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Environmental scientists jump on Google Earth
THE BRITISH Geological available global mapping
Survey is leading the software. At a meeting in
geological surveys of more Cambridge in April, organised by
than 55 nations to create the Jon Blower from NERC’s Earth
first global digital geological Systems Science Centre,
map. The project, known as researchers discussed how the
OneGeology, is a searchable scientific community can use
website containing geological these systems.
maps for the entire planet, Jon illustrated the power of
initially at a scale of the technology by superimposing
1:1,000,000. an animation of the track of
The team will make Hurricane Katrina onto an
OneGeology available through animation of sea surface
Google Earth and other temperatures in the Caribbean
browsers. The initiative will and Atlantic.
start producing results by He said, ‘A key capability of
mid-2008 and grow steadily as these systems is their ability to
more countries pool clearly show diverse data from
information. different providers. This reveals Antarctic Survey already use the www.onegeology.org
Geologists are not the only new information that would system to display live information
environmental scientists to otherwise have been hidden.’ on ships, buoys and tagged
see the potential for freely Researchers at the British penguins.
Bird-ringing Monsoon variability targeted by researchers
stresses birds out
Jon Arnold Images/Alamy
BIRD-RINGING techniques used
to track wild birds can cause
stress and lead to erratic
behaviour, according to
research at Cardiff University.
Following release, many birds
temporarily stopped foraging for
food in their usual locations and
failed to return to their nests for
several hours. During these long
absences nest temperature fell,
leading to slower embryo
development.
NERC Fellow Rob Thomas
said, ‘It’s important to consider India needs to know if the rain will continue to fall.
these effects in the design of
ethical and scientifically
rigorous field experiments.’ A UK-INDIA partnership has in Pune, will also aim to apply The awards total £5 million
Rob is now working with the successfully secured funds for a those predictions at local and and involve five institutes in India
British Trust for Ornithology to four-year project to rapidly regional levels. as well as the University of East
develop this research and to develop improved ways of The research, which is one of Anglia, the European Centre for
revise regulations for bird predicting monsoon variability on six awards from the UK-India Medium-Range Weather
ringers. timescales of weeks to decades. Education and Research Forecasts, the Hadley Centre and
The team based in the UK at the Initiative (UKIERI), will be the University of Reading.
thomasrj@cardiff.ac.uk Walker Institute, University of achieved through a series of
Reading, and in India at the exchange visits, workshops and www.reading.ac.uk/about/news
Institute of Tropical Meteorology PhD studentships. andevents/releases/PR383.asp
2 Planet Earth • Summer 2007
News
To save a mockingbird
Overcoming hurdles
A NEW scheme to re-introduce Conservation biologists Steve
the Galapagos mockingbird, Ewing from the University of SCIENTISTS working on a University of Oxford and John
which is on the verge of Glasgow and Lukas Keller, now satellite instrument that was Gille of the University of
extinction, began in March. The at the Zoologisches Museum, at one point almost given up Colorado have painstakingly
project will use techniques Zürich and colleagues want to as a lost cause have developed new algorithms to
developed from a recent NERC- maximise genetic diversity of the announced that they are now maximise the data retrieved
funded project to reduce mockingbird populations to receiving high-quality data on from HIRDLS.
inbreeding in the Mauritius improve survival rates. atmospheric temperatures 'We spent half a year trying
kestrel, which has helped bring Lukas said, ‘We started in and chemical composition. to clear the obstruction before
the species back from the brink March with a workshop in the In July 2004, NASA we started looking at how we
of extinction. Galapagos. We will begin moving successfully launched the could use what we had got,’
Only four species of mockingbirds in 2009.’ Earth observation satellite said John Barnett.
mockingbird are left on the ‘I am convinced if we had not Aura to examine atmospheric ‘We radically changed the
Galapagos. One species is done the work on kestrel composition in unprecedented way the optical beam moved
endangered. It has already gone inbreeding we would not have detail. The success was and got NASA to tilt the
extinct on the main island and credentials to do the Galapagos overshadowed in the UK by spacecraft to give us special
there are less than 200 birds left project.’ the silence from one of Aura's calibration data. Fortunately
on two smaller islands. four instruments – the joint the rest of the instrument
NERC/NASA-funded High works even better than
Tom Vezo/Nature Picture Library
Under threat: the Galapagos mockingbird.
