naturalists, the authors of the study later got hold of photos of another two males of the same genus, taken very close to the type locality of the new species: one in Sardasht in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran, and the other in the surroundings of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq. While it is highly probable that both these males belong to Ch. persianum, this cannot be confirmed until further examination of collected material from both sexes is conducted.

“Looking ahead, we believe that more comprehensive investigations employing integrative methods would greatly benefit our knowledge about the Chaetopelma spiders,”

say the researchers. 

“Additionally, further collection efforts in lesser-sampled or completely unexplored regions, such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, eastern Turkey and western Iran, could lead to the discovery of additional Chaetopelma species or records. These findings would be instrumental in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the taxonomy and distribution of this genus.” 

 

Research paper:

Tong S, Yang D, Qiu J-W, Ke C, Wang Z (2023) Podarkeopsis chinensis sp. nov. (Annelida, Hesionidae) from southeastern China. ZooKeys 1173: 339-355. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1173.106112 

  

The newly described tarantula species (Chaetopelma persianum) seen in a defensive posture.

The newly described tarantula species (Chaetopelma persianum) seen in a defensive posture.

CREDIT

Kari Kaunisto

Burrow of Persian Gold Tarantulas in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.

Burrow of Persian Gold Tarantulas in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. The arrow in the photo on the right indicates the location of the burrow.

  

Habitat of the newly described Persian Gold Tarantula (Chaetopelma persianum) in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.

CREDIT

Amir Hossein Aghaei

JOURNAL

ZooKeys

DOI

10.3897/zookeys.1173.106112 

ARTICLE TITLE

A new species of Chaetopelma Ausserer, 1871 (Araneae, Theraphosidae) from Iran

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023

 

Managing domestic and wildcats is likely to remain fraught, new research warns

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

 

Current efforts to protect and restore native biodiversity is being threatened by difficulties in identifying wild and domestic cats, and categorisation is likely to remain fraught for the foreseeable future, experts have warned.

Efforts to restore the native wildcat (Felis sivestris) are ongoing in Britain and conservationists in New Zealand are also trying to protect native species. Domestic cats pose a threat to other species in both countries. 

The study shows New Zealanders are much less sentimental about pest management to protect native species. As a result domestic cats are treated very differently in the two countries.

Dr Alexandra Palmer, from the University of Auckland, and Dr Virginia Thomas, from the University of Exeter, interviewed those involved with cat conservation in New Zealand and Britain respectively.

In Britain, public opinion is very much against culling feral cats, even in the interests of protecting wildcats. Conservationists are responding to this pragmatically, using ‘trap neuter vaccinte release’ programmes to manage feral cats, rather than culling them. Avoiding culling has the added advantage of ensuring that wildcats aren’t accidentally killed if they’re mistaken for a feral cat. Killing feral cats is legal however, with some game keepers shooting them as part of their predator control programmes.

Wildcats are protected and killing them is an offence, but it can be very difficult to distinguish between domestic and wildcats and this is complicated even further by domestic wildcat hybrids which make legal distinction difficult and render prosecution in cases of wildcat persecution almost impossible under existing legislation.

Different values and attitudes towards cats means that a feral cat is often in the eye of the beholder’ – some people see a cat and assume that its’ feral while others might assume that it’s a wildcat or even a pet cat.

New Zealanders, New Zealand conservationists and even New Zeland cat welfare organisations tend to accept the killing of feral cats in order to protect native species. Pet cats can be killed by mistake if they are accidentally caught in traps intended for feral cats or other ‘pests’. In this case, the legal difficulty is over whether cats are genuinley feral or are stray, and people therefore have a responsibility to protect rather than cull them.  

Dr Palmer carried out 59 interviews and 16 in-depth discussions in New Zealand with conservation project managers and staff, critics of predator control, researchers, Māori stakeholders, and others with relevant interests and expertise. Dr Thomas visited four wildcat breeding facilities across Britain and carried out 26 interviews with those involved with species conservation and management, including conservation communication officers, consultants, practitioners, project managers, policy experts, and researchers.

Dr Thomas said: “In theory and in practice, valued companion and wildcats are distinguished from unprotected feral cats, and in-between categories of stray and hybrid cats. Those responsible draw boundaries between cat categories differently. These differences in boundary-drawing reflect the inherent blurriness of category boundaries, practical challenges, and, importantly, differences in values, in particular whether priority is placed on the life of the cat or the cat’s potential victim, particularly native or game birds. This can mean that laws outlining protections for specific categories of animals have limited effect if, in practice, those encountering cats draw boundaries differently.

