tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/swedish-university-of-agricultural-sciences-1146/articlesSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences2023-11-01T17:04:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158322023-11-01T17:04:03Z2023-11-01T17:04:03ZOur new map reveals the effects of 20th century land-use and climate change on Britain’s wild species<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556825/original/file-20231031-25-eweeyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C5413%2C2553&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/arable-land-ploughed-field-background-panorama-2159524289">Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Under the stewardship of geographer <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dudley-Stamp">Sir Dudley Stamp</a>, thousands of volunteers (including many schoolchildren) came together in the 1930s on a mission that sounds relatively simple on paper: to record how British land was being used. </p>
<p>Equipped with an Ordnance Survey map, a clipboard and a pencil, these volunteers recorded information that collectively formed the earliest <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1784994?origin=crossref">spatial record</a> of where and how the British people were using their environment at the beginning of the third agricultural revolution. Spanning the mid-20th century, that revolution changed the British landscape almost beyond recognition.</p>
<p>The landscape changed largely because it had to. More land was brought into production to feed a growing post-war population. This involved converting semi-natural habitats to cropland, removing hedgerows and enhancing pastures with fertilisers and faster-growing fodder (creating agriculturally “improved” grassland). More homes were also built to provide a better quality of life.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42475-0">our new study</a>, we digitally converted scanned copies of the Dudley Stamp maps and compared them with modern-day satellite data to record the full extent of land-use change across Britain in the mid-20th century. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.5878/9wks-qg91">change map</a> outlines the level of land conversion for every 10km x 10km grid square of Britain.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A digital map showing the proportion of land converted in Britain between the 1930s and 2007." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1059&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1059&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556675/original/file-20231030-27-8x99t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1059&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Land conversion in Britain between the 1930s and 2007. Higher values indicate that more land changed use in that area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42475-0">Suggitt et al. (2023)/Nature Communications</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mapping land-use change in Britain</h2>
<p>We estimate that roughly 90% of <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/grassland/lowland-meadow-and-pasture">lowland meadow and pasture</a> has been lost. Land was converted either to arable farmland, which saw a 22% increase, or to agriculturally improved grassland, which now occupies 27% of Britain’s land area.</p>
<p>Urbanisation saw the nation’s built area expand from 4% to 5%. And woodland cover doubled from 6% to 12%, largely due to a concerted effort to increase the country’s reserve of timber. For better or worse, the nation’s land use became less mixed and more consolidated.</p>
<p>All of this environmental change is thought to have had a profound effect on biodiversity. According to the recent <a href="https://stateofnature.org.uk/">State of Nature Report</a>, the abundance of UK species has declined by an average of 19% since 1970. Some 1,500 species (or 16% of those analysed) are now threatened with national extinction.</p>
<p>The impacts of climate change on biodiversity are also becoming ever more apparent in almost all the Earth’s ecosystems and at all levels of biological organisation – <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf7671">from genes right up to ecosystems</a>. There is no doubt that increasing human activity is posing a greater series of challenges for the natural world in this new geological epoch we term “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14258">the Anthropocene</a>”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dawn-of-the-anthropocene-five-ways-we-know-humans-have-triggered-a-new-geological-epoch-52867">Dawn of the Anthropocene: five ways we know humans have triggered a new geological epoch</a>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map from the original Land Use Survey of Britain." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556690/original/file-20231030-30-ia0qku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ambleside and Great Langdale, as surveyed by the Land Use Survey of Britain in 1931/32. Large areas of upland Britain were classified as rough hill pasture or commons (yellow shading).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Giles Clark</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s driving biodiversity change?</h2>
<p>Although evidence documenting widespread changes to biodiversity is now relatively easy to come by, attributing these changes to a particular driver, or series of drivers, continues to prove quite difficult. This is because we know relatively little about how these drivers can “interact” with one another to make things worse.</p>
<p>But the net effect of drivers acting in concert can be quite different to the individual effect of each driver acting alone. For example, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04644-x">research</a> has demonstrated that climate change is more likely to lower insect diversity in agricultural landscapes compared to more natural systems.</p>
<p>Disentangling the different drivers of biodiversity change has proved particularly problematic in the UK. The intensification of agriculture and the other changes in land use of the mid-20th century occurred before Earth observation satellites were in orbit. Many habitats were lost before we could document the true scale of the change and, just as importantly, which regions, landscapes and locations were most affected.</p>
<h2>Climate and land-use change acting together</h2>
<p>Making our new land-use change map for Britain meant that we could now finally investigate the extent to which this change combined with climate change to worsen the prognosis for the country’s flora and fauna.</p>
<p>Our investigation determined that these drivers did not often interact. In fact, less than one in five of the species we studied were affected by change drivers acting to accelerate or dampen one other. And their combined effect on extinction risk was often mild. </p>
<p>For roughly three-quarters of the species that responded to environmental change (668 of 898 species), we found that climate warming and land conversion acted independently of one other. This means that for species like the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/small-pearl-bordered-fritillary">small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly</a> (<em>Boloria selene</em>), which predominantly inhabits cooler and wetter habitats, the impacts of warming temperatures and habitat loss, while detrimental, have not exacerbated each other to increase the chance of the butterfly’s populations dying out.</p>
<p>Many species were only affected by one of the change drivers we analysed, and not both. We found that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/globeflower">globeflower</a> (<em>Trollius europaeus</em>), for example, has declined due to habitat loss alone.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Globeflower flowering in a meadow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556669/original/file-20231030-27-j6zkc.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Globeflower has declined due to habitat loss. Some 53% of open grassland habitat such as this has been lost in the UK over the past 75 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pmau</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because our results were less complicated than we expected, the so-called “winners” and “losers” of environmental change among British flora and fauna might be easier to predict than we anticipated. However, the highly individual responses to change we detected – and the wide split between winners and losers associated with these responses – mean it is difficult to come up with rules of thumb for conservationists, authorities or land managers to use when taking action on the extinction crisis. </p>
<p>As such, we need to maintain our emphasis on the inclusion of species-level information when devising plans to maintain biodiversity. We also need to continue supporting biological recording efforts, as these often act as the barometer by which we can judge if conservation measures are successful.</p>
<p>We hope that our study is the first of many to make full use of the valuable information collected by Dudley Stamp and his volunteer army almost 100 years ago. Digital versions of our maps are publicly available for <a href="https://doi.org/10.5878/9wks-qg91">free download</a> so that researchers, conservationists and the general public can see where Britain’s landscape has changed the most.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Britain has lost large areas of semi-natural habitat since the 1930s.Andrew Suggitt, Assistant Professor, Northumbria University, NewcastleAlistair Auffret, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1665952021-09-13T14:47:44Z2021-09-13T14:47:44ZHow countries alongside the Sahara can restore productive land faster<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419088/original/file-20210902-19-15wl5x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/desertscape-niger-sahelian-landscape-semi-aride-land-prone-news-photo/129374203?adppopup=true">Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is about to take over the <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/minister-buhari-to-preside-over-african-led-initiative-to-tackle-desertification">presidency</a> of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall – the continent’s effort to restore degraded cropland, grazing areas and woodlands bordering the Sahara Desert. He takes over from Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, president of Mauritania. </p>
<p>Buhari has the support of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and an international accelerator platform with new funding. But based on the slow rate of progress to date and the lingering confusion about the initiative’s vision, much work remains ahead to achieve farmer prosperity. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall">Africa’s Great Green Wall</a> is an ambitious initiative started in 2007 by the African Union. It is now running far behind schedule. It needs to <a href="https://www.unccd.int/publications/great-green-wall-implementation-status-and-way-ahead-2030">immediately speed up</a> to reach <a href="https://www.greatgreenwall.org/2030ambition">its goals by 2030</a>, as called for by the new infusion of money and as needed by the people along the edges of the desert.</p>
<p>The original aim was to plant an 8,000km long, 15km wide tree barrier linking Dakar to Djibouti. This was to stop “desert encroachment” and protect ecosystems and human communities in the south and north of the Sahara from the harmful effects of desertification and drought. </p>
<p>The African Union and the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall discarded this idea <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/europeanunion/pdf/harmonized_strategy_GGWSSI-EN_.pdf">in 2012</a>, shifting the focus of efforts from trees to humans. Improving food security and livelihoods will be linked to containing desertification. </p>
<p>The new vision that emerged in 2012 is to establish a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across a broad zone surrounding the Sahara. The aim is to restore whole agroecosystems through land management practices that enhance the livelihoods of the rural people.</p>
<p>The goals set for the Green Wall by 2030 are: </p>
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<li><p>restore 100 million hectares of degraded land</p></li>
<li><p>sequester 250 million tons of carbon</p></li>
<li><p>create 10 million green jobs in rural areas.</p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-got-plans-for-a-great-green-wall-why-the-idea-needs-a-rethink-78627">Africa's got plans for a Great Green Wall: why the idea needs a rethink</a>
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<p>Reported progress has been slow and uneven, say reports commissioned by the <a href="https://www.unccd.int/publications/great-green-wall-implementation-status-and-way-ahead-2030">United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification</a> and the <a href="https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/343311608752196338/sustainable-land-management-in-the-sahel-lessons-from-the-sahel-and-west-africa-program-in-support-of-the-great-green-wall-sawap">World Bank</a>. Only some 18 million hectares have been restored so far, and movement in some countries is lagging. The <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i6476e/i6476e.pdf">Food and Agriculture Organization</a> and <a href="https://www.unccd.int/publications/great-green-wall-implementation-status-and-way-ahead-2030">United Nations</a> have estimated that the pace must increase by a factor of 10 if the 2030 goals are to be reached. </p>
<p>Fortunately, help is on the way. On 11 January 2021 at the One Planet Summit in Paris, world leaders <a href="https://www.oneplanetsummit.fr/en/coalitions-82/great-green-wall-accelerator-193">announced</a> financial support of US$16 billion over five years – almost 10 times as much as international donors contributed between 2010 and 2019. A new multi-stakeholder platform will accelerate the Green Wall process through better coordination, implementation, monitoring, and tracking of impact. This <a href="https://www.unccd.int/actionsgreat-green-wall-initiative/great-green-wall-accelerator">accelerator</a> will be managed by the agency headed by Buhari. </p>
<p>The task is a challenge but far from hopeless. Successful cases of regreening do exist, as shown by the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i6476e/i6476e.pdf">Food and Agriculture Organization’s map of 2016</a>. The accelerator would do well to study what has worked for <a href="https://www.wri.org/research/scaling-regreening-six-steps-success">regreening</a> in various <a href="https://knowledge.unccd.int/publications/restoring-african-drylands-farmer-and-community-managed-restoration">cases</a>. </p>
<p>The following suggestions build on our experience and examination of successful cases.</p>
<h2>Build on past successes</h2>
<p>In the densely populated parts of southern Niger, farmers have <a href="http://www.etfrn.org/file.php/492/1-9-toudou.pdf">regreened</a> more than five million hectares since 1985 by adding at least 200 million trees to their farming systems. They did this not by planting trees, but by protecting and managing natural regeneration from the tree stumps already there and from the seedlings that emerge naturally from the soil. </p>
<p>On <a href="http://www.etfrn.org/file.php/488/1-5-allen.pdf">Mali’s Seno Plains</a>, around half a million hectares have been regreened by farmers since the mid-1990s. In <a href="http://www.etfrn.org/file.php/484/1-1-tappan.pdf">central Senegal</a>, hundreds of villages are now greener than 30 years ago. In <a href="http://www.etfrn.org/file.php/487/1-4-belemvire.pdf">Burkina Faso</a> and <a href="http://www.etfrn.org/file.php/485/1-2-hassane.pdf">Niger</a>, farmers have restored several hundred thousand hectares of barren degraded land to productivity by using simple water harvesting techniques.</p>
<p>These and other successful cases of restoration were driven and achieved through grassroots community mobilisation and the independent efforts of millions of farm households. They were also encouraged by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and development projects. They produced massive results at a very low cost. </p>
<p>Many of these efforts have not been officially reported as contributions to the Green Wall, as they happened outside the budgets and control of the national forestry departments. </p>
<p>The Pan African Agency now needs to convince governments to recognise and vigorously support investment in bottom-up, cost-effective, grassroots initiatives of this kind. This may not be the preferred choice of the government agencies through which funds are likely to pass. But many years of slow progress suggest that it is the only route to success. </p>
