The Lancet Public Health: Survey taken after France's first COVID-19 wave indicates almost one-third of working-age people could reject a vaccine

Around one in three working-age adults (29%) surveyed in France in July 2020

would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine

THE LANCET

Research News

 

• Around one in three working-age adults (29%) surveyed in France in July 2020 would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine.
• Willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccination depended upon its country of origin, effectiveness, rate of serious side effects, and site of vaccination.
• Although attitudes may have changed since July 2020 with the approval of several vaccines and a second wave of COVID-19, the findings suggest that communicating the collective benefits of herd immunity reduced people's hesitancy about being vaccinated.

Nearly one in three working-age adults in France (29%) surveyed in July 2020 - when lockdown restrictions had been eased - were outright opposed to being vaccinated against the virus, according to new research published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

Researchers found that more than two-thirds of people (71%) could accept a vaccine depending on its characteristics, with their decision based largely on its effectiveness and country of origin.

Based on their findings, the authors recommend that mass vaccination strategies in France would be most successful if they use vaccines with robust evidence of high levels of effectiveness, especially vaccines produced in the USA or the European Union, and emphasise the collective benefits of herd immunity.

While the study was conducted in France - where vaccine skepticism, in general, is high -highlights potential hurdles that widespread distrust of new vaccines could pose to a vaccine rollout strategy to achieve herd immunity. The authors also note that the study was undertaken before the development of highly effective vaccines, which may have altered people's attitudes.

To date, three COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in the European Union. Reaching herd immunity - when upwards of 60% of a country's population is immune due to infection or vaccination - will likely involve the need for mass vaccination, as physical distancing measures aim to prevent people from becoming infected. However, recent evidence from opinion polls suggests that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is increasing worldwide. [1]

The authors of the new study surveyed a representative sample of 1,942 adults in France aged 18-64 years using a two-part online questionnaire. The first section sought background information such as participants' past vaccination behaviour and their risk of having a severe case of COVID-19.

In the second part, participants selected from a range of options relating to scenarios involving several hypothetical vaccines. These differed on four characteristics: efficacy (50%, 80%, 90%, or 100%); risk of serious side effects (1/10,000 or 1/100,000 vaccinated people); country of manufacturer (European Union, USA, or China); and site of vaccination (GP practice, local pharmacy, or mass vaccination centre).

Analysing survey responses using a behavioural model enabled researchers to distinguish between people who would accept a vaccination with certain characteristics (known as vaccine hesitancy) and those who would always refuse one - a distinction that is usually not explored using opinion poll data.

Dr Verity Watson, of the University of Aberdeen, UK, said: "We used a study design that allowed us to separate people into two groups: those who will accept vaccination depending on its characteristics, and those who would always refuse one. This information is important for designing mass vaccination campaigns because it shows how sensitive uptake is to the design of the campaign. Opinion polls are rarely able to separate people in this way."

The authors found that nearly one third (29%, 650/1,942) of the French working-age population would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine. Among participants who would not outright refuse a vaccine (71%, 1,382/1,942), hesitancy mainly depended upon the effectiveness of vaccines and the country where they were made.

Vaccine hesitancy was minimised - resulting in a 61% acceptance rate overall - in a scenario using a vaccine manufactured in the European Union that was 90% effective and had a low risk of serious side effects (1/100,000 people vaccinated). Vaccine hesitancy was at its highest - an acceptance rate of only 27% overall - in a scenario involving a Chinese-made vaccine with 50% effectiveness and a risk of serious side effects of 1/10,000.

Survey responses also indicated that a reduction in hesitancy for a vaccine with 90% efficacy (compared with a vaccine with 50% efficacy) was entirely offset if it was made in China rather than the European Union. The authors suggest that hesitancy based on country of origin may be due to perceived rushed development and safety concerns about vaccines made in countries outside the European Union.

The collective benefits of herd immunity should be emphasised as part of mass vaccination strategies, the authors suggest, as communicating these was associated with significantly less COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Both hesitancy and outright refusal to be vaccinated were more likely among women, people with lower educational achievements, and those who had previously chosen not to receive other recommended vaccinations. People aged 18-24 years and 55-64 years were less likely to outright refuse or be hesitant about accepting a vaccine than people aged 25-54 years.

Dr Michaël Schwarzinger, of Bordeaux University Hospital, France, said: "Understanding the factors that determine whether or not working-age people will accept a COVID-19 vaccine is vital. Like France, the majority of the population in most high-income countries is made up of working-age people, which means that reaching herd immunity through a mass vaccination campaign can only be achieved if they are willing to take part."

