the goal, peixoto later explains, is to restore a healthy microbiome to a reef thrown out of whack by coral diseases, triggered by pollution, ocean acidification, and warming waters. 

“we are causing the problem [that is] affecting these microbiomes,” says peixoto, of the king abdullah university of science and technology in thuwal, saudi arabia. “so we need to try to restore it, or at least to protect it to be as similar as what it was before.”

the potential of probiotics

in the coral village, peixoto is testing to see if a carefully curated dose of probiotics – bacteria that are beneficial to its host – could help reduce the bleaching diseases that are killing tropical reefs from the caribbean to australia at an alarming rate. a growing cohort of microbiologists believe that beneficial bacteria, already commonly used as nutritional supplement and agricultural fertilizer, might help not just corals but also many other at-risk animals and plants. led by peixoto, a global group of 25 experts made the argument in a perspective piece published in nature microbiology last year.

the concept of probiotics for wildlife has only been around for roughly a decade, so scientists are still teasing out which bacteria to use as they study the cascades of microbial interactions in both the host species and environment. but with extinctions looming, researchers are hurrying to test probiotics on everything from farmed norwegian salmon to honeybees. so far, most of the tests have been confined to labs, though there have been some small-scale field tests, too. 

in 2019, for example, probiotic expert gregor reid mixed sugar and three strains of lactobacillus bacteria to treat diseased honey bees in ontario, canada. a couple weeks later, larvae from treated hives had significantly fewer pathogens than those from untreated hives. he thinks other combinations of probiotics may be even more effective and is eager to explore the possibilities at a time when bee populations are declining.

“the bees are dying off,” says reid. “and the day they die off, we’re toast as a species.”

frogs are in a similar boat: in recent years, hundreds of frog species around the world have been ravaged by the batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd) fungus. in 2011, scientists caught frogs in the sierra nevada mountains that hadn’t yet been exposed to bd and bathed some in water with a naturally-occurring bacteria, and the rest in pond water. a year later, they returned to the site and couldn’t find any of the untreated frogs, but 39 percent of probiotic-treated individuals were recovered, indicating that the probiotics had at least some effect. 

disease ecologist molly bletz of the university of massachusetts at amherst, who studies frogs from madagascar, has also shown that some microbes resist bd in the lab. “it’s complicated,” she sums up, “but with glimmers of hope.” 

one complication is that there are so many potentially beneficial bacteria to choose from, depending on the species being treated and its particular environmental risks. bletz has cataloged over 7,000 amphibian microbes – and scientists aren’t limiting themselves to just the host’s resident microbes. “if it’s a species that is super-susceptible to the disease, maybe they just don’t have the right bacteria,” says bletz. so in other cases – like reid’s bees, which received bacteria harvested from a healthy woman’s urethra way back in 1980 – scientists are experimenting with foreign strains. 

despite all the potential treatment variations, biotechnologist gabriele berg, a coauthor of the nature microbiology piece, says the fundamental practices for microbial interventions are similar. “if it is in our gut, or if it is in the rhizosphere [plant roots], or if it is on the nose of a bat,” she says, “the rules and the principles are the same.” 

recognizing these commonalities, peixoto, berg, and other microbial researchers have joined forces to outline safe steps for any probiotic intervention, whether it be in corals or frogs. their framework, included in the 2022 paper, calls for careful selection of probiotic strains and consideration of environmental impacts, among other recommendations. 

a carefully considered call to action

it’s essential that experts reach a consensus on ethical and safety considerations of these treatments before the technologies are widely used, says rachel backer, an independent scientific consultant based in vancouver who has researched plant-microbe interactions in hops and cannabis. 

what could go wrong if probiotics are let loose in an ecosystem is the kind of question that keeps her up at night, she says.

“these are complex products to regulate, because they’re just inherently complex,” says backer, who was not a signatory on the paper. she argues that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in agriculture is a precedent to consider. antibiotics were initially seen as a miracle for livestock farmers, backer says, but their overuse has led to pollution and antimicrobial resistance.  “if we keep making the same mistake over and over of not considering these things, it becomes pretty indefensible,” she says. 

peixoto notes that probiotics typically don’t last forever (unless they colonize a host, which can happen). and though she acknowledges the risks, she argues that doing nothing is also indefensible. corals, for instance, have an alarming prognosis; a recent report projected that 70 to 90% of live coral would disappear by 2050. her team is working tirelessly, applying probiotics three times a week to the underwater coral village, while developing an automatic dispenser that can spray probiotics from the comfort of home. peixoto knows that it’s optimistic to be already increasing the efficiency of various treatments when there has been so little field testing. but she sees no other option. 

“we don’t have time. we can’t develop these things one at a time,” peixoto says. “when you’re talking about terminal patients… this is urgent.”

for me, being able to use this creative outlet to share such a powerful narrative shows that anyone, using any of their interests/talents, can raise awareness about environmental issues. my art is a reflection of myself and the issues that are of importance to me.

i want to inspire others to partake in environmental activism in any way that they can. this video not only includes inspiring stories of conservation successes (such as that of the gray wolf and the bald eagle), but also showcases statistics of extinction that will hopefully display the dark reality of the situation we face.

many seem to forget that we are currently in an age of mass extinction, and that a threat to one species is a threat to all. we must learn to respect the flora and fauna that we share this land with, and protect the wildlife that we have already caused harm to. this video aims to achieve this by presenting viewers with an emotional and artistic chronicle of the holocene extinction. 

mutezo is a wildlife lawyer, farmer, and mandela washington fellow from the teapot-shaped landlocked country in southern africa known as zimbabwe. this country is not only mutezo’s home, but host to a quarter of the world’s elephant population.

