The Impacts of Climate Change on Tribal Traditional Foods

Climatic Change, 120, 545-556.The tribal communities noted in this very interesting paper are from the Pacific Northwest. This paper is included in the study even though it is not specifically focused on Minnesota’s coastal resources, but is relevant in discussing modes and strategies that tribal leaders may pursue to address the impacts of climate change. Mention is made of wild rice and Ojibwe communities in Minnesota. Key points are extracted and reproduced below. Abstract: “American Indian and Alaska Native tribes are uniquely affected by climate change. Indigenous peoples have depended on a wide variety of native fungi, plant and animal species for food, medicine, ceremonies, community and economic health for countless generations. Climate change stands to impact the species and ecosystems that constitute tribal traditional foods that are vital to tribal culture, economy and traditional ways of life. This paper examines the impacts of climate change on tribal traditional foods by providing cultural context for the importance of traditional foods to tribal culture, recognizing that tribal access to traditional food resources is strongly influenced by the legal and regulatory relationship with the federal government, and examining the multi-faceted relationship that tribes have with places, ecological processes and species. Tribal participation in local, regional and national climate change adaption strategies, with a focus on food-based resources, can inform and strengthen the ability of both tribes and other governmental resource managers to address and adapt to climate change impacts. "American Indian and Alaska Native tribes face unique and disproportionate challenges from climate change that are not yet widely understood in academic or policy arenas. This paper explores one of these challenges in particular—the impact of climate change on traditional foods and the reality that 1) tribal access to resources is strongly influenced by the legal and regulatory relationship that tribes have with the federal government, and 2) tribes have a unique and multi-faceted relationship with places, ecological processes, and species. These frameworks shape tribal responses to climate change. “Water is held sacred by many indigenous peoples (Cozzetto et al.), and considered by some to be a traditional food... Climate change impacts on water temperature and availability will also have significant impacts on tribal traditional foods. Already, the lack of water is among one of the leading causes for the decline in the ability to grow corn and other crops... In the Great Lakes region, warming winters and changes in water level are crippling the ability of wild rice to grow and thrive in its traditional range. Wild rice is a pillar of cultural health for the Anishnaabeg people in Minnesota, and any decline in wild rice negatively affects their well-being. In response to threats facing wild rice, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Tribe has begun trying to address potential hydrological changes. In the early 1900s, settlers built ditches to drain the land for agricultural purposes, resulting in negative impacts to the watershed. The Fond du Lac are now building dams at ditch flow points to keep water levels stable and prevent extreme changes in water level that would negatively affect wild rice harvests. “Climate and ecosystems change over time. Paleoclimate, archaeology, and ethno-ecological research provide a foundation for understanding how climate, environmental productivity and tribal food utilization strategies evolved. Historical evidence demonstrates the rate of climatic change experienced within past environments and the accompanying tribal food security systems that occurred in response to these changes. Although the rate of change experienced was not as rapid as contemporary conditions, tribes historically experienced significant climate changes that affected ecosystems and food-based resources, requiring tribal cultures to strategically adapt and respond to survive. “Tribes may enter government-to-government agreements to increase their role in local resource management, to access additional areas to gather traditional foods, or lease and buy lands that ensure sustained access to traditional foods. Tribes may also exchange information and identify different technologies to access, acquire, process, and store foods. Additionally, tribes can develop formal and informal agreements with other tribes to grant or request access to traditional foods that may now only be found on one of their reservations. Tribes may have to consider diversifying their food-based resources and possibly adopting and utilizing new animals, plants, or fungi. “Addressing climate change through the knowledge, experiences, and policy contexts of indigenous peoples provides a powerful counter-point to the lack of effective global climate responses. As indigenous peoples may experience some of the harshest impacts of climate change, they can also lead the way in creative solutions for adaptation and ethical policy strategies. “Climate change impacts on tribal traditional foods should be viewed in the context of historical and cultural tribal relationships with places, wildlife, and plants, as well as in the landscape of the treaties, federal policies, and federal trust responsibilities and regulations in which they exist. Moreover, tribes view climate change adaptation in light of their reciprocal relations to care for and respect natural resources. As a result of these relationships of reciprocity and responsibility between tribes and nature and existing policies, Indian tribes’ vulnerability to climate change, and the adaptation strategies they adopt are multi-faceted and deeply rooted in a complex historical context. As sovereign governments, tribes have the authority to identify and implement adaptation strategies, and attempt to influence and strengthen the climate change protocols of other governments. “The various adaptive practices tribal practitioners and communities employ may enable managers to institute changes in policies, regional strategies, and resource regulation/conservation that enable ecosystems to respond more favorably to climate change. Tribal participation in local, regional and national climate change adaption frameworks and strategies, with a focus on food-based resources, can assist with prioritizing research and management directions. “Under extreme and rapid conditions of severe change at different ecological scales, western scientists and managers may need to partner with tribal scientists, managers, harvesters, and communities to explore innovative approaches to addressing climate change impacts. Tribal participation in climate change research, policy development and planning can help identify more solutions that fully consider tribal cultural values. Climate change will not obey the jurisdictional boundaries between tribal, private, state, and federal lands. As such, meaningful government-to-government relationships and collaboration will be vital to address the climate change impacts to the traditional foods, and to the wildlife, plants, and habitats valued by tribes and other Americans.

