tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/philosophical-transactions-of-the-royal-society-b-journal-9980/articlesPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (journal) – The Conversation2016-02-09T09:20:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/540922016-02-09T09:20:19Z2016-02-09T09:20:19ZAre male and female brains really different?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110600/original/image-20160208-2608-pqbkvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">T. L. Furrer/shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Along with just about every other aspect of real or imagined differences between the sexes, the idea that your biological sex will determine the sex of your brain – and so your behaviour, aptitudes and personality – has a <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674576254">long and controversial history</a>. The idea that a man’s brain is “male” and a woman’s brain “female” is rarely challenged. </p>
<p>The latest neuroscientific techniques employed to measure and map those brain structures and functions which might distinguish the two sexes are discussed in a recent special issue from the Royal Society examining <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/371/1688">the differences between male and female brains</a>. But among the papers is one that <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/371/1688/20150451">directly questions the very concept upon which the others are broadly based</a>, boldly stating that there is no such thing as a male or a female brain. </p>
<p>One of the authors, Daphna Joel, had previously published a study of structures and connections in over 1,400 brains from men and women aged between 13 and 85, in which no evidence was found of two distinct groups of brains that could be described as either typically male or typically female. Brains were more typically <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/50/15468.abstract">unique “mosaics” of different features</a> – something more correctly characterised as a single heterogeneous population.</p>
<p>Such a mosaic of features cannot be explained in purely biological terms; it is a measure of the effect of external factors. This is true even at the most fundamental level. For example, it can be shown that a “characteristically male” density of dendritic spines or branches of a nerve cell can be changed to the “female” form simply by the application of a <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/16/6292.full">mild external stress</a>. Biological sex alone cannot explain brain differences; to do so requires an understanding of how, when and to what extent external events affect the structure of the brain. </p>
<h2>Neuroplasticity</h2>
<p>The notion that our brains are plastic or malleable and, crucially, remain so throughout our lives is one of the key breakthroughs of the last 40 years in our understanding of the brain. Different short- and long-term experiences will <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21906988">change the brain’s structure</a>. It has also been shown that social attitudes and <a href="http://www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/definition.html">expectations such as stereotypes</a> can <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18985116">change how your brain processes information</a>. Supposedly brain-based differences in behavioural characteristics and cognitive skills <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/32/11673.full.pdf">change across time, place and culture</a> due to the different external factors experienced, such as access to education, financial independence, even diet. </p>
<p>The importance of this to the male/female brain debate is that, when comparing brains, it’s necessary to know more than just the sex of their owners. What kind of brain-altering experiences have their owners been through? Even a path as mundane as school, university and a nine-to-five career will meld the brain in different ways to those with different experiences. </p>
<p>Clearly this is important when any kind of brain differences are being measured and discussed, particularly when it is the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25221493">influence of a biological variable</a> (sex) on a social variable (gender) that is being studied. But it’s surprising how infrequently this is incorporated into the design of studies, or acknowledged in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24176517">how results are interpreted</a>. Understanding how much the brains being examined are entangled with the worlds in which they exist must be part of any attempt to try and answer the question of what, if anything, separates male and female brains.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110603/original/image-20160208-2586-kf4c3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are no ‘blue’ and ‘pink’ brains, each is a rainbow of colours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lisa Alisa/shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p>Perhaps the mounting evidence that brains can’t be neatly divided into sex-based groups will <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28582-scans-prove-theres-no-such-thing-as-a-male-or-female-brain/">prompt a game-changing alteration in how we approach this issue.</a>. What is really meant by a “sex difference”? Taken straightforwardly, one would assume a “difference” implies the two groups measured are distinct. That the characteristics true of one are almost always not true of the other, that it’s possible to predict characteristics based on sex or vice versa, or that knowing to which group an individual belonged would allow you to reliably predict their performance, responses, abilities and potential. But we now know that this simply doesn’t reflect reality.</p>
