Ecologists have long sought to understand the dietary habits of different animal species. In a recent study, researchers have explored the puzzling question of how competing herbivores in Yellowstone National Park, which feed on grasses, wildflowers, and trees, manage to find enough food to survive the winter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunting-strategies-of-yellowstone-s-herbivores-nbsp">Hunting strategies of Yellowstone’s herbivores&nbsp;</h2>



Over a two-year period, using advanced molecular biology tools and GPS tracking data, the research team was able to identify not only what herbivores in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-tourism-generates-over-1-megaton-carbon-annually/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yellowstone</a> consume, but also the strategies they use to find food throughout the year.



“In Yellowstone, we know vegetation changes across seasons, but until now, we didn’t know how these seasonal changes influenced what animals eat or how they sustained themselves when options were limited,” said lead author Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun, a postdoctoral research associate at <a href="https://www.brown.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brown University</a>.&nbsp;



“It turns out that while species eat similar categories of food, their diets differ from one another in cryptic and nuanced ways. And an animal’s body size plays an important role in how this is achieved.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fluctuating-food-supplies">Fluctuating food supplies</h2>



For years, ecologists have debated how wildlife should cope with fluctuations in their food supplies, explained co-author Tyler Kartzinel, an associate professor of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology at Brown.



Some experts propose that animals should diversify their diets to cater to their preferences when they have more choices in summer, Kartzinel said.&nbsp;



Others suggest that animals are more likely to diversify what they eat during challenging periods, like winter, when competition for food is fierce, and they might have to settle for less desirable options.



“These opposing predictions couldn’t both be true, so it wasn’t at all clear how Yellowstone's assemblage of herbivore species - with such a diversity of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-foraging-behavior-changing-climate-warming-waters/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">foraging behaviors</a> - could succeed in finding enough food throughout the year,” Kartzinel said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-the-behavior-of-competing-animals">Tracking the behavior of competing animals</h2>



To investigate, the researchers used two years of GPS tracking and dietary DNA data to explore how dietary variation changes during times of resource scarcity and abundance for five of Yellowstone’s most iconic species: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-influences-the-movement-of-plains-bison/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bison</a>, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn antelope.



Staff at Yellowstone tracked the animals, while researchers at Brown, including many undergraduate students supervised by Littleford-Colquhoun, analyzed fecal samples using a sophisticated molecular technique called metabarcoding. This method helped determine what foods the animals had eaten.



The study revealed that all species took advantage of the seasonal abundance of wildflowers in summer. However, in winter, each species focused its foraging efforts on the specific plant types it was best suited to compete for.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeding-behaviors-are-linked-to-animal-size-nbsp">Feeding behaviors are linked to animal size&nbsp;</h2>



The researchers also found that feeding behaviors were linked to the animal's body size. Smaller species, like deer and sheep, spread out across summer meadows, significantly broadening their diets before gathering in sheltered valleys to survive the winter on leftover vegetation.&nbsp;



In contrast, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forest-biodiversity-benefits-from-large-herbivores-like-elephants-and-moose/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">larger animals</a>, such as bison, displayed the opposite behavior: in winter, their size allowed them to avoid competing for dwindling resources, so they ventured into deep snow to access food reserves that were out of reach for smaller species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-competing-animals-are-surprisingly-adaptable">Competing animals are surprisingly adaptable</h2>



“The study showed that these species can feed far more adaptably than anyone had previously assumed,” Littleford-Colquhoun said.&nbsp;



“All species switch the ways they search for food, but the opportunities an individual bison has to fuel its migration or survive a hard winter might only work for it because it’s big. Meanwhile, other species might need to group together for protection in winter because they’re small.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-study">Broader implications of the study</h2>



So, should animals diversify their diets in summer or winter? According to Kartzinel, the answer depends on the species.



“Because of the variety of ways animals behaved in our study, we learned that both hypotheses about how animals fuel their migrations were right, but in different ways and at different times,” Kartzinel said.&nbsp;



“So the question that biologists should have been bickering about for the past generation shouldn't have been, ‘Which foraging strategy is right?’ but rather, ‘When does each strategy work best for a given group of animals?’”