Novel insights into the insect trancriptome response to a natural DNA virus

ArticleCopyright © 2015 McTaggart et al.; licensee BioMed Central.Background Little is known about invertebrate responses to DNA viruses. Here, we infect a commercially important pest moth species Plodia interpunctella with its naturally infecting DNA virus. We sequenced, assembled and annotated the complete transcriptome of the moth, and a partial transcriptome of the virus. We then tested for differential gene expression between moths that were exposed to the virus and controls. Results We found 51 genes that were differentially expressed in moths exposed to a DNA baculovirus compared to controls. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that cuticle proteins were significantly overrepresented in this group of genes. Interestingly, 6 of the 7 differentially expressed cuticle proteins were downregulated, suggesting that baculoviruses are able to manipulate its host’s response. In fact, an additional 29 of the 51 genes were also downregulated in exposed compared with control animals, including a gram-negative binding protein. In contrast, genes involved in transposable element movement were upregulated after infection. Conclusions We present the first experiment to measure genome-wide gene expression in an insect after infection with a natural DNA virus. Our results indicate that cuticle proteins might be key genes underpinning the response to DNA viruses. Furthermore, the large proportion of genes that were downregulated after viral exposure suggests that this virus is actively manipulating the insect immune response. Finally, it appears that transposable element activity might increase during viral invasion. Combined, these results provide much needed host candidate genes that respond to DNA viral invaders.NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility (NBAF

Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence the phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified more than 600 variants associated with human traits, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the use of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P = 0.016) and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P < 0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented among variants that alter amino-acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain approximately 10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to approximately 16% of phenotypic variation (approximately 20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits fully, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that implicate biologically relevant genes and pathways.

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Uniform: an evidence review of the microbiological significance of uniforms and uniform policy in the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. Report to the Department of Health (England)

A systematic search and quality assessment of published literature was conducted to establish current knowledge on the role of healthcare workers uniforms’ as vehicles for the transfer of healthcare-associated infections. This review comprised a systematic search of national and international guidance, published literature and data on recent advances in laundry technology and processes. We found only a small number of relevant studies that provided limited evidence directly related to the decontamination of uniforms. Studies concerning domestic laundry processes are small scale and largely observational. Current practice and guidance for laundering uniforms is extrapolated from studies of industrial hospital linen processing. Healthcare workers' uniforms, including white coats, become progressively contaminated in use with bacteria of low pathogenicity from the wearer and of mixed pathogenicity from the clinical environment and patients. The hypothesis that uniforms/clothing could be a vehicle for the transmission of infections is not supported by existing evidence. All components of the laundering process contribute to the removal or killing of micro-organisms on fabric. There is no robust evidence of a difference in efficacy of decontamination of uniforms/clothing between industrial and domestic laundry processes, or that the home laundering of uniforms provides inadequate decontamination

Public perception and the social and microbiological significance of uniforms in the prevention and control of healthcare-associate infections: an evidence review

BACKGROUND: There is significant public concern in England about health carers wearing uniform in public places and that contaminated uniforms may contribute to the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI). Evidence of a link between contaminated uniforms and HCAI, or that wearing uniforms in public spaces may contribute to the spread of infection from the healthcare environment to the wider community, has not previously been systematically assessed. METHODS: A comprehensive review was conducted that focused on patient perceptions of the significance and infection risks of uniforms and microbiological and clinical evidence of the infection risks to patients from contaminated uniforms. RESULTS: Uniforms play an important role in the public's perception of healthcare professionals. This is constructed from social and cultural images leading patients to judge the professionalism and trustworthiness of practitioners based on the clothes they wear. The colour and design of uniforms may reinforce socially constructed concepts of cleanliness that result in unachievable expectations. Evidence directly related to the laundering of uniforms is limited. Small scale studies show that uniforms and white coats become progressively contaminated during clinical care and most microbial contamination originates from the wearer of the uniform. Although some studies theorise that uniforms may transmit HCAI, no studies demonstrated this in practice. A small number of studies evaluated the phases of the wash cycle in hospital laundries for patient linen but not uniforms. They indicate that micro-organisms are removed and killed during laundering, and dilution during washing and rinsing is important. Significant reductions in micro-organisms occur at lower temperatures more commonly used in home laundering. A small number of studies show that home laundering provides effective decontamination. We found no recent studies that accounted for advances in domestic washing machine and detergent technology or that addressed the theoretical infection risk linked with wearing uniforms in public places. CONCLUSION: Despite the limited amount and quality of the evidence, the general public's perception is that uniforms pose an infection risk when worn inside and outside clinical settings. This is reinforced by media comment and a lack of clear, accessible information and may have a damaging effect on the relationship between professionals and patients and the public image of healthcare workers. There is no good evidence to suggest uniforms are a significant risk, that home laundering is inferior to commercial processing of uniforms or that it presents a hazard in terms of cross-contamination of other items in the wash-load with hospital pathogens. It is essential that the evidence is considered in a balanced way and not over-emphasised in the development of uniform policy and that the general principles of infection control are stressed

Incorporating Climate Uncertainty into Conservation Planning for Wildlife Managers

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is one of the oldest conservation organizations in the United States and is the only federal agency solely charged with conserving fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats. The agency leads numerous conservation initiatives, such as protecting and recovering endangered species, managing almost 600 wildlife refuges throughout all states and territories, enforcing federal wildlife laws, and regulating international wildlife trade. In the past, these activities have not accounted for climate change. The accelerating biodiversity crisis, in combination with climate uncertainty, adds to the existing complexity associated with responding to multiple anthropogenic stressors. Here we describe current practice and thinking related to climate uncertainty and management of USFWS resources. We focus on three agency domains which represent various conservation planning responsibilities: evaluating species to be listed as threatened or endangered, Habitat Conservation Plans for listed species, and land management techniques on wildlife refuges. Integrating climate considerations into agency planning documents is complex and we highlight effective current applications and suggest future improvements. Additionally, we identify outstanding research needs or management applications, and updates to existing policy that will aid in developing improved conservation strategies. Our synthesis contributes to ongoing efforts to incorporate climate uncertainty into conservation planning, natural resource management, and related policy revisions