“In Britain, it seems unlikely that legal protection of wildcats in theory can be extended to the field without a quick, easy, and reliable method of differentiating between domestic, hybrid, and wildcats. Reducing gaps between law and practice would require seeking agreement from those involved in cat management to stick to the letter of the law, despite this potentially bringing difficult practical implications.”

Research participants in the UK described the “genetic dilution” of the wildcat and its functional extinction.

In the UK there is no legal definition of a wildcat, which makes protecting them extremely difficult. Meanwhile, feral cats may legally be killed at any time, although they are protected under the Animal Welfare Act (2006), meaning that any such killing must be humane. Companion cats are classed as property and are protected by property ownership laws.

 

 

 

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JOURNAL

People and Nature

DOI

10.1002/pan3.10519 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Categorisation of cats: managing boundary felids in Aotearoa New Zealand and Britain

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Aug-2023

 

Nitrogen runoff strategies complicated by climate change

Rising temperatures may impact nitrogen runoff from land to lakes and streams more than projected increases in total and extreme precipitation

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE

Washington, DC— As climate change progresses, rising temperatures may impact nitrogen runoff from land to lakes and streams more than projected increases in total and extreme precipitation for most of the continental United States, according to new research from a team of Carnegie climate scientists led by Gang Zhao and Anna Michalak published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The conditions predicted by these findings are opposite to recent decades, when increasing precipitation has outpaced warming and led to more aquatic nitrogen pollution. Understanding the relative roles of changes in temperature and rainfall is critical for designing water quality management strategies that are robust to climate change while ensuring sustainable food and water supplies.

Human activity has completely altered how nitrogen moves through the planet’s aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric systems. Nitrogen from fertilizer washes into waterways and, in excess, can lead to toxin-producing algal blooms or low-oxygen dead zones called hypoxia. Over the past several summers, large algal blooms in lake and coastal regions across the United States have received extensive news coverage.

Carnegie’s Anna Michalak and her team have spent the last decade studying how climate change will affect nitrogen runoff and the subsequent risks posed to water quality. One of the biggest questions for those working to understand and prevent serious water quality impairments is the balance between how changes in temperature and changes in precipitation will affect nitrogen pollution’s ability to get into at-risk waterways.

“The complex soil and aquatic systems through which nitrogen travels, the chemical transformations it undergoes along the way, and the various ways in which changes in temperature and precipitation will affect these processes make nutrient management a big challenge,” Zhao explained.

For example, average and extreme precipitation affects how much nitrogen runs off the land and into waterways, as well as how long it takes for the nitrogen to reach lakes or coastal zones, where it can eventually create dangerous conditions. Temperature also indirectly impacts how much nitrogen ends up in waterways, because warming temperatures increase evaporation, preventing it from going into streams. Temperature also affects how nitrogen interacts with microbial life in the soil and sediment, potentially trapping it there or altering its course.  

“Although the impacts of climate change-induced shifts in precipitation patterns have been explored, the effect of temperature increases on the movement of nitrogen into rivers has not been quantified at continental scales until now due to a lack of available data,” Zhao added.

Zhao, Michalak, and their Carnegie colleagues Julian Merder and Tristan Ballard analyzed several decades of data tracking nitrogen’s movement through river systems across the continental United States and used it to project future trajectories for nitrogen movement under climate change scenarios. They determined that rising temperatures will likely offset, or even decrease, the amount of excess nitrogen flushed into rivers for the majority of the U.S., despite a predicted uptick in precipitation.

These findings are counter to recent decades, when precipitation was the dominant factor over temperature in determining the amount of nitrogen that built up in U.S. waterways. Zhao, Michalak, and their colleagues say that this work forms a critical baseline for future research on the interplay between the nitrogen cycle and climate change.  

“Our research illustrates the complex, and sometimes surprising, ways that climate change affects our planet’s dynamic systems,” Michalak concluded. “Untangling the various factors that are altering the climate change impacts on water quality will help farmers, land managers, and policymakers to pursue the best possible strategies for ensuring that we safeguard water quality, while simultaneously ensuring sustainable food production and water supply.”