as a child, mutezo spent most of her summer holidays in a small rural village known as nyanyadzi in the town of chimanimani. while there, she nursed a love of nature, community, and agriculture, as she spent most of her leisure time in the fields with friends or in the wild. when mutezo’s father got a job for a coal mining company, her family had to relocate — and their new home just so happened to be situated around one of the oldest national parks in zimbabwe, hwange national park — also known as zim park. while at the park, she learned that every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed in the wild. this explains why only about 400,000 elephants are left in africa today, as opposed to the 10 million wild elephants that roamed the continent in the 1930s, according to the world wildlife fund.

despite this, zimbabwe has one of the largest elephant populations in the world, with a population of more than 100,000 elephants. although a testament to effective conservation efforts, this poses several challenges, as the current population exceeds zim park’s stated ideal capacity of 40,000 elephants. while elephants are near extinction in other parts of the world, zimbabwe is struggling to devise strategies to cope with overpopulation, yet the threats remain the same: human-wildlife conflict and poaching.

human-wildlife conflict is a big issue in zimbabwe, where most wildlife are found in protected areas adjacent to rural, communal lands. and not only is the elephant population increasing, the human population shares the same growth curve. the country increasingly sees food security threatened by elephants that encroach into human spaces, destroying crops and killing humans. mutezo believes this problem can be solved, which is the reason for her choice of educational path.

“after completing high school at peterhouse girls school in zimbabwe, i left my home and family to study environmental law at the university of groningen in the netherlands, one of the most prestigious law schools in europe,” mutezo says. “it was a platform for exposure to various fields of law including my area of specialization — wildlife law.”

during her studies, mutezo had the opportunity to work at the wildlife justice commission (wjc), which greatly shaped her perspective of the wildlife industry.

“it was during my work at wjc that i gained a better understanding and appreciation of the fact that wildlife crime is one of the most lucrative, illegal businesses in the world and considered a multi-billion-dollar industry,” mutezo says.

with the mass exodus of african youth to europe and america in search of better opportunities, one would expect mutezo to stay in the netherlands for “greener pastures.” instead, she packed her bags and returned to zimbabwe.

“motivated by my combined love for people and nature, and equipped with the knowledge gained from my studies and work in the netherlands, i decided to return to zimbabwe,” mutezo says. “it struck me deeply that it took leaving my home to appreciate the impact that wildlife crimes, such as poaching, have on zimbabwe — and the entire globe. my goal was and remains to find home-grown solutions to local and global issues such as wildlife crime. i would like the future generations to enjoy wildlife, too.”

it has been over 5 years since mutezo moved back to zimbabwe, and she has dedicated her law degree to wildlife conservation by working with the tikki hywood foundation.

“i am the first lawyer employed by a conservation organization in zimbabwe,” she says. “my work in case management includes legal advisory on various wildlife crime cases, including cross-border and high-profile matters, and has set precedence as to how wildlife crime cases should be handled across the region. my contribution also extends to drafting and amending key legislation including laws that ensure that endangered species such as rhinoceros, pangolin, and painted dogs are recognized and given the highest protection at law.” 

by developing partnerships with various national authorities, she co-authored a handbook on prosecuting wildlife crimes and educated law enforcement and judicial officers across zimbabwe on wildlife and the law.

“it has been a great honor to innovate and find ways to use the law as a tool to conserve and protect wildlife,” mutezo says. 

having participated in the 2022 cohort of the u.s. state department’s flagship leadership program for young african leaders, the mandela washington fellowship (mwf), at the university of nebraska-lincoln, mutezo feels she has an even tighter grip on her vision to solve the human-wildlife conflict in her country. (in full disclosure, mwf is where this author met mutezo.)

she returns with a wealth of knowledge and access to resources to effectively execute her focus project at hambai wild, a registered agri-business she founded, with the goal of finding solutions to the human-wildlife conflict, by creating natural boundaries between humans and wildlife.

“my solution to this problem is to use one endangered species to protect another, by encouraging beekeeping to scare elephants,” she says. bees, as well as chili pepper, act as natural repellents against elephants. 

“mwf allowed me to turn an idea into an action plan,” mutezo says. “the access to a coach also gave me an opportunity to fine tune the idea into a viable business model that i intend to bring to fruition back in zimbabwe. i also pitched my project to different people from whom i got constructive feedback to transition from inception to execution.”

she intends to use her prowess as a farmer and knowledge as a wildlife lawyer and policy expert to engage communities affected by wildlife conflicts.

to be more practical, she says, “hambai wild will use the contract farming model, by providing inputs to local communities such as seedlings, beekeeping kits, and by empowering the local population with technical expertise and training to grow chili peppers and keep bees. this would allow us the option of buying back the produce and selling sustainably sourced produce.”

just like in a colony where each bee plays a contributing role to the survival of the hive, she looks forward to strategic partnerships with other organizations that have successfully implemented similar models, like save the elephants in kenya and awf (african wildlife foundation) in uganda. 

says mutezo: “i encourage collective action by everyone to protect the zim’s natural resources for future generations.”

it is hard to believe there was a time when what was renamed as the c&o canal national historical park was unknown to me and not a part of my life. but once i reached it, there was simply no turning back. that very same place i had avoided because it seemed too far from home, now became a part of my life, requiring hours at a time for wandering the towpath, mountain trails, tunnels, across wetlands, and always taking field notes and pictures. having been a teacher meant that i was always wondering how to convey this sense of exploration and discovery to others, especially the coming generation that was losing its contact with the natural world.

when biodiversity took off

over the next three decades, separately, but soon to be interconnected, came a growing awareness of the world’s biota. in 1986, scientists dr. e.o. wilson and dr. thomas lovejoy led a national forum on biodiversity, which catapulted this subject into prominence. at this particular meeting, the national parks lacked a formal spokesperson regarding the biota within their boundaries.