Resolution Dynamics Limb planned, and this was a big
Sounder (HIRDLS). The help.’
instrument was due to Now, even with 80 percent
measure atmospheric of the optical beam still
composition, including ozone blacked-out, in one day the
and particulates. team can retrieve data from
During the launch a piece nearly all of the world.
of protective plastic film had NERC’s British Atmospheric
torn free and lodged over the Data Centre will distribute data
instrument's only optical in the UK.
beam, reducing visibility to
just 20 percent. Dr John Barnett
Since the launch, scientists j.barnett1@physics.ox.ac.uk
led by John Barnett from the
Small but perfectly formed
IN TERMS of nanomaterials, environments.
small is turning out to be quite The work is part of the
beautiful from a commercial, ongoing Environmental
medical and environmental Nanoscience Initiative. The first
viewpoint. But do the enhanced results from the initiative are
properties of nanomaterials reported on page ten.
mean enhanced risks to the The second International
environment and human health? Conference on Environmental
NERC, in collaboration with Effects of Nanomaterials will be
Defra and the Environment held on 24-25 September at the
Agency, announced in May Natural History Museum (See
approximately ten exploratory www.sebiology.org).
grants to investigate the
environmental fate, behaviour www.nerc.ac.uk/research/progr
and effects of nanomaterials in ammes/nanoscience
terrestrial, aquatic and marine
Planet Earth • Summer 2007 3
News
Carbon offsetting show that the excessive damage
Dinosaur extinction not could fund
was caused by the close proximity
of the earthquake’s epicentre to
responsible for present-day peatland Folkestone. The instruments
mammals regeneration showed that the epicentre was
adjacent to the town at a depth of
just two kilometres.
existing fossil records and new THE PEATLANDS of England and Historical records show that
A NEW discovery rewrites our
molecular analyses. Wales could store up to 41,000 earthquakes in or near the Dover
understanding of how we
Andy Purvis from Imperial tonnes of carbon per year, if they Straits struck in 1950, 1776, 1580
evolved on this planet. The
College London explains, ‘Our were in pristine condition. But and 1382.
ancestors of all mammals on
research has shown that for erosion and damage mean that The last earthquake felt by
Earth diversified as a result of
the first ten or fifteen million the peat is actually releasing residents in Folkestone was
a global warming, according to
years after the dinosaurs were carbon into the atmosphere at a actually a Dutch earthquake, with
research reported in Nature by
wiped out, present day rate of 381,000 tonnes a year, an epicentre near Maastricht, in
scientists from Imperial
mammals kept a very low according to researchers on the 1992.
College London and the
profile, while other types of Rural Economy and Land Use
Zoological Society of London. It
mammals were running the (RELU) programme. www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk
contradicts the previously
show. It looks like a later bout The cause of the release is the
accepted theory that a mass
of global warming may have vast system of drainage ditches
extinction event, that wiped out
kick-started today's diversity – dug across the uplands during the
the dinosaurs 65 million years
ago, prompted the rapid rise of not the death of the dinosaurs.’ 1950s. This was an unsuccessful Orchid’s little
the mammals that we see
attempt to increase land helpers
'The delayed rise of present- productivity. Scientists say that if
today.
day mammals', Nature, 29 these could be blocked then peat
The research team has been NEW RESEARCH demonstrates
March 2007. would form again.
working for over a decade to why some orchids are notoriously
Analysts at Defra suggest that
compile a ‘tree of life’ from difficult to cultivate from seed –
the cost of blocking one hectare
they need specific fungi to help
of peat drains is about £188. RELU
them grow. Scientists have
D. Van Ravenswaay /Science Photo Library
researchers have hit on the idea
Why are we here? The mystery deepens. known for a long time that fungi
of working with a carbon
play a vital role helping orchids
offsetting company that would
germinate, but until now, they
allow consumers to offset their
knew very little about how they
carbon footprint by paying for
helped the adult plant.
upland regeneration.
