March 2021: 3 Significant environmental news I want to share

 

Most Significantly, on Mar 8, 2021, The New Youk Times wrote that Two-species of sea slug Elysia marginata and Elysia atroviridis decapitate themselves only to regrow a new body from the severed head. Researchers were astonished to observe slugs in captivity cutting off their heads after their bodies became infected with parasites. Within 3-weeks, the heads regenerate a whole, parasite-free body, though the bodies never grow back new heads.

Scientific American, published on Feb 24, 2021, Researchers are just beginning to recognize the role of burial places as protectors of biodiversity. In 2015, scientists found rare orchids thriving in cemeteries in Turkey, and another team discovered a variety of medicinal plants in the graveyards of Bangladesh in 2008. And in Ukraine in 2014, ancient burial mounds were found to safeguard the last remnants of Europe’s dwindling steppe grasslands.

China Agricultural University in Beijing conducted plant surveys in 199 family graveyards among Hebei province wheat fields. They ranged in area from two to 400 square meters. Despite their relatively small size, they were home to a total of 81 native plant species. Even the tiniest, covering just two square meters, hosted 24 plant species. Nearly half of all graveyard plants were significant food resources for insect pollinators.

And, Science, printed on Mar 4, 2021, that Earth is in the midst of an insect apocalypse, with thousands of species dwindling over several decades. Scientists have often blamed habitat loss or pesticide use. But a new study of butterflies in the western United States has found that warmer fall weather may be taking as big, if not an immense, toll. The findings are a wake-up call—not just for butterflies, but for all insects. If humans don’t take dramatic steps to curb global warming, entire ecosystems could disappear, with untold impacts on biodiversity and human health.