May research news from the Ecological Society of America

ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

 

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A RECENT ARTICLE IN ECOSPHERE TRACKS WATER USE IN BACKYARD TREES DURING AN ATTACK BY BARK BEETLES (WHICH CAUSED THE DISCHARGE SEEN HERE).

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CREDIT: ELIZAVETA LITVAK

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) presents a roundup of four research articles recently published across its six esteemed journals. Widely recognized for fostering innovation and advancing ecological knowledge, ESA’s journals consistently feature illuminating and impactful studies. This compilation of papers explores how wolf reintroduction affects other carnivores, how drought and grazing snails together drive salt marsh productivity, the key to an invasive fish’s success and the plight of backyard trees, showcasing the Society’s commitment to promoting cutting-edge research that furthers our understanding of the natural world.

From Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment:

Wolves at the door: Response by foxes and martens to wolf reintroduction
Author contact: Mauriel Rodriguez Curras (ude.csiw@uczeugirdorm)  

Essentially absent from Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park since 2018, grey wolves were reintroduced in 2019 and considered fully re-established following the forming of packs in 2020. Analysis of scat and hair samples collected over that period enabled the authors of this study to examine the impacts the wolves have had on the Isle’s other top predators, red fox and marten, which compete for prey. Wolves initially suppressed fox movement, to the benefit of martens. But foxes adapted quickly, both by scavenging wolf-killed moose and by spending more time near campgrounds, where they could find food left by campers. Notably, interactions among the three predators largely returned to normal once the wolves settled into packs, suggesting that large carnivore reintroductions may have few lasting effects on their smaller counterparts.

Read the article: The pulsed effects of reintroducing wolves on the carnivore community of Isle Royale

 

From Ecology:

For salt marshes, drought and periwinkle snails pack a one-two punch
Author contact: Carter S. Smith (ude.ekud@htims.retrac) 

A decades-long study of a southeastern U.S. coastal salt marsh shows that grazers—native periwinkle snails, in this case—can exacerbate drought effects on marsh plants, particularly when snails are extremely abundant. Based on data collected over a 22-year span, the results of this analysis corroborate those of smaller-scale and shorter-term studies indicating that local stressors like grazing magnify climate-induced disturbances, such as drought. However, this research shows that the severity of the combined impacts strongly depends on snail abundance, with effects only emerging when snail numbers exceed 80 per square meter of marsh. The study authors point out that knowledge of how local stressors influence an ecosystem’s response to climate change is a critical step toward development of effective management and adaptation strategies.

Read the article: Long-term data reveal that grazer density mediates climatic stress in salt marshes

 

From Ecosphere:

Native fishes suckered by introduced trout
Author contact: Scott F. Collins (ude.utt@snilloc.ttocs)

Native and introduced fishes in the mountain streams of New Mexico generally compete for the same prey, but the scramble for food is not a fair contest, according to the authors of this recent study. Comparison of growth rates between two native species, Rio Grande sucker and Rio Grande chub, and the nonnative brown trout revealed that trout grow at a much faster clip than both natives across all body sizes. This is likely because trout have an adaptive trick up their sleeve: while chub and sucker stubbornly stick to a diet of small aquatic invertebrates, trout have a broader palate that allows them to utilize a wider range of potential targets, including terrestrial invertebrates, crayfish and even other fish. Access to these alternative foods enables trout to outgrow and outmuscle chub and sucker, an especially decisive advantage when aquatic invertebrates are in short supply. The results provide further evidence that unequal resource use may be key to the success of introduced species, with important implications for the conservation and management of native freshwater fishes.   

Read the article: Asymmetric competition among stream fishes: Do food web pathways affect competitive outcomes?