Duncan Cameron and his
colleagues from the University of
Anne Liddon
Sheffield, have shown that the
relu@newcastle.ac.uk
adult green orchid, creeping
lady’s tresses (Goodyera repens),
takes up nitrogen and
Folkestone phosphorus, two nutrients for
Earthquake essential growth, from fungi living
close to or within its roots. In
THE LEVEL of damage caused by return, the plant gives up some of
the earthquake which shook its carbon as sugars.
Folkestone and the rest of Kent Duncan said, ‘We introduced
on 28 April has rarely been radioactive phosphorus which
exceeded in the last few hundred could be traced and quantified as
years, according to scientists at it moved between the plant and
the British Geological Survey fungus, which confirmed for the
(BGS). But the geologists add that first time this mutualistic
the earthquake was by no means behaviour.’
unusual in the UK: earthquakes of
a similar magnitude usually strike ‘Mycorrhizal Acquisition of
somewhere on land or offshore Inorganic Phosphorus by the
every five years. Green-leaved Terrestrial Orchid
BGS geologists used the UK Goodyera repens’, Annals of
seismic monitoring network to Botany, 1-4, 2007.
4 Planet Earth • Summer 2007
News
Major carbon sink now releasing CO2
Evidence of climate driving
STRONGER winds over the climate models predict that this
evolution and ecology Southern Ocean caused by kind of feedback will continue and
increasing greenhouse gases intensify during this century. The
and ozone depletion have led to Earth’s carbon sinks – of which
a release of carbon dioxide from the Southern Ocean accounts for
the ocean into the atmosphere. 15 percent – absorb about half of
The research is the first all human carbon emissions. With
evidence that recent climate the Southern Ocean reaching its
change has weakened one of saturation point more CO2 will stay
the Earth’s natural carbon sinks. in our atmosphere.’
Lead author Corinne Le Quéré Stronger winds churn up the
from the British Antarctic Survey ocean bringing more dissolved
and the University of East Anglia carbon to the surface.
said, ‘We can say climate ‘Saturations of the Southern
change itself is responsible for Ocean CO2 sink due to recent
the saturation of the Southern climate change.’ Science,
Ocean sink. This is serious. All 18 May.
Still learning from Archimedes
GRACEFUL, simple, underwater crossing oceans.
gliders are providing researchers In 2007 the team from the
with excellent data on deep National Oceanography Centre,
convection in the Mediterranean. Southampton deployed three
Underwater gliders combine gliders in the Gulf of Lion. They
high-tech design with buoyancy used satellite communication
RELATIVELY minor principles first put forward by systems during the three-month
larger animals. This could
environmental influences, Archimedes in 250BC. They sink project to adapt the glider
significantly affect the
such as one harsh winter, slowly, but their shape forces mission as conditions changed.
population dynamics of the
can force evolution in animal them to slip forward through the Oceanographer David Smeed
Soay sheep overall’.
populations and rapidly water as they fall. A change in said, ‘We can control where the
The research, reported in
change population sizes. volume plus a tilt backwards and gliders go from my office in
Science, has shown that
Scientists studying Soay the machine travels upwards on Southampton. We are combining
population change is affected
sheep in the Outer Hebrides a gentle incline through the measurements from the gliders
by body size, and that body
noticed that in years with water column. Sea gliders can with models of convection to
size, in turn, is affected by a
long, cold winters the sheep use these simple manoeuvres to gain a better understanding of
number of factors including
population grew fastest travel great distances, even mixing in the ocean.’
