Bee's at war with Almonds

80% of global almond cultivation can be found in the state of California. Due to a decline in pollinator populations there are too many many flowers with any of the flowers will go unpollinated. As of 2006, due to high levels of colony collapse disorder it appeared almond cultivation was in trouble, however, due to the growing market for almonds, it had become feasible to make it worthwhile for beekeepers to rent out their hives to these almond growers for the blooming months. Many of these beekeepers heavily rely on renting out their hives during bloom season. This is the case as it costs $100 per year for maintenance of these hives yet the bees will only generate roughly $50-$80 in honey. Almond growers offer an enticing $160 per month for each hive to both the commercial and hobbyist beekeepers from across the United States. 

This is a mutualistic relationship for all involved...... except for the bees. Record numbers of honey bees had declined following their transport back from California with beekeepers recording average losses of 38% of their colonies (50 billion within 3 months in Winter of 2018/2019). The main reason  believed as to why this strategy of cultivation is detrimental to the honeybee populations is that bee colonies from different regions of the United States are associated with different parasites which have built up partial immunity due to years of exposure. Individuals foreign to these pathogens had no form of immunity. California has been described as a 'chemical soup' due to high levels of pesticides such as clothianidin and dicamba. These pesticides have detrimental effects on a bees immunity and reproductive cycles. When these major implications are exposed to bees in conjunction to one another it will cause a population to seriously decline. 

Organic bee keepers blame this decline on the over reliance of heavy mechanization, meanwhile, others believe a lack of preparation is responsible. Almond growers rented a diverse range of bee breeds and it is theorized that the European honeybee would out compete the less diverse bees and limiting the growth of these bees. Less common ideas for this decline is said to be a result of being out competed by Africanized bee strains. Africanized bees had been accidentally introduced to Brazil and are known to migrate northwards. California is one of the few areas in the US that these bees may reside due to the temperature and so it satisfies their fundamental niche. The Africanised bees would colonize new hives by killing the hive's Queen and would replace it with their Queen. 

Finally, it is possible that the ecology of California may be unsuitable for bee survival due to the high abundance of animals (bears, honeybadgers etc) that feed off honey and will kill the bees in the process. As the rapid decline has only gained significant attention in the last few years, there is a lack of research done with only hypothesis formed. These educated guesses must be investigated greater so that it can be prevented. Due to the large revenue almond production generates it is unlikely that renting bees will halt and so research is vital so almond growers and beekeepers may help silence the decline we have recently seen. 

Reference

• McGinvey, A., 2020. 'Like Sending Bees To War': The Deadly Truth Behind Your Almond Milk Obsession. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
•  Jacobsen, R., 2009. Fruitless fall: the collapse of the honeybee and the coming agricultural crisis. Choice Reviews Online, 46(08), pp.46-4440-46-4440.
• Schumann, D., 1993. Income Opportunities in Special forest products. 1(1), p.134.

 

Invasive species on the rise?

 1st, October, 2020 - University College, London -  Research led by an international team in conjunction with the University College, London discussed how they've predicted there to be a 36% increase in invasive alien species by 2050 in comparison to 2005.There is significant correlation between the level of a nations GDP and the abundance of invasive species due to improvement in transport, infrastructure etc. It's expected that Europe will see the highest invasion in biological invasions with the predicted arrival of 2,500 species which will be a 64% increase. Invasive species have been an issue in Europe for the past 11 decades, however, enhancement in trapping methods have plateaued where kill traps and mark and recapture methods commonly being deployed (UCL, 2020). There is a large inventory of invasive species data available for island populations, however, this is not the case for mainland populations. Mainland populations are more complicated due to higher potentials of dispersal and information will be vital. This study has used a model with great variations between different regions where the largest increase predicted to be in Europe due to their connectivity to many other continent, high GDP, poor border control, strong political relationships with other high GDP nations etc. Australia have been estimated to seeing the lowest increase due to strong border controls and their dis connectivity from other nations (Blackburn et al, 2019). 