one goal of this forum was to gain attention to the need for management and attention to our living, global species. as time passed, the concept and meaning of biodiversity grew from a novelty of the 1980s to the subject of global conventions and reports. reflecting on the interconnectedness of life, biodiversity came to stand for the study, discussion, and conservation of the various species that live on our planet. as this message reached out to the public, those crafting educational standards for science in grades k-12 also recognized the significance of biodiversity, albeit in a very truncated form. standards for such were instilled as part of the next generation science standards, a product of the national research council published in 2012.

eventually the national parks were recognized as another location where biodiversity could be found and studied. this recognition came as visitor’s interests were increasing and diversifying. thus, parks had to scale up efforts to meet both the new interests of visitors and programs for the protection and conservation of biodiversity. an early example of such came in 2004 with a report titled, “the potomac gorge conservation plan,” which marked the first set of biodiversity surveys in the c&o canal park. this was done cooperatively between the national park service and the nature conservancy. however, it was not until 2018 that a strategic plan emerged for conservation to enter park planning.

a more recent document, from our national academy of sciences is titled biodiversity at risk, which highlights extinction rates of 10 to 100 times those recorded before human domination. it also finds that at least 1 million species are further threatened with loss of life and concludes by recognizing how such losses cause decline in the world’s functioning ecosystems.

sadly, in late december 2021, these global losses were again brought to our attention, but this time marked by remembrances and obituaries telling of the deaths of two scientists, who, more than any others, pioneered our understanding of the significance of the earth’s green treasures, and whose thinking would come to influence the national parks as well.

first, lovejoy, 80, known as the person who produced the word biodiversity, passed away on saturday, dec. 25, followed just a day later by wilson, who died at age 92 on dec. 26. their lives’ work became synonymous with the practice of understanding the birth, death, and loss of species, and how this understanding would guide conservation.

lovejoy first ventured into the tropics in 1965 and continued to expand his research by opening an educational camp in the tropical forests of brazil. from his forested camp 41, award-winning research on fragmentation of forests was born. it became a place where those most interested in the workings of a rainforest could be housed and informed by lovejoy himself of the often-unseeable entities hiding among the towering canopies.

among things championed by wilson was the bioblitz, an event of citizen science at its best. one such event was held in 2016 to locate and identify species from the chesapeake and ohio canal national historical park.

responsibilities for biodiversity in the c&o canal park became part of its current strategic plan (2018 to 2023), to “maintain and protect wisely, to ensure towpath continuity, and protect and preserve cultural and natural resources.” it is this section that contains a strategic plan to develop and implement resource management by prioritizing critical natural areas and species of special concern. thus, while not yet embracing biodiversity by name, actions that lead to the conservation of species are now part of the park’s strategy.

a world canal conference

all reservoirs of biodiversity are a painting of inter-connectedness. this applies to the c&o canal park as well, along with the possibility to serve as a wildlife and conservation corridor. this suggestion was highlighted at the most recent world canals conference, held in august 2021 in hagerstown, maryland. in my presentation (“the capital’s corridor: from purveyor of goods to conservation corridor,” and two others), the emerging focus of biodiversity alongside the canals was discussed for the first time in this series of annual meetings, and participants could begin to consider this issue in relation to the more traditional history and interpretation and canal infrastructure discussions. a personal questionnaire was also distributed to seek guidance on how these issues should be managed by the c&o canal park.

in this talk, it was mentioned that the c&o canal park offers possibilities for exploring biodiversity and as a wildlife/conservation corridor. to do so, the corridor would take the same route as the canal and towpath, as if a passenger on a train. and as the canal stretches northward, so does the potential for a corridor, cutting through six geologic zones, climbing in altitude over 600 feet, each having different biota. as with all national parks, such diversity, remaining natural formations, historical and engineering artifacts, combined with our new and increasing understanding of biodiversity make the park more than the towpath and locks.

an alphabetized guide to the chesapeake and ohio canal national historical park

in fact, this park can open visitors up to life in nature, something that is getting harder to accomplish this close to major metropolitan areas. complete with great falls, and the kayak riders that dare the rapids, one finds a form of wilderness built of unique parts, sitting, waiting for others like justice douglas to ponder. with this thought in mind, a new guide to the canal park was begun with the intent to help readers rapidly locate those things of greatest interest. 

the question then became how to put this all together with old school and new school; a little bit fun, a little bit learning; a little bit art, a little bit science, and a hint of natural history and american history. it’s all for you, so put it to work. our response to this seemingly immense challenge is to provide excerpts from a book under production, titled, “an alphabetized guide to the chesapeake and ohio canal national historical park.” it is structured and illustrated to provide immergence for what is seen from the towpath and what the viewer knows already. it is like having a guide to ask, “but what is that and what does it do?”

however, while this book points one in the right direction, this national park and its exiting pools of biodiversity would benefit even more by modifying educational and research approaches conceived by lovejoy and wilson for establishing longer term programs. secondary students could undertake biodiversity studies that are consistent with educational standards from ngss (next generation science standards). in this time of restricted travel, financial pressures, and a virus complex still largely misunderstood, the opportunity to conduct work on populations, species, wetland, and fragmentation would go far in accelerating learning prior to graduate school or employment.

in summary, the book might best thought of as a guide to the constellations. so, think for a moment, how do we learn the constellations in the nighttime sky? at first, you see thousands of stars looking all the same, but as study their brightness and color, you suddenly see the major stars come forward in your eyes and voice in your ears, whispers, “that is the one, now look to your right and above, and there is another.” then slowly one star at a time, and following those clues whispered in your ears, the entire constellation appears in the sky, that very same sky where before there was nothing but he unknown twinkling of a thousand points of light.