Kartzinel hopes that these more refined insights into foraging behaviors will encourage scientists to adopt a more tailored approach to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildlife-conservation-can-help-stabilize-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife conservation</a>.



“If we want to help wildlife populations thrive, we should be maintaining a diversity of habitats and plant resources across their migratory corridors so that many animals, each with their own preferences, personalities and needs, can find what's best to fuel their journey,” Kartzinel concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240136" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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How do competing animals manage to find enough food?

Ecologists have long sought to understand the dietary habits of different animal species. In a recent study, researchers have explored the puzzling question of how competing herbivores in Yellowstone National Park, which feed on grasses, wildflowers, and trees, manage to find enough food to survive the winter. Hunting strategies of Yellowstone’s herbivores&nbsp; Over a two-year period, using advanced molecular biology tools and GPS tracking data, the research team was able to identify not only what herbivores in Yellowstone consume, but also the strategies they use to find...

According to a recent study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.064">Current Biology</a>, the ascendancy of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-were-going-strong-when-the-deadly-asteroid-struck/">dinosaurs</a> through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods was primarily driven by climate change, rather than inter-species competition.



The experts argue that changes in global climate linked to the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction - which wiped out many large terrestrial vertebrates such as the armadillo-like aetosaurs – in fact benefited the earliest dinosaurs.



For instance, sauropod-like dinosaurs, which later on evolved into the giant herbivore species of the late Jurassic (such as Diplodocus or Brachiosaurus) were able to thrive and expand their territories as the Earth warmed substantially after the mass extinction event, about 210 million years ago.



By comparing computer models of prehistoric global climate conditions like temperature and rainfall with data on the different locations of dinosaurs, the scientists showed how the sauropods and related creatures ended up being the success story of a turbulent period of evolution.



“What we see in the data suggests that instead of dinosaurs being outcompeted by other large vertebrates, it was variations in climate conditions that were restricting their diversity. But once these conditions changed across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, they were able to flourish,” said study lead author Emma Dunne, a lecturer in Paleontology at <a href="https://www.fau.eu/">Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg</a> (FAU).



“The results were somewhat surprising, because it turns out that sauropods were really fussy from the get-go: later in their evolution they continue to stay in warmer areas and avoid polar regions.”



“Climate change appears to have been really important in driving the evolution of early dinosaurs. What we want to do next is use the same techniques to understand the role of climate in the next 120 million years of the dinosaur story,” concluded study co-author Richard Butler, a professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Early dinosaurs benefited from changes in global climate

According to a recent study published in the journal Current...

In 2022, by searching through its collections, as well as sending scientists on research trips, the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">National History Museum</a> (NHM) in the UK named 351 new species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-communicate-with-animals-using-artificial-intelligence/">animals</a>, a quarter of which were wasps. Although many of the species that were discovered had already been well known by local human populations sharing their habitats, classifying them scientifically is important to monitor and protect them against various threats, such as climate change or habitat loss.



The largest group of new discoveries consisted of wasps, including several species of tiny parasitic wasps from the family Megaphragma that could play a major role in agriculture. Since these insects parasitize the eggs of thrips – a type of insect which can cause significant crop damage – the wasps may act as important biological control agents.



“It’s no surprise that new wasp species came out on top, it’s just a surprise that wasps don’t come top every year,” said Gavin Broad, the principal curator in charge of insects at the NHM. “The abundance of parasitoid wasps makes the order Hymenoptera the most species-rich order of insects, but it is way behind some other groups in terms of actual species descriptions. Watch out for lots more wasps next year.”



The experts also named 84 species of beetles, 34 moths, 23 moss animals (known as “bryozoans”), 19 stick insects, 13 trematode worms, 12 protists, seven flies, two species of bumblebees from Asia, two polychaete worms from the seafloor, and a centipede with a number of segments that has never been found in nature before. Some new vertebrates were also discovered, including a new species of gecko from Seychelles, seven frogs, and three species of fish.&nbsp;



Besides all of these animals, the scientists also described 11 new species of algae (both living and fossil), as well as four new species of plants from southern Asia. “Although flowering plants are relatively well known as far as groups of organisms go, it is estimated that even though we have given about 450,000 species scientific names, there are about 25 percent of that left to describe,” said Sandra Knapp, a researcher at the NHM who was involved with the description of these new plant species. “Not to discover – for sure, these things we don’t know about are known by local and Indigenous peoples where they occur – we taxonomists just give them names that put them into the language of global botany.”