The best time to put controls into place is during the early stages before these populations expand and disperse. Constant surveillance using meta genomics would be a useful tool where it will help detect early introduction where the intensity of invasion is low and will help understand pathway patterns. The success of establishment is heavily related to the propagule pressure which refers to the increased risk of successful establishment is heavily related to the number of individuals introduced into a foreign environment (Amador-Vargas et al, 2018: Blackburn et al, 2019).

The most destructive assemblage are known as Invasive Alien Predators where they exploit the behavioral/ evolutionary naeivity from the native prey species. A cyclical relationship is typically formed between the predator-prey species which ensures the survival of both species. This relationship is formed through many thousand years of co-existence where they evolve in relation to each other (Red Queen Hypothesis), however, when a predator and prey species not native to one another are exposed to one another, there isn't sufficient time to evolve to develop an adequate form of defense (:Simberloff et al, 2000). Other invasive species include establishment of floral species such as rhododendron (rhododendron ponticum) reduces floral diversity where they use their thick leaves to block light and excrete toxic chemicals to prevent the establishment of juveniles. This will then create a bottom up impact where species further up the food chain are impacted by the domino effect created by the reduced species diversity of floral species (Simberloff et al, 2000: Thébault et al, 2017: Amador-Vargas et al, 2018). 

 

References

·       Amador-Vargas, S. Blackburn, T. Braga, R. Cassey, P. Debille, S. Enders, M. Erhard, F. Farji-Brener, A. Fox, G. García-Díaz, P. Gómez Aparicio, L. Griesemer, J. Heger, T. Jeschke, J. Lockwood, J. Lortie, C. Müller, C. Nordheimer, R. Pyšek, P. Scheiner, S. Starzer, J. Torchyk, O. Vitule, J. (2018) ‘INVASION BIOLOGY Hypothesis and Evidence’, Jeschke, J. Heger, T. Edition 9, pp. 3-124, CABI, Oxfordshire.

Blackburn, T.M. Bellard, C. Ricciardi, A. (2019) 'Alien versus native species as drivers of recent extinctions'. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,  DOI: 10.1002/fee.2020

University College London. "Alien species to increase by 36% worldwide by 2050." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 October 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201001090143.htm>.

·    Vilà, M. Espinar, J.L. Hejda, M. Hulme, P.E. Jarošík, V. Maron, J.L. Pergl, J. Schaffner, U. Sun, Y. Pyšek, P. (2011) ‘Ecological impacts of invasive alien plants: a meta‐analysis of their effects on species, communities and ecosystems’, Ecology Letters, 14(7), pp. 702-706, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01628.x

Queen bee failures

 8th September, 2020 (University of British Columbia)- Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have been investigating aspects which may be responsible for colony collapse disorder (CCD) where it had been thought that queen bee failures is a significant factor. CCD is when the majority of worker bees disappear from the colony leaving the Queen, nursebees and juveniles. 

It was discovered by the Canadian Association of professional apiarists that the queen could no longer produce sufficient fertilized eggs. To asses this, protein markers are examined. These proteins are activated within a queen bee when put under significant stress ie. heat shock, pesticide exposure, malnutrition etc. 

During this research, the protein markers of the queen bee from a hive experiencing CCD was compared to a queen's from a healthy hive. It was discovered that queen's from hives experiencing CCD had higher levels of heat shock and pesticide exposure which creates detrimental effects on sperm viability. This has negative implications on the genetic diversity which makes it more difficult for offspring to survive, adapt to change etc. It also causes there to be a lack of worker bee population where the worker bees that were produced work themselves to death sooner as each worker bee had more work in sustaining the hive. 

These bees are subject to heat shock due to climate change but the primary reason is the transport of bees from differing climate ie New Zealand to Canada. The high climate fluctuation puts the bees under serious strain due to evolution over millions of years in a completely different climate. 

 

Alison McAfee, Joseph Milone, Abigail Chapman, Leonard J. Foster, Jeffery S. Pettis, David R. Tarpy. Candidate stress biomarkers for queen failure diagnostics. BMC Genomics, 2020; 21 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-06992-2

US EPA. 2018. Colony Collapse Disorder | US EPA. [online] Available at: <https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder> [Accessed 22 September 2020

Are cukoo the new Dodo?