genetics, climate, and the
when there were many large availability of food. The
individuals within the scientists have linked together,
population. for the first time, the big
Tim Coulson from Imperial ecological picture with the
College London explained, genetic make-up of individual
‘Data shows that in the 1980s animals.
big sheep were genetically
favoured in this population Dr Tim Coulson
because big sheep had more t.coulson@imperial.ac.uk
chance of surviving the
harsh winters.’ ‘The Evolutionary Demography
‘But, as the climate of Ecological Change: Linking
changes and the Soay sheep Trait Variation and Population
are not subject to such tough Growth’, Science, 16 March
winters, there will be 2007.
reduced natural selection for
Gliders deployed in the Mediterranean.
Planet Earth • Summer 2007 5
News
Journey to the centre of the Earth
Calculating the Olympics’
Roger Searle
carbon footprint
THE BRITISH Geological Survey compare the impact of using
and the University of Leeds different methods of transport
have been awarded a grant to from a range of likely quarries. Recovering samples from a gap
investigate some of the This information will help to in the Earth’s crust.
environmental impacts of identify potential problems
building the 2012 Olympic Park. with infrastructure and
Andrew Bloodworth, the encourage suppliers to use
programme co-ordinator said, more sustainable options such
'Such an enormous as rail and barge rather than
construction project will relying on roads.
probably call upon resources A PhD studentship is
from quarries right across the available. Please visit this
UK and we need to see how website for more details.
this will effect the environment.’ www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/resear
Using carbon footprint ch/csap/topics/bigfeet.html
calculations, the team will
Hunting warm, resting cool
DOGFISH have a hunting
strategy that helps them save
energy. These and other sharks
that live on the ocean floor hunt
in warm, shallow waters where
there is plenty of food, but move
to deeper, cooler water to rest
and digest their prey.
David Sims from the Marine
Biological Association said,
‘We’ve noticed other marine
species rest in deeper waters
but this tends to be a means of ONE of the world's most worked extremely well, allowing
hiding from their predators. advanced research ships has us to sample and map the
Benthic sharks have little to fear just completed her maiden seafloor with an unprecedented
from predation so we knew there voyage to investigate a huge precision. This is probably the
had to be another reason.’ ‘wound’ in the Earth's crust. first area where the mantle has
Some sharks are cold-blooded The James Cook, returned on been observed extensively on the
and the temperature of the water 17 April from an expedition to the seafloor.’
can control their metabolic rate Mid Atlantic Ridge, a massive The team includes scientists
with warmer temperatures underwater volcanic mountain from the National Oceanography
leading to an increase in energy range. Tectonic plates at the Centre in Southampton, Cardiff
expenditure. The scientists ridge move away from each University, Durham University, the
calculated that resting in the other and usually the gap fills British Geological Survey, and the
cooler waters enables these with hot, molten rock rising from universities of Houston, Paris and
sharks to save their energy by the mantle to form the Earth's Wyoming. They are now
six percent. crust. But at the location the analysing the data to reveal new
scientists visited, much of the insights into how the oceanic
‘Hunt warm, rest cool: melt seems to be missing and plates are formed. Planet Earth
bioenergetic strategy underlying the mantle is exposed on the will be reporting the findings later
diel vertical migration of a seabed. in the year.
benthic shark’, Journal of Animal Roger Searle, who led the Visit the official cruise website:
Ecology, Vol 75. expedition said, ‘The new ship www.classroomatsea.net
6 Planet Earth • Summer 2007
News
Ocean circulation ‘short-circuit’ discovered In brief
COLD WATERS rise from the Space race
depths an order of magnitude A new Earth observation
faster than predicted, in some centre launched in May will
parts of the Southern Ocean, boost the UK’s position in the
according to oceanographers global space industry. The
tracking helium ejected by Centre for Earth Observation
submarine volcanoes. and Instrumentation (CEOI)
The research reported in will ensure scientists in the
Nature gives new insights into UK have the instruments and
the global ocean circulation, technologies they need to
which has a central role in the research global environ-
climate system. The work mental change from space.
suggests that the giant, often The centre, a collaboration
sluggish overturning circulation between NERC and the
driven by winds and tides occurs Department for Trade and
in bursts in the Southern Ocean. Industry, will be led by Mick
The team led by Alberto Naveira Johnson.