"Our findings suggest that vaccine hesitancy, alongside other factors including limited vaccine supplies and the emergence of new COVID-19 strains, continues to pose major challenges to getting the pandemic under control. With evidence indicating that hesitancy to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is growing worldwide, studies such as ours are important for helping to inform the development and rollout of national vaccination strategies that people are likely to support." [2]

The authors acknowledge that the main limitation of the study is the timing of the survey. In July 2020, stringent physical-distancing measures had been lifted following the first wave of infections, and information on COVID-19 vaccination was limited. People's attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination may have changed since then in response to a resurgence of the virus, reintroduced physical distancing measures, and the development of highly effective vaccines.

Writing in a linked Comment, Pierre Verger and Patrick Peretti-Watel from Observatoire Regional de la Santé Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Aix-Marseille University, France, respectively, suggest the results may be important for informing mass vaccination strategies, saying: " ...this study shows that most people are probably not absolutely for or against COVID-19 vaccines. Depending on their own profile and preferences, and on the characteristics of the vaccines available, vaccine-hesitant individuals might consider taking the vaccine or delay it to get another vaccine. Health authorities must anticipate these behaviours, especially since the characteristics that influence them could change over time."

Publication of this research coincides with two other new studies in The Lancet Public Health journal assessing different aspects of the pandemic in France. One sought to better understand common factors associated with in-hospital COVID-19 cases and deaths across the country, while the other investigated prevalence of the virus among homeless people in Paris.

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Peer-reviewed / Survey / People

** Paper published as part of a collection of three papers assessing different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in France**

NOTES TO EDITORS

This study was funded by the French Public Health Agency. It was conducted by researchers from Bordeaux University Hospital, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Aix-Marseille University), Santé Publique France, and University of Aberdeen, UK.

The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com

[1] Lin C, Tu P, Beitsch LM. Confidence and Receptivity for COVID-19 Vaccines: A Rapid Systematic Review. Vaccines 2020; 9(1).

[2] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article.

#ZOONOSIS

Pangolin coronavirus could jump to humans

THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE

Research News

 

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have found important structural similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and a pangolin coronavirus, suggesting that a pangolin coronavirus could infect humans.

While SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have evolved from a bat coronavirus, its exact evolutionary path is still a mystery. Uncovering its history is challenging as there are likely many undiscovered bat coronaviruses and, due to differences between bat coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2, it is thought that the virus may have passed to humans via at least one other species.

In their study, published in Nature Communications, the scientists compared the structures of the spike proteins found on SARS-CoV-2, the most similar currently identified bat coronavirus RaTG13, and a coronavirus isolated from Malayan pangolins which were seized by authorities after being smuggled to China. They found that the pangolin virus was able to bind to receptors from both pangolins and humans. This differs to the bat coronavirus, which could not effectively bind with human or pangolin receptors.

Antoni Wrobel, co-lead author and postdoctoral training fellow in the Structural Biology of Disease Processes Laboratory at the Crick, says: "By testing if the spike protein of a given virus can bind with cell receptors from different species, we're able to see if, in theory, the virus could infect this species."

"Importantly here, we've shown two key things. Firstly, that this bat virus would unlikely be able to infect pangolins. And secondly that a pangolin virus could potentially infect humans."

The team used cryo-electron microscopy to uncover in minute detail the structure of the pangolin coronavirus' spike protein, which is responsible for binding to and infecting cells. While some parts of the pangolin virus' spike were found to be incredibly similar to SARS-CoV-2, other areas differed.

In terms of understanding the evolutionary path of SARS-CoV-2, this work does not confirm whether or not this pangolin virus is definitely part of the chain of evolution for SARS-CoV-2. But the findings do support various possible scenarios for how the coronavirus jumped from bats to humans. One potential route is that SARS-CoV-2 originated from a different, currently unknown bat coronavirus which could infect pangolins, and from this species it then moved to humans. Or alternatively, RaTG13 or a similar bat coronavirus might have merged with another coronavirus in a different intermediate species, other than a pangolin.

Donald Benton, co-lead author and postdoctoral training fellow in the Structural Biology of Disease Processes Laboratory at the Crick, says: "We still don't have evidence to confirm the evolutionary path of SARS-CoV-2 or to prove definitively that this virus did pass through pangolins to humans."

"However, we have shown that a pangolin virus could potentially jump to humans, so we urge caution in any contact with this species and the end of illegal smuggling and trade in pangolins to protect against this risk."

Steve Gamblin, group leader of the Structural Biology of Disease Processes Laboratory at the Crick says: "A lot is still to be uncovered about the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, but the more we know about its history and which species it passed through, the more we understand about how it works, and how it may continue to evolve."

This work builds upon previous studies from the Crick team, including research published in July 2020, which found that the bat coronavirus RaTG13 could not effectively bind to human receptors.

