Discovering candidate for reflex network of walking cats: Understanding animals with robots

OSAKA UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE QUADRUPED ROBOT THAT CAN REPRODUCE MUSCLE CHARACTERISTICS AND REFLEXES OF ANIMALS. view more 

CREDIT: OSAKA UNIVERSITY

A group of researchers from Osaka University developed a quadruped robot platform that can reproduce the neuromuscular dynamics of animals (Figure 1), discovering that a steady gait and experimental behaviors of walking cats emerged from the reflex circuit in walking experiments on this robot. Their research results were published in Frontiers in Neurorobotics.

It was thought that a steady gait in animals is generated by complex nerve systems in the brain and spinal marrow; however, recent research shows that a steady gait is produced by the reflex circuit alone. Scientists discovered a candidate of reflex circuit to generate the steady walking motion of cats, investigating locomotion mechanisms of cats by reproducing their motor control using robots and computer simulations.

Since experiments using animals are strictly controlled and restricted in terms of animal protection, it is difficult to study animal locomotion. So, it is still unknown how nerve systems discovered in prior research are integrated (i.e., how reflex circuits responsible for animal locomotion are integrated) in the animal body.

Toyoaki Tanikawa and his supervisors assistant professor Yoichi Masuda and Prof Masato Ishikawa developed a four-legged robot that enables the reproduction of motor control of animals using computers. This quadruped robot, which comprises highly back-drivable legs to reproduce the flexibility of animals and torque-controllable motors, can reproduce muscle characteristics of animals. Thus, it is possible to conduct various experiments using this robot instead of the animals themselves.

By searching for the reflex circuit that contributes to the generation of a steady walking in cats through robotic experiments, the researchers found a simple reflex circuit that could produce leg trajectories and a steady gait pattern, which they named "reciprocal excitatory reflex between hip and knee extensors."

In this study, the researchers found that:

- The robot generated steady walking motions by simply reproducing the reciprocal circuit in each leg of the robot.

- The robot's gait became unstable when the reciprocal circuit was cut off.

- When the mutual excitatory circuit was stimulated, the circuit produced a phenomenon called 'prolongation of the stance phase.' This result suggests that this circuit is an important component responsible for walking in cats.

This group's research results will benefit both the biology and robotics fields. In addition to bringing new knowledge to biology, if robotic animals could serve as a replacement for real animals in the future, it will give more scientists the chance to study the mechanisms of animal locomotion under various experimental conditions. Approximating a robot's structure to that of an animal will lead to the development of fundamental technologies for making robots that move and maneuver as effectively as animals.

Co-author Yoichi Masuda says, "Gaining knowledge about animals without using experimental animals is also significant for the humans that live with them. Further combination of robotics and biology through the creation of robots that mimic the structures of animals and their locomotion could become the first step towards understanding the principles underlying the behaviors of animals and humans."

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The article, "A reciprocal excitatory reflex between extensors reproduces the prolongation of stance phase in walking cats: analysis on a robotic platform," was published in Frontiers in Neurorobotics at DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2021.636864

A video detailing this research can be viewed on https://youtu.be/-iLHRhvDccA

About Osaka University

Osaka University was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and is now one of Japan's leading comprehensive universities with a broad disciplinary spectrum. This strength is coupled with a singular drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology with positive economic impacts. Its commitment to innovation has been recognized in Japan and around the world, being named Japan's most innovative university in 2015 (Reuters 2015 Top 100) and one of the most innovative institutions in the world in 2017 (Innovative Universities and the Nature Index Innovation 2017). Now, Osaka University is leveraging its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, sustainable development of society, and social transformation.

Website: https://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en

1.5°C degrowth scenarios suggest need for new mitigation pathways: Research

Wellbeing can be maintained in a degrowth transition

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Research News

 

IMAGE: MODELLING HIGHLIGHTS THE RELIANCE ON CONTROVERSIAL CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL OR CCS (SIZE OF CIRCLE) OF VARIOUS GROWTH PATHWAYS TO LIMIT GLOBAL WARMING, COMPARED TO 'DEGROWTH' , WHICH IS ON TRACK... view more 

CREDIT: LORENZ KEYSSE

The first comprehensive comparison of 'degrowth' scenarios with established pathways to limit climate change highlights the risk of over-reliance on carbon dioxide removal, renewable energy and energy efficiency to support continued global growth - which is assumed in established global climate modelling.

Degrowth focuses on the global North and is defined as an equitable, democratic reduction in energy and material use while maintaining wellbeing. A decline in GDP is accepted as a likely outcome of this transition.