The British cuckoo population has displayed a 71% decline within the previous 25 years. This decline has been a mystery to many until monitoring was recently taken place. Tracking devices were attached to 42 male cuckoo birds prior to their migration. This survey had discovered that these birds have 2 migratory routes. One route goes from Britain to the African continent via Spain and another where they bypass Italy. Those who flew threw Italy ( a longer route) had a significantly lower mortality rate upon their return to Britain/ Ireland. It was noted that the majority of deaths had occurred prior to reaching the continent of Africa and so it is hypothesized the decline is primarily yet another result of climate change. 

Spain have suffered from severe droughts and fires meaning there will be less water source. More time had been spent in breeding sites for those bypassing Italy with it being expected to be because they're developing a greater deal of pre migratory fattening. Due to this lack of precipitation there is also a decrease in vegetation growth that makes up most of the caterpillar/ moth's diet. This is significant as the caterpillar and moths are the major food source for the cuckoo bird. This lack of food source and water availability will then quite obviously cause death especially during a harsh migratory route. 

Spring migration is commonly associated with energy selected migration and Spring migration is related to time selected migration. There are currently issues on the timing of Spring migration due to the incompatible breeding resources available where the hosts nests are located where the cuckoo wishes to lay leading to an exploitative interaction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cacomantis_flabelliformis.jpg

References

•  Briggs, H., 2016. Cuckoo Decline Finally Mapped. [online] BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-36837641/cuckoo-decline-finally-mapped> [Accessed 11 July 2020].
•  Hewson, C., Thorup, K., Pearce-Higgins, J. and Atkinson, P., 2016. Population decline is linked to migration route in the Common Cuckoo. Nature Communications, 7(1).

 

Roadside verge, bee haven?

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University of Exceter, 9th -August-2020-  Research that had been led by the University of Exceter had discovered that roadside verges can provide suitable refuge for pollinators despite high  levels of pollution and risk of getting hit by oncoming traffic. It has been urged the positives significantly outweigh the negatives. 

It has been said in this study that all verges won't have the exact same benefits as one another. It was found that verges along quieter stretches of road showed the best results. This study states that less cutting throughout the year and leaving it until later in the year to cut will have signifficant benefits to the pollinator population. 

Regular cutting of grass will result in loss of shelter and nectar source and this will be amplified if done in peak summer periods where the pollinators are most active. Wildflowers are most prevalent during this period and the removal of these wildflowers will reduce many pollinator's opportunity for pollination leading to increased risk of starvation  and less flowers pollinated leading to less flowers. 

It has been emphasized that cuttings should be altered from peak flowering periods to Autumn, a period were pollinators are notably less active reducing the impact. The only section that should be considered being cut is the area 2m in from the roadside. This is the case as these sections were recorded to have the lowest abundance in pollinator populations and are the most important zone for visibility for road users. 

These road verges creates a network of corridors providing sufficient food sources to sustain this population. These verges pose many negative aspects including pollution, collision but it has been stressed that the positive effects remarkably outweigh these negative aspects which may somewhat help the 97% decrease of meadow wildflowers since the 1930's. 

Street lights cause great confusion to nocturnal insects and the University of Exceter have stated these verges can be dramatically improved through limiting the amount of street lights used.“This new research shows the potential that road verges have to help to reverse insect declines.

“By making small changes to the management of our road verge network, local authorities and others involved in road verge management can make a significant difference to support nature’s recovery.'

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Moths are an overlooked Pollinator

University College London (UCL), 12th May 2020 - Moths are important pollen transporters in English farmlands and play a significant role in the maintenance of crop yields. Although they may not receive as much media coverage as daytime pollinators but research led by (UCL) showed that nocturnal moths have a larger, more complex pollination network and will often compliment the pollination done by the daytime pollinators. Moths will commonly visit the same flowers already visited and will visit flowers that hasn't been pollinated during the day. They serve as a form of back-up for biodiversity, which in turn supports crop yields.

Lead author, Dr Richard Walton (UCL Geography researcher) had stated that moths have a vital, yet often overlooked pollinators which play vital ecological functions being responsible to a certain degree of floral diversity and abundance. He also makes a bold statement that many species including bats, mammals, birds etc would be put under significant pressure without the moth. 

