TB vaccine may enable elimination of the disease in cattle by reducing its spread

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

 

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BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS IS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE OF CATTLE THAT RESULTS IN LARGE ECONOMIC COSTS AND HEALTH IMPACTS ACROSS THE WORLD.  

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CREDIT: JACQUELINE GARGET

Vaccination not only reduces the severity of TB in infected cattle, but reduces its spread in dairy herds by 89%, research finds.

The research, led by the University of Cambridge and Penn State University, improves prospects for the elimination and control of bovine tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease of cattle that results in large economic costs and health impacts across the world.  

This is the first study to show that BCG-vaccinated cattle infected with TB are substantially less infectious to other cattle. This remarkable indirect effect of the vaccine beyond its direct protective effect has not been measured before.

The spillover of infection from livestock has been estimated to account for about 10% of human tuberculosis cases. While such zoonotic TB (zTB) infections are most commonly associated with gastro-intestinal infections related to drinking contaminated milk, zTB can also cause chronic lung infections in humans. Lung disease caused by zTB can be indistinguishable from regular tuberculosis, but is more difficult to treat due to natural antibiotic resistance in the cattle bacteria.

TB remains endemic in many countries around the world, including in Europe and the Americas, where its control costs farmers and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

The study is published today in the journal Science.

In the study, carried out in Ethiopia, researchers examined the ability of the vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), to directly protect cattle that receive it, as well as to indirectly protect both vaccinated and unvaccinated cattle by reducing TB transmission. Vaccinated and unvaccinated animals were put into enclosures with naturally infected animals, in a novel crossover design performed over two years.

“Our study found that BCG vaccination reduces TB transmission in cattle by almost 90%. Vaccinated cows also developed significantly fewer visible signs of TB than unvaccinated ones. This suggests that the vaccination not only reduces the progression of the disease, but that if vaccinated animals become infected, they are substantially less infectious to others,” said Andrew Conlan, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and a corresponding author of the study.

Using livestock census and movement data from Ethiopia, the team developed a transmission model to explore the potential for routine vaccination to control bovine tuberculosis.

“Results of the model suggest that vaccinating calves within the dairy sector of Ethiopia could reduce the reproduction number of the bacterium — the R0 — to below 1, arresting the projected increase in the burden of disease and putting herds on a pathway towards elimination of TB,” Conlan said.

The team focused their studies in Ethiopia, a country with the largest cattle herd in Africa and a rapidly growing dairy sector that has a growing burden of bovine tuberculosis and no current control program, as a representative of similarly situated transitional economies.

“Bovine tuberculosis is largely uncontrolled in low- and middle-income countries, including Ethiopia,” said Abebe Fromsa, associate professor of agriculture and veterinary medicine at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and the study’s co-lead author. “Vaccination of cattle has the potential to provide significant benefits in these regions.”

“For over a hundred years, programs to eliminate bovine tuberculosis have relied on intensive testing and slaughtering of infected animals,” said Vivek Kapur, professor of microbiology and infectious diseases and Huck Distinguished Chair in Global Health at Penn State and a corresponding author of the study.

He added: “This approach is unimplementable in many parts of the world for economic and social reasons, resulting in considerable animal suffering and economic losses from lost productivity, alongside an increased risk of spillover of infection to humans. By vaccinating cattle, we hope to be able to protect both cattle and humans from the consequences of this devastating disease.”

Professor James Wood, Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, noted that despite TB being more prevalent in lower-income countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand also experience considerable economic pressures from the disease which continues to persist despite intensive and costly control programmes.

Wood said: “For over twenty-years the UK government has pinned hopes on cattle vaccination for bovine tuberculosis as a solution to reduce the disease and the consequent costs of the controls. These results provide important support for the epidemiological benefit that cattle vaccination could have to reduce rates of transmission to and within herds.”

The new study found that vaccination not only reduces the severity of TB in infected cattle, but reduces its spread in dairy herds by almost 90%.

