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Even though they are often targeted for pest control, centipedes are some of nature’s best exterminators, emerging by night from their crevices to feed on cockroaches, flies, bedbugs, crickets, spiders and snails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931377\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1931377 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">House centipedes live in the dark, moist corners of people’s homes. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Everyone thinks they bite,” said Orin McMonigle, author of the book “Centipedes in Captivity.” “But I’ve held them in my hand a million times and they’ve never bitten me. They can’t get through your skin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizable for their striking (some might say, repulsive) starburst-like shape, house centipedes have far fewer than the 100 legs their name suggests. They’re born with a modest eight, a count that grows to 30 as they reach adulthood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The house centipede’s legs get progressively longer toward the rear, which creates its characteristic outline and keeps them from getting tangled when they are running fast. And they can run fast — about 16 inches a second, which is pound for pound about the same as a human running 42 mph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931378\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1931378\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517_cent_on_white_walksthru_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The house centipede’s legs coordinate to avoid getting tangled when it runs. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If 30 legs sound like more than one critter really needs — perhaps it is. Over the last 450 million years or so, when centipedes split off from other arthropods, evolution has turned some of those walking limbs into other useful and versatile tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically arthropods are Swiss army knives,” said Greg Edgecombe, a paleontologist who specializes in centipedes at the Natural History Museum, London. “They differentiate the legs for different functions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it hunts, for example, the house centipede uses its legs as a rope to restrain prey in a tactic called “lassoing.” The tip of each leg is so finely segmented and flexible that it can coil around its victim to prevent escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931384\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1931384 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517_cent_catches_cricket_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A house centipede catches its prey, like this cricket, with its ropelike legs. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The centipede’s venom-injecting fangs, called forciples, are also modified legs. Though shorter and thicker than the walking limbs, they are multijointed , which makes them far more dexterous than the fangs of insects and spiders, which hinge in only one plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of this dexterity, the centipede’s forciples not only inject venom, but also hold prey in place while the centipede feeds. Then they take a turn as a grooming tool. The centipede passes its legs through the forciples to clean and lubricate their sensory hairs. “All those hairs need to be kept clean, so they groom pretty regularly,” said Edgecombe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they’re methodical about it. “They groom down one side of the body and then the other,” he added. “When you interrupt them, they pick up where they left off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New research from scientists in Germany has identified another way the house centipede may be repurposing some of its many limbs, this time at the other end of the body. The research focuses on the critter’s hindmost legs, which rival its frontal antennae in length.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931380\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1931380\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A house centipede grooms its leg with its forciples. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Scientists have long noticed that because of their length and the fact that the centipede holds them aloft when it walks, these back legs give the appearance of a second pair of antennae. The house centipede looks like it has two heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In evolution, when an animal imitates itself, it’s called automimicry. Automimicry occurs in some fish, birds and butterflies, and usually serves to divert predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new research suggests that’s not the whole story with the house centipede. When Andy Sombke and Matthes Kenning from the University of Greifswald turned an electron microscope on the centipede’s legs, they found as many sensory hairs, or sensilla, on them as on the antennae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We asked whether these legs represented some kind of antennae at the back or the end of the body,” said Sombke by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931382\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1931382\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The house centipede’s back legs rival its front antennae in length. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The presence of so many sensory hairs suggests the centipede’s long back legs are not merely dummies used in a defensive ploy but serve a special function, possibly in mate selection. During courtship, both the male and female house centipede slowly raise and lower their antennae and back legs, followed by mutual tapping and probing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They do this whole ritual dance,” said Randy Mercurio, who runs Centipede Venom Pharm, a North Carolina-based firm that cultivates the venom of centipedes for scientific and medical research. The pairing is difficult to observe, he notes, because house centipedes are highly cannibalistic. His advice to anyone attempting to mate them: “Make sure they’re well fed.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As California enters the winter rainy season, at least one transplant won’t be disappointed to see a change in the weather. West Coast rain is just fine for the house centipede, a guest from the Mediterranean that favors the dark, humid corners of people’s homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not to be confused with their herbivorous cousins the millipedes, centipedes are aggressive predators that use venom to subdue their prey. Even though they are often targeted for pest control, centipedes are some of nature’s best exterminators, emerging by night from their crevices to feed on cockroaches, flies, bedbugs, crickets, spiders and snails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931377\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1931377 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-wider-purple-legs-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">House centipedes live in the dark, moist corners of people’s homes. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Everyone thinks they bite,” said Orin McMonigle, author of the book “Centipedes in Captivity.” “But I’ve held them in my hand a million times and they’ve never bitten me. They can’t get through your skin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizable for their striking (some might say, repulsive) starburst-like shape, house centipedes have far fewer than the 100 legs their name suggests. They’re born with a modest eight, a count that grows to 30 as they reach adulthood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The house centipede’s legs get progressively longer toward the rear, which creates its characteristic outline and keeps them from getting tangled when they are running fast. And they can run fast — about 16 inches a second, which is pound for pound about the same as a human running 42 mph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931378\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1931378\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517_cent_on_white_walksthru_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The house centipede’s legs coordinate to avoid getting tangled when it runs. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If 30 legs sound like more than one critter really needs — perhaps it is. Over the last 450 million years or so, when centipedes split off from other arthropods, evolution has turned some of those walking limbs into other useful and versatile tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically arthropods are Swiss army knives,” said Greg Edgecombe, a paleontologist who specializes in centipedes at the Natural History Museum, London. “They differentiate the legs for different functions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it hunts, for example, the house centipede uses its legs as a rope to restrain prey in a tactic called “lassoing.” The tip of each leg is so finely segmented and flexible that it can coil around its victim to prevent escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931384\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1931384 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517_cent_catches_cricket_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A house centipede catches its prey, like this cricket, with its ropelike legs. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The centipede’s venom-injecting fangs, called forciples, are also modified legs. Though shorter and thicker than the walking limbs, they are multijointed , which makes them far more dexterous than the fangs of insects and spiders, which hinge in only one plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of this dexterity, the centipede’s forciples not only inject venom, but also hold prey in place while the centipede feeds. Then they take a turn as a grooming tool. The centipede passes its legs through the forciples to clean and lubricate their sensory hairs. “All those hairs need to be kept clean, so they groom pretty regularly,” said Edgecombe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they’re methodical about it. “They groom down one side of the body and then the other,” he added. “When you interrupt them, they pick up where they left off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New research from scientists in Germany has identified another way the house centipede may be repurposing some of its many limbs, this time at the other end of the body. The research focuses on the critter’s hindmost legs, which rival its frontal antennae in length.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931380\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1931380\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-underside-leg-groom-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A house centipede grooms its leg with its forciples. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Scientists have long noticed that because of their length and the fact that the centipede holds them aloft when it walks, these back legs give the appearance of a second pair of antennae. The house centipede looks like it has two heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In evolution, when an animal imitates itself, it’s called automimicry. Automimicry occurs in some fish, birds and butterflies, and usually serves to divert predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new research suggests that’s not the whole story with the house centipede. When Andy Sombke and Matthes Kenning from the University of Greifswald turned an electron microscope on the centipede’s legs, they found as many sensory hairs, or sensilla, on them as on the antennae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We asked whether these legs represented some kind of antennae at the back or the end of the body,” said Sombke by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931382\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1931382\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL517-centipede-back-legs-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The house centipede’s back legs rival its front antennae in length. \u003ccite>(Kevin Collins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The presence of so many sensory hairs suggests the centipede’s long back legs are not merely dummies used in a defensive ploy but serve a special function, possibly in mate selection. During courtship, both the male and female house centipede slowly raise and lower their antennae and back legs, followed by mutual tapping and probing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They do this whole ritual dance,” said Randy Mercurio, who runs Centipede Venom Pharm, a North Carolina-based firm that cultivates the venom of centipedes for scientific and medical research. The pairing is difficult to observe, he notes, because house centipedes are highly cannibalistic. His advice to anyone attempting to mate them: “Make sure they’re well fed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-kittens-go-from-clueless-to-cute",
"title": "How Kittens Go From Clueless to Cute",
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"headTitle": "How Kittens Go From Clueless to Cute | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Every year, hundreds of thousands of kittens end up in animal shelters, in need of permanent homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_FIVE-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_CLIMBS_PEN.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930970 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_FIVE-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_CLIMBS_PEN.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 5-week-old kitten plays at a shelter run by the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA in Burlingame, near San Francisco, California. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But raising orphaned newborns into healthy, fluffy, frisky 2-month-olds ready to be adopted requires an enormous behind-the-scenes effort. All across the country, volunteer foster parents log many sleepless nights bottle-feeding kittens, which are even more helpless than human babies. So researchers and shelters are trying to figure out ways to make it easier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think fostering is taking kittens home and playing with them,” said Penny Dougherty, chief executive director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kittencentralofplacercounty.org/our-program\">Kitten Central of Placer County\u003c/a>, an animal shelter she runs from her house in Newcastle, California, 30 miles northeast of Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930966\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_BOTTLE_FEEDS_NIGHTTIME.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930966 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_BOTTLE_FEEDS_NIGHTTIME.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Penny Dougherty bottle-feeds a 2-week-old kitten she fostered at her house in June. During their first weeks, kittens in foster care need to be bottle-fed every two to four hours, day and night. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kitten Central receives most of its kittens from Placer County Animal Services. Dougherty cares for kittens up to 1 month old, as well as feral and stray cats with litters. After the kittens weigh at least 2 pounds and have been spayed and neutered, she returns them to the agency so they can put them up for adoption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re very happy to have our services,” said Dougherty, “because so many shelters have to euthanize.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dougherty said that before she opened Kitten Central in 2012, Placer County Animal Services regularly euthanized newborn kittens, a common practice around the country. The nonprofit covers its expenses through donations and a $62.50 charge to animal services for each kitten it fosters, a fee that covers food, vaccines, heating pads and antibiotics, said Dougherty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the days start getting longer, around January, cats start breeding. March is the beginning of what’s known among shelters as “kitten season.” The flow of kittens doesn’t slow down until November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930964\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_CAT_AND_HER_SEVEN_NEWBORN_KITTENS.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930964\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_CAT_AND_HER_SEVEN_NEWBORN_KITTENS.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This stray cat gave birth to seven kittens in June in Valerie Hatfield’s bathroom. Hatfield fosters pregnant cats and orphaned kittens through the San Francisco-based nonprofit Toni’s Kitty Rescue. \u003ccite>(Gabriela Quirós/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Kitten season is kind of one of the banes of shelter existence,” said Cynthia Delany, supervising shelter veterinarian at Yolo County Animal Services in Woodland, west of Sacramento. “Six or seven months out of the year we’re just flooded with these little guys.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the most part, it’s a human-made problem, she said. People who come across a new litter may think that the mother has abandoned her babies, and they take them to a shelter. But more often than not, the cat is just off looking for food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To steer clear of inundating shelters with newborn kittens, Delany’s advice is to leave litters alone unless they’re in immediate danger. Most of the time their mom will return, she said, so check back periodically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really hard for people to see kittens and not want to just scoop them up,” she said. “But just by separating them from their mom, you’ve decreased their chance of survival because they need their mom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930969\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930969\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kittens are born with their eyes sealed shut. They don’t open up until they’re about 10 days old. \u003ccite>(Gabriela Quirós/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Newborn kittens are particularly vulnerable because they’re born underdeveloped. They’re what’s known as altricial. They need a lot of care from their mothers, in comparison with baby animals such as foals, which stand up within an hour of birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first week and a half of their lives, kittens’ eyes are sealed closed and their ears are folded up, making them practically blind and deaf. They don’t stand up until they’re a month old. To survive, they need their mother to keep warm and nurse. They find her milk by sniffing and pawing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930968\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930968 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2-day-old kitten’s ear is folded up. \u003ccite>(Gabriela Quirós/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When a mama cat is absent, newborn kittens require around-the-clock human care and a heating pad to lie on. During their first two weeks, they need to be bottle-fed every two to three hours throughout the night; and after that, every three to four hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have trouble when the alarm goes off at 3 a.m.,” said Dougherty of Kitten Central. “But staying up to 11 p.m. is rough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newborn kittens can’t even pee on their own. They need their foster parents to lightly rub their backsides in order to be stimulated. This mimics the licking their cat mother would do. So after bottle-feeding a 2-week-old kitten, Dougherty rubs its bottom with a wipe to encourage it to pee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The job becomes even harder when newborn kittens get sick with respiratory diseases or diarrhea, which they often do because their immune systems aren’t developed yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this work makes it challenging to find volunteers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of my fosters burn out after three seasons,” said Dougherty. She manages 35 foster parents, who cared for 515 kittens in their houses last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to lessen the load on foster parents and increase newborn kittens’ chances of survival, \u003ca href=\"http://catsandsquirrels.com/aboutme/\">Mikel Maria Delgado\u003c/a>, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, is joining forces with Kitten Central and other animal shelters to figure out if there are optimum temperature and humidity levels that make it possible to feed newborn kittens less frequently. She has distributed incubators to the groups so that two or three kittens can be kept in each one for about three weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930967\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930967 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2-week-old kitten spends its time in an incubator at Penny Dougherty’s house in Newcastle, California. The incubator was provided by Mikel Maria Delgado, a postdoctoral fellow at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, who is researching the best temperature for newborn kittens in foster care. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During their first two to three weeks of life, kittens can’t keep themselves warm on their own and need a constant source of heat, whether their mom, siblings or a heating pad of some sort. Some of the incubators in the study are kept at 90 degrees and others at 80 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We predict that there will be some benefits to keeping them warmer and moister,” said Delgado. “What we’re hoping to find is that if a kitten is kept in a warm environment, then they’ll need fewer feedings and it would be easier to find foster parents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incubators, which cost $1,000 apiece, look a little like toaster ovens. The kittens sleep on a warming pad inside. In an incubator on Dougherty’s kitchen counter, 2-week-old tabby brothers she calls Winston and Winfield are learning how to play, scooting around on their bellies and tentatively lunging at each other. They were abandoned at birth by a feral cat at a house nearby. As part of the research project, Dougherty weighs them after each feeding and keeps a log of how much they ate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930987\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930987 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Penny Dougherty weighs a bottle with formula before feeding a 2-week-old kitten at her house, where she runs Kitten Central of Placer County. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Delgado’s study started in May. She has collected data on 70 newborn kittens fostered by Kitten Central and other groups like the Orphan Kitten Project run by UC Davis veterinary students. She’ll be gathering data next year, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it turns out that keeping kittens at a particular temperature and humidity helps, Delgado then plans to design a cheap alternative to an incubator that animal shelters could use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Incubators cost $500 to $1,000. We’d want to develop something affordable for rescue groups. Maybe a sponge can increase the humidity,” said Delgado. “Now people use cat carriers and cardboard boxes. Those probably aren’t warm enough and humid enough for kittens to thrive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Additional reporting contributed by Emma Hiolski. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Newborn kittens are a huge challenge for shelters, so they’re working on ways to help them flourish.\r\n",
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"title": "How Kittens Go From Clueless to Cute | KQED",
"description": "Newborn kittens are a huge challenge for shelters, so they’re working on ways to help them flourish.\r\n",
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"headline": "How Kittens Go From Clueless to Cute",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Every year, hundreds of thousands of kittens end up in animal shelters, in need of permanent homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_FIVE-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_CLIMBS_PEN.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930970 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_FIVE-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_CLIMBS_PEN.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 5-week-old kitten plays at a shelter run by the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA in Burlingame, near San Francisco, California. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But raising orphaned newborns into healthy, fluffy, frisky 2-month-olds ready to be adopted requires an enormous behind-the-scenes effort. All across the country, volunteer foster parents log many sleepless nights bottle-feeding kittens, which are even more helpless than human babies. So researchers and shelters are trying to figure out ways to make it easier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think fostering is taking kittens home and playing with them,” said Penny Dougherty, chief executive director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kittencentralofplacercounty.org/our-program\">Kitten Central of Placer County\u003c/a>, an animal shelter she runs from her house in Newcastle, California, 30 miles northeast of Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930966\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_BOTTLE_FEEDS_NIGHTTIME.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930966 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_BOTTLE_FEEDS_NIGHTTIME.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Penny Dougherty bottle-feeds a 2-week-old kitten she fostered at her house in June. During their first weeks, kittens in foster care need to be bottle-fed every two to four hours, day and night. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kitten Central receives most of its kittens from Placer County Animal Services. Dougherty cares for kittens up to 1 month old, as well as feral and stray cats with litters. After the kittens weigh at least 2 pounds and have been spayed and neutered, she returns them to the agency so they can put them up for adoption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re very happy to have our services,” said Dougherty, “because so many shelters have to euthanize.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dougherty said that before she opened Kitten Central in 2012, Placer County Animal Services regularly euthanized newborn kittens, a common practice around the country. The nonprofit covers its expenses through donations and a $62.50 charge to animal services for each kitten it fosters, a fee that covers food, vaccines, heating pads and antibiotics, said Dougherty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the days start getting longer, around January, cats start breeding. March is the beginning of what’s known among shelters as “kitten season.” The flow of kittens doesn’t slow down until November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930964\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_CAT_AND_HER_SEVEN_NEWBORN_KITTENS.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930964\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_CAT_AND_HER_SEVEN_NEWBORN_KITTENS.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This stray cat gave birth to seven kittens in June in Valerie Hatfield’s bathroom. Hatfield fosters pregnant cats and orphaned kittens through the San Francisco-based nonprofit Toni’s Kitty Rescue. \u003ccite>(Gabriela Quirós/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Kitten season is kind of one of the banes of shelter existence,” said Cynthia Delany, supervising shelter veterinarian at Yolo County Animal Services in Woodland, west of Sacramento. “Six or seven months out of the year we’re just flooded with these little guys.