The team are continuing to examine the spikes of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses, including other bat viruses, to better understand the mechanisms of infection and evolution.

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Chinese scientists use knowledge from climate system modeling to develop a global prediction system for the COVID-19 pandemic

INSTITUTE OF ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE CAMPUS OF LANZHOU UNIVERSITY. view more 

CREDIT: CHUWEI LIU

At the time of writing, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is seriously threatening human lives and health throughout the world. Before effective vaccines and specific drugs are developed, non-pharmacological interventions and numerical model predictions are essential. To this end, a group led by Professor Jianping Huang from Lanzhou University, China, developed the Global Prediction System of the COVID-19 Pandemic (GPCP).

Jianping Huang is a Professor in the College of Atmospheric Sciences and a Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, Lanzhou University, China. He has for a long time been dedicated to studying long-term climate prediction, dust-cloud interaction, and semi-arid climate change by combining field observations and theoretical research. Lockdown in early 2020 seriously affected his research. Therefore, stuck at home, he held online discussions with his team members on how their experience of developing climate system models might be able to contribute to fighting the pandemic. He didn't expect much response, but was surprised and touched when many of his colleagues responded enthusiastically.

Therefore, he and his team combined the results of 30 years of work in statistical dynamic numerical weather prediction methods, and developed the GPCP based on the traditional Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) infectious disease model. The improved methods and results were published in Atmospheric and Ocean Science Letters.

In order to combine epidemiological data and models, the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) parameter optimization algorithm was proposed to identify epidemiological models, thereby constructing a Statistical-SIR model. The LM algorithm introduces a damping coefficient when calculating the Hessian matrix by the traditional least-squares method, thereby combining the advantage of the Gauss-Newton method and gradient descent method and improving the stability of parameters.

"From the simulation results of four selected countries with relatively high numbers of confirmed cases, the Statistical-Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model using the LM algorithm was found to be more consistent with the actual curve of the epidemic, being better able to reflect its trend of development," explains Prof. Huang.

In addition, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) model and the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model were also used in combination to improve the prediction results of the GPCP. The EEMD method has been widely used in the fields of engineering, meteorology, ecology, etc. It can decompose the signal according to its own scale, and is suitable for non-stationary and nonlinear signal processing. The ARMA method can better predict time series.

"We found that the EEMD-ARMA method can be directly used to predict the number of daily new cases in countries with a smaller number of confirmed cases whose development trend cannot be predicted by the infectious disease model. Based on the results, this method is more effective for improving prediction results and making direct predictions," concludes Prof. Huang.

The GPCP model developed by Jianping Huang's team can carry out targeted predictions for different countries and regions, and has achieved good prediction results. The team will continue to improve the model in the future to provide more accurate forecasts for different countries and regions.

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Fingerprint for the formation of nitrous oxide emissions

Scientists succeeded in studying emissions of the greenhouse gas N2O under the influence of environmental impacts in an unprecedented level of detail

UNIVERSITY OF INNSBRUCK

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE 16 GRASSLAND MONOLITHS COME FROM THE KASERSTATTALM IN THE TYROLEAN STUBAITAL - A SITE FOR LONG-TERM ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH. view more 

CREDIT: ELIZA HARRIS

Scientists led by Eliza Harris and Michael Bahn from the Institute of Ecology at the University of Innsbruck have succeeded in studying emissions of the greenhouse gas N2O under the influence of environmental impacts in an unprecedented level of detail. The study, which has now been published in Science Advances, is thus also a starting point for the creation of models that could predict future trends in the greenhouse gas emission dynamics of ecosystems under global climate change.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas whose atmospheric growth rate has accelerated over the past decade. The largest share of anthropogenic N2O emissions results from the fertilization of soils with nitrogen, which is converted into N2O via various abiotic and biological processes. A team of scientists led by Eliza Harris and Michael Bahn from the Functional Ecology research group at the University of Innsbruck has now been able to trace in detail the N2O production and consumption pathways that occur within the nitrogen cycle, and ultimately lead to the emission of this greenhouse gas, as part of the FWF-funded project NitroTrace. In an experimental setup at the University of Innsbruck, 16 intact grassland monoliths of the subalpine Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) site Kaserstattalm in the Stubaital region of Tyrol were studied. The soil blocks were exposed to extreme drought and subsequent rewetting. These weather conditions reflect the climatic changes to which many regions across the globe, including the Alps, are increasingly exposed. "Our goal was to quantify the net effect of drought and rewetting on N2O formation processes and emissions, which is currently largely unexplored", says Eliza Harris. Contrary to expectations of the researchers, the process of denitrification, the breakdown of nitrate to N2O and molecular nitrogen (N2) by specialized microorganisms, was found to dominate N2O production in very dry soils. According to previous assumptions, this process takes place primarily in moist, oxygen-poor soils, and as a result more N2O can be released into the atmosphere during drought than expected. The researchers had expected the process of nitrification to predominate in dry soils, producing nitrate, which is an important chemical compound for plants. "We assumed that if the soil was dry, there would be enough oxygen available for nitrification. After closer examination, we were able to detect drought-induced accumulations of nitrogen-containing organic matter on the surface of our soil samples and identify them as triggers for denitrification in dry soil. This suggests a strong role for the previously poorly understood chemodenitrification and codenitrification pathways, where additional abiotic and biotic processes lead to the formation of N2O", explains Eliza Harris the surprising result. Overall, N2O emission was greatest during rewetting after extreme drought.

