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26 news posts in Environment

Manuel Castellote taking part in fieldwork. Photograph by Andrea Gilstad.

Featured news

15 Jul 2024

'We lost instruments chewed or crunched by bears and sea otters': how Dr Manuel Castellote listens out for elusive belugas

Castellote is the corresponding author of a new article in Frontiers in Marine Science which reveals the stealthy movements of the elusive Cook Inlet beluga, and has kindly taken the time to share some thoughts about his career and research as part of the Frontier Scientist series.

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Environment

05 Oct 2023

Can masculine marketing convince more men to eat vegan?

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Eating more plant-based dishes is good for your health and good for the planet – but the perception that these dishes are for women and not for men may be stopping some men from choosing plant-based meals. Scientists found that you can present vegan dishes with a masculine framing, altering the perception that these dishes are for women, but changing the perception doesn’t change people’s preferences. Eating more plant-based meals is better for our health and better for the planet. But cultural preferences are significant barriers to reducing meat consumption – especially for men, who are underrepresented among vegans and vegetarians. Studies have found that eating meat is associated with masculinity, and that gender stereotypes label plant-based diets as suitable for women but not men. So is it possible to change the perception of plant-based food with marketing, and convince men to eat more of it? “Men might be less inclined to consume vegan food due to the need to perform gender,” said Alma Scholz, lead author of a new study published in Frontiers in Communication. “However, with vegan food being framed in a masculine way, men might feel less resistance and […]

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Environment

18 Sep 2023

Captive pandas could be ‘jet lagged’ if their body clocks don’t match their environment

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock Animals’ circadian clocks normally get cues from their environments: light cycles, seasonal food availability, and temperature. If these cues are very different to the ones from the latitudes which they have adapted to, it could disrupt their bodies and behavior, like jet lag in humans. Scientists studying the effect of this possible ‘jet lag’ on giant pandas, which are a vulnerable species and live in zoos worldwide, have shown that pandas housed in different latitudes to their normal range in China are less active, with potentially negative consequences for their welfare. All animals have an internal clock called a circadian clock, which is regulated by cues from their environment — but animals in zoos can be exposed to very different cues from animals in the wild. Since all animals’ circadian clocks are linked to their behavior and physiology, this could be significant to their welfare, which is crucial to maintaining captive populations of animals at high risk of extinction in the wild, like giant pandas. Scientists set out to understand how the ‘jet lag’ of living in latitudes they did not evolve in, and therefore getting cues for their circadian clocks which […]

Climate action

08 Sep 2023

The climate crisis could reshape Italian mountain forests forever

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock. With the changes in conditions caused by the climate crisis, the forests of the Italian Alps and Apennines are set to alter. Many species, including keystone species, will have smaller ranges to grow in. Some others may expand their ranges, possibly helping to maintain forests in the years to come. Scientists now warn that conserving our forests depends on detailed biodiversity modelling. As a result of the climate crisis, future forests may become unrecognizable. Trees that currently make up European woods may no longer be seen — or they may have moved several hundred meters uphill. Scientists writing in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change have mapped the forests of five vulnerable mountain areas in Italy and modelled the future of these fragile ecosystems. “If I imagine my daughter walking with me as an old man, in our mountain forests, I can imagine that we can see the initial stage of a profound change of species,” said Dr Sergio Noce of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change Foundation (CMCC). “Like any natural process, time is needed, and forests have times that are totally different from us.” Seeing the wood for the trees […]

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