it's have a profound impact on society. god bless america. w i n n the result of a long it's not easy to go to another country you know nothing about the wife of a man who gives up because we can't stay on venezuela i know. that because global news that matters. made for martin's. nature has blessed us with an amazing array of flora and fauna. and researchers around the world are committed to protecting that biodiversity replenishing vital ecosystems and the species that inhabit them means we all have to do our pops. scavengers can play an important role.

as can animal droppings small and large. what is scientists doing to counteract the dramatic loss and biodiversity that's our topic coming up. welcome to tomorrow today the science program on t.w. . cells of every organism have a genetic origin which is passed on to the next generation in the case of identical twins to 2 people. when individuals are produced with identical d.n.a. they are called clones 996 of the 1st successful attempt to create a genetically identical copy of a living animal dolly the sheep today researchers hope to use cloning technology to promote and preserve biodiversity. meat caught.

who's technically been dead for 22 years. you may have guessed it could is a clue. and he's the 1st white horse ever successfully. which makes him quite a big deal. and he wasn't just an experiment scientists are now cloning endangered species to slow down the rate of biodiversity loss and even improve and ecosystems . he would words just wow obviously we want to say the species that we can but how exactly would that work and how realistic is it welcome to the very weird world of wild clones gene banks i'm reading species back from the afterlife. cloning has been controversial around the world. with legitimate concerns about us

playing god creating and list copies of species that wipe out biodiversity. but cost focus is the exact opposite to bring diversity back to this population of while she walski hasse's. so how is a clone which is an exact genetic or b. of another animal supposed to bring back biodiversity well bear with me. on 2000 horses alive today have descended from only 12 wild ancestors to clone could researches use a unique gene that was frozen years ago that would have otherwise been lost from the pool and they use a domestic horse as a surrogate mother. is not the 1st endangered species to be cloned that has even been a clone of an extinct species but with them. did success the barony and ibex was

cloned 3 years after it went extinct using an all frozen skin sample researchers impregnated over $200.00 domestic goats only 7 became pregnant one made it to term but the baby died minutes suffered was born. less than one percent of wild clones ever survive and the lack of research and access to wild animals makes the entire process especially difficult. with cut looking healthy scientists thought he would be the 1st clone to directly increase the genetic diversity of a population in the wild. and this is really cool because it's this represents a paradigm shift in conservation where we're no longer reacting to crisis but we're getting out to being preventative. that's been know that one of the scientists who cloned could and has been pushing the idea of cloning for conservation.

the idea behind it is that we can use cloning in multiple ways to help endangered species either by increasing the size of their populations or by using it strategically to maintain genetic diversity let's take a closer look at the increasing population numbers can help species recover but scientists only have a limited gene pool to choose from. but the method being use here is to add to the strength of the genetic pool by bringing back genes that would have otherwise died out this good many populations more resistant to the effects of inbreeding and disease and even make them better at adapting to climate change. biodiversity loss is an existential threat we face. basic resources from pollination water and food at severe risk and poor countries are likely to be the worst hit at 1st.

species' numbers i'm such a freefall that since the 1970 s. species populations have declined by around 60 percent today we could be losing up to $150.00 species each day. around the world have taken notice and not collecting and preserving whatever genetic material they can in labs and gene banks. i mean for many species i'm sure i mean storing the d.n.a. is like a resort. for their. genetic. ed louis co-founded a british gene bank run by public universities museums and. their consortium has collected over 48000 so far. while the main cloning experiments are taking place

in the western world especially the us governments around the world have ramped up their d.n.a. collection. from india to china and in the amazon where researchers collecting samples of endangered species banking on the technology to catch up. at least having any information. saving any species. and worth. owning is only one part of assisted reproduction which also includes artificial insemination in vitro fertilization and more recently gene editing. over thousands lose and research institutions around the world are working on assisted reproduction of wild animals including for projects devoted specifically to cloning for conservation. raised chickens of genetic

diversity on cloning may well save some species but would cause a long term effect still on conservationists it is much more sensible to focus on protecting the biodiversity we still have how. could we ever rebuild all the losing now. such questions need to drive the technology that is most likely here to stay. rather than trying to save single species it's better to protect in time ecosystems knowing which plants animals and ecological communities need special protection because regular monitoring until now such monitoring could only provide a momentary snapshot of conditions in a set place and time. but a new method might soon allow us to monitor an entire ecosystem in one fell swoop.

