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  • [Intro]

  • Hello and welcome to the SciShow Talk Show, the day on SciShow where we talk to cool people

  • about interesting things.

  • This is Dr. John Roach. He is an ecologist and has been for quite a while, and I just

  • got briefed on his whole history. There is a lot to it. Start me off at the beginning

  • of your ecology career.

  • JR: Well, I took a turn from studying government and doing policy and realizing that it was

  • hard to advise people when I didn't understand science. So, when I had an opportunity to

  • work in Yellowstone studying coyotes, I packed my bags and moved from Washington D.C. to

  • live in Yellowstone and study coyotes.

  • HG: That sounds pretty awesome. Uh, when was this?

  • JR: Uh, this was in the mid 90's, so before wolves were introduced, when coyotes still

  • roamed-

  • HG: Ruled

  • JR: in packs. So, they had large packs there, and people were keeping track of those, and

  • they were the premiere wildlife viewing during the winter. I used that as a stepping stone

  • to move on to do a Master's degree. So, I took some courses getting ready for Master's,

  • but then I started studying pikas.

  • Part of the reason I was interested in those is the same sorts of questions occur around

  • pikas as did really about reintroduction of wolves. Do pikas structure plant communities

  • because of their fear of being eaten?

  • So, pikas are these rabbit-like creatures. They are in the rabbit family. They are about

  • the size of a hamster. They live in high alpine areas. They hide in rock areas because that's

  • safe, but there is not much food there so they have to venture out from the talus to

  • find something to eat, and the further they go, the riskier it is for them. So they tend

  • to concentrate that foraging on areas that are near the edge of the talus. And consequently,

  • they have a really strong and interesting impact on which plants you find where.

  • And this is the same idea, that people were wondering whether or not when wolves were

  • returned either by simply reducing the number of elk or by changing where they forage, if

  • they would change the plant communities.

  • HG: Mhmm.

  • JR: They are an interesting critter from a conservation perspective because they are,

  • uh, widely thought by some people to be a potentially "canary in the coal mine" for

  • climate change, because as the world warms species ranges are assumed to move uphill,

  • and if you are already on the top of the hill there is not much room to go. So there's certainly

  • some people that are interested in pikas from that perspective, but I wasn't. I was interested

  • in their effects on plants.

  • HG: So that was your Master's research...

  • JR: Correct.

  • HG: I introduced you as doctor so you must have continued.

  • JR: I did! So I - one of the things I like about pikas was they're charismatic and they're

  • fun to observe. But..

  • HG: Ah-Adorable.

  • JR: Yeah! And so that was great. The difficult thing about working the high alpine is that

  • the plants there grow really, really slowly. So we set up this experiment and we watched

  • it for three field seasons, which is actually a fairly long Master’s and small changes

  • occurred.

  • During that time I had been working with some people that did aquatic work. Aquatic systems

  • are fast. Algae grows quickly. So I moved to the desert where streams are uniquely defined

  • and started to work on urban systems and look at how they functioned. And they were nothing

  • like what I expected because they are artificial and they are canal water that's being moved

  • through them, that's been pumped from underground and it's collected over long periods of time.

  • But they are fast in terms of their ecology. Nutrients change quickly over time. Plants

  • grow quickly and so they are really nice systems to study how ecology unfolds.

  • HG: So you were studying the ecology of just general water systems in the desert?

  • JR: Well, our lab did. Our lab was focused on that, but I had a unique opportunity. One

  • of the things that the National Science Foundation has funded for long term, long time is something

  • called the LTER network, Long Term Ecological Research. And the idea is that ecology unfolds

  • over longer time scales than the typical PhD which is the average length of a study. And

  • they have these all over the place, including Antarctica, the tall grass prairie, etc. And

  • when I started my PhD they were starting two of the first urban ones. So there was an urban

  • one in Phoenix and Baltimore and that afforded me the opportunity to try and understand how

  • streams in a city might be very different than streams in the surrounding area. So we

  • focused on this strange, artificial watershed that lay in what was historically a dry wash,

  • where water only flowed during monsoon rains and now flowed whenever people opened a spigot.

  • HG: Mmm.