The new modelling by the University of Sydney and ETH Zürich includes high growth/technological change and scenarios summarised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a comparison to degrowth pathways. It shows that by combining far-reaching social change focused on sufficiency as well as technological improvements, net-zero carbon emissions can be more easily achieved technologically.

The findings published today in Nature Communications.

Currently the IPCC and the established modelling community, integrated assessment model (IAM), does not consider degrowth scenarios where reduced production and consumption in the global North is combined with maintaining wellbeing and achieving climate goals. In contrast, established scenarios rely on combinations of unprecedented carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere and other far-reaching technological changes.

The results show the international targets of capping global warming to 1.5C-2C above pre-Industrial levels can be achieved more easily in key dimensions, for example:

1. Degrowth in the global North/high-income countries results in 0.5% annual decline of global GDP. However, a substantially increased uptake of renewable energy coupled with negative emissions remains necessary, albeit significantly less than in established pathways.

2. Capping warming to the upper limit of 2C can be achieved with 0 percent growth, while being consistent with low levels of carbon dioxide removal (i.e. from tree planting) and increases in renewable energy as well as energy efficiency.

Lead author, Mr Lorenz Keyßer, from ETH Zürich whose Master's thesis is on degrowth, carried out the research in Australia under supervision of global leader in carbon footprinting Professor Manfred Lenzen, from the University of Sydney's centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis (ISA) in the School of Physics.

Mr Keyßer said he was surprised by the clarity of the results: "Our simple model shows degrowth pathways have clear advantages in many of the central categories; it appears to be a significant oversight that degrowth is not even considered in the conventional climate modelling community.

"The over-reliance on unprecedented carbon dioxide removal and energy efficiency gains means we risk catastrophic climate change if one of the assumptions does not materialise; additionally, carbon dioxide removal shows high potential for severe side-effects, for instance for biodiversity and food security, if done using biomass. It thus remains a risky bet.

"Our study also analysed the other key assumption upon which the modelling of the IPCC and others is based: continued growth of global production and consumption."

The senior author Professor Lenzen said the technological transformation is particularly extraordinary given the scale of carbon dioxide removal assumed in the IPCC Special Report, Global warming of 1.5C, of between 100-1000 billion tonnes (mostly over 600 GtCO2) by 2100; in large part through bioenergy to carbon capture and storage (BECCS) as well as through afforestation and reforestation (AR).

"Deployment of controversial 'negative emissions' future technologies to try to remove several hundred gigatonnes [hundreds of billion tonnes] of carbon dioxide assumed in the IPCC scenarios to meet the 1.5C target faces substantial uncertainty," Professor Lenzen says.

"Carbon dioxide removal (including carbon capture and storage or CCS) is in its infancy and has never been deployed at scale."

WHAT DEGROWTH MIGHT LOOK LIKE

The new modelling was undertaken pre-COVID-19 but the degrowth pathways are based on a fraction of global GDP shrinkage of some 4.2% experienced in the first six months of the pandemic. Degrowth also focuses on structural social change to make wellbeing independent from economic growth.

"We can still satisfy peoples' needs, maintain employment and reduce inequality with degrowth, which is what distinguishes this pathway from recession," Mr Keyßer says.

"However, a just, democratic and orderly degrowth transition would involve reducing the gap between the haves and have-nots, with more equitable distribution from affluent nations to nations where human needs are still unmet - something that is yet to be fully explored."

A 'degrowth' society could include:

· A shorter working week, resulting in reduced unemployment alongside increasing productivity and stable economic output.

· Universal basic services independent of income, for necessities i.e. food, health care, transport.

· Limits on maximum income and wealth, enabling a universal basic income to be increased and reducing inequality, rather than increasing inequality as is the current global trend.

Among the 1.5C degrowth pathways explored in the new research, the Decent Living Energy (DLE) scenario is closest to historical trends for renewable energy and negligible 'negative emissions'. Mr Keyßer says the International Energy Agency projections for renewables growth to 2050 based on past trends are roughly equivalent to the DLE pathway modelled.

"That non-fossil energy sources could meet 'decent living energy' requirements while achieving 1.5C - under conditions close to business-as-usual - is highly significant.

"However it is clear that the DLE pathway remains extremely challenging due to the substantial reduction in energy use as well as the connected deep social changes required," Mr Keyßer says.

MODELLING CLIMATE PATHWAYS

For the study, a simplified quantitative representation of the fuel-energy-emissions nexus was used as a first step to overcome what the authors believe is an absence of comprehensive modelling of degrowth scenarios in mainstream circles like the IAM community and IPCC. The model is accessible in open access via the paper online.

