Humans Affected by Shifting Species
A study published in Sciencehas reported that communities and economies from the
tropics to the poles are already being affected as species respond to climate change.
“Human survival depends on other life on Earth, so the redistribution of the planet’s
living organisms is a substantial challenge for people worldwide,” said study leader A/Prof
Gretta Pecl of The University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.
“As their local environment changes, many plants and animals are responding by moving
to higher altitudes, greater depths in the oceans or towards the poles.
“Previous studies have shown that land-based species are moving polewards by an
average of 17 km per decade, and marine species by 72 km per decade. Our study demon-
strates how these changes are affecting worldwide ecosystems and human health and
culture in the process.
“While some species favour a warmer climate and are becoming more abundant, many
others that humans exploit or interact with face depletion or extinction.”
Pecl said that as humans rely on natural ecosystems for food, industry, health and
culture, they’re affected by changes in species distribution in many different ways.- Fish, forests and crops are at risk as their environments change, with the principal
coffee-growing regions expected to shift and valuable timber species such as Norway
spruce making way for less valuable warm climate species. - Tourism and recreational fishing are jeopardised as corals die, jellyfish infest waters used
for recreation, and urchins destroy fish habitats in kelp forests. - Tensions are emerging as species move between economic zones, as with Iceland’s
“mackerel wars”, or due to disputes over competing land uses. - Threats such as malaria are becoming more prevalent as rising temperatures allow the
poleward spread of mosquitos into regions where people have not had prior exposure. - Changes in the distribution of fish and reindeer are impacting food security and the
traditional knowledge systems of Arctic peoples.
Study co-author Roger Griffis of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration said current global goals, policies and international agreements do not suffi-
ciently consider species range-shifts in their formulation or targets. “A dynamic, multi-level
legal and policy approach is needed to address the impacts across local, national and inter-
national boundaries,” he said.
“Medicinal Food”
Counters Onset of
Juvenile Diabetes
A diet yielding high amounts of the short-
chain fatty acids acetate and butyrate
provides a beneficial effect on the
immune system and protection against
type 1 diabetes, according to a study
published in Nature Immunology.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when
autoreactive T cells attack and destroy the
cells that produce insulin – the hormone
that regulates blood sugar levels.
The diet developed by CSIRO and
Monash University researchers uses
starches that resist digestion and pass
through to the colon or large bowel, where
they are broken down by gut bacteria.
This process of fermentation produces
acetate and butyrate which, when
combined, provided protection against
type 1 diabetes.
“The Western diet affects our gut
microbiota and the production of these
short-chain fatty acids,” said Dr Eliana
Mariño of Monash University’s Biomedicine
Discovery Institute. “Our research found
that eating a diet which encourages the
gut bacteria that produce high levels of
acetate or butyrate improves the integrity
of the gut lining, which reduces pro-
inflammatory factors and promotes
immune tolerance. We found this had an
enormous impact on the development of
type 1 diabetes.”
Prof Charles Mackay, who initiated the
research, said the study highlighted how
non-pharmaceutical approaches
including special diets and gut bacteria
could treat or prevent autoimmune
diseases such as type 1 diabetes. “The
findings illustrate the dawn of a new era
in treating human disease with medicinal
foods,” he said. “The diets we used are
highly efficient at releasing beneficial
metabolites. I would describe them as an
extreme superfood,” he said.
Mackay said that the diet was not just
about eating vegetables or high-fibre
foods but involved special food and a
special process, and would need to be
managed by nutritionists, dietitians and
clinicians.
The researchers are hoping to gain
funding to take the findings into type 1
diabetes into clinical research.12 ||MAY/JUNE 2017
Crops are at risk as their environments change, with the principal coffee-growing regions
expected to shift. Credit: exclusive-design/Adobe