The results provide researchers with unprecedented insights into the nitrogen cycle and the processes involved in the formation of the greenhouse gas N2O in response to environmental parameters. A better understanding of production and consumption reactions can help to find solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which have been increasing for decades.

Innovative analysis method

Crucial to the research success was the use of laser isotope spectroscopy, made possible through the FFG-funded project LTER-CWN. "Through this novel analytical technique, we can determine the isotopic composition of N2O. Thus, we get a kind of fingerprint for the formation process of the emitted N2O, which in turn helps us to understand its microbial formation process", emphasizes Eliza Harris the importance of this procedure. Molecular ecology analyses also helped them determine which genes and microbes were involved in the nitrogen transformation. In addition, spatial analysis techniques helped determine elemental composition and distribution in the soil. "We hope that by continuing to apply the combination of these methods in future similar research projects, we will gain further insights into feedback effects between climate change and the nitrogen cycle across different ecosystems and environments", says Eliza Harris. The researchers' long-term goal is to use models to predict ecosystem emission dynamics in the context of climate change.

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Sensor and detoxifier in one

Crystalline polymers for the rapid detection and efficient degradation of ozone

WILEY

Research News

 

Ozone is a problematic air pollutant that causes serious health problems. A newly developed material not only quickly and selectively indicates the presence of ozone, but also simultaneously renders the gas harmless. As reported by Chinese researchers in Angewandte Chemie, the porous "2-in-one systems" also function reliably in very humid air.

Ozone (O(3)) can cause health problems, such as difficulty breathing, lung damage, and asthma attacks. Relevant occupational safety regulations therefore limit the concentrations of ozone allowable in the workplace. Previous methods for the detection of ozone, such as those based on semiconductors, have a variety of disadvantages, including high power consumption, low selectivity, and malfunction due to humid air. Techniques aimed at reducing the concentration of ozone have thus far been based mainly on activated charcoal, chemical absorption, or catalytic degradation.

A team led by Zhenjie Zhang at Nankai University (Tianjin, China) set themselves the goal of developing a material that can both rapidly detect and efficiently remove ozone. Their approach uses materials known as covalent organic frameworks (COFs). COFs are two- or three-dimensional organic solids with extended porous crystalline structures; their components are bound together by strong covalent bonds. COFs can be tailored to many applications through the selection of different components.

The researchers selected easily producible, highly crystalline COFs made of aromatic ring systems. The individual building blocks are bound through connective groups called imines (a nitrogen atom bound to a carbon atom by a double bond). These are at the center of the action.

The imine COFs indicate the presence of ozone through a rapid color change from yellow to orange-red, which can be seen with the naked eye and registered by a spectrometer. Unlike many other detectors, the imine COF also works very reliably, sensitively, and efficiently at high humidity and over a wide temperature range. In the presence of water, the water molecules will preferentially bind to the imine groups. Consequently, the researchers assert, a hydroxide ion (OH(?)) is released, which reacts with an ozone molecule. The positively charged hydrogen atom remains bound to the imine group, causing the color change. If more ozone than water is present (or the ozone-laden air is fully dry), the excess ozone binds to the imine groups and splits them. Each imine group degrades two molecules of ozone. This also causes a color change and the crystalline structure slowly begins to collapse. The imine COF thus doesn't just detect the ozone, but also reliably and efficiently breaks the harmful gas down. This makes it more effective than many of the traditional materials employed for this purpose.

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About the Author

Dr. Zhenjie Zhang is a full Professor of inorganic chemistry at Nankai University. He is currently focusing on developing new crystalline porous materials (e.g., MOFs, COFs, and cages) for value-added product separation and purification, as well as creating smart materials for sensors, actuators, or robots. He is a recipient of the ACS-DIC Young Investigator Award and the CCS JINGQING Chemistry Investigator Award.

