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risk</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Arial">Pull quote: "In terms of climate
changes," said biology doctoral student Patrice Kurnath,
"this study suggests that plant-eating animals all over the world
may have problems dealing with their preferred food sources.<br>
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<b>New University of Utah climate study paints dire picture for
herbivores<br>
</b>By ANNIE KNOX | The Salt Lake Tribune<br>
First Published 1 hour ago *
Updated 44 minutes ago<br>
<u
>http://www.sltrib.com/home/3405669-155/new-climate-study-paints-dire</u
>-picture<br>
<br>
<b>Plant toxins » Rising temps raise poisoning risk for some
animals.</b><br>
<br>
A new study shows climate change may be doing real harm to the lower
end of the food chain.<br>
<br>
Woodrats struggle to survive on their usual diet under warmer
temperatures, indicates the University of Utah study published online
Jan. 13 in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.<br>
<<<u
>http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1822/2015</u
>2387>><br>
<br>
The insight shows that mammals may be more affected by global warming
than previously thought, senior author Denise Dearing said in a
statement.<br>
<br>
The takeaway from Dearing's research is that animals - and potentially
birds - won't be able to eat as many plants as they do now, the
biology professor said, so they will need to find cooler places to
live or go extinct.<br>
<br>
"In terms of climate changes," said biology doctoral student
Patrice Kurnath, "this study suggests that plant-eating animals
all over the world may have problems dealing with their preferred food
sources."<br>
<br>
Poison played a key role in the research.<br>
<br>
The rodents in the study have a diet full of plants with safe levels
of toxins that their livers can handle. Not each species has such a
poisonous diet, but more than two of every five kinds of mammal is an
herbivore and likely eats some kind of plant toxins. The list includes
rabbits, deer, moose, elk, sheep, horses and cows.<br>
<br>
In their experiments, researchers observed about 45 woodrats. Some of
the rodents lived at 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit and others as low as
70-72.<br>
<br>
At the warm temperature, woodrats ate less food overall. They
tolerated less of the toxic plant ingredient creosote resin - only
two-thirds as much - as rodents at the cool temperature.<br>
<br>
Researchers also paid attention as the mercury rose. They found a
"tipping point" where the mammals stopped being able to
tolerate the toxins at 77 degrees.<br>
<br>
The team believes liver processing of toxins may be reduced at warmer
temperatures because more energy is needed to regulate body
temperature.</font><br>
<font face="Arial"></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">The research was funded by the National
Science Foundation, American Society of Mammalogists and the Society
for Integrative and Comparative Biology.</font></div>
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"Ten thousand years ago there were between 1 and 5 million people on
the planet. There was plenty of room to expand and move, and
resources seemed endless."</font><br>
<font face="Cambria" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Cambria" color="#000000">Niles Eldredge.<i>
Dominion</i>. 1995. University of California Press.</font></div>
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"But we need to be clear, the large-scale predicament and the
emergent socio-economic stresses that we are beginning to experience
has very little to with fraud, corruption and the greed of a tiny few.
It has a lot to do with our human civilization running into
limits."</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="-2"
color="#000000"><u
>http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-03-25/anger-complicity-in-a-t<span
></span>ime-of-limits</u></font></div>
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