  • JR: Yeah.

  • HG & JR: (laugh)

  • JR: But it's neat. You can see these interesting ecological signals there so you can see areas

  • that are significantly cooler just because people irrigate so much more. They're greener,

  • they're cooler. And, they also track strange things, like income because wealthy people

  • have the money to irrigate and manicure their lawns in a place in a way that more impoverished

  • folks don't. So you see this real difference in the climates of different neighborhoods,

  • that is income related.

  • HG: Wow.

  • JR: So you have this weird interplay between what people do and how the ecology of the

  • city works, and this is part of what makes these urban LTERs so interesting is trying

  • to combine these individuals who are doing - these scientists that do social science

  • - with people like me that are more interested in ecology and link them to create a really

  • rich understanding of how cities function.

  • HG: Awesome.

  • JR: Yeah!

  • HG:Really cool. Um...Jessi from Animal Wonders I think is now going to show us some kind

  • of animal. So she will appear shortly. Where you're sitting and you will be scootched over

  • one chair segment. *snaps fingers*

  • HG: Hi! JKC: Hey!

  • HG: Magic! It's a lizard. JKC: Yeah! Wait.

  • HG: More specifically... JKC: Yeah, yeah. Ok, this is a leopard gecko.

  • Her name is Freckles. HG: Freckles. God. (laughs)

  • JR: Of course. HG: So this is a leopard gecko. It is, I am

  • gonna to go ahead and say, kinda ridiculous looking.

  • JKC: Awww... HG: I'm not...there is nothing...I'm not...I

  • don't think I am going to injure its feelings. JKC: Its sensitive.

  • HG: Ok. Ooh...does it like that? JKC: Yeah! Wanna pet her?

  • HG: Ok, yeah. That's sorta what I expected you to feel like. I'm gonna stay in this part

  • mostly. JKC: Ok! Now feel right here. Kinda like rub

  • your fingers HG: Oooo...whoa...that feels like - like I'm

  • touching a bug. I would not- JKC: A bug?!

  • HG: Yeah. Like a grub. JKC: Yeah, yeah. There ya go.

  • HG: Yeah, it's moremore than a bug. JKC: Yeah. Be gentle with it.

  • HG: OK. JKC: So what happen is, they store fat in

  • that tail. It's - it's used - it's two-fold. It's used as what I like to say a refrigerator.

  • HG: OK, yeah. JKC: So, it can store extra nutrients in there

  • in the form of fat. So when it can't find food in the wild, it can just -

  • HG: Just carrying around its- JKC: Absorb it.

  • HG: Lard stores. JKC: Yeah, yeah. Which is, I think's pretty

  • neat. But then, if a predator's gonna come along and try and eat her, she can drop her

  • tail. HG: I mean, you say drop, but is -is it - it's

  • more like it gets yanked off. JKC: Um, they can actually - it can get yanked

  • off. But she can actually let go of it without without any pressure coming onto it. Yeah.

  • Yeah. HG: That's crazy.

  • JKC: Um, yeah. So, she's gets really, really scared, you know, she'll make this movement

  • and it'll break off. And actually the tailbone there actually has little fractures on it

  • so it comes off easier- HG: And then that's a one time thing.

  • JKC: Uh-uhn. HG: Wow.

  • JKC: Yeah! OK, so this is really cool. So this will actually like -

  • JKC & HG: (laugh) HG: Animals are weird!

  • JKC: They're awesome! So, the tail will like twitch for up to 30 minutes.

  • HG: Right. JKC: So, it's gonna like move around.

  • HG: Right, so it'll be a 'lil delicious. JKC: Exactly. A delicious morsel sitting there

  • with no defenses. And so the predator will come and will chomp on that, and be very satisfied

  • - it's delicious - and, and very nutritious, and uh. The gecko will run away, which can

  • run much faster without this heavy tail on it too. So it will escape with its life. And

  • then, it can actually start to regenerate its tail. As long as she gets food-

  • HG: Right. JKC: whenever she needs, and actually extra

  • food because now she's not just sustaining her normal function, she has to regrow her

  • tail. When you think of a gecko, what do you - where do you picture them?

