Rise in trematodes could occur much sooner than thought, according to new Mizzou study
University of Missouri-Columbia
In 2014, a team of researchers led by a paleobiologist from the University of Missouri found that clams from the Holocene Epoch (that began 11,700 years ago) contained clues about how sea level rise due to climate change could foreshadow a rise in parasitic trematodes, or flatworms. The team cautioned that the rise could lead to outbreaks in human infections if left unchecked. Now, an international team from Mizzou and the Universities of Bologna and Florida has found that rising seas could be detrimental to human health on a much shorter time scale. Findings from their study in northern Italy suggest that parasitic infections could increase in the next century, if history repeats itself.
Trematodes are internal parasites that affect mollusks and other invertebrates inhabiting estuarine environments, which are the coastal bodies of brackish water connecting rivers to the open sea. John Huntley, assistant professor of geological sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science, studied the prehistoric clams as a senior visiting fellow for the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna, Italy. With core samples taken from the Po River plain in Italy, the team found traces made by trematodes on the shells of the clams disclosing the connections between the ancient clams and climate change.
“The forecasts of increasing global temperatures and sea level rise have led to major concerns about the response of parasites to climate change,” Huntley said. “Italy has a robust environmental monitoring program, so there was a wealth of information to examine.”
Ancient trematodes had soft bodies; therefore, they didn’t leave body fossils. However, infected clams developed oval-shaped pits around the parasite in the attempt to keep it out, and it’s the prevalence of those pits and their makeup that provide clues as to what happened during different eras in time.
Using 61 samples collected from a drill core obtained by the Italian government for geological research, the scientists examined trematode traces and matched the information to existing records measuring sea level and salinity rises through the ages.
“We found that pulses in sea-level rise occurred on the scale of hundreds of years, and that correlated to rises in parasitic trematodes in the core samples,” Huntley said. “What concerns me is that these rises are going to continue to happen and perhaps at accelerated rates. This poses grave concerns for public health and ecosystem services. These processes could increase parasitism in not only estuarine systems but also in freshwater settings. Such habitats are home to the snail hosts of blood flukes, which infect and kill a million or more people globally each year. What’s scary is it could potentially affect the generations of our kids or grandkids.”
Huntley and his team think that the discoveries they continue to make about impending climate change could provide a good road map for conservationists and those making decisions about marine environments worldwide.
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The study, “Surges in trematode prevalence liPnked to centennial-scale flooding events in the Adriatic,” recently was published in Scientific Reports, a journal of Nature. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (EAR-1650745 and EAR-1559196), the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna, Unkelsbay Fund of the Department of Geological Sciences at Mizzou and the University of Bologna.
Daniele Scarponi, assistant professor of paleontology at the University of Bologna; Michele Azzarone, a doctoral student in the Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Bologna; and Micha? Kowalewski, a professor and Jon L. and Beverly A. Thompson Chair of Invertebrate Paleontology at the University of Florida contributed to the study. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
Editor’s Note: For more on the story, please see: https://coas.missouri.edu/news/rise-trematodes
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This interesting story talks about how we’ve messed up our shorelines and how invasive species could be a good thing because they can support an ecology where one has ceased to exist.
Things aren’t the same as they were 11,000 years ago. The shoreline in heavily populated areas is not the virgin wilderness that it once was. Trying to say that global warming will cause this or that because of evidence from 11,000 years ago ignores that very important fact.
Excellent point. A standard bit of climate hype deception is to assign so-called “climate change” as the sole cause while ignoring land use change completely. Reduction if influences to only CO2 is a deceptive argument. Seeking evidence for a predetermined result us not science. Recall the faux lobster study of a few years ago?
RST = regressive system tract (falling sea level).
TST = transgressive system tract (rising sea level)
MFS = maximum flooding surface (sea level highstand).
The TST is the Holocene Transgression…
The MFS is the Holocene Highstand, the RST is the subsequent fall in sea level during neoglaciation, all of the sea level rise since the 1700-1800’s is the little blip at the right of the graph…
For sea level to return to the Holocene Highstand by the end of this century, it would have to accelerate to a rate faster than the Holocene Transgression…
When this was happening…
(((APPLAUSE!))) Fine comment, Mr. Middleton!
Walking In rice feilds??
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/230112-overview#a5
A bit more complex than the simple science of skeptics.
It is interesting that you seem to only attack skeptics even if it means ignoring the evidence from your own Crutape letters. How does one convince themselves that the evidence he himself uncovered is not only irrelevant but the fault if those who still believe the evidence?
You seem to confuse skeptical critique, which is in fact demonstrated to be well justified, with a “theory”. And deriding “skeptical science” as something bad sort of misses the traditional idea that science is built on skeptical analysis of data and forcing those pushing hypotheses to defend them. Now you show up with sour implied put downs of any criticism offered.
It is like you have a self imposed Stockhom syndrome.
Steven,
Scientific challenges often move through different degrees of complexity. Quite often, the ‘solution’, if there is one, turns out to be somewhat simpler than it had seemed. Science advances this way. It is meaningless to assert that a heterogenous group that you label ‘skeptic’ without definition concentrates its effort in the simplest part of this spectrum, for reasons you do not specify.
You will know from your own career that sometimes you have more money than at other times. You can get paid for research, so that you can examine some of the complexities in this spectrum. The typical skeptic to my knowledge is seldom funded. Consequently, the words of the skeptic often do sound simple by comparison with funded researchers.
