Skip to main content

ANTARCTIC PENGUINES THRIVES FROM ICE AGE

Penguin populations in Antarctica surged during the Little Ice Age - a cold period between 1500 and 1800 AD, a new study suggests. Past studies have suggested penguins actually thrive when the climate is relatively warm, since cold climates increase sea-ice extent, which makes it difficult for the birds to access their beach colonies and food-rich waters. Researchers Liguang Sun and Zhouqing Xie, from the University of Science and Technology of China, analysed how the populations of Adelie penguins changed over the past 700 years in the Ross Sea, a region in Antarctica that is at a higher latitude than previous study sites. They analysed sediment samples from multiple depths for cholesterol and cholestanol, which are bio-markers indicating soil contamination by animal feces, 'LiveScience' reported. On the basis of variation in the markers, researchers divided up the timeline into four time periods. The bio-markers suggested penguin populations boomed during Period II (1490 to 1670), declined significantly during Period III (1670 to1950) and increased steadily since then in Period IV (1950 to present). The amounts of vegetation corroborated the penguin data. Antarctic algae require a lot of nutrients from penguin droppings to thrive, whereas penguin trampling endangers lichens, the report said. The evidence shows that algae abundances increased and decreased along with the penguin populations, but lichen abundances showed the opposite trend. The summer temperatures during the Little Ice Age were about 2 degrees Celsius colder than the previous 200 years — this chilly climate promoted more sea-ice extent, which would normally be detrimental to penguins.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WORLD'S OLDEST WOMAN

Misao Okawa celebrates her 115th birthday in Osaka, western Japan on March 5, 2013. Okawa was formally recognized as the world's oldest woman.
Post a Comment
Read more

DEATH...TOUGH TO EXPLAIN FOR KIDS

Illustrating children's books is as challenging as working on books for adults as some images stay with us throughout life even if we may forget the story, says French author and illustrator Olivier Tallec. "Many think children's books are about inspiring stories but there’s a lot more to it. There are books which deal with sensitive issues like death, sexuality, loneliness coupled with humour," Tallec told PTI in an interview. "To illustrate such themes for children's books is very challenging because these concepts are difficult to explain. As an illustrator and writer, I have to be careful about what to say and how to say it to kids because they can be influenced easily," he said. In one of his books "The Scar", Tallec, through a series of illustrations captures the theme of loneliness through the eyes of a child. The story written by Charlotte Moundlic is about a little boy who wakes up to the news of his mother's deat...
Post a Comment
Read more

B cell- RESPOSE KEY TO FIGHT DIABETES & GUM DESEASE

Modulation of one of the most important blood cells involved in the human immune response may effectively treat and prevent the symptoms of type 2 diabetes and periodontitis simultaneously, scientists say. Researchers have found that B cells, blood cells involved in the human immune response, promote inflammation and bone loss in type 2 diabetes-associated periodontal disease. These findings support the idea that treatments that manipulate the responses of B cells may treat or prevent this complication. "Our study identified common inflammatory mechanisms shared by type 2 diabetes and periodontal disease. It paves the way for the development of novel therapeutics which aim to simultaneously treat both type 2 diabetes and its complications," said Min Zhu, a researcher involved in the work from the department of microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. To make this discovery, scientists used an experimental model (mouse model) of periodo...
Post a Comment
Read more