Bovine TB persists in the UK despite costly control programmes 

The study showed that vaccinating dairy calves could put herds on a pathway towards elimination of TB.

CREDIT

Jacqueline Garget

JOURNAL

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adl3962 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

BCG vaccination reduces bovine tuberculosis transmission, improving prospects for elimination

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Mar-2024

*Free* Study in Ethiopian cattle quantifies protective benefits of BCG tuberculosis vaccine

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)

The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine can reduce the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), and routine vaccination of cattle could be used to substantially eliminate the disease within the Ethiopian dairy sector, according to a new study by Abebe Fromsa and colleagues. Although the vaccine has been used to protect livestock from bovine tuberculosis, its effectiveness has not been quantified until now. Vaccination offers a hopeful solution for containing the disease in low-and middle-income countries, where the method of test-and-slaughter of livestock practiced in industrialized countries is less economically feasible. The natural transmission experiment performed by Fromsa et al. in herds of cattle allowed the researchers to directly measure the rate of bovine tuberculosis transmission to and from vaccinated and unvaccinated calves over a one-year exposure period to the disease. The results suggest that the vaccine is more effective at reducing disease transmission from vaccinated animals than directly protecting the animals against infection. Overall, the findings suggest that BCG vaccination could reduce disease transmission by 89%. Further modeling by the researchers indicates that consistent vaccination could bring the disease under control in Ethiopian dairy cattle within a few decades. “Our studies suggest that the effectiveness of BCG in the field is likely to be greater and the risks lower than previously understood and we provide key missing evidence of the potential benefits of a BCG-vaccination based approach to accelerate control of bTB in regions where the disease remains endemic,” they write. Anita L Michel discusses the findings in a related Perspective.

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JOURNAL

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adl3962 

ARTICLE TITLE

BCG vaccination reduces bovine tuberculosis transmission, improving prospects for elimination

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Mar-2024

 

USF study: Genomic research may help explain cancer resistance in Tasmanian devils

The marsupials are highly susceptible to devil facial tumor disease, which is almost always fatal

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

 

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RESEARCHERS RELEASE A TASMANIAN DEVIL AS PART OF A STUDY OF HOW GENOMIC RESEARCH MAY BE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING CANCER IN THE ANIMALS.

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CREDIT: ALEXANDRA FRAIK

TAMPA, Fla. (March 28, 2024) – Over the past 30 years, Australia’s Tasmanian devil population has been afflicted with an infectious cancer that has pushed the species to near extinction. The marsupials are highly susceptible to devil facial tumor disease, which is almost always fatal to their species. The genomic interactions between the disease and its host correlate with how quickly a susceptible animal becomes infected after exposure to the pathogen.

Through DNA sequencing of the animals and their tumors, University of South Florida Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology Mark Margres and doctoral student Dylan Gallinson have tracked the genomic interactions between the devils and the cancer. Their findings are published in a coauthored paper, “Intergenomic signatures of coevolution between Tasmanian devils and an infectious cancer,” in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“A big question in biology is the genetic basis for disease. The classic way to determine this is through genome studies and regression analysis that matches genes with disease risk,” Margres said. “Previously there hadn’t been a technique to study the interactions between both genomes.”

Using a recently developed joint genome-wide association study, Margres and Gallinson assessed 960 genomes and 15 years of data on captured devils to track the co-evolution of the devils and the cancer.

“Our collaborators in Tasmania have been monitoring the spread of the disease and collecting tissue samples,” Gallinson said. “We sequenced the DNA of both the tumors and the devils to find the mutation that contributes to the manifestation of the disease.”

Their findings can inform both epidemiological models that track infectious diseases and devil management strategies that focus on saving the endangered species.