<h2>No need to plant</h2>
<p>The idea of the narrow green line across Africa still persists in too many minds. It is past the time to let it go. More trees are indeed needed, but planting is an <a href="http://bit.ly/38cwSQp">expensive and precarious</a> way to establish them in arid and semi-arid lands. </p>
<p>Budgets can be stretched tremendously by shifting to proven methods that achieve evergreening faster than conventional tree planting. We have <a href="https://www.wri.org/research/scaling-regreening-six-steps-success">discovered</a> that regreening is almost always led by farmers. Farmers can protect and <a href="http://www.etfrn.org/file.php/489/1-6-winterbottom.pdf">manage the natural regeneration</a> of trees and shrubs on land they manage. There are also <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/t0321e/t0321e-10.htm">proven practices</a> for rainwater harvesting and soil and water conservation. </p>
<h2>Clarify goals and track progress</h2>
<p>The shift in vision has made it more challenging to track the progress of the Green Wall. It is easier to imagine and monitor a long wall of planted trees than a comprehensive restoration initiative. New baselines must be created. All progress should be counted, not only that which comes from government spending. The Pan African Agency should insist on greater clarity and consistency in what needs to be monitored. </p>
<h2>Collaborate with the non-governmental sector</h2>
<p>The non-governmental sector must complement the efforts of government departments. The members of the <a href="https://www.evergreening.org/">Global EverGreening Alliance</a> have pledged their joint capacity to restoring hundreds of millions of hectares of degraded lands. The alliance includes nearly all of the major development and conservation NGOs around the world, and those working in the Sahel. </p>
<p>The NGO community is a tremendous resource. The Pan African Agency could greatly expand its impact by working with it. </p>
<p>Restoring the 100 million hectares of degraded lands surrounding the Sahara is possible. But the mindsets in governments and donor organisations must change. Success so far has been largely due to grassroots efforts with only modest support from external sources. Thus, the strategy going forward is clear: invest in scaling-up the proven successes, and let go of the ones that have failed.</p>
<p>While President Buhari has not indicated the direction the agency will take under his chairmanship, we hope he can follow these recommendations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166595/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lars Laestadius previously worked as a consultant to FAO on drylands monitoring. He is a Fellow with the Global EverGreening Alliance.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Reij and Dennis Garrity do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Africa’s Great Green Wall must immediately speed up to meet the needs of people along the edges of the Sahara Desert.Lars Laestadius, Adjunct Research Scientist, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesChris Reij, Sustainable land management specialist, World Resources InstituteDennis Garrity, Board Chair, Global EverGreening Alliance & Distinguished Senior Fellow, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1566102021-03-10T14:13:56Z2021-03-10T14:13:56ZThe secret life of fungi: how they use ingenious strategies to forage underground<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388614/original/file-20210309-23-6ai9mt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C154%2C1051%2C928&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three examples of the obstacle courses we tested our fungi within.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you think of fungi, you’ll probably picture a huddle of chubby brown mushrooms, or the large, red-capped toadstools you stumble across in the woods. In doing so, you’re reducing fungi to their reproductive organs – tasty or striking as they may often be.</p>
<p>The main body of a fungus is actually a large interwoven network called the <a href="https://www.asmscience.org/content/journal/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0033-2017">mycelium</a>, which consists of incredibly thin fungal tubes called hyphae. These hyphae are a bit like plant roots: they grow into soil, unseen by us humans, on the hunt for nutrients. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-020-00886-7">Our recent research</a> used an artificial fungal obstacle course to spy on hyphal growth and behaviour. We found a remarkable variety of growth strategies employed by fungal hyphae – so many that we had to give them names.</p>
<p>From the brute force of the “zombie”, which breaks through physical barriers, to the intrepid “marathon runner”, who sets off way ahead of the pack to explore, fungal hyphae appear to be ingenious subterranean foragers. And our findings aren’t merely fascinating: they may have important implications for our fight against climate change, too.</p>
<h2>Foraging fungi</h2>
<p>Fungi are fascinating organisms. Neither plants nor animals, they belong to their own distinct kingdom, estimated to be composed of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13225-021-00472-y">between 2 and 6 million species</a>. And though they may look very different from us, fungi still – like us – have to find ways to locate food and solve problems in their environment.</p>
<p>Fungi are also crucial for all nutrient cycles. They decompose and recycle dead biomass in the environment, and help feed water and nutrients to the roots of about <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1046">90% of all land plants</a>. They can be a pain, too: they can cause diseases in humans, animals and plants, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10947">destroy huge amounts of</a> agricultural produce.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/complex-life-may-only-exist-because-of-millions-of-years-of-groundwork-by-ancient-fungi-117526">Complex life may only exist because of millions of years of groundwork by ancient fungi</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Integral to fungi are the hyphae: tubes so thin that sometimes they’re not even visible to the naked eye. For reference, a human hair is about 50 micrometres wide, while fungal hyphae often are as thin as 2 or 3 micrometres. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="One thick cylinder overlaid by one thinner one" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388601/original/file-20210309-15-pj5tpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 50 micrometre human hair intersected by a 6 micrometre filament. Hyphae are just 2 to 3 micrometres wide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=350295">Saperaud/wikicommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Going underground</h2>
<p>Many fungi live most of their lives underground, out of sight. As such, we know very little about how these organisms experience their underground environment: if they have the ability to feel that there is food nearby, or what strategies they use to find it.</p>
<p>This was a challenge that we wanted to tackle. Together with biomedical engineers, we manufactured a transparent system of microscopic tunnels that allowed us to simulate the structures found in soil. These “soil chips” are effectively obstacle courses designed to put fungal hyphae through their paces on their search for food.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A silver surface traversed by a line that is a fungal hyphae" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388606/original/file-20210309-13-1psjhj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of our simplest ‘soil chip’ tests. The fungal hyphae, exploring from left to right, easily clears the obstacle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In plant ecology, clonal plant roots are said to grow either like a phalanx unit (short and very densely) or a guerrilla army (far but sparsely). We were surprised to find this dichotomy unusable for our fungi: we needed many more categories. </p>
<p>So, we gave the fungi nicknames to reflect their different growth strategies. Some species had hyphae that grew dense but very far and very straight, without exploring their surroundings (“the marathon runner”). </p>
<p>Others progressed slowly but constantly for months, meandering past complicated turns and corners (“the snake”). Others still branched heavily, filled up almost all free spaces, and with incredible force broke themselves through solid parts of the chips (“the zombie”). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mess of lines on a silver background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388613/original/file-20210309-17-1xk7e67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this example, ‘the zombie’ has brute-forced its way through our obstacle course.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Foraging strategies</h2>
<p>These distinct fungal strategies are probably evolutionary traits, given the diversity of environments that the different fungi might encounter. Dense growth strategies allow fungi to break down complex food sources that require large concentrated amounts of enzymes, while far-reaching exploration strategies help fungi to more quickly locate more ephemeral food sources that are spread out or far away.</p>
<p>We also found certain situations that gave fungi a hard time. For example, repeated sharp turns led some to get stuck in corners. Others lost their sense of direction after growing around a circular obstacle. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A silver surface upon which a line is meandering into a corner" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388610/original/file-20210309-23-xfllkv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This hyphae, an example of ‘the snake’, has become trapped in a corner of our soil chip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We were especially interested in those obstacles that hindered fungal growth. That’s because soils are the Earth’s largest terrestrial <a href="https://www.jswconline.org/content/73/6/145A">carbon reservoir</a>, and small changes in their carbon cycling could generate huge differences for <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector">atmospheric CO₂ levels</a>. Understanding how soil structures impact fungal growth may lead us to understand how to optimise soils for carbon sequestration – helping us store more CO₂ in the ground. </p>
<p>For now, we hope that our soil chips can continue to be used to spy on the secret life of fungi. Our study only looked at seven different litter-decomposing species of fungi, so there’s plenty of scope for new findings that could reveal how the foraging of fungi underground might affect ecosystems above it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156610/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:edith.hammer@biol.lu.se">edith.hammer@biol.lu.se</a> receives funding from the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:kristin.aleklett.kadish@slu.se">kristin.aleklett.kadish@slu.se</a> has received funding from the Crafoord foundation during her postdoc at Lund University. </span></em></p>Using tiny ‘soil chips’, researchers have observed the forgaging strategies of fungi at a microscopic scale for the first time.Edith Hammer, Associate Lecturer, Department of Biology, Lund UniversityKristin Aleklett, Postdoctoral research fellow, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1503092020-11-18T14:44:46Z2020-11-18T14:44:46ZWe developed a simple process to recycle urine. Here’s how it’s done<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370041/original/file-20201118-21-kuk2zr.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">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year on November 19, the <a href="https://www.worldtoiletday.info/">United Nations celebrates one of public health’s greatest inventions</a> – the toilet. Those who are fortunate enough to have access to one spend more than a year of their lives on it, yet millions of people worldwide cannot use one and many have never even seen one. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.baus.org.uk/museum/164/a_brief_history_of_the_flush_toilet">Invented back in 1775</a>, the flush toilet has changed surprisingly little in design. In fact, a toilet is nothing more than a seat (or a pan) connected to a pipe with a bend. If this pipe is further connected to a system of sewers that carries away excreta to a centralised treatment plant, then wastewater can safely be discharged into the environment. </p>
<p>But worldwide, <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/water/wwap/wwdr/2017-wastewater-the-untapped-resource/">80% of the wastewater produced</a> receives no treatment, which causes environmental harm and spreads diseases. Although wastewater contains <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64309-4.00009-X">nutrients</a> when it’s generated at households, the nutrients get diluted when flushed away. This makes it difficult to remove them even when they do reach treatment plants. Instead, they spread in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.10.020">environment as pollutants</a>.</p>
<p>A rethink of sanitation must start at the toilet itself. One way to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S246820391630173X">manage excreta differently</a> is to collect them separately. A <a href="https://richearthinstitute.org/rethinking-urine/urine-diversion/">urine-diverting toilet</a> does exactly what its name suggests – it separates the urine from the faeces. These toilets can be designed to look exactly like conventional toilets by <a href="http://www.eoos.com/cms/?id=413">concealing a trap</a> that diverts the urine.</p>
<p>We developed a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341679672_Resource_recovery_from_wastewater_a_new_approach_with_alkaline_dehydration_of_urine_at_source">simple process</a> that could encourage people to recycle urine. In our process, freshly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.06.001">collected urine is first made alkaline</a> (high pH) to prevent the reaction that produces ammonia and urine’s typical pungent smell. Then, by evaporating water, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.038">urine is reduced into a dry powder</a> that captures all its nutrients.</p>
<h2>How to safely recycle urine</h2>
<p>When urine is collected at home, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64309-4.00009-X">majority of the nutrients present in wastewater</a> can be kept away from wastewater treatment plants. </p>
<p>The collected urine can benefit the household too. To take advantage of the nutrients passed in urine, it can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2005.04.019">recycled as fertiliser for agriculture</a>. <a href="http://www.ecosanres.org/pdf_files/ESR_Publications_2004/ESR2web.pdf">Previous research has shown</a> that urine can effectively be used as an alternative to conventional fertiliser. In fact, urine produced by people worldwide contains enough nutrients to fertilise <a href="http://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/WaterSA_1998_02_apr98_p157.pdf">three-quarters of the food we eat</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic illustrating an invisible urin trap." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=201&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=201&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=201&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=253&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=253&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369829/original/file-20201117-15-1289vqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=253&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A new toilet can separate urine from rest of the toilet wastewater using an invisible trap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LAUFEN/EOOS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By following a few simple steps, anyone can safely dry urine to produce a fertiliser. Here’s what you will need:</p>
<ul>
<li>Something to collect urine – a urinal, a urine-diverting toilet, or a clean bucket.</li>
<li>A small container – in the image below, we used an off-the-shelf plastic box with dimensions 60 x 40 x 20 cm.<br></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720328308">Alkaline material</a> that has a pH of at least 10, such as ash produced from burning wood or slaked lime produced by converting limestone. Pick something that can be applied in agriculture.</li>
