No Crap: Missing 'Mega Poop' Starves Earth

[NickB79]

http://www.livescience.com/52587-missing-giant-poop-is-hurting-earth.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=most-popular

Unappetizing as it may seem, poop is an effective way to spread nutrients around. Now-extinct animals such as mammoths, mastodons and giant sloths were once extremely effective at fertilizing the soil; today, though, those huge land animals are extinct. As a result, natural poop-fertilization by land animals has dropped to 8 percent of what it was at the end of the last ice age, Roman and his colleagues report today (Oct. 26) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The situation is even worse in the ocean, where nutrient transport via pooping is estimated at a mere 5 percent of historic values. Humans have hunted large whales down to just 34 percent of the animals' former populations (some estimates put current whale numbers as low as 1 percent of their pre-whaling levels), the researchers wrote.

These deep-diving animals' feces spread the nutrient phosphorous around the ocean, so declines in numbers result in a fall in nutrient transport. In particular, whales feed deep in the ocean, but defecate their nutrient-rich waste in shallower water. This means that those nutrients aren't lost to the ocean sediment. Overall, the researchers found, the ability of whales and other marine mammals to transport phosphorous is down 77 percent from before the days of widespread hunting.

These numbers are particularly dire in some regions. In the North Atlantic Ocean, for example, the nutrient-transport ability of whales is 14 percent of its historical value, the researchers found. In the North Pacific Ocean, it's 10 percent; in the Southern Ocean, it's a paltry 2 percent.

We're really up shit creek now!

[KT2000]

1. human waste is used for fertilizer - sludge

unfortunately it has nasty chemicals in it that humans have been exposed to or consumed - pharmaceuticals too! It is spread on food crops in the US - yeah!

[NickB79]

2. Yes, but we use that on our croplands, not our forests and prairies

The research in the article talks about how areas untouched by human development are slowly starving for nutrients.

[KT2000]

3. actually it is sprayed

into forest lands.

[NickB79]

5. Where exactly are we spraying human manure onto forest lands?

And are we referring to protected forestlands, or human-planted tree plantations (which are more akin to corn fields than forests anyway)?

[KT2000]

6. Northern Michigan

is where they conducted a study. The US Forest Service is promoting its use in forest lands, mines, and degraded lands.

[KT2000]

9. Also Washington State

this page has a video of Washington forests after being sprayed - these are not plantations. It is under Sewage Sludge in Washington Forests. https://sierraclub.org/washington/north-olympic/sewage-sludge-free-washington

[hollysmom]

4. there is always the dogs, mine is out and a bout a lot, I only pick up on walks, otherwise

I shoved into the hedges and plants around the trees. and...........does a bear shit in the woods?

[Demeter]

7. Thanks for the post!

Recycling has got to advance in fundamental, earth-covering ways.

There's tons of cow and pig and poultry waste, going to waste, that ought to be spread where it will do the most good.

And composting food and agricultural waste should also be methodically and globally encouraged.

Fish farming is generating tons of fish wastes, as well. We just need to start using what we are producing effectively.

[mahina]

8. Bring back the giant sloths!