A total of 18 scenarios were modelled under three main categories to reach 1.5C-2C:

1. Degrowth and 'decent living energy', looking at low energy-GDP decoupling.

2. Medium energy-GDP decoupling including approximated IPCC scenarios.

3. High energy-GDP decoupling (strong-to-extreme technology pathways/energy efficiency driving separation between economic growth and emissions).

Mr Keyßer says: "This study demonstrates the viability of degrowth in minimising several key feasibility risks associated with technology-driven pathways, so it represents an important first step in exploring degrowth climate scenarios."

Professor Lenzen concludes: "A precautionary approach would suggest degrowth should be considered, and debated, at least as seriously as risky technology-driven pathways upon which the conventional climate policies have relied."

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Lichens slow to return after wildfire

Frequent fire narrows recovery window for lichens in Chaparral shrublands

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

Research News

 

IMAGE: LICHEN DRAPE OFF A BRANCH IN OLD-GROWTH CHAPARRAL SHRUBLAND AT THE QUAIL RIDGE RESERVE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. view more 

CREDIT: JESSE MILLER

Lichen communities may take decades -- and in some cases up to a century -- to fully return to chaparral ecosystems after wildfire, finds a study from the University of California, Davis, and Stanford University.

The study, published today in the journal Diversity and Distributions, is the most comprehensive to date of long-term lichen recolonization after fire.

Unlike conifer forests, chaparral systems in California are historically adapted to high-intensity fires -- they burn hot, fast and tend to regenerate quickly. However, with more frequent fires predicted under a drier, warming climate and more ignitions occurring amid a growing human population in these areas, the study indicates that lichen communities may not receive the window of opportunity they need to return to chaparral shrublands after wildfire.

"In chaparral systems, lichens can come back 20 to 30 years after fire, but if you get into more frequent burning several times in a short time period, it may be there isn't a place for these lichens," said co-leading author Alexandra Weill, who conducted the research while a graduate student researcher in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences.

OVERLOOKED AND ALL AROUND

Lichens are complex organisms born from a symbiosis of fungi and algae. Overlooked and yet all around, they present a variety of colorful and intricate shapes and patterns along the rocks, branches and floor of forests and other biomes. They not only provide food for wildlife, they also help retain moisture in their environments -- an increasingly important service in dry chaparral systems.

"There's also value to biodiversity itself," said co-leading author Jesse Miller, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher at the time of the study and currently a lecturer at Stanford. "In our study, plant diversity was low under the dense shrub canopy. But we could find dozens of lichen species in the same area. If we lose these lichens, we're losing a lot of the actual biodiversity that's there."

CAPTION

The UC Davis Quail Reserve in 2018, before wildfire burned the area, which is mostly composed of oak woodland and chaparral.

CREDIT

Jesse Miller

NOT 'LICHEN' FREQUENT FIRE

To test how lichens recolonized in chaparral systems after fire, the scientists in 2018 sampled lichen communities at two UC Davis natural reserves -- Quail Ridge and nearby Stebbins Cold Canyon in Napa and Solano counties. Using records from CAL FIRE and Quail Ridge Reserve, they identified fire boundaries that occurred within the reserves since 1950. They sampled five fires: the 1953 T. Viue Fire, 1988 Resort Fire, 2005 Pleasure Fire, an unnamed 1996 fire and the 2015 Wragg Fire.

After identifying plots to survey at these locations, they crawled under the chaparral to document every lichen species they could find and its abundance.

They found that fire-intolerant species like lichens may be slow to recolonize landscapes after high-severity fire. Most chaparral lichen taxa could be lost if fire intervals shorten to less than 20 years, which has already occurred in some parts of California, the study said.

OLD-GROWTH CHAPARRAL

The researchers also compared the species richness of lichens found in these previously burned areas to old-growth chaparral sites with no recorded fire history. They found such old-growth vegetation may promote biodiversity, and the study highlights its value.

"Old-growth chaparral doesn't have the charisma of a redwood forest," Miller said. "Most people wouldn't recognize it as a 100-year-old plus mini-forest if they walk by. But all ecosystems have old-growth states of unique species that don't occur in areas of recent disturbance. Our study builds on the idea that we need to recognize the value of communities that take a long time to form."

MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The study suggests a land management strategy that aims for "a well-maintained mosaic of land types," including areas of old-growth chaparral and areas that are managed with prescribed fire. Such a strategy, when paired with prevention and home protection efforts, could help reduce fire risk while maximizing cultural and ecological value.

"For most Californians, chaparral shrublands are the closest and most accessible ecosystems we have," said Weill. "If you're going to Mt. Tam, you're hiking in chaparral. If you're hiking in LA, you're in chaparral. For the average Californian, this is what's most likely in your backyard. But that's also what makes it an issue because these are the fires threatening your home."

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The study was funded by the California Lichen Society.

