Download Press Release - A Thousand Invisible Cords

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Dan Boone
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www.athousandcords.org
www.facebook.com/AThousandInvisibleCords
Documentary Suggests New Approach to Addressing Environmental Challenges
Can an entire landscape be altered by changes in one plant or animal gene? Science now says yes, and A
Thousand Invisible Cords: Connecting Genes to Ecosystems traces the 30-year journey that led to this
remarkable discovery. The one-hour documentary demonstrates that living things are connected in
more ways that anyone thought possible. No longer can species be seen as isolated members of an
ecosystem, but rather as genetically connected members of a rich interacting community.
This discovery presents a new and hopeful perspective on how to address some of the most important
environmental challenges of our times and emphasizes how even at the genetic level, all organisms on
planet earth are connected. As the 19th century naturalist, writer, and environmental activist John Muir
stated, "When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible
cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.” This film takes these connections to a
whole new scientific level by exploring the frontiers of ecology with one of the smallest biological units,
the gene. “Just as the ‘green revolution’ has used genetics to help feed the world, community genetics
can be used to help save and restore natural ecosystems,” says Tom Whitham, Northern Arizona
University (NAU) Regents’ Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, and Executive Director of the
Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research in Flagstaff, Arizona.
A Thousand Invisible Cords, produced and directed by Dan Boone and Ryan Belnap of NAU’S IDEA Lab,
features Whitham and other members of The Cottonwood Ecology Group, a team of internationally
recognized scientists from NAU and other universities across the United States and abroad. They discuss
their contributions to the new field of community and ecosystem genetics.
Ivory-tower research leads to real-world results
The science that is explored in the documentary began with the study of one tiny insect—an aphid.
Aphids feed on cottonwoods—a fast-growing tree native to the banks of North American waterways.
Whitham wanted to learn how a cottonwood’s genes affect its susceptibility to aphid attack.
He noticed that some trees were heavily attacked, while other adjacent trees were hardly touched. He
wondered whether the differences were genetically based or a result of environmental conditions, such
as differences in the climate or soils in which the trees grew. So Whitham took cuttings from 81
cottonwoods growing along Utah’s Weber River and planted them in a common garden at the Ogden
Nature Center, a 152-acre nature preserve and education center in Utah. The environmental conditions
were held constant so that any differences observed in the patterns of aphid survival on the
cottonwoods had to be caused by genetic differences among trees. The experiments clearly confirmed
the genetic hypothesis.
Thirty years later, with thousands of trees planted in restoration/experimental gardens, many scientists
in the Cottonwood Ecology Group have concluded that genetically different cottonwoods affect far
more than just the aphids; they affect a rich community of about 700 insect species, the microbial
community in the soil, lichens on the trunk, fungi that live in the twigs, the birds that feed on the insects,
and the beavers that selectively fell trees with specific traits. Thus, a whole community was largely
defined by the underlying genetics of the cottonwood trees. Because cottonwoods and their
interactions with a few other species structure the community by creating a stable habitat for other
species, they are considered “foundation” species.
Molecular genetics studies show that a small change in just a few lines of a foundation species’ genetic
code can have cascading effects on whole communities and even ecosystem processes. “This genes-toecosystems approach offers a simplified way of going after very complex problems because we’re
concentrating on the genetics of the relatively few foundation species and their interactions that drive
the rest of the community—rather than trying to study the genetics of every organism simultaneously,”
notes Whitham.
“Sometimes there is a perception that curiosity about the working of seemingly trivial organisms such as
an aphid is ivory tower research of no consequence,” adds Whitham. “Yet, such research often results in
the discovery of fundamental principles. In turn, these principles result in major applications to address
some of the most pressing biological issues of our time that do address the world we live in, our own
quality of life, and the human condition.” For example, the knowledge gained in these and other studies
have allowed researchers to identify trees that support the greatest biodiversity and that are also very
drought tolerant, fast growing, genetically resistant to insect attack, and best for restoration—and that
may thrive not only today but also 50 to 100 years from now as the effects of climate change become
more pronounced.
Collaborations may be the key to solving complex problems
“Collaboration is often the key to major scientific advancements because the skills required to
understand complex problems like the effects of climate change on the diversity of plant and animal life
of the planet ultimately involve integrating diverse disciplines in genetics, chemistry, physics, biology,
mathematics, and human behavior. Very few people are skilled in all these areas, so to understand such
complex problems and to find ways to solve them requires collaboration on a large scale,” says
Whitham.
For more information, visit www.athousandinvisiblecords.org. or
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AThousandInvisibleCords
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Support for A Thousand Invisible Cords was provided by the National Science Foundation, the IDEA Lab
at NAU, and the USDI Bureau of Reclamation, with additional funding from the University of Tasmania in
Australia and the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research at NAU.