Author Archives: AdaLai

Can seahorse protection lead to a better approach to marine conservation?

Posted on November 28, 2018 | Leave a comment

In the past few decades, ecological protection has gradually become a greater concern for more and more people; however, how can we effectively protect the earth’s ecology if the vast majority of it is still alien to us, especially the ocean? Recently, we were given the chance to interview Dr.Xiong Zhang, an expert on seahorse conservation, he explained why protecting small species such as seahorses can be helpful in protecting many marine ecosystems.

Image of a seahorse
Picture retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/12/15/world/science-health-world/undersea-mystery-genetic-secrets-seahorse-unveiled/

 

Dr.Xiong Zhang during the interview

Dr.Zhang, who is a zoology Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, recently conducted his case study on predicting locations where seahorses are commonly found along the coastal areas in China. The main role of his study is to help protect seahorses which can improve the maintenance of many shallow sea environments. A point of interest is the reason Dr. Zhang chose seahorses, and how he believes their protection can lead to maintaining shallow sea ecosystems. 

China coastal area
picture retrieved from https://medium.com/civic-analytics/signal-2-environmental-impacts-of-land-reclamation-in-china-under-climate-change-background-981edb2d7bf9

 

First, Dr.Zhang explained why he focuses on seahorses; there are three main reasons:

Seahorses are distributed in a variety of geological locations

Seahorses have many subspecies, and each of them requires different living conditions for habitat; for example, some prefer warm water temperatures and some prefer higher concentrations of salt. These factors make seahorses as a whole widely distributed globally, however,  suitable living environments are scarce for them at the same time. 

Seahorses are extremely sensitive to changes in an environment

Different types of seahorse subspecies
Picture retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/

The limitations for the seahorses are not only due to habitat requirements but also partly because of its own living habits. Seahorses need to hook on structures on the seafloor to survive; without these structures, they will drift away with the current. As a result, seahorses are confined to areas with special structures on the seafloor. The destruction on an area with such structures will lead to complete elimination of a local seahorse population. 

Seahorses can be used as indicators to measure the wellness of local ecosystems

Since seahorses are “picky” in choosing their habitats, there are few places that are ideal for them, they can be used to determine whether an ecosystem is healthy. These areas often have unique characteristics, making them extremely sensitive to ecological changes. Therefore, in this particular environment, if there is a significant decrease in the number of seahorses, experts can reasonably infer that this is caused by habitat destruction.

Image of coral reef mangroves.
Picture retrieved from:
https://www.leonardodicaprio.org/protecting-coral-reefs-and-mangroves-indonesia

With all that in mind, how do we go from protecting seahorses to maintaining shallow sea environments? From previous answers, we can see that seahorses are marine animals that very dependent on their habitat; as a result, protecting their habitat is the best way to protect their population. While protecting seahorse’s habitats, we can also protect many creatures in the same environment. Using the seahorse as a starting point, we can protect organisms in a small area; when many small areas are protected, the experts will be able to maintain the ecology of the nearby shallow water on a larger scale. Therefore, protecting the seahorse is a point-to-point approach to secure the shallow sea ecosystems. Dr. Zhang’s findings effectively predict the habitat of seahorses on a large-scale from limited data, and the short video below briefly describes the process.

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If the above video doesn’t work click: Video link

The result mapped by Dr.Zhang for 4 different subspecies of seahorses.

After drawing such a relatively precise map for the locations of seahorses, experts and authorities can make decisions of conservation more effectively. When we asked Dr. Zhang if his research had been put to practical use, he gave us a positive answer: “there is one province in the south, Guangxi province, considered my research very important and they added the seahorse habitat in the conservation planning, in its local area.”

When Dr. Zhang indicated research plans for the future, he told us: “In the future, the degree of seahorse protection will definitely increase for sure, and there are lots of local people that really care about the sustainability of the livelihood for seahorse “

In the end, Dr. Zhang told us, although we can’t say that at the current stage seahorses are well protected, but based on his research, more experts will see the importance of seahorses. Though this, more research will be focusing on seahorses in the future. Furthermore, as technology and information advance, the protection of seahorses will be more perfected. This point-to-point approach on the protection of one animal will also be more effective in protecting our shallow sea ecosystems in the future.