“Most plants have a variety of names, some specific to an area or language group, others more widespread, but the scientific names we coin can be used by anyone anywhere. This means there is a common language, one of the things we really need to help bend the curve for biodiversity. After all, if we can’t talk about a species, how can we wish to save it?” she concluded.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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More than 350 new species discovered in 2022

In 2022, by searching through its collections, as well as...

A new study has confirmed that primate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanilla-cultivation-can-boost-biodiversity-in-madagascar/">diversity</a> is greater in areas that are managed by Indigenous peoples. The experts determined that primates such as monkeys and apes are less likely to be classified as vulnerable, threatened or endangered when they live in territories that overlap with Indigenous lands.&nbsp;



The research was led by Paul A. Garber, a professor of Anthropology at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a>, and Alejandro Estrada, a professor in the Institute of Biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.&nbsp;



“There is an impending extinction crisis among the world’s 521 primate species,” said Professor Garber. “We know that 68% of these species are vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered and many of them may not survive to the end of the century. Worldwide, 93% of primate populations are declining.”



Understanding the conditions that allow primate populations to survive and even thrive is critical to preventing their extinction and preserving their special contributions to healthy forest ecosystems, explained Professor Garber.



“Most primates exploit forests, where they serve as agents of pollination and seed dispersal. They’re involved in important predator-prey relationships. They consume insects and small vertebrates. They play a very important role in the regeneration of forests.”



Professor Garber noted that primates are one of the first indicator species if there’s a dramatic change in the environment, as they are relatively large-bodied animals with a slow reproductive rate.



For the investigation, the study authors set out to evaluate the relationship between Indigenous lands and primate biodiversity. “We found that Indigenous peoples’ lands account for 30% of the primate range, and 71% of primate species inhabit these lands. As their range on these lands increases, primate species are less likely to be classified as threatened or have declining populations.” wrote the researchers.



The study also compared Indigenous lands to regions with roughly the same human population density immediately outside of the territories.&nbsp;



“The results were that the human footprint – a measure of infrastructure development and habitat conversion – was significantly greater immediately outside Indigenous peoples’ lands than inside,” said Professor Garber.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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Primates have greater diversity on Indigenous lands

A new study has confirmed that primate diversity is greater...

A,Frontal,Portrait,(head,Shot),Of,A,Passive,Snowy,Owl

This week, birdwatchers flocked to Cypress in Southern California to catch a glimpse of a very rare sight – a white-feathered snowy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/inbreeding-northern-spotted-owls/">owl</a> perched on a rooftop. Since snowy owls are native to arctic areas and less than 30,000 individuals are believed to exist worldwide, spotting one in a region such as Southern California can turn out to be a major event.



“I consider it an honor to be able to see the bird,” said Rob Young, an employer at the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/santa-ana">Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge</a>, and one of the many people who gathered in the Cypress neighborhood to admire this majestic bird. “Kind of put a feather in my cap so to speak, no pun intended.”



According to experts, the bird’s appearance in Southern California is a mystery, particularly due to the drastic differences between this region and its natural habitat. Reports claim that this species has not been spotted so further south since 1928. For these reasons, people are also concerned about the bird’s safety.



“The only thing it has to worry about here is that there’s a lot more potential damage,” explained local veterinarian Scott Weldy. “There are a lot more cars. We have power lines, the windmills. We have tons of things that traumatize flying birds here in Southern California.”



Alongside passionate birdwatchers, wildlife experts also came to observe the bird, pondering if it could be injured or unable to fly for various reasons. “The first thing I’m noticing is the tail feathers are frayed,” said Dr. Elizabeth Wood from the <a href="http://www.wwccoc.org/">Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center</a>. “So, that can indicate that the bird has been grounded for quite some time. It may just be from the days that it’s been on these roofs, but that can affect flight.”