<p>On a wide range of psychological measures, it’s clear that the two sexes are actually more similar than different, despite <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115057">oft-repeated stereotypes or anecdotal assertions</a>. In parallel with the findings that brains are a mosaic of features, repeat analyses of more than 100 different behavioural and personality traits believed to be characteristic of one sex or the other have demonstrated that they don’t fall into two distinct groups, but are best allocated to a single group. The researcher’s conclusion, delivered with a wry smile, can only be that men are not from Mars nor are women from Venus: <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycarticles/2012-28536-001">we are all from Earth</a>. </p>
<p>The whole issue of male/female differences in the brain and the implications for male/female differences in any sphere – normal or abnormal behaviour, ability, aptitude or achievement – is really important to clarify. In the US, the National Institutes of Health recently mandated that, where appropriate, <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/policy-nih-to-balance-sex-in-cell-and-animal-studies-1.15195">sex of the test subjects should be a variable</a> in any research it funds. It’s time to move on from the simplistic dichotomy of looking for what makes male and female brains different, and instead approach the issue through the probably more meaningful and potentially revelatory question: what makes brains different?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gina Rippon has previously received funding from the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. </span></em></p>Men aren’t from Mars, nor are women from Venus. We’re all from Earth.Gina Rippon, Professor of Cognitive NeuroImaging, Aston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/360712015-01-12T06:21:11Z2015-01-12T06:21:11ZTo farm the deep seas, offshore power must look beyond traditional windmills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68598/original/image-20150109-23801-k3m4im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is this the future of offshore wind?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.inflow-fp7.eu/wp-content/gallery/photos/05-simulation_02a_proche_3d_jour_inda_0.jpg">INFLOW / Technip / Nenuphar / EDF</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As wind power companies venture into ever-deeper waters, the traditional windmill-style turbine may not be the most suitable solution. It’s time to look at alternatives.</p>
<p>Wind turbines traditionally had blades that rotate around a horizontal axis, and this has remained standard in modern wind farms. Conventional horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) came to dominate the wind energy market, both on land and in shallow waters offshore.</p>
<p>But the best wind farm sites are often found in deeper seas, far from wind obstructions, shipping lanes, nimbys and migrating birds. Support structures fixed rigidly to the seabed may not be economically viable in depths beyond 50m, so engineers are instead turning to floating foundations.</p>
<p>These are very different conditions in which to generate electricity from wind, which has meant a re-emerging interest in alternative wind turbine configurations. As we report in <a href="http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rsta.2014.0076">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society</a> adopting a vertical rotation axis is one such alternative. These turbines, which always face the wind, are known as vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs).</p>
<h2>Stable structures</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=907&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68597/original/image-20150109-23798-70zinf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deep sea wind farming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.inflow-fp7.eu/press/press-downloads/">INFLOW</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Traditional horizontal-axis turbines are very top-heavy, with the blades and the equipment that generates power necessarily fixed to the top of the tower. In a large offshore turbine this part can weigh several hundred tonnes and be around 100m above sea level.</p>
<p>In a vertical-axis turbine the generation systems can be at a much lower height, even right at the base of the tower. This means VAWTs tend to have a much lower centre of gravity.</p>
<p>On floating supports this advantage is magnified – just think of how stable you are when seated in a canoe rather than standing on it.</p>
<p>Lowering the generators also makes them much more accessible and easier to maintain or replace. For example, with a VAWT workers only need to climb a short distance to access machinery rather than climb a 100m tower that is constantly moving. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68596/original/image-20150109-23816-162bqi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Precarious work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/windwaerts/8191148562">Mark Mühlhaus/attenzione/Windwärts Energie GmbH</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Size matters</h2>
<p>In general, bigger wind turbines produce cheaper electricity. This has led to turbines getting ever larger and more powerful, especially offshore where 50m blades are now routine and some are even <a href="http://www.windpowermonthly.com/10-biggest-turbines">far bigger</a>.</p>
<p>But such horizonally-rotating giants may soon reach their limit. If the axis of the blade is considered, when this blade is horizontal the gravitational force will be perpendicular to it, while when the blade is vertical (upward) the gravitational force will be parallel to the axis and pointing toward the root of the blade. Finally, when the blade is vertical again (downward), the gravitational force will be parallel to the blade axis, but now pointing toward the tip.