except in our book, the night sky becomes an outstretching of green, blues and browns that slowly come into focus, completing a picture of a sycamore leaf swaying, waiting for the sun, and from there, we go inside the leaf, from cells to photosynthesis. you start with what you see or what’s on your mind, and next thing you know, like hearing voices in your ears of lovejoy, wilson, rachel carson, margaret mee, jane goodall, wangari maathai, fred urquhart, and on and on they come, a song that won’t stop and a melody that won’t let your feet stop dancing till the book is closed. you know that feeling, don’t you? so, take a walk on the towpath, any ol’ time of day and be surprised by what you see and learn.

conclusion: camp 41a, an education between the potomac river and the c&o canal

the canal was saved once, by the efforts of many who conceived of it as a national park rather than a parkway. thanks to their foresight, the canal was opened for a second time, only this time for nature not commerce. we hope that the book previewed and excerpted here will help bring together a place and its artifacts; its species and the science behind what is visible, the elements that bind its parts together, and help open eyes once again and fire up the engines of wilson and lovejoy to take us all place still unknown.

it is in lovejoy’s memory that “camp 41a” could be established for the canal where students could undertake much as lovejoy did, field studies on migration, fragmentation, speciation and the effects of corridors, thus enriching their education.

why be concerned about this park in particular? right now, it offers the potential to be the capital’s corridor, meaning that it becomes akin to a strip of “natural” habitat bringing together two or more other habitats, which then counters the effects of fragmentation, enriching the means by which organisms can move, encounter new genetic populations, and migrate. this could be the future of the biodiversity study in c&o canal park.

this was the situation when i visited the park on the morning of january 4, 2022. during a brief conversation, a park attendant explained the absence of the animals. the weather was warm and the manatees only gathered in the park’s waters when they needed the artificial warmth generated by a nearby power plant. 

the warm conditions of that morning meant the only manatees i saw on that trip were plastic statues. it was disappointing for me as a wildlife photographer on a family vacation to florida –– but i do not begrudge the animals for not making an appearance. they were better off foraging for food while the weather was warm than huddling together in the aquatic equivalent of a climate refugee camp. these animals have suffered through a lot in the last few years and need every day of warm water they can get. 

florida’s starving manatees

the manatee population living along florida’s east coast has been suffering from an “unusual mortality event” or ume since december 2020. the florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (fwc) reported that 1101 manatees died across florida in 2021. for comparison, the fwc reported just 637 manatee fatalities in 2020. the number of manatee fatalities in 2021 jumped 476 deaths over the 5-year average of 625 fatalities a year. according to florida director of the center for biological diversity jaclyn lopez, the manatee deaths witnessed in florida between the beginning of the ume and february 2022 are equivalent to 12-13% of the state’s total manatee population. 

according to lopez and the fwc, the cause of the recent manatee death crisis is the collapse of the seagrass population in warm water areas that manatees in eastern florida use to survive the winter. high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus caused by human water pollution (such as agricultural and suburban waste water runoff) allow naturally occurring algae to grow into harmful algae blooms. these algae blooms block sunlight from passing through the water to the seagrass beds below, devastating the manatee’s main food source. the manatees are then forced to choose between congregating in warm water areas that no longer have enough seagrass to support them or venturing out into areas where the winter water is too cold for them to survive. 

both lopez and the fwc point to indian river lagoon as the epicenter of this crisis. according to lopez, the lagoon is kept at a toasty 68 degrees because of artificial warming created by discharge from a nearby nuclear power plant. it has traditionally been an indispensable wintering area for manatees, but now it no longer has enough seagrass to support the animals who gather there, causing mass starvation and numerous fatalities. 

emergency lettuce for manatees

the united states fish and wildlife service (usfws) and the fwc have responded to the ume with the formation of a joint incident management team with a joint unified command (uc) to coordinate the government’s response. under the framework of this taskforce, federal and state conservation officials have worked together to monitor the situation, keep the public informed, and minimize manatee casualties. the most drastic effort undertaken by the taskforce was a pilot feeding program in which officials would provide manatees with lettuce. according to the fwc, before the feeding program manatees would “completely fast or consume elements with no or little nutritional value, including sand or other debris.” the supplemental feeding trial was implemented in order to “reduce the negative health impacts of prolonged starvation and possibly reduce the numbers of deaths and manatees needing rescue.”

the manatees began to eat the lettuce wildlife officials placed into the water on january 20, 2022. the fwc does not currently have an estimate on the total number of manatees fed by the program. the number of animals visiting the temporary field response station (tfrs) in indian river lagoon, where the feeding was being carried out, varied, with a single-day high of 800 individuals. the feeding program was discontinued on march 31, since most of the manatees dispersed to better feeding grounds as the waters warmed. a scaled down uc is continuing to monitor the area for distressed manatees over the summer.

when asked about the feeding program, lopez called it a “necessary stopgap” and “an essential emergency measure” but argued it was not a viable long term solution. patrick rose, executive director of the save the manatee club, agreed with lopez, saying the program “cannot possibly be relied on for the long term future.” he also called the program “tragically necessary” and said that the need for it was “predictable” given the government’s failure to adequately deal with water quality issues. 

the lawsuits

three conservation groups, the center for biological diversity, defenders of wildlife, and the save the manatee club, have responded to the ume with lawsuits against the usfws and the environmental protection agency (epa).