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 About the University of South Florida

The University of South Florida, a high-impact research university dedicated to student success and committed to community engagement, generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. With campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF serves approximately 50,000 students who represent nearly 150 different countries.  For four consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked USF as one of the nation’s top 50 public universities, including USF’s highest ranking ever in 2023 (No. 42). In 2023, USF became the first public university in Florida in nearly 40 years to be invited to join the Association of American Universities, a prestigious group of the leading universities in the United States and Canada. Through hundreds of millions of dollars in research activity each year and as one of top universities in the world for securing new patents, USF is a leader in solving global problems and improving lives. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at  www.usf.edu.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Intergenomic signatures of coevolution between Tasmanian devils and an infectious cancer

 

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with JLP Health and others, have identified how the tick-borne Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells. The results are published in Nature Microbiology and are an important step in the development of drugs against the deadly disease.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHF virus) is spread through tick bites and can cause haemorrhagic fever. The disease is serious and has a mortality rate of up to 40 per cent depending on the health status of the person infected. Common symptoms include fever, muscle pain, abdominal pain, joint pain, vomiting and haemorrhaging that can cause organ failure.

The disease has spread to Europe

The virus is present in around 40 countries, including Central Asia, the Middle East and parts of Africa. In recent years, the disease has spread to new geographical areas as a result of climate change, including Spain and France. The tick species that can spread the disease has also been observed in Germany and Sweden. There are currently no effective treatments for the disease.

In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and others have found that the virus enters our cells via a protein on the cell surface, the so-called LDL receptors that regulate blood cholesterol levels.

To identify the protein, the researchers used human mini-organs grown in test tubes and an advanced stem cell library from JLP Health. The same platform has previously been used to identify how the Ebola virus enters cells.

The results were also confirmed in tests on mice, which showed that mice lacking the LDL receptor did not get as sick as others.

Researchers want to trick the virus

The discovery is an important step towards developing drugs for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, according to Ali Mirazimi, adjunct professor at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and one of the researchers behind the study.

“Once we know which receptor the virus uses, we can produce the receptor in test tubes and administer it as a drug,” he says. “Then we can trick the virus into binding to those receptors instead of to the cells and thus stop the virus from spreading in our bodies.”

This knowledge is essential if the disease were to become more common and spread to new areas. Normally it takes many years to develop a drug, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine showed that it can be done much faster if everyone decides it is a priority.

Ticks are spread by migratory birds

“This is an important step in our preparedness for the disease,” says Ali Mirazimi. “Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is a disease we would rather not have. The ticks are spread by migratory birds and have already been found in Sweden. If the disease starts appearing in more places, we may already have a drug that we can take into clinical trials.”

The research was conducted in collaboration with the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany, the National Institutes of Health, USA, and the company JLP Health. It was financed mainly by the Swedish Research Council and the EU. No conflicts of interest have been reported.

Publication: 'Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus uses LDLR to bind and enter host cells', Vanessa M. Monteil, Shane C. Wright Matheus Dyczynski, Max J. Kellner, Sofia Appelberg, Sebastian W. Platzer, Ahmed Ibrahim, Hyesoo Kwon, Ioannis Pittarokoilis, Mattia Mirandola, Georg Michlits, Stephanie Devignot, Elizabeth Elder, Samir Abdurahman, Sándor Bereczky, Binnur Bagci, Sonia Youhanna, Teodor Aastrup, Volker M. Lauschke, Cristiano Salata, Nazif Elaldi, Friedemann Weber, Nuria Monserrat, David W. Hawman, Heinz Feldmann, Moritz Horn, Joseph M. Penninger, Ali Mirazimi, Nature Microbiology, online 28 March 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41564-024-01672-3.