this is the airport at the german aerospace center in the near munich a dorney a 220 ready for takeoff. it's carrying a hyperspectral camera. ecologists hope to use the device to help identify the species of flora and fauna and their distribution in a particular ecosystem from the air. after a 90 minute flight the dorney has reached its goal. of the varian forest national park in southern germany the ecologist get to work. the hyperspectral camera registers the visible light and other electromagnetic

radiation reflected off the forest below something like a regular digital camera. but a normal digital camera has sensors that are only sensitive to visible light in 3 bands. red green and blue. the hyperspectral camera captures a much wider range dividing it into $250.00 spectral bands it collects lots of images of the same area every substance has its own pattern that spectral signature . taken from a plane or satellite hyperspectral images can already reveal how much chlorophyll or water there is in a forest canopy or whether pasts have infested the trees. but scientists want to do more international research projects in the bavarian forest is taking the next step. as you just put it does this is we want to identify the range of

species on the grounds windows and then investigate whether the reflection of sunlight on the ground could be used to identify the species that would lead us most biodiversity from space if you thought also. first team of biologists from the netherlands france china and australia. well try to identify all the organisms living in the forest a gargantuan task they take samples of soil which is full of bacteria and other microorganisms and fungi. snails worms spiders and many other species of animal also leave their trace in the soil in the form of d.n.a. . all of these traces will be brought to the lab where they'll be subjected to genetic analysis. within just a few months the team hopes to compile an inventory of the entire ecosystem and

especially its microorganisms. the ecosystem. degrading their leader leaves the dead. for. recycling. and. plans to trees grow so. prisons are really important and we can predict and see how impact. the scientists are also using laser scanners to study 60 distinct areas within the forest different conditions allow different species to thrive so the species will vary if there's a lot of dead what for example. if there's mainly connection or deciduous trees. the biologists are also very interested in leaves.

just look forest canopy is also home to insects fungi and microorganisms. the mix of species living in the canopy can reveal a lot about the health of the forest and the leaves themselves are a kind of mirror of the health of the entire forest ecosystem. the chemistry of the leaves is a presentation of the condition of the tree and quality of the tree is representation of the quality of ecosystem because everything is related to each other and by understanding those relations one is standing how to change 1st locations 1st force 1st the forest is porter understanding forces and how diverse a forest ecosystem is. hyperspectral imaging could help identify the chemical composition of leaves in

a particular patch of forest. and be not so good at predicting individual species but that's not our goal we want to predict a range of species in a forest and if we could do that from space identify species by their spectral fingerprint then we could map biodiversity overlarge stretches of land and also observe changes in that biodiversity. the health of large scale ecosystems can then be monitored from space and real time in this very in forest is an ideal testing ground although it will take another 3 years until all the data has been gathered and analyzed. greedy insatiable and cruel in many languages someone who behaves like a vulture is someone who is ruthless a true predator. that does a disservice to the scavengers which make a big contribution to healthy ecosystems. but in recent decades africa's

vulture population. has fallen by some 90 percent bringing them to the brink of extinction. a kenyan conservation group has launched an initiative to protect the birds. over half of africa's 11 vulture species are teetering on the brink of extinction the environmental n.g.o.s kenya has been observing the development in east africa. it's distressing because without these scavengers dead animals would rot wherever they dropped and that could upset entire ecosystems. which is a very much important in. cleaning the environment we call them the. undertaker the clean the environment all the dead carcasses and by doing these they stop the spread of diseases diseases like. and all of that

nature kenya introduced a vulture conservation program in the muslim are a nature reserve in 2014 it's a mr spread awareness of the crucial role vultures play. to speak of my so i work as nature can use vulture ambassadors explain to villagers that when a dead cow or go to his poisoned with acar chemicals in order to kill predators that threaten their livestock all of the animals that feed on the carcass of poisoned and that includes a lot of vultures. so as i'd like to volunteer i want to go. for example in my location i usually go to. one of the court flick when there is. that issue before it's place and we actually sometimes take the carcasses of those. and we put them aside and you can. actually talk to the or know that i'm not always

with. support from villages and leaders is key to the ngos campaign. the assistant chief of one village tells us that battles between humans and animals are ongoing issue in the area. there's a lot of conflict animals are being killed by a lie. but people are getting killed by elephants and lions. are percents a serious challenge for us about conflict incident. but all too often the main victims of these conflicts are vultures and that's the environmentalists message. to put an end to their agonizing deaths nature kenya also cooperates with the ranges from the mara reserve. i think the biggest challenge is the shoe of reporting like. poisoning we normally don't get a lot of reports from the community because they know that it's a crime and so

a lot of this go unreported. but reporting the cases would give the conservationists a chance to save the birds. that's why keeping communication channels open is important. basically talking we discussed because we don't assume that they don't know they know something so what we do is to add. and. also supported by bird life international the program is focused mainly on east africa because that's where vulture death rates are especially high the campaign's push to improve the exchange of information is now starting to yield results. we are getting reports on not human to live conflict and also responses to. what. and by these waters i've been served because there is. poison in

response protocol that is being followed. close off in the. incident last year an international initiative was launched with the goal of reducing vulture mortality in africa by 50 percent within the next decade. before it to work its final of the local communities are also on board. biodiversity has been in dramatic decline in recent decades. the trend that is set to continue unless urgent action is taken. there are various steps we can take to stop that development or even reverse it by completely rethinking our consumer behavior as well as supporting ecosystems.