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the most part, it’s a human-made problem, she said. People who come across a new litter may think that the mother has abandoned her babies, and they take them to a shelter. But more often than not, the cat is just off looking for food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To steer clear of inundating shelters with newborn kittens, Delany’s advice is to leave litters alone unless they’re in immediate danger. Most of the time their mom will return, she said, so check back periodically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really hard for people to see kittens and not want to just scoop them up,” she said. “But just by separating them from their mom, you’ve decreased their chance of survival because they need their mom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930969\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930969\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_NEWBORN_KITTEN_W_EYES_SEALED_CLOSED_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kittens are born with their eyes sealed shut. They don’t open up until they’re about 10 days old. \u003ccite>(Gabriela Quirós/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Newborn kittens are particularly vulnerable because they’re born underdeveloped. They’re what’s known as altricial. They need a lot of care from their mothers, in comparison with baby animals such as foals, which stand up within an hour of birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first week and a half of their lives, kittens’ eyes are sealed closed and their ears are folded up, making them practically blind and deaf. They don’t stand up until they’re a month old. To survive, they need their mother to keep warm and nurse. They find her milk by sniffing and pawing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930968\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930968 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_EAR_FOLDED_CLOSED_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2-day-old kitten’s ear is folded up. \u003ccite>(Gabriela Quirós/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When a mama cat is absent, newborn kittens require around-the-clock human care and a heating pad to lie on. During their first two weeks, they need to be bottle-fed every two to three hours throughout the night; and after that, every three to four hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have trouble when the alarm goes off at 3 a.m.,” said Dougherty of Kitten Central. “But staying up to 11 p.m. is rough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newborn kittens can’t even pee on their own. They need their foster parents to lightly rub their backsides in order to be stimulated. This mimics the licking their cat mother would do. So after bottle-feeding a 2-week-old kitten, Dougherty rubs its bottom with a wipe to encourage it to pee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The job becomes even harder when newborn kittens get sick with respiratory diseases or diarrhea, which they often do because their immune systems aren’t developed yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this work makes it challenging to find volunteers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of my fosters burn out after three seasons,” said Dougherty. She manages 35 foster parents, who cared for 515 kittens in their houses last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to lessen the load on foster parents and increase newborn kittens’ chances of survival, \u003ca href=\"http://catsandsquirrels.com/aboutme/\">Mikel Maria Delgado\u003c/a>, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, is joining forces with Kitten Central and other animal shelters to figure out if there are optimum temperature and humidity levels that make it possible to feed newborn kittens less frequently. She has distributed incubators to the groups so that two or three kittens can be kept in each one for about three weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930967\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930967 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516Kittens_TWO-WEEK-OLD_KITTEN_IN_INCUBATOR_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2-week-old kitten spends its time in an incubator at Penny Dougherty’s house in Newcastle, California. The incubator was provided by Mikel Maria Delgado, a postdoctoral fellow at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, who is researching the best temperature for newborn kittens in foster care. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During their first two to three weeks of life, kittens can’t keep themselves warm on their own and need a constant source of heat, whether their mom, siblings or a heating pad of some sort. Some of the incubators in the study are kept at 90 degrees and others at 80 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We predict that there will be some benefits to keeping them warmer and moister,” said Delgado. “What we’re hoping to find is that if a kitten is kept in a warm environment, then they’ll need fewer feedings and it would be easier to find foster parents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incubators, which cost $1,000 apiece, look a little like toaster ovens. The kittens sleep on a warming pad inside. In an incubator on Dougherty’s kitchen counter, 2-week-old tabby brothers she calls Winston and Winfield are learning how to play, scooting around on their bellies and tentatively lunging at each other. They were abandoned at birth by a feral cat at a house nearby. As part of the research project, Dougherty weighs them after each feeding and keeps a log of how much they ate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930987\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930987 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/DL_516KITTENS_PENNY_DOUGHERTY_WEIGHS_BOTTLE_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Penny Dougherty weighs a bottle with formula before feeding a 2-week-old kitten at her house, where she runs Kitten Central of Placer County. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Delgado’s study started in May. She has collected data on 70 newborn kittens fostered by Kitten Central and other groups like the Orphan Kitten Project run by UC Davis veterinary students. She’ll be gathering data next year, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it turns out that keeping kittens at a particular temperature and humidity helps, Delgado then plans to design a cheap alternative to an incubator that animal shelters could use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Incubators cost $500 to $1,000. We’d want to develop something affordable for rescue groups. Maybe a sponge can increase the humidity,” said Delgado. “Now people use cat carriers and cardboard boxes. Those probably aren’t warm enough and humid enough for kittens to thrive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]The summer months bring low morning tides along the California coast, providing an opportunity to see one of the state’s most unusual inhabitants, sea slugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also called nudibranchs, many of these relatives of snails are brightly colored and stand out among the seaweed and anemones living next to them in tidepools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of them are bright red, blue, yellow — you name it,” said Terry Gosliner, senior curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. “They’re kind of designer slugs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But without a protective shell, big jaws or sharp claws, how do these squishy little creatures get away with such flamboyant colors in a habitat full of predators?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930226\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1930226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nudibranch with bright orange cerata on its back. Scientists think the bright colors serve as a warning to predators. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the nudibranchs’ colors serve as a warning to predators: These sea slugs are packing some very sophisticated defenses. And some aren’t above stealing weapons from their prey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gosliner and Brenna Green and Emily Otstott, graduate students at San Francisco State University, were out at dawn earlier this summer searching tidepools and floating docks around the Bay Area. They want to learn more about how these delicate little sea slugs survive and how changing ocean temperatures might threaten their futures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930228 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emily Otstott, a graduate student at San Francisco State University, searches for nudibranchs in the tidepools at Pillar Point just north of Half Moon Bay, California, as part of her work for the California Academy of Sciences. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nudibranchs come in a staggering variety of shapes and sizes. Many accumulate toxic or bad-tasting chemicals from their prey, causing predators like fish and crabs to learn that the flashy colors mean the nudibranch wouldn’t make a good meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Gosliner and his graduate student assistants are particularly interested in a group of nudibranchs that sport dozens of long outgrowths on their backs called cerata, which resemble colorful dreadlocks. These species take stealing defenses from their prey to a whole new level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930231\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Ectopleura-hydroid-2.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930231\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Ectopleura-hydroid-2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hydroids wave their tentacles, each coated in stinging cells, to catch prey floating by. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of these nudibranchs feed on hydroids, smaller relatives of jellies that stay attached to the rocky seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Gosliner, most hydroids are about the size of half of your little finger, some a bit larger. “Some of them look like seaweed, while others have a branching pattern that resembles a bird’s feather,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like their free-swimming cousins, hydroids have tentacles armed with stinging cells to catch tiny plankton out of the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each one of those stinging cells contains a structure called a nematocyst that resembles a microscopic harpoon, tethered to the tentacle by a long hollow tube. It’s what gives jellies their sting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930234\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-nematocysts-firing.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930234\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-nematocysts-firing.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A hydroid’s tentacle viewed under a microscope. When triggered, stinging nematocysts that coat the surface of a hydroid’s tentacle fire tiny harpoons to catch prey and defend from predators \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If anything tries to nibble on the hydroids, they shoot out their nematocysts,” said Gosliner. “So the hydroids are able to capture their prey or defend themselves using the same structures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not enough to stop nudibranchs from devouring the hydroids — stinging tentacles and all. They seem unfazed, even as the nematocysts fire off in their mouths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not all of the stinging nematocysts fire right away. Some that are not yet fully mature stay intact and travel through the nudibranch’s complex digestive tract to become a fearsome weapon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930236\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-animation.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930236 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-animation.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">When a nudibranch eats a hydroid, some of the hydroid’s immature nematocysts don’t fire and are instead transported into the tips of the cerata on the nudibranch’s back. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The nudibranch’s gut has fingerlike branches that extend up into the long cerata on its back. The unfired stingers travel up into the cerata and concentrate in little sacs at the tips, where they continue to develop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a fish or crab tries to bite the nudibranch, it squeezes those sacs and shoots out the stingers, which immediately pop in the predator’s mouth. It doesn’t take long for predators to avoid the brightly colored nudibranchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-nematocysts-firing.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930237\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-nematocysts-firing.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Immature stinging nematocysts mature in the sacs at the tip of the nudibranch’s cerata. If the nudibranch feels threatened, it can eject the stingers that fire off when they hit the water. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s a pretty crafty way to defend oneself, stealing weapons from their prey to defend against other predators. But it might not be enough to ensure the nudibranch’s survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really important that we study these nudibranchs now, because so many of them that rely on nematocysts for their defense are facing challenges from climate change,” said Gosliner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of them are having to move farther north along the California coastline to avoid the warming ocean temperatures, and they may not always be able to find their preferred prey as they get forced into the cooler water northward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930239\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1020x573.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1930239\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1200x674.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1920x1078.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1180x662.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-960x539.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-520x292.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senior curator and nudibranch expert Terry Gosliner uses a microscope at California Academy of Sciences to view a hydroid’s tentacle while Deep Look producer and cinematographer Josh Cassidy captures the images \u003ccite>(Amanda Heidt/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you live on the Pacific Coast and would like to see a nudibranch, Gosliner suggested visiting tidepools during low tide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Look very carefully and you’ll see something crawling around with bright colors,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t touch them. While the hydroid stingers housing in the nudibranch’s back likely won’t be able to penetrate your skin, curious hands could easily damage nudibranchs. And nudibranchs are nearly impossible to keep in aquariums, which is why you rarely see them on display.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just observe them in all their glory and take pictures,” Gosliner said. “You’ll be astounded by their beauty and diversity.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The summer months bring low morning tides along the California coast, providing an opportunity to see one of the state’s most unusual inhabitants, sea slugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also called nudibranchs, many of these relatives of snails are brightly colored and stand out among the seaweed and anemones living next to them in tidepools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of them are bright red, blue, yellow — you name it,” said Terry Gosliner, senior curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. “They’re kind of designer slugs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But without a protective shell, big jaws or sharp claws, how do these squishy little creatures get away with such flamboyant colors in a habitat full of predators?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930226\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1930226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Hermissenda-opalescens-on-rock-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nudibranch with bright orange cerata on its back. Scientists think the bright colors serve as a warning to predators. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the nudibranchs’ colors serve as a warning to predators: These sea slugs are packing some very sophisticated defenses. And some aren’t above stealing weapons from their prey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gosliner and Brenna Green and Emily Otstott, graduate students at San Francisco State University, were out at dawn earlier this summer searching tidepools and floating docks around the Bay Area. They want to learn more about how these delicate little sea slugs survive and how changing ocean temperatures might threaten their futures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930228 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Emily-at-Pillar-ooint-2-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emily Otstott, a graduate student at San Francisco State University, searches for nudibranchs in the tidepools at Pillar Point just north of Half Moon Bay, California, as part of her work for the California Academy of Sciences. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nudibranchs come in a staggering variety of shapes and sizes. Many accumulate toxic or bad-tasting chemicals from their prey, causing predators like fish and crabs to learn that the flashy colors mean the nudibranch wouldn’t make a good meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Gosliner and his graduate student assistants are particularly interested in a group of nudibranchs that sport dozens of long outgrowths on their backs called cerata, which resemble colorful dreadlocks. These species take stealing defenses from their prey to a whole new level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930231\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Ectopleura-hydroid-2.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930231\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-Ectopleura-hydroid-2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hydroids wave their tentacles, each coated in stinging cells, to catch prey floating by. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of these nudibranchs feed on hydroids, smaller relatives of jellies that stay attached to the rocky seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Gosliner, most hydroids are about the size of half of your little finger, some a bit larger. “Some of them look like seaweed, while others have a branching pattern that resembles a bird’s feather,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like their free-swimming cousins, hydroids have tentacles armed with stinging cells to catch tiny plankton out of the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each one of those stinging cells contains a structure called a nematocyst that resembles a microscopic harpoon, tethered to the tentacle by a long hollow tube. It’s what gives jellies their sting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930234\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-nematocysts-firing.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930234\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-nematocysts-firing.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A hydroid’s tentacle viewed under a microscope. When triggered, stinging nematocysts that coat the surface of a hydroid’s tentacle fire tiny harpoons to catch prey and defend from predators \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If anything tries to nibble on the hydroids, they shoot out their nematocysts,” said Gosliner. “So the hydroids are able to capture their prey or defend themselves using the same structures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not enough to stop nudibranchs from devouring the hydroids — stinging tentacles and all. They seem unfazed, even as the nematocysts fire off in their mouths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not all of the stinging nematocysts fire right away. Some that are not yet fully mature stay intact and travel through the nudibranch’s complex digestive tract to become a fearsome weapon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930236\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-animation.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930236 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-animation.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">When a nudibranch eats a hydroid, some of the hydroid’s immature nematocysts don’t fire and are instead transported into the tips of the cerata on the nudibranch’s back. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The nudibranch’s gut has fingerlike branches that extend up into the long cerata on its back. The unfired stingers travel up into the cerata and concentrate in little sacs at the tips, where they continue to develop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a fish or crab tries to bite the nudibranch, it squeezes those sacs and shoots out the stingers, which immediately pop in the predator’s mouth. It doesn’t take long for predators to avoid the brightly colored nudibranchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-nematocysts-firing.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1930237\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL515-Nudibranchs-cerata-nematocysts-firing.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Immature stinging nematocysts mature in the sacs at the tip of the nudibranch’s cerata. If the nudibranch feels threatened, it can eject the stingers that fire off when they hit the water. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s a pretty crafty way to defend oneself, stealing weapons from their prey to defend against other predators. But it might not be enough to ensure the nudibranch’s survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really important that we study these nudibranchs now, because so many of them that rely on nematocysts for their defense are facing challenges from climate change,” said Gosliner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of them are having to move farther north along the California coastline to avoid the warming ocean temperatures, and they may not always be able to find their preferred prey as they get forced into the cooler water northward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930239\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1020x573.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1930239\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-768x431.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1200x674.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1920x1078.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-1180x662.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-960x539.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/IMG_2633-520x292.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senior curator and nudibranch expert Terry Gosliner uses a microscope at California Academy of Sciences to view a hydroid’s tentacle while Deep Look producer and cinematographer Josh Cassidy captures the images \u003ccite>(Amanda Heidt/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you live on the Pacific Coast and would like to see a nudibranch, Gosliner suggested visiting tidepools during low tide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Look very carefully and you’ll see something crawling around with bright colors,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t touch them. While the hydroid stingers housing in the nudibranch’s back likely won’t be able to penetrate your skin, curious hands could easily damage nudibranchs. And nudibranchs are nearly impossible to keep in aquariums, which is why you rarely see them on display.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just observe them in all their glory and take pictures,” Gosliner said. “You’ll be astounded by their beauty and diversity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bird Species Collapse in the Mojave, Driven by Climate Change",
"headTitle": "Bird Species Collapse in the Mojave, Driven by Climate Change | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Bird populations in the Mojave are plummeting for lack of water, in an imbalance driven by climate change. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2018/07/31/1805123115.full.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new study\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley finds shrinking rainfall has led to the loss of more than 40 percent of bird species, in a habitat that relies heavily on birds for basic functions such as pollinating plants and acting as both predator and prey.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘Deserts are really amazing ecosystems where most of life has developed skills to live at the limits of where life can survive.’\u003ccite>Steve Beissinger, UC Berkeley\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>This collapse of Mojave bird communities, say the authors, is a precursor to the overall loss of animals and other biodiversity in desert climates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Mojave, which recently won the unenviable record for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1928476/wowzers-death-valley-sets-tentative-world-record-for-hottest-month\">world’s hottest month\u003c/a>, routinely gets less than 2 inches of rain a year, a fraction of what most deserts receive. Yet even that small amount makes a huge difference, scientists found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bird Species Now, and a Century Ago\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a three-year survey of an area larger than the state of New York, senior researcher and UC Berkeley professor Steve Beissinger and his collaborator reported that today, there are 43 percent fewer bird species than existed in the desert a century ago. And of 135 remaining species surveyed, all but 3 were in some stage of decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This work follows up on a previous UC Berkeley study done in 1908 by \u003ca href=\"http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell.html\">Joseph Grinnell\u003c/a>, the original Director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley. Known for taking extremely detailed field notes, Grinnell’s study is rare in that it contains enough detail for modern researchers to recreate it. So researchers were able to \u003ca href=\"http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/index.html\">look at the same sites\u003c/a> Grinnell surveyed 100 years later, and compare their results to his list of birds present in the Mojave at the turn of the 20th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Grinnell definitely had a sense that he was giving us a record of what California was like in the early 1900s,” Beissinger says. “He gave us the gift of a baseline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, with the “partial collapse of the avian community,” the baseline has shrunk to around half the number of birds per location, compared to a century ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1929769\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1929769 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-800x647.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"647\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-800x647.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-160x129.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-768x621.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1020x825.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1200x971.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1920x1553.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1180x955.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-960x777.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-240x194.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-375x303.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-520x421.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many recognizable birds, such as this Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), are experiencing declines under climate change. Researchers say carnivorous birds such as these are hit particularly hard. \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/mypubliclands/30150329222/in/album-72157673900045520/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lisa Phillips/Bureau of Land Management/Flickr\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Why this matters has to do with the unique harshness of desert environments. Because deserts cannot support many large carnivores such as bears or mountain lions, birds become more important in the food web.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Birds are important seed dispersers, pollinators of plants, and top-level desert carnivores,” Beissinger says, “This collapse in the avian community indicates an imbalance in the Mojave. Maybe it’s an early warning system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an avid wildlife photographer, David Lamfrom, Director of California Desert and National Wildlife Programs at the National Parks Conservation Association, says it has been clear to him for years that birds are disappearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a shot across the bow that climate change is happening even in our national park jewels.’