Interesting Ways To Study Climate Change
Fossilized Hyrax Urine
- Who knew layers of ancient pee can be a valuable treasure trove of climate change data? Thanks to the hyrax’s pair of unusual habits, scientists are afforded a rare look at ancient plant biodiversity and how it has changed through the years. The hyrax, a small herbivorous mammal found Africa and the Middle East, is inclined to live in the same crack in rocks for several generations. The animals also tend to urinate on the same spot. As their urine contains detectable amounts of plant matter like leaves and pollen, scientists are able to track the nitrogen and carbon content through the stacked layers of desiccated hyrax urine (called hyraceum). The Smithsonian blog shares that one group of scientists’ most prized data set is a pile of fossilized hyrax urine that has been accumulating for an estimated 55,000 years.
Douglas-firs and Geoducks
”Strange bedfellows” is what scientists labeled the unusual partnership of the Douglas-fir and the geoduck in building accurate climatic measurements. The geoduck is the Pacific Northwest’s largest bivalve while the Douglas-fir is known to be an iconic tree in the area. These two radically different species have one thing in common that help researchers establish accurate cimatic measurement patterns: growth rings.
Tree rings from the Douglas-fir reflect climatic conditions that influence growth during particular time periods. However, when these are paired with a second, different species the reliability of the data is understandably boosted.