Section:GDN 1N PaGe:14 Edition Date:190724 Edition:03 Zone: Sent at 23/7/2019 23:42 cYanmaGentaYellowb
••• The Guardian Wednesday 24 July 2019(^14) National
Jonathan Watts
The speed of climate disruption is out-
stripping the capacity of many animals
to adapt, according to a study that
warns of the growing threat to even
common species such as sparrows,
magpies and deer.
The lead author , Viktoriia Radchuk ,
of Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Zoo
and Wildlife Research , said: “Climate
change has caused irreversible dam-
age to our biodiversity already, as
evidenced by this study. The fact that
species struggle to adapt to the current
rate of climate change means we have
to act immediately ... species attempt
to adapt to changing environment, but
they cannot do it at a suffi cient pace to
ensure populations are viable.”
The scientists said the study ,
published in Nature Research , was
alarming because it showed a dan-
gerous lag between the human-driven
shift in the seasons and behavioural
changes in the natural world.
Past studies have shown that spe-
cies respond to warming by earlier
timing of laying eggs. This research,
based on 10,090 abstracts and data
from 71 studies, found a clear lag in
most species studied and none could
be seen as safe.
The authors said adaptation prob-
lems were likely to be still greater for
animals already at risk of extinction.
Wildlife failing to
adapt to climate
crisis fast enough
One hundred
million bacteria
a day keep the
doctor away
Gregory Robinson
The impact of an apple a day in keeping
the doctor away may be partly down
to the benefi cial bacteria it carries and
their subsequent colonisation of your
gut, according to scientists.
A study has found that a typical
apple carries more than 100 m bacteria.
Some of these microbes are important
in maintaining a healthy gut envi-
ronment, or microbiome , says Prof
Gabriele Berg from Graz University
of Technology, Austria , one of the
authors of the research.
“The bacteria, fungi and viruses in
our food transiently colonise our gut,”
she said. “Cooking kills most of these,
so raw fruit and veg are particularly
important sources of gut microbes.”
The researchers compared
the bacteria in shop-bought apples
with those in visually matched organic
ones. The apple’s stem, peel, fl esh,
seeds and calyx – the straggly bit at
the bottom where the fl ower used to
be – were all analysed separately.
Although organic and conventional
apples were occupied by similar
numbers of bacteria, the researchers
found that organic apples harboured
a more diverse and balanced bacterial
community, which they said could
make them healthier and tastier than
conventional apples.
Variety in the microbiome is
thought to be key to a healthy gut
and the researchers also said there
appeared to be more microbial
diversity in organic apples.
“Freshly harvested, organically
managed apples harbour a signifi cantly
more diverse, more even and distinct
bacterial community, compared to
conventional ones,” explained Berg.
“This variety and balance would be
expected to limit overgrowth of any
one species, and previous studies
have reported a negative correlation
between human pathogen abundance
and microbiome diversity of fresh pro-
duce.” In other words, the more varied
your diet, the fewer harmful bacteria
are found.
The research may also vindicate
the people who claim to be able
to taste the difference between
organic and ordinary produce,
researchers say. A microbe known as
methylobacterium , which is known
to boost strawberry-flavoured
compounds, was signifi cantly more
abundant in organic apples, Berg said.
Birgit Wassermann , also at Graz
University of Technology and the
lead author of the study, said that
the next step would be “to con-
fi rm to what extent diversity in the
food microbiome translates to gut
microbial diversity and improved
health outcomes ”.
▲ Research says organic apples have
a more diverse bacterial community
Staff support
novelist who
quit British
Museum over
BP funding
Lanre Bakare
Arts and culture correspondent
Workers at the British Museum have
issued a statement in support of the
novelist Ahdaf Soueif , who resigned as
a trustee last week because of what she
called the institution’s “immovability”
on critical issues , including its
sponsorship by BP.
The staff , members of the Public
and Commercial Services union , said
Soueif ’s resignation highlighted “the
troubling nature of the relationship
between BP and the arts”, adding that
the oil company’s sponsorship allowed
it “to propagate the myth” that with-
out it, “we would not have access to
the collections of our publicly funded
museums and galleries”.
The group – part of the Art Not
Oil coalition that seeks to end oil
sponsorship of the arts – claims the
“collection is being used to greenwash
the activities of a company whose
actions threaten lives the world over,
both now and in the future”.
It said the museum also need ed to
address the debate around the return
of looted colonial-era artefacts. “The
museum ... is in a unique position (and
given its own history has a unique
obligation) to lead these difficult
discussions. We echo Ms Soueif ’s call
for the museum to take a clear position
as an ally of coming generations.”
Soueif said on the London Review
of Books website. “My resignation was
not in protest at a single issue.
“It was a cumulative response to
the museum’s immovability on issues
of critical concern to the people who
should be its core constituency: the
young and the less privileged.”
Ahdaf Soueif attacked the
museum’s ‘immovability’
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