But, the desirable essence of the words is more like quality, or relevance to solving the problem. Simplicity is not a prime quality consideration. Who cares if it looks too simple if it helps solve the problem? Geoff
It’s a bit more complex than just walking barefoot in rice fields.
“Penetration of skin by cercariae”… What happens when you walk barefooted in water infested with trematodes (e.g rice paddies).
Eating fish, shellfish or aquatic plants infested trematode larvae can also be vectors.
It still boils down to avoiding walking barefoot in waters or wetlands infested with trematodes and definitely not eating or drinking food or water infested with trematodes.
On the other hand, evidence of trematodes during the Holocene Transgression in one particular location has nothing at all to do with the current state of sea level.
“We found that pulses in sea-level rise occurred on the scale of hundreds of years”
Of course, these were entirely due to pulses of CO2. (wink)
Is Steven really worried about getting nematodes?
Steve I don’t understand what you’re trying to say with this. The reference you cite lists farmers working in irrigated fields as the principal risk group. “Walking in rice paddies” is an accurate description of the behavior that puts them at risk. Fertilizing with human waste is also part of the cycle.
When I ranched horses we rotated out herd between pastures, moving chickens in behind the horses, who then ate the larval insects in the horse manure, breaking the parasite chain. No, these cycles aren’t all that simple, but the description wasn’t inaccurate.
Mosher
Try making a pot of soup or stew.
The rewards for your stirring will be far greater.
It really is sad the way Steve has to denigrate and even lie about what others are saying and doing in order to build himself up in his own eyes.
“What concerns me is that these rises are going to continue to happen and perhaps at accelerated rates. This poses grave concerns for public health and ecosystem services. These processes could increase parasitism in not only estuarine systems but also in freshwater settings. Such habitats are home to the snail hosts of blood flukes, which infect and kill a million or more people globally each year. What’s scary is it could potentially affect the generations of our kids or grandkids.”
Professor Huntley should know better (and he probably does). Yes, there is good evidence the warmer temperatures prior to the last neoglacial (The Little Ice Age) are returning but that’s as far as it goes. To suggest “accelerated rates” are “scary” and could “affect” future generations is nothing more than irresponsible fear-mongering.
Lindzen is right. These people always infer large climate change from an effect measured in tenths of a degree because they are dependant on funding.
The claim regarding slr pulses seems to be random and disconnected from the data. In other words another paper among many that had an answer….dangerous climate change, of course….and then crammed in data to fit.
Here we go. Flatworms react to global temperature, not to a local temperature. They think globally, just like alarmists.
As it has just been proved in another study that having fewer children is the best possible choice a person can make to help mitigate global warming, it seems like the rise of killer parasites is just what the doctor ordered!
This negative feedback should be included in the models.
Once again, instead of spending billions of dollars on useless studies like this, we could spend it on education and treatment for these diseases, which are often easily treated.
From the paper…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05979-6
The average rate of SLR during the Holocene Transgression was about 11 mm/yr. It rose at 11 mm/yr for more than 10,000 years. During this period several short-term meltwater pulses have been interpreted – decade to century scale rises of >20 mm/yr.
The Invasion of the Flukes was linked to Meltwater Pulse 1c…
Holocene Transgression 11 mm/yr, Meltwater Pulse 1c >>20 mm/yr –> Invasion of the Flukes!!!
Modern SLR 1-3 mm/yr… Accelerating from 1.9 mm/yr to 3.9 mm/yr from 1993-2017 on the basis of a downward revision to the 1990’s satellite data. –>
And another fine comment!
http://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/funny-pictures-of-the-day-54-pics-3/attachment/caveman-thinking-2/
+1,000,000
http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/caveman-thinking.jpg
And another! I think, Mr. Middleton, that, in the future, you should take a “no reply” to your comments by us WUWTers to mean: “It goes without saying — this is a fine comment. If we applauded them all, we’d be clogging the thread with atta boys.”
The original mortal gods. What we don’t know, what we can’t manage, are the prophecies that inform our political/social consensus.
Speaking of… What is the Nyquist Rate for sampling time?
Then there’s the scientist, the caveman. It’s true, with the caveat that “it” is constrained to a thirty-year frame of reference.
It’s not April 1st is it?
Okay, Chief. It’s the old Platyhelminthes in the estuary trick.
Missed it by that….much.
Can we blame the Italians that were driving SUVs during the Holocene Epoch (that began 11,700 years ago)?
We need a site called “Headline Hunters” where all these folks can post and get rated. 😉
Little context as to why the sea level rose periodically, by how much, why that caused the rise in parasites, what other mechanisms might have been present and how the infection of clams might relate to human infection in order to justify the conclusion it may be harmful to children and grand children and whether locally or globally.
So we are doomed, after all. That’s a relief. There’s been too much good news lately.
IMHO (well, not so “honest”, after all, being a geologist…), a location near a big river delta on the coast of Northern Adriatic Sea is not good to measure “sea level rise”… all that coast is experiencing a 1 mm/year mean rate of SUBSIDENCE due to compaction of sediments…
Let me see if I have this straight. When their are drastic increases in water flow through estuaries, the stressed water critters that live in those estuaries, have more trouble with parasites.