Moths uniquely pollen with their chest instead of their tongue optimizing the volume of pollen being transported. This essentially means more pollen from a single interaction will be introduced to higher numbers of flower individuals. While feeding, the moth's distinctly hairy body comes into contact with the male floral reproductive parts where higher quantities of pollen will attach to these hairs.  

While investigating the importance of moths, they monitored ponds in agricultural regions in Norfolk where it was noted that 45% of the moths were transporting pollen derived from 47 different floral species. Moths are seen as generalists where they can pollinate/ feed on a wide range of floral species, meanwhile, bumble/ honeybees will target the most prolific nectar and pollen sources.

This study has come at a pivotal period in our climate crisis as moths are suffering from serious decline with a 28% decline in the UK since 1968. Interstingly, the southern portion of England have suffered from a 40% reduction, meanwhile, the northern proportion has displayed no significant decline. This is likely to be due to the higher abundance of urban centers along the south. Street lights have had detrimental effects on nocturnal species which confuses them on when to feed. Some individuals may feed during the day time where they're out competed by diurnal species. Chemical pesticides are also responsible where they reduce floral diversity and will often be toxic to moths when consumed.

Dr Walton (UCL Geography) concluded: “While bumblebees and honeybees are known to be super pollinators they also preferentially target the most prolific nectar and pollen sources.

“Moths may appear to be less effective pollinators by comparison, but their high diversity and abundance may make them critical to pollination in ways that we still need to understand. Our research sheds light on a little known world of nocturnal plant-insect interactions that might be vital to the look and smell of our precious countryside and to the crops that we grow.”

 

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• Walton, R., 2020. Moths Have A Secret But Vital Role As Pollinators In The Night. [online] UCL News. Available at: <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/may/moths-have-secret-vital-role-pollinators-night> [Accessed 8 August 2020].
• Butterfly-conservation.org. 2020. The State Of Britain's Moths. [online] Available at: <https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/the-state-of-britains-moths> [Accessed 8 August 2020].

 

Why Ancient Woodlands are so valuable?

Ancient woodlands are wooded areas that have been covered in the same native woodland cover since 1600 AD. These habitats are irreplaceable due to the many years of the native fauna  to evolve to the composition of these habitats to take full advantage of the many niches up for offer. 

These habitats compose of just 2% of the UK's landscape and so provide a unique habitat which provide the UK with photogenically rare fauna that are severely vulnerable to any disturbances and so the niches that don't overlap between the generalists will die along with the species. 

Half of all of the UK ancient woodlands, are severely degraded and in serious need of restoration. Instead, much of these forests are being replaced with non-native conifer plantations with little differentiation between species variation. These plantation pose little ecological benefit where it is shown these transformations reduces biodiversity in the native bird, reptile, and mammal species where the rare species are the most vulnerable due to their incapability to adapt and take up new niches. 

Although, restoration won't be capable of completely restoring the conservation value of the fully intact ancient woodland, if serious degradation/ destruction has occurred restoration is the best to do to mitigate the carbon emission and to provide a form of support for the surrounding biodiversity. These restoration programmes display varying results with the common denominator being the planting of photogenically distinct native flora to provide adequate supports for rare species as well as improving the multifunctionality of the woodland.

 

What happened to Mauritius?

The oil spill that the Mauritius coast suffered from had extended to a diameter of 15km making up a volume of 350km squared of their shore. The reason for such a large media coverage is due to the incorporation of many environmentally sensitive habitats and had been protected under the Ramsar Convention Wetlands of International importance as a biodiversity hotspot. 

The immediate impact of the spill isn't the concern but it will effect the ecosystem equally where for example, pressures will be put onto the coral species causing the zooxanthellae to expel which is responsible for the photosynthesizing of the corals and this pressure is known as coral bleaching. This will then put significant pressures  along the levels of the trophic cascade where these corals are often involved in a bottom up ecosystem. 

