The first Kangaroo grass gives a high protein diet at high temperatures and a high carbohydrate diet at low temperatures.
Consequently locusts raised on Kangaroo grass reach a larger size at low temperatures but locusts that are fed wheat are larger at high temperatures.
Following a meal of Kangaroo grass the locusts seek shady places such as behind grass stalks
#More than just food for koalas: Scientists sequence genome of eucalyptus--a global tree for fuel
#Tree hugging helps koalas keep their coolaustralia's koalas cope with extreme heat by resting against cooler tree trunks new research has revealed.
Thermal imaging uncovered the koalas'cool plan confirming that they choose to hug trees that can be more than 5â°C cooler than the air during hot weather.
Researchers observed the behavior of 30 koalas during hot weather at French Island Victoria. Co-author Andrew Krockenberger from James Cook University in Cairns in far northeast Australia says heat wave events can hit koala populations hard.
We know that about a quarter of the koalas in one population in New south wales died during a heat wave in 2009 Professor Krockenberger said.
Understanding the types of factors that can make some populations more resilient is important. Koalas also pant
and lick their fur to cool down but that can lead to dehydration. Access to these trees can save about half the water a koala would need to keep cool on a hot day lead researcher Dr Natalie Briscoe from the University of Melbourne said.
Access to cool tree trunks would significantly reduce the amount of heat stress for koalas. Co-author Dr Michael Kearney said the findings were important as climate change is bringing about more extreme weather.
Researchers used a portable weather station on a long pole to measure what the koalas were experiencing in the places they chose to sit compared to other places available to them.
When we took the heat imagery it dramatically confirmed our idea that'tree hugging'was an important cooling behavior in extreme heat Dr Michael Kearney said.
Professor Krockenberger's research includes some of Australia's warmest koalas--the population on Magnetic Island in the country's tropical northeast.
These findings underscore the importance of trees to koalas especially in the context of climate extremes he said.
They're not a koala food tree but clearly they can be important when it comes to coping with the heat.
The management regimes were compared from the point of view of six forest species such as the capercaillie hazel grouse flying squirrel
this time using much stronger kangaroo leather on one and some synthetic leather on the other.
Of course, there are native animals that are edible too (such as kangaroos, crocodiles and emus), but Weatherhead prefers to educate us on the wonders of Australias native flora world.
< Back - Next >
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011