School-based gardening and food programs may support healthier food attitudes later in life

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

STUDY OF THE FRESHFARMS FOODPRINTS PROGRAM SUGGESTS THAT KID WHO LEARN TO GROW, HARVEST AND PREPARE FOOD IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOW LASTING HEALTHY FOOD ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS LATER IN LIFE.

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CREDIT: FRESHFARMS FOODPRINTS/KZT PHOTOGRAPHY

WASHINGTON (Jan. 8, 2024)—A new study suggests that kids who learn to grow, harvest and prepare food in elementary school show lasting healthy food attitudes and behaviors years later.

 

Researchers at the George Washington University published the study in the January issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. It is one of the first to show that participation in a hands-on food education program in elementary school may lead to sustained changes in dietary behavior later in life.

 

“Kids who grow vegetables in a school garden and learn how to prepare meals seem to show a lasting desire for fresh, healthy food as young adults,” said lead author Christine St. Pierre, a PhD candidate and researcher at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. “The hope is that such programs could help teens and young adults make better food choices as they grow older.”

 

The GW research team conducted focus groups to ask current elementary students and those who had aged out of such programs about their program experiences, dietary habits and attitudes. They found that both current and former participants in the FRESHFARM FoodPrints  program commonly said the program helped them enjoy fresh food and build fresh food preparation skills.

 

Older alumni of the program said they were more open to trying new foods and had more confidence in their ability to make informed food choices.

 

The researchers hope such programs can be one strategy to improve diet quality in young adults. According to the Dietary Guidelines, dietary intake of young adults falls short of the recommendations for good health. In addition, the CDC says nearly 42% of adults aged 20 and older have obesity and are at risk for a raft of serious health problems.

 

Programs that encourage healthy food habits like eating more fruits and vegetables can lead to better health outcomes throughout the life course, St. Pierre said.

 

St. Pierre cautions that participants in the focus groups may be motivated to emphasize positive experiences and that may bias the results. She says this study’s findings must be verified by additional research.

 

The study, “Participant Perspectives on the Impact of a School-Based, Experiential Food Education Program Across Childhood, Adolescence and Young Adulthood,” was published in the January issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior by St. Pierre, April Sokalsky and senior author Jennifer Sacheck, who is the Chair of the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. The research was funded by FRESHFARM as part of their program evaluation efforts.

 

St. Pierre has worked as an evaluation consultant for FRESHFARM separately from this research. The FRESHFARM FoodPrints program embeds comprehensive food education in public elementary schools with the goal of improving health and academic outcomes for children and families. The authors affirm FRESHFARM had no role in the design of the study, data analysis or approval of the manuscript.

 

-GW-

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Partici[pant Perspectives on the Impact of a School-Based Experiential Food Education Program Across Childhood, Adolescence and Young Adulthood

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jan-2024

Participants in school-based gardening and food programs benefit from lasting impacts on dietary behaviors

Thousands of students have successfully participated in the FRESHFARM FoodPrints program over the past 15 years, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ELSEVIER

 

AUDIO: 

CHRISTINE ST. PIERRE, MPH, RD, PRESENTS THE RESULTS OF A NEW STUDY TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT ON DIETARY BEHAVIORS ON CURRENT AND FORMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN FRESHFARM FOODPRINTS’ SCHOOL-BASED GARDENING AND FOOD EDUCATION CLASSES OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS. ANALYSIS REVEALED HOW THIS EARLY LEARNING POSITIVELY INFLUENCED FOOD DECISIONS AS CHILDREN GREW OLDER, EXTENDING INTO ADULTHOOD.

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CREDIT: JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR

Philadelphia, January 8, 2024 – To encourage fruit and vegetable consumption among youth, experiential food education programs such as gardening and cooking lessons have increased across both community and school settings. A recent research article in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, published by Elsevier, revealed how this early learning positively influenced food decisions as children grew older.