Arctic stew: Understanding how high-latitude lakes respond to and affect climate change

S.J. & JESSIE E. QUINNEY COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES, UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: NUNAVUT, A VAST REGION IN NORTHERN CANADA, PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. NEW RESEARCH FROM SOREN BROTHERS DETAILS HOW LAKES IN THE REGION COULD HAVE A... view more 

CREDIT: PAUL SIBLEY

To arrive at Nunavut, turn left at the Dakotas and head north. You can't miss it--the vast tundra territory covers almost a million square miles of northern Canada. Relatively few people call this lake-scattered landscape home, but the region plays a crucial role in understanding global climate change. New research from Soren Brothers, assistant professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center, details how lakes in Nunavut could have a big impact on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and it's not all bad news--at least for now. Brothers examined 23 years of data from lakes near Rankin Inlet. He noted a peculiarity--as the lakes warmed, their carbon dioxide concentrations fell. Most lakes are natural sources of carbon dioxide, but these lakes were now mostly near equilibrium with the atmosphere.

This was odd. The expected pattern is that warmer temperatures should trigger larger releases of greenhouse gases from lakes. In places like Alaska, centuries of accumulated plant material in the permafrost release a hoard of carbon as they thaw, and are consumed by microbes. Experiments have also shown that as waters warm, carbon dioxide production by microbes increases more quickly than carbon dioxide uptake by plants, throwing the system out of balance. Together, these processes should increase atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions from waterways, in theory anyway. So why not in Nunavut? There is no question that the first step in this Rube Goldberg machine is engaged ... the climate is warming. Why then, are the lakes near Rankin Inlet not belching out carbon?

Pulling on good, thick parkas, Brothers and his team visited the lakes and came up with a few ideas as to why this is happening. First, they note that much of Nunavut is on the Canadian shield--an ancient granitic bedrock where thin soils are unlikely to contain--and thus release--the massive stores of organic matter entering waterways elsewhere in the Arctic. Second, longer ice-free seasons might be changing the water chemistry and biology in ways that actually lower carbon dioxide concentrations, including longer growing seasons for plants (which take up carbon dioxide), and potentially better growing conditions for algae on the bottom of these shallow, clear lakes.

Does this mean that nature has come to the climate rescue? Likely not--other lakes around the world may still increase carbon dioxide emissions with warming, and the lakes in Nunavut might eventually catch up with them too. More likely, Brothers suggests that the link between ice cover duration and carbon dioxide concentrations might be buying us some time, before stronger positive feedbacks are unleashed between the planet's warming and its ecosystems. It may be a complicated process, but understanding this complexity helps scientists predict variations in how lakes are responding to--and influencing--climate change. It's a view under the hood, making planetary feedbacks and tipping points a little more predictable. While the long-term trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions from lakes is not settled, these results are an important piece of the puzzle in climate change science.

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Birds living in natural habits can help inform captive care

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Research News

Bird species that live in their natural habitats can help zoos learn how to manage those in captivity, according to a new review.

Birds are the most diverse group housed by zoos around the world, but zoo-based research tends not to focus on birds.

A new article published in the journal Birds, by Dr Paul Rose of the University of Exeter, suggests zoos can improve management of birds by looking at how species live in their natural habitats.

Likewise, birds living under the care of humans can also help guide and develop conservation action for those living in the wild.

"Research into wild birds is extremely useful for furthering how birds are managed in zoos," said Dr Rose.

"For species of conservation concern, zoo professionals can be linked with field biologists to share information on how to best care for these species in captivity and how to develop and formulate conservation actions.

"We can use proxy species - those common in zoos - to develop practices for conservation that can be used for less familiar species that might be of concern and need help from information gathered through things such as captive breeding.

"Or we can promote the threats that these not-in-the-zoo species face by using the commoner species as an ambassador.

"We do this through my work at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, promoting the rarer species of flamingo that are in the wild using the commoner ones we keep in the living collection."

In the review, Dr Rose uses hornbills as an example, a species of bird that is essential to the long viability and sustainability of biodiversity in the rainforest.

The helmeted hornbill, a critically endangered species, plays an important role in the dispersal of seeds within pristine, undistributed areas of south-east Asian rainforests.

The population decline of the helmeted hornbill has been caused by poaching of the birds for their "ivory", the large casque on the bird's head and bill that can be up to 10% of its overall body mass.

Whilst the helmeted hornbill is not found in captivity, other species of large hornbill are.

By looking at the ecological role of the helmeted hornbill in its natural habitat, zoos have been able to design enclosures that will increase chances of reproduction.

For example, by identifying the temperature and humidity range of hornbill nesting sites in the wild which are more likely to hatch eggs, zoos have been able to use this data to enable them to match these environmental conditions as closely as possible.