functioning ecosystems can sometimes be found in the un likeliest of places. to eat. 2 kilos in weight 30 centimeters across and 2 centimeters high that's about average for a cow perhaps a single cow produces about 10 of these a day. the menu there is an excellent fertilizer spots on the pasture that get plenty of cow patties are especially lush and green. but cowpats a far more than just fertilizer on this meadow in the nature reserve in southwestern germany and some on a just you know who's that and biologist have at nicko are looking for fresh samples. as we are here i never see here we've got a slightly older cowpat as you can see the surface is dried out. there's a pretty good crossed and you can see the 1st lobby are already appearing like here

. if. you thrive in the dong and the pray for other bugs and beetles. i mean. here is a clown beetle. for us is fairly small but they're also much larger species which are natural born predators cause they're got very big mouth parts which they use to chop up the larvae much like a butcher's knife and then eat them so this is a very complex food web that's. cowpats with life the dung provides thousands of small creatures with food and shelter. before it even hits the ground i calculate starts to attract dung flies they deposit their eggs in the fresh down. and pretty soon the 1st dung beetles mavin they dig tunnels for their own offspring which in turn everything by spiders and predatory beetles about 2 weeks later the worms arrive

soon the cowpat has vanished but the entire area remains a hive of activity birds and other measure greek shows such as lizards dine on the insects. beetles predatory beetles birds and then birds of prey for example occupying different positions in the food web so you get a limb norma's functional complexity from one cowpat if it isn't here if the cow stays in the barn this doesn't exist. like. a single free range cow complete use up to a ton of dollar amounts. that fields 20 kilos of insects which can sustain about 10 kilos worth of birds about 3 stalks a. search the starlings for example. but that only happens

when ecological farming methods see used as on this protected spot of land in the midst of a nature reserve. 40 cows live here on an area of 70 hectares of forest and says he had tens of posture the measure was allowed to run wild it's never mon. père. in the air but nicole wants to see what kinds of creatures a living here he uses a modified leaf blower to suck up a sample and finds more than a 100 different species. it is open as we find a lot of cicadas and bugs but there are also beetles and spiders everything that

you'll find compromise on the vegetation it's an amazing thing to see there's a diversity of species you'll no longer find on an ordinary meadow my views and if they get. this is an ordinary pasture not far away. the meadow was moved recently. and the biologist takes a notice on paul. he finds less than a dozen creatures. far fewer species it's a catastrophe for insects and birds there's hardly anything here is a park is there. and what about the cow past many farm animals are given substances to control internal parasites that affects biodiversity in the down the zenith i know i think i don't see a single bagel or a tunnel made by one nothing at all not the one here.

back at the meadow in the nature of it's a habit nicole says the rich diversity of the continent animal life would be easy to preserve old. men been dodging 6 pots and if we had just 5 percent wild beddoes or if stench of year around the country like germany insect life would benefit immensely on tiny plots of land like this one insect biodiversity can be doubled or even tripled in both absolute numbers and species i've seen it here obviously because it is good for ices. and all of this wouldn't be possible without cowhands you. pull. it out that is red white are big fat and even if you made it. do you have a science questions you'd like us to answer. if we featured on the show you get

a little surprise as a thank you. come on just announce. the most science stories check out our website w dot com slash science or look for us on twitter. but that's all for now thanks for joining us on tomorrow today we'll be back next week with more fascinating stories from the world of science and technology until then but by.

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it's about billions. it's about power. it's about the foundation of the world order the new silk road. china wants to expand its influence with this trade network also in europe the conflicts are inevitable the consequences unpredictable but instead of political but ever since the chinese investor got involved here our situation has changed before the floor was privatized the work was much better and easier to play china these promises hard news from rich good friends but in europe there's a sharp morning whoever accept money from the new superpower will become dependent on it the commitment of the safety of the chinese state has a lot of money at its disposal. and that's how it's expanding and asserting its status and position in the world be the fish if obama was

a 1000000. china's gateway to europe starts feb 19th on d w. cool. place . to place. blame. this is g.w. news live from the party of chance or i'm going to america has a new leader delegates choose our mean lash it's a take the helm of the conservative c.d.u. party in a close 2nd round vote with general elections later this year flash it now has a good shot to be the party's candidate for chancellor was also coming up 5 more years in power for one of africa's longest serving leaders uganda is an incumbent

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