Climate-driven El Nino intensifies declines in tropical forest insects, spiders: study
Arthropods, which constitute the majority of animal species, play vital roles in ecosystems such as decomposition, herbivory, and pollination, and serve as vital food sources for birds and other larger animals, according to a statement released Thursday by Australia's Griffith University.
Analyzing data from over 80 untouched tropical forest studies, researchers from Griffith University and the University of Hong Kong in China found significant arthropod biodiversity losses, accompanied by declines in live leaf consumption and instability in dead leaf decomposition.
The study said long-term changes to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, with more frequent and intense hot, dry El Nino events due to climate change, disrupt the natural balance between El Nino and La Nina stages of the cycle, driving declines in arthropods and their ecological roles.
Species that thrive under La Nina conditions, which are often cooler and wetter, are particularly affected, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
The study excludes human threats like habitat loss, pesticides, and pollution in these untouched forests, identifying climate-driven ENSO changes as the primary cause of arthropod loss.
"The crucial message for Australia is the need to monitor the biodiversity in our rainforests," said co-author Roger Kitching from Griffith University.
The research continues across forest sites in China's Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Australia, and Malaysia to further explore these alarming trends.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Cameroon concludes AI training for indigenous people
YAOUNDE, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon on Saturday concluded a weeklong training for indigenous people in artificial intelligence (AI) as part of activities to mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Minister of Social Affairs Pauline Irene Nguene said the Central African nation is working to ensure that indigenous people benefit from the opportunities provided by the advent of AI. "Indigenous people should not be left out in the changing world. It is their right to learn and apply AI. That is why this training contributes to the fight against social exclusion," Nguene said in Yaounde, the country's capital, while awarding certificates at the end of the training. Efforts are underway to establish a tiered AI education system to guide indigenous people in rural areas from foundational cognitive awareness to practical technological innovation, according to Cameroonian officials. The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is commemorated annually on Aug. 9, with this year's theme being "Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures."
The Star
20 hours ago
- The Star
AI joins the frontline in landslide fight
Every morning, Nepali primary school teacher Bina Tamang steps outside her home and checks the rain gauge, part of an early warning system in one of the world's most landslide-prone regions. Tamang contributes to an AI-powered early warning system that uses rainfall and ground movement data, local observations and satellite imagery to predict landslides up to weeks in advance, according to its developers at the University of Melbourne. From her home in Kimtang village in the hills of northwest Nepal, 29-year-old Tamang sends photos of the water level to experts in the capital Kathmandu, a five-hour drive to the south. 'Our village is located in difficult terrain, and landslides are frequent here, like many villages in Nepal,' said Tamang. Every year during the monsoon season, floods and landslides wreak havoc across South Asia, killing hundreds of people. Nepal is especially vulnerable due to unstable geology, shifting rainfall patterns and poorly planned development. As a mountainous country, it is already 'highly prone' to landslides, said Rajendra Sharma, an early warning expert at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. 'And climate change is fuelling them further. Shifting rainfall patterns, rain instead of snowfall in high altitudes and even increase in wildfires are triggering soil erosion,' said Sharma. Landslides killed more than 300 people last year and were responsible for 70% of monsoon-linked deaths, government data shows. Tamang knows the risks first hand. When she was just five years old, her family and dozens of others relocated after soil erosion threatened their village homes. They moved about a kilometre uphill, but a strong 2015 earthquake left the area even more unstable, prompting many families to flee again. 'The villagers here have lived in fear,' Tamang said. Precarious situation: A vehicle passing through a landslide-prone area on the Arniko Highway in Nepal's Sindhupalchok district. — AFP 'But I am hopeful that this new early warning system will help save lives.' The landslide forecasting platform was developed by Australian professor Antoinette Tordesillas with partners in Nepal, Britain and Italy. Its name, SAFE-RISCCS, is an acronym of a complex title – Spatiotemporal Analytics, Forecasting and Estimation of Risks from Climate Change Systems. 