<li>A fan that you’ll attach to the container and connect to electricity or a battery.<br></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A urine-separating dry toilet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369836/original/file-20201117-17-ztnvhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A urine-separating dry toilet (A) connected to a simple alkaline drying system comprising of a fan (B) attached to a container (C) filled with wood ash. An exhaust pipe (D) carries away humid air.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Provided by the author, Prithvi Simha.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then you need to follow the following 10 steps.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Fill the container with the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720328308">alkaline material</a>. If you choose slaked lime (about US$1 per kg), add about 3kg every month for a household of four.</p></li>
<li><p>Connect your urine-separating toilet to the container using a short <a href="https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2007.558">pipe with a diameter of 75mm and gradient of at least 1%</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Attach an exhaust pipe to the container to carry humid air out of the bathroom.</p></li>
<li><p>Urinate in the toilet as usual or pour freshly collected urine immediately into the container.</p></li>
<li><p>Switch on the fan.</p></li>
<li><p>Repeat the process every day for the entire month.</p></li>
<li><p>At the month’s end, you’ll collect a dry powder containing approximately <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720328308">9% nitrogen, 1% phosphorous, and 4% potassium</a>. Store this for a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.07.030">couple of days at a temperature above 20°C</a>. This will ensure that the product is safe to handle and apply at the household level according to the <a href="https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/gsuweg4/en/">World Health Organisation’s guidelines</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply it as fertiliser according to your plants’ needs.</p></li>
<li><p>To restart the process, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.570637/full">replace the container</a> with fresh alkaline material.</p></li>
<li><p>Spread the urine wisdom – when you see benefits, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971730044X">encourage others</a> to try drying their own urine.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Can this be done at a larger scale?</h2>
<p>That’s what we plan on doing in South Africa next year. Along with several other stakeholders we’re leading an initiative that aims to retrofit 1,000 urine separating toilets with the urine drying technology in the city of Durban in the country’s east coast. We hope that this will enable people to convert their own urine into a solid fertiliser that can used to grow food.</p>
<p>A large motivation for the initiative came from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-faces-mass-hunger-if-efforts-to-offset-impact-of-covid-19-are-eased-143143">current COVID-19 situation in South Africa</a>, which exposed many vulnerabilities. These include unemployment and food insecurity. </p>
<p>Recycling urine collected from these toilets in small-scale horticulture can make a big difference to local food security. In turn, it can also <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/1259855">improve the local environment</a> by promoting the wider use of toilets. </p>
<p>Durban has been at the forefront of the urine recycling movement worldwide – the city already has nearly <a href="https://www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resources-and-publications/library/details/791">80,000 urine-separating toilets</a> and over 1,000 community ablution blocks that have male urinals. These toilets serve approximately 450,000 people. Drying the urine collected from these toilets can be the next chapter in the city’s ongoing efforts to embrace new sanitation systems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prithvi Simha owns shares in Sanitation360, a company which aims to commercialise urine dehydration technology.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Buckley is the Co-Head of the Pollution Research Group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The Pollution Research Group receives grants for sanitation research from the Water Research Commission, eThekwini Water and Sanitation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. EOOS and Envirosan are research partners of the Pollution Research Group. He was the opponent in the PhD examination of Jenna Senecal.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Senecal is CEO of Sanitation360, a company which aims to commercialise urine dehydration technology.</span></em></p>Most of the wastewater produced worldwide receives no treatment and the nutrients in wastewater go to waste. Here’s how households can draw these nutrients from urine and use them as fertilisers.Prithvi Simha, PhD Candidate in Environmental Engineering, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesChristopher Buckley, Professor and Co-Head of the Pollution Research Group, University of KwaZulu-NatalJenna Senecal, Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Engineering, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1488772020-11-06T14:30:47Z2020-11-06T14:30:47ZWe found a way to turn urine into solid fertiliser – it could make farming more sustainable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367925/original/file-20201106-23-1uqu5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3865%2C2575&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gardener-blending-organic-fertiliser-humic-granules-1364887628">Zlikovec/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s likely that most of the food you’ll eat today was not farmed sustainably. </p>
<p>The global system of food production is the largest human influence on the planet’s <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/1259855.abstract">natural cycles</a> of nitrogen and phosphorus. How much crops can grow is limited by the amount of these two elements in the soil, so they’re applied as fertilisers. </p>
<p>But the majority of fertilisers are either made by converting nitrogen in the air to ammonia, which alone consumes <a href="http://www.iipinetwork.org/wp-content/Ietd/content/ammonia.html#key-data">2% of the world’s energy</a> and relies heavily on fossil fuels, or by mining finite resources, like <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937800800099X">phosphate rock</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.2166/9781780401072">A solution</a> to this problem could be much closer than people realise. Most of the nutrients we consume in food are passed in our urine, because our bodies already have enough. But instead of being recaptured, these nutrients are flushed, diluted, and sent to wastewater treatment plants where they’re scrubbed out, leaving effluents that can be safely released into the environment. </p>
<p>The most nutrient-rich part of wastewater is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852409002806">human urine</a>, which makes up less than 1% of the total volume but contains 80% of the nitrogen and 50% of the phosphorus. We discovered how to recycle this urine into valuable – and sustainable – farmland fertiliser.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pair of gloved hands hold a pot containing a urine sample." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367922/original/file-20201106-13-8ngh5x.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">Urine is surprisingly rich in the nutrients needed for growing food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/preparation-urine-samples-laboratory-hospital-study-1257550750">Tati9/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to recycle urine</h2>
<p>You can capture urine with <a href="https://www.treehugger.com/urine-separating-toilets-are-not-quite-wonderful-we-keep-saying-they-are-4858530">special toilets</a> that separate it from faeces after you flush. But because urine is mostly water, farmers would have to spread 15,000kg of it just to fertilise a hectare of land. If there was a way to remove the water and extract just the nutrients, farmers would only need to apply 400kg of it for the same effect.</p>
<p>Evaporating the water from urine is surprisingly difficult, as urine is a complex chemical solution. Almost all of the valuable nitrogen in urine is in the form of urea, a chemical that is used as the world’s <a href="http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/factsheets/factsheet80.pdf">most commonly applied</a> nitrogen fertiliser. </p>
<p>But a fast-acting enzyme called urease is invariably present inside wastewater pipes and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135418304457">converts urea to ammonia</a>. When exposed to air, the ammonia quickly evaporates, taking the nitrogen from the urine with it and giving off a very pungent odour – think the stale urine smell of public toilets. </p>
<p>Fortunately, we’ve discovered that <a href="https://iwaponline.com/wst/article-abstract/74/6/1436/19385">increasing the pH of urine</a> to make it alkaline ensures the urea doesn’t break down or end up smelling really bad. Using this technique, we’ve developed a process that can reduce the volume of urine and transform it into a solid fertiliser. We call this process <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978044464309400009X">alkaline urine dehydration</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A petri dish full of a dry, soil-like powder." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366976/original/file-20201102-23-17rt15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the fertiliser produced by drying human urine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prithvi Simha</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea behind it is rather simple. Fresh urine is collected from urinals or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710219308460">specially designed toilets</a> and channelled into a dryer, where an alkalising agent, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720328308">calcium or magnesium hydroxide</a>, raises its pH. Any water in the now alkaline urine is evaporated and only the nutrients are left behind. We can even <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.570637/full">condense the evaporated water</a> and reuse it for flushing toilets or washing hands. </p>
<h2>A circular pee-conomy</h2>
<p>Doing this is quite easy: you just fill a urine dryer with an alkalising agent, connect it to your toilet, pee as usual and the urine is converted into dried fertiliser. A smart design could even make the dryer fit below the toilet so it doesn’t take up a lot of bathroom space. While electricity would be needed for evaporating the water, the dryer could be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717302796">coupled with solar energy</a> to take its energy use off the grid.</p>
<p>We estimate that it would cost just US$5 (£4.20) to supply an average family of four with a year’s supply of alkalising agent. The output from the dryer is a solid fertiliser containing 10% nitrogen, 1% phosphorus and 4% potassium – a similar combination to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139313">blended mineral fertilisers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Left: a scientist spreads fertiliser on soil. Right: the same area with short, green crops growing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367238/original/file-20201103-15-qoz66f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Field trials on farmland outside Paris revealed that dried urine works as well as synthetic crop fertilisers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tristan Martin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.baus.org.uk/museum/164/a_brief_history_of_the_flush_toilet">The first flush toilet</a>, invented by Alexander Cummings in 1775, revolutionised sanitation. Drying urine could kickstart a second revolution in how we manage wastewater. If implemented worldwide, recycled urine could replace nearly a quarter of all the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser used in agriculture. </p>
<p>But that would require <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978044464309400009X">a service chain</a> capable of supplying homes with alkalising agent, collecting the dried urine and processing it into fertiliser for farmers to use. A similar service chain already exists for the recycling of plastics, metals, paper and glass – dried urine could simply be another component. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A world map highlighted to show where urine could replace more synthetic fertiliser use." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366972/original/file-20201102-19-nvrah4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Countries with large populations and low rates of fertiliser use are most suitable for replacing synthetic fertilisers with urine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prithvi Simha/Datawrapper and FAOSTAT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971730044X">Research</a> suggests that people are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135418305384">open to the idea</a> of recycling urine. A survey of nearly 3,800 people across 16 countries even revealed that people would buy and eat <a href="https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/kccc8m9pn9/1">food grown using human urine</a>. With technology like this, ordinary people would have a safe and convenient way to make modern life more sustainable every time they go to the bathroom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prithvi Simha owns shares in Sanitation360, a company which aims to commercialise urine dehydration technology.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Björn Vinnerås owns shares in Sanitation360 AB. He receives funding from the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet, Formas, VINNOVA (the Swedish Innovation agency), and the EU H2020 projects Run4Life and REWAISE. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span> Jenna Senecal is CEO of Sanitation360, a company which aims to commercialise urine dehydration technology.</span></em></p>If rolled out worldwide, our method could replace a quarter of all the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser used in agriculture.Prithvi Simha, PhD Candidate in Environmental Engineering, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesBjörn Vinnerås, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesJenna Senecal, Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Engineering, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1448802020-08-21T15:02:00Z2020-08-21T15:02:00ZEU subsidies benefit big farms while underfunding greener and poorer plots – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354121/original/file-20200821-24-xjawcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C255%2C5332%2C3288&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sunny-morning-on-rural-farm-cheerful-1066332386">Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/future-cap_en">Common Agricultural Policy</a>, or CAP, is the European Union’s largest budget item. For the €60 billion (£53.9 billion) a year it pays in subsidies, the CAP is expected to support farmer incomes, ensure a supply of quality food, protect biodiversity, tackle climate change and encourage young people into farming.</p>
<p>It’s hard to tell if the EU is succeeding in these aims because of a lack of transparency, complex reporting, and insufficient monitoring. But the success of the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en">European Green Deal</a> and a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_940">green recovery</a> from COVID-19 depend on these subsidies being well spent. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.011">our new study</a>, we found that the CAP isn’t living up to its promises.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-eu-common-agricultural-policy-56329">Explainer: what is the EU Common Agricultural Policy?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Where subsidies really go</h2>
<p>We carefully analysed how agricultural subsidies flow down from EU bureaucracy to the local level. We connected these payments to their intended CAP goal – such as improving biodiversity or creating new opportunities for young farmers – and compared where they ultimately go.</p>
