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Sept.
5, 2007
ROLE
REVERSAL AS HUMANS SUCK LIFE OUT OF LEECHES
Global warming may be to
blame for the gradual extinction of
cold-loving species, and the European land leech in particular,
according to
Ulrich Kutschera and colleagues from the University
of Kassel
in Germany
and the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz
in Austria. Their
findings show that human-induced temperature increases over a 40-year
period in
the Graz region of Austria
may have led to the near
extinction of the local land leech Xerobdella lecomtei. The study will
be
published in the December issue of Springer’s journal Naturwissenschaften.
Back in 1868 a new leech was discovered in Austria,
in the moist soil of a
mountain far away from any freshwater pond or stream. This
unusual annelid
was the European land leech X. lecomtei. Between 2001 and
2005, Kutschera
and team were only able to find one living juvenile Xerobdella
individual in
the birch forests around Graz
in Austria,
suggesting that this leech had become virtually extinct.
Kutschera’s team studied the single leech and described in
detail both its
morphology and feeding behavior, as there had previously only been one
published report on the biology of Xerobdella. Once the leech
died, the
researchers extracted mitochondrial DNA to sequence it. Their
analysis
showed that X. lecomtei is not a member of the tropical land leeches
(family
Haemadipsidae), as previously thought, but may be a relative of the
amphibious-terrestrial
Haemopidae/Hirudinidae, which prefer cooler climates.
The researchers also looked at data documenting the human-induced
climate
change in Austria
over the last four decades, which showed that between 1961 and 2004,
the
average summer temperatures in the area rose by over 3 OC. The
observed
decline in the local leech population around Graz mirrors
this temperature rise. This
increase in air temperature led to a drastic reduction in the moisture
content
of the soil where the land leech X. lecomtei lives. In the
authors’ opinion,
this recent human-induced warming may have led to the almost complete
extinction of the local population of this rare annelid.
These findings are a reminder that the impact of humans on the
environment can
be more rapid and subtle than previously thought. The authors
conclude
that “human-induced warming without apparent habitat
destruction may lead to
subtle changes in biodiversity, notably the decline and extinction of
populations that consist of cold-adapted species.”
##
Contact:
Joan
Robinson
Springer
49-6221-487-8130
joan.robinson@springer.com
This
text derived from:
http://www.springer-sbm.com/index.php?id=291&backPID=132&L=0&tx_tnc_news=3632&cHash=963c7347fc
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