A big issue with oil spills in marine environments is the addition of currents which drags the oil to which was transporting the oil to more environmentally important habitats composed of seagrasses, corals, mangroves. providing shelter, food source, nurseries, wave control. Although, a small area had been initially exposed to the oil, the nature of our marine systems had resulted in long term, long spanning areas. Larger

The initial impact of this spill was poisoning of much of the fish biomass reducing the population of many species within the 15km diameter and the vegetation will have withered and died. The first group effected had been the filter feeders including molluscs, crustaceans etc. There has yet been all the deaths resulting from the oil spill expected and will have long spanning effects for decades to come. 

Corals take from 9-12 years to recover, however, due to significant declines of the herbiverous fish groom the corals to prevent coral bleaching and the consumption of older corals allows for the establishment of newer coral species. What is likely to occur is that algal turf will dominate the habitat, outcompeting all other aquatic flora. Larger grazing fish are likely to increase due to increase algal turf biomass, which will then in turn reduce energy transferred between the substrate and the fauna. It will then transfer energy between grazers to carnivores. Even with no effect on the fish population, it is highly likely that these corals would never return as they are known not to be profficient reproducers.

The oil spill has eradicated much of the light availability reaching the flora causing further light dependent species to simply wither and die. The soluble compounds from oil spills will then disolve in the water creating creating heavy residue onto the seabed preventing the establishment of aquatic floral species. 

As hundreds to thousands of fish wash up onto our shorelines, the seabirds are also effected due to a lack of viable food source but as well, the oil weighs them down preventing them from flying where they will die of starvation/ exhaustion.

Although, a small area had been initially exposed to the oil, the nature of our marine systems had resulted in long term, long spanning areas. Shell are planning on leaving 4 abandoned platforms storing 11,000 tonnes of oil in the North Sea. Mauritius has just been a warning, due to increased wave velocities and more oil will potentially do untold damage for our marine systems and will have global consequences for many decades to come. 

We never asked for a Mauritius part 2, so please spread the word and sign the petition below.

https://www.change.org/p/shell-stop-shell-north-sea-revolution?redirect=false

 

Human's influence on coral reefs

Research conducted by the Arizona State University in conjunction with the University of Leeds had recorded an alarming decline of fish biomass of 45% within the their surveying period. This is a significant concern as these fish play vital ecosystem services for tropical coral reefs which form a mutualistic relationship. 

Herbivorous fish are important in the maintenance of our coral reefs where for example the parrot-fish use their beak-like jaw to scrape clean the substratum of the corals providing new sites and exposing this coral substratum suitable for coral settlement and to recover from coral bleaching.

Grazers play a vital role in keeping the coral turf abundance in control which show little environmental importance and if provided with adequate levels of nutrients the turf coral will outcompete all other vegetation. An issue that had been identified in the west of Hawaii by the University of Leeds   had realized that nitrogen effluent originating from sewage had put a strain onto the coral and fish populations because of the excess nutrient levels in the water. This causes domination of turf coral eliminating large quantities of other coral species. Due to high abundances of these turf corals will increase fertility rates of large grazers and predators due to less strain put onto these populations, however, due to a lack of corals (shelter, nursery etc) as well to such a high predator causes smaller fish populations will plummet. These large grazers and apex predators have very few natural predators and are classified as a type 1 on the survivorship curve. This then will result in a reduction in energy transfer between the trophic levels because most of the energy is consumed by the fish and there is little natural death and organic material which will further reduce coral populations.

These coral reefs are so integral component of the oceans as they provide the aquatic systems with a diverse genetic library. Without the maintenance of these ecosystems it would be likely that generalist species would dominate causing a lower genetic diversity library which will make it more difficult for these species to adapt to environmental change. 

Coral reefs are also responsible in dispating 97% of the wind energy that would otherwise smash off the coastline. With the extreme climates predicted with climate change will cause significant damage to ecosystems in the coastline and only grasslands would likely survive. It is likely that countries like Ireland would suffer from the destruction of life and erosion of the coastlines.

Biodiversity needs changes to farming.

One third of our land mass is occupied through farming activities and are directly/ indirectly involved with the endangerment of 62% of threatened species through highly mechanized, external chemicals etc. 