<p>Our analysis showed that at least €24 billion a year goes to support incomes in the richest farming regions of the EU with the fewest farm jobs. Meanwhile, the poorest regions with the most farm jobs are left behind. These essentially unnecessary welfare payments would more than cover the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/eu-biodiversity-strategy-2030_en">€20 billion a year</a> needed to meet the EU’s biodiversity strategy, or could be better spent on other goals in regions of greatest need.</p>
<p>Our results show that current spending is exacerbating, rather than reducing income inequality among farmers, because income payments are simply based on the area of land farmers manage, not their needs. The larger the farm, the higher their income support. </p>
<p>The way these payments are allocated requires no proof of environmental benefits – everyone gets the same payment for each hectare of land. As a result, the very premise on which the majority of CAP support is paid is gravely flawed. </p>
<p>In what was perhaps most surprising, we also found that substantial payments intended to support rural development are actually made to urban areas.</p>
<p><strong>EU farm income compared to greenhouse gas emissions</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two maps comparing farm income across the EU with greenhouse gas emissions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354082/original/file-20200821-18-a6zw3z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.011">Murray Scown</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not only does the CAP fail to support the incomes of farmers most in need, our study showed it actually subsidises farming regions with the most pollution and least biodiversity-friendly farming habits. Farming regions with the highest greenhouse gas emissions from intensive livestock production are getting paid billions of euros each year without any obligation to reduce pollution.</p>
<p>In its current state, the CAP is unlikely to contribute to a green recovery from the pandemic, nor broader <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">goals for sustainable development</a> as the European Commission <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52017DC0713">desires</a>.</p>
<h2>Rethinking the CAP</h2>
<p>The details of the post-2020 CAP are now being wrangled among member states. But the proposals don’t address these major flaws, particularly because the main way in which payments are distributed remains unaltered in the new proposed CAP. These flaws <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10080">could be addressed</a> by, for example, removing area-based payments. But implementing these changes will take political will.</p>
<p>CAP income support should become needs-based, like other social welfare payments that are means-tested. That means recipients need to prove they need income support according to a particular criteria, considering all sources of income. Otherwise farmers should only be rewarded or compensated based on evidence of them providing public goods. </p>
<p>This would give farmers in regions with lots of pollution the support they need to reduce it. It would also give farmers in less fertile regions income for providing environmental services, such as protecting grasslands high in biodiversity. These changes would drastically improve the current model of payments being based on how much farmland a person owns.</p>
<p>How CAP subsidies actually benefit the environment must also be scrutinised. One easy way is to monitor, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08675-7">using satellites</a> or crowd-sourced photographs, the extent of grassland habitats on farms, with subsidies reduced if these areas shrink or increased if the areas expand. These unplowed, sparsely grazed areas are very valuable to biodiversity, but they wouldn’t usually be protected without environmental payments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A brown butterfly rests on a white flower in a meadow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354123/original/file-20200821-22-18z81or.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">A redesigned CAP could reward farmers based on the area of biodiverse grassland they sustain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/small-heath-coenonympha-lyllus-sitting-on-1783712015">Thomas Marx/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another option is for the CAP to finance pollution reduction – such as nitrogen in waterways or greenhouse gas emissions – and continuously measure it against a baseline.</p>
<p>Farmers are stewards of a large portion of the EU’s land area, and its cultural landscapes, wildlife and habitats too. The future security of Europe’s food supplies will depend on maintaining healthy soils and biodiversity. </p>
<p>But misspent agricultural subsidies are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/1m-a-minute-the-farming-subsidies-destroying-the-world">destroying</a> the very environment upon which farming depends worldwide. The current <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/science-isnt-negotiable-environment-meps-break-cap-negotiations">CAP negotiations</a> need to change how unevenly and unwisely this huge chunk of the EU budget is being spent to safeguard food security and the environment for future generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144880/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Murray Scown currently receives funding as part of the Formas Grant FR-2018/0010.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Nicholas received funding from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) Grant 2014-5899/E0589901. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Brady 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 €24 billion spent supporting farm incomes in richer regions could more than cover the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy.Murray Scown, Postdoctoral Researcher in Environment and Sustainability, Utrecht UniversityKimberly Nicholas, Associate Professor of Sustainability Science, Lund UniversityMark Brady, Associate Professor in Agricultural and Environmental Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1396952020-06-08T10:06:53Z2020-06-08T10:06:53ZGlacier mice: these herds of moss-balls roam the ice – and we’re uncovering their mysteries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340109/original/file-20200605-176571-6s7zng.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C232%2C3888%2C2310&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Glacier mice were first documented in 1951, but they continue to mystify scientists.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicholas Midgley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Glaciers are commonly considered to be cold and barren places that are hostile to life. Plants cannot grow directly on these slowly flowing bodies of ice, but life can be found here nonetheless, and perhaps none of it stranger than the glacier mice.</p>
<p>You might be imagining a small rodent that has evolved an especially thick coat to withstand the cold. But glacier mice are actually balls of moss, each about the size of a tennis ball, and typically shaped into slightly squashed spheres that amass around pebbles on the surfaces of some glaciers. </p>
<p>Where you find one glacier mouse, you tend to find a whole group of them. If you’re struggling to imagine one, they look a bit like tribbles, from the famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4wM5KvUGEc">Star Trek episode</a>, or the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN-1bCAkx7A">rolling trolls from Frozen</a>.</p>
<p>Glacier mice were first documented by a researcher called Jón Eythórsson in 1951, who gave them their strange name (“jökla-mýs” in Icelandic). But it would be over 50 years before scientists properly studied them, and there was a lot that initially baffled them. </p>
<p>How did these plants grow on the icy surface without perishing? How did they manage to form balls, with growing moss on all sides? And, strangest of all, how did they manage to move, <a href="https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s00300-020-02675-6?sharing_token=HN75pdcTvlF-_qsfv-ejJPe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY5WBKeqwPhH-J_RhmuMGX2k3CByeg6kB7QTeIlLQSOoB6DjLsODKdvpBOXYhu0izw-R4ZZso2efOF9pMLeCch14qWcomyhamEEkykx_VMBcm4ktfWg4Zvv0uPCad7ye94s%3D">around 2.5cm each day</a>, with choreographed, herd-like behaviour? </p>
<p>On a research expedition to Iceland, we tried to find some answers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C852&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340079/original/file-20200605-176585-zecscw.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">Glacier mice litter the ice surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carsten_tb/15208085651/in/photolist-pvc4pb-M7Let4-paTq2i-BGRB8-5zMk7j-5Jcxrg">Carsten ten Brink/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A rolling stone gathers more moss</h2>
<p>Glacier mice don’t appear on just any ice sheet – there are only a few glaciers worldwide where they can be found. In 2012, we travelled to one called Falljökull to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1205-4">study their movements</a>.</p>
<p>We dissected some of these moss balls and inserted accelerometers. These devices measure movement, and are used to orient mobile phones so that if you rotate them, their displays turns accordingly. The data we collected from accelerometers helped crack the puzzle of how moss in contact with the ice can survive when other plants would usually die.</p>
<p>The glacier mice rotated often, at least once every few days. It is this rotation that enables the glacier mice to grow moss around the whole of their outer surfaces – sometimes creating near perfect spheres. If the glacier mice stopped rotating, the moss that comes into permanent contact with the glacier surface would die.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340078/original/file-20200605-176554-12dl4od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Glacier mice can grow to the size of a tennis ball.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Coulson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Glacier mice are often found teetering on icy pedestals, and that’s because each of these moss balls actually reduces the amount of melting that occurs underneath it. So over a period of hours and days, the glacier mouse becomes elevated on a pedestal of ice and it eventually rolls off. </p>
<p>This process repeats itself over and over, so that the ball exposes a different surface to the sun each time it falls. In time, this means the moss ball rotates often and evenly enough to prevent any part staying in contact with the ice too long. </p>
<p>Recent research on <a href="https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s00300-020-02675-6?sharing_token=HN75pdcTvlF-_qsfv-ejJPe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY5WBKeqwPhH-J_RhmuMGX2k3CByeg6kB7QTeIlLQSOoB6DjLsODKdvpBOXYhu0izw-R4ZZso2efOF9pMLeCch14qWcomyhamEEkykx_VMBcm4ktfWg4Zvv0uPCad7ye94s%3D">glacier mice in Alaska</a> found that glacier mice can live for more than six years in this pattern. But scientists still don’t know why groups of glacier mice tend to <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/868027341">move herd-like</a> on the ice surface, sometimes south, sometimes west, but always in concert with each other. Wind, gravity and melting patterns <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/868027341">aren’t enough</a> to fully explain the mystery, so research continues.</p>
<p><strong>Glacier mice rotation</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340066/original/file-20200605-176595-axxmib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The number of times a glacier mouse fell – and how much it rotated in the process – over the course of one week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232559378_The_role_of_glacier_mice_in_the_invertebrate_colonisation_of_glacialsurfaces_the_moss_balls_of_the_Falljokull_Iceland">Coulson & Midgley (2012)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A micro-habitat for microscopic life</h2>
<p>Despite living in one of the coldest environments on Earth, we found that the temperatures inside glacier mice are relatively warm. Over a two-week period in July and August, the internal temperature of the glacier mice reached a maximum of 14.7°C, much higher than the ice surface, which is close to 0°C.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340077/original/file-20200605-176554-7b8fuo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Water bears are microscopic animals that can survive freezing temperatures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milnesium_tardigradum#/media/File:SEM_image_of_Milnesium_tardigradum_in_active_state_-_journal.pone.0045682.g001-2.png">Schokraie et al. (2012)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This warmth amid so much frigid cold provides a unique ecosystem for other life, such as microscopic animals that we were surprised to discover living on a glacier. These included springtails (small insect-like animals), water bears (also known as tardigrades, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.048">the only animals known to have survived in space</a>) and roundworms.</p>
<p>Globally, glacier mice are rare. But where they are found – in places such Alaska, Svalbard and Iceland – they tend to be abundant, with dense groups of mice sometimes forming on areas of the glacier. But climate change may cut the existence of many glacier mice short. </p>
<p>Falljökull, the glacier where we studied these organisms in 2012, has receded by over 800 metres in the last 40 years. In the wake of disappearing glaciers and ice sheets is a rich and unique community of life that we’re only just beginning to understand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Midgley receives funding from Nottingham Trent University and Quaternary Research Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Coulson 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>Glacier mice aren’t rodents – they’re mysterious balls of moss that manage to live in one of the world’s harshest environments.Nicholas Midgley, Lecturer in Physical Geography, Nottingham Trent UniversityStephen Coulson, Project Manager, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1359782020-04-08T15:27:46Z2020-04-08T15:27:46ZHere’s why soil smells so good after it rains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326531/original/file-20200408-16182-12o2lxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=613%2C191%2C5502%2C3933&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-seedling-fertile-soil-under-rain-1679557873">New Africa/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Did you ever wonder what causes that earthy smell that rises after a light summer rain? That mysterious scent has been called “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44904298">petrichor</a>”, and a main component of it is an organic compound called geosmin, which lingers around moist soil.</p>
<p>Geosmin comes from the ancient Greek “geo”, meaning earth, and “osme”, meaning smell. We use this scent as an ingredient in perfumes and it is what <a href="https://theconversation.com/hot-curries-potato-cheddar-and-muddy-beetroot-some-super-surprising-facts-about-your-food-134847">gives beetroot its earthy flavour</a>. Geosmin can also be perceived as an “off” flavour in water and wine.</p>
<p>Animals can detect geosmin. Fruit flies, for example, dislike geosmin and they avoid anything that smells of it, possibly to avoid contaminated and <a href="https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(12)01357-8">potentially toxic food</a>. But why is geosmin made in the soil? As part of a team of scientists from Sweden, the UK and Hungary, we discovered the fascinating biology behind this enigmatic compound.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326522/original/file-20200408-179222-11uktck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The chemical structure of geosmin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/molecular-structure-geosmin-responsible-earthy-flavor-1491783278">Raimundo79/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Smells like (microbial) team spirit</h2>
<p>Scientists have known since the 1960s that geosmin is made by microorganisms in the soil, primarily by bacteria with the scientific name <em>Streptomyces</em>. These bacteria are abundant in soil and are among nature´s best chemists, as they make a wide range of molecules (called specialised metabolites) from which many antibiotics derive. Streptomycetes and their close relatives make <a href="https://microbiologysociety.org/publication/current-issue/natural-products-and-drug-discovery/article/actinomycetes-as-natures-pharmacists.html">thousands of different specialised metabolites</a> – a true treasure trove for the potential discovery of new antibiotics.</p>