Lead study author Christine St. Pierre, MPH, RD, Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, explained, “While food education programs are evaluated, much of the evidence of program impact comes from evaluations less than a year after the class, and little is known about the enduring impact through childhood and into adulthood."

This study explored the experiences of current and alumni participants of the FRESHFARM FoodPrints food education program, which is embedded in more than 20 elementary schools within a large urban public school district in the eastern United States. The program's first school partnership was established nearly 15 years ago, and the oldest alumni participants are now young adults. A network of alumni has been established and maintained as the program has grown, providing a unique opportunity to gain insight into the experiences of both current participants and those who have aged out of the program.

Researchers observed classes and interviewed program coaches and staff to prepare for focus group sessions. Focus groups were recruited among current and alumni students. Questions were designed to gain insights into the typical participant experience, current nutrition behaviors, food environment, and impression of the FoodPrints program.

Nine emergent themes were identified in three categories of impact: immediate, beyond the classroom, and sustained. The immediate impact of the programs included enjoyment of food experiences, hands-on learning of food skills, and connection with peers through a shared experience. Beyond the classroom experience, the programs shifted individual and family food choices and increased involvement of students in family food practices and interest in fresh food options at school. Appreciation for fresh food, openness to trying new foods, and confidence in making food decisions were the sustained benefits of the programs.

St. Pierre commented, "While we recognize the demands on education resources and the precious time of teachers, findings in this study suggest that investment in experiential food education in elementary school can provide an important contribution to the continuation of healthy dietary behaviors as children grow up.”

 

 

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

DOI

10.1016/j.jneb.2023.10.012 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Participant Perspectives on the Impact of a School-Based, Experiential Food Education Program Across Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jan-2024

COI STATEMENT

Christine St. Pierre has worked as an evaluation consultant for FRESHFARM separately from this research. FRESHFARM had no role in the design of this study, data analysis, or preparation and approval of the manuscript.

 

Families will change dramatically over the years to come

The structure of families will change in the future: grandparents will be older and entering ages with high care needs. This could limit their ability to help raise their grandchildren

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT

 

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THE NUMBER OF RELATIVES WILL DECREASE WORLDWIDE IN THE FUTURE.

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CREDIT: MPIDR

The number of relatives that an individual has is expected to decrease by more than 35 percent in the near future. At the same time, the structure of families will change. The number of cousins, nieces, nephews and grandchildren will decline sharply, while the number of great-grandparents and grandparents will increase significantly. In 1950, a 65-year-old woman had an average of 41 living relatives. By 2095, a woman of the same age will have an average of only 25 living relatives.

Diego Alburez-Gutierrez is head of the Research Group Kinship Inequalities at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock. Together with Ivan Williams of the University of Buenos Aires and Hal Caswell of the University of Amsterdam, he recently published a study projecting the evolution of human kinship relationships worldwide.

"We asked ourselves how demographic change will affect the 'endowment' of kinship in the future," Alburez-Gutierrez explains. "What was the size, structure, and age distribution of families in the past, and how will they evolve in the future?" For the study, the researchers analyzed historical and projected data from the 2022 revision of the United Nation's World Population Prospects. "We use mathematical models to represent the relationship between a person, their ancestors, and their descendants in a given time period. The model provides average age and sex distributions for different types of kinship for each calendar year," says Alburez-Gutierrez. 1000 kinship histories were calculated for each country.

Shrinking families

The researchers documented differences in family size around the world, which they defined as the number of living great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, siblings and cousins. "We expect the overall size of families to decline permanently in all regions of the world. We expect the largest declines in South America and the Caribbean," says Alburez-Gutierrez. In 1950, the average 65-year-old woman there had 56 living relatives. By 2095, that number is expected to drop to 18.3 relatives, a 67 percent decline. In North America and Europe, where families are already comparatively small, the changes will be less pronounced. Here, a woman aged 65 had about 25 living relatives in 1950 but by 2095 she will have only 15.9 relatives.