Garabato from the National
Oceanography Centre, measure the rates of mixing and the overturning circulation in the Living with Environmental
Southampton discovered a upwelling over an area spanning upper kilometre of the ocean as Change
‘short-circuit’ in a region above one tenth of the Antarctic being independent of that in the The UK’s main funders of
rough, mountainous seafloor, Circumpolar Current (ACC), the abyss. Our observations show environmental science
where deep waters upwell world’s most powerful current. that the two are very much intend launching the Living
rapidly and seem to bypass the Traces of helium dissolve in intertwined in the Southern with Environmental Change
slow circulation. the deep sea. A plume of this Ocean, and that this has programme this autumn. The
‘It seems much of the deep marked water travels down the substantial implications for how new initiative, which aims to
water upwelling in the Southern coast of Chile. It is injected at we represent the ocean in provide solutions to environ-
Ocean takes place from the tip of depth into the ACC on the Pacific climate models’, added Alberto. mental change as well as
South America – Drake passage side of Cape Horn. It then Climate change researchers help the UK to capitalise on
– to just south of the Falklands, streams through into the Atlantic will use this information to emerging opportunities, will
and that it drives strong vertical with the ACC, where it spreads improve the way climate models be the largest single
mixing between the upper and out. The team measured this represent ocean circulation. programme NERC has
lower layers of the ocean,’ said spread to deduce the helped coordinate. See
Alberto. overturning circulation ‘short- ‘Short-circuiting of the Leader page 1.
The helium tracer from circuit.’ overturning circulation in the www.nerc.ac.uk/research/
underwater volcanoes in the ‘For many years, Antarctic Circumpolar Current’, programmes/lwec
Pacific allowed the team to oceanographers have regarded Nature, Vol 447, 10 May 2007.
Blockbuster Antarctic
exhibition launched
Have you got what is takes
Virus causes coral bleaching to be an ice cadet in the
most remote place on Earth?
A VIRUS that kills algae on coral triggered by warmer waters. But The work shows that viruses The British Antarctic Survey
reefs may be causing the underlying cause of coral play an important role in coral and the Natural History
widespread bleaching, bleaching and the mechanisms reef dynamics. Museum launched Ice
according to scientists at involved remained largely Station Antarctica on 25
Plymouth Marine Laboratory and unknown until now. Dr Willie Wilson May. The blockbuster family
the University of Plymouth. Willie Wilson said, ‘The virus whw@pml.ac.uk exhibition will give children
The virus, which kills tiny is latent in the algae. It only the experience of living and
symbiotic algae essential for the starts to infect the symbiotic ‘Characterisation of a Latent working on the coldest
survival of corals, could explain algae when the coral is stressed Virus-like Infection of Symbiotic continent. It remains at the
the bleaching now reported in by temperature or UV light. It Zooxanthellae’. Applied and museum until April 2008
over 50 countries and across provides a plausible explanation Environmental Microbiology, before embarking on a world
three oceans. for some of the rapid bleaching May 2007. tour. www.nhm.ac.uk
Coral bleaching is usually we see in coral reefs.’
Planet Earth • Summer 2007 7
News
Drought will be to see if this metabolic
World's fourth largest lake resistance:
limitation occurs in other C4
species.
shrinks by two-thirds challenging the
textbooks ‘Drought constraints on C4
Hedi Oberhaensli
photsynthesis: stomatal and
MAIZE and sugar cane, two of metabolic limitations in C3 and C4
the world's most important food subspecies of Alloteropsis
plants, might be more at risk from semialata’, Journal of
drought than previously thought. Experimental Botany, Vol 58,
Plants have evolved two April 2007.