<p>It turns out that all streptomycetes have the gene for making geosmin, suggesting that it has an important function. But what do these bacteria gain from producing geosmin? This has been a longstanding mystery.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326519/original/file-20200408-179183-1t3ojde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Streptomycete bacteria are commonly found in soil and are famous for being the source of many currently used antibiotics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tobias Kieser/John Innes Center, Norwich.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-0697-x">our recent study</a>, we found that geosmin is part of the chemical language in a mutually beneficial relationship between <em>Streptomyces</em> bacteria and <a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-housemates-springtails-are-everywhere-even-in-your-home-60233">springtails</a>, insect-like organisms that are abundant in the ground.</p>
<p>We discovered this by asking if there could be soil organisms out there that would be attracted to the smell of <em>Streptomyces</em>. We baited traps with colonies of <em>Streptomyces coelicolor</em> and placed them in a field. Our traps captured several types of soil organisms, including spiders and mites. But strikingly, it was springtails that showed a particular preference for the traps baited with geosmin-producing <em>Streptomyces</em>.</p>
<p>Using a particular species of springtail, <em>Folsomia candida</em>, we tested how these creatures sense and react to geosmin. We placed electrodes on their tiny antennae (the average body size of springtail is about 2mm) and detected which smells stimulated them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326521/original/file-20200408-122189-klbo8f.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">Springtails were tested to see how they react to the odour of geosmin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Béla P. Mólnar/Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungary.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Geosmin and the related earthy odorant 2-methylisoborneol were sensed by the antennae, which is essentially the creature’s nose. By studying springtails walking in Y-shaped glass tubes, we saw they had a strong preference for the arm that smelled of these earthy compounds. </p>
<p>The benefit for the animals seems to be that the odours lead them to a source of food. While geosmin-emitting microbes are often toxic to other organisms which avoid them, we found that it did no harm to the springtails we tested.</p>
<p>But how does producing these compounds benefit the bacteria? Streptomycetes normally grow as mycelium – a network of long, branching cells that entwine with the soil they grow in. When they run out of nutrients or conditions in the soil deteriorate, the bacteria escape and spread to new places by making spores that can be spread by wind or water. </p>
<p>Our new finding is that spore production also includes the release of those earthy odorants that are attractive to springtails – and that helps spread the spores by another route.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326514/original/file-20200408-103409-149hbvi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Streptomyces</em> spores cling to the cuticles of a springtail, helping spread the bacteria in the soil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ola Gustafsson/Lund University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the springtails grazed on a <em>Streptomyces</em> colony, we saw spores sticking to their cuticle (the outer surface of the animal). Springtails have a special anti-adhesive and water-repellent surface that <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0025105">bacteria typically don’t stick to</a>, but <em>Streptomyces</em> spores can adhere, probably because they have their own water-repellent surface layer. Spores eaten by the springtails can also survive and be excreted in faecal pellets. </p>
<p>So, springtails help spread <em>Streptomyces</em> spores as they travel through the soil, in much the same way pollinating bees are lured to visit flowers and take with them the pollen grains that adhere to their bodies and fertilise the other plants they visit. Birds eat attractive berries or fruits and help the plant to spread its seeds with their droppings.</p>
<p>Next time you encounter that earthy smell, let it be a reminder of the fascinating and extremely valuable bacteria that thrive in the ground beneath your feet. You might be listening in on an ancient type of communication between bacteria and the creatures that live with them in the soil.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135978/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Klas Flärdh receives funding from The Swedish Research Council, The Crafoord Foundation, and The Carl Trygger Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Funding:
The Swedish Research Council Formas
The Crafoord Foundation
Plantlink
The SLU Centre for Biological Control (CBC)
Affiliation: SLU, Dept. Plant Protection Biology</span></em></p>That smell you detect after it rains is part of a chemical language between bacteria and animals.Klas Flärdh, Professor of Molecular Cell Biology, Lund UniversityPaul Becher, Associate professor in Chemical Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1274532019-12-03T18:36:55Z2019-12-03T18:36:55ZShark nets are destructive and don’t keep you safe – let’s invest in lifeguards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303395/original/file-20191125-74576-1ylzcga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4985%2C3121&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research says there is no reliable evidence that shark nets protect swimmers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Rushton/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Australians look forward to the summer beach season, the prospect of shark encounters may cross their minds. Shark control has been the subject of furious public debate in recent years and while some governments favour lethal methods, it is the wrong route.</p>
<p>Our study, <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10063">published today in People and Nature</a>, presents further evidence that lethal shark hazard management damages marine life and does not keep people safe. </p>
<p>We examined the world’s longest-running lethal shark management program, the New South Wales <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/shark-nets">Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program</a>, introduced in 1937. We argue it is time to move on from shark nets and invest further in lifeguard patrol and emergency response.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304358/original/file-20191129-107400-1ybkorw.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">A scalloped hammerhead caught in a shark net off Palm Beach in Sydney, in March 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HSI-AMCS-N McLachlan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Managing shark bite</h2>
<p>In NSW, 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong are netted. The nets don’t provide an enclosure for swimmers. They are 150 metres long and suspended 500 metres offshore. In the process of catching targeted sharks they also catch other animals including turtles, rays, dolphins, and harmless sharks and fish. </p>
<p>Catching and killing sharks might seem a commonsense solution to the potential risk of shark bite to humans. But the story is not so simple. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/poor-filipino-fishermen-are-making-millions-protecting-whale-sharks-122451">Poor Filipino fishermen are making millions protecting whale sharks</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304360/original/file-20191129-107433-11xbh1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A young tiger shark cruising near Coffs Harbour, NSW.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569116302058">Multiple factors influence shark bite incidence</a>, including climate change, prey species distribution and abundance, water quality, human population, beach-use patterns, and lifeguard patrols. </p>
<p>Most research and public debate focuses on human safety or marine conservation. Our research sought to bring the two into conversation. We considered a range of factors that contribute to safety and conservation outcomes. This included catch of target and non-target species in nets, damage to marine ecosystems, global pressures on oceans, changing beach culture, human population growth and changes in lifeguarding and emergency response. Here’s what we found.</p>
<h2>Fewer sharks, fewer bites</h2>
<p>As the graph below shows, shark catch in the NSW netting program has fallen since the 1950s. This includes total shark numbers and numbers of three key target species: white shark (also known as great white or white pointer), tiger shark and bull shark. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304362/original/file-20191129-107405-6q8c89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Total shark catch per 100 net days 1950-2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/MF10162">This suggests there are fewer sharks in the water</a>, which is cause for alarm. The three target species are recognised by <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/marine-species/sharks/whiteshark">Australian</a> and <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3855/10133872">international</a> institutions as threatened or near-threatened. </p>
<p>Our analysis shows shark bite incidence is also declining over the long term. The trend isn’t smooth; trends rarely are. The last two decades have seen more shark bites than the previous two. This is not surprising given <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/MF/MF10181">Australia’s beach use has again grown rapidly in recent decades</a>.</p>
<p>But if we take a longer term view, we see that shark bite incidence relative to population is substantially lower from the mid-20th century than during the decades before. </p>
<p>The decline in shark bite incidence is great news. But key points are frequently overlooked when society tries to make sense of the figures.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304361/original/file-20191129-107405-18tk94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shark bite incidents in NSW per million people per decade, including fatalities and injuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lifeguard patrol and emergency response are key</h2>
<p>In NSW, lifeguard beach patrol grew over the same time period as the shark meshing program. More people swam and surfed in the ocean from the early 20th century as public bathing became legal. The surf lifesaving and professional lifeguard movements grew rapidly in response. </p>
<p>Today, 50 of the 51 beaches netted through the shark meshing program are also <a href="https://beachsafe.org.au">patrolled by lifeguards or lifesavers</a>. Yet improved safety is generally attributed to the mesh program. The role of beach patrol is largely overlooked. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-sharks-have-declined-by-92-in-the-past-half-century-off-queenslands-coast-108742">Some sharks have declined by 92% in the past half-century off Queensland's coast</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So, claims that shark bite has declined at <em>netted</em> beaches might instead be interpreted as decline at <em>patrolled</em> beaches. In other words, reduced shark interactions may be the result of beach patrol. </p>
<p>More good news is that since the mid-20th century the proportion of shark bites leading to fatality has plummeted. This is most likely the result of enormous improvements in beach patrol, emergency and medical response. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303406/original/file-20191125-74599-b3ar89.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A surfer treated by paramedics after a shark bite near Ballina in NSW.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It’s time to move on from shark nets</h2>
<p>Debate over shark management is often polarised, pitting human safety against marine conservation. We have brought together expertise from the social sciences, biological sciences and fisheries, to move beyond a “people vs sharks” debate. </p>
<p>There is no reliable evidence that lethal shark management strategies are effective. Many people oppose them, institutions are moving away from them, and threatened species are put at risk.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sharkspotter-combines-ai-and-drone-technology-to-spot-sharks-and-aid-swimmers-on-australian-beaches-92667">SharkSpotter combines AI and drone technology to spot sharks and aid swimmers on Australian beaches</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The NSW Department of Primary Industries, manager of the shark meshing program, is <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/technology-trials-and-research">investing strongly in new non-lethal strategies</a>, including shark tagging, drone and helicopter patrol, personal deterrents, social and biophysical research and community engagement. Our study provides further evidence to support this move. </p>
<p>Investing in lifeguard patrol and emergency response makes good sense. The measures have none of the negative impacts of lethal strategies, and are likely responsible for the improved safety we enjoy today at the beach.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303407/original/file-20191125-74572-1kjjue8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More lifeguards would help prevent shark bite.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127453/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Gibbs received NSW DPI Shark Management Strategy funding in 2017 to test new aerial shark detection technology.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lachlan Fetterplace receives or has received funding from a range of government and philanthropic organisations to support research on the state of our oceans and their response to management. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Unrelated to this paper, Quentin Hanich receives funding from USA and Japanese philanthropic foundations for research into transboundary fisheries governance.</span></em></p>Weeks out from summer, new research says there is no evidence shark nets keep us safe from sharks.Leah Gibbs, Senior Lecturer in Geography, University of WollongongLachlan Fetterplace, Environmental Assessment Specialist, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesQuentin Hanich, Associate Professor, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/786272017-06-18T09:22:46Z2017-06-18T09:22:46ZAfrica’s got plans for a Great Green Wall: why the idea needs a rethink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173386/original/file-20170612-10220-1jrelzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">By the end of the 1990s, the idea of encroaching deserts had become difficult to defend.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IFRC/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africa’s Great Green Wall, or more formally <a href="http://www.greatgreenwallinitiative.org/">The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative</a>, is the intriguing but misleading name of an enormously ambitious and worthwhile initiative to improve life and resilience in the drylands that surround the Sahara. </p>
<p>The idea of a Great Green Wall has come a long way since its inception. Its origin goes back to colonial times. In 1927, the French colonial forester Louis Lavauden <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-16014-1_8">coined the word desertification</a> to suggest that deserts are spreading due to deforestation, overgrazing and arid land degradation. In 1952 the English forester Richard St. Barbe Baker suggested that a <a href="https://wilmetteinstitute.org/the-man-of-the-trees-and-the-great-green-wall-a-bahais-environmental-legacy-for-the-ages/">“green front”</a> in the form of a 50km wide barrier of trees be erected to contain the spreading desert.</p>
<p>Droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel from the 1970s onwards gave wings to the idea, and in 2007 the African Union approved the Great Green Wall Initiative. Many perceived it as a plan to build an almost 8,000km long, 15km wide, wall of trees across the African continent – from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east. </p>
<p>This plan faced a great deal of criticism. It led to a clearer vision being endorsed under the same name five years later when the African Ministerial Conference on Environment adopted a <a href="http://www.greatgreenwallinitiative.org/sites/default/files/publications/harmonized_strategy_GGWSSI-EN_.pdf">harmonised regional strategy</a>.</p>