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2220616120 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Warming may offset impact of precipitation changes on riverine nitrogen loading

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Aug-2023

 

Pause in recent coral recovery on much of Great Barrier Reef

In-water monitoring by AIMS shows hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remains at similar levels to that recorded in 2022, with small decreases in the Northern, Central and Southern regions

Reports and Proceedings

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: AN AIMS LONG-TERM MONITORING PROGRAM SCIENTIST SURVEYS A REEF BY MANTA TOW ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. view more 

CREDIT: AIMS

In-water monitoring by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remains at similar levels to that recorded in 2022, with small decreases in the Northern, Central and Southern regions.

Published today (Wednesday 9 August), AIMS’ Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2022/23 found that while some reefs continued to recover, their increased hard coral cover was offset by coral loss on other reefs. Most reefs underwent little change in coral cover.

This follows last year’s report, which saw the Northern and Central regions recording their highest amount of coral cover since AIMS began monitoring 37 years ago.

The pauses in recovery in the Northern and Central regions were due in part to the 2022 mass coral bleaching event. Low numbers of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish and a cyclone in January 2022 also contributed to coral loss in the Northern region. Continued crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and coral disease kept coral cover similar to last year’s levels in the Southern region, with bleaching playing less of a role.

AIMS Research Program Director Dr David Wachenfeld said that while continued recovery on some reefs was good news, the pause in recovery showed that even relatively milder mass bleaching events had consequences for the Reef.

“The 2022 coral bleaching event was not as severe as the 2016 or 2017 events but caused enough mortality to pause recent regional gains in hard coral cover. The heat stress during the bleaching event also likely had sub-lethal effects, including reductions in coral growth and reproduction,” Dr Wachenfeld said.

“Conditions were relatively mild over the 2023 summer with low levels of coral bleaching and no cyclones crossing the Reef. However, we are only one large scale disturbance away from a rapid reversal of recent recovery.

“The Reef remains a wonderful, complex and beautiful system, but it is at increased risk with climate change driving more frequent and severe bleaching events, putting increasing pressure on the ecosystem’s resilience.”

The Report found the following in average hard coral coverage for 2022/23:

• Northern region (north of Cooktown) - 35.7%, down from 36.5% last year;
• Central region (Cooktown to Proserpine) – 30.8%, down from 32.6%;
• Southern region (south of Proserpine) – 33.8%, down from 33.9%.

Reef slopes on the perimeters of 111 reefs were surveyed between August 2022 and May 2023 for the report under the AIMS Long Term Monitoring Program (LTMP) – a 37-year-long dataset which is the largest, longest and most comprehensive information source on the status of the Great Barrier Reef.

AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program leader Dr Mike Emslie said recovery over the last few years has been driven primarily, but not exclusively, by fast-growing branching and plate corals, or Acropora. These important habitat builders are also vulnerable to disturbances such as cyclones, crown-of-thorns starfish and coral bleaching.

“Acropora are highly abundant, responsible for most of the ups and downs in hard coral cover, and have been going through a rapid growth phase in recent years. But other corals on the Reef have also contributed to this recovery,” he said.

Dr Emslie noted the increased frequency of mass coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef with four occurring since 2016.

“The 2022 bleaching event was the first ever recorded during a La Niña year, which are usually characterised by cooler temperatures,” he said.

“If there were no disturbances, we would expect the recent increases in coral cover to continue this year. However, this pause indicates that a mass bleaching event, even if less severe, with low mortality, is still enough to put the brakes on this coral recovery.

“This means the Reef is still at risk of decline from more frequent disturbances. AIMS is working to understand the effect of this climatic instability through monitoring and research.”

Dr Wachenfeld added: “The best hope for the future of the Great Barrier Reef and all coral reefs globally requires reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to stabilise temperatures, best practice management of local pressures, and the development of interventions to help boost climate tolerance and resilience for coral reefs.”

BACKGROUND
The LTMP quantifies long term trends in the status of coral communities across the Great Barrier Reef.

Researchers use hard coral cover as one indicator of the condition of each reef, although there are many others. Percentage hard coral cover is estimated by trained scientists during manta tow surveys and is a metric which allows AIMS scientists to provide an overview of the Great Barrier Reef’s status and keep policy makers, managers and other scientists informed in a timely manner.