mechanisms to take up carbon
from carbon dioxide (CO2). The
most popular method is known as
C3; but maize and sugar cane use Next Sumatran
the less popular C4. Hot weather tsunami likely to
IN LESS than 50 years the Aral lake's fish species and a loss can be a problem for C3 plants,
Sea, which straddles the of more than 250 species of which include rice, wheat and be less severe
border between Kazakhstan plankton. potatoes. They photosynthesize
and Uzbekistan, has shrunk by A recently constructed dam by absorbing carbon dioxide NEW research indicates that it is
two-thirds. is helping to halt the through their stomata (pores in very likely another large
Researchers from NERC's regression of the smaller the leaves), but open stomata earthquake, possibly as large as
Isotope Geoscience Northern Aral but the decline can allow more water to the Boxing Day 2004 earthquake
Laboratory and University of the Southern Aral continues evaporate. Textbooks say that C4 (magnitude 9.2), will strike the
College London (UCL) blame unabated. plants have an advantage in coast of Sumatra within a
human activity for the decline, UCL researcher Patrick these conditions because they lifetime, but the subsequent
which has now turned the Austin said, ‘The Aral Sea is have a pump which takes in CO2 tsunami could be much less
former sea into two large often in the news due to the whilst their stomata are partially severe than in 2004.
lakes, the Northern Aral and dramatic decline in lake levels closed – maintaining a high rate A team of scientists, led by
the Southern Aral. The change since the early 1960s. This has of photosynthesis. John McCloskey from the
is largely due to the former resulted in an ecological and However, research on the University of Ulster, simulated
Soviet Union diverting two humanitarian disaster. Through grass Alloteropsis semialata, the 100 different earthquakes off the
rivers that feed the lake, the our investigations, we were only species with both C3 and C4 coast of Sumatra and then
Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, able to work out that types, adds a new twist to this calculated the likely tsunami
for irrigation. regressions happened in the story. wave heights. The research
The researchers, who recent past and were due to a Paper author Brad Ripley, from revealed that only 20 percent of
collaborated with Kazan State combination of climate change Rhodes University said, the modelled earthquakes
University and the University of and human activity, notably, on ‘surprisingly, the C4 form lost its produced waves greater than
Nottingham, say humans as far one occasion, the destruction photosynthetic advantage during five metres at the vulnerable
back as Genghis Khan and the of irrigation systems by severe drought because of coastal cities of Padang and
White Huns have had a Genghis Khan and the metabolic limitations in its CO2 Bengkulu. In 2004, a wave 30
negative affect on the lake but Mongols in 1221.’ pump. This gives us a clue as to metres high hit the north-west
the more recent changes have The Aral Sea was once the why the abundance of C4 grasses coast of Sumatra. The team also
led to a 90 percent drop in the world's fourth largest lake. seems to decline in arid discovered that the time it takes
environments despite their high for a tsunami to reach these
water efficiency.’ vulnerable coastal areas is about
If this response turns up in all 30 minutes, irrespective of the
C4 species, it could have huge size of the earthquake.
implications for the environment John said, ‘With a population
and crop management. For in excess of one million living on
example, scientists are currently western Sumatra's low coastal
exploring techniques to introduce plains, it's very important that
C4 photosynthesis into rice – a C3 communities prepare for a future
plant – in the hope of increasing tsunami. A half hour warning
yields in dry areas. could give people a bit of time to
But it may not be time to move to higher ground or at least
rewrite the textbooks just yet; the to higher parts of buildings.’
next step for the research team
8 Planet Earth • Summer 2007
News
War veterans test negative for depleted uranium In brief
TESTS designed to detect These tests were designed to been exposed to depleted
Brazil visit
depleted uranium in the urine estimate the maximum level of uranium.’
Centre for Ecology &
samples of Gulf War veterans DU exposure to veterans up to 15 The BGS and University of
Hydrology (CEH) director Pat
even after 15 years have shown years ago. None of the 464 urine Leicester team also conducted
Nutthall joined the
no evidence of contamination. samples tested positive for another study around a depleted
government’s chief scientific
Researchers at NERC's exposure to DU, though the uranium munitions factory in
advisor Sir David King in
Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, extent of any initial exposure of Albany, New York State.