Some <a href="http://www.ewea.org/publications/reports/upwind/">studies</a> claim this oscillating gravitational load limits the size of horizontal axis turbines.</p>
<figure> <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/HAWT_and_VAWTs_in_operation_large.gif"><figcaption>Hawt or not? HAWT compared to the two main forms of vertical axis turbine.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Vertical-axis turbines resolve this problem because as they rotate they experience a constant gravitational force, always in the same direction. Without the stress of holding up 80m metal blades by one end, VAWTs can potentially become much larger.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14685248.2012.712698#.VLAeQCvF-So">Research</a> has also shown vertical turbines can be placed closer to each other in a wind farm. So for a given area, more VAWTs can be installed, and more electricity generated than if HAWTs were used, thereby reducing the cost of electricity.</p>
<h2>The axis revolution</h2>
<p>So now the obvious question arises: why have VAWTs not yet been used if they are so advantageous? The main reason is that it is still a new technology. Although researchers have looked at vertical axes for decades, the technology fell behind due mainly to material and bearing system limitations. Investors still see the known technology as a safe bet and even when looking at deep-sea wind they have been more inclined to support horizontal-axis turbines on floating platforms.</p>
<p>However both governments and forward-thinking companies are now investing in the potential of VAWTs for deep sea offshore wind. The <a href="http://www.eti.co.uk/project/nova/">Nova project</a>, funded by the UK government, demonstrated vertical-axis offshore was commercially viable. <a href="http://energy.sandia.gov/energy/renewable-energy/wind-power/offshore-wind/innovative-offshore-vertical-axis-wind-turbine-rotors/">Sandia National Laboratories</a>, backed by the US energy department, and <a href="http://www.h2ocean-project.eu/">various</a> <a href="http://www.deepwind.eu">EU-backed</a> <a href="http://www.inflow-fp7.eu/">projects</a> have also supported the technology.</p>
<p>Industrial companies such as the British VertAx Wind or Norway’s Gwind are also following suit through the development of different concepts. The French company Nenuphar is pushing ahead its VAWT design, with plans (pictured at the top of this article) to install the first floating wind farm <a href="http://www.windpoweroffshore.com/article/1326347/vertiwind-floating-turbine-capacity-increased">off the coast of Marseilles</a>.</p>
<p>With increasing demand for energy we are obliged to explore every possible solution. Vertical-axis wind turbines located in the deep sea have strong potential to be one of these solutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maurizio Collu works is a Lecturer in Cranfield University, UK. For his research, he receives funding from UK and EU public organisation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Borg works for the Department of Wind Energy in the Technical University of Denmark. He receives funding from the European Union.</span></em></p>As wind power companies venture into ever-deeper waters, the traditional windmill-style turbine may not be the most suitable solution. It’s time to look at alternatives. Wind turbines traditionally had…Maurizio Collu, Lecturer, Offshore Renewable Energy Centre, Cranfield UniversityMichael Borg, Postdoc, Technical University of DenmarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/352682014-12-11T06:03:15Z2014-12-11T06:03:15ZReef fish can even smell like coral as they seek to evade predators<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66882/original/image-20141210-6045-hhb8ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trying to smell like coral, and not like lunch.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicshark/14784175533">atomicshark</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The animal kingdom is full of incredible examples of camouflage, with animals resembling objects found in their environment such as <a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/stick-insect/">sticks or leaves</a>, or displaying colour patterns that permit them to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthpicturegalleries/9867398/Animal-camouflage-creatures-that-mimic-their-surroundings.html?frame=2479667">blend into their surroundings</a> to hide from predators or prey. </p>
<p>Many animals interact with the world using other senses, such as smell. Yet most of our understanding of animal camouflage is based on visual mechanisms, probably due to our own reliance on sight. Can animals camouflage their own smell to avoid detection? As predators often use smells to locate prey, even the visually camouflaged can stick out if they still smell strongly like lunch. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1799/20141887">paper</a> published by the Royal Society, our study reveals that a small colourful fish, the <a href="http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&cid=282&pid=532">harlequin filefish</a>, can change its odour to hide from hungry predators. Evolution has a tendency to produce countermeasures in this way; an animal could employ some mechanism to mask or diminish its odour, either by limiting the smell it produces, or altering it to match smells present within its habitat. </p>