“The best thing we can do is not capture or disturb it if it doesn’t need anything. We can do more harm than good if the capture went wrong,” concluded Debbie McGuire, the former Director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Rare Arctic snowy owl spotted in Southern California

This week, birdwatchers flocked to Cypress in Southern California to...

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most diverse natural areas on the planet. Located on the coast of Brazil, this tropical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brazil-could-protect-its-rainforest-while-expanding-agriculture/">forest</a> is home to a large number of plant species. In a new study from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a>, researchers warn that many plants in the Atlantic Forest rely on endangered fruit-eating animals, and that losing these frugivores could have dire consequences.



Frugivores are animals that primarily eat fruit and disperse the seeds throughout the forest. The loss of important fruit-eating animals would leave many plants without an effective method of seed dispersal.



“Tropical forests contain this incredible diversity of trees,” said study lead author Therese Lamperty. “One of the main processes forests use to maintain this diversity is dispersal. If you’re not dispersed, you’re in a crowd of trees that are just like you - all competing for resources. And there are a lot of plant enemies already in the area or that can be easily recruited, like harmful animals or plant diseases. Your chance of survival is higher when you get transported away from your mother tree to an area without trees like you.”



The Atlantic Forest was once twice the size of Texas. According to The Nature Conservancy, about 85 percent of the forest has been lost over centuries due to deforestation, industrial development, and urbanization in eastern Brazil.



To investigate the diet and distribution of fruit-eating animals in the Atlantic Forest, the researchers analyzed a dataset based on 166 studies. This allowed the experts to identify the interactions between 331 frugivore species and nearly 800 tree species. "For reference, the entire state of Washington only has 25 native tree species,” said Lamperty.



According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, only 14 percent of the frugivore species that were analyzed by the team are endangered. However, the experts determined that losing these particular species left about 28 percent of the plant species in the Atlantic Forest without an effective method of seed dispersal.&nbsp;



“A lot of frugivores are generalists. But in the Atlantic Forest, it turns out that a lot of plants are specialists,” said study senior author Berry Brosi. “The size and the toughness of their fruit and their distribution in the forest can really limit which animals can perform this important role for them.”



Overall, nearly 55 percent of the specialist plant species in the dataset rely exclusively on endangered frugivores for seed dispersal. Lamperty said that while losing one species is bad enough, this study serves as a reminder that what appears to be one loss has numerous “secondary effects."



“It’s a reminder that we should try to understand better what ecological roles and interactions we lose when endangered animals disappear - not just these seed dispersal networks, but other roles, too,” said Lamperty. “Endangered animals have co-evolved with many species in these ecosystems, and I’m not sure we know enough about the roles they play in the health and well-being of places like the Atlantic Forest.”



“It’s an alarming finding, and a sign that we should pay more attention to these interactions between species when considering conservation and land protections,” said Brosi.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0887">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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Loss of fruit-eating animals will endanger the Atlantic Forest

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most diverse natural...

Mammoth,In,The,Middle,Of,Mountains,.,This,Is,A

Recently, several international experts have started to raise alarms about attempts made by a team of Russian scientists to “reawaken” and study in their laboratory ancient viruses found in the carcasses of frozen mammals, such as woolly mammoths, trapped in the Siberian permafrost. Much like in the case of SARS-CoV-2 at the beginning of the pandemic, humans are immunologically naïve to such prehistoric viruses buried in the permafrost and, although most of them may not be able to infect us, a handful that potentially could may spark new outbreaks or even another <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-may-trigger-the-deadliest-wave-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/">pandemic</a>.



In an article published at the beginning of December on <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.10.515937v1.full">bioRxiv</a>, a team of researchers led by Jean-Michel Claverie (an emeritus professor of Virology at the <a href="https://www.univ-amu.fr/en">Aix-Marseille University</a> in France) has described their discovery of a virus that had been stranded under a frozen Siberian lake more than 48,500 years ago. While this virus seemed to be infectious only to amoebas, the scientists stressed that many other types of viruses could lurk in similar locations, and that some of them may be able to infect humans and other animals.



“Every time we look, we will find a virus. It’s a done deal. We know that every time we’re going to look for viruses, infectious viruses in permafrost, we are going to find some,” Claverie said.