 

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Statistics

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How do we adapt to high altitude?

Posted on October 1, 2018 | 1 comment

When I first moved to Canada, my family decided to settle in Calgary. After a couple of weeks, I constantly felt tired and out of breath. I went to a doctor and she said this was symptoms of hypoxia, a high-altitude sickness; the recovery time should be fast since Calgary don’t have an extreme altitude. After a few weeks, the symptoms of hypoxia were gone, but it took a lot longer until I could feel comfortable to join any strenuous exercise.

City of Calgary

A question arose from my experience, why it took me that long to adapt to the high altitude while the symptoms of hypoxia were gone within a few weeks.

The simplest answer is considering this scenario the same as if you catch the flu. The sense of illness could be gone within days; however, full recovery might take up to weeks.

A detailed explanation of high-altitude adaptation involves separating it into third processes and also taken into the consideration of how much above sea level are we talking about.

When we divide the adaptation process into three sections (figure 1), the first part happens right after entering a high-altitude environment. During this period, an individual will experience symptoms of hypoxia and there will be a significant decrease in fitness level. This is a result of low blood oxygen level, which is caused by decreasing air pressure at higher altitude. Since there is less oxygen in the blood, breath rate and heart rate will increase dramatically even during the resting time in order to maintain body basic functions, this will cause overstress on cardiac muscles.

figure 1: The initial response to high altitude exposure. Image retrieve from https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/adapt/adapt_3.htm

In the second part (figure 2), an acclimatization process would happen, which means the body will make adjustments to stop the decrease in fitness level. To lower the increased cardiac output, our body would produce more red blood cell in capillaries to carry more oxygen, so that the cardiac muscles were less stressed. Failing of acclimatization with low blood oxygen level would cause tissue hypoxia, decreased cardiac output and decreased red-blood-cell concentration. In this case, this individual couldn’t adapt at this altitude and the doctor would suggest moving back to a lower altitude.

figure 2: Acclimatization process. Image retrieve from https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/adapt/adapt_3.htm

For the third section (figure 3), the result will vary depending on the altitude. With an altitude below 10000ft, physiological adjustment takes time and eventual fitness level will return back to normal. With even higher altitude (above 12000ft), successful acclimatization rarely happens; even if an individual is able to live on the plateau, strenuous exercise and memorization task still remain difficult.

figure 3: Successful acclimatization. image retrieve from https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/adapt/adapt_3.htm

The failure to adapt to extremely high altitude is not caused by physiological limitation. A study shown for those populations that living on extreme high altitude, shared sections of unique genetic sequence that reduce hypoxia. One of these genes is EPAS1, which is activated by low blood oxygen level and is responsible for lowing hemoglobin concentration in blood for sufficient delivery of oxygen around the body.

The Tibetan Plateau

In addition, physiological adaptation at high altitude increase cardiovascular strength and this characteristic is used to advantage by some endurance athletes.  (figure 4) Altitude training is a several weeks training at intermediate altitude (preferably over 8,000 ft). At intermediate altitude, there is still approximately 20% oxygen, but the partial pressure of oxygen is reduced. The reduction in oxygen partial pressure forces athletes’ body to acclimate to the lack of oxygen, thus producing more hemoglobin and altering muscle metabolism. The increase in hemoglobin concentration and muscle metabolism will give athletes a competitive advantage that lasts up to 10 ~14 days.

figure 4: Increase in fitness after acclimatization. Image retrieve from https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/adapt/adapt_3.htm

In conclusion, our body is able to make some physiological adaption to the environment until it reaches some limitation. When traveling to higher altitude area, it is important to check your health condition in order to avoid unnecessary damage to your body. Also, a short-term introduction of intermediate altitude is a common training method for the athlete to increase their body condition and gain competitive advantages.

Information attribute from:
Altitude training. (2018, October 14). Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_training
Duffin, J. (2014). Faculty of 1000 evaluation for Altitude adaptation in Tibetans caused by introgression of Denisovan-like DNA. F1000 – Post-publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature. doi:10.3410/f.718477234.793496726
O’Neil, D. (n.d.). Human Biological Adaptability: Adapting to High Altitude. Retrieved from
https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/adapt/adapt_3.htm

 

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