<p>One way this could happen is via the diet: odour producing chemicals from the food transferred to the animal that causes their smells to match – similar to what happens if you eat a lot of garlic. This <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00049-004-0274-4">has been shown in some caterpillars</a> that live on the plants they also use for food. Chemicals in the plants, when digested, are transferred to the caterpillars, making them indistinguishable from the plant itself, causing predatory ants to walk right over them, oblivious. Evidence for similar processes in other animals has remained scarce, meaning it’s unknown how commonplace “chemical camouflage” is. </p>
<h2>Underwater disguises</h2>
<p>The harlequin or orange-spotted filefish is found on coral reefs throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans, including at <a href="http://www.lizardisland.com.au/">Lizard Island</a> in the northern Great Barrier Reef where we conducted this work. </p>
<p>It is very selective about what it eats, choosing to nibble on only certain corals. It also uses these corals as habitat at night, hiding in among the coral branches making it very hard to spot. To determine if these filefish smell like the coral they eat, we recruited coral-dwelling crabs to test if these crabs could tell the difference between the smell of filefish and corals. These tiny crabs live tucked away in among the coral, with each type of coral having its own species of crab. </p>
<p>In the study, the crabs could distinguish between filefish that were fed different corals, preferring those fish who fed on the coral the crabs lived in. In fact, the filefish smelled so strongly of coral that sometimes the crabs were attracted to the fish instead of coral itself.</p>
<p>Smelling like coral is all well and good, but it’s not much use if you still end up being eaten. To test if smelling like coral reduced the ability of predators to detect filefish in the surrounding habitat, we ran a second experiment, this time using large predatory <a href="https://www.daff.qld.gov.au/fisheries/species-identification/reef-fish/cods-and-groupers/blue-spotted-rockcod">blue-spotted rock cod</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66899/original/image-20141210-6054-1rf4eoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Smell like coral, get ignored by predators - seems a good exchange.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tane Sinclair-Taylor</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cod, filefish and corals were put in a tank, with the filefish hidden from the cod. When the filefish diet matched the corals in the tank, the cod stayed tucked away in their cave inside the tank. However, when the filefish diet didn’t match the corals in the tank, the cod were restless, suggesting they smelled food. This implication is that matching the smell of your habitat could be a good way to avoid drawing unwanted attention.</p>
<p>This is the first evidence of an animal other than an insect camouflaging its odour using chemicals derived from its diet. The next step will be to determine exactly how filefish can smell like coral and much work remains to understand this set of biological processes. </p>
<p>We know very little about chemical camouflage in animals, and the study shows how important it is for researchers to examine camouflage from the perspective of the animals involved, rather than our own. The findings also open up the possibility that a wide range of different animals could also be disguising themselves in similar ways – right under our noses.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35268/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rohan Brooker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The animal kingdom is full of incredible examples of camouflage, with animals resembling objects found in their environment such as sticks or leaves, or displaying colour patterns that permit them to blend…Rohan Brooker, Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/256892014-04-21T05:20:02Z2014-04-21T05:20:02ZSatellites’ new ways of seeing nature can help protect it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46683/original/6gt2jqx5-1397734149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seeing beyond light: Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS false composite image of Lake Chad, West Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nathalie Pettorelli</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea of using satellites to monitor wildlife and biological diversity probably conjures up images of radio-collared deer or tagged turtles. And while these have been key to increasing our understanding of animal distribution worldwide, we can track a lot more from space than you’d imagine – and it’s not necessary to capture and fit a tracking device first.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://www.grss-ieee.org/technical-resources-2/hyperspectral-sensors/">hyperspectral sensors</a> – which capture information across the electromagnetic spectrum in very narrow bands able to detect recognisable “fingerprints” of objects – <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1643/20130194">have been used</a> to determine genetic differences in <em>Populus tremuloides</em> (trembling aspen), one of the most widespread and genetically diverse species in North America. Satellite information on climatic conditions and on vegetation type and dynamics can help predict animal movement and condition. These are just two examples taken from a special edition I co-edited on <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/site/2014/satellite.xhtml">satellites and conservation</a> in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B journal.</p>