according to lopez and rose, the conservation groups hope the lawsuit against the usfws will force the agency to update the “critical habitat designation” of florida manatees. critical habitat is defined as the air, land, food, and water essential for the survival of a species. rose explained that the current critical habitat designation for florida manatees was included in the original 1973 endangered species act and that it has not been expanded to keep pace with new science and regulations in the years since that law’s passage. the endangered species act requires federal agencies take into account how their policies impact the critical habitat of endangered and threatened species when crafting policy.

according to lopez and rose, the usfws actually agreed with environmental groups that the critical habitat designation for florida manatees needed to be updated back in 2008. however, the agency has so far not dedicated the needed resources to update the designation. the agency currently has until june 24 to answer the complaint of the conservation groups in court. lopez put the purpose of the lawsuit succinctly, saying, “if we protect manatee habitat, they won’t starve to death.”

according to the save the manatee club, the lawsuit against the epa over its failure to consult with the usfws on water quality standards and its inadequate enforcement of those standards was filed on may 10. 

when asked about the lawsuits, a representative of the usfws said: “the u.s. fish and wildlife service is aware of the litigation, but we do not comment on litigation as a matter of policy.” the agency also said that: “the existing florida manatee critical habitat designation includes the indian river lagoon at the epicenter of the ongoing ume.”

the uncertain future of a florida icon

in the long term, efforts will need to be made to restore water quality and manatee habitats so that these herbivorous marine mammals can thrive without human feeding programs. hopefully these changes are made so that tourists and florida residents alike will be able to enjoy the spectacle of seeing these wonderful creatures in the wild for generations to come.

when the world went on lockdown, nature got a reprieve, or so it seemed. dolphins swam in the hudson river, los angeles’ famed smog dissipated, and wild animals were reportedly reclaiming cities. the narrative presented in the media was clear: the covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 allowed nature and the environment a temporary reprieve. but how much did lockdown really impact air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions? and did animals actually move back into cities?

a year later, researchers around the world are examining data from the lockdowns and publishing their findings. did the natural world really make a brief comeback during lockdown? the answer is complicated.

“the pandemic is bad. it’s causing a lot of troubles for humankind,” said phil yang, a geospatial scientist and professor of geographic information science at george mason university. “but on the other side, this experiment is helping us to be able to observe how human activities have been impacting the earth, the environment and climate change.”

air pollution and lockdowns

for his part, yang looked at air quality in california before covid-19 and during lockdowns, publishing his results in the journal science of the total environment.

he and his multidisciplinary team at george mason university studied concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide (both of which are indirect greenhouse gases) and particulate matter, during the initial california covid-19 lockdown that lasted nearly three months, from march 19 to may 7.

the researchers found that both nitrogen dioxide (no2) and carbon monoxide (co) concentrations dropped significantly during the initial covid-19 lockdown, when compared to the same period for the five years prior. particulate matter initially dropped as well, before increasing significantly toward the end of the study due to california’s historic 2020 wildfires.

during the lockdown that ran from march 19 to may 7, 2020, co concentrations dropped by 49% compared to the three months before lockdown, while no2 concentrations dropped by 38%.

in previous years, concentrations of both co and no2 have dropped during the same period as covered in yang’s study due to seasonal changes, by an average of 24% and 22%, respectively. but the drops during the lockdown were much sharper.

globally, direct greenhouse gas emissions also declined. carbon dioxide (co2) emissions dropped by 2.4 billion metric tons, or down 7% from 2019, according to a study published in earth system science data in december 2020. this represents the biggest annual drop in co2 emissions ever recorded in modern times.

yang said he doesn’t believe this short-term drop in greenhouse gas emissions will contribute toward solving climate change in the long term. however, it has given scientists a new way to confirm something already known: that human activity is causing climate change.

lockdowns proved that when human activity tapered off, so did greenhouse gas emissions. from a research perspective, it wouldn’t have been feasible to ask an entire state, let alone the world, to enter lockdown for more than two months. but the onset of the covid-19 pandemic presented a unique situation.

“we cannot do this type of experiment without the pandemic,” yang said.

animals run wild

reut vardi, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in urbanization at ben-gurion university of the negev in israel, also took the unique opportunity presented by lockdowns to study the absence of human activity.

in her 2021 study in biological conservation, she tested the claim that animals reclaimed cities during lockdown. in contrast with the media’s narrative in the early months of the pandemic, vardi found little evidence of animals invading cities.

“we do have nature in our cities … but suddenly covid has seemed to shine a spotlight on it because people have more time,” vardi said.

she said she suspects that with more free time during lockdowns, people were simply noticing already existing wildlife populations for the first time.

vardi used data from inaturalist, a nature spotting and reporting app, to compare animal sighting data pre-covid-19 and during the initial lockdowns in north america, from march to july of 2020.

vardi tracked reported sightings of black bears (ursus americanus), bobcats (lynx rufus), coyotes (canis latrans), moose (alces alces) and pumas (puma concolor), to determine if these animals were actually moving out of their existing habitats and reclaiming urbanized areas seemingly abandoned by humans.

vardi and her team indeed found that these animals were exploring new areas during lockdowns — but not in the way portrayed in early news stories. using night light as a proxy for urbanization, vardi found that the animals were actually venturing out in more rural areas.

“for four out the five species, the new area they were exploring, reported during covid, were actually in less urbanized areas. and for the most urbanized area [where] they were seen during covid, they were also reported to be seen there before covid as well,” vardi said.

the only animal that increased its exploration of urban areas was the puma, which vardi attributes to the cat’s shy nature. because pumas are usually very wary of humans, the lack of human activity may have encouraged them to explore deeper into urbanized areas at a greater rate than other wildlife.