 

Pests and humans influence urban ecosystem response to climate change
Author contact: Elizaveta Litvak (ude.usa@kavtile)

Researchers in Florida who were gearing up to study water use by trees in residential areas saw their research take a sharp turn when they discovered that some of their focal pine trees were infested with bark beetles. But what might seem like a setback turned out to be a golden opportunity to study how environmental conditions, bark beetles and human interventions to fight beetle infestation affect water use by urban trees in real time. Monitoring the trees’ sap flux (a measure of water use) revealed that, while water use fell in beetle-infested trees, water use among beetle-free pines increased markedly, most likely because of greater access to water and light as their beetle-infested neighbors declined in health or were removed by the property owners. The findings highlight how human actions shape urban trees’ responses to stressors, providing crucial insights into urban forest management and resilience in the face of environmental changes.

Read the article: The influence of climate and management on transpiration of residential trees during a bark beetle infestation

 

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The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world’s largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 8,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach and education initiatives. The Society’s Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org

 

Follow ESA on social media:
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Taking the fall: How stunt performers struggle with reporting head trauma

OHIO UNIVERSITY

In the heart-pounding action scenes of your favorite blockbuster, it's not always the A-list actor taking the risks but the unsung heroes—stunt performers—who bring those breathtaking moments to life. However, behind the glamour lies a grim reality: the reluctance of these daredevils to report head trauma, fearing it could jeopardize their careers.

In the recently released blockbuster, “The Fall Guy,” audiences get a behind-the-scenes look at what stunt professionals go through to create those most thrilling moments, and although this film celebrates these skilled professionals, it does not highlight the impact the stunts can have on their health.

Ohio University researchers Dr. Jeffrey Russell and Dr. Elizabeth Beverly have delved into this issue through a new qualitative study published in the "Journal of Occupational Medicine & Toxicology," amplifying the voices of stunt performers who often go unheard. Their research, published as a follow-up to a previous study, shines a light on the challenges stunt professionals face regarding self-reporting of head injuries and the potential long-term consequences for their health and livelihoods.

“This qualitative study allows for stunt performers to describe in their own words about their experiences with head injuries, how they are managed and how the industry can improve upon ensuring stunt performers’ health and wellness into their future,” Russell, an associate professor in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, said. 

The study was co-authored by Canadian stunt performers and provides an invaluable platform for members of their profession to share their experiences anonymously. It exposes a pervasive fear among performers that reporting injuries could result in them being sidelined or labeled a liability, thereby threatening their future job prospects.

“Many stunt performers are afraid to report their injuries, especially head trauma, in fear they will be put on a do-not-hire list or looked at as a liability,” Russell explained. “The more injuries or trauma, the harder it may be to find work. But that should not be how it is; production companies and their unions should be ensuring stunt performers are taken care of and not reprimanded for any injuries sustained on the job.”

Leslie McMichael, a stunt coordinator, stunt performer and co-author on the study, offers firsthand insight into the challenges faced by stunt professionals. Drawing from her experiences, she stresses the need for proactive measures to both prevent head injuries and address them when they occur.

“In my first 10 years working as a stunt performer, I noticed there were certain people that had some behavioral issues and learned that many of them had repeated head trauma where they didn’t have the proper safety when doing stunts like car crashes,” McMichael, who has done stunts in movies such as “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Final Destination 3,” and “Fantastic Four,” said. “Especially in the older days, safety wasn’t at the forefront so there are several older stunt performers I’ve met or heard of where aging has been more difficult for them cognitively because of injuries they sustained while performing stunts. When I started seeing this more and more, I knew it was a real problem in our industry and that this population doesn’t often seek medical help out of fear of being unemployed.”

According to Beverly, who aided in analyzing the qualitative data, this study emphasizes the significance of understanding the emotional and psychological toll of health conditions on individuals.

“The power of qualitative research is it gives participants a voice to express what matters to them and why,” Beverly, Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Endowed Professor in Behavioral Diabetes in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, said. “So often in the healthcare field, we think about quantitative outcomes because it is often easier to understand a numerical value. What we forget or fail to ask is how health conditions make people feel. How we feel often dictates our thoughts and behaviors. Overall, this can improve communication, treatment engagement and clinical outcomes.”