Relatives play a crucial role in providing of informal care

Projections of kinship are critical in the context of rapidly aging populations, as smaller birth cohorts must increasingly care for older adults who have fewer or no relatives. "Our findings confirm that the availability of kinship resources is declining worldwide. As the age gap between individuals and their relatives widens, people will have family networks that are not just smaller, but also older. Consider the case of grandparents and great-grandparents, who are expected to be in greater supply in the future. While this could theoretically help ease the burden of childcare for parents, these (great-)grandparents may actually need care themselves”.

The study underscores the need to invest in social support systems that ensure the well-being of individuals at all stages of life. A large proportion of the world's population does not currently have access to highly developed social support systems. For them, family ties remain an important source of support and informal care, and this is likely to remain the case in the future. "These seismic shifts in family structure will bring about important societal challenges that policymakers in the global North and South should consider," says Alburez-Gutierrez.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2315722120 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Projections of human kinship for all countries

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Jan-2024

 

Widespread population collapse of African Raptors

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS

An international team of researchers has found that Africa’s birds of prey are facing an extinction crisis.

The report, co-led by researchers from the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews and The Peregrine Fund, and published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution (4 January 2024), warns of declines among nearly 90% of 42 species examined, and suggests that more than two-thirds may qualify as globally threatened.

Led by Dr Phil Shaw from St Andrews and Dr Darcy Ogada of The Peregrine Fund,  the study combines counts from road surveys conducted within four African regions at intervals of c. 20–40 years and yields unprecedented insights into patterns of change in the abundance of savanna raptor species.

It shows that large raptor species had experienced significantly steeper declines than smaller species, particularly on unprotected land, where they are more vulnerable to persecution and other human pressures. Overall, raptors had declined more than twice as rapidly outside of National Parks, Reserves and other protected areas than they had within. Worryingly, many species experiencing the steepest declines had suffered a double jeopardy, having also become much more dependent on protected areas over the course of the study.

The study’s authors conclude that unless many of the threats currently facing African raptors are addressed effectively, large, charismatic eagle and vulture species are unlikely to persist over much of the continent’s unprotected land by the latter half of this century.

The study also highlights steep declines among raptors that are currently classified as being of ‘least concern’ in the global Red List of threatened species. They include African endemics such as Wahlberg's Eagle, African Hawk-eagle, Long-crested Eagle, African Harrier-hawk and Brown Snake-eagle, as well as Dark Chanting-goshawk. All of these species have declined at rates suggesting that they may now be globally threatened.

Several other familiar, widespread raptor species are now scarce or absent from unprotected land. They include one of Africa’s most powerful raptors - the Martial Eagle - as well as the highly distinctive Bateleur.

Dr Phil Shaw commented: “Since the 1970s, extensive areas of forest and savanna have been converted into farmland, while other pressures affecting African raptors have likewise intensified. With the human population projected to double in the next 35 years, the need to extend Africa’s protected area network – and mitigate pressures in unprotected areas – is now greater than ever”.

Dr Darcy Ogada added: “Africa is at a crossroads in terms of saving its magnificent birds of prey. In many areas we have watched these species nearly disappear. One of Africa’s most iconic raptors, the Secretarybird, is on the brink of extinction. There’s no single threat imperiling these birds, it’s a combination of many human-caused ones, in other words we are seeing deaths from a thousand cuts”.

Professor Ian Newton OBE FRS, FRSE, a world-leading ornithologist who was not involved in the study, commented: “This is an important paper which draws attention to the massive declines in predatory birds which have occurred across much of Africa during recent decades. This was the continent over which, only 50 years ago, pristine populations of spectacular raptors were evident almost everywhere, bringing excitement and wonder to visitors from many parts of the world. The causes of the declines are many – from rampant habitat destruction to growing use of poisons by farmers and poachers and expanding powerline networks – all ultimately due to expansions in human numbers, livestock grazing and other activities. Let us hope that more research can be done and, more importantly, that these birds can be protected over ever more areas, measures largely dependent on the education and goodwill of local people.”

