Hutton Highlights, February 2021

Mountain hares moult from a dark coat in summer to a white coat in winter to maintain camouflage against snowy landscapes. But due to climate change, the duration of snow cover is decreasing—creating a “mismatch” in seasonal camouflage that exposes the hares to predators. Marketa Zimova, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Global Change Biology and lead author of the study, explains that the observed lack of change in the timing of important life events, or “phenological shift”- an organism’s ability to adapt the timing of their life events such as moults to changing environmental conditions - can endanger a species’ survival. Zimova explains: “Our   research on the snowshoe hares in Montana, another colour moulting species, showed that camouflage mismatched hares suffer much higher predation rates. We also found that unless there is an adaptive shift, the increase in mortality due to mismatch will lead to population declines by 2100.” Key to the mountain hare study were published historical datasets by Adam Watson and John Flux that describe the seasonal moult of wild mountain hares in the Scottish Highlands during the 1950s and 1960s. The research team note that to the best of their knowledge, these earlier studies represent the longest running systematic historical survey of moult phenology in any species. The team returned to the Scottish Highlands to carry out surveys and record the pattern and timing of moult over multiple spring and fall seasons allowing comparisons between present and historical timing of the colour moults. By means of statistical analysis, the researchers also calculated the change in temperature and snow cover over the past 65 years within the study region. Despite the dramatic change in climate, there was little evidence of an adaptive shift in moult phenology in Scotland’s mountain hares - resulting in a mean of 35 more days a year when white hares are found on dark, snowless background since the 1950s. “The camouflage mismatch of mountain hares is really surprising and worrying, and suggests that some wild animals can’t adapt quick enough to match the rate of climate change,” explains Hutton animal ecologist and co-author of the study, Scott Newey. These concerns are shared by L. Scott Mills, a professor at the University of Montana and a fellow co-author: “These are important findings because they indicate that some colour moulting species are not responding as we’d expect based on what we’ve seen in other systems.” The reason that the mountain hare moult phenology has remained relatively static is not clear, but Zimova hypothesises that the reason might be the reduction in the number and diversity of predators associated with land management in large parts of the study area. Sean Giery, an Eberly fellow from the Pennsylvania State University and also a co-author, commented: “It’s an interesting scenario playing out in the Highlands. We saw this really distinct increase in camouflage mismatch that didn’t conform to findings in other ecosystems like Montana. “It took us a while to realize that what we were seeing – steadily increasing camouflage mismatch in mountain hares - might be the result of an ecosystem subject to climate change, and a history of predator control. Without many predators, fitness costs of camouflage mismatch might be minimal.” Zimova notes that recent climate change has already subjected wild populations to large change in environmental conditions, and failure of a species to adapt to these changes will ultimately result in decline and extinction. “If we want species to persist in a rapidly changing world, we need to understand their responses to climate change. This challenge includes considering various anthropogenic changes, and how they interact,” she added. Read the full paper here . Mountain hares’ increased camouflage mismatch due to climate change says research Mountain hares in Scotland show increasing camouflage mismatch due to less snowy winters, according to a new study carried out by an international research team including Hutton scientists. image: Freepik.com Mountain Hare, Luke Massey 18 Hutton Highlights February 2021 19 Comments? The Institute will contribute to the project through the expertise of researchers in agricultural and applied economists, agricultural innovation and people-environment studies. Food losses and waste in Europe are estimated to amount to 88 million tonnes a year: about 20% of the total food produced. During the 4-year-long project, Lowinfood will validate and demonstrate the capacity to reduce food losses and waste using 14 prototypes already developed by other partners in the fruit & vegetable, bakery and fish sectors. Building on results of previous research and innovation development activities by consortium partners to improve innovations, the objective is to demonstrate and upscale these prototypes to allow market replication. Lowinfood will improve the Technology Readiness Level – a measure of the maturity of developing innovations - of all 14 innovations be they technological tools and devices or organisational and managerial solutions, to bring them closer to market and foster their adoption in value chains across the EU. Hutton researchers will evaluate economic and social impact by gathering information from all supply chains studied to assess the costs and benefits of the innovations demonstrated. The second aspect of their role is to examine Innovations to prevent and reduce fish losses and waste. This will involve promoting dialogue between stakeholders at different levels of the supply chain and assessing the benefits of a B2B digital market to bring firms with a surplus into contact with a related demand. Zero Waste Scotland, Fisheries Innovation Scotland, and the Canadian start-up Sedna Technologies have indicated their interest in the Lowinfood project and will get involved in activities to generate positive collaborations. The innovations considered in the project range from technological solutions, to social, management and organisational innovations. The vegetable, bakery and fish value chains have been chosen as settings in which to apply the innovations because as perishables they have been hotspots for food waste. For each value chain, all pre-consumer stages are in scope for the demonstration of innovations; from production to retail. A different array of innovations will be examined at consumer level with the aim of preventing food waste in out-of-home and at-home consumption. The project will use the evidence gathered on the innovations’ efficacy to establish how best to ensure their uptake across European food value chains, and to devise policy guidelines to support that. For more information about Lowinfood, visit the project website . Reducing food loss and waste across Europe A €5.5m 27-partner research project spanning 12 European countries and including Hutton scientists is looking to reduce food losses and waste across Europe. The Horizon 2020 Lowinfood project is led by Tuscia University in Italy and will deploy and implement innovative solutions to food waste at all stages of the value chain. Image: www.freepik.com