rich. but in europe there's a sharp morning well for except money from the new superpower will become dependent on it are committed to other share here the chinese state has a lot of money it's disposal here that's how it's expanding and asserting a status and position in the world be a fairly typical. chinese gateway to europe feb 19th d.w. . 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 launch. what is scientists doing to counteract the dramatic loss in biodiversity that's our topic coming up. well come to you tomorrow today the science program on t.w. . just 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 whose technic. we'd been dead for 22 years. you may have guessed it cooked is

a clue. and he's the 1st white horse ever successfully cloned 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 ecosystems. in one word it's just wow and obviously we want to say of a 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 and bringing species back from the afterlife. cloning has been controversial around the world. with legitimate concerns about us

playing god creating endless copies of species that wipe out biodiversity. but costs purpose is the exact opposite to bring diversity back to this population of while she walski is 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 and there has even been a clone of an extinct species but with limited success. the barony in 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 be 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 could make 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 it but some of these agree sources from pollination water and food at severe risk and poor countries are likely to be the worst hit at 1st. species numbers are in 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. geneticists around the world have taken notice i'm not collecting and preserving whatever genetic material they can in the labs zoos and banks. i mean for many species 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 samples so far. while the main cloning experiments are taking place in the west 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 like collecting samples of endangered species banking on the technology to catch. 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. the greens to conserve genetic

diversity is on cloning may well save some species but would cause a long term effect on conservation as it is much more sensible to focus on protecting the biodiversity we still have how. could we ever leave this all the fear losing now. such questions need to drive the pick knowledge 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 requires 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 and. near munich a dorney a $220.00 is ready for takeoff. it's carrying a hyperspectral camera. colleges 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 a has reached its goal. 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 project in the bavarian forest is taking the next step. as you just put it 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 let us muck biodiversity from space if you followed. the 1st 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 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. degrading their leader. there are. recycling. plant trees grow so. prison are really important and we can predict and see how little impact. the scientists are also using laser scanners to study 16 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 leeds.

the forest canopy is also home to insects fungus 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 leafs is a presentation of the condition of the tree and quality of the tree is a representation of the quality of door ecosystem because everything is related to each other and by understanding those relations when a standing how to change 1st locations 1st for start 1st the forest is porter understanding our health forces and how diverse and forest ecosystem ish. hyperspectral imaging could help identify the chemical composition of leaves in a particular patch of forest. we're not so good at predicting individual

species but that's not our goal we want to predict the 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 over large stretches of land and also observe changes in that biodiversity. the health of the 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 nature of 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 because the neutrons and i take on the clean the environment all the dead carcasses and by doing these they stop the spread of diseases diseases like. lizzie and all of that

nature kenya introduced a vulture conservation program in the muscle i'm our a nature reserve and 2014 it's a mr spread awareness of the crucial role vultures play. by this group of mice i work as nature can use vulture ambassadors they explain to villages that when a dead cow will go just poisoned with acar chemicals in order to kill predators that threaten their livestock all of the animals that feed on the carcass are poisoned and that includes a lot of vultures. so as i travel in. my region for example in my location. when there is. that issue before it's place and we we actually sometimes think that. those. and we've put them aside and you can. actually talk to the or know that i'm not always win. support from villages and their leaders is key to the ngos campaign.

system chief of one village tells us that battles between humans and animals are ongoing issue in little like area. there is a lot of conflict. but people. elephants and lions. presents a serious. 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 sure of reporting. 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 case is go under reported. but reporting the cases would give the conservationists a chance to save the birds. that's why keeping communication channels open is important. the effort is. basically talking we discussed because we don't assume that they don't know they know something so what we do is to add to the dividing line and basically to create. 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 campaigns push to improve the exchange of information is now starting to yield results. we're getting reports on one human life conflict and also responses to. what. and by these some voters have been saved because there is.

a response protocol that is being followed. case 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 interim assoc 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. 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. and then you know there is an excellent fertilizer spots on the pasture that get plenty of cow patties are especially lush and green. but cowpats are far more than just fertilizer on this meadow in a nature reserve in southwestern germany and to mana just who is that and biologist have that nicole 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 how the 1st lobby are already appearing like here. thrive in the dong and the pray for other bugs and beetles.

and. 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 tea with life the dung provides thousands of small creatures with food and shelter. before it even hits the ground i can't pack 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 cowpats has vanished but the entire area remains a hive of activity birds and other measures creatures such as visits 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 in the enormous functional complexity from one cow pat if it isn't here if the cow stays in the barn this doesn't exist to. make. a single free range cow complete use up to a time of down. that fields 20 kilos of insects which can sustain about 10 kilos worth of birds about 3. 30 starlings for example. but that's 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 moaned. aaron. aaron have 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 100 different species. in his openness we find a lot of cicadas and bugs but there are also beetles and spiders everything that

you'll find tom perrotta and 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 views and if they get. this is an ordinary pasture not far away the meadow was moved recently. and the biologist takes another song paul. he finds less than a dozen creatures. far fewer species and it's a catastrophe for insects and birds there's hardly anything here is a practice that's been 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 beetle or a tunnel made by one nothing at all. and here.

back at the meadow in the nature is a habit nicole says the rich diversity of content and animal life here would be easy to preserve. men didn't dodge health experts and if we had just 5 percent wild beddoes or if stents of the year around the country like in 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 it is a risky prices. and all is this wouldn't be possible without cowhands. if outlet is right why are they planning on it i hated that. do you have a science questions you'd like us to answer so you think if we featured on the show

you get a little surprise as a thank you. come on just. for 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. back next week with more fascinating stories from the world of science and technology until then but by . the being.

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the claim. this is news coming from a wave of condemnation after a russian opposition leader. is arrested in moscow the kremlin critic was detained at a moscow airport just hours after he departed berlin. recovering from a nerve agent attack killed dozens of his supporters were also arrested. coming up they've seen. good 19 now opinion health workers are going on

strike calling on the government to do more to protect them on the.