Watching the behavior and body language of zoo animals could be the key to understanding and improving their welfare, new research suggests.

The new review, by the University of Exeter and the University of Winchester, says closer observation of animal behaviors — a method called Qualitative Behavioral Assessment, developed in farming — could show even more about animals’ state of mind.

An animal’s positioning of its body, facial movements and activity levels are among the things that might tell whether it is excited, calm, interested, nervous, relaxed, etc.

“Zookeepers are knowledgeable about their animals, and they will often recognise an animal’s state of mind by its behavior and body language,” said Dr. Paul Rose, of the University of Exeter.

“What we are suggesting is a more scientific method of this, carried out over time.”

“Certain behaviors will show certain moods in an animal, and we should build our knowledge of this for different animals that live in zoos. For example, lions have a lot of facial expressions, and research on these expressions could help zoos understand the animals’ state of mind. This information could then be used to improve welfare by changing diets, feeding times or any number of other aspects of the way animals are kept.”

Dr. Rose carries out much of his research at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, and is now examining how the swans there might show their state of mind through their behavioral expression.

“We’re looking at how much time they spend exploring their habitat, which could show what they’re feeling,” he said. “When they’re unsure, they appear to move less and be more careful, and draw their feathers close to their bodies.”

The study suggests research opportunities for Qualitative Behavioral Assessment and practices that could be used by zoos. “Animal welfare in zoos has improved greatly in the last 10 or 20 years, and this method gives zoos another way to recognise and improve the welfare of animals,” Dr. Rose said.

Global warming does more than just kill plant species-it also changes the way plants grow. Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) joined forces with the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry (IPB) to discover the molecular processes of plant growth. In Current Biology, a scientific journal, they presented their findings on high-temperature plant growth. This could lead to developing plants that can survive global warming.

Plants react to even small temperature changes, but they are unable to move to new locations. “When temperatures rise, plants grow taller... to cool themselves off. Their stalks become taller, and their leaves become narrower and grow farther apart. Yet, this makes the plant more unstable overall,” explains Professor Marcel Quint, an agricultural scientist at MLU. Unstable plants bend faster in the rain and produce less food that’s also less nutritious.

There’s still lots to learn about plant reactions to temperatures. “We are just starting to understand how plants detect the changes in temperature...,” Quint says. Earlier studies have shown that the protein PIF4 directly controls plant growth and is also dependent on temperature. When it’s cold, PIF4 is less active, meaning the plant doesn’t grow. At higher temperatures, PIF4 activates growth-promoting genes, and the plant grows taller. This is new information, says Quint.

To understand it, they investigated the growth of thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana,) seedlings. Normally, its seedlings form short stems at 20℃. These stems become considerably longer at 28℃. They discovered a hormone   that activates the PIF4 at high temperatures, thus producing the protein. The findings of the Halle group may help to breed plants that remain stable even at high temperatures and produce many crops.

When she was studying to become a scientist, Megan Strauss rode in a small airplane to study giraffes. While a pilot flew over the Serengeti in Tanzania, Africa, the researchers looked down carefully and counted giraffes.

“I am always amazed how easily we can spot warthogs and other small animals, yet we sometimes have trouble seeing giraffes. Giraffes are slender in shape, and they may not throw a good shadow,” says Dr. Strauss, who has since become a wildlife scientist.

The Serengeti is about the size of Vermont, a state in the northeastern US, so the scientists could not study the entire area. Instead, they surveyed three areas where giraffes were studied in the 1970s. As they expected, they saw far fewer of these animals.

To find out if lions had been killing more giraffes in recent years, the team looked at the survival of young giraffes. Lions kill more young giraffes than adults, but the team found no decrease in young giraffes’ survival after they are born, compared with the 1970s.

The team then looked at whether too many giraffes were being killed by parasites(寄生虫). The researchers counted parasite eggs in giraffe droppings, and they found too few to harm the giraffe population.

They looked into whether poachers(盗猎者)were killing too many giraffes. Two of the areas they studied are where giraffe meat is sometimes sold in local markets. Poachers catch more adult males than other giraffes. Researchers spotted too few males compared with females in those two areas, a sign of poaching.

When the food supply is short, the environment supports fewer giraffes and the females have fewer young giraffes. A lot of new trees have grown in the Serengeti, but many are a type that giraffes do not like to eat. The researchers found fewer young giraffes today than in the 1970s compared with the number of adult females, a sign that food was in short supply.

Dr. Strauss is working on an environmental education program for Tanzania including books for students. These materials will educate Tanzanians and help them to help giraffes. As knowledge grows and changes are made, they hope the giraffe population will increase.