Posted on 05/07/2008 9:30:20 AM PDT by tobyhill
CANBERRA, Australia - Koalas are threatened by the rising level of carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere because it saps nutrients from the eucalyptus leaves they feed on, a researcher said Wednesday.
Ian Hume, emeritus professor of biology at Sydney University, said he and his researchers also found that the amount of toxicity in the leaves of eucalyptus saplings rose when the level of carbon dioxide within a greenhouse was increased.
Hume presented his research on the effects of carbon dioxide on eucalyptus leaves to the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra on Wednesday.
The researchers found that carbon dioxide in eucalyptus leaves affects the balance of nutrients and "anti-nutrients" substances that are either toxic or interfere with the digestion of nutrients.
An increase in carbon dioxide favors the trees' production of carbon-based anti-nutrients over nutrients, so leaves can become toxic to koalas, Hume said.
Some eucalyptus species may have high protein content, but anti-nutrients such as tannins bind the protein so it cannot be digested by koalas.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Ok, question #1: How much of an increase in C02 were these plants subjected to?
#2 By how much did that exposure increase the "toxicity" levels?
The Best Global Warming Videos on the Internet |
You’re thinking like a scientist. Stop it.
Boy... that's a long range prediction... and hedged with the “noticeable” word.
I vote he has a GIGO model...:^) Specially optimized for GW alarmists.
If it's ugly, vicious, slimy, disgusting, or dangerous — climate change will multiply their number.
(Not!)
Meanwhile this study says the opposite
So when they need global warming to be bad for plants, global warming causes plants to produce more nutrients & less toxins but when they need global warming to be bad for a cute animal then all of a sudden plants produce less nutrients and more toxins.
Methinks they are getting the results they want.
I see.
Global warming only affects cute animals.
Yupper...
I adnmit it’s been a while since I last took a science course, but I seem to rememember something about trees needing carbon dioxide to live. How can more food be bad for tress? It’s not like they’re going to gain weight & clog their ateries or anything.
Didn’t koalas and eucalyptus trees both evolve long ago when CO2 levels were far higher? How did they ever manage to make it until today’s “safe” environment came along?
#3. Since koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves and nothing else and, as claimed, increased CO2 only increases levels of phytochemicals that eucalyptus ordinarily generates (it doesn't cause it to make any different phytochemicals); what is toxic to a koala?
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s528804.htm
Koala Wars
This controversial story investigates a problem that goes to the heart of a crisis in wildlife management in Australia. This is not a story about disappearing wildlife its a story about native animals reaching plague numbers. The animal is the koala in certain areas of Victoria koalas are stripping bare entire forests, and killing off the very trees they depend on...
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