CAPTION

The UC Davis Quail Ridge Natural Reserve after a 2020 wildfire.

CREDIT

Jesse Miller

Nature has enormous potential to fight climate change and biodiversity loss in the UK

Findings from a new comprehensive report on nature-based solutions by the British Ecological Society

BRITISH ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Research News

 

The report offers, for the first time, a complete assessment of the potential of nature-based solutions (NbS) to mitigate climate change and benefit biodiversity in the UK. Incorporating contributions from over 100 experts, the comprehensive evaluation of the available evidence details the strengths, limitations and trade-offs of NbS in different habitats across the UK.

Professor Jane Memmott, President of the British Ecological Society, said: "The Nature-based Solutions report offers a real basis for setting effective policies and incentives that will maximise the benefits of nature-based solutions in the UK for the climate and biodiversity."

The report finds that NbS can provide a valuable contribution to climate change mitigation and can simultaneously protect and enhance biodiversity, improve human wellbeing, bring economic benefit, and provide a wide range of ecosystem services.

Despite the huge range of benefits NbS have, the report makes clear that they should be seen as complementary to other climate and conservation actions, not as a replacement to them.

A priority NbS identified in the report is the restoration of the UK's peatlands. The UK's 2.6 million hectares of peatland contain around 3 billion tonnes of carbon, but most are in a degraded state and are no longer actively sequestering carbon. Estimates suggest that they could be emitting 23 million tonnes of CO2e annually, equivalent to approximately half the amount released through the nation's agricultural sector.

Restoring degraded peatlands through rewetting and revegetation can reduce and eventually halt these emissions as well as bring benefits in terms of biodiversity conservation and flood protection.

"Peatlands are nature's superstars." said Dr Christian Dunn of Bangor University and lead author of the Peatlands chapter. "If we're serious about carbon in UK we have to look after our peatlands first. We have to stop draining them immediately, and then begin restoring and managing them effectively."

Restoring UK woodlands can also make a significant impact as an NbS. Forests cover 13% of the UK and the report finds there is scope to expand this significantly to sequester more carbon, although the full benefits will not be felt before 2050. Reducing flood risk, providing shade and cooling, and biodiversity benefits from native woodland expansion are also highlighted as positive outcomes from woodlands as an NbS.

Professor David Coomes of University of Cambridge and lead author of the Woodlands chapter said: "For large-scale tree planting to be effective in capturing carbon, we will need to avoid species-rich grasslands, peat and other organic soils. Our focus should instead be on areas of low-quality grassland. However, this will reduce the UK's capacity to produce meat and dairy, meaning a shift in our diets would be needed to avoid importing more of these products and offshoring our carbon footprint elsewhere."

Grasslands are the most extensive habitat type in the UK, covering 40% of the land. However, only 2% of this is semi-natural grassland that is both biodiverse and carbon-rich. "Over the last 70 years grasslands have suffered a great loss of biodiversity through agricultural intensification." said Dr Lisa Norton of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and lead author of the Grasslands chapter. "But this loss gives us great potential. Protecting our semi-natural grasslands and restoring lower quality grasslands will benefit biodiversity, reduce emissions through ploughing and make livestock farming more sustainable."

Marine environments that surround the UK can also offer significant NbS thanks to the large size of habitats. Saltmarshes and seagrasses are important carbon sinks, and their restoration can contribute to climate mitigation. Saltmarshes also provide coastal protection from sea-level rise and storms and provide high-biodiversity coastal habitats, especially for bird species.

Professor Rick Stafford of Bournemouth University and lead author of the Marine chapter said: "In marine environments nature-based solutions changes are nearly always win-win. Investment in nature-based solutions that restore or protect coastal environments is an effective mechanism of achieving greater biodiversity, protection from storms and carbon capture with few trade-offs."

The implementation of NbS to help achieve net-zero commitments and tackle biodiversity loss will require shared knowledge resources and effective partnerships across different policy areas. Long-term policies, goals and government commitments will be necessary to support long-term investment, research and monitoring of NbS.

Although some habitats are highlighted as priorities, the report emphasises that all habitats covered can deliver NbS and play a role in addressing the climate and biodiversity crises.

Freshwater

Freshwater ecosystems such as rivers and ponds hold high biodiversity, but this is threatened by climate change, with changing rainfall patterns increasing the risk of flooding and drought.

Professor Chris Spray of the University of Dundee and lead author of the Freshwater chapter said: "Protecting these vulnerable ecosystems will require a 'wholescape' catchment approach that links natural environmental and socio-economic systems. Nature-based solutions can have multiple benefits, for instance, planting trees along riverbanks can protect biodiversity by providing shade and creating thermal refuges as well as slowing the flow of water to help reduce flood risk."