<p>Can the vision ever come to fruition? </p>
<p>Only if there’s a ten-fold (at least) increase in pace so that the progress on the ground becomes consistent with lofty political ambitions. Sadly, the wall suffers from a major mismatch between ambition and effort. But that’s not to say it should be ditched. </p>
<h2>Why did the vision change?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.csf-desertification.eu/combating-desertification/item/the-african-great-green-wall-project">Critics argue</a> that a desert is a healthy, natural ecosystem that shouldn’t be thought of as a disease. Nor, they argue, is it spreading like a disease. In fact, by the end of the 1990s, the idea of encroaching deserts had become <a href="https://www.iied.org/end-desertification">difficult to defend</a> against scientific evidence that climate variability was to blame. </p>
<p>Critics <a href="http://www.csf-desertification.eu/combating-desertification/item/the-african-great-green-wall-project">have also pointed out</a> that the vision of a barrier is counter-productive to the development objective as it draws attention to the perimeter of the land rather than to the land itself. To boost food security and support local communities it is better to focus on the wide field rather than its narrow edge. The development objective is important – an <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/11/great-green-wall-initiative-offers-unique-opportunity-to-combat-climate-change-in-africa-un-agency/">estimated 232 million</a> people live in the general area of the Great Green Wall. </p>
<p>This led to the clarified vision keeping the wall in name, but it has been bent almost beyond recognition.</p>
<p>The wall is no longer seen as a narrow band of trees along the southern edge of the Sahara. The vision is now to surround the Sahara with a wide belt of vegetation – trees and bushes greening and protecting an agricultural landscape. The new vision engages all the countries surrounding it, including Algeria and others in North Africa, not just the 11 original sub-Saharan countries of the Sahel.</p>
<p>Thus, the Great Green Wall is no longer a wall. Nor is it great – not yet anyway.</p>
<h2>Unrealistic ambitions</h2>
<p>A simple analysis gives a clear indication of how difficult it will be to realise the Great Green Wall within agreed timelines. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/11/great-green-wall-initiative-offers-unique-opportunity-to-combat-climate-change-in-africa-un-agency/">analysis</a> by the Food and Agriculture Organisation suggests that 128 million hectares have a tree cover below the “better half” of comparable landscapes in the two aridity zones that straddle the 400 mm rainfall line around the Sahara. </p>
<p>If one assumes that half of this (65 million hectares, or 8% of the total area in these aridity zones) needs intervention, and that the United Nations’ <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/">2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development</a> sets the target date for completion, then the Great Green Wall initiative should be treating an average of 5 million hectares per year (10 million hectares is the ambition to bring all lands up to the level of the better half). A less ambitious target date would be set by the African Union’s <a href="http://www.au.int/web/en/agenda2063">Agenda 2063</a> but even then an average treatment of 2 million hectares per year would be needed. </p>
<p>The actual intervention area is not known but is likely to be far less, no more than 200,000 hectares per year and probably less. At this pace, a century is an optimistic prediction of the time it will take to complete the Wall.</p>
<p>A massive increase in speed –- at least ten-fold –- is required if the Wall is to become great in our lifetime. More resources will clearly be needed but a ten-fold increase is unlikely. What to do?</p>
<h2>Re-greening options</h2>
<p>Many people assume that the wall can only be built only by planting trees. But tree planting is not always needed. Some of the less dry lands can be treated by techniques that rely on the capacity of the land to regreen itself – its ecological memory. </p>
<p>Floods and animals move seeds to places where they can sprout and root systems of former trees are sometimes capable of producing new shoots. Sprouting roots could live as the roots are already established – unlike newly planted seedlings. These could rapidly re-green a landscape, reducing the need for tree planting, as long as farmers protect them from fire and cattle. </p>
<p>This technique – known as farmer-managed natural regeneration – has proven to produce <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/btp.12390/full">good results at low cost</a> in areas where the ecological memory is sufficient for sprouts to come up by themselves and where farmers have the right to use the trees once they get big. The potential to <a href="https://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/scaling-regreening-six-steps-success.pdf">scale it up</a> is significant.</p>
<p>But farmer-managed natural regeneration will not work everywhere. Other methods are needed too, such as digging half-moons (to capture water) and planting seedlings. Doing a better job of applying the right method to the right place may be the quickest and most feasible way to speed the making of the Great Green Wall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78627/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lars Laestadius is affiliated as a consultant with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. </span></em></p>Africa’s great green wall suffers from a major mismatch between ambition and effort. But that’s not to say it should be ditched altogether.Lars Laestadius, Adjunct Lecturer, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/653552016-09-25T14:51:35Z2016-09-25T14:51:35ZHow the smell of chickens repels the most common malaria carrying mosquito<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137636/original/image-20160913-4980-lyjt2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mosquitoes are repelled by chicken odours and will actively fly outside when they encounter them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>One of the world’s dominant malaria vectors is <a href="https://www.vectorbase.org/organisms/anopheles-arabiensis">Anopheles arabiensis</a>. Humans are its preferred blood meal although it also feeds on other livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep. But recent <a href="https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-016-1386-3">research</a> shows that chickens are a non-host species for this vector. This means the birds could possibly act as repellents for mosquitoes which carry malaria. The Conversation Africa’s energy and environment editor Ozayr Patel spoke to Professor Rickard Ignell about his findings.</em></p>
<h2>How can chickens repel mosquitoes?</h2>
<p>Our research found that chickens emit volatile chemical compounds that act as long range repellents. We refer to these compounds as spatial repellents. The mosquitoes are repelled by the chicken odours and will actively fly outside when they encounter them.</p>
<p>To put it simply, if there’s a chicken or the smell of chickens’ chemical compounds in a room, this particular mosquito buzzes off.</p>
<p>This is really intriguing in light of mosquitoes’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/fighting-malaria-is-going-to-take-more-than-just-nets-37162">growing resistance to traditional control programmes</a>. It’s important to stay one step ahead of these small but <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-world-can-cut-malaria-cases-by-90-in-the-next-15-years-47146">very deadly insects</a> by developing additional tools to keep mosquitoes away from humans.</p>
<p>Our study showed that when the volatile compounds found in chickens are combined with established control programmes, such as sprays and nets, they have the ability to protect humans from the risk of mosquito-vectored diseases.</p>
<h2>What’s unique about chickens?</h2>
<p>Malaria mosquitoes have developed preferences for various human and animal hosts. The most severe vectors of malaria will feed almost exclusively on humans. Others have a wider preference, but will still be selective in their diet.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137638/original/image-20160913-4980-a3y0vs.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mosquitoes use their sense of smell to locate and avoid their blood hosts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mosquitoes use their sense of smell to both locate and avoid their blood hosts. We found that chickens emit both specific compounds and some compounds that were shared with livestock like cattle, sheep or goats. These repel <em>Anopheles arabiensis</em>, one of the primary vectors of malaria in Ethiopia.</p>
<p>We believe that the mosquitoes respond to these volatiles either because chickens actively feed on the mosquitoes or because the quality of chicken blood is inferior compared to that of livestock blood.</p>
<h2>How was this discovery made?</h2>
<p>We studied the host preference of <em>Anopheles arabiensis</em> by human and livestock surveys in three villages in Ethiopia. Combined with blood analysis of caught mosquitoes we found that they do not feed on chickens. This was despite the fact that chickens were the third most abundant species, following humans and cattle, in the villages. </p>
<p>By analysing the odours given off by the various animals and looking into what compounds mosquitoes were able to sense, we identified the chicken-derived repellent compounds. We synthesised the repellent compounds and tested them in houses with sleeping volunteers to see if they were able to deter host-seeking mosquitoes. Six of the identified compounds did, four of which were as repellent as a chicken.</p>
<h2>Can the research be applied to other regions?</h2>
<p>We believe that chicken odours have the ability to repel <em>Anopheles arabiensis</em> throughout most of Africa. But this has to be validated through experiments. How effective these volatiles, or chickens that emit them, are in repelling other species of malaria mosquitoes should be tested next.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65355/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rickard Ignell receives funding from the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Research Council Formas. </span></em></p>Anopheles arabiensis is the world’s most common, malaria-carrying mosquito. Now it’s emerged that chickens emit an odour that can repel the deadly insects.Rickard Ignell, Professor in the Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/488962015-10-13T19:27:30Z2015-10-13T19:27:30ZImproving safety in horse racing: it’s all in the data<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98034/original/image-20151012-17831-bx2dt4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">So much data is collected from horse racing that could be used to prevent accidents.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/58847482@N03/8009067661/in/photostream/">Flickr/Matthew Kenwrick</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is one year since the tragic deaths of jockeys <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-14/jockey-carly-mae-pye-dies-in-hospital-after-fall-at-rockhampton/5813534">Carly-Mae Pye</a> and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/superracing/racing-industry-in-shock-over-death-of-jockey-caitlin-forrest/story-fndpqu3p-1227092114604">Caitlin Forrest</a> in Australia. Since then, horse racing has claimed two more lives – track work riders English-born <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-31/english-jockey-rice-dies-after-caulfield-fall/6059934">Lizz Rice</a> and German-born <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-01/jockey-killed-in-fall-at-caulfield-racecourse/6587938">Friederike Ruhle</a>.</p>
<p>When it comes to safety, a lack of initiative or leadership from high ranking regulators and administrators seems to be the common thread.</p>
<p>The racing industry remains reactive to the deaths, and catastrophic or career-ending injuries suffered by both jockeys and racehorses. It is an <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-prevent-further-jockey-deaths-in-horse-racing-34003">inevitable part of racing</a> they say.</p>
<p>These are the same justifications a decade on since the deaths that both occurred over a long-weekend in 2005, that of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/Horseracing/Racing-toll-Jockey-dies-after-fall/2005/03/15/1110649201472.html">Gavin Lisk and Adrian Ledger</a>. Their deaths prompted a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-03-16/jockey-deaths-to-prompt-safety-review/1534668">safety review</a>, but what evidence-based solutions has the industry implemented since <a href="http://jockeysroom.racingnsw.com.au/Links/National%20Jockey%20Safety%20Review.pdf">recommendations</a> were released to address these safety concerns?</p>
<p>Following the deaths last year, research commissioned by the Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed <a href="http://racingaustralia.horse/">Racing Australia</a>, Peter McGauran, shows that 16 of the last 22 jockeys killed in Australian racing <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s4155927.htm">died from massive head injuries</a>.</p>
<p>But the report from this research has not yet been released to the public, and has not undergone peer-review (like several of the commissioned reports by the ARB). </p>
<p>Where is the transparency and control of bias that could result from an industry commissioned study? Where are the insights that tell us something that we did not already know? Why are there not public reports issued by the regulators?</p>
<h2>Recent studies</h2>
<p>Previous studies in Australia have described the <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2009/190/2/incidence-race-day-jockey-falls-australia-2002-2006">incidence of falls, injuries and fatalities</a> and <a href="http://oem.bmj.com/content/67/10/693.abstract">risk factors</a>, and studies on the effectiveness of <a href="http://pip.sagepub.com/content/226/3-4/237">jockey helmets</a> and <a href="https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/14-037">safety vests</a>. But up until recently, there had been no comprehensive study of the costs of horse-related workplace injuries to jockeys in Australia.</p>
<p>Part of a research programme into insurance costs of jockeys, funded by WorkCover Tasmania and led by Professor Andrew Palmer and myself, <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/5/3/0390">one study</a> published last month was based on data from all WorkCover authorities nation-wide. We found that the incidence of insurance claims between 2002 and 2010 was about 2 per 1,000 race rides, costing A$9-million a year.</p>
<p>With about 180,000 race rides a year, this translates to almost one claim per day. </p>
<p>Although race-day incidents were associated with fewer insurance claims than non-race day incidents, they made up a larger proportion of the total costs, reflecting the severity of incidents that occur during races.</p>
<p>Fractures were the most common injury (30%), but head injuries resulting from a fall from a horse had the highest mean cost per claim. This data has also been combined with incidence and risk factor data from previous studies to <a href="http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/2/109.abstract">demonstrate</a> that the incidence and costs of jockey falls and injuries can be significantly reduced through the implementation of policies aimed at improving safety. </p>
<p>But there is little evidence of action on such evidence-based policies.</p>
<h2>Racing’s social licence</h2>
<p>The success of racing is highly dependent on the public’s perception of the industry. Major threats to the industry include the adverse publicity resulting from the deaths of jockeys and racehorses, particularly those that are high-profile.</p>
<p>The industry needs to meet (and preferably exceed) the community and other stakeholders level of approval. There needs to be a focus on programs that transparently lead to a better understanding of strategies that improve racehorse welfare and rider safety, which in turn leads to policy changes that will enhance the confidence of the community in the industry.</p>
<p>If the racing industry wants to keep its support, it needs to bring its safety strategies into the current century. The simple fact is that racing can’t improve what it doesn’t measure. But safety in racing can be measured and benchmarked. It is the only way to confirm which safety strategies and practices are working.</p>
<p>Horse racing is, after all, about big business, big money and big data. The latter because of the vast amounts of data generated for use by the betting public to predict race winners.</p>