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JOURNAL

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-024-01672-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

'Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus uses LDLR to bind and enter host cells

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Mar-2O24

 

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH (IZW)

 

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SPOTTED HYENA HUNTING BIRDS AT A WATERHOLE IN NAMIBIA

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CREDIT: PHOTO BY MIHA KROFEL

Hyenas are generalist predators (and scavengers) with a broad range of prey species. They are known for hunting (or scavenging) larger mammals such as antelopes and occasionally feed on smaller mammals and reptiles. Being flexible in the choice of prey is a strategy of generalists – and this even extends to small passerine birds, as scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the University of Ljubljana observed in Namibia: Spotted hyenas pursued red-billed queleas, picked them from the ground or the surface of a waterhole and swallowed them whole, at a success rate of approximately one bird every three minutes. These observations were described for the first time in word, photos and videos in the scientific journal “Food Webs”.

The diet breadth of hyenas is matched by few other carnivores. Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are known to hunt a variety of larger mammals such as zebras and antelopes in southern and eastern Africa – but also ostriches, flamingos, reptiles, other carnivores. They also scavenge on carcasses from giraffes to elephants and cattle. Until now very few observations of hyenas feeding on small birds were reported. “In our paper we describe for the first time the hunting and feeding behaviour of spotted hyenas on red-billed queleas (Quelea quelea), a passerine bird known for its huge flocks, at a waterhole in the Etosha National Park in Namibia”, say Rubén Portas and Dr. Miha Krofel, scientists working for the Leibniz-IZW and the University of Ljubljana. On two different days they observed, filmed and photographed spotted hyenas chasing flying birds or picking them from the ground or the water surface, and devouring them whole at the waterhole. “We observed that a single hyena can catch on average one bird every three minutes”, the scientists conclude from their observations.

The scientists could draw some conclusions about the feeding behaviour of spotted hyenas from their observations. “It adds to the known variety of the spotted hyena diet and hunting tactics, since this behaviour has not been documented before”, says Portas. “It confirms their flexibility and ability to exploit foraging opportunities and obtaining food from unusual sources. We can also provide a first estimate on the capture rates and the food intake of hyenas hunting passerine birds.” As the observations were limited to a single waterhole, it is possible that the described foraging tactic was specific to the hyenas from the observed clan and occurred as an opportunistic response to an abundant food source, the authors say. Between May and August, thousands of wintering red-billed queleas gather at waterholes in Namibia.

Portas and Krofel regularly carry out field research on vultures, lions, leopards and hyenas and investigate carnivore-scavenger interactions and information transfer in the scavenger community for the GAIA Initiative and InterMuc projects in Etosha National Park. The GAIA Initiative is an alliance of research institutes, conservation organisations and companies with the aim of creating a high-tech early warning system for environmental changes. In several projects, the GAIA partners conduct wildlife research on selected species, their interaction and the functioning of ecosystems they inhabit. On this basis, the GAIA scientists and engineers build and utilize high-tech interfaces to the senses and intelligence of sentinel animals in order to detect critical changes or incidents in ecosystems fast and effectively. To this end, they develop a new generation of animal tags equipped with on-board artificial intelligence (AI), a camera, energy-efficient electronics and satellite-based communication technology.

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JOURNAL

Food Webs

DOI

10.1016/j.fooweb.2024.e00340 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) predation on passerine birds in Namibia

When inequality is more than “skin-deep”: Social status leaves traces in the epigenome of spotted hyenas in Tanzania

LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH (IZW)

 

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SPOTTED HYENAS RESTING AT THE COMMUNAL DEN IN THE SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK IN TANZANIA (PHOTO BY SARAH BENHAIEM/LEIBNIZ-IZW)

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CREDIT: PHOTO BY SARAH BENHAIEM/LEIBNIZ-IZW

A research consortium led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) provide evidence that social behaviour and social status are reflected at the molecular level of gene activation (epigenome) in juvenile and adult free-ranging spotted hyenas. They analysed non-invasively collected gut epithelium samples from both high-ranking and low-ranking female hyenas and showed that rank differences were associated with epigenetic signatures of social inequality, i.e., the pattern of activation or switching off of genes that regulate important physiological processes such as energy conversion and immune response in several genome regions. The results, published in the scientific journal Communications Biology, contribute to a better understanding of the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the interplay of social, environmental and physiological factors in the life of a highly social mammal.