'This is a low-cost but high-impact solution, one that's both scientifically informed and locally owned,' said Tordesillas. Professor Basanta Adhikari from Nepal's Tribhuvan University, who is involved in the project, said that similar systems were already in use in several other countries, including the United States and China. 'We are monitoring landslide-prone areas using the same principles that have been applied abroad, adapted to Nepal's terrain,' he said. 'If the system performs well during this monsoon season, we can be confident that it will work in Nepal as well, despite the country's complex Himalayan terrain.' In Nepal, it is being piloted in two high-risk areas: Kimtang in Nuwakot district and Jyotinagar in Dhading district. Tamang's data is handled by technical advisers like Sanjaya Devkota, who compares it against a threshold that might indicate a landslide. 'We are still in a preliminary stage, but once we have a long dataset, the AI component will automatically generate a graphical view and alert us based on the rainfall forecast,' Devkota said. 'Then we report to the community; that's our plan.' The experts have been collecting data for two months, but will need a data set spanning a year or two for proper forecasting, he added. Eventually, the system will deliver a continuously updated landslide risk map, helping decision makers and residents take preventive actions and make evacuation plans. The system 'need not be difficult or resource-intensive, especially when it builds on the community's deep local knowledge and active involvement', Tordesillas said. Asia suffered more climate and weather-related hazards than any other region in 2023, according to UN data, with floods and storms the most deadly and costly. And while two-thirds of the region have early warning systems for disasters in place, many other vulnerable countries have little coverage. In the last decade, Nepal has made progress on flood preparedness, installing 200 sirens along major rivers and actively involving communities in warning efforts. The system has helped reduce flooding deaths, said Binod Parajuli, a flood expert with the government's hydrology department. 'However, we have not been able to do the same for landslides because predicting them is much more complicated,' he said. 'Such technologies are absolutely necessary if Nepal wants to reduce its monsoon toll.' — AFP
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
QuickCheck: Do earthquakes 'make' gold seams?
THE Earth's mighty tremors are known for their destructive power, capable of toppling buildings and reshaping landscapes. It seems counter-intuitive that such violent events can also be master creators, forging precious metals deep within the planet. Yet, could these cataclysmic geological forces truly be responsible for the glittering veins of gold we covet? Verdict: TRUE It is true that earthquakes can indeed create gold. This remarkable geological phenomenon occurs along the Earth's fault lines, far beneath the surface, typically at depths of around five to 10 kilometres. Here, under immense pressure and scorching temperatures, water circulates through cracks and fissures within the rock. This water is not just ordinary H2O; it is superheated, often exceeding 350°C, and is heavily laden with dissolved minerals, including tiny traces of gold and silica, which is the main component of quartz. During an earthquake, the sudden slip along a fault line causes a dramatic and instantaneous drop in pressure within these fluid-filled cracks. Think of it like quickly opening a pressure cooker; the contents inside suddenly experience a massive pressure release. For the superheated, mineral-rich water, this rapid decompression is critical. It causes the water to instantly vaporise, or 'flash' into steam. This process is incredibly swift, occurring in mere tenths of a second. As the water turns to steam, it can no longer hold the dissolved minerals in solution. Consequently, the gold and quartz are forced out of the vapour and rapidly precipitate, or solidify, onto the walls of the newly opened cracks. These newly formed veins are essentially solidified records of the earthquake's passage, trapping the precious gold within. This groundbreaking understanding of gold formation was largely advanced by Australian scientists Dion Weatherley, a geophysicist at the University of Queensland, and Professor Richard Henley, a geochemist at the Australian National University. The theory suggests that repeated, smaller earthquakes, which occur far more frequently than large ones, can progressively build up economic-grade gold deposits over hundreds of thousands of years. Each seismic event, even a minor one, contributes a tiny amount of gold, but cumulatively, these small contributions can result in substantial veins. References: 1. articles/ngeo1759 2. com/smart-news/earthquakes- are-basically-gold-factories- 4659100/ 3. 27953-earthquakes-make-gold. html 4. article/earthquakes-build- gold-nuggets
