One way to respond to ocean acidification? Reduce the emission of carbon.
One way to respond to ocean acidification? Reduce the emission of carbon. NIKKOS DASKALAKIS/shutterstock.com

A Plan Is Proposed to Counter Ocean Acidification: Ocean acidification is a familiar topic to regular news readers in Puget Sound, who may remember both the Seattle Times’ recent three part investigation of its impact on the Pacific and pointed criticism from familiar quarters (yes, Cliff Mass).

The details of that debate notwithstanding, ocean acidification remains a major concern, and it is increasingly the focus of climate change mitigation efforts. On April 4, the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel released a comprehensive report summarizing the state of knowledge in the field and proposing steps to counter its effects.

Among the less surprising of its recommendations: reducing carbon emissions.

White-Nose Syndrome Spells Doom for Washington Bats: On March 11, hikers near North Bend recovered a little brown bat (Myotis lucifgus), alive but unable to fly. After it passed away at an animal shelter two days later, it was sent to a USGS Wildife Health Center in Wisconsin. There, researchers confirmed a depressing truth: The bat had passed away from white-nose syndrome, a fungal infection responsible for decimating bat colonies across the east. It is the first documented case of the disease west of the Rockies.

White-nose syndrome was first documented in a cave in upstate New York in 2006, and it has rapidly spread since, resulting in declines of 90 percent in some species. If the intrinsic beauty and worth of bats is not itself enough reason to mourn the arrival of the disease in Washington, consider the substantial ecosystem services bats provide us (PDF). And 2.4 million pounds of crop pests may now go uneaten.

Genomic Data Reveals Colonization Routes and Highlights Devastating Impact of European Contact on the Pre-Columbian Americas: While the pre-Columbian population of the Americas remains a point of heated debate, it’s broadly agreed that trans-hemisphere collision 500 years ago proved catastrophic to Native Americans. A study published in Science last week (PDF) only strengthens the consensus, using genetic data to estimate the initial route of colonization of the Americas and detect the the impact of European contact.

The international team sequenced whole mitochondrial genomes from 92 pre-Columbian mummies spanning Mexico to Chile, and 8600-500 years old. Their data suggest the Americas were initially populated over the Bering Strait 16 thousand years ago by a small population formerly isolated in eastern Siberia. After expanding and rapidly colonizing North and South America, now-isolated populations rarely came in contact with one another, resulting in numerous distinct genetic lineages across both continents—displaying what’s known as “phylogeographic structure.”

What happened to this genetic diversity after first contact? Among ancestral genetic lineages identified from mummies in the study, not a single one survives in modern populations.

Two quick notes: One, mitochondria are small, maternally inherited structures found in most cells and involved in energy production. They have an entirely separate genome from the nucleus of cells, where the majority of DNA coding traits in organisms is stored. And two: phylogeography is a field of biology concerned with the spatially explicit study of genetic variation within species, or how landscapes affect the evolutionary processes that determine the trajectories of populations. As a PhD candidate studying evolutionary biology and ornithology at the University of Washington and the Burke Museum, phylogeographic studies are an important component of my research.

Science(ish) Events of the Week: On the first Thursday of every month, the Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture offers free admission to its exhibits. Drop by this week (04/07) to and see an exhibit on Native food culture, participate in a discussion on Urban Growth & Density, attend a lecture on Chinook Sheep Horn Bowls, or just browse its usual attractions.