In mammals, social behaviour and social status can substantially influence the survival, reproductive performance and health of individuals. However, it is not yet fully understood how the translation of social and environmental factors into the physiology of an organism is reflected in molecular processes. Now, scientists from the Leibniz-IZW Department of Evolutionary Genetics and the Serengeti Hyena Project at the Leibniz-IZW’s Department of Ecological Dynamics found that social status influenced epigenetic patterns, more specifically the methylation of DNA in both young and adult female spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) which determines the activation of genes. They analysed DNA from gut epithelium cells from 18 adult female hyenas and 24 cubs with known social status from three clans in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The scientists identified and validated 149 genome regions, where high-ranking and low-ranking individuals differed in the methylation of DNA (differentially methylated regions, DMRs). “We could, for the first time, provide evidence for epigenetic signatures of social inequalities in both young and adult spotted hyenas”, says Dr Alexandra Weyrich, head of the working group “Wildlife Epigenetics” in the Leibniz-IZW Department of Evolutionary Genetics and senior author of the paper.

The findings show that these epigenetic signatures are stable across life stages – and that they are linked to important physiological processes: Many of the identified DMRs were involved in the regulation of energy conversion, immune response, glutamate receptor signalling and ion transportation. “Especially the large number of DMRs in genes involved in energy conversion caught our eye”, says first author Colin Vullioud, data scientist in Weyrich’s working group. Co-author Dr Sarah Benhaiem, co-head of the Serengeti Hyena Project, explains: “We suspect that this may be driven by differences in behaviour and specifically the greater use of long-distance foraging trips by low-ranking than high-ranking females – the latter monopolising resources in their clan territory.” Interestingly, these genes were more methylated (or hypermethylated) in low-ranking adult females but not in cubs. This could indicate an adjustment of low-ranking adult females to higher energetic costs of frequent long-distance commuting, a behaviour not displayed by cubs. “Although the exact physiological consequences of the observed hypermethylation remain to be investigated, these findings are consistent with our observations and hint at the sought-after missing link between social and physiological factors”, Weyrich and Benhaiem conclude.

The analyses built on the expertise in epigenetics of the Leibniz-IZW as well as on the long-term research on spotted hyenas in the Serengeti, which started in 1987. The females in this investigation are individually known and their social status has been tracked for generations. This provided ideal conditions to study the links between behaviour, physiological factors, epigenetic modifications and fitness in terms of survival and reproduction in a wild population. “We collected our samples without invading the life of the hyenas”, say Dr Marion L. East and Professor Dr Heribert Hofer, founders of the Serengeti hyena project and co-authors of the paper. “We followed our study animals, collected super-fresh droppings immediately after they were produced and preserved gut epithelium samples from the surface of the faeces.” The use of samples collected in a non-invasive manner is one of the strengths of the investigation, the authors surmise. “The capture methylation method we used enriches methylated DNA as well as mammalian DNA, which improved the amount of hyena DNA over bacterial DNA and the quality of the sequencing data”, explains Weyrich.

DNA methylation is a chemical modification of the basic building blocks of a cell's genetic material. This modification is enabled by the transfer of methyl groups to nucleobases at certain positions in the DNA. As the basic structure of the respective nucleobase is unaltered, DNA methylation is not a genetic mutation, but a modification which determines whether this part of the DNA is ‘being used’ (activated) or switched off. DNA methylation is the most important epigenetic modification and thus a pivotal part of making genetic information available to the physiological processes within a cell.

Spotted hyenas are highly social and a model for social status-related differences in life history traits that are accompanied by differences in physiological processes and health. In hyena clans, females and their offspring socially dominate all immigrant males, and social status is behaviourally “inherited” by cubs from mothers who gain privileges associated with maternal social status. “As in some primate species, young hyenas receive social support from their mothers during interactions with group members. From these they learn that they can dominate all individuals which are submissive to their mother, but have to submit to those which their mother is submissive to”, explains East. Therefore, social status is stable and predictable because it is determined by family relationships and behavioural conventions.