\u003ccite>Steve Beissinger, UC Berkeley\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s the greatest fear for conservationists,” he says. “When you consider the Mojave is one of the quietest places on Earth, you begin to appreciate how rich birdsong is. Especially in its absence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one species doing well under these new conditions is the common raven (\u003cem>Corvus corax\u003c/em>). Both Beissinger and Lamfrom say this should not be a surprise. Whereas many desert birds are specialists who target a specific food resource in their habitat, such as a golden eagle who learns to hunt jackrabbits, ravens are generalists who can make do with what is available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re able to live around humans, fly long distances to find water, and eat so many things,” Beissinger says, pointing out that much of their food these days is picked from trash cans and litter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Change is Driving the Loss\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change can mean many things: warmer average temperatures (often with extreme spikes), reduced rainfall and more droughts, increased risk for fires, and more violent storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”LC2qCI4GGP41nvhg9UdnvuKonc0DX5iE”]When researchers looked to see what was causing the losses in birds\u003cstrong>,\u003c/strong> they found it was the loss of rain — not warmer temperatures — that most accurately explained the changes. Most locations Grinnell had surveyed are now drier, receiving as much as 20 percent less rain than a century ago. Springs and pools that traditionally supported desert wildlife are disappearing, and birds are losing water-rich sources of food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Water is life, and water is fundamental to the desert,” says Lamfrom, “and the availability of water in the desert is having a real profound effect on how species can continue to survive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study also found that for many species, it came down to habitat preference and diet. As previously-reliable water sources dried out, so too did many seed-bearing plants which provide food (and water) for birds. As a result, many birds were forced to either travel long distances to better areas or to remain close to those few sites of refuge. Both strategies put them at risk of poor health and predation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Beissinger, the damage is so severe because so many desert species already exist at the absolute edge of their bodily tolerance. Even small increases in heat or decreases in rainfall can lead to lethal dehydration and overheating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1929321\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1929321\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cactus flowers ahead of a rare rain in Death Valley National Park. \u003ccite>(Amanda Heidt)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a series of studies, researchers are doing a \u003ca href=\"http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/index.html\">broad resurvey\u003c/a> of all of Grinnell’s sites in the state, including those in the \u003ca href=\"https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e0e5/4a09e7f8206c01915b953e6ac39735a76c66.pdf\">Sierra Nevada\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs/sp18/century-of-change-gift-of-baseline\">Central Valley\u003c/a>. In areas with lower temperatures and more reliable access to water, bird populations also dropped, but these are minor losses of close to three species per site. But it’s nothing like what is happening in the Mojave, where sites lost an average of 18 species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>National Park Jewels\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That this is happening in the Mojave at all, Beissinger stresses, is significant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a shot across the bow that climate change is happening even in our national park jewels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”W6Ry2KifKfPSxZJI9DlnVZRTWWD6p7UI”]Much of the Mojave is protected from human disturbance because it lies within either the Mojave National Preserve or Death Valley National Park. This keeps it safe from habitat loss, development, and hunting. A whopping 91 percent of Death Valley National Park, the largest national park\u003cb> \u003c/b>in the lower 48 states, has been designated as wilderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are places we expect to be immune to the effects of people, Beissinger says; that these results can be so dramatic in a place as remote as this speaks to the necessity of addressing ongoing climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know these climate change problems are big,” he says, “and they really require us to address them now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lamfrom, too, points to other protected areas where birds are disappearing. Joshua Tree National Park, he says, was once home to a healthy population of mountain quail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a really unique bird, but it’s also not a bird you would usually think of when you think of places like Joshua Tree,” he continues, “You’d probably think of a place like the Sierras.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cpp.usanpn.org/about\">Recent surveys\u003c/a> have failed to find the iconic California bird in Joshua Tree. As deserts across the country continue to become hotter and drier, Lamfrom says, perhaps the quail are returning to their namesake homes in the mountains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mountains can provide isolated pockets of protection,” Lamfrom says, “Many species are being pushed to higher altitudes to get away from the heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked what can be done to help ease these effects in the future, Beissinger says the short-term solution is to place artificial water sources throughout the park for local wildlife. These might include small ponds or troughs with reliable access to water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Think of it as a big bird-bath in the ground,” says Beissinger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer-term solution has to involve managing groundwater, Beissinger says, because when aquifers are overdrawn, it’s the desert that dries out first.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Researchers went back to places surveyed at the turn of the 20th century, to see what difference 100 years makes.",
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"title": "Bird Species Collapse in the Mojave, Driven by Climate Change | KQED",
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"headline": "Bird Species Collapse in the Mojave, Driven by Climate Change",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Bird populations in the Mojave are plummeting for lack of water, in an imbalance driven by climate change. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2018/07/31/1805123115.full.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new study\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley finds shrinking rainfall has led to the loss of more than 40 percent of bird species, in a habitat that relies heavily on birds for basic functions such as pollinating plants and acting as both predator and prey.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘Deserts are really amazing ecosystems where most of life has developed skills to live at the limits of where life can survive.’\u003ccite>Steve Beissinger, UC Berkeley\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>This collapse of Mojave bird communities, say the authors, is a precursor to the overall loss of animals and other biodiversity in desert climates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Mojave, which recently won the unenviable record for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1928476/wowzers-death-valley-sets-tentative-world-record-for-hottest-month\">world’s hottest month\u003c/a>, routinely gets less than 2 inches of rain a year, a fraction of what most deserts receive. Yet even that small amount makes a huge difference, scientists found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bird Species Now, and a Century Ago\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a three-year survey of an area larger than the state of New York, senior researcher and UC Berkeley professor Steve Beissinger and his collaborator reported that today, there are 43 percent fewer bird species than existed in the desert a century ago. And of 135 remaining species surveyed, all but 3 were in some stage of decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This work follows up on a previous UC Berkeley study done in 1908 by \u003ca href=\"http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell.html\">Joseph Grinnell\u003c/a>, the original Director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley. Known for taking extremely detailed field notes, Grinnell’s study is rare in that it contains enough detail for modern researchers to recreate it. So researchers were able to \u003ca href=\"http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/index.html\">look at the same sites\u003c/a> Grinnell surveyed 100 years later, and compare their results to his list of birds present in the Mojave at the turn of the 20th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Grinnell definitely had a sense that he was giving us a record of what California was like in the early 1900s,” Beissinger says. “He gave us the gift of a baseline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, with the “partial collapse of the avian community,” the baseline has shrunk to around half the number of birds per location, compared to a century ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1929769\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1929769 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-800x647.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"647\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-800x647.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-160x129.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-768x621.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1020x825.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1200x971.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1920x1553.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-1180x955.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-960x777.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-240x194.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-375x303.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/30150329222_d2a35de5ef_o-520x421.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many recognizable birds, such as this Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), are experiencing declines under climate change. Researchers say carnivorous birds such as these are hit particularly hard. \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/mypubliclands/30150329222/in/album-72157673900045520/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lisa Phillips/Bureau of Land Management/Flickr\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Why this matters has to do with the unique harshness of desert environments. Because deserts cannot support many large carnivores such as bears or mountain lions, birds become more important in the food web.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Birds are important seed dispersers, pollinators of plants, and top-level desert carnivores,” Beissinger says, “This collapse in the avian community indicates an imbalance in the Mojave. Maybe it’s an early warning system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an avid wildlife photographer, David Lamfrom, Director of California Desert and National Wildlife Programs at the National Parks Conservation Association, says it has been clear to him for years that birds are disappearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a shot across the bow that climate change is happening even in our national park jewels.’\u003ccite>Steve Beissinger, UC Berkeley\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s the greatest fear for conservationists,” he says. “When you consider the Mojave is one of the quietest places on Earth, you begin to appreciate how rich birdsong is. Especially in its absence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one species doing well under these new conditions is the common raven (\u003cem>Corvus corax\u003c/em>). Both Beissinger and Lamfrom say this should not be a surprise. Whereas many desert birds are specialists who target a specific food resource in their habitat, such as a golden eagle who learns to hunt jackrabbits, ravens are generalists who can make do with what is available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re able to live around humans, fly long distances to find water, and eat so many things,” Beissinger says, pointing out that much of their food these days is picked from trash cans and litter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Change is Driving the Loss\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change can mean many things: warmer average temperatures (often with extreme spikes), reduced rainfall and more droughts, increased risk for fires, and more violent storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>When researchers looked to see what was causing the losses in birds\u003cstrong>,\u003c/strong> they found it was the loss of rain — not warmer temperatures — that most accurately explained the changes. Most locations Grinnell had surveyed are now drier, receiving as much as 20 percent less rain than a century ago. Springs and pools that traditionally supported desert wildlife are disappearing, and birds are losing water-rich sources of food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Water is life, and water is fundamental to the desert,” says Lamfrom, “and the availability of water in the desert is having a real profound effect on how species can continue to survive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study also found that for many species, it came down to habitat preference and diet. As previously-reliable water sources dried out, so too did many seed-bearing plants which provide food (and water) for birds. As a result, many birds were forced to either travel long distances to better areas or to remain close to those few sites of refuge. Both strategies put them at risk of poor health and predation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Beissinger, the damage is so severe because so many desert species already exist at the absolute edge of their bodily tolerance. Even small increases in heat or decreases in rainfall can lead to lethal dehydration and overheating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1929321\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1929321\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/flower-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cactus flowers ahead of a rare rain in Death Valley National Park. \u003ccite>(Amanda Heidt)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a series of studies, researchers are doing a \u003ca href=\"http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/index.html\">broad resurvey\u003c/a> of all of Grinnell’s sites in the state, including those in the \u003ca href=\"https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e0e5/4a09e7f8206c01915b953e6ac39735a76c66.pdf\">Sierra Nevada\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs/sp18/century-of-change-gift-of-baseline\">Central Valley\u003c/a>. In areas with lower temperatures and more reliable access to water, bird populations also dropped, but these are minor losses of close to three species per site. But it’s nothing like what is happening in the Mojave, where sites lost an average of 18 species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>National Park Jewels\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That this is happening in the Mojave at all, Beissinger stresses, is significant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a shot across the bow that climate change is happening even in our national park jewels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>Much of the Mojave is protected from human disturbance because it lies within either the Mojave National Preserve or Death Valley National Park. This keeps it safe from habitat loss, development, and hunting. A whopping 91 percent of Death Valley National Park, the largest national park\u003cb> \u003c/b>in the lower 48 states, has been designated as wilderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are places we expect to be immune to the effects of people, Beissinger says; that these results can be so dramatic in a place as remote as this speaks to the necessity of addressing ongoing climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know these climate change problems are big,” he says, “and they really require us to address them now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lamfrom, too, points to other protected areas where birds are disappearing. Joshua Tree National Park, he says, was once home to a healthy population of mountain quail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a really unique bird, but it’s also not a bird you would usually think of when you think of places like Joshua Tree,” he continues, “You’d probably think of a place like the Sierras.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cpp.usanpn.org/about\">Recent surveys\u003c/a> have failed to find the iconic California bird in Joshua Tree. As deserts across the country continue to become hotter and drier, Lamfrom says, perhaps the quail are returning to their namesake homes in the mountains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mountains can provide isolated pockets of protection,” Lamfrom says, “Many species are being pushed to higher altitudes to get away from the heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked what can be done to help ease these effects in the future, Beissinger says the short-term solution is to place artificial water sources throughout the park for local wildlife. These might include small ponds or troughs with reliable access to water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Think of it as a big bird-bath in the ground,” says Beissinger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer-term solution has to involve managing groundwater, Beissinger says, because when aquifers are overdrawn, it’s the desert that dries out first.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]A new type of bee is buzzing through California’s orchards. And researchers are hoping that the iridescent, greenish insect may help provide a more efficient way to pollinate nuts and fruits in an era when traditional honeybees have struggled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike honeybees, blue orchard bees don’t sting humans. And instead of building large colonies with thousands of worker bees caring for eggs laid by a queen bee, female blue orchard bees work alone to build their nests and stock them with food. They’re solitary bees, like most of the 4,000 species of bees in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_FLIES_AWAY_FM_FLOWER_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928806\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_FLIES_AWAY_FM_FLOWER_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee forages for nectar and pollen on lacy phacelia flowers. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/How-to-Manage-the-Blue-Orchard-Bee\">Blue orchard bees\u003c/a>, which are native to the United States, are of increasing interest to scientists, government agencies and farmers for their ability to pollinate almonds, sweet cherries and other tree fruits more efficiently than honeybees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is, I think, the moment for these bees to shine,” said entomologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person/?person-id=51460\">Natalie Boyle\u003c/a>, who studies blue orchard bees at the United States Department of Agriculture in Logan, Utah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyle works with almond growers in California, whose crop is worth $5.2 billion a year and who rely heavily on honeybees to pollinate their orchards every February. Research has found that 400 female blue orchard bees are as effective at pollinating almonds as the more than 10,000 bees in a honeybee hive, said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So for California almonds, they typically use two honeybee hives per acre,” she said. “The strategy that we’ve been trying to promote is instead of relying on two hives per acre, why don’t we bring down the stocking rate to one hive per acre plus 400 female blue orchard bees per acre?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 40 and 50 percent of honeybee colonies die each year around the country, according to the yearly \u003ca href=\"https://beeinformed.org/aphis/\">National Honey Bee Survey\u003c/a>, carried out by universities with the sponsorship of the USDA and the California Almond Board, among others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of beekeepers’ operations have been under a lot of duress for a multitude of factors: moving stress, pesticide exposure, varroa mites, viruses,” said Boyle. “You name it, these bees have had to go through it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finding other bees that could work side by side with honeybees could offer what she calls “pollination insurance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe we don’t want to put all of our eggs in this one pollination basket,” she said, referring to honeybees, “and we can diversify the suite of pollinators that are available to us for improved food security.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So researchers around the country are trying to learn everything they can about blue orchard bees’ ability to build intricate nests and pollinate almond and fruit orchards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_CLIMBS_INTO_NEST_TUBE_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928821\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_CLIMBS_INTO_NEST_TUBE_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee climbs into her nest at UC Davis. Researchers have given these bees 6-inch straws to build their nests in. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inside a 10-foot-by-10-foot mesh cage at the UC Davis bee research facility, Ph.D. student \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Sr_KkxbHs\">Clara Stuligross\u003c/a> stared at a block of wood with holes in it, each hole the width of a pencil and about 6 inches long. She had slipped a white paper straw in each one. All day long throughout May and June, she kept a close watch on the bees – all females – as they climbed in and flew out of the straws to build their nests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the wild they would nest in maybe beetle burrows or hollow twigs or things like that,” said Stuligross. “But they take really well to these human-made drill holes in blocks. And we put the straws in just so we can take the straw out and look and monitor their nesting progression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the wooden nest block, Stuligross had dug a hole in the dirt and mixed in some water. Blue orchard bees are masons that use mud to build their nests. They scrape the wet earth and form a ball of mud with two huge pincerlike tools on their face called mandibles. Then they carry the mud into their nest, in this case a straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COLLECTS_MUD_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928808\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COLLECTS_MUD_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue orchard bee collects wet earth that it will carry back to a hole to build its nest. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stuligross painted each bee so she could keep track of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I need to see which mother bee is associated with which offspring,” she said. “So I need to know exactly which hole each of them is nesting in every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stuligross wants to figure out how successful the bees are at egg-laying, given the amount of insecticide she sprayed in the cage and the number of flowers she planted for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside its nest, the bee builds a wall of mud. Then it climbs out and flies from flower to flower drinking nectar and gathering pollen. Stuligross planted nutritious purple flowers called lacy phacelia for the bees. Each flower has several long anthers sticking out; the tip of each one is covered in purple pollen. The bee grabs the anthers with its legs and rubs the pollen onto hairs on its abdomen called scopa, which make them really good pollinators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their bellies are very hairy,” said Stuligross, “and the pollen will stick to their bellies once they scrape it off the flower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928843\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928843\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Female blue orchard bees rub pollen onto hairs on their abdomen called scopa, which make them really good pollinators. This bee has purple pollen on its hairs. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When they land on another flower, the pollen from the first flower rubs off onto the second flower as they vigorously forage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s up all over that blossom. I mean she’s landing on top of it, she’s crawling between the anthers, over the top of the pistil,” said Boyle. “It’s really entertaining to watch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a bee climbs back into her nest, she scrapes the remaining pollen off her body and mixes it with a little regurgitated nectar to make a pollen ball next to the mud wall. On this ball she lays a single egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She repeats this several times in her narrow nest until she has made seven or eight little chambers separated by mud walls. Each chamber holds an egg in it, growing on a ball of pollen called a pollen provision. When she’s done, the bee seals the nest with more mud that she smoothes out with her legs and mandibles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928815\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COVERS_NEST_ENTRANCE_W_MUD_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928815\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COVERS_NEST_ENTRANCE_W_MUD_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee covers the entrance to her nest with mud. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stuligross carefully sliced through one of the paper straws to reveal the nest inside. The cross-section of the nest showed the bee’s incredible craftsmanship. The mud walls and purple pollen balls arranged sequentially made the nest look like a piece of jewelry. A female blue orchard bee is only active for four to six weeks in the spring, during which she mates and then lays about 15 eggs in two nests. At the end of this reproductive season, she dies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928827\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928827\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1081\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-1200x676.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-960x541.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue orchard bee’s nest, built inside a straw, looks like a piece of jewelry. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the eggs hatch inside the nest, a white larva in each chamber spends three weeks fattening up on its pollen provision, the purple lunchbox its mother bee packed for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928807\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_LARVA_EATS_POLLEN_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928807\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_LARVA_EATS_POLLEN_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue orchard bee larva feeds on a purple pollen ball inside a nest. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still in the safety of the nest, the well-fed larva spins a cocoon inside which it grows into a pupa and then an adult. The following spring, the adult bee chews its way out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These portable nests make it easy for scientists and growers to move the bees in and out of orchards. They can open up the nests, remove the cocoons and keep them in a temperature-controlled incubator until an orchard is in bloom, Boyle explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928832\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_EMERGES_FM_COCOON.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928832\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_EMERGES_FM_COCOON.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee emerges from a cocoon after chewing its way out. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Blue orchard bees are particularly good at pollinating almonds and tree fruits like cherries and apples because they love foraging in their flowers or, as Boyle puts it, the bee “has a high fidelity to orchard crops.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re particularly well-suited to pollinate almonds, which are in bloom in February, when it’s chilly in California’s Central Valley, because they will fly around and forage at a cooler temperature than honeybees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, some California growers are using blue orchard bees in their almond orchards, and sweet cherry farmers in California and Washington state are also bringing them onto their fields, said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But challenges remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue orchard bees reproduce slowly. While a queen honeybee can lay 500 eggs a day, a blue orchard bee lays only about 15 eggs in her entire lifetime of one year, said Boyle. So there just aren’t that many blue orchard bees around, which makes them expensive for growers, at about $1.50 per female.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If an almond grower, for example, wanted to replace one honeybee hive with 400 blue orchard bees, that would cost $600 as opposed to a $200 honeybee hive rental fee. And that’s if the blue orchard bees were available at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bulk of the supply right now is coming from wild-trapped populations of blue orchard bees, often times on federal land, which isn’t even legal,” said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928834\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_SIPS_NECTAR_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928834\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_SIPS_NECTAR_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee sips nectar from a lacy phacelia flower at UC Davis. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recently, the largest almond grower in the world \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-promising-backup-to-the-honeybee-is-shut-down/\">ended its blue orchard bee reproduction experiments in California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just don’t think they found it to be profitable,” said Boyle, who as a USDA researcher worked with the company, Wonderful Orchards, on its blue orchard bee efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solitary bees that they are, blue orchard bees tend to go off on their own. They’re not like honeybees, which return to the hive each day. So there’s no way to guarantee that a farmer will end up with nests that contain a similar number of bees than they originally released on their land. This forces them to buy new bees each year, an expensive proposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are trying to figure out how to keep these bees on the land, attracting them with abundant food, for example. Boyle and her colleagues have made some progress. For the third year in a row, they have released 275 blue orchard bees per acre into tart cherry orchards in Utah, and retrieved a similar number of bees at the end of the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think these tart cherries that we have them in are an excellent target crop for blue orchard bees,” said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s also excited to start research on their use in pear orchards in Washington state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a lot of ways,” said Boyle, “I feel like we’re still working as pioneers for this industry.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A new type of bee is buzzing through California’s orchards. And researchers are hoping that the iridescent, greenish insect may help provide a more efficient way to pollinate nuts and fruits in an era when traditional honeybees have struggled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike honeybees, blue orchard bees don’t sting humans. And instead of building large colonies with thousands of worker bees caring for eggs laid by a queen bee, female blue orchard bees work alone to build their nests and stock them with food. They’re solitary bees, like most of the 4,000 species of bees in North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_FLIES_AWAY_FM_FLOWER_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928806\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_FLIES_AWAY_FM_FLOWER_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee forages for nectar and pollen on lacy phacelia flowers. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/How-to-Manage-the-Blue-Orchard-Bee\">Blue orchard bees\u003c/a>, which are native to the United States, are of increasing interest to scientists, government agencies and farmers for their ability to pollinate almonds, sweet cherries and other tree fruits more efficiently than honeybees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is, I think, the moment for these bees to shine,” said entomologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person/?person-id=51460\">Natalie Boyle\u003c/a>, who studies blue orchard bees at the United States Department of Agriculture in Logan, Utah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyle works with almond growers in California, whose crop is worth $5.2 billion a year and who rely heavily on honeybees to pollinate their orchards every February. Research has found that 400 female blue orchard bees are as effective at pollinating almonds as the more than 10,000 bees in a honeybee hive, said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So for California almonds, they typically use two honeybee hives per acre,” she said. “The strategy that we’ve been trying to promote is instead of relying on two hives per acre, why don’t we bring down the stocking rate to one hive per acre plus 400 female blue orchard bees per acre?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 40 and 50 percent of honeybee colonies die each year around the country, according to the yearly \u003ca href=\"https://beeinformed.org/aphis/\">National Honey Bee Survey\u003c/a>, carried out by universities with the sponsorship of the USDA and the California Almond Board, among others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of beekeepers’ operations have been under a lot of duress for a multitude of factors: moving stress, pesticide exposure, varroa mites, viruses,” said Boyle. “You name it, these bees have had to go through it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finding other bees that could work side by side with honeybees could offer what she calls “pollination insurance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe we don’t want to put all of our eggs in this one pollination basket,” she said, referring to honeybees, “and we can diversify the suite of pollinators that are available to us for improved food security.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So researchers around the country are trying to learn everything they can about blue orchard bees’ ability to build intricate nests and pollinate almond and fruit orchards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_CLIMBS_INTO_NEST_TUBE_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928821\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_CLIMBS_INTO_NEST_TUBE_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee climbs into her nest at UC Davis. Researchers have given these bees 6-inch straws to build their nests in. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inside a 10-foot-by-10-foot mesh cage at the UC Davis bee research facility, Ph.D. student \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Sr_KkxbHs\">Clara Stuligross\u003c/a> stared at a block of wood with holes in it, each hole the width of a pencil and about 6 inches long. She had slipped a white paper straw in each one. All day long throughout May and June, she kept a close watch on the bees – all females – as they climbed in and flew out of the straws to build their nests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the wild they would nest in maybe beetle burrows or hollow twigs or things like that,” said Stuligross. “But they take really well to these human-made drill holes in blocks. And we put the straws in just so we can take the straw out and look and monitor their nesting progression.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the wooden nest block, Stuligross had dug a hole in the dirt and mixed in some water. Blue orchard bees are masons that use mud to build their nests. They scrape the wet earth and form a ball of mud with two huge pincerlike tools on their face called mandibles. Then they carry the mud into their nest, in this case a straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COLLECTS_MUD_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928808\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COLLECTS_MUD_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue orchard bee collects wet earth that it will carry back to a hole to build its nest. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stuligross painted each bee so she could keep track of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I need to see which mother bee is associated with which offspring,” she said. “So I need to know exactly which hole each of them is nesting in every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stuligross wants to figure out how successful the bees are at egg-laying, given the amount of insecticide she sprayed in the cage and the number of flowers she planted for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside its nest, the bee builds a wall of mud. Then it climbs out and flies from flower to flower drinking nectar and gathering pollen. Stuligross planted nutritious purple flowers called lacy phacelia for the bees. Each flower has several long anthers sticking out; the tip of each one is covered in purple pollen. The bee grabs the anthers with its legs and rubs the pollen onto hairs on its abdomen called scopa, which make them really good pollinators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their bellies are very hairy,” said Stuligross, “and the pollen will stick to their bellies once they scrape it off the flower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928843\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928843\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_SCOPA_NO_LABEL-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Female blue orchard bees rub pollen onto hairs on their abdomen called scopa, which make them really good pollinators. This bee has purple pollen on its hairs. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When they land on another flower, the pollen from the first flower rubs off onto the second flower as they vigorously forage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s up all over that blossom. I mean she’s landing on top of it, she’s crawling between the anthers, over the top of the pistil,” said Boyle. “It’s really entertaining to watch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a bee climbs back into her nest, she scrapes the remaining pollen off her body and mixes it with a little regurgitated nectar to make a pollen ball next to the mud wall. On this ball she lays a single egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She repeats this several times in her narrow nest until she has made seven or eight little chambers separated by mud walls. Each chamber holds an egg in it, growing on a ball of pollen called a pollen provision. When she’s done, the bee seals the nest with more mud that she smoothes out with her legs and mandibles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928815\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COVERS_NEST_ENTRANCE_W_MUD_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928815\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_COVERS_NEST_ENTRANCE_W_MUD_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee covers the entrance to her nest with mud. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stuligross carefully sliced through one of the paper straws to reveal the nest inside. The cross-section of the nest showed the bee’s incredible craftsmanship. The mud walls and purple pollen balls arranged sequentially made the nest look like a piece of jewelry. A female blue orchard bee is only active for four to six weeks in the spring, during which she mates and then lays about 15 eggs in two nests. At the end of this reproductive season, she dies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928827\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928827\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1081\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-1200x676.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-960x541.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_NEST-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue orchard bee’s nest, built inside a straw, looks like a piece of jewelry. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the eggs hatch inside the nest, a white larva in each chamber spends three weeks fattening up on its pollen provision, the purple lunchbox its mother bee packed for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928807\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_LARVA_EATS_POLLEN_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928807\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_LARVA_EATS_POLLEN_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue orchard bee larva feeds on a purple pollen ball inside a nest. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still in the safety of the nest, the well-fed larva spins a cocoon inside which it grows into a pupa and then an adult. The following spring, the adult bee chews its way out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These portable nests make it easy for scientists and growers to move the bees in and out of orchards. They can open up the nests, remove the cocoons and keep them in a temperature-controlled incubator until an orchard is in bloom, Boyle explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928832\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_EMERGES_FM_COCOON.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928832\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_EMERGES_FM_COCOON.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee emerges from a cocoon after chewing its way out. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Blue orchard bees are particularly good at pollinating almonds and tree fruits like cherries and apples because they love foraging in their flowers or, as Boyle puts it, the bee “has a high fidelity to orchard crops.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re particularly well-suited to pollinate almonds, which are in bloom in February, when it’s chilly in California’s Central Valley, because they will fly around and forage at a cooler temperature than honeybees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, some California growers are using blue orchard bees in their almond orchards, and sweet cherry farmers in California and Washington state are also bringing them onto their fields, said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But challenges remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue orchard bees reproduce slowly. While a queen honeybee can lay 500 eggs a day, a blue orchard bee lays only about 15 eggs in her entire lifetime of one year, said Boyle. So there just aren’t that many blue orchard bees around, which makes them expensive for growers, at about $1.50 per female.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If an almond grower, for example, wanted to replace one honeybee hive with 400 blue orchard bees, that would cost $600 as opposed to a $200 honeybee hive rental fee. And that’s if the blue orchard bees were available at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bulk of the supply right now is coming from wild-trapped populations of blue orchard bees, often times on federal land, which isn’t even legal,” said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1928834\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_SIPS_NECTAR_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1928834\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DL_514BlueOrchardBees_BEE_SIPS_NECTAR_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female blue orchard bee sips nectar from a lacy phacelia flower at UC Davis. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recently, the largest almond grower in the world \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-promising-backup-to-the-honeybee-is-shut-down/\">ended its blue orchard bee reproduction experiments in California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just don’t think they found it to be profitable,” said Boyle, who as a USDA researcher worked with the company, Wonderful Orchards, on its blue orchard bee efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solitary bees that they are, blue orchard bees tend to go off on their own. They’re not like honeybees, which return to the hive each day. So there’s no way to guarantee that a farmer will end up with nests that contain a similar number of bees than they originally released on their land. This forces them to buy new bees each year, an expensive proposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are trying to figure out how to keep these bees on the land, attracting them with abundant food, for example. Boyle and her colleagues have made some progress. For the third year in a row, they have released 275 blue orchard bees per acre into tart cherry orchards in Utah, and retrieved a similar number of bees at the end of the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think these tart cherries that we have them in are an excellent target crop for blue orchard bees,” said Boyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s also excited to start research on their use in pear orchards in Washington state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a lot of ways,” said Boyle, “I feel like we’re still working as pioneers for this industry.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "One Way to Save Birds: Pay Farmers to Flood Their Land",
"headTitle": "One Way to Save Birds: Pay Farmers to Flood Their Land | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>An innovative scheme to leverage Central Valley farmland as temporary wetlands on the Pacific Flyway helped birds navigate California’s five-year drought, according to \u003ca href=\"https://peerj.com/articles/5147/\">a new analysis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than four years ago, in the midst of California’s most punishing drought on record, conservation groups began working with growers and citizen scientists to identify and maintain habitat for wetland birds on agricultural land, as \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2014/01/27/during-drought-pop-up-wetlands-give-birds-a-break/\">KQED reported.\u003c/a> The Central Valley is in the middle of the Pacific Flyway, and millions of birds stop to rest at wetlands in the region during their migrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since more than 90 percent of historically occurring natural wetlands in the Central Valley \u003ca href=\"http://www.fwspubs.org/doi/suppl/10.3996/012014-JFWM-003/suppl_file/012014-jfwm-003.s10.pdf?code=ufws-site\">are gone, largely displaced by agriculture\u003c/a>, the birds have to work with what’s there. So, conservation groups devised a strategy to help them out: The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Conservation Service started paying rice farmers to keep their fields flooded during the post-harvest months, allowing migratory birds to take refuge in these “pop-up wetlands.” For farmers and conservationists, participating in this type of incentive program was risky: farmers had to put in additional labor, the conservation groups offset the estimated costs, and neither group knew for sure whether the plan would actually work.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2014/01/27/during-drought-pop-up-wetlands-give-birds-a-break/\">Read the backstory of the BirdReturns program in this KQED Quest feature\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But now enough time has elapsed to get some answers. Researchers used satellite data to understand how wetland bird habitat changed over the course of the drought and to estimate how much the incentive programs for farmers helped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From satellite images taken between 2000 and 2015, the researchers could detect how much open water was available for birds during non-drought, moderate drought, and severe drought years. They found that the severe drought dramatically reduced available wetland habitat, with declines of up to 80 percent in agricultural areas and up to 60 percent in managed wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was a little surprised at the magnitude of the decline in some of the wetlands,” recalls Matt Reiter, principal scientist at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pointblue.org/\">Point Blue Conservation Science\u003c/a>, and lead author on the study. “Maybe it shouldn’t have been, given how much coverage the drought was getting and it was the first time we started seeing water curtailment, and certainly the price of water was going up, and so it shouldn’t have surprised me but it did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To assess the effect of incentives for flooded farms, the researchers honed in on rice fields, calculating what percent of the total flooded rice habitat could be attributed to two incentive programs during times of severe drought. The Nature Conservancy’s \u003ca href=\"http://birdreturns.org/\">BirdReturns\u003c/a> program was responsible for up to 61 percent of available flooded rice habitat in the fall and the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s \u003ca href=\"http://calrice.org/pdf/waterbirdhabitatbro_web.pdf\">Waterbird Habitat Enhancement Program (WHEP)\u003c/a> provided up to 100 percent of available habitat in the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">The results show that severe drought can have huge impacts on wetland habitat, and incentives programs can help.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The two programs operated at different times of year: BirdReturns focuses on the fall and spring, and WHEP on the winter months. In the analysis, these complementary timelines functioned to maintain wetland habitat in rice fields for much of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results show that severe drought can have huge impacts on wetland habitat, and incentives programs can help. However, the direct effects of drought on birds are not yet clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of our big questions now is, ‘Okay, so what?’” says Reiter. “What does this mean for the birds? Are the birds falling out of the sky? Are the birds declining? Did the drought really impact their populations?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habitat is a pretty good proxy for population impacts, since habitat loss has been documented to be a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320713000426\">leading cause of wetland bird declines\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054142\">of wildlife declines more generally\u003c/a>. And \u003ca href=\"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.1658\">research has shown\u003c/a> that bird densities can be very high in flooded agricultural fields. But Reiter and his colleagues want to put some real numbers on the effects of severe drought on wetland birds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927732\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1927732\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-800x270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-800x270.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-160x54.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-768x259.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1020x344.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1200x405.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1920x648.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1180x398.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-960x324.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-240x81.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-375x127.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-520x175.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandhill Cranes are one of many wetland bird species that can be found in the flooded rice fields. \u003ccite>(Bob Wick/BLM)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The incentive programs are set to continue for the time being — but both are dependent on ongoing funding: the BirdReturns program relies on funding from the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s WHEP is counting on a renewal of funds in the federal Farm Bill. Ideally, Reiter says, the incentive programs would be “a short-term thing, that instills a new kind of management ethic that then sort of propagates itself forward.” It’s uncertain whether that will ever happen, so funding is important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Reiter is optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Different versions of these incentive programs have been around for a very long time, so it gives you some hope that they will stay around,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, there’s the new analysis, which Reiter hopes will reach people who may be considering similar conservation strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think our study really shows the value of these incentive programs,” he says, “and so we just hope that managers can see these data and see that — hey — there is real value in doing these programs, and particularly in drought years, as we saw, and think about how we can make sure that these are sustained into the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, birds visiting the Central Valley have a little more room to roost.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A new analysis shows that an innovative partnership in the Central Valley seems to have paid off.",
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"title": "One Way to Save Birds: Pay Farmers to Flood Their Land | KQED",