<p>I feel like a broken record here when I say that stewards’ inquiries into individual incidents are unlikely to result in <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-prevent-further-jockey-deaths-in-horse-racing-34003">findings that are useful</a>.</p>
<p>Regulators should be using the industry’s aptitude at data collation and analysis to detect patterns and to monitor the effects of rule, policy and practice changes in order to improve safety and welfare to both jockeys and racehorses alike.</p>
<p>This model has been successfully demonstrated overseas, for example, by the California Horse Racing Board (<a href="http://www.chrb.ca.gov/">CHRB</a>), which publishes its <a href="http://www.chrb.ca.gov/veterinary.html">report</a> on racehorse deaths and results of post-mortems annually.</p>
<p>Over the past five years the CHRB has seen a 30% reduction in the number of racehorse fatalities. Further, the number of fatalities in 2013/14 was the lowest number of fatalities of the past 19 years. This reduction has been attributed, in part, to a targeted racing safety program.</p>
<p>Racing in Australia needs leaders that understand that data collection and analysis can lead to faster uptake of evidence-based safety strategies and that this information needs to be widely disseminated. Only then will the culture change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Peta L. Hitchens has previously received funding from the California Horse Racing Board, WorkCover Tasmania, TOTE Tasmania, Betfair Australasia, and Tasmanian Thoroughbred Racing Council (now Tasmanian Racing Board) for research on racing safety. Peta is a member of Women in Racing, the Racing Equipment and Safety Committee of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, WelRisk - leading competence centre for animal welfare risk assessment and surveillance, and a Board Member of the Nordic Society for Veterinary Epidemiology. Additionally, Peta holds a share in a racehorse currently running in NSW. </span></em></p>It’s a year since the tragic death of two Australian jockeys and the sport has claimed two more lives since then. So what is being done to imprve safety in horse racing?Peta Lee Hitchens MVPHMgt PhD, Researcher, Animal Welfare & Epidemiology, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/357012014-12-18T19:05:18Z2014-12-18T19:05:18ZIf you go down to the woods today you’re in for a big surprise – Europe’s bears are back<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67690/original/image-20141218-31052-1ffsihf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Anyone got any loo roll?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kjell Isaksen</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a rare conservation success story, research has shown that numbers of wild large carnivores in the continent have been steadily increasing and a third of the European mainland now has at least one kind of large carnivore. </p>
<p>There are an estimated 17,000 brown bears, 12,000 wolves, 9,000 lynx and 1,250 wolverines living in Europe – nowhere near historical levels, but a healthy amount all the same. But what’s more surprising is that these populations are found in the same places as people. </p>
<p>In a new study in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1257553">Science</a> containing the most exhaustive data set ever collected on large carnivores in Europe, <a href="http://www.carnivorescience.org/">Guillaume Chapron</a> and colleagues found that not only are all four species surviving in human-dominated landscapes, but their populations are generally stable or even increasing. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67708/original/image-20141218-31046-wigc0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Move over Hugh Jackman, this is a real wolverine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nh53/7180397795">NH53</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The results could be considered surprising. With its dense human population and highly developed landscape, Europe isn’t exactly the place you would expect to find healthy populations of wolves and bears. But the study has confirmed that Europe has actually has a higher density of wolves than the lower 48 states of the US.</p>
<h2>Europe success story</h2>
<p>So what is Europe doing right? The paper identifies several combining factors. Key legislation – such as the <a href="http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/nature/bern/default_en.asp">Bern Convention</a> and the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/habitatsdirective/index_en.htm">Habitats Directive</a> – has given these animals at least some legal protection across Europe. </p>
<p>In addition, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/26/beaver-bison-european-species-comeback">large numbers</a> of herbivores such as deer and bison needed to sustain carnivore populations have made a comeback. And large numbers of people have <a href="http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/europe-and-the-world/megatrends">moved to cities</a>, lowering human impact on wildlife in the countryside.</p>
<p>But Europe’s conservation model is the real key to its success. Europe has developed a model of co-existence of people with predators – and sustainable populations of large carnivores are now reappearing in places where people live.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67692/original/image-20141218-31037-18brkqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The lynx is Europe’s largest cat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Miha Krofel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“In the US conservation is based on the principle of wilderness”, says Chapron, “which is the idea that wild animals such as large carnivores are supposed to be out there far away in unspoiled, undisturbed areas.” </p>
<p>But if this model was applied in Europe, the continent wouldn’t have any large carnivores; the protected areas are simply <a href="https://www.fc.ul.pt/sites/default/files/SEE_LuigiBoitani.pdf">too small</a> to allow for self-sustaining populations.</p>
<p>“In the past there was a big push for conservationists to use the protected area approach, where they believed that wildlife could only really exist away from humans,” said Niki Rust, a researcher in human-wildlife conflict. “But the study clearly shows even species that might seem annoying – such as large carnivores – are coexisting with people.”</p>
<h2>What about Britain’s bears?</h2>
<p>So with mainland Europe witnessing a shining conservation success story, will the UK – currently home to no wild large carnivores at all – be next? It’s tricky. Though people may be largely supportive of reintroducing wild predators, there are several serious concerns.</p>
<p>Fear is a big factor, says Robert Young, a wildlife conservation expert at the University of Salford. Says Young: “It doesn’t matter where you go in the world, people are scared of having large carnivores nearby.” </p>
<p>Young thinks this fear, escalated by the headlines any attack by a wild animal inevitably brings, makes people lose perspective. “The road system is probably thousands of times more dangerous than co-existing with these carnivores and yet we don’t have people saying we must fence off the roads,” said Young.</p>
<p>There are also differences from mainland Europe. Britain has an extremely high human population density and also eradicated its large carnivore population far <a href="http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/files/reintroduction-large-carnivores.pdf">earlier</a> than many places in mainland Europe.</p>
<p>Says Rust: “People have lived without them for so long that they don’t know how to exist with them. I don’t think that in the next 50 or 100 years we will see large carnivores come back to the UK.”</p>
<p>But Young is more optimistic: “Many countries in the world deal with livestock and with having these carnivores around so I don’t think these problems are insurmountable.” </p>
<p>And there could be advantages to reintroducing these animals in the UK. Deer can have a <a href="http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcin36.pdf/$FILE/fcin36.pdf">big impact</a> on native forests due to their selective browsing on young trees. As well as helping to control numbers of deer, the presence of wolves may <a href="http://www.cof.orst.edu/leopold/papers/RippleBeschtaYellowstone_BioConserv.pdf">encourage</a> deer to steer clear of forested areas where they are more vulnerable to wolf attacks. </p>
<h2>New questions raised</h2>
<p>Now we know modern Europe can sustain populations of large carnivores, the inevitable question then becomes: how many are actually wanted? Is the minimum amount to provide a sustainable genetic pool ideal? Or should it be as many as possible? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67683/original/image-20141218-31037-mmn0mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No bears in Britain – distribution of Europe’s large carnivores in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sciencemag</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Obviously it will be different for different groups of people,” said Rust. “So trying to work out how many we want is going to be very tough.”</p>
<p>Large carnivores can be costly to sustain. In an effort to gain sometimes reluctant acceptance of them, governments have set up various schemes, such as compensation for livestock killed or financial rewards for the number of predators in an area. Between 1992 and 1998, the European Union paid out <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/publications/lifepublications/lifefocus/documents/damage_2.pdf">€1.37m</a> in compensation for livestock damage by predators.</p>
<p>“Carnivores can be troublesome neighbours,” said Chapron. “So we have conflict: we have conflict with livestock farming, hunters – it can be difficult to co-exist with predators.”</p>
<p>The study raises another question: the <a href="http://theoeco.fc.ul.pt/publications/Navarro_2012_Ecosystems.pdf">abandonment of agricultural land</a> in parts of Europe may be good for carnivores – but, as Young says, the continent’s increased reliance on imported food suggests that: “as agricultural land increases in developing countries, it’s obviously going to reduce the capacity of animals such as carnivores in those countries to survive.”</p>
<p>So maybe the comeback in carnivores in parts of Europe is coming at a cost to wild animals in other parts of the world. But the key message of the study remains a promising one: there’s no need to choose between humans and wildlife – you can have both.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35701/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In a rare conservation success story, research has shown that numbers of wild large carnivores in the continent have been steadily increasing and a third of the European mainland now has at least one kind…Jocelyn Timperley, Assistant Section EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/340032014-11-17T04:16:12Z2014-11-17T04:16:12ZWe need to prevent further jockey deaths in horse racing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64350/original/kvtbkhcg-1415774016.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A reduction over the years in rider deaths in horse racing means further tragedies could be prevented.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gowestphoto/3921760653">Flickr/Tsutomu Takasu</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Horse racing claimed the lives of three jockeys recently – two in Australia and one in the United States – and some prominent industry professionals have openly claimed that deaths in racing are part of the sport. But changes made in the past to the racing industry have led to a reduction in jockey deaths – and more could be done now. </p>
<p>The latest tragedy was <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/superracing/racing-industry-in-shock-over-death-of-jockey-caitlin-forrest/story-fndpqu3p-1227092114604">young jockey Caitlin Forrest</a> who died last month in hospital after after a four-horse fall at Murray Bridge, in South Australia. This followed only a day after <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-14/jockey-carly-mae-pye-dies-in-hospital-after-fall-at-rockhampton/5813534">jockey Carly-Mae Pye’s</a> life support was turned off after falling during a jump out at Callaghan Park in Queensland.</p>
<p>Thoroughbred Racing South Australia chief executive Jim Watters was quoted soon after Forrest’s death <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/south-australia/inquiry-launched-after-jockey-caitlin-forrest-dies-after-tragic-fall-at-murray-bridge-gold-cup-race-meeting/story-fnii5yv4-1227091624596">saying</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Racing is one of those sports where there are dangers […] early indications are it was just a tragic accident.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Former jockey John Letts, commenting after Forrest’s death and that of other Australian jockeys, <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/25278077/racing-safety-in-the-spotlight/">added</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] we just can’t stop it, it’s something that’s just going to happen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the last 15 years of my time in the racing industry I heard similar sentiments from many others. While they may be sympathetic to jockeys and their family and friends, this attitude does not encourage much-needed change. Rather, it dangerously fosters a sense of complacency that these tragic incidents cannot be prevented.</p>
<h2>The numbers on rider deaths</h2>
<p>It is true that falls and injuries to jockeys are common with about one fall for every 240 race rides, and one-third of those falls resulting in a substantive injury in Australia.</p>
<p>It is also true that the sport is considered to be one of the more <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2009/190/2/incidence-race-day-jockey-falls-australia-2002-2006">dangerous occupations</a>, stabilising at about 1.4 deaths per year nationally. Racing has certainly become significantly safer than it was 50 years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64532/original/hpc7k4rq-1415929014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">100 years of jockey fatalities in Australia, 1915 to 2014. The red line shows the average of 1.4 deaths per year over the past 50 years or so.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.njt.org.au/the-fallen/full-list.aspx">Data source: Australian Jockeys' Association, The Fallen</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This in itself is proof that improvements to protective equipment and policies and procedures, among other things, can contribute to reduced rates of jockey falls, injuries and fatalities.</p>
<p>But stewards’ inquiries into individual incidents are unlikely to result in findings that are useful. Rather it is the collation and analysis of all of these incidents that will help us to detect patterns in the data that may lead to the identification of modifiable risk factors.</p>
<h2>Are female jockeys more at risk?</h2>
<p>There are multiple factors that contribute to deaths in racing, but does the research support the recent speculation by some that there is a higher risk of injury to <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/four-in-14-months-why-are-so-many-female-jockeys-dying-on-during-horse-races/story-fnii5s3x-1227101461978">female jockeys</a>?</p>
<p>It is the case that female jockeys have been found to have a marginally higher fall rate than male jockeys, but this finding was confined only to female jockeys who rode horses younger than four years of age in open and restricted races.</p>
<p>There was <a href="http://oem.bmj.com/content/67/10/693.short">no increase</a> in fall rates for female jockeys riding in other, more common race grades. Furthermore, a study of <a href="http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2012/04/04/injuryprev-2011-040255.short">apprentice and early-career jockeys</a> found no significant differences in fall rates between males and females.</p>
<p>The piece of science missing here is the absence of medically-assessed outcomes of racing falls. In a yet-to-be published study, by our team at the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, we found there were no significant differences between males and females in regards to the average costs, and the incidence of, flat racing jockey insurance and workers’ compensation claims per 100 falls. </p>
<p>Just to be clear, a jockey’s sex has not been proved to be a major risk factor.</p>