It has been urged through research derived from research undertaken by the university of Gottingen suggests a transition from modern farming practicesvia the 2020 Global biodiversity Framework will significantly reduce environmental degradation meanwhile achieving sustainable food systems for our ever-growing population. 

Heavy fertilizer use has demonstrated to have negative implications on nutrient recycling processes due to a loss of mychorhizal associations between fungi and their host plant. Due to a high influx of bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus the plant no longer sees a need to carry on the symbiotic relationship as it will lose more than it would gain in that current situation. Fertilizers will subsequently cause the soil to lose it's fertility over the long run and these associations are gone they will never return.

The mychorhizal fungi resides in the plant's root tissue. The plant provides the fungi with a constant supply of carbohydrates such as sucrose and glucose while in return the fungi will convert the abundant nitrogen into nitrate which is usable by plants. 

Agroecology is a scientific approach where research is performed prior to the management involving the holistic study of these agri-ecosystems that aims to improve the resillience and sustainability for food systems

This practice creates a positive interaction between the agricultural ecosystems and the elements whilst improving soil biodiversity which are vital for primary production and so will have positive effects along the top of the food chain and will improve crop yield.

Improved soil biodiversity has profoundly beneficial effects on the efficiency of farming, where for example improved soil biodiversity has been shown to improve plant's resilience to diseases, climate change, water and nutrient uptake.  

Dr Thomas Cherico Wanger from Westlake University China and University of Göttingen and first author discussed how "The importance of agroecology to change agriculture and protect biodiversity has been recognized by many top level organizations, in the scientific community, and by practitioners, which is also reflected in the number and affiliations of signatories of our Correspondence. Following our positive discussions with representatives of the COP15, I hope that this correspondence can help to stimulate discussions in the policy arena and make a real impact on agricultural production systems."

EurekAlert!. 2020. Changes In Farming Urgent To Rescue Biodiversity. [online] Available at: <https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/uog-cif072020.php> [Accessed 3 September 2020].

 Delvaux, F., 2018. [online] Trocaire.org. Available at: <https://www.trocaire.org/sites/default/files/resources/policy/principles_of_agroecology.pdf> [Accessed 3 September 2020].

Woodland management

Woodland ecosystems are a key aspect of the countryside environment and are vital for the health of ecosystems through an array of ecosystem services through carbon sequestration, provide a range of many niches in a small area, prevent soil erosion etc. As deforestation appears to not be slowing down any time soon, it is important that  adequate management is undertaken in these declining habitats.

Coppicing is a common management technique which is clearing small sections of trees so more light may reach the ground flora. Following this practice, light increased by 4 fold in Spring and 20 fold during Summer time. There is a strong correlation between the amount of light reaching the floor and the diversity and abundance of the ground flora.

The level of shade, ride width and the cutting regime are all aspects that must be carefully considered when coppicing as it has a major impact on wildlife. The width of rides (path of cleared trees) must be 1.5 times wide as the height. To optimize the period of sunlight, these rides should run from east to west were the ground flora will be exposed to light for the sunlight period.

Cutting regimes are suggested to be cut on a 3 zone system which is more suited for nature reserves. The first zone will be cut once a year where 50% of grass species will be cut. The second zone will have 25% of vegetation cut and the 3rd zone will be left to allow natural regeneration to occur.



It is recommended that cuttings occur during Autumn time when invertebrates are less active while simultaneously promoting vigorous grass growth. Small cuttings in zone 2 during July won't have negative implications on invertebrates. Removal of grass growth is best to be performed during Spring time.

To further enhance the biodiversity in these woodland habitats, incorporating shaded, well lit streams are beneficial to most invertebrates and birds as a breeding site. Leaving the dead wood from the coppicing in semi shaded areas are valuable for fungi and lichen establishment. Arboreal species such as squirrels should also be accounted for where the canopy of the trees either side of the ride should be in contact with one another in order to allow these individuas to run from tree to tree.

Strong winds in these rides will disrupt the biodiversity especially the invertebrates. Long straight rides will encourage channeling of strong winds. To prevent this from occurring, curved rides are suggested.  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkRuMqVuJDE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg3Ucu6wYZw