“Additionally, the effects of social status on life history trajectories and health are typically passed across generations”, adds Hofer. For example, high-ranking females have priority access to resources in the clan territory and do not need to commute as much as low-ranking females to find food. They are therefore much more often present at the communal den and more frequently nurse their young. The milk-dependent cubs disproportionally benefit at this early stage in their life – by growing faster, having a higher chance of surviving to adulthood and starting reproduction at an earlier age than the offspring of low-ranking females.

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JOURNAL

Communications Biology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Epigenetic signatures of social status in female free-ranging spotted hyenas (Crocuta Crocuta)

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Mar-2024

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HYENA 

 

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

PENSOFT PUBLISHERS

 

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CNEMASPIS VANGOGHI.

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CREDIT: AKSHAY KHANDEKAR

You’ve probably seen nature depicted in art, but how often do you see an artwork hiding in nature?

When they saw the back of a lizard in the Southern Western Ghats, a group of scientists from the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation in India were reminded of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. As soon as they figured out it was a new species, it was only apt to name it in honour of the famous painter.

“Cnemaspis vangoghi is named for Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) as the striking colouration of the new species is reminiscent of one of his most iconic paintings, The Starry Night,” explains Ishan Agarwal, who took part in the  study to describe the new lizard. Males of the species have a yellow head and forebody and light blue spots on the back and they live among rocks and occasionally buildings and trees.

Together with his fellow researchers Akshay Khandekar and Tejas Thackeray, they found the new species during an expedition in April 2022 to the the Southern Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, India. Now, they have published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.

“Tamil Nadu is an exceptionally biodiverse state and we expect to name well over 50 new species of lizards by the time we are done [with our expeditions]!,” Ishan Agarwal says.

“I also had more than 500 tick bites during that summer trip, with the highest densities in the low-elevation, dry forests of Srivilliputhur, where the new species are found,” he adds.

Cnemaspis vangoghi is a small-sized gecko that can reach 3,4 cm in length. It was described as new to science together with another species of its genus, Cnemaspis sathuragiriensis, named for its type locality the Sathuragiri Hills.

 “The two new species are distributed in low elevation (250–400 m asl.), deciduous forests of Srivilliputhur, and add to the five previously known endemic vertebrates from Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India,” Ishan Agarwal explains. They are diurnal and mainly active during the cool hours of the early morning and evening, found largely on rocks. So far, they have only been found in very restricted localities, “an interesting case of micro-endemism in low-elevation species,” he notes.

  

Cnemaspis vangoghi

CREDIT

Akshay Khandekar

Original source:

Khandekar A, Thackeray T, Agarwal I (2024) Two new species of the Cnemaspis galaxia complex (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from the eastern slopes of the southern Western Ghats. ZooKeys 1196: 209-242. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1196.117947

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JOURNAL

ZooKeys

DOI

10.3897/zookeys.1196.117947 

ARTICLE TITLE

Two new species of the Cnemaspis galaxia complex (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from the eastern slopes of the southern Western Ghats

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Mar-2024

 

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

SOCIETY FOR RISK ANALYSIS

A major global catastrophe could disrupt trade in liquid fuels used to sustain industrial agriculture, impacting the food supply of island nations like New Zealand that depend on oil imports.

A new study in the journal Risk Analysis suggests that New Zealand and other island nations dependent on imported fuel can plan for future emergencies by stepping up their production of biofuel from locally grown crops (like canola) and farming more fuel-efficient crops (like wheat and potatoes rather than dairy).

In the event of a major disruption in liquid fuel imports, results showed that New Zealand would run out of its stored diesel within weeks (with ordinary use) or months (with strict rationing). Investment in canola biodiesel or renewable diesel refineries could ensure a supply for the country’s bare minimum agricultural liquid fuel needs. In addition, fuel could be conserved by farming wheat or potatoes instead of more energy-intensive dairy.
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About SRA  

The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those interested in risk analysis. SRA was established in 1980. Since 1982, it has continuously published Risk Analysis: An International Journal, the leading scholarly journal in the field. For more information, visit www.sra.org. 

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JOURNAL

Risk Analysis

DOI

10.1111/risa.14297 

ARTICLE TITLE

Mitigating imported fuel dependency in agricultural production: Case study of an island nation's vulnerability to global catastrophic risks

 

Manganese plays a surprising role in soil carbon sequestration

Exchangeable manganese, like that emitted by industry, cuts carbon storage in boreal forests

DUKE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

A SCENE FROM THE BOREAL FOREST OF THE DAXING'AN MOUNTAINS IN CHINA.

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CREDIT: JINGHUA YU

DURHAM, N.C. – Manganese in the soil of boreal forests has been found to work against the carbon storage capacity of these crucial northern habitats.

Located predominantly in cold regions at high latitude, boreal forests are estimated to store nearly 30 percent of the world’s soil carbon, making them the world’s largest reservoir of land-based carbon. This stored carbon is found mostly in the forests’ humus layer, which contains decomposed leaves and other organic matter.

A global, long-term study led by Duke University researchers has found that higher levels of manganese in this layer stimulated decomposition of soil organic matter, and released more carbon dioxide than did those forest plots with less or no manganese. The work appeared March 19  in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“Conventional wisdom is these forests are like a global vault of carbon, where carbon is put into the vault versus taken out,” said William H. Schlesinger, professor emeritus at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and study co-author. “These findings reveal a crack in the vault, where enough manganese over time stimulates the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which has implications for climate mitigation efforts and the global carbon cycle,” said Schlesinger. 

Certain industrial processes, such as metal smelting or combustion of manganese-containing fuels, can release airborne manganese which is later deposited in soils downwind. 

This is one of many human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and land-use changes, that have disturbed the natural carbon cycle, leading to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations that contribute to global warming and climate change. 

“Carbon inventorying is still an evolving science,” said Yunyu Zhang, lead author and graduate student from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “It is essential to figure out which factors regulate this huge carbon pool [in boreal forests’ soil], especially given continuous… industrialization.”  

Researchers analyzed data from boreal forests worldwide, and fertilized soil with manganese over 14 years (2009-2023) in China’s Daxing’an Mountains. Results showed the level of exchangeable manganese -- the part of manganese that plants can use as nutrients -- determined how much carbon was stored in boreal forest soil. After four years, carbon storage on plots fertilized with manganese fell by nearly 13 percent, meaning more carbon was released into the atmosphere.  

“To develop effective and sustainable strategies, it is critical to understand complex interactions between trace nutrients and carbon storage,” Zhang said. “It is even more important to predict how those interactions work in the long term, considering the impact of human activities.”    

Schlesinger emphasized the need for further research and action, noting how the study’s findings highlight the importance of soil nutrient dynamics, such as the level of exchangeable manganese, in climate change mitigation efforts.  

He urged further study of the role of manganese not only in soil, but also in the air, on land-based carbon emissions, the boreal forest ecosystem, and climate mitigation.

“There’s no proverbial foolproof vault or absolute forest sink,” Schlesinger said. “We need integrated approaches to land management and climate mitigation. Climate has traditionally been considered a major factor in carbon storage, but we now see how manganese is also a key indicator, something that has long been overlooked and underexamined.” 

The National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences co-funded the study.

CITATION: “Exchangeable Manganese Regulates Carbon Storage in the Humus Layer of Boreal Forests,” Yunyu Zhang, Sarah E. Hobbie, William H. Schlesinger, Bjorn Berg, Tao Sun, Jiaojun Zhu. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, March 19, 2024. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318382121  

Online: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2318382121

 

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2318382121 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Exchangeable Manganese Regulates Carbon Storage in the Humus Layer of Boreal Forests