While climate change and subsequent permafrost thawing holds significant risks for releasing some of these viruses from the places in which they had been trapped for thousands of years, human intervention could be an even more worrisome factor in these viruses’ (re)emergence.



For instance, Russia’s <a href="http://www.vector.nsc.ru/">State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology</a> (known as Vector) is now aiming to extract cellular material containing the viruses that killed ancient mammoths discovered in the permafrost, and take it back to the lab for experimentation. According to Claverie – and various other scientists worldwide - such experiments are highly dangerous and should not be performed.



“[Vector's research] is terrible. I’m totally against it. [It] is very, very risky. Our immune systems have never encountered these types of viruses. Some of them could be 200,000 or even 400,000 years old. But ancient viruses that infected animals or humans could still be infectious,” he warned.&nbsp;



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Unearthing ancient viruses could spark a new pandemic

Recently, several international experts have started to raise alarms about...

In 2009, nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell was killed by coyotes while hiking a trail at a national park in Nova Scotia. This is the only documented case of a fatal coyote attack on an adult in North America.



Now, researchers at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> may have solved the mystery of why the deadly, unprovoked attack ever occurred in the first place. The experts determined that the coyotes had been forced to rely on moose (instead of smaller mammals) for the majority of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-ability-to-adapt-to-new-diets-may-explain-their-success/">diet</a>. As a result, the lone hiker was perceived as potential prey.



The team analyzed the diets and behavior of coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, where the attack took place. The results showed that heavy snowfall, extreme temperatures, and high winds had created unsuitable conditions for small mammals to survive.



"The lines of evidence suggest that this was a resource-poor area with really extreme environments that forced these very adaptable animals to expand their behavior," explained study lead author Professor Stan Gehrt.



"We're describing these animals expanding their niche to basically rely on moose. And we're also taking a step forward and saying it's not just scavenging that they were doing, but they were actually killing moose when they could. It's hard for them to do that, but because they had very little if anything else to eat, that was their prey. And that leads to conflicts with people that you wouldn't normally see."



Professor Gehrt leads the Urban Coyote Research Project which has monitored coyotes living in Chicago since 2000. He was contacted by media outlets for his insights after the fatal attack on Taylor Mitchell.



"We had been telling communities and cities that the relative risk that coyotes pose is pretty low, and even when you do have a conflict where a person is bitten, it's pretty minor," said Professor Gehrt. "The fatality was tragic, and completely off the charts. I was shocked by it - just absolutely shocked.



"A lot of people began wondering if we were at the front edge of a new trend, and if coyotes were changing their behavior. And we didn't have good answers."



Between 2011 and 2013, the Ohio State researchers conducted a detailed field study, tagging 23 adult and juvenile coyotes living in the Cape Breton park. The team fitted the animals with tracking devices and snipped their whiskers. These samples were also collected from the bodies of coyotes that were involved in the fatal attack and in other human conflicts.



The analysis of the whisker samples showed that between half and two-thirds of the animals' diets consisted of moose.



"This dietary evidence was the critical piece to it," said Professor Gehrt. "Their diets changed because they're taking advantage of whatever different food items are available at the time. We're used to seeing big oscillations across the segments of whiskers depending on the season. But in this system, for these coyotes, we don't see that - they flat line at the moose end, so there's very little variation in their diet."



Furthermore, samples from the coyotes involved in the fatal attack on Taylor Mitchell showed they had been eating only moose, "and their diet wasn't changing."



Professor Gehrt concluded that in most areas where coyotes live, food of all types is plentiful - suggesting only areas low on natural prey, like islands and remote northern climates, would pose a similar risk for coyote-human interactions. Their survival in Cape Breton, he said, is attributable to their ability to adjust to their environment.



The research is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14333">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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Fatal coyote attack linked to extreme weather conditions

In 2009, nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell was killed by coyotes while...

A new study from <a href="https://pensoft.net/">Pensoft Publishers</a> highlights the destructive impacts of human development on wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/which-animals-perceive-time-the-fastest/">animal</a> populations. A team of researchers from Nanjing Forestry University set out to investigate how the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Ghana affected the common hippopotamus.