A similar situation happened with the Guam kingfishers, a species that is extinct in the wild and reliant on captive breeding for its survival.

Data from the nesting locations of the closely related Pohnpei kingfisher, found on a neighbouring island, showed that temperatures were hotter than those sometimes provided for captive Guam kingfishers.

The findings led to zoos raising the temperature to improve nesting success amongst the species.

Zoos have also been able to guide conservation action for hornbills living in the wild by monitoring the behaviour of these birds and discovering that using nest boxes enhances the quality of habitats for hornbills to breed in, which has led to these boxes being built in areas of the helmeted hornbill's range in Borneo.

Expertise and financial support has been provided by several large zoological collections in European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and North American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) that has successfully seen wild rhinoceros hornbills, listed as vulnerable, fledge a chick from an artificial nest box in the Bornean rainforest.

"The effect of visitors on zoos can also help direct future research questions and increase understanding of birds under human care," adds Dr Rose.

"Developing zoo bird exhibits to theme them around specific conservation messages can be used to promote wider understanding of the threats faced by wild birds specifically and hopefully encourage human behaviour change that benefits ecosystem health."

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The review article published in the Journal Birds, is entitled: "Evidence for aviculture: Identifying research needs to advance the role of ex situ bird populations in conservation initiatives and collection planning."

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

 FOR POSTMODERN DRUIDS

Forests of the world in 3D

Research team led by the University of Göttingen analyses complexity of forest structure

UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE RESEARCHERS USE LASERS TO SCAN THE TREE STRUCTURE. THE STRUCTURE OF A PRIMEVAL FOREST IS SHOWN HERE. view more 

CREDIT: DOMINIK SEIDEL

Primeval forests are of great importance for biodiversity and global carbon and water cycling. The three-dimensional structure of forests plays an important role here because it influences processes of gas and energy exchange with the atmosphere, whilst also providing habitats for numerous species. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has investigated the variety of different complex structures that can be found in the world's forests, as well as the factors that explain this diversity. The results have been published in Nature Communications.

The researchers investigated the structure of primeval forests on several continents in different climate zones. To achieve this, they spent two years travelling to remote primeval forest areas around the world to record the structure of the forests with the help of 3D laser scanners. A laser scanner captures the environment with the help of a laser beam and thus builds a 3D representation of the forest. This allows important metrics to be calculated to describe the structure. They found that the global variability of forest structures can be explained to a large extent by the amount of precipitation and thus by the availability of water in the different ecosystems. Based on these findings and with the help of climate data, they were able to create maps of the world's forests showing the global variability of structural complexity.

The world maps describe the structures that forests can develop free from human influence. Only 30 percent of the world's forests are still primeval forests. "A long-term goal of our research is to better understand how human influence and climate change affect the forest, its structure and the processes linked to it. The structure of primeval forests is an important reference point for this," says first author Dr Martin Ehbrecht from the University of Göttingen. A particular focus here is the question of how changes in precipitation patterns due to climate change affect the structure of forests. "The importance of water for the formation of complex forest structures can be explained by various interacting mechanisms," says Ehbrecht. "The availability of water is an important driver of the diversity of tree species. The more tree species a forest holds, the more pronounced is the coexistence of different crown shapes and sizes of trees. This means that the space available for the crowns of trees can often be utilised more efficiently in species-rich forests, which makes the forest structure more complex."

CAPTION

Dr Martin Ehbrecht studied the tropical rainforest in Borneo, in addition to many other areas.

CREDIT

M Ehbrecht/University of Göttingen

Tropical rainforests have a more complex structure than the deciduous and coniferous forests found in temperate zones, which are in turn generally more complex in structure than boreal coniferous forests such as those in Scandinavia, or subtropical forest savannahs in Africa. "Nevertheless, forests with high structural complexity can also be found in temperate zones, such as in areas with a high rainfall like the Pacific Northwest of the USA or in coastal forests of Chile," says Professor Ammer, senior author of the study and head of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of Temperate Zones at Göttingen University.

The results of this study are an important starting point for further work. "With the help of satellite-based recording of 3-D forest structure, in the future it will be possible to precisely record the actual complexity of forests," says Ehbrecht. "This will make it possible to better understand the effects of forest management and climate change on the world's forests. Our world maps can serve as an important reference for this."

CAPTION

3D laser scanners were set up in many forest areas around the world. The tropical rainforest in Uganda is shown here.