Heathlands

Heathlands store high levels of carbon, mainly in the soil, so avoiding soil disturbance will help prevent carbon emissions from this ecosystem. This disturbance could come from tree and shrub encroachment which would not offset the lost carbon for decades. Creating heathland from ex-arable land can also result in increased carbon sequestration in soils and vegetation.

Arable

Agroforestry, where trees and shrubs are integrated into agricultural systems, is an NbS that provides carbon sequestration and storage with average storage estimated to be up to 63 tonnes of carbon per hectare due to the increased presence of trees. Agroforestry also reduces flood risk and soil erosion and increases biodiversity due to the tree cover and habitat provision for insects and birds.

Built Environment

Urban trees mean that cities have substantial potential for carbon capture. One case study featured in the report found that despite the city of Leicester covering 0.03% of Britain's land area, it accounts for approximately 0.2% of Britain's aboveground carbon store, with over 97% of this is attributable to trees.

Urban trees also provide a localised cooling effect, estimated to save £22 million in annual energy consumption across inner London, for example. On top of this, trees enhance recreation and people's connection to nature and benefit biodiversity through habitat creation and enhanced connectivity.

Woodlands

Natural establishment of native woodlands should be encouraged where appropriate. Establishing native woodlands in agricultural landscapes, even on a small scale, could help reconnect fragments of ancient woodland and protect wildlife.

Marine

Investment in NbS that restore or protect coastal environments delivers a range of benefits with few trade-offs. As well as protection from storm waves, alleviating coastal flooding and human wellbeing benefits, healthy coastal ecosystems have high biodiversity, serving important ecosystem roles like nursery grounds for fish.

Peatlands

Rewetting and revegetating peatlands can slow the flow of water during some storm events and regulate catchment water flows during dry periods. Peatlands can also act as an NbS for improved drinking water quality.

Grasslands

Grazing grasslands by a diverse range of animals such as sheep, cattle, horse, goats and alpacas on the same area can have a positive effect on grassland sward diversity and resultant greenhouse gas emissions. Shifts away from continuous grazing towards rotational or mixed grazing can also reduce emissions.

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Study examining biodiversity loss calls for urgent global economy 'rethink'

New research examining the major causes of the world's biodiversity loss calls for an urgent and profound re-organisation of the global post-pandemic economy to prevent further planetary harm.

LANCASTER UNIVERSITY

Research News

IMAGE: CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN KENYA, AND AROUND THE WORLD, HAVE BEEN HINDERED BY STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC PROCESSES SUCH AS DEBT AND AUSTERITY, FURTHER CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECLINE OF SPECIES SUCH AS RHINOS view more 

CREDIT: PATRICK BIGGER, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY

New research examining the major causes of the world's biodiversity loss calls for an urgent and profound re-organisation of the global post-pandemic economy to prevent further planetary harm.

Existing trade rules, economic policies, debt loads, subsidies, and tax loopholes, as well as a long-standing failure by rich countries to meet spending commitments, are not only undermining efforts to conserve biodiversity, but are fundamental drivers of ecological damage, the report outlines.

The study, conducted by researchers from Lancaster University, the University of British Columbia and Duke University, focuses on explaining failed commitments towards the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a major multilateral treaty with aims to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, and share its benefits equitably.

Researchers find that the global approach to setting biodiversity policy is skewed - with discussions revolving around how to bring nature into the existing rules of the economic game, rather than examining how the rules are creating the problem in the first place.

The report also highlights that investments into nature-enhancing projects are doing little to stem the worsening biodiversity crisis - because underlying economic drivers are being ignored. Authors warn that while increased funding for biodiversity action would be welcomed, the following economic drivers need to be tackled in order for schemes to be effective:

• Trade and investment rules that supercharge biodiversity degrading developments

• An exponential growth in public and private financing of biodiversity-degrading industries

• Widespread austerity and trade liberalization policies that are imposed as conditions on access to financial support

• Debt loads on developing countries that deplete public finances and make investment in conservation and sustainable use impossible for many nations

• Entrenched international and domestic inequalities for which biodiversity harming economic development is posed as the only cure

• Public spending on biodiversity-harming subsidies that eclipses international spending on biodiversity initiatives

• Tax evasion by wealthy elites and corporations that further drains public coffers

The researchers show that richer countries are failing to live up to their (CBD) treaty obligations for funding. Instead, in the nearly 30 years since the birth of the CBD in 1992, signatories in the rich world have only paid around half (58%) of what they promised while pursuing economic agendas that contribute to, or even deepen, the causes of biodiversity loss.

