Posted on 01/18/2018 8:20:48 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
We always knew there would be winners and losers.
The depressed mud crab is dealing with a lot right now. There’s climate change, pollution, and a real downer of a name. (Its scientific name, Eurypanopeus depressus, is no more cheery). But its greatest burden is probably the genital parasites. Yes, there’s a particular barnacle that latches onto depressed crab crotches, takes over the machinery therein, and co-opts it for its own reproduction. (And you thought herpes was bad.)
But relief may be coming. Ocean ecologist Alyssa-Lois Gehman at the University of British Columbia has modeled how this host-parasite relationship will change as the ocean warms and discovered that the barnacle, Loxothylacus panopaei, will probably become extinct in the depressed mud crab population with just 2 °C of warming.
This may be good news for the crabs. But in another, more far-reaching way, the discovery is bad news. Most researchers don’t consider the shifts that may be coming for host-parasite interactions when they’re modeling how ecosystems will cope with climate change. And that’s an oversight in conservation and adaptation planning because parasites are everywhere.
“Most of the organisms on Earth have parasites,” Gehman says. “Including these interactions makes projections way more accurate.”
Gehman says that under today’s environmental conditions, both infected and uninfected depressed mud crabs spend their days scuttling around coastal oyster beds, so it seemed likely they would continue to do so as the seas warm. But when Gehman designed a new projection that included how the two species would interact, she got a very different forecast.
The updated model showed that if the average water temperature rises by just 2 °C—which is expected by 2100—the parasite will vanish from the crab population.
(Excerpt) Read more at hakaimagazine.com ...
Hmmm. Shrinkage and expansion explained? ;-)
The craps can lose the boxer shorts?
Extra heat from all that book cooking.
Tony Heller, The Fundamental Deception Of Climate Science
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RwjYkYCXnU
Michael Mann removed the Medieval Warm Period, etc.
Well, at least it’s good for sumpthin..................
No wonder they’re depressed.
Great Flaming Wolf Spiders!!!
They grab on to the poor crab’s “junk” and take it over?
This is why you should never go swimming in the ocean.
Killer Whales.....Great White Sharks.....Junk Grabbing Barnacles.
The cruel sea.....the cruel, cruel sea.
Why do I think this will be a classic thread for FR?
I was hoping that a 2 degree change would kill off the parasites known as liberals. I figured they now have a reason for moving to Northern Canada, now that it’s been proven that leaving because of the election of Trump failed to dislodge them.
The crabs are getting the crabs. Oh the huge manatee.
The crabs are getting the crabs. Oh the huge manatee.
Environ-whacko liberals who demand action on climate change will henceforth be referred to PETA.
Do we really need another thread a out Lena Dunham?
Big balls salute!
“The sea was angry that day my friends! Like an old man trying to send his soup back at the deli.”
It just has that certain topic.
I wonder what the amount of this academic grant was. Likely a lot more than the cost of a case of [these] crabs.
Finally, some good news from the global warming front!
Crabs can get crabs?
who knew?
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