"Landscape changes resulting from human activities have resulted in range restrictions and substantial reductions in population sizes of most animals," wrote study lead author Godfred Bempah and colleagues. "The construction of hydroelectric dams has the same effect on species, but the study of their impact on semi-aquatic megafauna species is limited."&nbsp;



"We examined the response of a Hippopotamus amphibius population to the inundation of their habitat after the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Bui National Park, Ghana."



The study revealed that the hippopotamus population in Bui National Park declined by about 70 percent following dam construction, dropping from 209 to just 64 individuals by 2021.



Bui National Park is one of the only places in Ghana where the common hippopotamus can be found. The researchers noted that these semi-aquatic animals depend on areas with sufficient grass for grazing and water for thermoregulation.&nbsp;



An abundance of grasses combined with the convenience of the Black Volta River made the park a very suitable habitat for the hippopotamus. But in 2007, the Bui Dam Hydroelectricity Project was initiated in response to an ongoing energy crisis.



To investigate how the dam ultimately impacted the local hippopotamus population, the researchers conducted surveys over the course of 12 months. The study was designed to estimate the number of remaining hippos, and also to assess land cover changes in the area.



The experts determined that from 2003 to 2021, the number of hippos in Bui National Park decreased by 70 percent. The study also revealed noticeable changes in land cover after the dam construction, including a substantial decline in the grasslands that provided a home for the hippopotamus.



According to the study authors, increased water levels from the dam flooded and destroyed riparian grasses where the hippos once resided. As they left in search of more suitable habitats, some of the animals became victims of poaching.



The hippopotamus is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The researchers concluded that - if the threats of habitat destruction and poaching are removed - the hippopotamus could possibly survive for the long-term with effective management strategies.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.50.87411">Nature Conservation</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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Hippopotamus population hit hard by habitat destruction

A new study from Pensoft Publishers highlights the destructive impacts...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lightning-map-reveals-weather-patterns-in-the-british-isles/">Lightning</a> during thunderstorms reminds us of the charged nature of earth’s atmosphere. However, static electricity is present in the air at all times, even during fair weather and away from thunderstorms. Electric fields in the atmosphere influence the movements of biologically relevant ions (e.g., nitrate, sulfate, radon) as well as dust particles. They are also known to facilitate animal dispersal and navigation. However, their origin has usually been thought to be abiotic and to involve local atmospheric electrical processes such as cloud electrification, lightning initiation, precipitation, aerosol charging, and radioactivity.&nbsp;



A new study, published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105241">iScience</a>, contends that living organisms can also have an impact on atmospheric electricity and may even help us to understand hither-to unexplained spatio-temporal variations in the lower atmosphere’s electrical fields. In particular, the researchers focus on flying insects that form swarms and undertake mass movements, such as locusts, honeybees, and migratory species of butterflies.&nbsp;



“We always looked at how physics influenced biology, but at some point, we realized that biology might also be influencing physics,” said study first author Ellard Hunting, a biologist at the University of Bristol. “We’re interested in how different organisms use the static electric fields that are virtually everywhere in the environment.”



Insects such as honeybees gain a positive charge due to friction with air molecules as they fly along. This is a well-known phenomenon and has been proposed as a mechanism that helps pollen stick to a bee’s body as it forages from flower to flower. Given that bees form dense swarms at times of the year when they are looking for new locations to set up home, the researchers set out to measure the changes in electric field associated with the movement of these swarms.



The experts found that, as a swarm flew over their electric field monitor, there was a density dependent change in atmospheric electric charge of around 100Vm-1. The denser the swarm, the greater the increase in electric field force around ground level. This evidence suggests that a honeybee swarm contains enough charge to affect the atmospheric potential gradient, and that this source of electricity can represent an appreciable perturbing influence on the local electrical environment.



“How insect swarms influence atmospheric electricity depends on their density and size,” explained study co-author Liam O’Reilly, a biologist at the University of Bristol. “We also calculated the influence of locusts on atmospheric electricity, as locusts swarm on biblical scales, sizing 460 square miles with 80 million locusts in less than a square mile; their influence is likely much greater than honeybees.”



The researchers measured the electrical charge on individual desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria (805 + 295 Picocoulombs) and multiplied this by published estimates of swarm numbers to determine the possible effect of swarming locusts on local atmospheric electric fields. 