Dr Jessica Dempsey from the University of British Columbia's Department of Geography is co-lead researcher on the report. She says: "Our research shows that not only are more financial resources necessary to stem the biodiversity crisis, but we need a broader rethink about how the rules of the economy are driving the sixth extinction. We need to take a hard look at things like tax and intellectual property policy, and even entire ideas that guide how the global economy works - like what it means for governments to be 'financially responsible' when austerity has such a poor track record of delivering good environmental outcomes."

"To draw an analogy with the current pandemic, the IMF has recently proposed solidarity payments to the Global South" says Lim Li Ching from Third World Network. "This would be a good step for biodiversity as well, but it needs to be accompanied by deep structural changes, starting with the IMF stopping mandating austerity in those same countries."

The authors highlight how social inequalities across race, gender, class, and caste lines not only influence how the effects of biodiversity loss are felt, but themselves drive extinction and ecological degradation by unfairly pushing developing countries and financially-poor communities to pursue ecologically damaging survival and development strategies. Thus social and environmental justice should be central to efforts to address the biodiversity crisis.

The report also focuses on debts - both monetary and ecological - accrued by the rich world at the expense of the poor. Authors say the repayment of these debts is crucial, but cannot be pursued solely through providing more funding through existing channels - new global rulemaking is also required to create a more equitable economy.

Authors of Beyond the gap: Placing biodiversity finance in the global economy, published by the Third World Network and the University of British Columbia in May 2021, say now is the time to act with Covid-19 accelerating a long-brewing rethink of the structure and regulation of the global economy.

In a briefing paper accompanying the full report, researchers present five recommendations to shift global economic processes away from depleting biodiversity.

They call on the 196 governments who are Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to:

1) End the debt-austerity nexus that fuels 'extractivism' and impedes CBD implementation

2) Regulate finance and penalize industries known to damage biodiversity and the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities

3) Ensure biodiversity finance does not impede transformative change nor undermine CBD objectives

4) Reduce domestic and international wealth and power inequalities that impede transformational change

5) Act on dismantling class, caste, racial and gender inequalities that underpin biodiversity loss and impede conservation and sustainable use

Dr Patrick Bigger from Lancaster University's Pentland Centre and co-lead on the project says: "We are calling for an urgent new approach with strong state and co-ordinated multilateral action to regulate and redirect biodiversity-degrading finance towards a green recovery. This requires strengthening our public institutions and initiating deep political and public investment reforms." He adds, "Our study shows that funding is often channeled into ineffective, unproven, or outright counterproductive projects. Many of these projects are based on so-called blended finance, which end up supporting profit-seeking private organisations instead of directly helping the most biodiverse countries protect their fragile ecosystems and the people who safeguard and rely on them."

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The paper's authors are Patrick Bigger and Jens Christiansen of Lancaster University, Jessica Dempsey, Adriana DiSilvestro, Audrey Irvine-Broque, Sara Nelson, Fernanda Rojas-Marchini, Andrew Schuldt of the University of British Columbia, and Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza of Duke University.

Protecting local water has global benefits

New paper published May 11, 2021 in Nature Communications

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE UNITED STATES GREAT LAKES AS SEEN FROM SPACE. THE GREAT LAKES HOLD ABOUT 90% OF THE FRESHWATER IN THE U.S. AND ABOUT 20% OF THE WORLD'S FRESHWATER SUPPLY (NOAA).... view more 

CREDIT: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION. GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. 2019.

Duluth, Minnesota - A new paper in the May issue of Nature Communications demonstrates why keeping local lakes and other waterbodies clean produces cost-effective benefits locally and globally.

A single season of a lake or water body with a harmful algal bloom that results in public do-not-drink orders, damages to fishing activity, lost recreational opportunities, decreased property values and increased likelihood of low birth weight among infants born to mothers exposed to polluted water bodies are but just a handful of reasons why clean water is important.

Most everyone wants their local lake or stream to be clean and useable for drinking, fishing, swimming and recreation. But previous cost-benefit studies showed the costs of protecting local water sources often exceeded the benefits.

Not so fast say the authors. One of the reasons past studies showed costs exceeding benefits is that not all benefits, especially global ones, were analyzed by economists.

New research, led by University of Minnesota Sea Grant Director John A. Downing, found that adding up global financial benefits of clean water shows that keeping water clean can help slow climate change, saving trillions of dollars. Using one Lake Erie case study as an example, the authors also found that the global climate change value of protecting and preventing this Great Lake from algae blooms was ten times greater than the value of beach use or sport fishing.

"Surface water is one of the Earth's most important resources," said Downing, who is also a lake scientist at the University of Minnesota Duluth Large Lake Observatory. "Yet people have mistakenly assumed that it costs more to protect our water than it is worth. Our research demonstrates that there is significant local and global value to protecting local water quality."