Raptors of all sizes lead an increasingly perilous existence on Africa’s unprotected land, where suitable habitat, food supplies and breeding sites have been drastically reduced, and persecution from pastoralists, ivory poachers and farmers is now widespread. Other significant threats include unintentional poisoning, electrocution on power poles and collision with powerlines and wind turbines, as well as killing for food and belief-based uses.

The late Dr Jean Marc Thiollay laid the foundation for this study in the 1970s, by initiating a remarkable long-term monitoring effort in West Africa, where the average decline rate was more than twice that of other regions. The Peregrine Fund’s Dr Ralph Buij, who has re-surveyed some of the original areas, noted that: “the human footprint is particularly high throughout West Africa’s savannas, and the near complete disappearance of many raptors outside that region’s relatively small and fragmented protected area network reflects an ecological collapse that is increasingly affecting other parts of the continent. Some raptors that occur mostly in West Africa, such as the little-known Beaudouin’s Snake-eagle, are vanishing into oblivion.”

The study’s findings highlight the importance of strengthening the protection of Africa’s natural habitats and aligns with the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15 goal of expanding conservation areas to cover 30% of land by 2030. They also demonstrate the need to restore natural habitats within unprotected areas, reduce the impact of energy infrastructure, improve legislation for species protection, and establish long-term monitoring and evaluation of the conservation status of African raptors. Crucially, there is a pressing need to try to increase public involvement in raptor conservation efforts.

To this end, the study’s authors have developed the African Raptor Leadership Grant to address the immediate need for more research and conservation programs. It supports educational and mentoring opportunities for emerging African scientists, boosting local conservation initiatives and knowledge of raptors across the continent. This initiative, which was launched in 2023, awarded its first grant to Joan Banda, a raptor research student at AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute in Nigeria, who will be studying threats to African owls.

ENDS

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41559-023-02236-0 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

African savanna raptors show evidence of widespread population collapse and a growing dependence on protected areas

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-Jan-2024

Captive-bred birds able to improve their flight and migration performance

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

SDE BOKER, Israel, January 8, 2024 – Two types of experiences affect the behavioral skills of animals: the animal's environment during its early development and acquired experience. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's researchers followed Egyptian vultures during migration, a critical and challenging period for them, and investigated how their flying skills developed by examining their performance using high resolution tracking.

Their findings were published in the journal Current Biology last month.

The flight skills of two groups of birds of the species Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), a long-distance soaring raptor, were assessed using GPS transmitters for 127 autumn migrations of 65 individuals. The two groups were quite different in terms of their early life experiences: one group was raised in captivity and the other in the wild. The birds in both groups improved their flight and migration performance as they gained experience. However, the improvements observed were most evident for vultures raised in captivity.

During their first migration, the captive-bred birds were less efficient but were able to catch up with the migration performance of those raised in the wild as early as the second migration. Thus, the experience gained helped offset the shortcomings of their early life experience at an early stage. Just as it is harder for humans to learn a language in old age, the vultures that hatched in captivity and were set free at a later age found it difficult to learn the necessary flying and roaming skills, but eventually caught up with those that learned earlier.

"We were able to generate data on the vultures' migration and flying skills. The data made it possible to learn about the value of early experience and acquired experience and their impact on the ability of birds to cope with challenging periods such as migration," explained Dr. Ron Efrat, one of the lead investigators, who recently completed his doctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Oded Berger-Tal of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. "It seems that birds, like humans, are also affected by their life experience," he concluded.

The research group included: Prof. Nir Sapir from the University of Haifa, Prof. Thomas Mueller from Frankfurt University, and the Senckenberg Research Center in Germany, and Ohad Hatzofe, Bird Ecologist of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

This study was supported by the German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), grant number I-1465-413.13.2018. In addition, Ron Efrat was supported by the Adams Fellowship of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

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JOURNAL

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.012 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Early and accumulated experience shape migration and flight in Egyptian vultures

 

Cracking the case for non-glass wine bottles

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Would you be happy to pour your friends a glass of wine from a cask or sip your favourite red from an aluminium can?