Although this qualitative study does not provide numerical evidence, it provides something more - an official record from stunt performers themselves, not anecdotes or hearsay. This type of research can be taken to studios and unions to use as resources for advocating for improvements in this area.

“We have observed the negative outcomes of head trauma in football and other sports and changes have been made in the last five years to prevent and reduce the number of those concussions,” Beverly explained. “My hope is that the film industry draws parallels and sees this as an opportunity to intervene and make changes. Stunt performers are an integral part of the entertainment industry, and they deserve to work in a safe environment.”

The findings from the study also identify a clear need to improve the quality of the work environment in their industry.

As a performer, McMichael performs stunts that range from martial arts to driving sequences, working with fire, high falls and more, yet notes that due to the nature of the job, even when someone is injured, they will continue to push through the pain in order to work.

“Unfortunately, with head trauma there is not a lot of physical proof to tell your union or studio about or to bring to your insurance company to ensure you can be taken care of. People want to work in this industry and to make a livelihood requires a stunt performer to be on set, continuously putting themselves through potentially dangerous stunts when they really should be resting and taking care of their bodies and brains. However, that doesn’t pay the bills.”

Both McMichael and Russell’s pioneering work has laid the groundwork for advancing research in this critical area and their advocacy is working to foster a culture of safety and support within the industry, ensuring that the well-being of stunt performers remains a top priority.

“It’s cool to be involved in something where I can help and potentially give back to the people I’ve been working with for a long time,” McMichael, who also has a Ph.D. in Media Psychology, added.

Russell has also established an international task force made up of stunt performers, researchers, and healthcare professionals from across the globe to help aid in the advocacy for stunt performers’ health.  

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JOURNAL

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Stunt performers’ reluctance to self-report head trauma: a qualitative study

 

Feeling rough after your COVID shot? Congrats, it’s working!

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

Headache, chills, tiredness may be evidence of a supercharged defense, according to UCSF-led study. 

Fewer than 1 in 4 people in the United States have received last year’s updated COVID-19 vaccine, despite a death toll of more than 23,000 Americans this year. 
 
One of the most common reasons for bypassing the COVID vaccine is concern about side effects like tiredness, muscle and joint pain, chills, headache, fever, nausea and feeling generally unwell. But a new study, led by UC San Francisco, has found that the symptoms indicate a robust immune response that is likely to lessen the chances of infection. 
 
The study, which appears online June 10 in Annals of Internal Medicine, is based on symptom reports and antibody responses from 363 people, who had the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines when they were first introduced.  
 
After the second dose of the vaccine, the researchers found that those with seven or more symptoms had nearly double the antibody levels of those who did not have symptoms. The participants were mainly in their forties to sixties and had not had the virus. 
 
About 40% of the people in the study also wore a device to monitor their temperature, breathing and heart rate. The researchers found that those whose skin temperature increased by 1 degree Celsius after the second dose had three times the antibody levels six months later, compared to those whose temperature did not increase. 
 
An absence of side effects does not mean the vaccine is not working 
 
“Generally, we found that the higher the number of side effects, the higher the level of antibodies,” said first author Ethan Dutcher, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and the Weill Institute for Neurosciences. “But this wasn’t a hard rule: some people without side effects had better antibodies than some people with side effects.” 
 
As the virus has evolved and fatality rates have fallen, many people are underestimating its impact. “The toll of COVID is still high for some – sickness, lost work, lasting fatigue and the dreaded long COVID,” said co-senior author Elissa Epel, PhD, a vice chair in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “While the symptoms from vaccination can be very unpleasant, it’s important to remember that they don’t come close to the disease’s potential complications,” she said. 
 
“With COVID-19 vaccines likely here to stay, identifying what predicts a strong antibody response will remain important,” said co-senior author Aric Prather, PhD, professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. 
 
The latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are that everyone 6 months and older should receive the updated vaccine, and those 65 and older should receive an additional dose.  
 
 
Co-Authors: Ashley Mason, PhD, and Frederick Hecht, MD, of UCSF; James E. Robinson, MD, of Tulane University; and Stacy Drury, MD, PhD, of Tulane University and Boston Children’s Hospital.  
 
Funding: National Institutes of Health (R24AG048024, 5U24AG066528 and U54CA260581). 
 
Disclosures: Epel is on the scientific advisory boards of Meru Health and Oura Health. Mason has receiving consultancy fees from Oura Health. Prather is an advisor to NeuroGeneces and L-New Co.   

 

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JOURNAL

Annals of Internal Medicine

 

1 in 7 adults have experienced someone threaten to share their intimate images: new research

A global study on the prevalence of sexual extortion among adults has found the issue to be more widespread than initially thought.

RMIT UNIVERSITY

A global study on the prevalence of sexual extortion among adults has found the issue to be more widespread than initially thought. 

Sexual extortion, or sextortion, is a form of image-based sexual abuse which includes making threats to share intimate photos or videos of a victim unless they comply with the perpetrator’s behavioral or financial demands. 

The research, led by RMIT University in partnership with Google, surveyed over 16,000 adults across Australia, North and Central America, Europe and Asia and found 14.5% of respondents reported being victims of sextortion, while 4.8% admitted to being perpetrators. 

LGBTQ+ people, men and younger respondents were more likely to report both victimisation and perpetration. 

The most common type of perpetrator was a former or current partner, but men were more likely than women to report being victimised by a colleague or carer. 

Victimisation was most common in the US, Australia, Mexico and South Korea, and least common in the European countries. 

Perpetration was most common in South Korea, followed by Australia and the US. It was least common in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.   

Despite men being more likely to be perpetrators, the study found they were also slightly more at risk of being victims of sextortion. 

Lead researcher and RMIT Professor Nicola Henry said one possible explanation for why men are more likely to report victimisation could be because sextortion scams were more likely to target young men.  

“For financial forms of sextortion, scammers trick people into sharing their intimate images, or lead them to believe they have evidence of the victim visiting pornographic sites,” said Henry, from RMIT’s Social Equity Research Centre. 

"They then use this evidence to threaten to share intimate images if they don’t comply with their demands, like paying money or sending more intimate images.” 

Despite the prevalence of sextortion in the form of financial scams, Henry said sextortion was actually more likely to be perpetrated by an intimate partner.  

“This is particularly common in intimate partner abuse where a partner or an ex threatens to share intimate images to coerce the victim into doing or not doing something, such as staying in the relationship, pursuing an intervention order, refusing custody of children, or engaging in an unwanted sexual act,” she said. 

LGBTQ+ people were also at a greater risk of falling victim to sextortion, where intimate content might be used as a threat to ‘out’ them due to the stigma surrounding sexuality and sexual freedom of expression. 

Co-author and Staff User Experience Researcher at Google, Dr Rebecca Umbach, said there was little existing research into sextortion among adults, with the majority focused on minors or specific locations. 

“A lack of standardised large-scale data can hinder our ability to effectively address the issue,” she said. 

“Even assuming some amount of under-reporting, our findings indicate that sextortion among adults is actually relatively common and deserves more research and resources.” 

The victim-offender overlap 

The study found 85.2% of perpetrators also reported being victimised at some point. 

“One possible explanation for this is that intimate images may be used in retaliation or in “tit-for-tat” situations, whereby an individual who has threatened to share another person’s intimate images then experiences a threat themselves from that individual or from someone else,” Henry said. 

Surprisingly, South Korean women had the highest victim-offender overlap, with 15.2% of women reporting both victim and perpetrator experiences.  

While more research was needed to understand the reasons for this, one possible explanation was simply the high prevalence of image-based sexual abuse in South Korea. 