Brazil for the launch of the
based at the British Geological those tested was unknown. 'It has been more than 20
UK-Brazil Year of Science.
Survey (BGS) and Royal Head of NERC’s Isotope years since DU contaminated the
The small scientific
Holloway University of London, in Geosciences Laboratory land around the site yet we could
delegation want to identify
conjunction with the Depleted Professor Randall Parrish said, clearly detect it in a significant
opportunities for UK-Brazil
Uranium Oversight Board, ‘To my knowledge these were proportion of the urine samples
research, in particular
developed a very sensitive test the first tests of this kind to have of the people we tested,' said
projects investigating the
to detect traces of depleted been carried out. Randy.
economic valuation of rainfall
uranium (DU) in urine from ‘The tests were voluntary. The findings of the veterans'
generated by the Amazon
soldiers involved in the 1991 Gulf Anyone who wanted to put study were published earlier this
rainforest and biodiversity
War and the Balkans conflicts. themselves forward for testing year as the Depleted Uranium
data collection and
The work also included the could do so, provided they could Oversight Board's final report.
interpretation.
testing of a smaller control show that they had been in
population for comparison. situations where they could have
Reserves protect corals
Researchers working on one
of the largest marine reserves
Females attracted to healthy eaters Coolest band on in the Caribbean have
planet play Live reported that when fish, such
fotolincs/Alamy
Earth as parrotfish, were protected
from fishermen the number of
FORGET drug-addled almost-ran young corals doubled. The
Pete Doherty and his band team, funded by NERC and
Babyshambles, the coolest the National Oceanic &
group on the planet is the British Atmospheric Administration
Antarctic Survey’s house band in the US, showed that
Nunatak. The 5-piece indie rock grazing parrotfish kept
outfit based at the Rothera seaweed at bay allowing
research station on the West growing room for the coral.
Antarctic Peninsula will perform
in front of a TV audience of two New life found in icy depths
billion at the Live Earth concert Carnivorous sponges, free-
FEMALE fish are attracted to away from their health promoting
on 7 July. Other acts confirmed swimming worms,
males who have eaten role. So by trying to look as good,
in the line-up include Madonna crustaceans, and molluscs
antioxidants, according to new they aged faster.
and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. are some of the hundreds of
research. Male sticklebacks eat One of the researchers,
The Nunatak gig, broadcast new species discovered by
brightly coloured carotenoids Thomas Pike, said, ‘It seems that
live from Antarctica, will mean all researchers in the ocean
which contain a pigment that females can tell if males haven't
seven continents will be involved around Antarctica. British
gives fish an attractive red throat eaten many carotenoids, even if
in the event organised by former Antarctic Survey marine
during the breeding season. they do look quite red. They
US Vice President Al Gore. biologist Katrin Linse said,
Carotenoids are also natural probably found these males less
Though the global audience ‘What was once thought to be
antioxidants which slow down attractive because they were
for the gig will be enormous, the a featureless abyss is in fact
the rate of aging and support a more likely to die before they had
band will actually only play in a dynamic, variable and
healthy immune system. finished looking after their
front of 17 of their wintering biologically rich environment.’
Researchers from the young.’
Universities of Glasgow and colleagues. The concerts, to
raise awareness of the climate ‘First insights into the
Exeter discovered that males ‘Carotenoids, oxidative stress
change issue, will feature over biodiversity and
who ate fewer carotenoids still and female mating preference
100 of the world’s top musical biogeography of the Southern
tried to produce a bright red for longer-lived males’,
acts. Ocean deep sea’, Nature,
throat, but could only do so by Proceedings. Biological
www.liveearth.org 16 May.
diverting these antioxidants Sciences, 2007.
Planet Earth • Summer 2007 9