Traditional glass bottles have long been the preferred choice of packaging among wine lovers due to the belief that wine looks and tastes better in glass. While glass bottles have been the wine industry’s go-to for centuries, they are not the most carbon-friendly option available.

Researchers from the University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science and the University of Adelaide’s Business School have explored people’s wine packaging choices, and how attributes such as price, brand, and messaging can influence them.

Lead researcher Jakob Mesidis says previous wine packaging research has largely focused on wine label and closure (cork or screw-top) preferences, but little attention has been paid to the format of the packaging.

“We knew that consumers weren’t buying alternatively packaged wine at the same rate they were buying it bottled, so we wanted to know what we should change to motivate them to choose more sustainable options,” he says.

Conventional glass wine bottles are the wine industry’s largest source of carbon emissions, with the manufacture of a single bottle generating 1.25kg of carbon dioxide. In total, the production and transport of glass wine bottles make up more than two thirds of the wine industry’s total carbon output.

Australia’s main alternative wine packaging formats are the ‘bag-in-box’ (i.e., cask wine) and aluminium cans, although new formats, such as flat plastic wine bottles, are gradually entering the market each day.

These alternative formats are up to 51% more carbon efficient than glass, but Mesidis says Australian consumers are resistant when it comes to these more environmentally friendly options.

“There are some underlying prejudices in relation to alternative wine packages as they are seen as the cheaper, low-quality option when compared to glass bottles, which come with a sense of heritage and luxury,” he says.

“Canned wine has seen a rise in popularity but is still a small portion of the market. Flat bottles have only recently been introduced to Australia but have grown in popularity overseas.”

So, what can the wine industry do to bring consumers on board?

In a survey of 1200 Australians, the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute found that cask wine and flat plastic wine bottles were the most preferred formats after traditional glass bottles. Cans were the least preferred, as they were closely tied to specific occasions, such as drinking outdoors.

Results also found that package format was the biggest influence on people’s choices. Price came second, while the importance of brand and eco-messaging varied depending on the respondent’s age and how many eco-friendly behaviours they claimed to engage in.

Alternative wine formats were also typically bought more by younger people. Consumers were found to be more likely to choose alternative wine packaging when it is priced at a mid-to-low price range and if it comes from a well-known, prestigious brand.

“If a smaller, less-known winery’s mission is to grow its brand as much as possible, relying solely on alternatively packaged wines is not the way to go. Most Australians—for the time being—are still going to reach for a glass bottle when they’re at the shops,” Mesidis says.

“Larger, more prestigious brands are likely to see more success with alternatively packaged wine. Ultimately, this research provides wine marketers with a foundation for their low-carbon wine packaging strategies, rather than blindly navigating this relatively new field.

“Research in this space is still young and there is exciting work to be done to better understand this burgeoning part of the wine industry.”

Media contact: Melissa Keogh, Communications Officer, UniSA M: +61 403 659 254
E: Melissa.Keogh@unisa.edu.au

Researcher contact: Jakob Mesidis, jmesidis@gmail.com

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JOURNAL

Journal of Cleaner Production

DOI

10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139502 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Measuring the effect of product and environmental messaging attributes on alternative wine packaging choices

 

Preventing the destruction of Eucalyptus forest plantations: naturally occurring pathogenic fungi to control the Eucalyptus snout beetle

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND

 

IMAGE: 

A EUCALYPTUS SNOUT BEETLE INFECTED WITH PATHOGENIC FUNGI IN COLOMBIA.

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CREDIT: CINDY MEJÍA.

Scientists have found naturally occurring pathogenic fungi infecting the Eucalyptus snout beetle in Eucalyptus forest plantations, and characterised them to develop a bio-pesticide for controlling the beetle.