In this study alone, 19.1% of South Korean women reported being victims of sextortion. 

“We can only hypothesise that being threatened with intimate image dissemination could prompt some people to retaliate in kind by threatening to share that person's images too,” Henry said.  

Combating sextortion 

Given the global prevalence of sextortion, Henry said a range of measures were needed to help prevent and respond to sextortion. 

“First and foremost, prevention education at the school, university, and community levels needs to be tailored specifically to at-risk groups, especially boys and young men,” she said. 

“More funding and resources are needed for supporting victim-survivors of sextortion, including for counselling, legal advice, and mental health crisis support.  

“Frontline workers also need to be trained to recognise the signs of sextortion and respond to disclosures in a trauma-informed and culturally appropriate way, and provide appropriate supports and referrals. 

“Sextortion should be part of conversations about intimate partner violence and dating abuse, not just in the context of financial scams.” 

With technology increasingly being used to facilitate sextortion, Umbach said studies such as this one were important to inform society as a whole, and to enable technology companies and regulators to exercise the shared responsibility to enforce policies and practices to detect, prevent and respond to sextortion. 

This paper was the result of the first of two Google grants Henry was awarded, with the second grant focusing specifically on AI-generated intimate imagery.  

Google hopes the research will help expand the understanding around the harms of image-based sexual abuse and support further investment in innovation to combat the issue. 

“Sextortion: Prevalence and correlates in 10 countries” was published in Computers in Human Behavior (DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2024.108298). 

Nicola Henry and Rebecca Umbach are co-authors. 

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JOURNAL

Computers in Human Behavior

DOI

10.1016/j.chb.2024.108298 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Sextortion: Prevalence and correlates in 10 countries

 

Sustainable battery technology: innovations in design, manufacturing, and fault detection

KEAI COMMUNICATIONS CO., LTD.

 

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VARIOUS FAULT DETECTION METHODS FOR BATTERIES

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CREDIT: PAVEL M. ROY, ET AL.

In an era where sustainable energy is paramount, a groundbreaking study provides critical insights into battery health management. It meticulously examines the design, optimization, fault detection, and recycling of Lithium-ion, Lead Acid, and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries—crucial components for the next generation of portable devices, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems.

As our reliance on electric vehicles and renewable energy systems grows, so does the demand for efficient and sustainable battery technologies. The challenges of performance degradation, safety concerns, and environmental impact loom large. The need of the hour is to innovate in battery design, optimization, and fault detection, and to develop effective recycling strategies to minimize ecological footprint. The urgency calls for in-depth research to propel battery health management forward and foster sustainable energy storage solutions.

Researchers from the Industrial Tribology Laboratory have unveiled a comprehensive study on battery health management. Their work, published (DOI: 10.1016/j.enss.2024.04.001) on April 16, 2024, in the esteemed Energy Storage and Saving journal, presents an in-depth analysis of battery design, manufacturing processes, fault detection strategies, and cutting-edge recycling techniques.

This groundbreaking research meticulously explores the nuances of battery design and optimization, emphasizing the refinement of electrode materials and configurations to maximize energy density, performance, and safety. Machine learning (ML) techniques are highlighted for their role in enhancing electrolyte penetration and ion transport in Li-ion batteries. The study underscores the criticality of early fault detection through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML, vital for preventing battery failures and extending their lifespan. Innovative methods such as dual-wavelength photoelectric and electrochemical detection for monitoring thermal runaway in real-time are also presented. The paper evaluates various recycling methods, including pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, mechanical separation, and electrodialysis, for their environmental impact and efficiency, championing sustainable practices.

Dr. S.H. Gawande, a foremost authority and lead author of the study, remarked, "Our research underscores the critical role of integrating sophisticated technologies like AI and ML for early battery fault detection. These innovations are pivotal for bolstering battery reliability and safety. Moreover, embracing sustainable recycling practices is fundamental in mitigating the environmental repercussions of battery disposal. Our findings are poised to guide future innovations in battery technology, with an unwavering focus on both efficiency and environmental stewardship."