The results revealed that locust swarms have the potential to alter their local electrical environment to an extent that is comparable with meteorological events such as thunderstorms. Butterflies, on the other hand, were found to have far less of an effect on electric fields due to their tendency to move around at much lower densities. 



“We only recently discovered that biology and static electric fields are intimately linked and that there are many unsuspected links that can exist over different spatial scales, ranging from microbes in the soil and plant-pollinator interactions to insect swarms and perhaps the global electric circuit,” said Hunting.



“Interdisciplinarity is valuable here - electric charge can seem like it lives solely in physics, but it is important to know how aware the whole natural world is of electricity in the atmosphere,” explained study co-author Giles Harrison, an atmospheric physicist from the University of Reading.



"As atmospheric space charge enhances the aggregation and movement of aerial particles, it is conceivable that insect-derived space charges will also contribute to spatial changes in aerial particles," wrote the researchers. "For example, it could be speculated that insect-driven charged particle collection and transport could contribute to long-range transport of desert dust, providing alternative explanations for the transport of large particles, which cannot be explained by physical processes alone.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Insect swarms charge the atmosphere with static electricity

Lightning during thunderstorms reminds us of the charged nature of...

According to a recent study presented at the <a href="https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/bes-annual-meeting-2022/">British Ecological Society’s annual meeting</a> in Edinburgh on December&nbsp;20, 2022, animals that perceive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/time-fly-faster-older/">time</a> the fastest are those that are small, can fly, or are marine predators.&nbsp;



The scientists used data collected from a variety of studies that measured temporal perception in over 100 animal species through flickering light experiments, which recorded the rate of optic nerve sent information with the help of special devices called electroretinograms. The analysis revealed that animals with fast-paced lifestyles have visual systems which can detect changes at highest rates.



For instance, species such as blow flies or dragon flies were able to detect changes at the highest rate, having visual systems operating at 300hz (that is, they were able to detect changes 300 times a second) – a significantly higher rate than in humans, who can see at 65hz. In vertebrates, the fastest temporal perceptions belonged to the pied fly catchers (146hz), while animals such as salmon and dogs clocked in at 96hz and 75hz, respectively. The slowest time perception belonged to crown-of-thorn starfish (0.7hz).



“Having fast vision helps a species perceive rapid changes in the environment. Such detailed perception of changes is very useful if you move quickly or need to pinpoint the trajectory of&nbsp;moving prey,” said Kevin Healy, an expert in Macroecology at the <a href="https://www.universityofgalway.ie/">University of Galway</a>, who presented the study.



“By looking at such a wide range of animals, from dragonflies to starfish, our findings show that a species’ perception of time itself is linked to how fast its environment can change. This can help our understanding of predator-prey interactions or even how aspects such as light pollution may affect some species more than others.”



The scientists were surprised to find that many terrestrial predators have relatively slow temporal perception compared to aquatic predators. “We think this difference may be because in aquatic environments predators can continuously adjust their position when lunging for prey, while in terrestrial environments, predators that lunge at prey, such as a jumping spider, are not able to make adjustments once they’ve launched,” Healey explained.



Since having fast temporal perception is energetically costly and limited by how quickly neurons linked to retinal cells in the eye can recharge, many animals that don’t require such skills have slower time perception and use their energy for growth or reproduction.



Finally, the researchers found that variation in time perception can also occur within species, including in humans, with some studies showing that in football, for instance, goalkeepers can see changes at a higher rate.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Which animals perceive time the fastest?

According to a recent study presented at the British Ecological...

Collisions with glass windows on buildings, fences, transportation shelters, and noise barriers are currently a major cause of bird mortality in many parts of the world. Public awareness of bird-window collisions has increased in recent years, due to surveys for dead <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solar-parks-could-boost-bumblebee-populations/">birds</a> beneath windows. But since collision events are difficult to observe directly, there are still substantial gaps in understanding how and why birds fly into windows, and what happens to them afterwards.