One reason for this, said the authors, is that scientists and economists have previously considered only a narrow range of local benefits when calculating the outcomes of good water quality. Downing and co-authors sought to calculate the potential global benefits.

Locally, cleaning or keeping a local lake or waterbody free of unwanted nutrients- what scientists call eutrophication - is obviously good for people who use or want to access that particular water body. Globally, it's also good for reducing the amount of the greenhouse gas methane that is released into the atmosphere from that eutrophic water body.

Methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide because it has a much higher heat-trapping ability and has about 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Less methane in the atmosphere can help slow global warming.

The authors sought to answer the question: is keeping a local water body clean worth the cost?

The cost of climate change comes from health-care costs, damages to urban infrastructure, agricultural damages, catastrophic storm damage, negative impacts on recreation, forestry, fisheries, energy systems, water systems, construction, and coastal infrastructure. 

"We calculated the global climate damages from methane emissions from eutrophic lakes and calculated the damages that would be avoided damages by preventing increased emissions from 2015 to 2050," said Downing. "If we could hold methane emissions at current levels rather than the expected 20-100% increase by 2050, the value of avoiding the resulting damages could be as much as $24 trillion." The authors estimated the costs of global climate change due to eutrophication from 2015 to 2050 to be as much as $81 trillion.

The authors' analysis shows that local water quality protection has global economic implications. The substantial emissions they document from lakes and reservoirs and the potential for increased emissions suggest that there is considerable value to be gained by improving water quality in lakes and reservoirs and in preventing further deterioration.

"It's not possible to avoid all emissions from lakes and reservoirs, but with concerted effort it may be possible to prevent increased emissions or even reverse it," said Downing.

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Nature Communications.

• Once published, the paper will available to view online at https://www.nature.com/ncomms/.

Contacts:

• John A. Downing, director, University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program, University of Minnesota, downing@d.umn.edu.

Authors:

• John A. Downing, University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program, University of Minnesota Duluth, Large Lakes Observatory.
• Stephen Polasky, University of Minnesota, Department of Evolution and Behavior.
• Sheila M. Olmstead, University of Texas at Austin, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
• Stephen C. Newbold, University of Wyoming, Laramie

The level of satisfaction with life in Spain is marked by household financial capacity

A study examines how the gender revolution affects the individual wellbeing of partnered women and men in Spain. The aim of the research is to examine whether unequal participation is associated with differences in levels of life satisfaction.

UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA - BARCELONA

Research News

 

In recent decades, Spain has undergone rapid social changes in terms of gender equality, despite, as a result of the Franco dictatorship, starting from a more backward position than most European countries. This process is hampered by the economic downturn that began in 2008, underlining the importance of the economic context in the development of gender inequality levels. Little attention has been paid in academia to how this gender revolution is associated with factors related to individual wellbeing.

A study by Jordi Gumà, a researcher at the Department of Political and Social Sciences and member of the UPF Sociodemography Research Group (DEMOSOC), together with Bruno Arpino, a researcher at the University of Florence (Italy), explores the association between the subjective level of satisfaction with life and the degree of relative participation by women and men in terms of providing financial resources to the household and performing domestic chores among the partnered adult Spanish population.

"When no financial difficulties are reported, it seems that gender behaviour in the home environment has less influence on individuals' levels of life satisfaction, whether men or women, than in homes with financial problems".

Following their research, published in Revista Internacional de Sociología, the researchers (who separate the analysis of the public and the private spheres to capture the effects differentially) conclude that the level of satisfaction with life is marked largely by household financial capacity: "When no financial difficulties are reported, it seems that gender behaviour in the home environment has less influence on individuals' levels of life satisfaction, whether men or women, than in homes with financial problems", the researchers assert.

Furthermore, the results reveal that there would be a situation of tension between the social context and inherited values (with an imbalance between gender values, far more egalitarian, and the end practices observed) would affect the levels of individual wellbeing.

The research methodology analyses Spanish samples from the European Social Survey (ESS) of 2004 and 2010 together, in which questions about family, work and wellbeing were introduced. The various analyses have been carried out independently according to sex, in order to identify possible differences between men and women. The sample was restricted to partnered individuals, within the 25-59 years age bracket.

The researchers state that the relative contribution to household income and the performance of household chores "has a significant effect on life satisfaction in the specific case of people with financial difficulties". This effect shows that the gender profile in households that report having financial difficulties is far closer to the traditional one. However, significant differences were found between men and women.

The overall situation of the household determines women's satisfaction

With regard to women, the researchers found that "their satisfaction with life is defined mainly by the overall situation of the household, beyond their own situation in terms of their relative contribution to income and relative time spent on household tasks". That is, it is their position within the private sphere that has the greatest impact on the values of life satisfaction in respect of women in Spain.