The implications of this study resonate across industries. The optimization of battery design and fault detection mechanisms will enhance safety and reliability, particularly beneficial for the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors. The spotlight on sustainable recycling strategies is set to reduce the environmental impact of battery waste. The integration of AI and ML in battery health management is set to raise the bar for technological standards, sparking further innovation and research in the field.

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Media contact:

Name: Yue Yang

Email: enss@xjtu.edu.cn

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JOURNAL

Energy Storage and Saving

DOI

10.1016/j.enss.2024.04.001 

ARTICLE TITLE

Battery Health Management- A Perspective of Design, Optimization, Manufacturing, Fault Detection, and Recycling

 

Intoxication without alcohol: Auto-brewery syndrome

CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL

How can someone have alcohol intoxication without consuming alcohol? Auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition in which gut fungi create alcohol through fermentation, is described in a case study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.231319.

“Auto-brewery syndrome carries substantial social, legal, and medical consequences for patients and their loved ones,” writes Dr. Rahel Zewude, University of Toronto, with coauthors. “Our patient had several [emergency department] visits, was assessed by internists and psychiatrists, and was certified under the Mental Health Act before receiving a diagnosis of auto-brewery syndrome, reinforcing how awareness of this syndrome is essential for clinical diagnosis and management.”

Emergency department (ED), gastroenterology, and infectious disease specialists discuss the case of a 50-year-old woman who had visited the ED at least 7 times for extreme daytime sleepiness and slurred speech and, despite not drinking alcohol, had elevated blood alcohol levels and alcohol on her breath.

She had been on several antibiotic courses for recurrent urinary tract infections alongside a proton pump inhibitor.

At the seventh visit, she was given a possible diagnosis of auto-brewery syndrome, antifungal medication, and referral to a gastroenterologist.

Antifungal medication and low-carbohydrate diets are the main treatment for the condition.

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JOURNAL

Canadian Medical Association Journal

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.231319 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Auto-brewery syndrome in a 50-year-old woman

 

Novel nematode species, a relative of model organisms, discovered at the university research station

UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA

 

IMAGE: 

MICROSCOPIC IMAGE OF PRISTIONCHUS SELADONIAE N. SP.

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CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA

Tsukuba, Japan—Nematodes, a diverse group of invertebrates, are believed to rival or even surpass insects in species count that have over a million known species. Phylum Nematoda includes harmful (parasites, agricultural, and forestry pests) and beneficial species (biocontrol materials, model organisms). However, with less than 30,000 identified species, our understanding on nematode diversity is incomplete. Hence, continuous collection from various environments is likely to reveal new, potentially, valuable species.

In this study, nematode diversity surveys were conducted at the Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukuba (Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture), located in a high-altitude, cold region. The aim was to identify nematode species consistently detected in the soil-dwelling, eusocial bee, Halictus (Seladonia) aerarius.

The nematode discovered was identified as a new species of the Pristionchus genus, an omnivorous nematode used as a model system in genome evolution, self-recognition, and developmental plasticity studies a phenomenon in which body structures change in response to the environment. Detailed morphological observations and molecular phylogenetic analysis led to its description as Pristionchus seladoniae.

P. seladoniae exhibits physiological traits, such as unstable growth on E. coli medium, commonly used for other Pristionchus nematodes, and a lack of plasticity under culture conditions. Its ecological traits include continuous detection from soil bees and clumping on culture media, indicative of hypoxia adaptation. The species has potential to be studied in the fields of genome biology, physiology, and environmental adaptation studies as a comparative material (satellite model) with model species.