“it’s more complex than what the media is trying to say. it’s not, we go in so the animals come out to play. nature is all over the city and we do need to notice,” vardi said. “i think the great thing covid did was to … help us understand that we need to manage this situation and design our cities in a better way, that can allow for coexistence.”

the environment post-covid

so while lockdown helped tamp down emissions, they didn’t move the needle on wildlife as much as reported. what, then, was the total impact on the environment? a team of scientists in india has weighed the potential positive and negative impacts of covid-19 in a study in environmental sustainability.

due to lockdowns, the researchers recorded that people were making more online purchases and food delivery orders. as a result, demand for plastic packaging materials increased significantly. for example, one plastic packaging company in spain saw sales grow by 40% during the pandemic, while in the u.s. the demand for plastic grocery packaging was expected to rise by 14%.

the study also raised the concerns over medical equipment disposal, reporting that at one point, the city of wuhan, ground zero of the outbreak, was producing an extra 240 tons of medical waste per day. compounding the issue is the fact that personal protective equipment (ppe) is commonly made of single-use plastic, potentially leading to a rise in plastic pollution.

another potential hazard, detailed in the paper, is the rise in soap use. if released into streams, rivers or lakes, soap creates a layer of foam on the water. the foam stops vital re-aeration for aquatic plants by 40% and prevents algae growth that’s vital to local ecosystems.

“although a few positive impacts of covid-19 on the environment were seen, these were the short-term effects induced largely by nation-wide lockdown,” the study says. “indeed, the pandemic is expected to pose long-term adverse effects on the environment in future.”

nevertheless, a number of conservationists say the covid-19 pandemic holds lessons for society.

“covid-19 came from an animal, in large part because of humans’ destruction to ecosystems,” said rachel golden kroner, an environmental governance fellow at conservation international. “situating humans as part of nature helps us think more holistically about our impacts.”

kroner said she noticed increased conservation efforts and interest from the public, the private sector and the government during this period.

“[people need to] keep that going, but in real ways. follow up this commitment with real actions,” she added.

she said a lot of this action comes down to passing legislation and increasing environmental funding, which in both cases the average person may feel they have little capacity to change.

“it’s that dichotomy, maybe a false dichotomy, about individual versus collective solutions,” kroner said. “as an individual, we can tap into making change at the collective level. we are all voters, we are all citizens, we all have representatives that we can elect, advocate to, call, write letters and make our voices heard. make it known that we care.”

beyond this, kroner suggested something less formal: simply talking to friends and family about climate change, threats to our environment, and ways they can reduce their impact and get involved.

citations:

friedlingstein, p., o’sullivan, m., jones, m. w., andrew, r. m., hauck, j., olsen, a., … zaehle, s. (2020). global carbon budget 2020. earth system science data, 12(4), 3269-3340. doi:10.5194/essd-12-3269-2020

ankit, kumar, a., jain, v., deovanshi, a., lepcha, a., das, c., … srivastava, s. (2021). environmental impact of covid-19 pandemic: more negatives than positives. environmental sustainability. doi:10.1007/s42398-021-00159-9

liu, q., harris, j. t., chiu, l. s., sun, d., houser, p. r., yu, m., … yang, c. (2021). spatiotemporal impacts of covid-19 on air pollution in california, usa. science of the total environment, 750, 141592. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141592

vardi, r., berger-tal, o., & roll, u. (2021). inaturalist insights illuminate covid-19 effects on large mammals in urban centers. biological conservation, 254, 108953. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108953

the men behind the biotech startup colossal biosciences don’t want to bring back the species to stock a prehistoric theme park. instead, they claim their “functional mammoths” will be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. this venture not only raises the question of how science can resurrect a long-dead species… but should it?

the tools to build a new breed of mammoth

colossal biosciences, which was co-founded by harvard geneticist george church and tech entrepreneur ben lamm, claimed to have received $15 million in investment as of september 2021. according to the founders, their team can develop “functional mammoths” within six to seven years.

lamm stressed that these new mammoths would not be genetically identical to those that lived during the pleistocene epoch 11 thousand years ago or even the remnant populations that died out 4 thousand years ago. they would be hybrids of mammoths and their closest living relatives, asian elephants. the genomes of these hybrids would be created by combining genetic material from frozen mammoth carcasses with elephant dna. 

“they’re not 100% and so think of it almost like a dog breed,” lamm said. “you got your purebreds and you got –– like what i have –– rescues.” 

asian elephants and wooly mammoths share about 95.8% of their mitochondrial dna. the genetic similarities allow colossal to use genetic material from asian elephants to build the functional mammoth genome using what church calls “genome engineering tools.” he compared the approach to those currently being tested to grow organs in pigs that are more compatible to be transplanted into humans. in this case, scientists would work to incorporate mammoth cold tolerance traits, including cold-tolerant hemoglobin and shaggy coats, from mammoth dna into asian elephant embryos.

in terms of mammoths, church described the potential process like this: elephant cells would be edited, in petri dishes away from live animals, to carry mammoth genetic material in each cell’s nucleus. the cells’ nucleuses would later be extracted and implanted into an elephant embryo. the embryo would then be fertilized through in vitro fertilization and grown in artificial wombs.

colossal has determined that elephants would not host these embryos for both practical and moral reasons, as asian elephants are an endangered species with a 18-22 month gestation period. while there are limited numbers of potential elephant surrogates, the artificial wombs would allow the program to scale over time as more wombs are created. church said they also intend to produce embryos and sperm from stem cells. 

the arctic elephant in the room: should we bring back mammoths?

talking about the science behind colossal’s mission avoids the arctic elephant in the room: should we be bringing back mammoths? dj schubert, a wildlife biologist and conservationist with the animal welfare institute, is skeptical.