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"headline": "One Way to Save Birds: Pay Farmers to Flood Their Land",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>An innovative scheme to leverage Central Valley farmland as temporary wetlands on the Pacific Flyway helped birds navigate California’s five-year drought, according to \u003ca href=\"https://peerj.com/articles/5147/\">a new analysis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than four years ago, in the midst of California’s most punishing drought on record, conservation groups began working with growers and citizen scientists to identify and maintain habitat for wetland birds on agricultural land, as \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2014/01/27/during-drought-pop-up-wetlands-give-birds-a-break/\">KQED reported.\u003c/a> The Central Valley is in the middle of the Pacific Flyway, and millions of birds stop to rest at wetlands in the region during their migrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since more than 90 percent of historically occurring natural wetlands in the Central Valley \u003ca href=\"http://www.fwspubs.org/doi/suppl/10.3996/012014-JFWM-003/suppl_file/012014-jfwm-003.s10.pdf?code=ufws-site\">are gone, largely displaced by agriculture\u003c/a>, the birds have to work with what’s there. So, conservation groups devised a strategy to help them out: The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Conservation Service started paying rice farmers to keep their fields flooded during the post-harvest months, allowing migratory birds to take refuge in these “pop-up wetlands.” For farmers and conservationists, participating in this type of incentive program was risky: farmers had to put in additional labor, the conservation groups offset the estimated costs, and neither group knew for sure whether the plan would actually work.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2014/01/27/during-drought-pop-up-wetlands-give-birds-a-break/\">Read the backstory of the BirdReturns program in this KQED Quest feature\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But now enough time has elapsed to get some answers. Researchers used satellite data to understand how wetland bird habitat changed over the course of the drought and to estimate how much the incentive programs for farmers helped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From satellite images taken between 2000 and 2015, the researchers could detect how much open water was available for birds during non-drought, moderate drought, and severe drought years. They found that the severe drought dramatically reduced available wetland habitat, with declines of up to 80 percent in agricultural areas and up to 60 percent in managed wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was a little surprised at the magnitude of the decline in some of the wetlands,” recalls Matt Reiter, principal scientist at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pointblue.org/\">Point Blue Conservation Science\u003c/a>, and lead author on the study. “Maybe it shouldn’t have been, given how much coverage the drought was getting and it was the first time we started seeing water curtailment, and certainly the price of water was going up, and so it shouldn’t have surprised me but it did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To assess the effect of incentives for flooded farms, the researchers honed in on rice fields, calculating what percent of the total flooded rice habitat could be attributed to two incentive programs during times of severe drought. The Nature Conservancy’s \u003ca href=\"http://birdreturns.org/\">BirdReturns\u003c/a> program was responsible for up to 61 percent of available flooded rice habitat in the fall and the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s \u003ca href=\"http://calrice.org/pdf/waterbirdhabitatbro_web.pdf\">Waterbird Habitat Enhancement Program (WHEP)\u003c/a> provided up to 100 percent of available habitat in the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">The results show that severe drought can have huge impacts on wetland habitat, and incentives programs can help.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The two programs operated at different times of year: BirdReturns focuses on the fall and spring, and WHEP on the winter months. In the analysis, these complementary timelines functioned to maintain wetland habitat in rice fields for much of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results show that severe drought can have huge impacts on wetland habitat, and incentives programs can help. However, the direct effects of drought on birds are not yet clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of our big questions now is, ‘Okay, so what?’” says Reiter. “What does this mean for the birds? Are the birds falling out of the sky? Are the birds declining? Did the drought really impact their populations?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habitat is a pretty good proxy for population impacts, since habitat loss has been documented to be a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320713000426\">leading cause of wetland bird declines\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054142\">of wildlife declines more generally\u003c/a>. And \u003ca href=\"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.1658\">research has shown\u003c/a> that bird densities can be very high in flooded agricultural fields. But Reiter and his colleagues want to put some real numbers on the effects of severe drought on wetland birds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927732\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1927732\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-800x270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-800x270.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-160x54.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-768x259.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1020x344.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1200x405.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1920x648.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-1180x398.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-960x324.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-240x81.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-375x127.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k-520x175.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/28444533660_7982e33f07_k.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandhill Cranes are one of many wetland bird species that can be found in the flooded rice fields. \u003ccite>(Bob Wick/BLM)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The incentive programs are set to continue for the time being — but both are dependent on ongoing funding: the BirdReturns program relies on funding from the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s WHEP is counting on a renewal of funds in the federal Farm Bill. Ideally, Reiter says, the incentive programs would be “a short-term thing, that instills a new kind of management ethic that then sort of propagates itself forward.” It’s uncertain whether that will ever happen, so funding is important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Reiter is optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Different versions of these incentive programs have been around for a very long time, so it gives you some hope that they will stay around,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, there’s the new analysis, which Reiter hopes will reach people who may be considering similar conservation strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think our study really shows the value of these incentive programs,” he says, “and so we just hope that managers can see these data and see that — hey — there is real value in doing these programs, and particularly in drought years, as we saw, and think about how we can make sure that these are sustained into the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, birds visiting the Central Valley have a little more room to roost.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California's Kelp Forests -- But Why?",
"headTitle": "A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California’s Kelp Forests — But Why? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Kelp forests are the marine mirror images to the towering redwoods onshore, the scaffolding that supports the image of the classic northern California coastline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these oceanic forests are currently under siege from a potent mix of climate anomalies, disease, and predation that have led to declines in kelp forests not seen in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their place, vast “urchin barrens” of bare rock picked clean by roving grazers. These sunken equivalents of forest clear-cuts gut the complex relationships that sustain a healthy ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rise of the Urchins\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weakened by rising ocean temperatures and aggressive storms, kelp forests were already disadvantaged when researchers began to notice urchin populations increasing in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927686\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1927686 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins are experiencing populations surges, leading to overgrazing of giant kelp. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen urchins come through and mow down kelp,” says Tristin McHugh, north coast regional manager for Reef Check, a group of citizen science divers who conduct long-term monitoring studies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, for example, there was virtually minimal kelp,” she says. “The barrens were barren — just urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”WEKh98dtZPvhgISltBlFjiZHxmaGztiL”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McHugh attributes this increase to elevated recruitment during years in which sea urchin larvae settled out of the plankton in high densities and survived the tumultuous early years of adolescence. Urchins have become so numerous that they have since spawned several citizen science projects aimed at curtailing their numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Some Heroes Wear Furry Capes\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditionally, California’s iconic sea otter has stepped in to keep urchin populations in check. Otters feed on sea urchins, which in turn keeps them from overgrazing on kelp. Without otters, the implication is that we would cease to have kelp forests at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happens when otters forget just what is on the menu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the same way that you can eat many things but might prefer to eat pizza, otters are known to be generalists in their diets. But individuals have specific preferences which are passed from mother to pup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927356\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1927356\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-160x51.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-768x247.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1020x328.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1200x386.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1920x617.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1180x379.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-960x309.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-240x77.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-375x121.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-520x167.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A raft of otters rests in Elkhorn Slough, Moss Landing, CA \u003ccite>(Heather Barrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>James Watanabe is a lecturer at Hopkins Marine Station, and he was the first to suggest that otters may have developed a “cultural memory loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the big pulse of recruitment in the ’70’s, up until now, when the urchins started showing up again, there were three generations of otters with some sea urchins present,” he says, “but not enough for any otter to focus on as the main part of the diet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job. They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.’\u003ccite>Joe Tomoleoni, USGS\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible that the behavior died out if everyone who remembered how to do it has died.” adds Aimee Dunlap, who studies animal cognition at the University of Missouri. “When they reintroduced the California Condor,” she recalls, “they had to haul out carcasses, because they’d had a gap in the parents teaching the young how to be a Condor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Historical Precedent?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe points to the example of \u003cem>Kelletia\u003c/em>, a large predatory snail that moved north into kelp forests during the 1977-1978 El Niño, as a historical example of a time when otters exhibited similar behaviors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big, meaty snail, and it has a big shell, and it got to the point where you could put your hand down anywhere in the kelp beds and one would be within a meter of your hand. But the otters weren’t going for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 580px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927360\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg 580w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kellet’s Whelk in a Monterey kelp forest. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Eventually, he began to notice changes beneath the waves. “Within a period of about six months, the abundance dropped and there were a bunch of busted shells all over the place. It’s the damage that only an otter could typically do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can We Really Blame the Otters?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Joe Tomoleoni, an otter biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, bristles at the idea of blaming the urchin boom solely on otters, arguing that it ignores the inherent complexity of kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[emailsignup newslettername='science' align='right'] “It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job,” he says. “They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomoleoni stresses that urchins have always been a major prey item for sea otters in California, and in fact, recent observations show more urchins being consumed now than in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Perfect Storm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their importance, otter indifference would not be enough to explain what’s happening here. Michael Jacox, a Research Oceanographer with NOAA, points to a series of weather anomalies that have affected the Bay Area over the last five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927620\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927620\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg 226w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp-160x275.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mature kelp plant in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It started with a persistent high pressure system which formed over the Pacific Ocean in late 2013. While winters in California are generally characterized as wet and mild, Jacox recalls how “the ridge deflected storms, and we weren’t getting storms or mixing and there was a heat buildup in the surface of the ocean.” This heat buildup, coupled with the extremely strong El Niño of 2015, ultimately impacted the entire US west coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it had serious implications for marine ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp in particular was hit especially hard by these warm conditions. “The story for kelp might be similar to how it is for phytoplankton,” Jacox suggests, “They need nutrients in the water, and they prefer cooler conditions. In phytoplankton, we saw really low productivity as a direct result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe suspects it may also have helped drive the urchin boom. To him, the warm water weakened kelp, but failed to kill it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kelp wasn’t very happy here during the warm water buildup,” he recalls, “but we didn’t see wholesale loss of the canopy like we’re seeing now with overgrazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A New Hope\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many researchers spoke to the unprecedented magnitude and persistence of these climate events, they were equally quick to point to signs that the kelp beds may already be recovering. Or at the very least, that they are optimistic the damage can be reversed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his theory, Watanabe always stressed that it was only a matter of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those otters are so smart,” he says with a smile. “Once they figure out they can eat those urchins, I’m sure the otters will knock them back real quick and the kelp will recover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, up on the north coast, we’ve seen cold water showing up,” adds McHugh. “We’ve seen high trade winds and we’ve seen upwelling…maybe our ecosystem is going to have a chance to recover.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Kelp is a keystone in the ocean ecosystem. It's not entirely clear why the urchins have taken over, but there's optimism that the kelp devastation is temporary.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kelp forests are the marine mirror images to the towering redwoods onshore, the scaffolding that supports the image of the classic northern California coastline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these oceanic forests are currently under siege from a potent mix of climate anomalies, disease, and predation that have led to declines in kelp forests not seen in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their place, vast “urchin barrens” of bare rock picked clean by roving grazers. These sunken equivalents of forest clear-cuts gut the complex relationships that sustain a healthy ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rise of the Urchins\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weakened by rising ocean temperatures and aggressive storms, kelp forests were already disadvantaged when researchers began to notice urchin populations increasing in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927686\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1927686 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins are experiencing populations surges, leading to overgrazing of giant kelp. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen urchins come through and mow down kelp,” says Tristin McHugh, north coast regional manager for Reef Check, a group of citizen science divers who conduct long-term monitoring studies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, for example, there was virtually minimal kelp,” she says. “The barrens were barren — just urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McHugh attributes this increase to elevated recruitment during years in which sea urchin larvae settled out of the plankton in high densities and survived the tumultuous early years of adolescence. Urchins have become so numerous that they have since spawned several citizen science projects aimed at curtailing their numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Some Heroes Wear Furry Capes\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditionally, California’s iconic sea otter has stepped in to keep urchin populations in check. Otters feed on sea urchins, which in turn keeps them from overgrazing on kelp. Without otters, the implication is that we would cease to have kelp forests at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happens when otters forget just what is on the menu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the same way that you can eat many things but might prefer to eat pizza, otters are known to be generalists in their diets. But individuals have specific preferences which are passed from mother to pup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927356\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1927356\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-160x51.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-768x247.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1020x328.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1200x386.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1920x617.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1180x379.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-960x309.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-240x77.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-375x121.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-520x167.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A raft of otters rests in Elkhorn Slough, Moss Landing, CA \u003ccite>(Heather Barrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>James Watanabe is a lecturer at Hopkins Marine Station, and he was the first to suggest that otters may have developed a “cultural memory loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the big pulse of recruitment in the ’70’s, up until now, when the urchins started showing up again, there were three generations of otters with some sea urchins present,” he says, “but not enough for any otter to focus on as the main part of the diet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job. They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.’\u003ccite>Joe Tomoleoni, USGS\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible that the behavior died out if everyone who remembered how to do it has died.” adds Aimee Dunlap, who studies animal cognition at the University of Missouri. “When they reintroduced the California Condor,” she recalls, “they had to haul out carcasses, because they’d had a gap in the parents teaching the young how to be a Condor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Historical Precedent?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe points to the example of \u003cem>Kelletia\u003c/em>, a large predatory snail that moved north into kelp forests during the 1977-1978 El Niño, as a historical example of a time when otters exhibited similar behaviors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big, meaty snail, and it has a big shell, and it got to the point where you could put your hand down anywhere in the kelp beds and one would be within a meter of your hand. But the otters weren’t going for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 580px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927360\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg 580w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kellet’s Whelk in a Monterey kelp forest. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Eventually, he began to notice changes beneath the waves. “Within a period of about six months, the abundance dropped and there were a bunch of busted shells all over the place. It’s the damage that only an otter could typically do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can We Really Blame the Otters?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Joe Tomoleoni, an otter biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, bristles at the idea of blaming the urchin boom solely on otters, arguing that it ignores the inherent complexity of kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job,” he says. “They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomoleoni stresses that urchins have always been a major prey item for sea otters in California, and in fact, recent observations show more urchins being consumed now than in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Perfect Storm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their importance, otter indifference would not be enough to explain what’s happening here. Michael Jacox, a Research Oceanographer with NOAA, points to a series of weather anomalies that have affected the Bay Area over the last five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927620\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927620\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg 226w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp-160x275.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mature kelp plant in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It started with a persistent high pressure system which formed over the Pacific Ocean in late 2013. While winters in California are generally characterized as wet and mild, Jacox recalls how “the ridge deflected storms, and we weren’t getting storms or mixing and there was a heat buildup in the surface of the ocean.” This heat buildup, coupled with the extremely strong El Niño of 2015, ultimately impacted the entire US west coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it had serious implications for marine ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp in particular was hit especially hard by these warm conditions. “The story for kelp might be similar to how it is for phytoplankton,” Jacox suggests, “They need nutrients in the water, and they prefer cooler conditions. In phytoplankton, we saw really low productivity as a direct result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe suspects it may also have helped drive the urchin boom. To him, the warm water weakened kelp, but failed to kill it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kelp wasn’t very happy here during the warm water buildup,” he recalls, “but we didn’t see wholesale loss of the canopy like we’re seeing now with overgrazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A New Hope\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many researchers spoke to the unprecedented magnitude and persistence of these climate events, they were equally quick to point to signs that the kelp beds may already be recovering. Or at the very least, that they are optimistic the damage can be reversed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his theory, Watanabe always stressed that it was only a matter of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those otters are so smart,” he says with a smile. “Once they figure out they can eat those urchins, I’m sure the otters will knock them back real quick and the kelp will recover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, up on the north coast, we’ve seen cold water showing up,” adds McHugh. “We’ve seen high trade winds and we’ve seen upwelling…maybe our ecosystem is going to have a chance to recover.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell has been a regular at the same watering hole for more than 25 years. Most of the other patrons are elephants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer marks the Stanford researcher’s 26th visit to Mushara, a natural freshwater spring in Namibia’s Etosha National Park that gets heavy elephant traffic. Thousands of elephants in the southwest African nation roam an area the size of New Jersey, with different groups taking turns at the park’s numerous watering holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1926270\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell observes elephants in Namibia’s Etosha National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>O’Connell-Rodwell’s research focuses on seismic communication among elephants, a field she pioneered back in 1997. Over the years, her work has shown that African elephants exchange information by emitting low-frequency sounds that travel dozens of miles under the ground on the savanna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sound waves come from the animals’ huge vocal cords, and distant elephants “hear” the signals with their highly sensitive feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When an elephant vocalizes, it’s like a mini-explosion at the source,” said O’Connell-Rodwell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sound waves spread out through the ground and air. By triangulating the two types of signals using both ears and feet, elephants can tune in to the direction, distance and content of a message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be similar to counting the difference between thunder and lightning,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to O’Connell-Rodwell, seismic communication is the key to understanding the complex dynamics of elephant communities. There are seismic messages that are sent passively, such as when elephants eavesdrop on each other’s footsteps. More active announcements include alarm cries, mating calls and navigation instructions to the herd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926271\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926271\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513_elephants_two-footstep_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elephants communicate seismically through vocalizations and by picking up each other’s footsteps. \u003ccite>(Tim Rodwell/Peter Zielyk)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a series of experiments first developed with the help of an elephant at the Oakland Zoo, O’Connell-Rodwell played typical calls on speakers buried in the ground to elephants at the watering hole at Mushara. She found that a predator alarm played on an above-ground speaker caused the herd to flee immediately. They responded quite differently, however, to the same call played underground. They closed ranks, but stayed put.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She concluded that the elephants could tell the difference between nearby and distant dangers from how they had received the information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, O’Connell-Rodwell is focusing on dominance behaviors among females. Sometimes small family groups in this matriarchal society are forced out of the herd, even violently, when resources are scarce. “It seems really harsh to watch,” said O’Connell-Rodwell, “but it’s protecting your own core family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another ongoing study looks at how young males — who leave the herd for a solitary life in late adolescence — sometimes come together into their own family-like groups. Like typical families, these male bands seem to communicate their movements over vast distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926272\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1926272 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell in the observation tower at Mushara watering hole. \u003ccite>(Tim Rodwell/Peter Zielyk)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>O’Connell-Rodwell’s career studying seismic communication didn’t begin in these wide-open grasslands. As a master’s student at the University of Hawaii-Manoa she studied planthoppers, cicada-like insects that communicate with each other, chiefly for reproductive purposes, by sending out vibrations over the stems of plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leap from working with an insect that fits in your hand to studying the world’s largest land animal was an easy one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It didn’t take me long to realize that they were behaving in exactly the same way,” she recalled. When she first observed elephants in Africa, she noticed how, like planthoppers, elephants adopted recognizable listening poses. Standing still, picking up a foot and pointing a toe at the ground were good indicators that new information was coming in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seismic communication works with elephants because of the incredible sensitivity of their feet. Like all mammals, including humans, elephants have receptors called Pacinian corpuscles, or PCs, in their skin. PCs are hardwired to a part of the brain where touch signals are processed, called the somatosensory cortex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926274\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926274\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513_elephants_foot-spreads_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An elephant’s foot can spread out by 20 percent when pressed to the ground. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In elephants, PCs are clustered around the edge of the foot. When picking up a far-off signal, elephants sometimes press their feet into the ground, enlarging its surface by as much as 20 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In captivity, an elephant’s foot can become its Achilles heel. The pad on the underside of the foot grows about 3 inches a year. On the savanna, 18 hours a day of walking over rocks and dirt keeps it ground down and healthy, but most captive elephants have far less space to wander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Walking and activities like digging are natural ways that wild elephants keep their nails and foot pads in good wear,” said Jackie Gai, a veterinarian at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a refuge in Calaveras County, California, that takes in elephants rescued from zoos, circuses and elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the pad becomes overgrown, it can dry out, crack and get infected, just like a neglected callus on a human foot. In a 2006 survey by the Oregon Zoo, a third of North American zoos reported foot problems in at least one captive elephant. Most of these problems stemmed from too little exercise and too much time spent on the wrong surfaces — namely, concrete — according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biweekly pedicures are part of the routine for the eight elephants housed at the 2,300-acre PAWS facility. “One of our elephants with arthritis and crooked legs has her feet checked two to three times per week,” said Gai.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926275\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513_elephants_pedicure_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The elephants at PAWS get pedicures at least once a month. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Strictly speaking, when elephants pick up ground vibrations in their feet, it’s their sense of feeling, not hearing, at work. Typically, hearing happens without physical contact, when airborne vibrations hit the eardrum, causing the tiny bones of the inner ear to tremble and transmit a message to the brain along the auditory nerve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even in humans, the two senses are not as distinct as they seem. “People with hearing impairment process vibrotactile [touch] signals in the auditory cortex,” O’Connell-Rodwell pointed out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her work has shown that in elephants, some ground vibrations actually reach the hearing centers of the brain through a process called bone conduction. With bone conduction, the vibration message travels through the elephant’s skeleton directly to its inner ear bones, bypassing the eardrum altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By modeling how the elephant’s inner ear bones respond to seismic sound waves, scientists are hoping to use a bone-conduction approach to develop new and better hearing aids for people. Instead of amplifying sound waves through the ear canal, these devices would transmit sound vibrations into a person’s jawbone or skull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mostly likely, elephants use both to assess the information they receive vibrationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very difficult to isolate one from the other,” O’Connell-Rodwell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1926276\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PAWS is home to eight African elephants. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell has been a regular at the same watering hole for more than 25 years. Most of the other patrons are elephants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer marks the Stanford researcher’s 26th visit to Mushara, a natural freshwater spring in Namibia’s Etosha National Park that gets heavy elephant traffic. Thousands of elephants in the southwest African nation roam an area the size of New Jersey, with different groups taking turns at the park’s numerous watering holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1926270\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants-caitlin-photographing-CC-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell observes elephants in Namibia’s Etosha National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>O’Connell-Rodwell’s research focuses on seismic communication among elephants, a field she pioneered back in 1997. Over the years, her work has shown that African elephants exchange information by emitting low-frequency sounds that travel dozens of miles under the ground on the savanna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sound waves come from the animals’ huge vocal cords, and distant elephants “hear” the signals with their highly sensitive feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When an elephant vocalizes, it’s like a mini-explosion at the source,” said O’Connell-Rodwell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sound waves spread out through the ground and air. By triangulating the two types of signals using both ears and feet, elephants can tune in to the direction, distance and content of a message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be similar to counting the difference between thunder and lightning,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to O’Connell-Rodwell, seismic communication is the key to understanding the complex dynamics of elephant communities. There are seismic messages that are sent passively, such as when elephants eavesdrop on each other’s footsteps. More active announcements include alarm cries, mating calls and navigation instructions to the herd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926271\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926271\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513_elephants_two-footstep_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elephants communicate seismically through vocalizations and by picking up each other’s footsteps. \u003ccite>(Tim Rodwell/Peter Zielyk)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a series of experiments first developed with the help of an elephant at the Oakland Zoo, O’Connell-Rodwell played typical calls on speakers buried in the ground to elephants at the watering hole at Mushara. She found that a predator alarm played on an above-ground speaker caused the herd to flee immediately. They responded quite differently, however, to the same call played underground. They closed ranks, but stayed put.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She concluded that the elephants could tell the difference between nearby and distant dangers from how they had received the information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, O’Connell-Rodwell is focusing on dominance behaviors among females. Sometimes small family groups in this matriarchal society are forced out of the herd, even violently, when resources are scarce. “It seems really harsh to watch,” said O’Connell-Rodwell, “but it’s protecting your own core family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another ongoing study looks at how young males — who leave the herd for a solitary life in late adolescence — sometimes come together into their own family-like groups. Like typical families, these male bands seem to communicate their movements over vast distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926272\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1926272 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elelphants-caitlin-tower-pointing-CC-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell in the observation tower at Mushara watering hole. \u003ccite>(Tim Rodwell/Peter Zielyk)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>O’Connell-Rodwell’s career studying seismic communication didn’t begin in these wide-open grasslands. As a master’s student at the University of Hawaii-Manoa she studied planthoppers, cicada-like insects that communicate with each other, chiefly for reproductive purposes, by sending out vibrations over the stems of plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leap from working with an insect that fits in your hand to studying the world’s largest land animal was an easy one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It didn’t take me long to realize that they were behaving in exactly the same way,” she recalled. When she first observed elephants in Africa, she noticed how, like planthoppers, elephants adopted recognizable listening poses. Standing still, picking up a foot and pointing a toe at the ground were good indicators that new information was coming in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seismic communication works with elephants because of the incredible sensitivity of their feet. Like all mammals, including humans, elephants have receptors called Pacinian corpuscles, or PCs, in their skin. PCs are hardwired to a part of the brain where touch signals are processed, called the somatosensory cortex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926274\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926274\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513_elephants_foot-spreads_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An elephant’s foot can spread out by 20 percent when pressed to the ground. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In elephants, PCs are clustered around the edge of the foot. When picking up a far-off signal, elephants sometimes press their feet into the ground, enlarging its surface by as much as 20 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In captivity, an elephant’s foot can become its Achilles heel. The pad on the underside of the foot grows about 3 inches a year. On the savanna, 18 hours a day of walking over rocks and dirt keeps it ground down and healthy, but most captive elephants have far less space to wander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Walking and activities like digging are natural ways that wild elephants keep their nails and foot pads in good wear,” said Jackie Gai, a veterinarian at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a refuge in Calaveras County, California, that takes in elephants rescued from zoos, circuses and elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the pad becomes overgrown, it can dry out, crack and get infected, just like a neglected callus on a human foot. In a 2006 survey by the Oregon Zoo, a third of North American zoos reported foot problems in at least one captive elephant. Most of these problems stemmed from too little exercise and too much time spent on the wrong surfaces — namely, concrete — according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biweekly pedicures are part of the routine for the eight elephants housed at the 2,300-acre PAWS facility. “One of our elephants with arthritis and crooked legs has her feet checked two to three times per week,” said Gai.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926275\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513_elephants_pedicure_720.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The elephants at PAWS get pedicures at least once a month. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Strictly speaking, when elephants pick up ground vibrations in their feet, it’s their sense of feeling, not hearing, at work. Typically, hearing happens without physical contact, when airborne vibrations hit the eardrum, causing the tiny bones of the inner ear to tremble and transmit a message to the brain along the auditory nerve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even in humans, the two senses are not as distinct as they seem. “People with hearing impairment process vibrotactile [touch] signals in the auditory cortex,” O’Connell-Rodwell pointed out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her work has shown that in elephants, some ground vibrations actually reach the hearing centers of the brain through a process called bone conduction. With bone conduction, the vibration message travels through the elephant’s skeleton directly to its inner ear bones, bypassing the eardrum altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By modeling how the elephant’s inner ear bones respond to seismic sound waves, scientists are hoping to use a bone-conduction approach to develop new and better hearing aids for people. Instead of amplifying sound waves through the ear canal, these devices would transmit sound vibrations into a person’s jawbone or skull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mostly likely, elephants use both to assess the information they receive vibrationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very difficult to isolate one from the other,” O’Connell-Rodwell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1926276\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/DL513-elephants_three-at-paws-CC-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PAWS is home to eight African elephants. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Late-Life High Blood Pressure May Harm the Brain, Study Says",
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"content": "\u003cp>Decades ago, hundreds of nuns and priests made an extraordinary decision: They agreed to donate their brains upon death to science, hoping to help solve mysteries about Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Now, a study that used their gifts is giving some clues. It reveals that high blood pressure late in life might harm the brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Autopsies on nearly 1,300 older people, including about 640 clergy members, found more signs of damage and one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of those with higher blood pressure than among those with pressure closer to normal, researchers reported Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://n.neurology.org/lookup/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000005951\">study\u003c/a> does not prove cause and effect, and it does not yet provide a comparison of rates of dementia or its most common form, Alzheimer’s — those results will take longer to parse. But it challenges a theory that high pressure is not as harmful in old age as it is when people are younger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be alarmist. This is preliminary data” that needs to be validated by others, said the study leader, Dr. Zoe Arvanitakis of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “It’s far too soon to make recommendations about blood pressure in older people based on this study.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research began in 1994 and combined people from three studies of aging who agreed to donate their brains for autopsy upon their death, including the Religious Orders Study of Catholic clergy throughout the United States. All were over 65 and without known dementia at the start and were followed until they died — at an average age of 89 and after an average of eight years in the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two-thirds had high blood pressure, defined as a top reading of 140 or more when the study began (it’s now 130 under new guidelines adopted last fall.) Their pressures were measured once a year during the study — a strength of this work over some previous research that just relied on people to say whether they had high pressure or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After each participant died, researchers examined their brains for areas of dead tissue caused by lack of blood supply. These blighted areas can be tiny and cause no symptoms, so they’re sometimes called evidence of “silent strokes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About half of the study participants had one or more of these, and the risk was greater for those with higher blood pressure. For example, people with an average top reading of 147 had a 46 percent greater risk of having one or more of the bad spots than those with an average top reading of 134. People with higher bottom blood pressure readings also had a greater risk for this problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"div-gpt-ad-1470255291270-1\" class=\"ad-placeholder\">\n\u003cp>Researchers also found a link between higher pressure and one of the signs of Alzheimer’s — tangles of a protein called tau — but not another Alzheimer’s hallmark, amyloid plaques. This needs further research to understand the implications, Arvanitakis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a pretty strong study,” said James Hendrix, director of global science initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association. “Autopsy data is really powerful” and has been the gold standard for diagnosing Alzheimer’s for many years, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Alzheimer’s, changes in the brain occur a decade or more before symptoms do, so high blood pressure may have been doing damage well before the age when these people enrolled in the study, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How might high pressure do harm?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Lower blood pressure reduces the risk of those blood vessel blockages” that can cause a silent stroke, said another independent expert, the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. David Knopman. The work shows that “treating blood pressure throughout the lifespan is important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knopman is a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology, whose journal, Neurology, published the study. Federal grants paid for the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Decades ago, hundreds of nuns and priests made an extraordinary decision: They agreed to donate their brains upon death to science, hoping to help solve mysteries about Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Now, a study that used their gifts is giving some clues. It reveals that high blood pressure late in life might harm the brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Autopsies on nearly 1,300 older people, including about 640 clergy members, found more signs of damage and one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of those with higher blood pressure than among those with pressure closer to normal, researchers reported Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://n.neurology.org/lookup/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000005951\">study\u003c/a> does not prove cause and effect, and it does not yet provide a comparison of rates of dementia or its most common form, Alzheimer’s — those results will take longer to parse. But it challenges a theory that high pressure is not as harmful in old age as it is when people are younger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be alarmist. This is preliminary data” that needs to be validated by others, said the study leader, Dr. Zoe Arvanitakis of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “It’s far too soon to make recommendations about blood pressure in older people based on this study.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research began in 1994 and combined people from three studies of aging who agreed to donate their brains for autopsy upon their death, including the Religious Orders Study of Catholic clergy throughout the United States. All were over 65 and without known dementia at the start and were followed until they died — at an average age of 89 and after an average of eight years in the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two-thirds had high blood pressure, defined as a top reading of 140 or more when the study began (it’s now 130 under new guidelines adopted last fall.) Their pressures were measured once a year during the study — a strength of this work over some previous research that just relied on people to say whether they had high pressure or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After each participant died, researchers examined their brains for areas of dead tissue caused by lack of blood supply. These blighted areas can be tiny and cause no symptoms, so they’re sometimes called evidence of “silent strokes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About half of the study participants had one or more of these, and the risk was greater for those with higher blood pressure. For example, people with an average top reading of 147 had a 46 percent greater risk of having one or more of the bad spots than those with an average top reading of 134. People with higher bottom blood pressure readings also had a greater risk for this problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"div-gpt-ad-1470255291270-1\" class=\"ad-placeholder\">\n\u003cp>Researchers also found a link between higher pressure and one of the signs of Alzheimer’s — tangles of a protein called tau — but not another Alzheimer’s hallmark, amyloid plaques. This needs further research to understand the implications, Arvanitakis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a pretty strong study,” said James Hendrix, director of global science initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association. “Autopsy data is really powerful” and has been the gold standard for diagnosing Alzheimer’s for many years, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Alzheimer’s, changes in the brain occur a decade or more before symptoms do, so high blood pressure may have been doing damage well before the age when these people enrolled in the study, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How might high pressure do harm?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Lower blood pressure reduces the risk of those blood vessel blockages” that can cause a silent stroke, said another independent expert, the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. David Knopman. The work shows that “treating blood pressure throughout the lifespan is important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knopman is a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology, whose journal, Neurology, published the study. Federal grants paid for the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-giants-of-california-how-redwoods-and-whales-got-so-big",
"title": "The Giants of California: How Redwoods and Whales Got So Big",
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"headTitle": "The Giants of California: How Redwoods and Whales Got So Big | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Virginia-based ecologist Jeff Atkins visited the giant redwood trees at Muir Woods National Monument, he saw something that blew his mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember watching drops of water falling from the top of the canopy,” he wrote on Twitter. “And it took forever for them to fall. I mean FOREVER!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redwood trees are so tall that, standing on the forest floor, you can’t see to the tops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You crane your head back and you look up, up, up, up, and it becomes a blur as you get into the crown,” says Lucy Kerhoulas, professor of forest physiology at Humboldt State University. You can’t really know what’s up there, unless you actually go up and climb,” which Kerhoulas has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer in California is a great time to hang out with giants: the giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park, or the giant redwood trees in forests from Big Sur to the Oregon border. And though the famous grey whale migration season is long over, summer whale watchers can spot the world’s largest living animal: the blue whale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926439\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926439\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-1180x786.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue whale skeleton has hung in the California Academy of Sciences for years — the new exhibit is designed to draw attention to the classic specimen. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Whitney/California Academy of Sciences)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the best ways to learn about California’s giants and why the state became home to these giants is by visiting a new exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences called \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/giants-of-land-and-sea\">Giants of Land and Sea\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It isn’t happenstance that California and the waters off our coast are home to these giants. As the new exhibit explains, bigness emerges partly from the particulars of life here – the ocean currents and our famous fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/giants-of-land-and-sea\">\u003cem>Giants of Land and Sea\u003c/em>\u003c/a> opened June 15. Highlights include:\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A blue whale skeleton, 85 feet long.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An immersive fog room, where visitors can feel what it’s like to be a redwood.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A series of films featuring the ecology of a redwood tree from roots to crown, shot by a drone in 6K definition.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli> Skulls and skeletons of marine mammals, including the massive northern elephant seal.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Strong winds drive ocean upwelling along the coast, bringing nutrients up from lower layers of the ocean to the surface. Plankton and krill multiply exhuberantly, providing food for the blue whale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those same winds bring cold water south from Arctic latitudes. When warm summer temperatures hit that cold water, a fog layer forms. The fog is drawn toward land, providing plenty of water for the redwood trees along the coast. Redwoods evolved the ability to tap into fog, absorbing some of its moisture through their leaves and funneling more to their roots. So ocean currents and weather systems unite in an ecological system primed to foster bigness in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, UC Davis paleontologist Geerat Vermeij says ecology doesn’t tell the whole story of how the giants got so big. Plants and animals don’t evolve bigness just because they can, much like a car doesn’t move forward just because there is a road in front of it — someone has to get in the driver’s seat and turn it on. In other words, there needs to be an evolutionary driver, too. There has to be an advantage to being bigger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926847\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3888px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926847\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3888\" height=\"2728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601.jpg 3888w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-800x561.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1020x716.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1200x842.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1920x1347.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1180x828.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-960x674.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-240x168.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-375x263.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-520x365.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3888px) 100vw, 3888px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue whale exhales through its blowhole, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, California on July 16, 2008. At up to 33 metres (110 ft) in length and 181 metric tonnes (200 short tons) or more in weight, are believed to be the largest animal to ever live on earth. \u003ccite>(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Giants of the Sea\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will Gearty, a paleobiologist at Stanford, \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-learn-why-aquatic-mammals-need-be-big-not-too-big\">thinks he knows what pushed many marine mammals to get big\u003c/a>: they needed to keep warm. Water pulls heat from a body much faster than air — it’s why you can get hypothermia in 60 degree water. A marine mammal needs to deal with this every day, and one of the best ways to prevent heat loss is to get bigger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”gCcjqCUvcP2T3Zcw1sJPe746KEzUSrk9″]“The amount of skin they have compared to how much stuff inside they have goes down,” Gearty says, “and so they lose less heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gearty calculated the optimal size a mammal would need to be in order to stay warm in the water, and it turns out that’s about the size of a manatee. Relative to most land mammals, that’s pretty big, and it’s comparable to many marine mammals we do see. But it’s a whole lot smaller than a blue whale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research published last year suggested it was food density, not food availability, that drove the evolution of the biggest whales. Bigger whales were more efficient consumers of dense pockets of krill than smaller whales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Vermeij favors a different hypothesis: killer whales and giant sharks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It turns out that the evolution of the very largest whales pretty closely coincides with the evolution of killer whales,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Killer whales aren’t all that big, but they are social hunters, which allows them to bring down really large prey. Other early whales may have encountered Megalodon, a giant shark that stretched 59 feet from nose to tail. Being bigger than the Megalodon would have helped whales avoid becoming prey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926436\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Redwood trees often reach heights greater than 300 feet. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Whitney/California Academy of Sciences)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Giants on Land\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out that redwood trees evolved a second trait that, like their ability to absorb water from fog, allows them to thrive as huge trees: Redwoods are extraordinarily good at not dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[emailsignup newslettername='science' align='right']While some other towering tree species invest in growing very fast, redwoods invest in defense: pest-resistant heartwood, fire resistant bark, and an impressive ability to regrow damaged trunks and branches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s incredibly difficult to kill a redwood,” says Tamara Schwarz, director of exhibit development at the CalAcademy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the hundreds or thousands of years that a redwood may live, even moderate growth adds up. The evolutionary driver of bigness in redwoods may be the advantage in being good at survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or it may be simply be that being taller means better access to sunlight in the dark forest. On the other hand, trees compete for sunlight in every forest, and the oldest trees on earth, the bristlecone pines, are not particularly big.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers don’t really know for sure what drives bigness in redwood trees. But an answer\u003cb> \u003c/b>may lie in the redwood’s unusual, enormous genome, currently the topic of study for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.savetheredwoods.org/project/redwood-genome-project/\">Redwood Genome Project\u003c/a>. The redwood genome is ten times the size of the human genome, with six copies of its chromosomes (both humans and giant sequoias only have two copies). Mapping the redwood genome may uncover genes that explain how the redwood got so big.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926438\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1926438\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-1180x786.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-520x347.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At the new exhibit, visitors can see a 9-foot tall redwood section up close and learn about how it tells the stories of the tree’s lifetime. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Whitney/California Academy of Sciences)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Giants in a Time of Change\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental conditions like fog and food availability might not have been the only factors in the evolution of giants, but if those conditions change, it might be enough threaten California’s iconic species. Climate change could disrupt the ocean dynamics that generate abundant food and fog. Stanford’s Gearty says the biggest concern for whales is that they will no longer have enough food to sustain their huge bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The future of redwoods may be bit less gloomy. Fog levels have declined over recent decades, but it’s unclear whether this will hurt the redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some researchers say higher levels of carbon dioxide could help redwoods grow. When trees take in carbon dioxide, they lose water, but when there’s a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees can sequester more carbon for the same amount of water lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get more bang for your buck,” says Humboldt State’s Kerhoulas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though drought and warmer temperatures might be stressful, especially for younger redwood forests, the same resilience that has allowed the redwoods and sequoias to grow so tall seems to be helping them cope with climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not all totally doom and gloom,” Kerhoulas says. “These two ancient tree species, they have survived deep time, millions of years. And so from what I can tell, it seems like they are displaying a pretty high level of drought resistance and resilience.”\u003cbr>\n \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "The Giants of California: How Redwoods and Whales Got So Big | KQED",
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"headline": "The Giants of California: How Redwoods and Whales Got So Big",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Virginia-based ecologist Jeff Atkins visited the giant redwood trees at Muir Woods National Monument, he saw something that blew his mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember watching drops of water falling from the top of the canopy,” he wrote on Twitter. “And it took forever for them to fall. I mean FOREVER!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redwood trees are so tall that, standing on the forest floor, you can’t see to the tops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You crane your head back and you look up, up, up, up, and it becomes a blur as you get into the crown,” says Lucy Kerhoulas, professor of forest physiology at Humboldt State University. You can’t really know what’s up there, unless you actually go up and climb,” which Kerhoulas has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer in California is a great time to hang out with giants: the giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park, or the giant redwood trees in forests from Big Sur to the Oregon border. And though the famous grey whale migration season is long over, summer whale watchers can spot the world’s largest living animal: the blue whale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926439\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926439\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-1180x786.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/WhaleSkele_CalAcad-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue whale skeleton has hung in the California Academy of Sciences for years — the new exhibit is designed to draw attention to the classic specimen. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Whitney/California Academy of Sciences)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the best ways to learn about California’s giants and why the state became home to these giants is by visiting a new exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences called \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/giants-of-land-and-sea\">Giants of Land and Sea\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It isn’t happenstance that California and the waters off our coast are home to these giants. As the new exhibit explains, bigness emerges partly from the particulars of life here – the ocean currents and our famous fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/giants-of-land-and-sea\">\u003cem>Giants of Land and Sea\u003c/em>\u003c/a> opened June 15. Highlights include:\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A blue whale skeleton, 85 feet long.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An immersive fog room, where visitors can feel what it’s like to be a redwood.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A series of films featuring the ecology of a redwood tree from roots to crown, shot by a drone in 6K definition.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli> Skulls and skeletons of marine mammals, including the massive northern elephant seal.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Strong winds drive ocean upwelling along the coast, bringing nutrients up from lower layers of the ocean to the surface. Plankton and krill multiply exhuberantly, providing food for the blue whale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those same winds bring cold water south from Arctic latitudes. When warm summer temperatures hit that cold water, a fog layer forms. The fog is drawn toward land, providing plenty of water for the redwood trees along the coast. Redwoods evolved the ability to tap into fog, absorbing some of its moisture through their leaves and funneling more to their roots. So ocean currents and weather systems unite in an ecological system primed to foster bigness in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, UC Davis paleontologist Geerat Vermeij says ecology doesn’t tell the whole story of how the giants got so big. Plants and animals don’t evolve bigness just because they can, much like a car doesn’t move forward just because there is a road in front of it — someone has to get in the driver’s seat and turn it on. In other words, there needs to be an evolutionary driver, too. There has to be an advantage to being bigger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926847\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3888px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926847\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3888\" height=\"2728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601.jpg 3888w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-800x561.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1020x716.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1200x842.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1920x1347.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-1180x828.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-960x674.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-240x168.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-375x263.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/GettyImages-81956601-520x365.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3888px) 100vw, 3888px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A blue whale exhales through its blowhole, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, California on July 16, 2008. At up to 33 metres (110 ft) in length and 181 metric tonnes (200 short tons) or more in weight, are believed to be the largest animal to ever live on earth. \u003ccite>(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Giants of the Sea\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will Gearty, a paleobiologist at Stanford, \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-learn-why-aquatic-mammals-need-be-big-not-too-big\">thinks he knows what pushed many marine mammals to get big\u003c/a>: they needed to keep warm. Water pulls heat from a body much faster than air — it’s why you can get hypothermia in 60 degree water. A marine mammal needs to deal with this every day, and one of the best ways to prevent heat loss is to get bigger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>“The amount of skin they have compared to how much stuff inside they have goes down,” Gearty says, “and so they lose less heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gearty calculated the optimal size a mammal would need to be in order to stay warm in the water, and it turns out that’s about the size of a manatee. Relative to most land mammals, that’s pretty big, and it’s comparable to many marine mammals we do see. But it’s a whole lot smaller than a blue whale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research published last year suggested it was food density, not food availability, that drove the evolution of the biggest whales. Bigger whales were more efficient consumers of dense pockets of krill than smaller whales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Vermeij favors a different hypothesis: killer whales and giant sharks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It turns out that the evolution of the very largest whales pretty closely coincides with the evolution of killer whales,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Killer whales aren’t all that big, but they are social hunters, which allows them to bring down really large prey. Other early whales may have encountered Megalodon, a giant shark that stretched 59 feet from nose to tail. Being bigger than the Megalodon would have helped whales avoid becoming prey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1926436\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodForest-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Redwood trees often reach heights greater than 300 feet. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Whitney/California Academy of Sciences)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Giants on Land\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out that redwood trees evolved a second trait that, like their ability to absorb water from fog, allows them to thrive as huge trees: Redwoods are extraordinarily good at not dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While some other towering tree species invest in growing very fast, redwoods invest in defense: pest-resistant heartwood, fire resistant bark, and an impressive ability to regrow damaged trunks and branches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s incredibly difficult to kill a redwood,” says Tamara Schwarz, director of exhibit development at the CalAcademy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the hundreds or thousands of years that a redwood may live, even moderate growth adds up. The evolutionary driver of bigness in redwoods may be the advantage in being good at survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or it may be simply be that being taller means better access to sunlight in the dark forest. On the other hand, trees compete for sunlight in every forest, and the oldest trees on earth, the bristlecone pines, are not particularly big.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers don’t really know for sure what drives bigness in redwood trees. But an answer\u003cb> \u003c/b>may lie in the redwood’s unusual, enormous genome, currently the topic of study for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.savetheredwoods.org/project/redwood-genome-project/\">Redwood Genome Project\u003c/a>. The redwood genome is ten times the size of the human genome, with six copies of its chromosomes (both humans and giant sequoias only have two copies). Mapping the redwood genome may uncover genes that explain how the redwood got so big.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1926438\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1926438\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-1180x786.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad-520x347.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/RedwoodWedge_CalAcad.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At the new exhibit, visitors can see a 9-foot tall redwood section up close and learn about how it tells the stories of the tree’s lifetime. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Whitney/California Academy of Sciences)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Giants in a Time of Change\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental conditions like fog and food availability might not have been the only factors in the evolution of giants, but if those conditions change, it might be enough threaten California’s iconic species. Climate change could disrupt the ocean dynamics that generate abundant food and fog. Stanford’s Gearty says the biggest concern for whales is that they will no longer have enough food to sustain their huge bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The future of redwoods may be bit less gloomy. Fog levels have declined over recent decades, but it’s unclear whether this will hurt the redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some researchers say higher levels of carbon dioxide could help redwoods grow. When trees take in carbon dioxide, they lose water, but when there’s a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees can sequester more carbon for the same amount of water lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get more bang for your buck,” says Humboldt State’s Kerhoulas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though drought and warmer temperatures might be stressful, especially for younger redwood forests, the same resilience that has allowed the redwoods and sequoias to grow so tall seems to be helping them cope with climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not all totally doom and gloom,” Kerhoulas says. “These two ancient tree species, they have survived deep time, millions of years. And so from what I can tell, it seems like they are displaying a pretty high level of drought resistance and resilience.”\u003cbr>\n \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]When you walk through a park, go for a hike or take a trip to the zoo, most of the animals and plants you see appear symmetric. Whether it’s an oak leaf or an elk’s antlers, the right and left sides match. It’s much less common to find examples of asymmetry — or things that are out of balance — in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But scientists aren’t exactly sure why symmetry is so prevalent. One idea is that it may be beneficial to have a spare body part in case one side is injured. Or perhaps it’s just easier to move through the environment with matched pairs of legs, fins or wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Symmetry also tends to look balanced and harmonious to our eye. And we’re not alone in that feeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many animals seem to show a preference for symmetry in a potential mate. It can be a clue that the mate has the genes necessary to develop properly and thrive in an environment full of stresses and dangers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_lift_rock_hide.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925926\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_lift_rock_hide.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritime earwigs will retreat from light, often burrowing down leaving only their pincers exposed. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But some critters buck the trend. Like the earwig, a diminutive insect found on every continent except Antarctica.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrew Zink, an associate professor of biology at San Francisco State University, has been looking at how symmetry affects earwigs’ success when it comes to social interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s studying maritime earwigs, a larger and more powerful cousin to the common European earwig you might find in your backyard. Both creatures bear fearsome-looking pincers on their backsides. And they aren’t afraid to use them to defend themselves. Zink knows all about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels like someone is pinching you with tweezers,” said Zink, standing by the shore of San Francisco Bay on a recent earwig expedition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It might be more alarming if you’re afraid of insects,” Zink added. “But it’s nothing like the sting of a bee or wasp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also regularly debunks a common myth: Earwigs are not interested in laying their eggs in your ear, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1925929 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Don’t worry. Earwigs do prefer dark damp areas, but they’re no more likely than other insects to crawl into your ear. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first thing to know about all earwig pincers is that females have straight pincers while males have curved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists call the pincers cerci. It’s thought that cerci evolved from a previously existing additional rear pair of legs among the ancestors of insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maritime earwigs make their living along the shoreline, scavenging among rocks and eelgrass for dead sea life and hunting tiny prey, like sand hoppers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_hunt_sandhopper.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925934\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_hunt_sandhopper.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritime earwigs hunt small prey like sand hoppers, in addition to scavenging in the intertidal zone \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you go down to the shoreline and sit on a rock for a while, you’ll see them,” Zink said, as he turned over one impressively sized rock after another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best place to find maritime earwigs is under rocks, driftwood and decaying plants around the high tide line, where they take refuge from the sun and encroaching waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can get crowded under those rocks and life isn’t always peaceful down there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If two male earwigs run into each other, they will typically engage in a ritualized battle for dominance. The fighting gets especially fierce around the spring mating season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, the males check each other out with their antennae, possibly to gauge the size of their opponent. Then they stop and turn around so that their pincers face each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once they’re in position, they attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_fight_start.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_fight_start.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Male maritime earwigs don’t typically fight to the death. More often, the loser will abandon the fight after a few seconds and avoid the other. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Using their pincers, they strike and grab at one another. The curved shape of the males’ pincers allows them to grab on to the sides of their opponent’s abdomen and squeeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a wrestling match,” Zink said. “Before long one earwig comes out on top and the loser retreats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the wrestling match can be fatal. Winning these battles may allow the winners to gain more access to preferred territory, which can mean more food and better access to females.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general the larger earwigs win more often,” Zink said. But there’s more to it than size.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many males have nearly symmetric pincers, others have one side shaped differently than the other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically it’s the right-side pincer that curves in more sharply on the asymmetric males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That difference in shape struck Zink and graduate student Nicole Muñoz as fascinating, because asymmetry like this is usually less attractive to potential mates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can be a big drawback, evolutionarily speaking. The researchers wondered if there might be some other advantage to that asymmetry that outweighed the potential hit to their attractiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Munoz brought maritime earwigs into the lab and ran staged fights to see if the symmetry of the males’ pincers had any effect on the outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She found that when evenly sized male earwigs battled, the one with the more asymmetric pincers tended to win more often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925941\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1925941\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top-down view of increasingly asymmetric maritime earwig pincers \u003ccite>(Nicole Munoz/San Francisco State University)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By slipping the straighter side under their opponent’s abdomen, the asymmetric males are able to bring the point of the more curved side down tip first. This grip worked better in fights and the researchers saw cases where males would pierce their opponent’s shell with that curved tip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means death for the loser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like bringing a knife to a wrestling match,” said Zink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how would this asymmetry affect a male’s ability to attract a mate?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vikram Iyengar, an associate professor of biology at Villanova University, studies just that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than focus on who wins the most fights, Iyengar looks at which features female earwigs look for when selecting a mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s important because female earwigs seem to be the ones that make the decisions when it comes to mating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_male-and-female.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925943\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_male-and-female.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The curved shape of the pincers makes male earwigs easy to spot. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Females are typically larger and stronger than males. And their straight pincers function more like scissors, making them especially dangerous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iyengar found that female earwigs are unusual, too. Under laboratory conditions, the female earwigs he studies didn’t seem to care if a male’s pincers were symmetric or asymmetric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, the two studies might explain the prevalence of asymmetry in those male earwigs’ pincers, since it would tend to help them win fights and not hurt when it comes to mating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Iyengar found that females didn’t tend to select larger and more aggressive males, even though they might tend to win in fights more often. Instead, he found that the females preferred to mate with somewhat smaller males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, winning fights is still valuable because it allows males to spend time in the preferred territories where females tend to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a complicated drama to be happening under a rock.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Earwigs are equipped with some pretty imposing pincers on their rear, and they're not afraid to use them. But when it comes to these appendages, size isn't everything.",
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"title": "What Do Earwigs Do With Those Pincers Anyway? | KQED",