A recent study published in the journal <a href="about:blank">PeerJ</a> has now provided a first glimpse of what happens immediately before a bird collides – or avoids impact – with a window, by analyzing audio and video recordings of 29 collisions and nine near-misses at a residential setting with bird feeders. According to the researchers, birds’ velocity and angle of approach predicted the outcomes following collisions, with faster flights at near-perpendicular angles of approach being the most dangerous for birds.



Of the 29 collisions that were recorded, very few resulted in an immediate fatality and were detected by building inhabitants. Thus, some birds may suffer injuries, but manage to fly away, only to die afterwards far from the window site. This finding has major implications for estimating population-level impacts of bird-window collisions, suggesting that the number of collisions may be highly underestimated by traditional survey methods.



“Bird-window collisions happen all over the world throughout the year, but the frequency and severity of collisions seem to be underestimated by the public, especially at residential settings,” said study lead author Brendon Samuels, a doctoral student in Biology at the <a href="https://www.uwo.ca/">University of Western Ontario</a> in Canada. “One reason is that collisions happen suddenly and are difficult for people to observe directly. When birds fly away afterwards, it’s unclear what ultimately happens to them. Our findings highlight how common collisions can be in residential settings, especially where there are bird attractants like feeders.”



Moreover, although previous studies of bird-windows collisions have tended to focus mostly on quantifying the incidence of fatal collisions at larger structures, residential buildings are the most abundant types of structures with windows, and could thus represent the greatest cumulative threat to birds. In addition, since backyard bird feeding has gained in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, more birds are now drawn into high-risk settings.



According to the experts, new buildings can be designed based on practices that limit the risk of collisions. Moreover, existing building windows could be retrofitted by using simple materials to add visual markers to the exterior of the glass. Further research is needed though to characterize how birds orient their eyes to detect and avoid collisions with windows, so that collision deterrents may be designed optimally to match bird vision.&nbsp;



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Window collisions are a leading cause of bird mortality

Collisions with glass windows on buildings, fences, transportation shelters, and...

The phrase “to swallow one’s tongue” has circulated since at least the 1980s, signifying a variety of things such as falling silent to experiencing a general feeling of fear. While it is anatomically impossible for a human to swallow their tongue, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cane-toads-make-long-distance-calls-for-love/">cane toads</a> (Rhinella marina) actually achieve this feat every time they eat.



The scientists used X-ray videography to investigate toads’ feeding behavior, offering the first glimpse of what frogs do once their food reaches their mouths. The analysis revealed that cane toads swallow prey by using a complex pulley system of cartilage and muscle that travels so far down their throats, it butts up against their hearts.



“We know a lot about how frogs extend their tongues and how it sticks to their prey, but prior to this study, essentially everything that happens after they close their mouths was a mystery,” said study lead author Rachel Keeffe, who conducted this research as part of her doctoral degree in Biology at the <a href="https://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a>.



After placing the toads in a clear observation box, the researchers fed them a steady stream of crickets while filming them using X-ray videography. “We weren’t sure what was happening at first,” Keefe explained. “The whole floor of the mouth was pulled backward into the throat and the tongue along with it.”



Examining meticulous reconstructions of movements into 3D animations, the scientists observed that once the toad’s tongue has reached its fullest extent, the hyoid – a cartilaginous plate with loops and prongs attached to muscles on the floor of their mouths – retracted into their throats. Then, the tongue, which is directly attached to the hyoid, was slingshot back into the mouth. It still remains unclear how far back the hyoid can move, since its path is blocked by the toad’s heart, which the animal slides up against milliseconds before the tongue and its attached prey smash into the cartilaginous cushion.



Finally, in order to dislodge the concussed insect from its sticky tongue, the toad uses what the experts call a “hyoid dorsal ascent.” “The hyoid shoots up and presses the tongue against the roof of the mouth, after which it moves forward, essentially scraping the food off into the esophagus,” Keefe explained. The entire feeding process takes less than two seconds, with most of the time spent repositioning the tongue and hyoid after swallowing.



Since there is a rich diversity of feeding mechanisms among the over 7,000 known frog species, further comparative studies are needed to clarify whether the feeding behavior of cane toads is the rule or the exception.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obac045">Integrative Organismal Biology</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Cane toads swallow their tongue when they eat

The phrase “to swallow one’s tongue” has circulated since at...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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