Climate threat to Pandas' bamboo diet

[knocker]

Pandas already have a lot on their plate. Their habitat is threatened, they are subject to poaching and they seem to have a species-wide aversion to attempting reproduction.

The next woe to afflict the panda, however, could be not that they have too much on their plate, but too little. According a report in Nature, the bamboo they rely on for food is under threat from climate change.

Researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have modelled the effect of temperature rises on China’s bamboo forests and found that vast swathes of the plant will die off. At worst, all of the habitat in one of the best protected panda colonies could be without bamboo by the middle of this century.

The “unparalleled conservation efforts and resources†to reduce loss of the pandas’ habitat may be in vain if bamboo disappears, the authors say. “As the bamboo species evaluated constitute almost the entire diet of the pandas in this region, the pandas may face a shortage of food.â€

Part of the problem is that bamboo reproduction is almost as rare a process as panda reproduction. The plants are fertile on a cycle of between ten and 120 years, meaning that they are extremely poorly adapted to cope with changing climates.

http://www.thetimes....icle3596952.ece

Edited November 12, 2012 by knocker

[UV-RAY]

Pandas already have a lot on their plate. Their habitat is threatened, they are subject to poaching and they seem to have a species-wide aversion to attempting reproduction.

The next woe to afflict the panda, however, could be not that they have too much on their plate, but too little. According a report in Nature, the bamboo they rely on for food is under threat from climate change.

Researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have modelled the effect of temperature rises on China’s bamboo forests and found that vast swathes of the plant will die off. At worst, all of the habitat in one of the best protected panda colonies could be without bamboo by the middle of this century.

The “unparalleled conservation efforts and resources†to reduce loss of the pandas’ habitat may be in vain if bamboo disappears, the authors say. “As the bamboo species evaluated constitute almost the entire diet of the pandas in this region, the pandas may face a shortage of food.â€

Part of the problem is that bamboo reproduction is almost as rare a process as panda reproduction. The plants are fertile on a cycle of between ten and 120 years, meaning that they are extremely poorly adapted to cope with changing climates.

http://www.thetimes....icle3596952.ece

Pandas already have a lot on their plate. Their habitat is threatened, they are subject to poaching and they seem to have a species-wide aversion to attempting reproduction.

The next woe to afflict the panda, however, could be not that they have too much on their plate, but too little. According a report in Nature, the bamboo they rely on for food is under threat from climate change.

Researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have modelled the effect of temperature rises on China’s bamboo forests and found that vast swathes of the plant will die off. At worst, all of the habitat in one of the best protected panda colonies could be without bamboo by the middle of this century.

The “unparalleled conservation efforts and resources†to reduce loss of the pandas’ habitat may be in vain if bamboo disappears, the authors say. “As the bamboo species evaluated constitute almost the entire diet of the pandas in this region, the pandas may face a shortage of food.â€

Part of the problem is that bamboo reproduction is almost as rare a process as panda reproduction. The plants are fertile on a cycle of between ten and 120 years, meaning that they are extremely poorly adapted to cope with changing climates.

http://www.thetimes....icle3596952.ece

Another unnecessary alarmist story then. The headline makes out that this is actually occurring, when in actual fact it's nothing more than the usual fundraising, headline grabbing sensationalism, that has become the norm over the years.

[4wd]

Indeed, I do wonder what is the purpose of these ridiculous 'worst case scenario' tales of woe.

It seems like the ancient soothsayers warning the end is nigh.

The apparent need to have imminent catastrophe looming is a symptom of a deep problems with some parts of society today.