  • HG: In Geico advertisements. JKC: Yeah.

  • HG: Sorry. JKC: Yeah.

  • HG: This is - this is not my fault. JKC: I know! I know. It's alright. At least

  • you know what a gecko is, because that - HG: Yeah, uh, jungle-y.

  • JKC: Mhmm. HG: Moist.

  • JKC: Are they crawling on the ground, or are they stuck somewhere?

  • HG: Oh, yeah, stuck somewhere. JKC: Yeah. Stuck up somewhere, ya know. Because

  • they have those really cool hairs on - on their feet that allow them to do that.

  • These guys don't. Ya know, if I stuck her on a smooth surface, she'd fall right off,

  • just like we would. She has little claws on there. Can you imagine having those pads that

  • stick to things? HG: Oh yeah, sand all on your sticky pads.

  • JKC: Would be a terrible, terrible idea. Would you like to hold her?

  • HG: Of course! JKC: Yes.

  • HG: Uh, insectivore. JKC: And she just walks, so just - just keep

  • putting your hands in front of her. Yeah. Um, well she's a, yup, carnivore -

  • HG: Yeah. JKC: And so she's only going to consume insects.

  • And sometimes, little tiny baby mice. But mostly, it's going to be crickets and worms

  • and other little grubs like that. HG: Where ya going?

  • JKC: When they're babies, they hatch out of an egg, and - she's truckin'! Careful. She

  • will fall off your arm. So when they're babies, they're born. They come out and they have

  • these black stripes on them. They look super cute.

  • HG: Cute. JKC: You'll find them in pet stores, and people

  • will get 'em. And you have to do your research, because I've seen way too many cases where

  • they're given to small children as first time pets. And, small children, "oh! I want to

  • pick up the little oh, it ran away from me. Oh, I'll just grab its tail and pick it up."

  • HG: Oh, yeah. JKC: And the tail come off. Which is very

  • stressful to the lizard, it's not a good thing. Just because they can regenerate it, doesn't

  • mean that you should make them. HG: Beautiful animal. Where you going?

  • JKC: See if she wants to eat something. HG: Oh yeah, we got food for you.

  • JKC: Just set her on the table. HG: I see it. Do you see it?

  • JKC: I love when they hunt. HG: Get it. Get it.

  • JKC: Wait, move your hand. Oh, oh, oh. Let's see if she is - oh she sees it! Ok, watch

  • her tail. If she does it do though. HG: What is it? Oh, oh. You look like a cat.

  • JKC: Ohhhh! HG:Oh man, this thing has no idea what it

  • - what it's in for. It was walking toward it.

  • JKC: Delicious. Well, she didn't do it. Maybe she's a little too fat. Her tail's pretty

  • heavy right now. But a lot of times, they'll do that prowl thing. And then, right before

  • they launch towards it, the tail will like do this little twitch -

  • HG: Twitch JKC: Like cats do. Very similar to cats. It's

  • really neat. HG: It definitely looked like a cat. Yeah,

  • yummy. That was good. JKC: Oh, you did so good. Would you like to

  • hold her? JR: Sure.

  • HG: We're so lucky. JR: Very. This thing's very content.

  • HG: Yeah. JKC: Yeah.

  • JR: Well fed. JKC & HG: (laugh)

  • JKC: Happy. HG: Yes. Your, your leopard geckos have the

  • biggest tails Jessi. JKC: Oh, thank you. (laughs) Yeah. Here. I'll

  • put her up so you can talk to her. HG: Yeah. Thanks for your visit. Have a good

  • day and enjoy your worm things. Appreciate sharing your peculiarity with us. Thanks for

  • coming, Jessi. Jessi is, there's a link to her youtube channel in the description, which

  • you can check out. And thank you to Dr. John Roach for sharing your story and insights

  • with us as well. JR: Thank you for having me.

  • HG: Thank you for watching. If you want to keep getting smarter with us, you can go to

  • YouTube.com/scishow and subscribe.

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SciShowトークショー。ジョン・ローチの生態とヒョウヤモリのフレックルズについて (SciShow Talk Show: John Roach on Ecology & Freckles the Leopard Gecko)

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    Hhart Budha に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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