<p>Who is interested in <a href="http://www.crisp.nus.edu.sg/%7Eresearch/tutorial/intro.htm">satellite remote sensing</a>? Basically anyone who seeks to understand large scale patterns in biodiversity distribution, or that has to deal with the management of big, remote, or inaccessible areas.</p>
<h2>An unparalleled view from above</h2>
<p>The level of information that can be derived from satellite data is pretty phenomenal, and too-often undervalued by ecologists and conservationists. For example, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0033751">emperor penguin colonies</a> can be found and the colony size estimated using very high resolution images. Changes to the extent or density of ecosystems can be tracked, and active sensors such as radar and <a href="http://www.lidar-uk.com/">lidar</a> can report the 3D structure and density of vegetation. Just how “green” our world is can be extensively mapped on a fortnightly basis.</p>
<p>So satellites help monitor both wildlife and vegetation in the natural world, able to provide information about the most remote and inaccessible places on Earth. They also capture information that helps us understand why, and predict where, biodiversity is declining.</p>
<p>For example, measurements taken on the ground can be integrated with satellite data to track the current distributions of <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1643/20130192">certain invasive species</a>, and to predict their projected advance. High resolution images can be used to map problems associated with oil exploration and exploitation. The response of animals to shifts in temperatures or availability in food and resources can be <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1643/20130196">analysed and predicted</a> from satellite-based information. And deforestation, land degradation and the fragmentation of ecosystems as well as the expansion of urban areas have all been successfully monitored using satellites’ unique viewpoint.</p>
<p>Satellites’ benefits extend beyond land to the oceans too, as there are some great examples of how satellites can support marine conservation. Spotting and monitoring oil spills is a classic example, using radar or infrared sensors. And using satellite data together with that from vessels’ monitoring systems make it easier <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12261/abstract">to detect illegal, undeclared or unreported fishing</a>.</p>
<h2>Key new technologies need to be used</h2>
<p>Remote sensing is becoming central to our ability to understand and manage the natural world. From camera traps and microphone arrays, to guided drones and Doppler radar, ecologists, conservationists and environmental or wildlife managers have been drawn towards new technological developments that provide the possibility of non-invasive monitoring. </p>
<p>Satellite sensors are part of this incredibly powerful toolkit, and their scope to inform research and support resource management is continuously growing. For example, satellite data is now used to inform <a href="http://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu/">protected area management</a> or <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aje.12060/abstract">species reintroduction programs</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps obviously, the best uses for this technology and major breakthroughs are most likely to occur when remote sensing and conservation experts collaborate; yet this happens all too rarely. Conservationists and wildlife managers need better links to technical expertise and access to equipment, and working together would be greatly enhanced by common information-sharing platforms and the development of a more coordinated research agenda. Google Earth is one thing, but making government-funded satellite data and the software tools to use it freely accessible would be a key step to increase the number of new purposes the research community can put it to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25689/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathalie Pettorelli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The idea of using satellites to monitor wildlife and biological diversity probably conjures up images of radio-collared deer or tagged turtles. And while these have been key to increasing our understanding…Nathalie Pettorelli, Research Fellow, Zoological Society of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.