CREDIT

M Ehbrecht/University of Göttingen

Original publication: Martin Ehbrecht et al. Global patterns and climatic controls of forest structural complexity. Nature Communications (2021). Doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20767-z

Contact:
Dr Martin Ehbrecht
University of Göttingen
Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones
Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
martin.ehbrecht@forst.uni-goettingen.de

Healthy oceans need healthy soundscapes

Researchers document the impacts of noise on marine animals and ecosystems and identify actions to restore healthy ocean sounds

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA

Research News

 

Rain falls lightly on the ocean's surface. Marine mammals chirp and squeal as they swim along. The pounding of surf along a distant shoreline heaves and thumps with metronomic regularity. These are the sounds that most of us associate with the marine environment. But the soundtrack of the healthy ocean no longer reflects the acoustic environment of today's ocean, plagued with human-created noise.

A global team of researchers set out to understand how human-made noise affects wildlife, from invertebrates to whales, in the oceans, and found overwhelming evidence that marine fauna, and their ecosystems, are negatively impacted by noise. This noise disrupts their behavior, physiology, reproduction and, in extreme cases, causes mortality. The researchers call for human-induced noise to be considered a prevalent stressor at the global scale and for policy to be developed to mitigate its effects.

The research(link is external), led by Professor Carlos M. Duarte, distinguished professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and published in the journal Science, is eye opening to the global prevalence and intensity of the impacts of ocean noise. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have made the planet, the oceans in particular, noisier through fishing, shipping, infrastructure development and more, while also silencing the sounds from marine animals that dominated the pristine ocean.

"The landscape of sound - or soundscape - is such a powerful indicator of the health of an environment," noted Ben Halpern(link is external), a coauthor on the study and director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at UC Santa Barbara. "Like we have done in our cities on land, we have replaced the sounds of nature throughout the ocean with those of humans."

The deterioration of habitats, such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows and kelp beds with overfishing, coastal development, climate change and other human pressures, have further silenced the characteristic sound that guides the larvae of fish and other animals drifting at sea into finding and settling on their habitats. The call home is no longer audible for many ecosystems and regions.

The Anthropocene marine environment, according to the researchers, is polluted by human-made sound and should be restored along sonic dimensions, and along those more traditional chemical and climatic. Yet, current frameworks to improve ocean health ignore the need to mitigate noise as a pre-requisite for a healthy ocean.

Sound travels far, and quickly, underwater. And marine animals are sensitive to sound, which they use as a prominent sensorial signal guiding all aspects of their behavior and ecology. "This makes the ocean soundscape one of the most important, and perhaps under-appreciated, aspects of the marine environment," the study states. The authors' hope is that the evidence presented in the paper will "prompt management actions ... to reduce noise levels in the ocean, thereby allowing marine animals to re-establish their use of ocean sound."

"We all know that no one really wants to live right next to a freeway because of the constant noise," commented Halpern. "For animals in the ocean, it's like having a mega-freeway in your backyard."

The team set out to document the impact of noise on marine animals and on marine ecosystems around the world. They assessed the evidence contained across more than 10,000 papers to consolidate compelling evidence that human-made noise impacts marine life from invertebrates to whales across multiple levels, from behavior to physiology.

"This unprecedented effort, involving a major tour de force, has shown the overwhelming evidence for the prevalence of impacts from human-induced noise on marine animals, to the point that the urgency of taking action can no longer be ignored," KAUST Ph.D. student Michelle Havlik said. The research involved scientists from Saudi Arabia, Denmark, the U.S. and the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Norway and Canada.

"The deep, dark ocean is conceived as a distant, remote ecosystem, even by marine scientists," Duarte said. "However, as I was listening, years ago, to a hydrophone recording acquired off the U.S. West Coast, I was surprised to hear the clear sound of rain falling on the surface as the dominant sound in the deep-sea ocean environment. I then realized how acoustically connected the ocean surface, where most human noise is generated, is to the deep sea; just 1,000 m, less than 1 second apart!"

The takeaway of the review is that "mitigating the impacts of noise from human activities on marine life is key to achieving a healthier ocean." The KAUST-led study identifies a number of actions that may come at a cost but are relatively easy to implement to improve the ocean soundscape and, in so doing, enable the recovery of marine life and the goal of sustainable use of the ocean. For example, simple technological innovations are already reducing propeller noise from ships, and policy could accelerate their use in the shipping industry and spawn new innovations.

Deploying these mitigation actions is a low hanging fruit as, unlike other forms of human pollution such as emissions of chemical pollutants and greenhouse gases, the effects of noise pollution cease upon reducing the noise, so the benefits are immediate. The study points to the quick response of marine animals to the human lockdown under COVID-19 as evidence for the potential rapid recovery from noise pollution.

