Study: Dead clams can tell many tales
Published: Oct. 30, 2007 at 2:59 PM
CHICAGO, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found comparing living and dead organisms can serve as a relatively quick and inexpensive means of assessing human impact on ecosystems.
"We affect ecosystems in many different ways, but the effects of our actions are hard to pin down because we rarely have scientific data from before the onset of those impacts," said University of Chicago Professor Susan Kidwell.
Kidwell said "live-dead" studies can provide the needed perspective. During such a study, scientists collect data on living organisms as well as their skeletal remains and then evaluate how closely they match.
"They're like time exposures, because skeletal remains can hang around for a long time," she said. "In fact, through radiocarbon and other dating methods we know that shells can persist within the upper few inches of the sea floor for decades and even millennia in some circumstances."
Such a technique, said Kidwell, suggests a new tool for recognizing human impacts in areas where there is no long-term sampling of the living community available.
The technique and related research is reported in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"We affect ecosystems in many different ways, but the effects of our actions are hard to pin down because we rarely have scientific data from before the onset of those impacts," said University of Chicago Professor Susan Kidwell.
Kidwell said "live-dead" studies can provide the needed perspective. During such a study, scientists collect data on living organisms as well as their skeletal remains and then evaluate how closely they match.
"They're like time exposures, because skeletal remains can hang around for a long time," she said. "In fact, through radiocarbon and other dating methods we know that shells can persist within the upper few inches of the sea floor for decades and even millennia in some circumstances."
Such a technique, said Kidwell, suggests a new tool for recognizing human impacts in areas where there is no long-term sampling of the living community available.
The technique and related research is reported in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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