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This study was supported in part by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Nos 20H03026, 23K23953 and 23K17381 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

 

Original Paper

Title of original paper:
Pristionchus seladoniae n. sp. (Diplogastridae) isolated from a eusocial soil-dwelling bee, Halictus (Seladonia) aerarius, in Nagano, Japan

Journal:
Nematology

DOI:
10.1163/15685411-bja10326

Correspondence

Associate Professor DEGAWA, Yousuke
Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba / Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukuba

Senior Researcher KANZAKI, Natsumi
Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI)

Related Link

Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences
Sugadaira Research Station

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JOURNAL

Nematology

DOI

10.1163/15685411-bja10326 

ARTICLE TITLE

Pristionchus seladoniae n. sp. (Diplogastridae) isolated from a eusocial soil-dwelling bee, Halictus (Seladonia) aerarius, in Nagano, Japan

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-June-2024

Designing the demise of Aral Sea: strategies to sustain aesthetics and performance in anthropogenic landscapes

HIGHER EDUCATION PRESS

 

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COLLABORATING WITH THE NON-HUMAN AGENCIES, ALL THE MARKERS COLLECTIVELY FOSTER A SYSTEM THAT GRACEFULLY TRANSITIONS THE ARAL SEA INTO NEW LIFE FORMS, MARKING A BEAUTIFUL END AND A NEW BEGINNING.
 

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CREDIT: ELLENA OI LING WONG

Entering the Anthropocene, humans are confronted with a grim yet peculiar state of increasing natural landscapes inching closer to extinction. Notably, the Aral Sea retains a mere 10% of its original volume, highlighting the urgency of the situation.

The Aral Sea, originating at the end of the Neogene Period and fed by the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers with meltwater from the Tianshan Mountains, was once the fourth-largest lake in the world. Intensive water diversion for cotton plantation across Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan since the 1960s has resulted in its significant reduction. Meanwhile, the desiccation of the Aral Sea leads to the emergence of a new desert—Aralkum Desert. This transformation introduces sand, salt, and dust across the Aral Sea Basin, causing salty dust storms that carry toxic pesticides from cotton fields, leading to respiratory issues, soil degradation, and decreased crop productivity in nearby areas. Moreover, the disappearance of this substantial water body has altered regional climate, resulting in colder winters and hotter summers, and accelerated the melting of adjacent glaciers. The desiccation of the Aral Sea foretells the increasingly frequent experience of losing landscapes, ecosystems, and existing cultural man-land relationships.

This article challenges conventional ways of landscape conservation which aim to halt or reverse ecological degradation. Instead, it proposes a paradigm where the design for the anthropogenic landscape in the Aral Sea is not to solely conserve what is left, but rather allows a dignified decline. In the design of anthropogenic post-human landscape for the Aral Sea, we can make human devastation noticeable by revealing the slow death of the lake. These markers shall be memorials and educational tools guiding us to properly adapt to Aral Sea’s evolving ecosystem. They aim to document the gradual ecological changes, fostering new forms of coexistence between humans and non-humans, as well as highlighting the significant impact of human activities on the planet. This project integrates local materials, including salt-tolerant plants, sand, water, and iron, honoring the site’s inherent characteristics. It outlines four strategic approaches—stasis, accumulation, slowing down, and amplifying decay—to developing Anthropo-makers with respective design programs and travel modes.

The proposed design interventions involve creating a system of brine pools, tillage mounds, sand-capturing dunes, and ecological markers, and seek to employ non-human entities, including both inorganic and organic materials like sand, salt, and plantings, in mitigating the demise of the Aral Sea. In essence, this article strives to make human devastation in the Anthropocene perceptible by designing an educative experience while slowing the disappearance of the dying sea. 

The work entitled “Designing the Demise of Aral Sea: Strategies to Sustain Aesthetics and Performance in Anthropogenic Landscapes” was published on the journal of Landscape Architecture Frontiers (February 15, 2024).

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JOURNAL

Landscape Architecture Frontiers

DOI

10.15302/J-LAF-1-050058 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Designing the Demise of Aral Sea: Strategies to Sustain Aesthetics and Performance in Anthropogenic Landscapes