From unusual suspect to serial killer: Cyanotoxins boosted by climate change may jeopardize megafauna  

作　　者：Haijun Wang Chi Xu Ying Liu Erik Jeppesen Jens-Christian Svenning Jianguo Wu Wenxia Zhang Tianjun Zhou Puze Wang Shingirai Nangombe Jinge Ma Hongtao Duan Jingyun Fang Ping Xie 

机构地区：[1]Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes,School of Ecology and Environmental Science,Yunnan University,Kunming,China [2]School of Life Sciences,Nanjing University,Nanjing,China [3]Department of Bioscience,Aarhus University,Silkeborg,Denmark [4]Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research,Beijing,China [5]Limnology Laboratory,Department of Biological Sciences,Middle East Technical University,Ankara,Turkey [6]Centre for Ecosystem Research and Implementation(EKOSAM),Middle East Technical University,Ankara,Turkey [7]Institute of Marine Sciences,Middle East Technical University,Mersin,Turkey [8]Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World,Department of Bioscience,Aarhus University,Aarhus,Denmark [9]School of Life Sciences and School of Sustainability,Arizona State University,Tempe,AZ,USA [10]State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics,Institute of Atmospheric Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China [11]CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China [12]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China [13]Meteorological Services Department,Harare,Zimbabwe [14]Deutscher Wetterdienst,Potsdam,Germany [15]Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Nanjing,China [16]Yunnan University,Kunming,China [17]Department of Ecology,College of Urban and Environments Sciences,Peiking University,Beijing,China [18]Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems,State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology,Institute of Hydrobiology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Wuhan,China

出　　处：《The Innovation》2021年第2期73-75,共3页创新（英文）

基　　金：This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB31000000);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32061143014);Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology(202001BB050078);H.W.was supported by the Youth Innovation Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences as an excellent member(Y201859);E.J.was supported by the Tubitak outstanding researchers program,BIDEB 2232(118C250).

摘　　要：The recent mass mortality event of more than 330 African elephants in Botswana has been attributed to biotoxins produced by cyanobacteria;however,scientific evidence for this is lacking.Here,by synthesizing multiple sources of data,we show that,during the past decades,the widespread hypertrophic waters in Southern Africa have entailed an extremely high risk and frequent exposure of cyanotoxins to the wildlife within this area,which functions as a hotspot of mammal species richness.The hot and dry climatic extremes have most likely acted as the primary trigger of the recent and perhaps also of prehistoric mass mortality events.As such climate extremes are projected to become more frequent in Southern Africa in the near future,there is a risk that similar tragedies may take place,rendering African megafauna species,especially those that are already endangered,in risk of extinction.Moreover,cyanotoxin poisoning amplified by climate change may have unexpected cascading effects on human societies.Seen within this perspective,the tragic mass death of the world's largest terrestrial mammal species serves as an alarming early warning signal of future environmental catastrophes in Southern Africa.We suggest that systematic,quantitative cyanotoxin risk assessments are made and precautionary actions to mitigate the risks are taken without hesitation to ensure the health and sustainability of the megafauna and human societies within the region.

关 键 词：cyanobacteria toxin climate change eutrophication mammal conservation environmental health 

分 类 号：P46[天文地球—大气科学及气象学]