Using sounds gathered from around the globe, multimedia artist and study coauthor Jana Winderen created a six-minute audio track that demonstrates both the peaceful calm, and the devastatingly jarring, acoustic aspects of life for marine animals. The research is truly eye opening, or rather ear opening, both in its groundbreaking scale as well as in its immediacy.

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Bioplastics in the sustainability dilemma

Scientists investigate the factors affecting the global land use impacts and CO2 emissions of plant-based plastics

UNIVERSITY OF BONN

Research News

 

Plastics made from crops such as maize or sugarcane instead of fossil fuels are generally considered sustainable. One reason is that plants bind CO2, which compensates for the carbon released into the atmosphere when plastics are disposed. However, there is a catch: With increasing demand for raw materials for bioplastic production, the areas under cultivation may not be sufficient. As a result, natural vegetation is often converted to agricultural land and forests are cut down. This in turn releases large amounts of CO2. The assumption that more bioplastics does not necessarily lead to more climate protection has now been confirmed by researchers at the University of Bonn (Germany) in a new study. They found that the sustainability of plant-based bioplastics depends largely on the country of origin, its trade relationships and the raw material processed. The study has been published in the journal "Resources, Conservation & Recycling".

As in previous analyses, the scientists used a global, flexible and modular economic model developed at the University of Bonn to simulate the impact of rising supply for bioplastics. The model is based on a world database (Global Trade Analysis Project). For their current study, the researchers modified the original model by disaggregating both conventional plastics and bioplastics, as well as additional crops such as maize and cassava. "This is crucial to better represent the bioplastics supply chain in major producing regions and assess their environmental impacts from a life cycle perspective," emphasizes agricultural engineer Dr. Neus Escobar, who conducted the study at the Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR) and the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn and is now based at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg (Austria).

In the current study, she and her colleague Dr. Wolfgang Britz considered the loss of natural vegetation on a global scale. They made estimates of readily available land to be converted into productive uses at the region level and associated model parameters. In their previous publication, the Bonn scientists had already disaggregated the production of conventional plastics and bioplastics in Brazil, China, the EU and the U.S. - the countries that lead the way in bioplastics production. In their current study, they also included Thailand, which is home of carbon-rich forests. Experts expect the Asian country to become a leading global producer of biodegradable and biobased plastics in the near future. "All these changes in the model are necessary to estimate global spillovers of policies or technologies," says Dr. Wolfgang Britz, who worked with his team on the extension of the model to derive sustainability indicators considering global land use change.

Factors such as country of origin and raw materials are decisive

The researchers simulated a total of 180 scenarios (36 scenarios per region) that varied according to the degree of bioplastics market penetration and other model parameters determining economywide responses. "We found that the carbon footprints of commercially available bioplastics are much larger than the values previously estimated in scientific literature and policy reports," says Neus Escobar.

The reason: CO2 emissions resulting from changes in land use outweigh the greenhouse gas savings resulting from the substitution for fossil raw materials in the long term. With one exception, the bioplastics produced in Thailand save an average of two kilograms of CO2 per ton. This is mainly due to the relatively smaller increase in bioplastics production that is simulated, which translates into minor adjustments in food prices and associated land cover changes. However, increasing production of bioplastics from cassava and sugarcane in Thailand to catch up with the other regions can result in the loss of carbon-rich ecosystems within the country.

None of the regions is clearly better positioned than another

The overall calculations show that none of the regions is clearly better positioned than another to become a hub for sustainable bioplastics production. The largest land footprints are estimated for Chinese bioplastics, while the European Union has the largest average carbon footprint: Bioplastics produced in the EU take an average of 232.5 years to offset global CO2 emissions. Bioplastics production in the U.S. causes the greatest land and carbon spillovers, which means that the production generates greater agricultural land expansion, deforestation and carbon emissions in the rest of the world than within the country. Bioplastics production in Thailand and Brazil comes at the cost of forest cover loss to a large extent, which can lead to additional impacts on biodiversity.

"Our study shows that an expansion in bio-based production should be carefully assessed on a region-by-region case in order to understand potentially sustainability risks and trade-offs," says Neus Escobar. The authors emphasize that the proposed metrics can be used in the future to monitor the long-term sustainability of bioeconomic interventions globally. Among other things, the metrics could help identify where complementary policies are needed - for example, to prevent deforestation.

Working on future-relevant research topics

The study is thematically embedded in the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) "Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures" at the University of Bonn. In six different TRAs, scientists from a wide range of faculties and disciplines come together to work on future-relevant research topics. Neus Escobar was a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area during the study, Wolfgang Britz is a member of the "PhenoRob" Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn.

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Publication: Neus Escobar & Wolfgang Britz: Metrics on the sustainability of region-specific bioplastics production, considering global land use change effects. Resources, Conservation & Recycling; DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105345