<p>Having said that, sex of the jockey must not be the focus in analysing the recent incidents because both Australian jockey deaths mentioned above were a result of the horse they were riding <a href="https://au.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/25271139/gender-no-factor-in-jockey-fatalities-arb/">breaking down</a>. A horse breakdown is not something the jockey can control. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://ojs.sagepub.com/content/1/1/2325967113492625.full">recent study</a> funded by the California Horse Racing Board identified catastrophic injury or sudden death of the horse as the most common reason for a jockey fall in Thoroughbred (29%) and Quarter Horse (44%) racing.</p>
<p>About two-thirds of such falls result in injury of the jockey, and this proportion is significantly more than for jockey falls caused by other reasons.</p>
<p>This is likely because when a horse sustains a catastrophic injury or sudden death and collapses, the jockey falls with the horse and is thus at greater risk of suffering a serious injury – while also posing a threat to following horses and their jockeys. </p>
<h2>Preventing the injuries</h2>
<p>Horse breakdowns are preventable. In <a href="http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vorl/research_programs/musculoskeletal_disease_injuries/racehorse_injury_prevention.cfm">Californian postmortem studies</a>, about 90% of racehorse breakdowns have shown evidence of pre-existing pathology related to the fatal injury.</p>
<p>In Australia there is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trainers-keep-horses-in-winning-form-and-injury-free-33253">significant research</a> already being undertaken on risk factors for racehorse injury, and improvements in this area will reduce jockey injuries and deaths. </p>
<p>Other factors that have been identified as contributing to an increased rate of jockey falls and injuries include:</p>
<ul>
<li>jockey inexperience, especially when combined with riding less accomplished horses</li>
<li>faster/ drier track conditions</li>
<li>shorter distance races</li>
<li>bad weather conditions.</li>
</ul>
<p>Interestingly, large field sizes such as that for the Melbourne Cup are not associated with an increase in jockey falls.</p>
<p>Only with further research and the determination to improve the sport’s safety, will we identify and implement <a href="http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2014/09/12/injuryprev-2014-041223.short">evidence-based strategies</a> to improve racing in the future and ultimately reduce the risks for both jockey and horse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Peta L. Hitchens has previously received funding from the California Horse Racing Board, WorkCover Tasmania, TOTE Tasmania, Betfair Australasia, and Tasmanian Thoroughbred Racing Council (now Tasmanian Racing Board). </span></em></p>Horse racing claimed the lives of three jockeys recently – two in Australia and one in the United States – and some prominent industry professionals have openly claimed that deaths in racing are part of…Peta Lee Hitchens MVPHMgt PhD, Researcher, Animal Welfare & Epidemiology, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/207072014-01-02T19:45:21Z2014-01-02T19:45:21ZIs industrial hemp the ultimate energy crop?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37829/original/vpqn29mf-1387157830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C383%2C2843%2C1999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Using industrial hemp for the production of bioenergy has been promoted by enthusiasts for a long time.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/bioenergy">Bioenergy</a> is currently the fastest growing source of renewable energy. Cultivating <a href="http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/dam/cec/technologies/bioenergy/fact-sheets/Bioenergy-Fact-Sheet-2-The-Benefits-of-Energy-Crops.pdf">energy crops</a> on arable land can decrease dependency on depleting fossil resources and it can mitigate climate change.</p>
<p>But some biofuel crops have <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/29/biofuel-crops-food-security-prices-europe">bad environmental effects</a>: they use too much water, displace people and create more emissions than they save. This has led to a demand for high-yielding energy crops with low environmental impact. Industrial hemp is said to be just that.</p>
<p>Enthusiasts have been promoting the use of industrial hemp for producing bioenergy for a long time now. With its potentially high biomass yield and its suitability to fit into existing crop rotations, hemp could not only complement but exceed other available energy crops.</p>
<p>Hemp, <em>Cannabis sativa</em>, originates from western Asia and India and from there spread around the globe. For centuries, fibres were used to make ropes, sails, cloth and paper, while the seeds were used for protein-rich food and feed. Interest in hemp declined when other fibres such as sisal and jute replaced hemp in the 19th century. </p>
<p>Abuse of hemp as a drug led to the prohibition of its cultivation by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs">United Nations in 1961</a>. When prohibition was revoked in the 1990s in the European Union, Canada and later in Australia, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/first-hemp-harvest_n_4123628.html">industrially used hemp emerged again</a>. </p>
<p>This time, the <a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com.au/environment/global-warming/biofuel-profile/">car industry’s interest</a> in light, natural fibre promoted its use. For such industrial use, modern varieties with insignificant content of psychoactive compounds are grown. Nonetheless, industrial hemp cultivation is still prohibited in some industrialised countries like Norway and the USA.</p>
<p>Energy use of industrial hemp is today very limited. There are few countries in which hemp has been commercialised as an energy crop. Sweden is one, and has a small commercial production of <a href="http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/84592994/heat-combustion-hemp-briquettes-made-hemp-shives">hemp briquettes</a>. Hemp briquettes are more expensive than wood-based briquettes, but sell reasonably well on regional markets. </p>
<p>Large-scale energy uses of hemp have also been suggested. </p>
<p>Biogas production from hemp could compete with production from maize, especially in cold climate regions such as Northern Europe and Canada. Ethanol production is possible from the whole hemp plant, and biodiesel can be produced from the oil pressed from hemp seeds. Biodiesel production from hemp seed oil has <a href="http://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticle.php?artid=7195">been shown</a> to overall have a much lower environmental impact than fossil diesel. </p>
<p>Indeed, the <a href="http://blogs.abc.net.au/victoria/2011/06/greenspot-environmentally-friendly-hemp.html">environmental benefits</a> of hemp have been praised highly, since hemp cultivation requires very limited amounts of pesticide. Few insect pests are known to exist in hemp crops and fungal diseases are rare. </p>
<p>Since hemp plants shade the ground quickly after sowing, they can outgrow weeds, a trait interesting especially for organic farmers. Still, a weed-free seedbed is required. And without nitrogen fertilisation hemp won´t grow as vigorously as is often suggested. </p>
<p>So, as with any other crop, it takes good agricultural practice to grow hemp right.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37831/original/vv4mq5k7-1387158027.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hemp has a broad climate range and has been cultivated successfully from as far north as Iceland to warmer, more tropical regions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr: Gregory Jordan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Being an annual crop, hemp functions very well in crop rotations. Here it may function as a break crop, reducing the occurance of pests, particularly in cereal production. Farmers interested in cultivating energy crops are often hesitant about tying fields into the production of perennial energy crops such as willow. Due to the high self-tolerance of hemp, cultivation over two to three years in the same field does not lead to significant biomass yield losses. </p>
<p>Small-scale production of hemp briquettes has also proven economically feasible. However, using whole-crop hemp (or any other crop) for energy production is not the overall solution. </p>
<p>Before producing energy from the residues it is certainly more environmentally friendly to use fibres, oils or other compounds of hemp. Even energy in the fibre products can be used when the products become waste. </p>
<p>Recycling plant nutrients to the field, such as in biogas residue, can contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions from crop production.</p>
<p>Sustainable bioenergy production is not easy, and a diversity of crops will be needed. Industrial hemp is not the ultimate energy crop. Still, if cultivated on good soil with decent fertilisation, hemp can certainly be an environmentally sound crop for bioenergy production and for other industrial uses as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Prade receives funding from the Swedish Farmers' Foundation for Agricultural Research, the EU commission, the Skåne Regional Council and Partnership Alnarp.</span></em></p>Bioenergy is currently the fastest growing source of renewable energy. Cultivating energy crops on arable land can decrease dependency on depleting fossil resources and it can mitigate climate change…Thomas Prade, Postdoctoral Researcher, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199172013-11-07T14:34:55Z2013-11-07T14:34:55ZBears, wolves, lynx – Europe is going wild<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34547/original/9nfx9q23-1383753063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Duran, Duran, anyone?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dawn Villella/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Europe, the world’s most industrialised and intensively managed continent, is going wild. During the past three decades it has witnessed conservation successes with the most unexpected species: Europe today hosts <a href="http://www.carnivorescience.org/files/2013_EUCommission_carnivore-status-1.pdf">17,000 bears, 11,000 wolves and 9,000 lynx</a>. Wolves are spreading in France and <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/after-centuries-of-absence-big-bad-wolves-have-returned-to-germany/275386/">Germany</a> and into the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10195008/First-wolf-found-in-Holland-for-150-years.html">Netherlands</a> and <a href="http://cphpost.dk/news/national/yep-it-was-wolf">Denmark</a>. There have not been so many wolves in <a href="http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=95&artikel=5571352">Sweden since the 1800s</a>.</p>
<p>To understand what lies behind this surprising comeback, take a look at to what extent it has been brought deliberately. Is it from massive, successful reintroduction programs? Have large wilderness areas free from human influence been secured to host these abundant predator populations? The answer is as bewildering as the creatures comeback: humans have been passive witnesses to these predators’ return, not the actors behind it.</p>
<p>A combination of European regulations such as the <a href="http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/Nature/Bern/default_en.asp">Bern Convention</a> and <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/habitatsdirective/">Habitats Directive</a>, secure land tenure, rural populations moving to cities, abundant populations of wild prey and a public opinion that favours environment protection have created a breeding ground for predators to naturally re-colonise their historical ranges.</p>
<p>This has brought its own problems – it would be grossly misleading to portray their return idealistically. Any change, be it ecological, social or economical, disturbs current practices, requires adaptations and can be met by fierce resistance. The return of wolves, bears and lynxes is no exception. They compete for wild prey with hunters, can attack domestic animals, may threaten human safety and, regardless of anything else, just make people uneasy that there is something with big claws out there in the woods, which was once only on television.</p>
<p>However, most of the controversies associated with these predators may be less about the animals and more about conflicts between people about land use. The predators’ return raises controversial questions and are a powerful symbol to communicate one’s difficulties.</p>
<p>For example, French sheep farmers claim that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/world/europe/as-wolves-return-to-french-alps-a-way-of-life-is-threatened.html">wolf attacks threaten their traditional livelihoods</a>. Actually, the most effective sheep predator is not the wolf (sheep farming is in a worse state in wolf free regions) but the French secret services. After French special forces <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/10/newsid_2499000/2499283.stm">sank Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior</a> in New Zealand in 1985, the French government could no longer <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/nuclear-free-new-zealand/rainbow-warrior">oppose opening the European market to the economically competitive New Zealand lamb</a> and French sheep farming could barely only be kept afloat by massive subsidies.</p>
<p>Environmentalists have questioned whether sheep farming should be granted an above-the-market status not afforded to many other industries and trades, which are forced to close when no longer competitive. Besides, sheep farming in <a href="http://www.mercantour.eu/">Mercantour National Park</a> where the wolves first came back only dates back 50 years or so to when they replaced cattle. For some, this can hardly be considered a “tradition” unless one sees subsidised overgrazing of hillsides as a traditional activity to underpin a regional cultural landscape. The wolf, therefore, has become the perfect scapegoat for national and local politicians to pretend they are helping struggling farmers by asking for wolf removals – despite those same politicians having created the conditions for farmers’ problems.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the return of large predators in Europe has coincided with the idea of “<a href="http://www.rewildingeurope.com/">rewilding</a>” in the continent, and the spreading of what I would call BYTE or the “Bringing Yellowstone To Europe” syndrome. It is tempting to associate large predators with a romantic vision of wilderness, with few if any human activities, and to strive to create such large areas to restore some sort of ecological balance and function. But predators are returning to places that are already well populated by humans – they do not require wilderness to thrive.</p>
<p>Rewilding projects might have a role particularly in specific regions where natural recolonisation is impossible, such as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/10409499/Scottish-landowner-plans-to-bring-back-wolves-and-bears.html">Scotland</a>. But rewilding rhetoric needs to be particularly careful in not putting predators above people and triggering a backfire against biodiversity conservation in general. </p>
<p>In my opinion, the future of large predators like bears, wolves and lynx in today’s Europe lies, not in efforts to restore a state of socially constructed wilderness in restricted areas, but instead in slowly closing the historical bracket of extinction by allowing large predators to become part again of the range of common animals found across Europe.</p>
<p>Specific and tailored-made approaches are required to help secure a co-existence between people and predators: hunters value bears for trophies in Croatia, farmers tolerate wolf predation on horses in North West Spain, Polish foresters regard wolves as allies that limit damages from deers, boars and other prey, and reindeer herders in Northern Sweden are paid for each wolverine reproduction on their land.</p>
<p>The message is that there is no silver bullet to conserve and manage predators. Europe is a very diverse continent and forging a new relationship with predators – one no longer based on hate or love but instead coexistence – requires watching, learning, and adapting to a new situation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guillaume Chapron is funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas).</span></em></p>Europe, the world’s most industrialised and intensively managed continent, is going wild. During the past three decades it has witnessed conservation successes with the most unexpected species: Europe…Guillaume Chapron, Associate Professor, Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.