Gonipterus platensis, or the Eucalyptus snout beetle, has a heavy impact on Eucalyptus forest plantations worldwide, and it is mostly controlled using the micro wasp Anaphes spp., although control rates rarely become financially viable. This led a team of scientists to look for naturally occurring pathogenic fungi to tackle the Eucalyptus snout beetle problem.

Worldwide, the Eucalyptus forest covers more than 20 million hectares. In the Iberian Peninsula, the Eucalyptus snout beetle could cause defoliation levels of 100% and produce wood volume losses of up to 86%. Although Eucalyptus wood is important for paper pulp production, the biological control of the Eucalyptus snout beetle is far from total, and on some occasions chemical control is needed, too. 

The identification of fungi pathogenic to the Eucalyptus snout beetle is not new. What is remarkable in this new research is that the scientists collected the fungi from naturally infected beetles in the current distribution area in Colombia, so the fungi will be well-adapted to the environmental conditions, which is promising for controlling the beetle in forest plantations.

To ensure that the recovered fungi are suitable for developing a bio-pesticide, the scientists characterized them in terms of insecticidal activity, UV-B radiation tolerance and other parameters. This characterisation ensures that the fungi are suitable for mass production of a bio-pesticide and, when used in forest plantations, are resistant to the environmental conditions. Beauveria pseudobassiana and Metarhizium brunneum were the most virulent fungi. B. pseudobassiana was the most adapted for producing a bio-pesticide and tolerant to the environmental conditions.

The fungi could be used to develop a bio-pesticide, after trials in Eucalyptus forests. Later, the fungi could also be used in other countries where the insect is causing severe damage.

This work was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Colombia, through Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria – AGROSAVIA, as part of the project “Strategies for planning and management of forest plantations and agroecosystems in Colombia”. The scientists are looking for new funding to run tests in field conditions.

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JOURNAL

Biological Control

DOI

10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105407 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Eucalyptus snout beetle in Colombia: selection and evaluation of entomopathogenic fungi as bioinsecticides against Gonipterus platensis.

 

How did the bushpig cross the strait? A great puzzle in African mammal biogeography solved by genomics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN - FACULTY OF SCIENCE

 

VIDEO: 

SINCE THEIR TRANSLOCATION FROM MAINLAND AFRICA A COUPLE OF MILLENNIA AGO, WILD BUSHPIG (POTAMOCHOERUS LARVATUS) ROAM FREELY IN MADAGASCAR (NORTHERN HUMID FOREST, ELEVATION ~1500M.)

 

HTTPS://WWW1.BIO.KU.DK/ENGLISH/NEWS/2024/HOW-DID-THE-BUSHPIG-CROSS-THE-STRAIT-A-GREAT-PUZZLE-IN-AFRICAN-MAMMAL-BIOGEOGRAPHY-SOLVED-BY-GENOMICS/ 

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CREDIT: JORDI SALOMA

In the ongoing biodiversity crisis, large terrestrial animals are more threatened by extinction than any other group of organisms. The African continent holds an impressively intact large-mammal community, but there is still a lot we do not know about how these species evolved, became diverse and adapted to the changing climate and habitats. Many of these questions can be addressed by investigating the genomes and genetic variation across species.

New research, published in Nature Communications, uses genomics to answer these evolutionary questions that have been debated amongst scientists for decades: 1) how and when did bushpigs cross the Mozambique Channel and arrive at the island of Madagascar, 2) is there one or two species of bushpigs?

 

 

Since their translocation from mainland Africa a couple of millennia ago, wild bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus) roam freely in Madagascar (Northern humid forest, elevation ~1500m.) Credit: Jordi Saloma

 

- “This study is a result of a large international collaboration with researchers from Africa and Europe. We sequenced 67 complete bushpig genomes and by using a range of different genetic analyses, we were able to address these long-standing puzzles in African evolution and biogeography”, explains one of the senior authors of the study, Associate Professor at the Department of Biology, Rasmus Heller.