“the question is not whether it can be done –– but whether it should be done,” schubert said. “and, from my perspective, i think we have enough species that are currently in dire conditions that we should be focusing our conservation efforts and our conservation dollars on saving those species.”

schubert expressed frustration that $15 million was invested to bring back the mammoth and argued resources should be spent protecting modern megafauna. he was also concerned that scientists may not have considered the morality of species resurrection, worrying about the fairness of reviving an animal to cage it. 

“let those species rest in peace and instead let’s focus our efforts on preserving what still remains,” he said. 

colossal pushes back against these criticisms. according to church and lamm, colossal’s goal is not to develop functional mammoths out of pure curiosity, but to fight climate change and develop technologies with applications including conservation.  

stomping out greenhouse gases

church hopes the first arctic elephants will not live in captivity but in a preserve such as pleistocene park, an experimental nature preserve in the russian arctic that is recreating the mammoth-steppe ecosystem. according to the park’s current director nikita zimov, the project seeks to restore this ecosystem through the reintroduction of animals in the hopes of fighting climate change through grassland creation and permafrost preservation. 

zimov said his father came up with the idea during the soviet era and his family has been working on the project since 1996. the pleistocene park concept predates the blockbuster that inspired its would-be name. but unlike jurassic park, pleistocene park is not meant to be a theme park. 

according to zimov, it’s intended to be a self-expanding ecosystem large enough to impact the climate and provide habitat to millions of animals. currently the preserve is only 144 square kilometers, but numerous native and exotic species have been introduced including reindeer, yakutian horses, moose, bison, musk ox, yaks and kalmykian cows. according to zimov, the mammoths would transform the park and fight climate change by toppling trees and trampling snow.

while this may seem counterintuitive, zimov explained the apparent paradox. 

“if you come to the arctic, the effect of planting trees (to store carbon) is not that great,” zimov said. “trees are sparse, small, and they grow extremely poor(ly).” 

the deep root systems of fast growing arctic grasses are more effective at storing carbon in the arctic environment than the trunks of slow growing trees. the mammoth’s propensity for toppling trees would expand the grassland ecosystem more quickly than would otherwise be possible, and allow for more carbon to be stored.

the mammoths would also preserve permafrost, the layer of subsurface arctic soil that has remained frozen for many millennia. as rising global temperatures melt permafrost, it releases hundreds of thousands of years of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times as potent as co2. scientists worry this will start a positive feedback loop and hasten global warming. 

the permafrost in the soils of the arctic contain 1,460-1,600 billion metric tons of carbon, about twice as much as currently contained in earth’s atmosphere. the release of all this carbon by melting permafrost would be disastrous for global ecosystems and human civilization. 

cooling permafrost will prevent methane emissions. this is where pleistocene park’s animals come into the picture. zimov said permafrost is heated during the summer but cannot cool during winter because the ground is buried beneath snowfall, which has increased due to climate change. 

“this snow is acting as a heat insulator and that’s why permafrost is five degrees warmer than (the) temperature of air,” zimov said. “if you would now remove the snow entirely very quickly, within several years, the temperature of permafrost would be going down.” 

zimov said grazing animals protect permafrost by removing the thick layer of snow to access the food underneath. the snow is compacted during the foraging process making it a much less effective insulator than thick, undisturbed snow. once the thick snow has been cleared, the temperature of the permafrost beneath the ground drops.

mammoths could trample snow especially effectively because of their size and the amount of food they would eat.

when asked about the project’s climate benefits schubert of the animal welfare institute said that the project should continue using extant animals for the project, not extinct species.

“i have nothing against anyone thinking outside the box because i think that’s what is going to be necessary to frankly save this planet,” he said. “i just think that if they’re seeing success using these proxy animals, i think they should use these proxy animals… (instead of) trying to bring back animals that have long since been dead.” 

a future of technologically-enabled conservation

lamm said he hopes the genetic tools and artificial wombs being developed for mammoths will help preserve other species. he compared the development of arctic elephants to the apollo missions in terms of its potential for spinoff technology. he even expressed the hope that there may soon be the technology for 50 rhino calves to be brought to term in a lab at a time before release into the wild. 

“we hope that (this) will be relevant to many other endangered species as well,” church said. “the focus is on endangered species and environmental impact that would be helpful to humans; it’s not about de-extinction.”

even schubert expressed optimism about using colossal’s technology to help contemporary species, especially those that are currently endangered. still, schubert said the best way for humans to protect species is to address why they became endangered; only then should genetic solutions be considered.

in “jurassic park,” scientist ian malcolm chastises billionaire john hammond for creating dinosaurs, saying, “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” now, we are having that debate in real life about mammoths. if nothing else, the fact that we are having this debate is a step forward. 

volunteer researchers, more commonly known as “citizen scientists,” are everyday people who lack formal training in scientific fields yet contribute to scientific work. citizen scientists, now more than ever, are volunteering and collaborating with university research labs and government agencies, like the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa), by assisting with data collection and field research. 

shark scientists rely on the use of citizen scientists for data collection to monitor population growth and habitat shifts. local citizen scientists notice something’s amiss and contact the appropriate agencies and facilities. for example, californian citizen scientists noticed an influx of juvenile white sharks (carcharodon carcharias) in bays and along beaches within the last several years as their coastal waters warm. these juvenile shark populations were observed much further north than usual. 

salvador jorgensen, a research associate at the institute of marine sciences at the university of california, santa cruz, recently co-authored a paper in the journal scientific reports on this range shift of juvenile white sharks. the monterey bay aquarium led the research, and jorgensen and colleagues incorporated data that citizen scientists gathered.

juvenile white sharks are endotherms. they need to stay in water that is warm enough to maintain their core temperature but not too warm to elevate it, jorgensen explained.