The position of women within the private sphere has the greatest impact on the values of life satisfaction in respect of women in Spain.

Among women who report not having financial difficulties (reaching the end of the month adequately or comfortably), the authors observe a positive relationship between their levels of satisfaction and time spent on household tasks: the greater their dedication, the higher their level of satisfaction. This pattern is exactly the opposite in the case of women who report having financial difficulties, whereby the greater their dedication to household tasks, the lower their satisfaction.

According to the researchers, one possible explanation is that more solvent households would be more able to hire paid services to perform household chores, so that although these women spend more time on household tasks than their partners, the actual number of hours allocated may be less than those who report having financial difficulties, and neither does this mean that there is parity with men. In fact, if we look at the average number of hours spent on such tasks, the figure is significantly lower among women with greater economic power.

Men's satisfaction with life is marked by their individual situation

In the case of men, the authors found significant differences in the level of satisfaction with regard to their relative contribution to the family budget. In the context of households with financial difficulties, men who report contributing more to total family income display higher levels of satisfaction than those who report contributing less than their partners.

According to the researchers, "being the main provider of material resources to the household is associated with values of satisfaction in the group of men in households with financial difficulties, while among men who report not having financial difficulties, being the main contributor does not seem to give them an extra boost to their levels of satisfaction".

In the context of households with financial difficulties, men who report contributing more to total family income display higher levels of satisfaction than those who report contributing less than their partners.

The same applies in the case of participation in household tasks, where significant differences were only observed, again, in men with financial difficulties, who reveal that devoting less time than their partners to household tasks is a situation associated with higher levels of satisfaction.

In consequence, according to the researchers, unlike the case of women, Spanish men's life satisfaction is determined to a greater extent by their individual situation, beyond the characteristics of the household as a whole. This suggests that, in this particular group of men, their position within the public sphere continues to set their perception of satisfaction with life.

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Reference article: Gumà, J., Arpino, B. "Satisfacción con la vida según la contribución a la esfera pública y privada en las parejas españolas adultas". Revista Internacional de Sociología" (Life satisfaction according to contributions to public and private spheres among adult Spanish couples), vol. 79, no. 1 (2021).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3989/ris.2021.79.1.19.045

Nature draws out a happy place for children

New study explores children's perception of their own wellbeing using art

ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: A DRAWING BY A CHILD INDICATING THEIR HAPPY PLACE view more 

CREDIT: ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY

Young children in deprived areas see nature and outdoor spaces as being associated with "happy places", according to a new study published in the journal Child Indicators Research.

Researchers Dr Nicola Walshe and Dr Zoe Moula from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) asked 91 children aged seven and eight from two primary schools in areas of relatively high deprivation in the East of England to draw their happy place, before engaging them in group discussions about how they perceive their own wellbeing.

More than half of the children created drawings that included aspects of nature and outdoor spaces, such as trees, grass, parks, gardens, lakes, rivers, outdoor playgrounds, rainbows or sunlight. Trees, in particular, were drawn by a third of the children.

However, the study found the elements of nature mainly existed in the background of the drawings. Other aspects of wellbeing, such as a sense of safety, positive relationships with family and friends, and the need for love and happiness, were more explicit in the pictures.

The fieldwork for the study took place a week before the UK's first COVID-19 lockdown, in March 2020, and when asked which elements they would want to keep away from their happy place, 14 of the children specifically mentioned coronavirus.

Co-author Dr Walshe, Head of the School of Education and Social Care at ARU, said: "We wanted this study to explore children's own perceptions of wellbeing, as most previous research has focused on adults. This is despite a consensus that children's perspectives differ significantly from adults.

"We identified indicators of wellbeing that were made explicit in children's drawings, such as the need for safety, happiness and positive relationships. Interestingly, the representations of nature mainly exist in the background and were rarely the main focus of the drawings..

"The drawings depicted nature and outdoor spaces as being interconnected with all aspects of wellbeing. For example, being able to play outside boosts physical wellbeing, while being able to stay calm and appreciate the beauty of nature can be linked to emotional or mental health.

"Previous research has shown that wealth affects access to nature, with children living in deprived areas significantly less likely to have access to green spaces and outdoor places to play. Our research suggests that nature and open spaces underpin these children's consideration of wellbeing.

"As such, making nature explicit, and restoring the interconnectedness between the arts and nature should be a key priority for research to help improve children's wellbeing."

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For further information about this project, please visit eco-capabilities.co.uk

CAPTION

A drawing by a child depicting their happy place

CREDIT

Anglia Ruskin University