 

Were pigs ferried across the channel during the Medieval era?

The island of Madagascar separated from the African mainland around 160 million years ago, resulting in a largely unique flora and fauna. Remarkably, the bushpig is the only large, wild terrestrial mammal species that has somehow historically crossed the 400-kilometer-wide Mozambique Channel and made it from mainland Africa to the island of Madagascar.

- “Our study establishes that the bushpig was introduced to Madagascar ≈1,000-5,000 years ago from South/South-East Africa”, Rasmus states. Their arrival therefore coincides with the arrival of humans to Madagascar from a region around southern Africa. Rasmus continues: “The likely explanation for this is that people transported these bushpigs across the channel. These results contradict previously published studies which dated the arrival of bushpigs ≈480,000 years ago, well before humans were present on the island”. It has been suggested that some endemic Madagascar species might have arrived by rafting as passengers on floats of vegetation.

- “Intriguingly, our results raise a host of new questions: was the bushpig actually brought to Madagascar as a somewhat domesticated species? There is no archaeological or other evidence of bushpig domestication ever occurring, despite them being an important source of protein for many rural communities. And who was it that transported these animals to Madagascar? Was it Bantu-speakers, Austronesian-speakers or both? These questions and others still remain to be explored,” explains Renzo F. Balboa, postdoc at the Department of Biology and one of the leading authors of the study.

 

Does two actually equal one?

African bushpigs, which primarily are found in East/Southern Africa, and red river hogs, which are found in West/Central Africa, were considered the same species in the past, but were subsequently redefined as two species around the 1990s, largely due to their quite distinctive looks.

The red river hogs are, as the name implies red, and have long, tufted ears reminiscent of a comical Star Wars character, while eastern and southern African bushpigs are greyish and look more like our own wild boar, although with a beautiful white mane thrown in for good measure.

Biologists have been arguing for decades about whether these two forms are actually one or two different species - a debate that is characteristic of similar scientific uncertainty surrounding many other African mammals.

- “In this study, we were able to conclude that red river hogs and bushpigs have had lots of gene flow, which means they are not only able to potentially interbreed, but they have in fact done so extensively when they have met in central Africa. Furthermore, the branching of the two types in the Tree of Life is not all that old, only a few hundred thousand years, which is not long in the evolutionary scheme of things. Hence, we now know that although there are two quite different-looking lineages of bushpigs, their biological separation is incomplete, depending on how you define species”, explains Laura D. Bertola, postdoc at the Department of Biology and the other leading author of the study.

Laura continues: “Genomic data can give us insights into patterns of biodiversity on a much higher resolution than previously possible. For example, we can infer detailed population structure, but also underlying processes like gene flow and selection. Gaining improved insights into patterns of biodiversity and the underlying processes that drive them, will be crucial for effective conservation measures”.

Africa is a unique continent regarding the diversity of the megafauna which is still around. Studying the evolutionary history of these species can give us important insights into African biodiversity, which is highly relevant at a time where biodiversity is being lost at an alarming pace. The new findings contribute to our understanding of prehistoric relations between Africa’s humans and wildlife, but also the very fundamentals about how much biodiversity there is on this amazing continent.

- “This study is a great example of how involving local researchers and wildlife management authorities can lead to more robust and inclusive scientific research”, co-author Vincent Muwanika, Associate Professor of Conservation Biology, at Makerere University, Uganda, concludes.

 

The study is part of the African Wildlife Genomics research framework led by research groups at the Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen. This research framework is an associated partner project of the African BioGenome Project (https://africanbiogenome.org/) - an African-led initiative to use genomics in the service of conservation and capacity building in Africa.

Find the article here Nature Communications

The study was supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, the Carlsberg Foundation, Villum Foundation and other funding sources.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

ARTICLE TITLE

African bushpigs exhibit porous species boundaries and appeared in Madagascar concurrently with human arrival

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Jan-2024