“i kind of call it ‘the goldilocks zone’ for juvenile white sharks. it’s between 60 and 70 degrees [fahrenheit],” he said.

juvenile white sharks were mostly found in the warmer waters south of point conception, the headland where the pacific ocean and santa barbara channel meet, according to jorgensen. this is considered the point that separates southern and central california. however, during the 2014-2016 north pacific marine heatwave, juvenile white shark sightings reached unprecedented rates in central california. despite the marine heatwave ending five years ago, juvenile white sharks are still spotted along central california beaches.

kisei tanaka, a research marine biologist for noaa and lead author of the paper, said that the primary source of their data came from online open-access databases where people can use a website or phone application to take photos of a plant or animal for identification and upload the information to free public sources. scientists may even have the latitude and longitude of the species sighting if someone geotagged the uploaded photo with the exact location.

tanaka and jorgensen looked at the public access databanks along the california coast over the last five years to confirm the uptick of juvenile white shark sightings further north of point conception. then, marine scientists conducted their scientific survey expeditions looking for juvenile white sharks. the public access databanks utilized, like inaturalist, allowed the scientists to pinpoint which areas appeared to be the most juvenile white shark heavy, based on citizen scientist sightings.

“this [method of data collection] is very novel and effective in terms of capturing the change in the species distribution that weren’t affected by the scientific survey [our research team conducted] but may be able to be conducted at a much more local scale by more participants,” said tanaka.

 through the research described in their paper, the shark scientists determined that juvenile white sharks are moving poleward as their initial nursery ranges, like south of point conception, are too hot for their temperature-sensitive bodies. while rising ocean temperatures have been a concern to marine scientists for years now, citizen scientists quickly caught the attention of researchers with the influx of juvenile white sharks spotted further north and submitted to these databases.

“white shark is a very charismatic species that a lot of people pay close attention to, and they happen to be the one that responds to the climate very abruptly,” said tanaka.

tanaka discussed how sharks tend to capture the eye of the public which makes them one of the best species to use as a flagship for conservation initiatives regarding climate change. the international union for conservation of nature red list of threatened species categorizes white sharks as “vulnerable” and were last assessed in november 2018.

chelsea black is a ph.d. student studying marine conservation at the university of miami’s shark research and conservation program. as the shark satellite tracking coordinator, black monitors all their satellite-tagged sharks and verifying that the transmissions are accurate. she also works as the adopt a shark program manager. if someone donates the amount of a satellite tag, black assigns them their “adopted” shark. the donors can then name the shark and create an origin story of said name. the donors can then check up on their tagged shark at sharktagging.com.

before the covid-19 pandemic, black’s lab actively engaged the public to try more hands-on citizen science by having designated days where groups, such as corporate organizations or students on field trips, go on their boats and help with shark tagging. during these expeditions, citizen scientists get to measure sharks, attach a satellite tag to sharks, take a biological sample of a fin clip and write down field data. they even hold special expeditions where they take young girls out for tagging events with an all-female crew. the program is called females in the natural sciences (fins), and the goal is to excite young girls about shark science and demonstrate that science needn’t be a male-dominated field.

“it’s really cool seeing people come out on the boat with us who sometimes have never been on a boat, have never seen a shark. we will have people who are, you know, kind of afraid of sharks or are not sure what to expect, and by the end of the day, everyone is just like, ‘that was so amazing! i didn’t realize how calm sharks are.’ they’ll see us handling the sharks, obviously very safely, but without fear of the shark harming us,” said black.

for black, changing people’s opinions on sharks while contributing to scientific data collection is one of her favorite parts of working with the shark research and conservation program. she believes that informing and engaging the public in citizen science is crucial for shark conservation.

“we’re losing sharks at such a significant, you know, percentage each year that it will be in our lifetime that we will see species go extinct,” said 27-year-old black.

according to black, if you look at the data, there was a massive spike in shark killings after “jaws” came out in 1975. however, the rise in concern over sharks led to more shark research facilities. after over forty years of adverse publicity, white shark perceptions are finally changing for the better.

christopher lowe is a professor of marine biology, co-author of the juvenile white shark research paper, and has worked as the director of the shark lab at california state university, long beach since 1998. lowe said that for the first time in years, he feels hopeful about shark populations returning thanks to conservation initiatives. he feels that people are genuinely excited about protecting and celebrating sharks.

“i would argue that sharks are now as much a part of our [american] culture as baseball and the fourth of july,” said lowe.

lowe believes conservation citizen science is growing because people are interested in “reconnecting with nature.” according to lowe, some people want more than seeing a piece of nature at face value but to learn something about it.

white sharks are “apex predators;” they reside at the top of the food chain. they prey but are not preyed upon, and they remain a crucial part of oceanic ecosystem conservation by keeping all the other levels of the food web in check. if the apex predators disappeared, the ecosystem’s natural balance would fall. lesser predators would grow in population thus until their prey was depleted, leading to mass die-outs. by protecting white sharks, whole ecosystems are being sustained.

“if we are conserving ecosystems and we’re interested in health of the ocean, for example, we should be concerned with the health of all the species from the smallest, lowliness of phytoplankton all the way to its top predators,” said jorgensen.

with the popularity of a range of volunteer monitoring growing, marine scientists are feeling cautiously optimistic about the future. many shark species are returning to the american coasts. but for marine life, current conservation efforts may not be enough if the symptoms of climate change continue to worsen.

“it’s going to take the planet. it’s going to take everybody, and that is a bigger challenge,” said lowe.

the research says that if sharks, and marine ecosystems as a whole, want to persist, humans have to combat climate change. shark populations are shifting and reacting to people changing the planet explained jorgensen. as ocean temperatures continue to rise, it is up to humankind to save sharks from extinction.