"description": "Earwigs are equipped with some pretty imposing pincers on their rear, and they're not afraid to use them. But when it comes to these appendages, size isn't everything.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When you walk through a park, go for a hike or take a trip to the zoo, most of the animals and plants you see appear symmetric. Whether it’s an oak leaf or an elk’s antlers, the right and left sides match. It’s much less common to find examples of asymmetry — or things that are out of balance — in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But scientists aren’t exactly sure why symmetry is so prevalent. One idea is that it may be beneficial to have a spare body part in case one side is injured. Or perhaps it’s just easier to move through the environment with matched pairs of legs, fins or wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Symmetry also tends to look balanced and harmonious to our eye. And we’re not alone in that feeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many animals seem to show a preference for symmetry in a potential mate. It can be a clue that the mate has the genes necessary to develop properly and thrive in an environment full of stresses and dangers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_lift_rock_hide.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925926\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_lift_rock_hide.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritime earwigs will retreat from light, often burrowing down leaving only their pincers exposed. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But some critters buck the trend. Like the earwig, a diminutive insect found on every continent except Antarctica.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrew Zink, an associate professor of biology at San Francisco State University, has been looking at how symmetry affects earwigs’ success when it comes to social interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s studying maritime earwigs, a larger and more powerful cousin to the common European earwig you might find in your backyard. Both creatures bear fearsome-looking pincers on their backsides. And they aren’t afraid to use them to defend themselves. Zink knows all about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels like someone is pinching you with tweezers,” said Zink, standing by the shore of San Francisco Bay on a recent earwig expedition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It might be more alarming if you’re afraid of insects,” Zink added. “But it’s nothing like the sting of a bee or wasp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also regularly debunks a common myth: Earwigs are not interested in laying their eggs in your ear, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1925929 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwig_ear_splitscreen-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Don’t worry. Earwigs do prefer dark damp areas, but they’re no more likely than other insects to crawl into your ear. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first thing to know about all earwig pincers is that females have straight pincers while males have curved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists call the pincers cerci. It’s thought that cerci evolved from a previously existing additional rear pair of legs among the ancestors of insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maritime earwigs make their living along the shoreline, scavenging among rocks and eelgrass for dead sea life and hunting tiny prey, like sand hoppers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_hunt_sandhopper.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925934\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_hunt_sandhopper.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritime earwigs hunt small prey like sand hoppers, in addition to scavenging in the intertidal zone \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you go down to the shoreline and sit on a rock for a while, you’ll see them,” Zink said, as he turned over one impressively sized rock after another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best place to find maritime earwigs is under rocks, driftwood and decaying plants around the high tide line, where they take refuge from the sun and encroaching waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can get crowded under those rocks and life isn’t always peaceful down there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If two male earwigs run into each other, they will typically engage in a ritualized battle for dominance. The fighting gets especially fierce around the spring mating season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, the males check each other out with their antennae, possibly to gauge the size of their opponent. Then they stop and turn around so that their pincers face each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once they’re in position, they attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_fight_start.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_fight_start.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Male maritime earwigs don’t typically fight to the death. More often, the loser will abandon the fight after a few seconds and avoid the other. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Using their pincers, they strike and grab at one another. The curved shape of the males’ pincers allows them to grab on to the sides of their opponent’s abdomen and squeeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a wrestling match,” Zink said. “Before long one earwig comes out on top and the loser retreats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the wrestling match can be fatal. Winning these battles may allow the winners to gain more access to preferred territory, which can mean more food and better access to females.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general the larger earwigs win more often,” Zink said. But there’s more to it than size.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many males have nearly symmetric pincers, others have one side shaped differently than the other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically it’s the right-side pincer that curves in more sharply on the asymmetric males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That difference in shape struck Zink and graduate student Nicole Muñoz as fascinating, because asymmetry like this is usually less attractive to potential mates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can be a big drawback, evolutionarily speaking. The researchers wondered if there might be some other advantage to that asymmetry that outweighed the potential hit to their attractiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Munoz brought maritime earwigs into the lab and ran staged fights to see if the symmetry of the males’ pincers had any effect on the outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She found that when evenly sized male earwigs battled, the one with the more asymmetric pincers tended to win more often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925941\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1925941\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_symmetry_comparison_label-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top-down view of increasingly asymmetric maritime earwig pincers \u003ccite>(Nicole Munoz/San Francisco State University)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By slipping the straighter side under their opponent’s abdomen, the asymmetric males are able to bring the point of the more curved side down tip first. This grip worked better in fights and the researchers saw cases where males would pierce their opponent’s shell with that curved tip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means death for the loser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like bringing a knife to a wrestling match,” said Zink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how would this asymmetry affect a male’s ability to attract a mate?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vikram Iyengar, an associate professor of biology at Villanova University, studies just that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than focus on who wins the most fights, Iyengar looks at which features female earwigs look for when selecting a mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s important because female earwigs seem to be the ones that make the decisions when it comes to mating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_male-and-female.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925943\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL512_Earwigs_male-and-female.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The curved shape of the pincers makes male earwigs easy to spot. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Females are typically larger and stronger than males. And their straight pincers function more like scissors, making them especially dangerous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iyengar found that female earwigs are unusual, too. Under laboratory conditions, the female earwigs he studies didn’t seem to care if a male’s pincers were symmetric or asymmetric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, the two studies might explain the prevalence of asymmetry in those male earwigs’ pincers, since it would tend to help them win fights and not hurt when it comes to mating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Iyengar found that females didn’t tend to select larger and more aggressive males, even though they might tend to win in fights more often. Instead, he found that the females preferred to mate with somewhat smaller males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, winning fights is still valuable because it allows males to spend time in the preferred territories where females tend to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a complicated drama to be happening under a rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "youd-never-guess-what-an-acorn-woodpecker-eats",
"title": "You’d Never Guess What an Acorn Woodpecker Eats",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Have you ever wondered why woodpeckers pound so incessantly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case of acorn woodpeckers — gregarious black-and-red birds in California’s oak forests — they’re building an intricate pantry, a massive, well-organized stockpile of thousands of acorns to carry them through the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925448\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ON_ACORN_WS_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925448\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ON_ACORN_WS_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Acorn woodpeckers have drilled thousands of holes in these redwoods on the shore of Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. They store one acorn in each hole. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re the only animals that I know of that store their acorns individually in holes in trees,” said biologist Walter Koenig, of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Acorn_Woodpecker/overview\">Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u003c/a>, who has studied acorn woodpeckers for decades at the University of California’s Hastings Natural History Reservation in Carmel Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925452\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Storing acorns high up in the trees helps the woodpeckers protect them from squirrels, deer and jays. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over generations, acorn woodpeckers can drill thousands of small holes into one or several trees close to each other, giving these so-called granaries the appearance of Swiss cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This sets them apart from other birds that drop acorns into already-existing cavities in trees, and animals like squirrels and jays that bury acorns in the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In spring and summer, hikers in the Bay Area commonly see acorn woodpeckers while the birds feed their chicks and care for their granaries. They don’t mind people staring at them and they’re easy to find. They greet each other with loud cries that sound like “waka-waka-waka.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin and Contra Costa counties are good places to spot them. They’re also easy to see in San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez. Outside California they’re found in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and south to Colombia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925453\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_STUFFS_ACORN_IN_HOLE_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925453\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_STUFFS_ACORN_IN_HOLE_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An acorn woodpecker pounds an acorn into a hole. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These avian performers are constantly tapping, drilling and pounding at their granaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ll usually have a central granary, maybe two trees that a group is using,” Koenig said. “Those trees are going to be close together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acorn woodpeckers make their granaries in pines, oaks, sycamores, redwoods and even in the palm trees on the Stanford University campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925465\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925465\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Woodpeckers have drilled thousands of holes into these redwoods around Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Their holes rarely hurt the trees. The birds bore only into the bark, where there’s no sap, or they make their granaries in snags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t want sap in the hole because it will cause the acorn to rot,” said Koenig. “The point of storing the acorns is that it protects them from other animals getting them and it allows them to dry out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The holes usually start a few feet up the tree trunks, which makes it easier for the woodpeckers to defend their acorns from deer, squirrels and jays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re pretty fearless. They dive-bomb squirrels,” said \u003ca href=\"http://www.katemarianchild.com\">Kate Marianchild\u003c/a>, author of the book “Secrets of the Oak Woodlands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925454\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_EATS_INSECT_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925454\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_EATS_INSECT_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An acorn woodpecker fed on an insect in April. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the spring, acorn woodpeckers have their choice of food. They catch insects, eat oak flowers and suck the sap out of shallow holes on trees such as coast live oaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the winter, when these foods are unavailable, the birds feed on the acorns they stored in the late summer and fall. Acorns don’t have that much protein compared to insects, and they taste bitter, said Koenig. But the birds can stock up on them and keep them readily available in their granary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925461\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925461\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woodpecker made a meal of this black oak acorn. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The birds need to keep the acorns snug in their holes so that other animals can’t pull them out. So they regularly move up and down the tree trunk, tapping the acorns into their holes as they go. If they find one that’s loose, they pull it out and move it to a smaller hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acorn woodpeckers’ ability to reproduce in the spring depends on an abundant acorn crop the previous year. But oaks are finicky trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some years there are acorns all over the place,” said Koenig, “and other years there aren’t any acorns at all.” This is why acorn woodpeckers live where there are several species of oaks, he said, which increases the chances that they’ll have access to acorns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping a granary stocked takes a lot of work. So acorn woodpeckers live in family groups: four or five of them in something like a commune, with several males that are related to each other mating with several females that are related to each other but not to the males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are only a handful of species in the world that are known to be similarly complex,” Koenig said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925456\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_FAMILY_GROUP_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925456\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_FAMILY_GROUP_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Acorn woodpeckers live in family groups of four or five. These three woodpeckers gathered in April on a granary tree near Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Young woodpeckers who aren’t yet old enough to mate help take care of the chicks when they’re born in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s wonderful to see several birds lined up under a nest cavity to feed the nestlings,” Marianchild said. “It’s proof of cooperative breeding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a member of the group dies, young woodpeckers from other groups audition to join the group, in hopes of being able to start mating. These power struggles are loud and can last days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get birds chasing each other, yelling and screaming at each other, grappling,” said Koenig. “They’re incredibly exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_MAKES_HOLE_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925457\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_MAKES_HOLE_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An acorn woodpecker drills a hole into a redwood. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A group drills a few new holes each year. Every member works on the granary, and the acorns belong to all of them. Granaries can have thousands of holes and be built and maintained over many generations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When one of the birds wants to eat an acorn, it sometimes pecks it open right in the hole where it’s stored. Or it might carry the acorn to a nearby tree and wedge it in a nook before cracking it open by pounding on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ACORN_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925460\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ACORN_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woodpecker cracks open an acorn. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Agriculture and urbanization in some places have reduced the oaks that are available to the birds and put humans in closer proximity to them. On occasion, acorn woodpeckers drill holes into telephone poles and the wood trim of houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People can discourage them from pecking holes in their houses,” said Marianchild. “They can put up bird netting or hang shiny things. Or they can build houses out of stucco rather than wood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Marin Municipal Water District’s offices in Fairfax, which are surrounded by oaks, acorn woodpeckers stuff their supplies into the eaves, said Janet Klein, natural resources program manager. To protect the ranger station, they’ve put up a secondary layer of pine to give the woodpeckers something to drill into. Despite the noise, Klein enjoys watching them at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can watch the woodpeckers try out different holes,” she said. “‘Too tight, too loose.’”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "OK. Maybe you would. But wait until you see them carefully create their intricate acorn pantry.",
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"title": "You’d Never Guess What an Acorn Woodpecker Eats | KQED",
"description": "OK. Maybe you would. But wait until you see them carefully create their intricate acorn pantry.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Have you ever wondered why woodpeckers pound so incessantly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case of acorn woodpeckers — gregarious black-and-red birds in California’s oak forests — they’re building an intricate pantry, a massive, well-organized stockpile of thousands of acorns to carry them through the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925448\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ON_ACORN_WS_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925448\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ON_ACORN_WS_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Acorn woodpeckers have drilled thousands of holes in these redwoods on the shore of Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. They store one acorn in each hole. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re the only animals that I know of that store their acorns individually in holes in trees,” said biologist Walter Koenig, of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Acorn_Woodpecker/overview\">Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u003c/a>, who has studied acorn woodpeckers for decades at the University of California’s Hastings Natural History Reservation in Carmel Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925452\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_ACORNS_IN_GRANARY_MS_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Storing acorns high up in the trees helps the woodpeckers protect them from squirrels, deer and jays. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over generations, acorn woodpeckers can drill thousands of small holes into one or several trees close to each other, giving these so-called granaries the appearance of Swiss cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This sets them apart from other birds that drop acorns into already-existing cavities in trees, and animals like squirrels and jays that bury acorns in the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In spring and summer, hikers in the Bay Area commonly see acorn woodpeckers while the birds feed their chicks and care for their granaries. They don’t mind people staring at them and they’re easy to find. They greet each other with loud cries that sound like “waka-waka-waka.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin and Contra Costa counties are good places to spot them. They’re also easy to see in San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez. Outside California they’re found in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and south to Colombia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925453\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_STUFFS_ACORN_IN_HOLE_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925453\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_STUFFS_ACORN_IN_HOLE_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An acorn woodpecker pounds an acorn into a hole. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These avian performers are constantly tapping, drilling and pounding at their granaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ll usually have a central granary, maybe two trees that a group is using,” Koenig said. “Those trees are going to be close together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acorn woodpeckers make their granaries in pines, oaks, sycamores, redwoods and even in the palm trees on the Stanford University campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925465\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925465\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_GRANARY_IN_REDWOODS_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Woodpeckers have drilled thousands of holes into these redwoods around Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Their holes rarely hurt the trees. The birds bore only into the bark, where there’s no sap, or they make their granaries in snags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t want sap in the hole because it will cause the acorn to rot,” said Koenig. “The point of storing the acorns is that it protects them from other animals getting them and it allows them to dry out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The holes usually start a few feet up the tree trunks, which makes it easier for the woodpeckers to defend their acorns from deer, squirrels and jays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re pretty fearless. They dive-bomb squirrels,” said \u003ca href=\"http://www.katemarianchild.com\">Kate Marianchild\u003c/a>, author of the book “Secrets of the Oak Woodlands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925454\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_EATS_INSECT_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925454\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_EATS_INSECT_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An acorn woodpecker fed on an insect in April. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the spring, acorn woodpeckers have their choice of food. They catch insects, eat oak flowers and suck the sap out of shallow holes on trees such as coast live oaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the winter, when these foods are unavailable, the birds feed on the acorns they stored in the late summer and fall. Acorns don’t have that much protein compared to insects, and they taste bitter, said Koenig. But the birds can stock up on them and keep them readily available in their granary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925461\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925461\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_BLACK_OAK_ACORN_SHELL_1920-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woodpecker made a meal of this black oak acorn. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The birds need to keep the acorns snug in their holes so that other animals can’t pull them out. So they regularly move up and down the tree trunk, tapping the acorns into their holes as they go. If they find one that’s loose, they pull it out and move it to a smaller hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acorn woodpeckers’ ability to reproduce in the spring depends on an abundant acorn crop the previous year. But oaks are finicky trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some years there are acorns all over the place,” said Koenig, “and other years there aren’t any acorns at all.” This is why acorn woodpeckers live where there are several species of oaks, he said, which increases the chances that they’ll have access to acorns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping a granary stocked takes a lot of work. So acorn woodpeckers live in family groups: four or five of them in something like a commune, with several males that are related to each other mating with several females that are related to each other but not to the males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are only a handful of species in the world that are known to be similarly complex,” Koenig said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925456\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_FAMILY_GROUP_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925456\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_FAMILY_GROUP_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Acorn woodpeckers live in family groups of four or five. These three woodpeckers gathered in April on a granary tree near Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Young woodpeckers who aren’t yet old enough to mate help take care of the chicks when they’re born in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s wonderful to see several birds lined up under a nest cavity to feed the nestlings,” Marianchild said. “It’s proof of cooperative breeding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a member of the group dies, young woodpeckers from other groups audition to join the group, in hopes of being able to start mating. These power struggles are loud and can last days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get birds chasing each other, yelling and screaming at each other, grappling,” said Koenig. “They’re incredibly exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_MAKES_HOLE_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925457\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_MAKES_HOLE_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An acorn woodpecker drills a hole into a redwood. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A group drills a few new holes each year. Every member works on the granary, and the acorns belong to all of them. Granaries can have thousands of holes and be built and maintained over many generations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When one of the birds wants to eat an acorn, it sometimes pecks it open right in the hole where it’s stored. Or it might carry the acorn to a nearby tree and wedge it in a nook before cracking it open by pounding on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1925460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ACORN_500.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1925460\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/06/DL_511AcornWoodpeckers_WOODPECKER_POUNDS_ACORN_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woodpecker cracks open an acorn. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Agriculture and urbanization in some places have reduced the oaks that are available to the birds and put humans in closer proximity to them. On occasion, acorn woodpeckers drill holes into telephone poles and the wood trim of houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People can discourage them from pecking holes in their houses,” said Marianchild. “They can put up bird netting or hang shiny things. Or they can build houses out of stucco rather than wood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Marin Municipal Water District’s offices in Fairfax, which are surrounded by oaks, acorn woodpeckers stuff their supplies into the eaves, said Janet Klein, natural resources program manager. To protect the ranger station, they’ve put up a secondary layer of pine to give the woodpeckers something to drill into. Despite the noise, Klein enjoys watching them at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can watch the woodpeckers try out different holes,” she said. “‘Too tight, too loose.’”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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