Manta tow surveys are an efficient way to survey large areas of reef. It is a standard method to assess percent hard coral cover, estimates of crown-of-thorns starfish, levels of coral bleaching, and fish and shark populations.

The LTMP also does detailed surveys on fixed sites on 73 reefs across the Great Barrier Reef. These data provide deeper insights into the corals, fishes and crown of thorns starfish at these sites, their abundance, their age and more detailed information about coral disease and bleaching. 3D images are taken of these reefs to assess reef complexity and their changing structures.

The AIMS monitoring team spent 120 days at sea during this survey period. They travelled 1016km around the perimeter of the 111 reefs they surveyed.

The AIMS LTMP team begin their new survey season in late August. Surveys will continue through the summer and conclude around May 2024.

The LTMP contributes to the Reef 2050 Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program.

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ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023

 

Investors force Black families out of home ownership, new research shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: CONCENTRATION OF INVESTOR-OWNED HOUSING 2013 view more 

CREDIT: GEORGIA TECH

Investors have been buying houses at a steady rate since the last recession, but how much does it affect availability in the housing market? New research from the Georgia Institute of Technology shows investors are most likely to push out Black, middle-class homeowners from neighborhoods.

Data from 800 neighborhoods in the Atlanta metropolitan area between 2007 and 2016 revealed that major investors bought homes in majority-minority neighborhoods far from downtowns and in lower-income areas. These homes were often undervalued because of their minority populations, but they remained desirable and offered good market value.

The neighborhoods where investors bought up real estate were predominantly Black, effectively cutting Black families out of home ownership. Collectively, Black people lost more than $4 billion in home equity over a 10-year period because of investors, according to the research.

“That $4 billion refers to the home values that would have gone to individual homebuyers if these large institutional investment firms hadn’t purchased those properties,” said Brian An, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy. “This is a very conservative, lower estimate than what the actual effect probably is.”

An presented his findings in the paper, “The Influence of Institutional Single-Family Rental Investors on Homeownership: Who Gets Targeted and Pushed Out of the Local Market?,” published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research in June.

The Shrinking Homebuyer Market

Owning a home is one of the main ways for the American middle class to accumulate wealth. Despite this, home ownership declined by 5.5.% between 2007 and 2016. Who owns these homes is even more divided based on race. From 2015 to 2019, homeownership among Black families in the U.S. was 41.7% and for white families 71.7%.

Simultaneously, large private investment firms started buying single-family homes often to flip the houses and rent them at higher rates. Although smaller investment groups often buy homes, the major impact on the market comes from large private institutions.

Analyzing the Data

Investors have long been suspected of buying up substantial portions of the housing market, but determining just how many has been challenging. An used transaction data like buyer names and mailing addresses to determine who property owners were. With a natural language processing tool called OpenRefine that cleans and clusters messy textual data, he combed through millions of observations.

An then analyzed the data with the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), a measure of market concentration that can determine the diversity of buyers.

“It means how many properties they are purchasing in one neighborhood,” An said. “For example, let's say there were 500 purchases in the year for single-family houses, then essentially, how many are these large investment firms collectively purchasing? If it’s 500, that is low HHI, meaning a lower market concentration. If it’s only two firms, that’s an extremely high market concentration.”

Using these methods and measures, An showed that, on average, neighborhoods experienced an increase of large investor purchases from nearly 0% in 2007 to over 12% in the peak year, 2013. Investors acquired up to 76% of for-sale, single-family homes in some neighborhoods.  

Institutional investments primarily affected Black families, according to one of An’s models. Results indicated this negative effect is much worse for Black homeownership and totally absent for white homeownership. Whether this is because investment firms mostly purchase in Black neighborhoods or if Black homeowners are specifically targeted is unclear. Regardless of the reasoning, large investors decrease homeownership for anyone in areas they buy out, but especially for Black people.

“Real estate industry stakeholders say these big firms own no more than 3% of total single-family housing stock in the United States, so there is no way that they can suppress home ownership more,” An said. “But if you look at the neighborhood dynamics, there is a lot more concentration in certain neighborhoods that really drives down home ownership.”

 

An, B.Y. (2023). The Influence of Institutional Single-Family Rental Investors on Homeownership: Who Gets Targeted and Pushed Out of the Local Market? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X231176072

 

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The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its more than 45,000 undergraduate and graduate students, representing 50 states and more than 148 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Planning Education and Research

DOI

10.1177/0739456X231176072 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis