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Sustainable Living
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Are real Christmas trees more sustainable than artificial ones?
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yes_statement
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"real" christmas "trees" are more "sustainable" than "artificial" "ones".. choosing "real" christmas "trees" is a more "sustainable" option compared to "artificial" "ones".
|
https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/protect-water-and-land/land-and-water-stories/real-vs-fake-christmas-tree/
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Real vs. Fake—Which Christmas tree is better for the environment?
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Real vs. Fake—Which Christmas tree is better for the environment?
Every year around the end of November, Christmas trees begin to be on a lot of people’s minds. There are many questions about which types of trees are more environmentally friendly. We made a list and checked it twice.
Real or Fake: Which Christmas tree is better for the environment?
Short answer–real! Real trees help fight climate change, and even though your Christmas tree is cut down, you’re actually supporting forests. More on that later.
Are fake Christmas trees bad for the environment?
In the U.S., around 10 million artificial trees are purchased each season. Nearly 90 percent of them are shipped across the world from China, resulting in an increase of carbon emissions and resources. And because of the material they are made of, most artificial trees are not recyclable and end up in local landfills. Not to mention the smell of new plastic is just not as nostalgic as a crisp, fresh evergreen.
Why are real trees better than artificial ones?
First off, real trees don’t require the intensive carbon emissions that it takes to produce and ship artificial trees.
Next, you’re supporting forests. When these natural trees are harvested for sale, there are more than ten times as many left standing! Out of the 350-500 million growing on tree farms across the U.S., only 30 million trees are harvested for Christmas each year. Buying real trees will help keep tree farms in business – and in turn keep their lands covered in the healthy forest habitat that wildlife depends on to survive.
And what’s more, once all the festivities are done, these trees can be recycled and given a second life. Most states have organizations that use these donated Christmas trees for conservation and habitat projects in their local communities. Meanwhile, artificial trees are usually not recyclable and often end up filling our landfills.
But shouldn’t we avoid cutting down trees in general?
Science shows that one of the best ways to protect forests is to use them–carefully. When our forests are sustainably managed, they can produce renewable resources like Christmas trees and other wood-made products.
This is important because well-maintained forests often store as much carbon as unmanaged forests, making innovative forest management methods a key solution to fighting climate change. More than half of U.S. forests are privately owned. Buying sustainable forest products supports local communities and gives landowners the profits they need to keep their land forested.
For every tree purchased, farmers plant 1-3 seedlings in its place according to the National Christmas Tree Association. That means more trees to fight climate change and to provide more vital benefits for people and nature like clean air and water, wildlife habitat and healthy soil. At The Nature Conservancy, we’re working in places like the United States, China, Mexico and Brazil on our Plant A Billion Trees initiative that provides trees to the habitats that need them most.
Our power to make a difference is as easy as 1-2-tree. This year, you can do your part for nature by picking out a real tree that’s not only beautiful but good for nature too. That could cement your position on the “nice” list.
The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 53-0242652) under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Global sites represent either regional branches of The Nature Conservancy or local affiliates of The Nature Conservancy that are separate entities. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
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Real vs. Fake—Which Christmas tree is better for the environment?
Every year around the end of November, Christmas trees begin to be on a lot of people’s minds. There are many questions about which types of trees are more environmentally friendly. We made a list and checked it twice.
Real or Fake: Which Christmas tree is better for the environment?
Short answer–real! Real trees help fight climate change, and even though your Christmas tree is cut down, you’re actually supporting forests. More on that later.
Are fake Christmas trees bad for the environment?
In the U.S., around 10 million artificial trees are purchased each season. Nearly 90 percent of them are shipped across the world from China, resulting in an increase of carbon emissions and resources. And because of the material they are made of, most artificial trees are not recyclable and end up in local landfills. Not to mention the smell of new plastic is just not as nostalgic as a crisp, fresh evergreen.
Why are real trees better than artificial ones?
First off, real trees don’t require the intensive carbon emissions that it takes to produce and ship artificial trees.
Next, you’re supporting forests. When these natural trees are harvested for sale, there are more than ten times as many left standing! Out of the 350-500 million growing on tree farms across the U.S., only 30 million trees are harvested for Christmas each year. Buying real trees will help keep tree farms in business – and in turn keep their lands covered in the healthy forest habitat that wildlife depends on to survive.
And what’s more, once all the festivities are done, these trees can be recycled and given a second life. Most states have organizations that use these donated Christmas trees for conservation and habitat projects in their local communities. Meanwhile, artificial trees are usually not recyclable and often end up filling our landfills.
But shouldn’t we avoid cutting down trees in general?
Science shows that one of the best ways to protect forests is to use them–carefully. When our forests are sustainably managed, they can produce renewable resources like Christmas trees and other wood-made products.
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yes
|
Sustainable Living
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Are real Christmas trees more sustainable than artificial ones?
|
yes_statement
|
"real" christmas "trees" are more "sustainable" than "artificial" "ones".. choosing "real" christmas "trees" is a more "sustainable" option compared to "artificial" "ones".
|
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/11/25/artificial-tree-real-christmas-environment/
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Are real or artificial Christmas trees better for the environment?
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Some experts say a real tree is the more sustainable choice, but you can reduce an artificial tree’s impact if you reuse it enough
Many American households are beginning to prepare for one of the biggest holidays of the year: Christmas. And for those who celebrate, that often means figuring out what to do about a tree — the time-honored centerpiece of the season’s festivities.
What type of tree or, in some cases, trees you choose largely comes down to personal preference. For many people, a real tree represents tradition — a chance to re-create memories of finding “The One” and hauling it home from the forest or a neighborhood tree lot — with a fresh scent that helps create a holiday atmosphere. But artificial trees offer convenience, since they can be reused year after year and typically come with built-in lights or decorations.
But with more consumers becoming increasingly concerned about their purchases’ environmental impact, you might be wondering which type of Christmas tree is more planet-friendly. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to whether real or artificial trees are better for the environment.
The argument for real trees
While you might worry that chopping down tens of millions of trees each year amounts to an environmental nightmare, a real Christmas tree can be more sustainable than an artificial one, says Bill Ulfelder, executive director of the Nature Conservancy in New York.
“There should be no remorse, no guilt, like, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s a cut tree.’ It’s absolutely the contrary,” says Ulfelder, who has a master’s degree in forestry. “Trees are a renewable resource. When they’re being cut, they’re being harvested in ways that they’re being replanted, so it’s a great renewable resource that provides lots of environmental, conservation and nature benefits.”
For one, living trees absorb carbon dioxide — a main contributor to global warming — from the air and release oxygen. It can take at least seven years to grow a Christmas tree to its typical height of between six and seven feet, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), a trade group that in part represents growers and sellers of real trees. While estimates can vary significantly, one study suggests that growing Christmas trees may sequester nearly a ton of carbon dioxide per acre, according to the Sightline Institute. What happens to that carbon depends on how these trees are treated once they’re cut and discarded.
As these trees grow, not only do they provide clean air, but they can also serve as wildlife habitats, help improve water quality and slow erosion, and preserve green spaces. Christmas trees are often grown on hillsides that wouldn’t be suitable for farming other types of crops. And for every tree harvested, one to three seedlings are planted the following spring, according to NCTA.
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What’s more, real trees can be repurposed in ways that continue to benefit the environment even after they’re no longer living. Cities such as New York and D.C. have municipal programs that collect dead Christmas trees and turn them into mulch. The trees can also be used to prevent dune erosion or sunken in ponds and lakes to create natural habitats for freshwater wildlife, Ulfelder says.
But Ulfelder and other experts recognize that there is an environmental cost to farming and distributing real trees. Growing trees requires water and, in many cases, fertilizers and pesticides. On top of that, harvesting trees and shipping them from farms to stores or lots can produce emissions.
Still, real trees may be the preferred choice over artificial ones when it comes to overall sustainability, which also takes into account economic and social impacts, says Bert Cregg, a professor of horticulture and forestry at Michigan State University. “That’s where I think the real trees are head and shoulders above” artificial trees, Cregg says.
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There are nearly 15,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States, the vast majority of which are family-owned operations, and the industry provides full or part-time employment to more than 100,000 people, according to NCTA.
“Like any other agriculture, are you going to support local farmers or are you going to support a large manufacturer someplace else?” Cregg says.
Going artificial
Most of the artificial trees sold in the United States are manufactured in China, according to NCTA, citing data from the Commerce Department. The trees are typically loaded onto fossil-fuel-burning ocean freighters bound for the United States, where they are distributed to retailers nationwide. But experts say the emissions associated with transporting artificial trees are less significant than what is produced when making them.
Artificial trees are often made of plastic, a petroleum-based material, and steel. Many trees use polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which has been linked to health and environmental risks. Trees can also be made of polyethylene, another type of plastic, says Mac Harman, founder and CEO of Balsam Hill, a leading retailer of artificial Christmas trees and holiday decor in the United States.
Although not much about artificial trees initially sounds Earth-friendly, in certain cases they can be the more environmentally conscious choice, according to the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), a nonprofit industry group that represents artificial tree manufacturers.
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One 2018 study analyzed real and artificial Christmas trees across different environmental metrics, including global warming potential, primary energy demand and water usage,among others, and found that artificial trees may have less environmental impact if they are reused for at least five years compared to buying a new real tree each year.
“The impact of both types of trees varies based on how far consumers travel to get their tree, how they dispose of their tree (for live trees, landfill, incinerate or compost), and how long consumers use their trees,” according to a summary of the study from ACTA, which released the assessment conducted by WAP Sustainability Consulting.
But another in-depth study released in 2009 concluded that artificial trees would only become better than natural ones if they were used for 20 years.
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A Nielsen survey paid for by ACTA found that nearly 50 percent of artificial tree owners reported planning to use their trees for 10 or more seasons, Harman says.
He adds that artificial trees also are often given away or donated, which can extend their life span. The downside, though, is that once these trees are no longer of use to anyone “they do end up mostly in landfills at this point,” he says.
More plastic eventually winding up in landfills should worry consumers, Ulfelder says.
“If you keep artificial trees truly long enough, the carbon footprint may be smaller, but then you’ve still got plastic and then there’s plastic going into the landfill,” he says. “So that’s just one way of looking at the comparison, and I think we just need to look at the whole of the nature benefits of the natural trees.”
What you should do
If you’re interested in a real tree, Ulfelder recommends trying to buy local whenever possible. Driving a long distance in a gas-guzzling car to get to a farm or seller can be a significant source of emissions. Buying your tree from a farm or lot in your area can also help support the local economy. The top Christmas tree producing states include Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington, according to NCTA.
Looking for an organically grown Christmas tree is an additional step you can take to help the environment, Ulfelder says.
The U.S. Forest Service also sells permits to people who want to go out into the wild and cut down their own tree. “For every tree that is found, cut and carried home as a holiday fixture, you’re also contributing to the overall forest health,” according to a government website selling the permits.
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Buying a living tree, or one that can be replanted outdoors, is another option. “The big trick is getting the tree to live afterward,” Cregg says.
If you have a living tree, it’s critical not to keep it inside your home for too long, especially if you’re in northern parts of the country, or it may begin to lose its ability to withstand cold temperatures, he says. He suggests leaving the tree up for two weeks at most before moving it to an unheated garage or patio until springtime. “Then, you can plant it just like your normal spring planting routine.”
It’s also important to take care of real trees, Cregg says. The trees need a lot of water and he recommends checking your tree stand daily to make sure your tree isn’t drying out.
And how you dispose of your real tree matters. “If people put the tree in a bonfire, all that carbon is back in the atmosphere,” Cregg says.
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If you’re planning to mulch your tree, make sure to remove any decorations, Ulfelder says. Leftover ornaments, lights or pieces of tinsel can create a headache for mulchers.
For those who prefer artificial trees, try to keep them in use and out of landfills for as long as possible.
And although real and artificial trees can have varying impacts, experts say it’s important to consider this holiday decision in the context of other personal choices that can contribute to climate change.
“At the end of the day, assuming that an artificial tree is used for at least five years, neither tree has a significant impact on the environment when compared to other activities of daily living like driving a car,” Harman says.
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Some experts say a real tree is the more sustainable choice, but you can reduce an artificial tree’s impact if you reuse it enough
Many American households are beginning to prepare for one of the biggest holidays of the year: Christmas. And for those who celebrate, that often means figuring out what to do about a tree — the time-honored centerpiece of the season’s festivities.
What type of tree or, in some cases, trees you choose largely comes down to personal preference. For many people, a real tree represents tradition — a chance to re-create memories of finding “The One” and hauling it home from the forest or a neighborhood tree lot — with a fresh scent that helps create a holiday atmosphere. But artificial trees offer convenience, since they can be reused year after year and typically come with built-in lights or decorations.
But with more consumers becoming increasingly concerned about their purchases’ environmental impact, you might be wondering which type of Christmas tree is more planet-friendly. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to whether real or artificial trees are better for the environment.
The argument for real trees
While you might worry that chopping down tens of millions of trees each year amounts to an environmental nightmare, a real Christmas tree can be more sustainable than an artificial one, says Bill Ulfelder, executive director of the Nature Conservancy in New York.
“There should be no remorse, no guilt, like, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s a cut tree.’ It’s absolutely the contrary,” says Ulfelder, who has a master’s degree in forestry. “Trees are a renewable resource. When they’re being cut, they’re being harvested in ways that they’re being replanted, so it’s a great renewable resource that provides lots of environmental, conservation and nature benefits.”
For one, living trees absorb carbon dioxide — a main contributor to global warming — from the air and release oxygen. It can take at least seven years to grow a Christmas tree to its typical height of between six and seven feet, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), a trade group that in part represents growers and sellers of real trees.
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yes
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Sustainable Living
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Are real Christmas trees more sustainable than artificial ones?
|
yes_statement
|
"real" christmas "trees" are more "sustainable" than "artificial" "ones".. choosing "real" christmas "trees" is a more "sustainable" option compared to "artificial" "ones".
|
https://www.greenmatters.com/p/real-vs-fake-christmas-trees
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Real vs. Fake Christmas Trees: Which Is More Eco-Friendly?
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My wife and I have this argument every year: should we get another real tree that’s only going to last the season, or bite the bullet and finally get a fake tree that will be around for years to come? For us, it’s a question of cost vs. tradition, and it’s pretty small potatoes in terms of our relationship and our finances, but for many eco-friendly people, this is a far more complex issue. The real vs. fake Christmas tree debate isn’t just about which tree looks or smells better, it’s about the lasting environmental impact of the Tannenbaum in question.
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Source: Getty Images
Are Christmas trees bad for the environment?
This is a difficult question. According to CNN, Americans throw out 1 million extra tons of waste each week from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day every year. The bulk of that 25 percent increase takes place during the Christmas season, and is made up of holiday cards, wrapping paper, gift boxes, etc. But at least some of that trash contains discarded Christmas trees — specifically, fake ones.
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Are fake Christmas trees bad for the environment?
From a financial standpoint, the idea of a fake tree might make sense. You’re buying a single tree, meant to last significantly longer than a real one, which means you’re not spending the same $50 plus dollars each year to get that pine-fresh scent. You’re also paying for the convenience of being able to pull the Christmas tree out of the attic every year, instead of shopping for one in the cold every year.
According to USA Today, Americans purchase approximately 10 million artificial trees each season. The added impact of all those artificial bushes made of plastic and metal is that they usually ship here from China, increasing carbon emissions and resources. These trees are not recyclable nor biodegradable, so even if they do happen to last you 10 years before breaking (they likely will not), they will still end up in a landfill somewhere.
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Source: Getty Images
Are real trees better than artificial ones?
This is a tough question, and the answer is perhaps a bit more nuanced than the previous one. The main draw for real trees is their authenticity. They look real, smell real, and feel real — and that counts a lot when trying to connect with a holiday that feels more and more commercialized with each passing year.
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Real trees also don’t require the intensive carbon emissions it takes to produce and ship artificial ones. They actually release oxygen into the atmosphere and take in carbon dioxide while they are growing, thereby eliminating that complication. There are thousands of tree farms across the U.S. and each year, about 30 million trees are sold to holiday shoppers.
That may seem like a lot, but it’s nothing when you consider that this 30 million is out of the 350 to 500 million trees that are actually grown every year.
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Tree farms are often great for the environment and the people who work and live on them. They create jobs for humans, homes for animals, oxygen for everyone, and holiday cheer for anyone that sees them. More important than all that is the fact that, unlike fake trees, real trees are completely biodegradable. They can be used for lumber, turned into mulch, or composted and used to fertilize next year’s crop.
To further lower the environmental impact of the real tree you buy, try purchasing one that was locally-grown. Or, better yet, ask an employee at your local Christmas tree market if it's possible to take a look at the less-than-perfect trees that are headed to the chipper — by purchasing one of these, you'll be saving it from getting mulched, and possibly even saving yourself a few dollars.
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Source: Getty Images
Isn’t cutting down real trees bad?
There are certainly problems associated with logging — but you have to think of Christmas trees more like cucumbers or corn than towering pines. They are grown yearly and meant to be used for that purpose. Many commercial tree farms use sustainable methods for cultivation and recycling. For consumers, it means we can feel good about buying something that is both better for the environment and the business of the people whose livelihoods depend on it.
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Are there alternatives to real or fake trees?
The perfect alternative to a traditional real or fake tree might just be a living tree. As odd as this sounds, many eco-conscious companies offer tree adoption programs that allow you to buy a living Christmas tree in a flower pot.
For instance, Friends of the Urban Forest, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, sells these living potted trees known as "Green Christmas Trees" that you can keep in your living room. After the holidays, the organization collects the trees from everyone's homes, and replants them in the forest. By the organization's own admission, these trees are often described as “Charlie Brown trees” — but that hasn’t stopped them from growing steadily in popularity and revenue over the past few years.
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Source: Getty Images
How do real trees help fight climate change?
According to findings by NASA, restoring our forests is one of the most effective ways to slow climate change. Christmas tree farms, while temporary, can store a lot of carbon — enough to cut carbon emissions — by 30 percent if they are maintained properly.
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The National Christmas Tree Association asserts that for every tree purchased, farmers plant one to three seedlings in its place. This means that three times the amount of trees used are planted every year, on average. Even if more people start buying real trees — which they should — great strides will still be made in fighting climate change. In the end, even I have to admit that my wife is probably right.
In the contest of real vs. fake Christmas trees, the ends do indeed justify the means. Real trees are more sustainable, better looking, better smelling, and better for everyone. Sure, you’re spending a few more bucks every year to get the real deal, but think of it this way: you’re helping thousands of farmers, farmworkers, and their families to continue doing good work for the betterment of our planet. And there’s no better Christmas gift than that.
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Are fake Christmas trees bad for the environment?
From a financial standpoint, the idea of a fake tree might make sense. You’re buying a single tree, meant to last significantly longer than a real one, which means you’re not spending the same $50 plus dollars each year to get that pine-fresh scent. You’re also paying for the convenience of being able to pull the Christmas tree out of the attic every year, instead of shopping for one in the cold every year.
According to USA Today, Americans purchase approximately 10 million artificial trees each season. The added impact of all those artificial bushes made of plastic and metal is that they usually ship here from China, increasing carbon emissions and resources. These trees are not recyclable nor biodegradable, so even if they do happen to last you 10 years before breaking (they likely will not), they will still end up in a landfill somewhere.
Article continues below advertisement
Source: Getty Images
Are real trees better than artificial ones?
This is a tough question, and the answer is perhaps a bit more nuanced than the previous one. The main draw for real trees is their authenticity. They look real, smell real, and feel real — and that counts a lot when trying to connect with a holiday that feels more and more commercialized with each passing year.
Article continues below advertisement
Real trees also don’t require the intensive carbon emissions it takes to produce and ship artificial ones. They actually release oxygen into the atmosphere and take in carbon dioxide while they are growing, thereby eliminating that complication. There are thousands of tree farms across the U.S. and each year, about 30 million trees are sold to holiday shoppers.
That may seem like a lot, but it’s nothing when you consider that this 30 million is out of the 350 to 500 million trees that are actually grown every year.
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Tree farms are often great for the environment and the people who work and live on them. They create jobs for humans, homes for animals, oxygen for everyone, and holiday cheer for anyone that sees them.
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yes
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Sustainable Living
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Are real Christmas trees more sustainable than artificial ones?
|
yes_statement
|
"real" christmas "trees" are more "sustainable" than "artificial" "ones".. choosing "real" christmas "trees" is a more "sustainable" option compared to "artificial" "ones".
|
https://www.livekindly.com/christmas-trees-sustainable-real-environmental-impact/
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Are Real Christmas Trees More Sustainable Than Fake Ones?
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Are Real Christmas Trees More Sustainable Than Fake Ones?
The holiday season is here again and people around the world are getting out their Christmas decorations. For many, a tree is the focal point of all festive decorating. But increasing environmental consciousness has led to updated traditions in some households.
Between eight and 10 million real Christmas trees are sold each year in the UK, with 25 to 30 million sold in the U.S. (plus over 20 million artificial ones). Overall, people tend to prefer real trees to plastic or other alternatives, and bringing a fresh tree home is a popular way to keep authentic festive traditions alive, not to mention a fun family activity.
Many people also perceive them to be a more environmentally-friendly option. Just between 2018 and 2019, the number of Google searches for “sustainable Christmas trees” went up by 233 percent. If you’re aiming for a fully sustainable Christmas, what is the best choice of tree for a centerpiece? Are we just better off without? And why decorate trees in the first place?
What’s more sustainable? A fake Christmas tree, or a real one? | Pridannikov/Getty
The history of Christmas trees
Evergreen trees have been used during winter celebrations for thousands of years, and decorating your house with one of the 35-plus species of coniferous trees synonymous with Christmas today—including pine, fir, and spruce—has a long history stretching back to ancient civilizations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
People hung evergreen branches around their homes in winter, particularly above doors and windows, and in many cultures the green leaves served as a hopeful reminder of the spring to come. This is one reason for their inclusion in pagan winter solstice festivals, as well as in the long-standing Christian traditions that came later.
Decorated trees as we think of them today first became a Christian custom in Germany during the 16th century. As Germans migrated they brought their holiday traditions with them, perhaps most notably to the UK and U.S. Despite the presence of community trees in certain areas as early as the 1700s, decorated trees did not become truly popular in the U.S. until the early 1900s.
In the UK, decorating homes, churches, and public spaces with evergreen branches is now well established in Christian and pagan tradition. But it also took until the 1900s for small, decorated trees to become popular outside of the wealthy aristocracy and gatherings of the Royal Family.
Traditionally, these Christmas trees were decorated with candles and edible treats such as apples, dates, and nuts. Now, electric lights have mostly replaced candles, while candy canes, chocolates, and other sugary sweets are far more commonplace than fruit or nuts.
Real or artificial: which is the most sustainable tree?
Whichever type of tree you buy, it may seem like an obvious sustainable choice: avoiding real fir could save a tree from the axe, but eschewing artificial options means less plastic. While both are likely to create emissions through transportation, the production of artificial trees undoubtedly has a higher environmental impact.
According to the Carbon Trust, around 66 percent of the emissions created by plastic trees come from the carbon-intensive oil it is made from, while approximately 25 percent of its emissions originate in the manufacturing process in general. Many artificial trees are made from PVC plastic, creating hazardous waste and airborne pollution.
PVC is also notoriously difficult to recycle at the end of its life, and the Carbon Trust estimates that a 2 meter-tall artificial tree creates around 40kg C02e, over twice that of a real tree—even if it ends up in a landfill where it will produce methane gas.
If you already have a plastic tree—or are looking to rescue, borrow, or buy a pre-owned one—then that may still be your best option. But if buying new, you would need to re-use it for at least 10 years to keep its environmental impact lower than that of a real tree.
A typical 6 foot tall Christmas tree takes approximately 5-to-10 years to fully grow. During this time, the trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, helping to offset climate change and global warming. So overall, a real tree really does have less of an impact on the environment than an artificial one, particularly if your tree is replanted after the holiday season.
Replanting your tree
Ensuring your tree survives the Christmas period in order to be replanted is ideal, and some nurseries even offer a collection service. Rent-a-tree is also available from certain companies that ensure that your tree is removed from the ground and replaced again without damage.
Trees that are cut off from their roots—also known as “use-and-throw”—are the least sustainable option. These are typically shredded for mulch or compost. If you do get a tree of this type, disposing of it responsibly will significantly reduce its end-of-life environmental impact, and some wildlife services even use old trees to improve flood defenses in dune environments.
“An artificial tree has a higher carbon footprint than a natural one because of the energy-intensive production processes involved,” explains Darran Messem, Managing Director of Certification at the Carbon Trust. But “disposing of a tree by composting produces CO2 and methane.”
Christmas trees that are grown inside a pot—and can be transported without cutting—are the most likely to survive and be successfully transplanted, but trees that are cut to include a significant proportion of their roots and surrounding soil can still make it through the holidays.
“By far the best option is a potted tree which, with care, can be replanted after the festive season and re-used year after year,” adds Messem. This could even result in negative emissions, thanks to your tree’s superb carbon-capturing potential.
Purchasing a real tree with the maximum chance of survival from a local farmer will minimize the impact of growth, transportation, and disposal, and therefore your Christmas. Failing that, there are a myriad of relatively eco-friendly disposal methods for real trees, as long as they don’t end up in landfills. But if you really want to get creative (and sustainable), try these alternatives.
Christmas Tree recycling. What do you do? Feed yourself, feed wildlife, create brush piles, donate to restoration? The options are many, let us know what you do!
Christmas tree alternatives
In addition to the above options, there are also a variety of innovative, tree-free alternatives to both pine and plastic. Some people choose to decorate a tree, plant, log, or piece of wood they already have. Succulents, “swiss cheese” plants, and spider plants all make effective mini-trees.
Decorating a ladder—or a ladder-style wall hanging—is also increasingly popular, as is using everyday items such as books, glass bottles, and even drawings, paintings, and prints.
As with most things, the items you already have are always the most sustainable choice, and creating a festive centerpiece out of everyday items can be a fun activity in itself. This doesn’t just apply to trees, and making decorations out of recycled fabric, paper, cardboard, and other nick-nacks all contributes to making your holiday season extra sustainable.
Check out LIVEKINDLY’s Christmas gift guides here, and how to have a zero-waste holiday here.
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What’s more sustainable? A fake Christmas tree, or a real one? | Pridannikov/Getty
The history of Christmas trees
Evergreen trees have been used during winter celebrations for thousands of years, and decorating your house with one of the 35-plus species of coniferous trees synonymous with Christmas today—including pine, fir, and spruce—has a long history stretching back to ancient civilizations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
People hung evergreen branches around their homes in winter, particularly above doors and windows, and in many cultures the green leaves served as a hopeful reminder of the spring to come. This is one reason for their inclusion in pagan winter solstice festivals, as well as in the long-standing Christian traditions that came later.
Decorated trees as we think of them today first became a Christian custom in Germany during the 16th century. As Germans migrated they brought their holiday traditions with them, perhaps most notably to the UK and U.S. Despite the presence of community trees in certain areas as early as the 1700s, decorated trees did not become truly popular in the U.S. until the early 1900s.
In the UK, decorating homes, churches, and public spaces with evergreen branches is now well established in Christian and pagan tradition. But it also took until the 1900s for small, decorated trees to become popular outside of the wealthy aristocracy and gatherings of the Royal Family.
Traditionally, these Christmas trees were decorated with candles and edible treats such as apples, dates, and nuts. Now, electric lights have mostly replaced candles, while candy canes, chocolates, and other sugary sweets are far more commonplace than fruit or nuts.
Real or artificial: which is the most sustainable tree?
Whichever type of tree you buy, it may seem like an obvious sustainable choice: avoiding real fir could save a tree from the axe, but eschewing artificial options means less plastic. While both are likely to create emissions through transportation, the production of artificial trees undoubtedly has a higher environmental impact.
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yes
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Sustainable Living
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Are real Christmas trees more sustainable than artificial ones?
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yes_statement
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"real" christmas "trees" are more "sustainable" than "artificial" "ones".. choosing "real" christmas "trees" is a more "sustainable" option compared to "artificial" "ones".
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https://www.activesustainability.com/sustainable-life/carbon-footprint-natural-vs-plastic-christmas-tree/
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Carbon footprint: Natural vs plastic Christmas tree
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Carbon footprint: Natural vs plastic Christmas tree
Christmas is coming along and with it comes the doubt whether it is more sustainable to have a natural tree or buy a plastic one. How is each one's carbon footprint?
Carbon footprint is the amount of emissions and greenhouse gases produced by human beings when making a product or doing their daily activities; it´s our treading footprint on the planet. It is expressed in tonnes of emitted CO2.
According to the British Carbon Trust, a natural tree that ends up as splinters for woodwork or is burnt as firewood has a 3.5 kg CO2 carbon footprint. If the tree ends up decomposing in a waste dump, its footprint significantly increases to 16 kg.
The carbon footprint of an artificial tree is quite bigger, reaching 40 kg of CO2, so it will always be more sustainable to reutilise it for at least 12 years, compared to a natural one which ends up as splinters.
Advantages of natural Christmas trees compared to the plastic ones:
Plastic trees usually come from faraway countries –like China –which raises the carbon footprint generated by their transport. The natural ones come from nearby nurseries, which reduces this footprint.
Meanwhile, natural trees have been reared, have worked while absorbing CO2and they continue doing so at home.
Once we have got rid of both kinds of Christmas trees, the natural ones are biodegradable and can be used for compost or biomass, generating very little CO2. The plastic ones generate much more CO2 in their recycling process as they contain oil by-products, and without a proper recycling they would take hundreds of years to degrade.
But what points should we consider if we choose a natural Christmas tree?
We must be sure that they come from nurseries that sell them and refuse those which have been uncontrollably cut off from nature (in unspoilt forests). Many nurseries have these kinds of trees especially designed for these holidays.
It is better to get a reared flower-potted natural tree as some can survive, and they can be transplanted after its collection. The number of those which survive does not reach 10% but these must be made a good use of.
We must know about its collection service. Most of the nurseries have one but this aspect is important as we make sure that they will end up being recycled or transplanted. If recycled, they usually end up as splinters for biomass or as compost.
There are 3 forms of natural Christmas trees:
Cut off from the soil without roots: These are the “use-and-throw" ones; they are generally shredded and recycled as fertilisers.
Cut off together with a root ball: If it has been plucked with a rather large amount of soil attached to its roots, it might survive.
Grown inside a flowerpot: It has greater chances of survival, but we must be careful with the heating; high temperatures make them die soon.
Having all this information, we conclude that, as long as they do not come from logging in unspoilt forests, it is a better choice to get a real tree. It can then be collected and recycled, or transplanted if it is still alive.
If we choose a plastic one, we will have to lengthen its lifespan for longer than 12 years so that it makes up for all those tonnes of CO2 emitted, and of course, we will have to make sure that it is properly recycled.
Sustainability is understood as the development that meets the present needs without compromising the capacities of future generations, ensuring the balance between economic growth, environmental care and social welfare. In Sustainability for all we promote the awareness and difussion of good practices that allow to combine economic and social development with the preservation of natural resources.
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–like China –which raises the carbon footprint generated by their transport. The natural ones come from nearby nurseries, which reduces this footprint.
Meanwhile, natural trees have been reared, have worked while absorbing CO2and they continue doing so at home.
Once we have got rid of both kinds of Christmas trees, the natural ones are biodegradable and can be used for compost or biomass, generating very little CO2. The plastic ones generate much more CO2 in their recycling process as they contain oil by-products, and without a proper recycling they would take hundreds of years to degrade.
But what points should we consider if we choose a natural Christmas tree?
We must be sure that they come from nurseries that sell them and refuse those which have been uncontrollably cut off from nature (in unspoilt forests). Many nurseries have these kinds of trees especially designed for these holidays.
It is better to get a reared flower-potted natural tree as some can survive, and they can be transplanted after its collection. The number of those which survive does not reach 10% but these must be made a good use of.
We must know about its collection service. Most of the nurseries have one but this aspect is important as we make sure that they will end up being recycled or transplanted. If recycled, they usually end up as splinters for biomass or as compost.
There are 3 forms of natural Christmas trees:
Cut off from the soil without roots: These are the “use-and-throw" ones; they are generally shredded and recycled as fertilisers.
Cut off together with a root ball: If it has been plucked with a rather large amount of soil attached to its roots, it might survive.
Grown inside a flowerpot: It has greater chances of survival, but we must be careful with the heating; high temperatures make them die soon.
Having all this information, we conclude that, as long as they do not come from logging in unspoilt forests, it is a better choice to get a real tree. It can then be collected and recycled, or transplanted if it is still alive.
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yes
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Sustainable Living
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Are real Christmas trees more sustainable than artificial ones?
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yes_statement
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"real" christmas "trees" are more "sustainable" than "artificial" "ones".. choosing "real" christmas "trees" is a more "sustainable" option compared to "artificial" "ones".
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https://brightly.eco/blog/christmas-tree-sustainability
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Real vs. Fake Christmas Trees: Which Is More Sustainable? - Brightly
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Which Type of Christmas Tree Is Most Eco-Friendly? 5 Popular Options, Ranked
Which Type of Christmas Tree Is Most Eco-Friendly? 5 Popular Options, Ranked
We ranked five types of Christmas trees to uncover which is the most eco-friendly and sustainable: live, artificial, rented, and more.
Written by
Brightly Staff
Published
It’s that time of year again! If your tree isn’t already picked out, decorated with
DIY Christmas ornaments, and lit up in your living room, there’s still time to decide what you want. Whether you prefer real, artificial, or alternative trees, the environmental impacts of each are important to know before making a purchase.
The debate between
real and artificial trees has been going on for decades. And this debate has expanded to include more unique options, such as using houseplants or assembling a modern wood tree. Today, there are endless holiday tree possibilities—and the choice is all yours.
If you're still not sure which type of tree to get this year, we're here to help you weigh your options. In our latest report, we researched five of the most popular types of Christmas trees to find out which is the most and least eco-friendly.
Our Methodology
The Brightly team compared five types of Christmas trees and ranked them in terms of sustainability.
Christmas Tree Types We Ranked:
Artificial trees
Houseplant trees
Live trees
Modern wood trees
Rental trees
Ranking Factors:
Materials and Production
Longevity and Disposal
Overall Environmental Impact
Accessibility
Each Christmas tree type was given a rating out of 20 points based on materials and production (including agriculture and/or tree production); longevity and disposal; overall environmental impact (including community and ecosystemic impact); and accessibility (including price and transportation). Each category is scored from 1 to 5, with 1 being the least eco-friendly and 5 being the most eco-friendly.
Popular Types of Christmas Trees, Ranked
1. Live Trees
Total Score: 17/20
Materials and Production: 5/5
Longevity and Disposal: 3/5
Overall Environmental Impact: 5/5
Accessibility: 4/5
Contrary to popular belief, buying a live tree is a much more eco-friendly option than buying an artificial tree. Not only that, but it has an overall more positive impact on the planet than any other option on this list.
Live trees are grown on tree farms—not cut straight from natural forests. It's estimated that up to 500 million trees are grown on tree farms across the U.S. every year, yet only 30 million are cut down for Christmas. For every tree bought, farmers plant between one and three seedlings to replace them.
The millions of trees still standing after the holidays are beneficial to the planet, supporting air purification and natural habitats for wildlife. Supporting farmers by buying a live tree ensures this land will remain a green space, as these trees wouldn't be there if not for the Christmas tree market. Without this market, the land would likely be developed.
While the remaining trees benefit the planet, proper tree disposal is crucial in making sure the entire life cycle of these trees is eco-friendly. It's estimated that millions of live Christmas trees still wind up in landfills after the holidays.
Before putting your tree on the curb, make sure you know the correct steps on how to recycle your tree with your local curbside pickup. This information is listed on many city websites. You also access it by calling your local recycling center. These trees can be turned into compost, mulched and used by city parks, or given a second life in local conservation efforts. Or, you can repurpose the wood to be used in your own backyard.
How about accessibility? For many, picking out the annual tree at a local tree farm is a cherished memory. But even if there isn't a tree farm near you and the live trees for sale were transported hundreds of miles, those carbon emissions are still nowhere near that of producing and transporting a plastic and metal artificial tree from China. Not to mention the environmental toll that comes with discarding those artificial trees when that time comes.
This year, it may be slightly harder to find an affordable live tree option. According to the
supply chain issues, raising the price 20-30% for an average of $104. Considering live trees are more eco-friendly and more affordable, despite the shortage, supporting the live tree market is one of the best moves you can make this holiday season.
If you do already have an artificial tree, however, don't ditch it. The most eco-friendly move is using it for as long as you can before donating it.
2. Houseplant Trees
Total Score: 16/20
Materials and Production: 5/5
Longevity and Disposal: 5/5
Overall Environmental Impact: 3/5
Accessibility: 3/5
A Christmas tree isn’t one-size-fits-all. Many people are getting creative with the space they have, including swapping a traditional Christmas tree with a potted
Unlike traditional Christmas trees you cut down and dispose of, these plants go on to become houseplants you love and care for year-round. While you can give many larger houseplants a festive touch (
plant parents are even decorating their cacti with lights!), the most popular Christmas tree houseplant is the Norfolk Pine.
Despite its name, it's not a pine. The Norfolk Pine is a tropical plant native to the South Pacific with whimsical branches and soft, delicate needles that don't shed. While they start on the smaller side, this plant can grow as tall as your ceiling with proper care and
Longevity isn’t a problem for houseplant trees either, as their lifespan extends long after the holidays. You may never need to buy a Christmas tree ever again; you can continue to decorate your Norfolk Pine year after year. But while you don't dispose of a houseplant tree, its overall environmental impact doesn't extend beyond your home. Therefore, the impacts aren't nearly as great as that of rental trees or live trees, which provide clean air and homes to wildlife.
If you're interested in purchasing a Norfolk Pine, they're fairly affordable and easy to find. Many retailers sell the plant this time of year, with prices ranging from $20 to $70 depending on the size. You can also buy the plant from a local nursery to benefit your community, or buy from a trusted
3. Rental Trees
Rental trees are another great eco-friendly option for the holidays. While live trees are cut down then turned into mulch or composted after the holidays, renting a tree allows the tree to return to nature.
Here's how it works: When you rent a Christmas tree from a company that has a rental option, the potted tree is delivered to your home. You care for the tree over the holidays, watering it as directed by the tree farm. Then after Christmas is over, the nursery picks it back up.
After the tree returns to the tree farm, it's able to continue to grow for another year at the farm's forest nursery, where it becomes part of the ecosystem, providing clean air and habitats to wildlife. Each tree can be re-rented for seven years before it's too big to transfer to homes for the holidays. At that point, it's planted in the ground within the community or forests, where it continues to better the environment.
While this is a great idea and option, rental tree farms are scarce. Because they aren't nearly as widespread as traditional tree farms, this tree type loses points in the accessibility category. Right now, the service is primarily on the West coast, with popular companies being
With that being said, rental trees still score high in longevity and overall environmental impact because these trees remain alive and aren't contributing to landfill waste after the holidays. Every year, more trees get a permanent home in the ground, where they provide clean air and homes to wildlife.
Even though this option isn't widespread, a tree farm near you may have a rental service that's not as heavily promoted online. Simply call and check around in your area. Prices typically range from $35 to $315, with the price increasing with the size of the tree you desire.
4. Modern Wood Trees
Total Score: 11/20
Materials and Production: 3/5
Longevity and Disposal: 3/5
Overall Environmental Impact: 2/5
Accessibility: 3/5
Similar to houseplant trees, modern wood trees are a way to get creative this holiday season. Consumer trends in recent years have produced a mix of DIY and purchasable options to satisfy your desire for modern holiday decor.
Modern wood trees are made with—you guessed it—wood. While wood is a natural material, there is extra processing involved to transform the raw material into home decorations. In comparison to living trees and rental trees, mass-manufactured wood trees may utilize a significant amount of resources, decreasing their sustainability levels.
When shopping for a wooden tree, consider how the tree was made and which accessories or paint the tree comes with. A reusable all-natural wooden tree purchased from an artisan or small business—like those bought locally or on
Etsy—is the most sustainable store-bought option. But it would be even more eco-friendly to make your own using wood you already have.
The environmental impact generally depends on the materials used and whether the tree was mass-produced. Plus, it's important to note that these trees don't continue to better the environment as rented real trees do.
Longevity ultimately depends on your personal preference. Which style are you trying to match, and how long do you foresee it lasting? If you're content with the choice you make, your tree can be reused for years to come. However, if you change your mind and want a new style, these trees won't last. Instead, they may wind up in landfills like other trendy decors.
Modern wood trees are one of the priciest options on this list with options costing up to $300, In-person events like holiday craft sales or flea markets can also hold one-of-a-kind, modern wood tree alternatives.
5. Artificial Trees
Total Score: 9/20
Materials and Production: 1/5
Longevity and Disposal: 3/5
Overall Environmental Impact: 1/5
Accessibility: 4/5
Rounding out our ranking is the artificial Christmas tree. Consumers assume buying an artificial tree to use year after year would be a more eco-friendly option than buying a live tree that's cut down and disposed of. But the reality? You would need to reuse your artificial tree for a minimum of 10 Christmases to keep its environmental impact lower than a real tree. And on average, Americans only keep artificial trees
So, why are artificial trees so bad for the planet? To make artificial holiday trees, materials like PVC plastic, copper, and steel are combined, making them difficult to dispose of. Therefore, many artificial trees are sent to landfills. On top of the unsustainable materials, most artificial trees are also imported from China, racking up additional carbon emissions from transport.
The good news is if an artificial tree is the best and most accessible option for you, it becomes more eco-friendly the longer it stays in use. After 10 years of use, it has offset its environmental impact. If you use it longer, that's even better for the planet.
As for the cost, artificial trees can be pricey. Due to supply chain issues this year, they're 20-30% more expensive at an average of $104 (compared to $78 for a live tree). However, if you do buy an artificial tree this year, you won't need to buy another next year. You can even opt to purchase an affordable artificial tree for sale in secondhand shops like Goodwill.
A Sustainable Holiday Goes Beyond the Tree
Sustainability is important year-round, but it's especially crucial during the holidays when we experience an increase in overall waste and
supply chain disruptions are impacting tree markets across live, artificial, and alternative options, so shoppers may face different constraints and compromises this year. Whichever tree type you choose to decorate, we hope it brings joyful memories to you and your loved ones this holiday season.
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Longevity ultimately depends on your personal preference. Which style are you trying to match, and how long do you foresee it lasting? If you're content with the choice you make, your tree can be reused for years to come. However, if you change your mind and want a new style, these trees won't last. Instead, they may wind up in landfills like other trendy decors.
Modern wood trees are one of the priciest options on this list with options costing up to $300, In-person events like holiday craft sales or flea markets can also hold one-of-a-kind, modern wood tree alternatives.
5. Artificial Trees
Total Score: 9/20
Materials and Production: 1/5
Longevity and Disposal: 3/5
Overall Environmental Impact: 1/5
Accessibility: 4/5
Rounding out our ranking is the artificial Christmas tree. Consumers assume buying an artificial tree to use year after year would be a more eco-friendly option than buying a live tree that's cut down and disposed of. But the reality? You would need to reuse your artificial tree for a minimum of 10 Christmases to keep its environmental impact lower than a real tree. And on average, Americans only keep artificial trees
So, why are artificial trees so bad for the planet? To make artificial holiday trees, materials like PVC plastic, copper, and steel are combined, making them difficult to dispose of. Therefore, many artificial trees are sent to landfills. On top of the unsustainable materials, most artificial trees are also imported from China, racking up additional carbon emissions from transport.
The good news is if an artificial tree is the best and most accessible option for you, it becomes more eco-friendly the longer it stays in use. After 10 years of use, it has offset its environmental impact. If you use it longer, that's even better for the planet.
As for the cost, artificial trees can be pricey.
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yes
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://a-z-animals.com/blog/are-salamanders-poisonous-or-dangerous/
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Are Salamanders Poisonous or Dangerous? - AZ Animals
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Salamanders are colorful and fascinating amphibians often seen in the wild and as pets. These animals sport various sizes, shapes, and appearances, and each species has its unique characteristics. Some salamanders are more beautiful than others and are tempting to hold and handle, but before doing that, you might want to read this article first. Salamanders may look beguiling (they are indeed docile and non-aggressive), yet, these amphibians are poisonous and dangerous around humans and other animals. Most people often associate the word “poisonous” and “dangerous” to animals that are known to be aggressive, such as snakes, bears, komodo dragons, and more. However, some animals can be poisonous and dangerous just by existing alone. Salamanders are living proof of this. But what makes them harmful to humans? And do they bite?
Do Salamanders Bite?
All animals with teeth, beaks, or pincers can “bite” humans and other animals when they feel threatened or provoked, and so do salamanders. Salamanders can bite when they think they are in danger, but they would usually do this not to induce grave harm but to warn the person or threat to back off. Fortunately, while there are over 600 species of salamanders on the planet, none of them contain venom in their bite, making salamander bites harmless. Salamander bites may hurt a little, but not too much, as their teeth are not sharp enough to leave deep puncture wounds. Some smaller salamander species can’t even penetrate human skin.
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Salamanders are generally docile, shy, and timid, both in the wild and in captivity. Whenever salamanders are frightened, they would rather hide and run than attack or fight back. Salamanders only bite to grab and hold their prey, and they only do this in self-defense as a last resort. If a pet salamander bites you, it may mean that they are uncomfortable. Salamanders often avoid confrontation, but they can lunge and bite to get away when cornered.
There is nothing to worry about salamander bites, though, as their bite will only leave you scratches or tiny bite marks. Their bites are not likely to penetrate through your skin, but if they do, you need to wash the wound with warm water and soap so it won’t be a target of bacteria. Since salamanders do not have any venom, people bitten do not develop allergic reactions.
Are Salamanders Dangerous to Humans?
Most non-aggressive animals, especially animals that don’t have venom, are harmless. But not the salamander. While salamanders have zero amount of venom and do not bite unless provoked, these amphibians are equipped with harmful toxins all over their bodies. Salamanders are dangerous to humans, but they do not need to bite to make them dangerous as their skins themselves are the ones that carry poison. All 600 plus species of salamanders have varying levels of poison in their skin, and no species of these amphibians are toxic-free. However, most poisonous salamanders will not kill you but can get you very sick.
While salamanders don’t possess very high degrees of poison to kill humans, they still have poison that makes humans ill. Salamanders should not be handled often or at all. It is believed that salamanders acquire their poison from absorbing potent bacteria and secreting these toxins over their skin. You must wash your hands after handling a salamander as its toxins can cause serious illnesses when ingested.
Ingestion of toxins from salamanders can numb some parts of the body, starting from the lips, tongue, the whole face, then going down to the arms and legs. Numbness will be followed by dizziness, muscle weakness, and excessive drooling. These symptoms can lead to paralysis of the entire body, affecting the respiratory muscles. As the respiratory muscles are paralyzed, the poisoned person will experience difficulty breathing.
Are Salamanders Poisonous?
Salamanders are poisonous, but they are not venomous. These amphibians may not cause any harm when they bite, but their skins are poisonous when handled.
Most people confuse the terms “poisonous” and “venomous.” However, the two are very different. Venomous animals inject their venom through their bite or sting. On the other hand, poisonous animals excrete toxins that may be harmful to humans or animals when ingested or touched. As for the salamander, handling them and putting your hands on your face, eyes, nose, or mouth afterward can cause severe poisoning symptoms.
Fortunately, salamander poison is not usually lethal, but it depends on the species. Some salamanders can be taken in as pets, and there are ways to avoid getting poisoned by their skin as well. Some species of salamanders, like those in pet stores, are less poisonous than species in the wild. Salamanders are also shy and passive, and they do not pose any other threat to humans apart from their toxic skins. So as long as you keep your bare hands away from the salamander’s poisonous skin, you will be safe.
Are Salamanders Poisonous to Dogs?
Most species of salamanders have less toxic levels than others. However, the more poisonous species can be fatal to dogs when ingested. As curious as they are, dogs will sometimes try to poke or eat salamanders. Most salamanders will only give dogs a foul taste and nothing more. Yet, some salamanders may cause more severe complications. More poisonous salamanders like the fire salamander and rough-skinned newt have lethal toxins that can kill dogs when ingested in sufficient amounts.
How to Avoid Salamander Poison?
Since salamanders are naturally not aggressive, the only risk they pose to you is when you touch them with your bare hands. The best way to avoid getting poisoned by salamanders is to refrain from touching or handling them. This will keep not only you safe but the salamander as well. As the salamander skin is very absorbent of chemicals and germs from your hands, they can absorb toxic amounts of chemicals and germs that may be bad for their immune system.
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For six years, I have worked as a professional writer and editor for books, blogs, and websites, with a particular focus on animals, tech, and finance. When I'm not working, I enjoy playing video games with friends.
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However, most poisonous salamanders will not kill you but can get you very sick.
While salamanders don’t possess very high degrees of poison to kill humans, they still have poison that makes humans ill. Salamanders should not be handled often or at all. It is believed that salamanders acquire their poison from absorbing potent bacteria and secreting these toxins over their skin. You must wash your hands after handling a salamander as its toxins can cause serious illnesses when ingested.
Ingestion of toxins from salamanders can numb some parts of the body, starting from the lips, tongue, the whole face, then going down to the arms and legs. Numbness will be followed by dizziness, muscle weakness, and excessive drooling. These symptoms can lead to paralysis of the entire body, affecting the respiratory muscles. As the respiratory muscles are paralyzed, the poisoned person will experience difficulty breathing.
Are Salamanders Poisonous?
Salamanders are poisonous, but they are not venomous. These amphibians may not cause any harm when they bite, but their skins are poisonous when handled.
Most people confuse the terms “poisonous” and “venomous.” However, the two are very different. Venomous animals inject their venom through their bite or sting. On the other hand, poisonous animals excrete toxins that may be harmful to humans or animals when ingested or touched. As for the salamander, handling them and putting your hands on your face, eyes, nose, or mouth afterward can cause severe poisoning symptoms.
Fortunately, salamander poison is not usually lethal, but it depends on the species. Some salamanders can be taken in as pets, and there are ways to avoid getting poisoned by their skin as well. Some species of salamanders, like those in pet stores, are less poisonous than species in the wild. Salamanders are also shy and passive, and they do not pose any other threat to humans apart from their toxic skins.
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yes
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://amphibianplanet.com/are-salamanders-poisonous/
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Are Salamanders Poisonous to Humans or Pets? [Fully Answered]
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Are Salamanders Poisonous?
When most people see their first salamander, they call it a lizard. However, on closer examination, most notice that these creatures are nothing like Lizards. They have smooth, moist skin, much like frogs. This is because salamanders are amphibians closer to frogs than they are to lizards.
Like most amphibians, salamanders produce poisonous secretions as a defense against predators. The toxins produced by some species are more poisonous than those produced by others. However, these toxins are only harmful when ingested, so you are unlikely to be harmed provided you do not eat or lick a salamander.
Even with their toxins, salamanders are relatively harmless provided they are handled with caution. To be safe, do not handle salamanders unless necessary. If you do, be very careful and wash your hands after.
With these simple precautions, salamanders can be harmless.
Why Salamanders Developed A Toxic Defense
As small, slow-moving creatures, salamanders make the perfect prey for many animals such as owls, weasels, raccoons, and snakes. This means they need a way to fend off all these hungry predators trying to eat them.
The first line of defense of most salamanders depend on is their coloration, which helps them blend into their environment, escaping the notice of potential predators.
Some salamanders are also fairly quick and will dash to cover when they are threatened. Once in cover, their coloration makes them harder for the predator to find.
As a secondary defense, salamanders produce toxins in their parotoid or granular glands. When approached by a predator, they will secrete these toxins all over their skin, making them foul-tasting or sometimes even lethal to most predators.
Sometimes they will also position themselves in a way that ensures that their main poison glands are directly facing the attacker.
Most Salamanders Only Secrete a Mild Toxin
Most salamanders only produce mildly poisonous secretions that have no serious effect apart from making them foul-tasting to predators. When ingested by humans, these secretions may cause some irritation or discomfort, but usually nothing more serious than that.
However, some salamanders, such as the fire salamander and several species of newt have very potent toxins that can be lethal to predators (or humans) unfortunate enough to ingest them in large quantities.
Some Salamanders Advertise Their Toxicity With Bright Colors
While some salamanders have a coloration that helps them blend into their environment, others go out of their way to advertise themselves with bright or contrasting colors that make them very visible.
Brightly colored red-eft
This is called ‘aposematic’ or ‘warning coloration’. Many animals use it as a signal to tell predators that they are toxic and would make a horrible meal (think poison dart frogs).
A predator that eats a brightly colored salamander may get very sick and remember the experience.
The next time that predator sees another brightly colored salamander, it will associate the coloration with danger and avoid eating it. In this way, the bright coloration, rather than camouflage acts as a defense in itself.
Certain salamanders, such as red salamanders, only produce a mild toxin (and are therefore vulnerable to predators), but have developed a bright coloration that closely imitates that of much more toxic salamanders. Predators that come across these salamanders may find it difficult to distinguish them from their more toxic look-alikes and avoid eating them altogether.
Poisonous Does Not Mean Venomous
If you are like most people, you often use the words ‘poisonous’ and ‘venomous’ interchangeably. However, you should know that there are major differences between the two.
Thefirst difference lies in the way the toxin is delivered. Venom is injected usually through stings, fangs, or barbs (eg. rattlesnakes, scorpions). Poison on the other hand is delivered much more passively and has to be absorbed/ingested into your body. It can be ingested through your mouth, inhaled, or absorbed through your skin (eg. Cane toads).
The second difference is what the toxin is used for. Venom is usually used by predators to hunt. Poison, on the other hand, is used by animals trying to stop other animals from eating them.
Poisonous animals (such as salamanders) are usually not aggressive and would rather flee than attack. They only use their toxins as a defense.
Some Salamanders Are Venomous
Salamanders are often informally divided into two subgroups: “true salamanders” and “newts. (link to Newts Vs Salamanders)
While “true salamanders” are only poisonous without any ability to inject their toxin, some species of newt, such as the Spanish ribbed newt, can actively inject their toxin. This means they are technically venomous.Spanish ribbed newt
When threatened, these newts will push their sharp ribs through tubercles running down the sides of their body. At the same time, the newt will secrete a milky toxin from its granular glands, which coat the sharp tip of the rib in toxin. The toxin-coated ribs then ‘sting’ the attacker.
Since these newts actively inject their toxin, they can be considered venomous (remember the difference between Poisonous and Venomous).
Salamanders Typically Aren’t a Danger to Humans
Although most salamanders do secrete a toxin when threatened, this toxin is harmless as long as it’s not ingested. Salamanders are normally very cautious creatures and will flee when you approach them. Even the venomous newts are completely harmless as long as they are not handled (or are handled safely).
Most people harmed by salamanders are those who handle them with their bare hands, then rub their eyes or put their fingers in their mouth without first washing their hands.
Doing this enables the toxins to come in contact with the mucous membranes in the eyes or mouth; leading to irritation or discomfort, but usually nothing more.
However, some salamanders, such as the rough-skinned newt, have a very potent toxin, which can certainly be lethal to humans if ingested in sufficient quantities.
Fortunately, merely touching a rough-skinned newt will not kill you, you would have to eat or lick one to get a lethal dose of its toxin.
What Salamanders Are the Most Toxic?
The toxicity of salamanders varies widely between species. Some salamanders such as the rough-skinned newt are so poisonous a single adult newt has enough toxin to kill 25,000 mice.
On the other extreme are the salamanders such as the red-backed salamander, with extremely mild toxins that have no noticeable effect on most predators.
Here is a chart of 16 different salamander species, and their degree of toxicity.
Toxins Are Not the Only Thing You Should Worry About
Most, if not all amphibians can carry parasites and bacteria such as salmonella that can make people sick. One important bacteria is salmonella. Salamanders can carry salmonella bacteria in their intestines and excrete them in their waste.
Salmonella bacteria
A salamander carrying salmonella may look very clean and healthy but can pass the bacteria on to humans. You can be exposed to salmonella if you touch objects that have come in contact with the salamander or its waste, and then stick your fingers in your mouth; enabling the bacteria to get into your body.
Exposure to salmonella can cause an infection called salmonellosis in humans which is characterized by diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, and sometimes vomiting.
Most salmonella infections are only mild, but the infection can spread to the bloodstream or even the nervous system and cause serious, sometimes fatal illnesses.
Fortunately, you will not catch a salmonella infection from simply touching or holding a salamander. The bacteria have to get into your body to cause any harm.
It is not a good idea to let children younger than five older people, or people with weak compromised immune systems handle amphibians. Children, in particular, tend to wash their hands less often and stick their fingers in their mouths much more frequently than adults. Doing this after handling a salamander can make a child severely ill.
Are Salamanders Dangerous to Cats, Dogs, or Other Pets?
Since most salamanders possess a toxin, a dog or cat that licks, bites, or eats a salamander is potentially at risk of poisoning
Most salamanders only produce a mild toxin, so they will not be a danger to dogs or other pets. However, some salamanders; such as the fire salamander, and rough-skinned newt produce highly potent toxins that can be lethal when ingested by a dog.
Salamanders Can Carry Parasites
Salamanders often carry tapeworms and other parasites, so a dog that eats a salamander is not only at risk of poisoning but may also develop a parasitic infection. The parasites usually do not harm the salamander, but be passed off to other animals which eat the salamander.
For this reason, you should keep you keep your pets away from salamanders or any other amphibians.
If you have pet salamanders at home, keep them safely secured in the enclosure so they do not come in contact with any of your other pets.
Safety Precautions When Handling Salamanders
Generally, it’s not a good idea to handle amphibians. This is because they have very sensitive, absorbent skin. Salts, oils, and chemicals on your hands can penetrate their skin end up inside of their body.
This means handling a salamander with unclean hands, can harm the salamander. For this reason, you should keep your salamander handling to a minimum.
If you ever have to handle a salamander, take the following precautions to protect both you and the animal.
Before Handling
Make sure your hands are very clean. Not just clean from dirt, but washed off so thoroughly that no residue of soap or any other substances remain on your hands.
After washing your hands, dry them then re-moisten with dechlorinated water.
If you have any cuts or sores on your hands, wear powder-free vinyl, or nitrile gloves so your skin does not come in direct contact with the salamanders. The gloves also have to be moistened with dechlorinated water.
When Handling
As you handle the salamander, do it very gently and do not cause it any stress. Salamanders only secrete toxins to defend themselves when they feel threatened, so stressing a salamander will make it secret its toxins all over your hands.
Keep the salamander away from your eyes, nose, and mouth.
After Handling
Very thoroughly wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap. Remember, salamanders secrete toxins and may carry salmonella so you best protect yourself! Before washing your hands, do not touch your face, rub your eyes, or put anything in your mouth.
Frequently asked questions:
Question: Do Salamanders Bite?
Answer: Salamanders do bite, but this is not to say they will bite everything. A salamander will only bite during aggressive feeding when it mistakes your finger for food, or when it is being handled in a way that makes it uncomfortable.
A bite from a salamander is not something to be too worried about as its tiny teeth are very unlikely to penetrate your skin.
Answer: As mentioned earlier, salamanders have permeable skins and can be harmed by substances on your hands. Sometimes, this “harm” results in infections that can be fatal for the salamander. So, touching a salamander with harmful substances on your hands can indeed kill it.
Conclusion
Salamanders are very shy creatures that are harmless when left alone. Since most salamanders secrete a toxin, you shouldn’t touch them! If you ever handle a salamander, simply wearing gloves can dramatically reduce the risk of poisoning.
Respect the salamander too! Salamanders do not like being handled by anything bigger than them, so do not handle salamanders unless you have to. This is for will keep both you and the animal safe.
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The toxin-coated ribs then ‘sting’ the attacker.
Since these newts actively inject their toxin, they can be considered venomous (remember the difference between Poisonous and Venomous).
Salamanders Typically Aren’t a Danger to Humans
Although most salamanders do secrete a toxin when threatened, this toxin is harmless as long as it’s not ingested. Salamanders are normally very cautious creatures and will flee when you approach them. Even the venomous newts are completely harmless as long as they are not handled (or are handled safely).
Most people harmed by salamanders are those who handle them with their bare hands, then rub their eyes or put their fingers in their mouth without first washing their hands.
Doing this enables the toxins to come in contact with the mucous membranes in the eyes or mouth; leading to irritation or discomfort, but usually nothing more.
However, some salamanders, such as the rough-skinned newt, have a very potent toxin, which can certainly be lethal to humans if ingested in sufficient quantities.
Fortunately, merely touching a rough-skinned newt will not kill you, you would have to eat or lick one to get a lethal dose of its toxin.
What Salamanders Are the Most Toxic?
The toxicity of salamanders varies widely between species. Some salamanders such as the rough-skinned newt are so poisonous a single adult newt has enough toxin to kill 25,000 mice.
On the other extreme are the salamanders such as the red-backed salamander, with extremely mild toxins that have no noticeable effect on most predators.
Here is a chart of 16 different salamander species, and their degree of toxicity.
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no
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://www.amphibianlife.com/are-salamanders-poisonous-and-dangerous-for-people/
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Are Salamanders Poisonous (And Dangerous For People ...
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Are Salamanders Poisonous (And Dangerous For People)?
Salamanders are not very common pets, but if you want to keep a salamander as a pet, you should probably know whether are poisonous. Read on to find out…
Are salamanders poisonous?Can salamanders kill you? Yes, salamanders are poisonous. They secrete toxins through their skin and when these toxins get ingested they can be poisonous.
The toxicity varies per species and the juveniles are generally more toxic than adults.
Normally salamanders are creatures that do no harm. But it is good to know that all salamanders species are poisonous and it is therefore best to keep handling salamanders to a minimum!
Salamanders are toxic when you eat them, when you ingest their secretion, or when you “play” with them. For instance, if you pick them up with your hands and then rub your eyes.
The poison that a salamander carries is made in the parotoid or granular glands. Some people say that salamanders get poisonous through eating and drinking or otherwise obtaining strong bacteria such as Vibrio spp.
Are salamanders a danger to people?
Though they are poisonous, and can therefore be dangerous, salamanders are not usually a major threat to people.
They are normally very shy creatures that would rather flee from you than come up to you. They are completely harmless if you don’t touch them or otherwise ingest their toxins.
And you can be dangerous to salamanders too! Salamanders have very absorbent skin, so bacteria, oils, and salts from our hands can harm them. Things like sunblock and hand lotion can cause serious damage to a salamander. This is another reason why, with salamanders, it’s best to look but not touch.
If you do need to handle them, make sure that you have washed your hands beforehand or you can always go out and buy some vinyl gloves. This way the salamander is safe from anything that is on your hands.
What is the most poisonous salamander?
Rough skinned newt in its habitat
The most toxic salamander is the Rough-Skinned Newt.
The Rough-Skinned Newt is found in North America, from Santa Cruz County all the way to San Francisco Bay and Alaska. It is also found on several islands, including Vancouver Island.
Habitat of the Rough-Skinned Newt
The rough-skinned newt is found both on land and in aquatic environments. Though they spend most of the time on land.
They mostly go to water during breeding season, when it is time to mate.
An interesting fact is that the Rough-Skinned Newt becomes temporarily aquatic when there is a dry season. It is also possible for this newt to spend its whole life in the water.
What does a Rough-Skinned Newt look like?
Unsurprisingly, the Rough-Skinned Newt has a rough and grainy skin.
They are dark with orange coloration and about 12.7 to 21.6 cm in length. Their eyes are small and do not extend past the edges of his head as you can see in the picture.
You can also see that they have yellow irises and that the lower part of the eyelids are orange.
What you can’t see on the picture are the vomerine teeth. A salamander’s teeth are arranged in a V-shaped pattern.
Does a salamander make a good pet?
Now that you know salamanders are poisonous, you might want to know whether they make good pets…
If you just want an animal to look at behind glass, a salamander is a great pet. However, if you want a pet that you can really interact with, hold, and play with, you’d be better choosing something else.
If you do decide to go for a salamander as a pet, we recommend the Tiger salamander (also known as Ambystoma tigrinum).
This is a common pet salamander because they are attractive and fairly easy to care for. This species grows to 13 cm in length and has a lifespan of about 25 years if you take good care of them.
Pet salamander habitat
The stage your tiger salamander is in will dictate what kind of tank setup you need.
If he’s still in the larval stage you need a fully aquatic tank. But when the salamander ages and grows gills, you would need to set up a semi-aquatic and land habitat so they can also go on the land.
Once they are fully grown, you should move your salamander to a 20-gallon tank. Make sure that the temperature in the enclosure is around 65 to 70F and add plenty of hiding spaces, rocks, and enough bark and rocks.
The feeding of this salamander is fairly easy. when he is still in the larval stage you can feed him shrimp, insects, small fish, and worms. When he grows into an adult you can feed him crickets, earthworms, and other insects.
Again… Keep the touching to a minimum!
What are salamanders good for?
Believe it or not, salamanders are quite good for the environment and human beings in general. They play an essential role in keeping insect and arthropod populations in balance. Salamanders hunt these species and in this way they are helpful to humans because they act as a natural “pest control”.
Another way in which salamanders are good for us is that they can prevent serious health issues by preying on insects. You see, salamanders also hunt mosquitoes and ticks. The bites of both of these animals can be very dangerous and by eating these insects, salamanders help to minimize the spread of diseases.
So even though salamanders are poisonous, they also help us survive here on planet earth!
What to do if you find a salamander
First of all, you need to know that you should not touch the salamander because they are poisonous. But if you find one in your home or basement, you should move them outside.
To avoid touching them, grab a small net and transfer the salamander outside.
If the salamander you found has a flattened and paddle-like tail, it likely is a newt and therefore you should put him nearby a pond or wetland. Put him on the edge, not in the water. This way the newt can decide for itself whether it wants to go into the pond or move to another place.
If the salamander you found has a stubby, fat tail, you can release him in a forest or woodland area. This should preferably be close to where you found the animal.
Related questions
Can salamanders regrow limbs? Salamanders are capable of regrowing limbs within a few weeks! This includes tails and toes. This is awesome because it helps them to survive attacks from predators.
Where does the name salamander come from? The name comes from the Greek word for Fire Lizard. Salamanders would often hide in logs and come running out when the log was thrown on a fire. When the greek saw this, they named them salamanders.
What is the largest salamander in the world? The largest salamander in the world id the Chinese Giant Salamander. This particular type of salamander can grow to a length of 5 feet!
Hi, I’m Mike, and I’m the creator of amphibianlife.com. If there was one word to describe it? It would be: passionate about Amphibians! Whether you want to know more about amphibians or have a presentation to give at school, you’ve come to the right place.
Overview of Hellbender the Giant salamander Hellbender or the (Cryptobranchusalleganiensis are one of the Giant Salamander species. These aquatic animals are native to the eastern and central United States and are also called American Salamanders….
Salamanders are amazing creatures and it’s great to see them a wild. It’s also interesting to learn about where salamanders live and the different environments that various salamander species enjoy. So, where do salamanders live?…
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Are Salamanders Poisonous (And Dangerous For People)?
Salamanders are not very common pets, but if you want to keep a salamander as a pet, you should probably know whether are poisonous. Read on to find out…
Are salamanders poisonous?Can salamanders kill you? Yes, salamanders are poisonous. They secrete toxins through their skin and when these toxins get ingested they can be poisonous.
The toxicity varies per species and the juveniles are generally more toxic than adults.
Normally salamanders are creatures that do no harm. But it is good to know that all salamanders species are poisonous and it is therefore best to keep handling salamanders to a minimum!
Salamanders are toxic when you eat them, when you ingest their secretion, or when you “play” with them. For instance, if you pick them up with your hands and then rub your eyes.
The poison that a salamander carries is made in the parotoid or granular glands. Some people say that salamanders get poisonous through eating and drinking or otherwise obtaining strong bacteria such as Vibrio spp.
Are salamanders a danger to people?
Though they are poisonous, and can therefore be dangerous, salamanders are not usually a major threat to people.
They are normally very shy creatures that would rather flee from you than come up to you. They are completely harmless if you don’t touch them or otherwise ingest their toxins.
And you can be dangerous to salamanders too! Salamanders have very absorbent skin, so bacteria, oils, and salts from our hands can harm them. Things like sunblock and hand lotion can cause serious damage to a salamander. This is another reason why, with salamanders, it’s best to look but not touch.
If you do need to handle them, make sure that you have washed your hands beforehand or you can always go out and buy some vinyl gloves. This way the salamander is safe from anything that is on your hands.
What is the most poisonous salamander?
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yes
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://sdzwildlifeexplorers.org/animals/fire-salamander
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Fire salamander | San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers
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facts
description
description
Colors of fire
European fire salamanders have fiery orange or yellow markings on their black skin. In ancient times, people wrongly believed that they were born in fires. Maybe that's because fire salamanders often hide under logs, and when people gathered those logs to build a fire, salamanders ran out of the flames.
Look, but don't touch
The European fire salamander can protect itself against predators by spraying poisonous liquid from glands behind its eyes—right into the eyes or mouth of an animal it sees as a threat. Its skin also contains glands that release toxins that can kill or sicken an animal that touches it or tries to eat it.
Out of sight
Most people never see fire salamanders because they are active at night instead of during the day. They spend much of their lives staying cool and moist under rocks or logs, avoiding extreme heat or cold, and only exploring their habitat when it is cool and damp.
A serious threat
One of the biggest threats to European fire salamanders is a deadly fungus called Bsal, which makes it impossible for affected salamanders to absorb oxygen through their skin or to eat. Bsal has killed thousands of native salamanders in Europe since it was discovered in 2013, and it is believed to have been brought to Europe by people importing Asian newts to sell as pets.
Skin that breathes
Fire salamanders are sometimes called lungless salamanders because their bodies take in oxygen through their moist, permeable skin. That thin, frog-like skin also makes them especially sensitive to pollutants or diseases in their environment.
Grow a new leg?
If a predator grabs a fire salamander by one of its toes, its tail, or even a leg, it can break off that limb and grow a new one to replace it.
Having babies
While some salamanders lay eggs, fire salamander mothers give live birth. The emerging youngsters look like miniature versions of their parents.
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In ancient times, people wrongly believed that they were born in fires. Maybe that's because fire salamanders often hide under logs, and when people gathered those logs to build a fire, salamanders ran out of the flames.
Look, but don't touch
The European fire salamander can protect itself against predators by spraying poisonous liquid from glands behind its eyes—right into the eyes or mouth of an animal it sees as a threat. Its skin also contains glands that release toxins that can kill or sicken an animal that touches it or tries to eat it.
Out of sight
Most people never see fire salamanders because they are active at night instead of during the day. They spend much of their lives staying cool and moist under rocks or logs, avoiding extreme heat or cold, and only exploring their habitat when it is cool and damp.
A serious threat
One of the biggest threats to European fire salamanders is a deadly fungus called Bsal, which makes it impossible for affected salamanders to absorb oxygen through their skin or to eat. Bsal has killed thousands of native salamanders in Europe since it was discovered in 2013, and it is believed to have been brought to Europe by people importing Asian newts to sell as pets.
Skin that breathes
Fire salamanders are sometimes called lungless salamanders because their bodies take in oxygen through their moist, permeable skin. That thin, frog-like skin also makes them especially sensitive to pollutants or diseases in their environment.
Grow a new leg?
If a predator grabs a fire salamander by one of its toes, its tail, or even a leg, it can break off that limb and grow a new one to replace it.
Having babies
While some salamanders lay eggs, fire salamander mothers give live birth. The emerging youngsters look like miniature versions of their parents.
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yes
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://www.progardentips.com/are-salamanders-poisonous/
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Are Salamanders Poisonous? - ProGardenTips
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Are Salamanders Poisonous?
Salamanders are amphibians, and they live in water and on land. They look similar to lizards, but they have moist, smooth skin. While lizards love to lay in the sun, salamanders will seek moist habitats under rocks and near rivers and streams.
While salamanders can have bright colors, their bite is not poisonous to people. However, their skin is poisonous, so you should always wash your hands and avoid touching your mouth or your eyes if you touch one. They secrete this substance from the glands in their skin, and it can cause irritation. They are harmless if you don’t touch them.
As long as you refrain from handling salamanders, they are harmless. However, you need to understand what to do if you or your pets do touch them.
Don’t confuse salamanders with skinks. Some types may look alike, but they’re different animals.
Are Salamanders Poisonous to Dogs?
Although salamanders don’t have venom in their bite, they do secrete poison from their skin glands. Their bright yellow color is meant to be a warning that this is the case. Salamanders can be poisonous to dogs, so you should not allow your dog to play with or chase a salamander.
If your dog catches a salamander and puts it in its mouth, the poison will enter the dog’s body right away. It only takes a few minutes before your dog will show signs, such as tremors, salivating, rapid breathing, respiratory distress, vomiting, or severe muscle spasms. In fact, in some cases dogs can die of asphyxiation within minutes or hours.
If your dog is poisoned by a salamander, you should immediately rinse the mouth with water and call the vet. There is no actual antidote, so you need to get your dog to the vet right away. Keep your dog away from salamanders, as they can be lethal to them.
Are Salamanders Poisonous to Cats?
Salamanders can be poisonous to cats. Cats have predatory instincts, and they perk up when they see a critter running across the floor or the ground. Salamanders can have toxicity that ranges from mild to fatal, and they excrete it through glands in their skin. If you see your cat licking or picking up a salamander, you need to take action right away.
Yay The fire salamander Salamandra in an aquarium
If your cat has been poisoned, you might notice any of the following symptoms: diarrhea, vomiting, excessive thirst, pawing at tongue and mouth, loss of appetite, seizures, convulsions, coma, and even death. Different types of salamander will have different levels of poison, so you should seek vet care right away if you know that your cat has been in contact with a salamander.
Another concern is that your cats can contract liver flukes, which are parasitic worms. The larvae are in the salamander, and they can transfer to your cat. They take between eight and twelve weeks to mature, and then they will block the bile duct and trap toxins in your cat’s liver.
The best way to keep your cat safe is to do whatever you can to make sure that it doesn’t come into contact with a salamander.
Are Salamanders Poisonous to Livestock?
Some livestock will not pay any attention to salamanders. For example, although salamanders are poisonous, they are not a threat to horses or to goats. These animals will have no interest in the salamanders and rarely would consider picking them up in their mouths. Salamanders are also not a threat to deer, as they are grazing herbivores similar to horses.
Although salamanders are poisonous, they are not dangerous to chickens. Chickens have good instincts, and they are unlikely to eat something that is toxic to them. Most people who have chickens and ducks report that they do eat salamanders without any harmful effects.
Are All Salamanders Poisonous?
Although salamanders appear to be harmless, all species are poisonous. This is different from being venomous. A salamander won’t poison you when it bites you. They secrete poison from the glands on their skin. You need to hold it or ingest it to be poisoned.
Yay European fire salamander
Different species of salamander have different levels of poison, so some are milder than others. The Rough Skinned Newt, taricha granulosa, is the most toxic salamander and possesses tetrodotoxin, which is an incredibly potent toxin.
Salamanders are harmless to people as long as you don’t handle them. The reason that they are dangerous to dogs and cats is that both animals have predatory instincts, and they will chase and eat a salamander. Although salamanders vary in the strength of their poison, you need to be careful not to let your pet get near any of them.
Do Salamanders Bite?
Salamanders are generally shy amphibians, but they can bite if they feel threatened. If you reach your hand close enough, a salamander could mistake it for food. Some salamanders have teeth, but others don’t. They do most of their biting when they are eating. Their teeth are very small, and if one does bite you, it is unlikely to hurt very much. Their jaws aren’t powerful, and the bite feels more like a prick of a pin.
They have poison that is secreted from their glands on the skin. You can avoid coming into contact with the poison by refraining from handling the salamander. Salamanders are docile for the most part, and they are much more interested in finding food and shelter than in biting people or any other kind of animal.
The poison is designed to deter predators and, more importantly, to kill their prey. Predators eat the tail of the salamander with the poison, and then, when the predator dies from the poison, the salamander has a meal.
Salamanders are less likely to create any serious problems for people, but they can be lethal to dogs and cats. If you have these pets, you need to make sure to keep them away from salamanders. You should try to identify the type of salamander that is living on your property and check with your vet to find out how poisonous it is. Take your dog or cat to the vet right away if it eats a salamander.
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Are Salamanders Poisonous?
Salamanders are amphibians, and they live in water and on land. They look similar to lizards, but they have moist, smooth skin. While lizards love to lay in the sun, salamanders will seek moist habitats under rocks and near rivers and streams.
While salamanders can have bright colors, their bite is not poisonous to people. However, their skin is poisonous, so you should always wash your hands and avoid touching your mouth or your eyes if you touch one. They secrete this substance from the glands in their skin, and it can cause irritation. They are harmless if you don’t touch them.
As long as you refrain from handling salamanders, they are harmless. However, you need to understand what to do if you or your pets do touch them.
Don’t confuse salamanders with skinks. Some types may look alike, but they’re different animals.
Are Salamanders Poisonous to Dogs?
Although salamanders don’t have venom in their bite, they do secrete poison from their skin glands. Their bright yellow color is meant to be a warning that this is the case. Salamanders can be poisonous to dogs, so you should not allow your dog to play with or chase a salamander.
If your dog catches a salamander and puts it in its mouth, the poison will enter the dog’s body right away. It only takes a few minutes before your dog will show signs, such as tremors, salivating, rapid breathing, respiratory distress, vomiting, or severe muscle spasms. In fact, in some cases dogs can die of asphyxiation within minutes or hours.
If your dog is poisoned by a salamander, you should immediately rinse the mouth with water and call the vet. There is no actual antidote, so you need to get your dog to the vet right away. Keep your dog away from salamanders, as they can be lethal to them.
Are Salamanders Poisonous to Cats?
Salamanders can be poisonous to cats.
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yes
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://petsfromafar.com/are-tiger-salamanders-poisonous-to-humans/
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Are Tiger Salamanders Poisonous to Humans? – Pets From Afar
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Are Tiger Salamanders Poisonous to Humans?
WARNING: None of the content below is medical/veterinary advice, nor should it be taken as such. Please consult with a medical doctor/veterinarian if you have any questions or concerns about tiger salamander poisoning.
In nature, bright colors and high-contrast patterns are often synonymous with toxicity. These visual warning signals alert predators that a particular prey may pack a noxious punch! Tiger salamanders owe their name to the striking black and bright yellow patterns on their skin. As a result, many people wonder if tiger salamanders are poisonous.
Here’s what I discovered:
Tiger salamanders are poisonous and can be dangerous to humans. When tiger salamanders feel threatened by a predator, granular glands in the skin of their tails secrete a sticky, white milky substance containing toxins. However, tiger salamanders typically aren’t dangerous to humans when handled carefully.
In addition, people also wonder what the symptoms of tiger salamander poisoning are and whether or not they are poisonous to pets such as cats or dogs. Keep on reading below to find out more!
What Are Tiger Salamander Poisoning Symptoms?
It is believed that most brightly colored, rough-skinned salamanders contain a toxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX) at different concentrations. TTX is a neurotoxin (i.e., it acts on the nervous system) and one of the most dangerous toxins in nature. TTX may be present in their mucus, skin, and/or muscles.
Whilst I could not find confirmation of the presence of tetrodotoxin in the toxic secretions of the tiger salamander, it’s safer to err on the side of caution and assume the presence of the toxin. If you have more information that can elucidate this point, please don’t hesitate to share it with us!
The main danger with salamander toxins in general, and tiger salamander toxins in particular, is ingestion. The potential symptoms, in increasing order of severity, may be:
Numbness of the lips and tongue.
Numbness of the face, arms, and legs.
Dizziness, drooling, and muscle weakness.
Paralysis, including the respiratory muscles.
Death.
Based on my research, tiger salamander toxins are not absorbed through the skin. However, they can cause mild to serious irritation if they come into contact with breaks or cuts on your skin and the mucous membranes in your mouth, nose, or eyes.
Are Tiger Salamanders Poisonous to Cats and Dogs?
The secretion of toxic substances is one of the main defense mechanisms of tiger salamanders. In nature, these toxins deter predators such as rodents, reptiles, and birds. In a domestic setting, tiger salamanders can be poisonous to cats and dogs.
Cats and dogs may come into contact with tiger salamander toxins in different ways, most often by trying to play with or bite the creature.
If the toxin comes into contact with the mucus of the nose or eyes, your cat or dog may swell up. Their eyes may become red and watery, and their eyelids swell and close up.
If a cat or dog bites a tiger salamander, it’s likely to release it immediately. Indeed, tiger salamander toxins taste foul. Shortly thereafter, your cat or dog may begin to drool, spit, and/or foam at the mouth. Whilst the toxin generally isn’t fatal if ingested in small quantities, it can really make your pet sore and sick.
Can You Touch a Tiger Salamander?
It is possible to touch a tiger salamander. However, it is preferable not to touch them often, or even at all. The fun with tiger salamanders comes from observing them, not from handling them. As a result, tiger salamanders are not really considered to be child-friendly pets.
There are several things to consider when touching a tiger salamander.
The first is that tiger salamanders have very sensitive skin. In particular, their skin is thin and porous. This is to allow them to breathe and drink water through their pores. As a result, their skin may easily absorb oils, salts, bacteria, parasites, and even chemicals such as detergent, cosmetics, or sunscreen present on your hands. This may cause them to become sick or injured. Whilst you may not realize it, you may actually be a threat to the animal.
Secondly, tiger salamanders can excrete a toxic substance when they feel threatened and are defensive. In those situations, they tend to curl their head and tail together, and the toxic substance will begin to ooze from the skin on their tail. Whilst most pet salamanders rarely display this behavior, and it’s something to look out for. In such situations, you should not touch them as you may come into contact and/or potentially ingest their toxins.
How to Safely Handle a Tiger Salamander?
Whilst touching a tiger salamander is not recommended, there are times when it’s inevitable. For example, you may own one as a pet and need to clean out its terrarium. Or, you may find one migrating across the road and wish to move it out of harm’s way. Whatever the reason, there are precautions you should take to handle a tiger salamander safely.
1. Consider wearing gloves. Indeed, tiger salamanders have very sensitive skin, which can easily absorb oils, salts, bacteria, parasites, or even chemicals present on your skin that may make it sick or irritate it. Therefore, it’s recommended that you wear surgical-type gloves and try to avoid latex or powder-coated gloves.
2. If you don’t have gloves, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly before handling, paying particular attention to rinsing off any excess soap.
3. Wet your gloves or bare hands. Indeed, the skin of tiger salamanders should be kept moist and humid at all times. Wetting your hands and gloves will help prevent them from drying out.
4. Tiger salamanders can be pretty active and may try to escape from your grasp. They also have voracious appetites and are very food-driven. They may mistake your fingers for food and try to bite them or even snap at the air. Not all individuals behave in the same fashion; some are more docile than others. However, it’s worth being prepared.
5. Whilst your handling the tiger salamander, and also once you’re done, make sure not to touch your face. You don’t want to risk smearing toxins onto your mouth, nose, or eyes, for example. Make sure to rinse your hands with cold water initially. After a few minutes, you can apply soap and switch to warm water to finish rinsing off any remaining mucus. Warm water dilates pores on your skin and the blood vessels below – and would therefore encourage the penetration of potential toxic secretions into your body.
FAQ
Are Tiger Salamanders Venomous?
Tiger salamanders are not venomous (irrespective of species or subspecies). Venenous applies to creatures that bite or sting to inject their toxins, known as venom. However, tiger salamanders are poisonous, meaning that they unload toxins when eaten, and/or these toxins come into contact with skin or mucus.
Are Tiger Salamanders Dangerous to Humans?
Tiger salamanders are typically not dangerous to humans if handled correctly. They are not aggressive but may occasionally deliver a mild bite if they mistake your hands/fingers for food. Moreover, tiger salamanders have the potential to excrete a toxic substance via granular glands on the skin of their tails. They generally only display this behavior when they feel threatened. Certain precautions should therefore be taken to handle the creatures safely, and they should never be eaten.
Can You Get Diseases From Tiger Salamanders?
Like most salamanders, tiger salamanders may carry salmonella. Salmonella causes an infection called Salmonellosis. Salmonella bacteria can reside in their intestinal tracts and mouths and be transmitted to humans through handling, bites, and feces. It’s recommended to immediately disinfect any breaks, cuts, or bites to the skin and also thoroughly wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap after handling these creatures. It’s also advised to disinfect the surfaces that the animal may have come into contact with, such as tabletops or countertops for example. However, on the whole, humans are a bigger threat to the survival of tiger salamanders than the opposite.
Do Tiger Salamanders Bite?
Tiger salamanders can bite. However, they are generally docile creatures and tend not to be aggressive. Biting may occur if the animal is hungry or mistakes your hands and/or fingers for food. Tiger salamander bites generally don’t hurt.
Hello and welcome to Pets From Afar. I'm Glen. My daughter Siri and I are mad about axolotls. I created this website to document our findings and experiences, as we learn more about these amazing amphibians. Follow along and enjoy the fun!
About Us
Hello and welcome to Pets From Afar. I'm Glen. My daughter Siri and I are mad about axolotls. I created this website to document our findings and experiences, as we learn more about these amazing amphibians. Follow along and enjoy the fun!
Legal Information
The information presented on this website is not medical or veterinary advice, nor should it be taken as such. Our website is supported by our users and we may earn a small commission when you view advertisements or click through affiliate links on our site or in our emails. However, this is at no extra cost to you and has no bearing on our opinions, reviews, comparisons, or recommendations. Thank you for visiting and for your support!
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Are Tiger Salamanders Dangerous to Humans?
Tiger salamanders are typically not dangerous to humans if handled correctly. They are not aggressive but may occasionally deliver a mild bite if they mistake your hands/fingers for food. Moreover, tiger salamanders have the potential to excrete a toxic substance via granular glands on the skin of their tails. They generally only display this behavior when they feel threatened. Certain precautions should therefore be taken to handle the creatures safely, and they should never be eaten.
Can You Get Diseases From Tiger Salamanders?
Like most salamanders, tiger salamanders may carry salmonella. Salmonella causes an infection called Salmonellosis. Salmonella bacteria can reside in their intestinal tracts and mouths and be transmitted to humans through handling, bites, and feces. It’s recommended to immediately disinfect any breaks, cuts, or bites to the skin and also thoroughly wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap after handling these creatures. It’s also advised to disinfect the surfaces that the animal may have come into contact with, such as tabletops or countertops for example. However, on the whole, humans are a bigger threat to the survival of tiger salamanders than the opposite.
Do Tiger Salamanders Bite?
Tiger salamanders can bite. However, they are generally docile creatures and tend not to be aggressive. Biting may occur if the animal is hungry or mistakes your hands and/or fingers for food. Tiger salamander bites generally don’t hurt.
Hello and welcome to Pets From Afar. I'm Glen. My daughter Siri and I are mad about axolotls. I created this website to document our findings and experiences, as we learn more about these amazing amphibians. Follow along and enjoy the fun!
About Us
Hello and welcome to Pets From Afar. I'm Glen. My daughter Siri
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yes
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Herpetology
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Are salamanders poisonous to touch?
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yes_statement
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"salamanders" are "poisonous" to "touch".. touching "salamanders" can be "poisonous".
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https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/texas_nature_trackers/amphibian_watch/frogging_rules/
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TPWD: Herps of Texas: Rules of 'Frogging
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Herps of Texas: Rules of "Frogging"
Courtesy Rules
Ask Permission! Some of you are lucky enough to have a pond or wetland with frogs in your own backyard! If that's the case you only need to collect the data and send to us, along with a Private Lands Access Request form that allows TPWD to store the data, analyze it, and produce reports based on the data from that location. However, if you would like to gather information on property other than your own, then you'll have to seek permission.
Legislation in Texas protects the rights of private property owners during the course of your volunteer efforts. You should approach the property owner and explain what you're doing and why and when you'd like to visit their property. You'll then need to get the landowner to sign a Private Lands Access Form to grant you permission to gather data, and provide it to Texas Parks and Wildlife, and to allow us to use the data in preparing reports. The Private Lands Access Form is included in the Texas Amphibian Watch Monitoring Packet. Landowner permission forms are not required when you do roadside call counts surveys, as long as you are on public roads. If you will be working on public property, then you won't have to get a signed permission form, but you should seek verbal permission from the site manager. Once again, explain what you're doing and why and when you'll be visiting the property. They're likely to be very supportive of your efforts, but they may have to issue you a special permit to enter the area after dark, to capture animals, etc.
Licensing Rules
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department requires that anyone who captures a wild animal be licensed or permitted. If you would like to participate in an activity that actively involves capturing amphibians (such as malformation monitoring), then you have two options:
You can purchase a State of Texas Hunting License (a $6 license is available for anyone under age 17.)
You can attend a TPWD amphibian monitoring workshop and we will issue you a scientific permit.
Collecting frogs is not allowed on public roads.
You do not have to have a permit or license to conduct call count surveys or to observe amphibians as an Amphibian Spotter.
An additional note: When collecting with a hunting license, you may not possess more than 25 total frogs and toads. School teachers may obtain an Educational Permit from TPWD to exempt them from these quantitative limits.
Finally, the Houston Toad and several salamanders in the Texas Hill Country are federally listed as endangered or threatened. You should not handle these species without a federal permit. No threatened or endangered species should be removed from their habitat.
Rules to keep the FROGS safe!
Remember, frogs are living creatures, as are all the other creatures, plant or animal, that you'll find in your wetland. They should all be treated with respect and care.
Try to use the same path every time you go to your wetland so you don't trample the vegetation too much.
If you use bug-spray make sure it does not contain DEET. No matter what kind of bug spray you use, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before you handle any creature, and if there is insect repellent or sunscreen on your arms or clothing, do not allow frogs or other animals to come in contact with those places.
ALWAYS put a creature back EXACTLY where you found it!
Eggs:
It is best not to touch the eggs at all, but to just observe them where they are.
Tadpoles:
Keep the tadpoles in water. Just like fish, tadpoles have gills, and can only breathe under water. If you want to observe them closely make sure that you have a small container of water to keep them in. You can keep them in your hands for a few seconds if you want; just be sure that your hands are damp (or even better, cup your hands so that you have a little pool of water), and make sure you don't crush them!
Metamorphs:
A metamorph is the in-between stage, when a tadpole is changing into a frog. When all four legs of a tadpole start to show, that's when we first call it a metamorph. When it no longer has its tail, then we call it a frog.
Keep the metamorphs wet. Make sure there's something in your bucket for metamorphs to crawl up on. They are also fragile, so be careful in handling them.
Kind of like a tadpole — Just like tadpoles, metamorphs are fragile, so be extra careful if you handle them. Their bodies need to stay wet or they will dry out, and die very quickly.
Kind of like a frog — Metamorphs aren't just changing on the outside …They're changing on the inside too! One of the biggest changes happening to metamorphs is the way that they breathe: Metamorphs are developing lungs so they need to breathe air, just like adult frogs. Adult frogs are good at floating on top of the water and keeping their heads up so that they can breathe, but a metamorph still has its big tadpole tail that weighs it down. It's not good at floating; it needs to lean on something sturdy or it could even drown. SO …if you put metamorphs in your container, make sure you put some long sticks in there took or some floating vegetation so that the metamorphs have somewhere to rest.
Frogs:
Keep frogs moist.
Don't overcrowd.
Hold by the top of the legs.
Frogs are wiggly and wet and can be hard to hold. If you handle one, make sure you don't crush it. Believe it or not the best way to hold a frog is by its legs-right where the legs meet with the frog's body.
They also need to stay wet, just like tadpoles and metamorphs.
Don't put more than 1 to 2 frogs in one container for more than a few minutes. Also, keep your containers in the shade so the frogs don't get too hot, and make sure your containers have vented covers; frogs are great jumpers!!
Rules to keep YOU safe!
Make sure you ALWAYS go to your wetland with another person. There are lots of cool things to see and do in a wetland, but there are sometimes dangers too!
Muck:
Wetlands can sometimes have very deep, soft soils ("muck"), and it's not hard to get "stuck in the muck"! This is one of those times when it's handy to have an extra person around. Have them help pull you out. It might even be a good idea to keep some rope with you when you go to your wetland...just in case.
Poisonous Plants:
Is there poison ivy near your wetland? Make sure you know what kinds of plants in your area are dangerous to touch, and know what they look like. Poison ivy's leaves are dark green, except in the fall when they turn red, and always clustered in groups of three. The edges of its leaves are smooth, without teeth, but the leaves may have a few lobes (like an oak leaf). Look at a field guide at your library or bookstore to double-check your identification.
Venomous Snakes:
There are only four types of venomous snakes in Texas-water moccasins or cottonmouths, copperheads, coral snakes, and several types of rattlesnakes. The first three are often found in moist habitats, but there is no need for excessive fear. Most snakes would like to avoid you JUST as much as you would like to avoid them. Snakes are an important part of the environment. The best thing to do when you see a snake is to stay very still. If you remain still, the snake may leave. If the snake doesn't move away from you after a few minutes, slowly and quietly back away from it. It's a good idea to check out your field guide to know which kinds of venomous snakes are in your area, and exactly what they look like.
"Poisonous" Amphibians:
Some frogs, toads, and salamanders have toxins in their skin. Just touching or handling these animals won't hurt you, but be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before you eat or touch your eyes or face.
Ticks:
If there are ticks in your area, you might want to wear long sleeves and pants, and keep your pants tucked into your socks. Given recent concerns about tick-borne diseases, such as lyme disease, you'll want to shower and check yourself thoroughly when you get home, including your back, scalp, behind your ears, between your toes...you get the picture! Remember that seed ticks can be as small as a pin head!
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This is one of those times when it's handy to have an extra person around. Have them help pull you out. It might even be a good idea to keep some rope with you when you go to your wetland...just in case.
Poisonous Plants:
Is there poison ivy near your wetland? Make sure you know what kinds of plants in your area are dangerous to touch, and know what they look like. Poison ivy's leaves are dark green, except in the fall when they turn red, and always clustered in groups of three. The edges of its leaves are smooth, without teeth, but the leaves may have a few lobes (like an oak leaf). Look at a field guide at your library or bookstore to double-check your identification.
Venomous Snakes:
There are only four types of venomous snakes in Texas-water moccasins or cottonmouths, copperheads, coral snakes, and several types of rattlesnakes. The first three are often found in moist habitats, but there is no need for excessive fear. Most snakes would like to avoid you JUST as much as you would like to avoid them. Snakes are an important part of the environment. The best thing to do when you see a snake is to stay very still. If you remain still, the snake may leave. If the snake doesn't move away from you after a few minutes, slowly and quietly back away from it. It's a good idea to check out your field guide to know which kinds of venomous snakes are in your area, and exactly what they look like.
"Poisonous" Amphibians:
Some frogs, toads, and salamanders have toxins in their skin. Just touching or handling these animals won't hurt you, but be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before you eat or touch your eyes or face.
Ticks:
If there are ticks in your area, you might want to wear long sleeves and pants, and keep your pants tucked into your socks.
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no
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Politics
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Are sanctions an effective foreign policy tool?
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yes_statement
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"sanctions" are an "effective" "foreign" "policy" "tool".. the use of "sanctions" is an "effective" "foreign" "policy" strategy.
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https://www.state.gov/inaugural-u-s-uk-strategic-sanctions-dialogue/
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Inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue - United States ...
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Inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue
Building on the unique economic and security partnership between our two nations, the U.S. Department of State hosted a senior UK government delegation for the inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue in Washington, D.C., on July 19. The Dialogue delivered on the 2023 Atlantic Declaration commitment to strengthen our cooperation on sanctions strategy, design, targeting, implementation, mitigations, and enforcement, by bringing together departments and agencies from both countries to discuss priorities across geographic and thematic sanctions regimes.
The United States and the United Kingdom reaffirmed that sanctions are a key tool of foreign policy. The delegations discussed the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms.
In response to Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, together with our allies and partners we have imposed unprecedented costs on the Kremlin. Since the start of the war, we have designated over 2,500 individuals and entities, blocking billions of dollars in assets. Sanctions and export controls are starving Russia’s military of key components and technology and restricting Putin’s ability to fight a 21st century war.
The United States and the United Kingdom continue to intensify our coordination on United Nations and autonomous sanctions regimes. This includes action to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, counter terrorism, target cyber-criminal networks, and address concerning situations in countries such as Sudan, Burma, and Iran. The talks also looked beyond bilateral coordination to broader efforts with partners to show collective leadership on the targeted, legitimate, and effective use of sanctions to tackle threats to international peace and security.
The delegations also focused on collaboration to protect humanitarian activity from unintended impacts of sanctions, building on our significant cooperation on the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 2664 and on follow-up across autonomous sanctions regimes.
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Inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue
Building on the unique economic and security partnership between our two nations, the U.S. Department of State hosted a senior UK government delegation for the inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue in Washington, D.C., on July 19. The Dialogue delivered on the 2023 Atlantic Declaration commitment to strengthen our cooperation on sanctions strategy, design, targeting, implementation, mitigations, and enforcement, by bringing together departments and agencies from both countries to discuss priorities across geographic and thematic sanctions regimes.
The United States and the United Kingdom reaffirmed that sanctions are a key tool of foreign policy. The delegations discussed the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms.
In response to Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, together with our allies and partners we have imposed unprecedented costs on the Kremlin. Since the start of the war, we have designated over 2,500 individuals and entities, blocking billions of dollars in assets. Sanctions and export controls are starving Russia’s military of key components and technology and restricting Putin’s ability to fight a 21st century war.
The United States and the United Kingdom continue to intensify our coordination on United Nations and autonomous sanctions regimes. This includes action to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, counter terrorism, target cyber-criminal networks, and address concerning situations in countries such as Sudan, Burma, and Iran. The talks also looked beyond bilateral coordination to broader efforts with partners to show collective leadership on the targeted, legitimate, and effective use of sanctions to tackle threats to international peace and security.
The delegations also focused on collaboration to protect humanitarian activity from unintended impacts of sanctions, building on our significant cooperation on the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 2664 and on follow-up across autonomous sanctions regimes.
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yes
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Politics
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Are sanctions an effective foreign policy tool?
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yes_statement
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"sanctions" are an "effective" "foreign" "policy" "tool".. the use of "sanctions" is an "effective" "foreign" "policy" strategy.
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https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/30/us-sanctions-reliance-results/
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How America Learned to Love (Ineffective) Sanctions
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Over the past century, the United States came to rely ever more on economic coercion—with questionable results.
U.S. Air Force transport plane shown through shattered glass at Baghdad airport
In this photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, a transport plane is framed in a shattered window at the Baghdad airport on June 24, 2003. U.S. President Barack Obama would later turn to sanctions as a form of hard power that avoided the domestic political costs of his predecessor George W. Bush’s military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. James M. Bowman/U.S. Air Force/Getty Images
Economics
United States
If one policy embodies the global reach of American power today, it is the economic weapon of sanctions. As a coercive tool, it is deployed all over the world, against governments from North Korea to Venezuela and from Iran to Belarus. There is scarcely a foreign-policy crisis that arises today in which U.S. policymakers do not resort to sanctions. In the wake of its withdrawal from Kabul last year, the U.S. government froze more than $9 billion in Afghan state assets to punish the Taliban. Earlier this month, it slapped sanctions on the Serb nationalist Milorad Dodik for destabilizing Bosnia. Sanctions are also the chief instrument with which the Biden administration and its European allies are currently trying to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine.
If one policy embodies the global reach of American power today, it is the economic weapon of sanctions. As a coercive tool, it is deployed all over the world, against governments from North Korea to Venezuela and from Iran to Belarus. There is scarcely a foreign-policy crisis that arises today in which U.S. policymakers do not resort to sanctions. In the wake of its withdrawal from Kabul last year, the U.S. government froze more than $9 billion in Afghan state assets to punish the Taliban. Earlier this month, it slapped sanctions on the Serb nationalist Milorad Dodik for destabilizing Bosnia. Sanctions are also the chief instrument with which the Biden administration and its European allies are currently trying to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine.
The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War Cover
This article is adapted from The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, by Nicholas Mulder, Yale University Press, 448 pp., $32.50, January 2022
It is hard to imagine our present world politics without America’s use of such coercive tools. Yet it was not always this way. In the early 20th century, the United States shunned the use of sanctions, while Europeans were very enthusiastic about the economic weapon. Today, the tables have turned. Washington freely uses sanctions, while Europe is often reluctant to join American embargoes. The European Union’s moves to protect trade with Iran and Germany’s continued indecisiveness about the future of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline show that behind the Atlantic alliance lies a Euro-American rift over sanctions.
A striking historical reversal has occurred: The United States, the largest early 20th-century abstainer from economic sanctions, has in the last several decades become their most avid user. Policymakers in Washington have made this powerful weapon their own and extended it into new domains. The significant effects of sanctions are undeniable, as is their profound impact on the history of the international system in the twentieth century.
But their effectiveness as a means of achieving political change is limited. It is this combination of considerable material effects and low political efficacy that poses a challenge today, as sanctions appear to have left the conflicts in which they are used in a costly deadlock rather than any closer to resolution.
Paris Conference 1919 with President Woodrow Wilson
Leaders of the “Big Four” nations—(from left) British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Italian Council President Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson—meet on the opening day of the Conference for Peace on Jan. 19, 1919. AFP/Getty Images
How did this happen? Sanctions owe their origins to the horrific slaughter of World War I. That conflict produced great desires among Europeans to put an end to war for good. Their preferred means was to adapt for peacetime use a fearsome weapon of war: economic blockade. Britain and France had imposed such a material siege against their enemies, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in Central Europe and the Middle East.
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, European leaders met with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Together they created the League of Nations, a Geneva-based world organization that would use the economic weapon of blockade against peace-threatening aggressor states. Interwar internationalists sincerely wanted to preserve peace. But since they were unable to erase the memory of civilian suffering caused by the wartime blockade, they decided to embrace this legacy instead. This was the origin of the idea of sanctions deterrence. Packaged into the procedure of Article 16 of the League of Nations Covenant, knowledge of the horrors of the past would keep future lawbreakers in check.
The most effective sanctions would be hermetic—imposed in unison by all the world’s major economies. But Wilson’s domestic U.S. campaign to secure the congressional votes for membership in the League ran into problems. The Senate rejected the Versailles Treaty, and Washington never joined the organization. One cause of political opposition to the League was that its rules required automatic participation in economic blockades against troublesome countries. Congress rejected this as an international encroachment on its exclusive right to authorize the use of force.
U.S. unease about the League thus stemmed from a fear that sanctions would embroil the nation in foreign wars. Many Americans saw economic war against civilians as a policy fit for the Old World and its imperialist ways, but they thought it unbecoming of a free republic like the United States. U.S. President Herbert Hoover, an experienced humanitarian who had organized famine relief after the blockade against Central Europe, worried that sanctions would fan the flames of nationalist resentment or cause such hunger that populations would succumb to revolutionary socialism.
There was plenty of reason to suspect that economic pressure could even have counterproductive effects. Allied attempts from 1917 to 1921 to use blockade to bring down Bolshevism in Russia failed to produce regime change. The philosopher John Dewey argued that this did not bode well for the future of sanctions, since “even nations much weaker than Russia have the power of withdrawing into themselves and enduring until the storm is spent.” He concluded that “the conception that fear of economic loss will deter any nation whose emotions are inflamed from conducting warfare is disproved by all recent history.”
Sanctions deterrence worked to keep peace in the Balkans during the 1920s. In the fall of 1921, the Yugoslav government fomented unrest in its southern neighbor Albania, launching a covert invasion to enlarge its territory. Britain led a group of League powers in threatening an economic embargo. Faced with this threat and a collapsing currency, Belgrade withdrew promptly. Another border war between Greece and Bulgaria was stopped dead in its tracks in October 1925. When the League dangled the prospect of sanctions over Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos, he too broke off his aggressive actions. The League had shown it could use sanctions to prevent war between small states.
But after the Great Depression, as ideological and military rivalry mounted, the power of sanctions to deter came under strain. Larger states were able to take countermeasures and resist economic isolation. The Norwegian internationalist Christian Lange worried in 1933 that “where it was possible to use the threat of Article 16 as a preventive of war against small States … there was no possibility of using this threat against powerfully-armed States.” The problem that increasingly plagued the 1930s was that amid rising economic nationalism, peacetime sanctions became more difficult to distinguish from the wartime blockade that had inspired them. In these conditions, sanctions did not stop political and economic disintegration but accelerated it. The English international affairs analyst Helena Swanwick pointed out in 1937 that this meant preparing for war: “If we insist on pursuing a policy of sanctions in Europe as it now is, we must re-arm. … What sanctionists will not realize is that the theory of sanctions ties the whole League up to the Balance of Power.”
Mussolini and Italian fascists during March on Rome 1922
Benito Mussolini and Italian fascists take part in the the March on Rome at the Piazza del Popolo on Oct. 28, 1922, by which the Italian dictator’s National Fascist Party came to power through a coup.Publifoto/AFP/Getty Images
Still, the risk of destabilization did not prevent the League from trying out its sanctions weapon at scale. In November 1935, 52 of its members imposed economic sanctions against Italy’s Benito Mussolini as a punishment for his aggressive invasion of Ethiopia, a sovereign state and member of the League. Still, the worry about war was present. European leaders did not push the sanctions against Mussolini as far as they could have for fear of sparking a war with the fascist regime in Rome. Britain and France realized that any sanctions with real bite would be so invasive as to risk escalation into open war—the exact opposite of their pacific purpose.
Such concerns were widely shared in the American political and business elite. Throughout the interwar years, Americans remained wary of sanctions in international politics. Foreign policy intellectuals could not convince Hoover to punish Japan for its invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Four years later, his successor Franklin D. Roosevelt refused to join the League’s embargo on Italy, and U.S. oil companies continued to supply the fascist war machine.
Only when Adolf Hitler’s armies swept across Western Europe in the spring of 1940 did Roosevelt begin to think differently about sanctions. In July he briefly cut off oil shipments to Francisco Franco’s Spain, a rightist regime tempted by the idea of entering the war on the side of the Axis powers. A petroleum famine threatened to choke the Spanish economy. Still reeling from three years of civil war and now faced with a preview of the economic consequences of joining the fascist war effort, Franco chose to remain neutral.
Convinced of this approach’s success, U.S. policymakers imposed a more severe oil embargo against Japan one year later to restrain Tokyo’s military expansion. But against a much larger and well-armed state, economic coercion backfired. As it began to run out of raw materials and fuel, Japan chose to attack across Southeast Asia and the Pacific instead. Its attack on Pearl Harbor showed how severe the unintended consequences of sanctions could be.
After World War II, the newly created United Nations inherited the League’s sanctions weapon. With the United States now the world’s dominant economic and military power, the interwar risks of using sanctions subsided. This also allowed the aims of economic pressure to expand. Interwar sanctions were focused narrowly on the external goal of stopping interstate war. Multilateral and unilateral sanctions after 1945 began to focus more on internal goals: addressing human rights violations, convincing dictatorships to give way to democracy, smothering nuclear programs, punishing criminals, pressing for the release of political prisoners, or obtaining other concessions.
The rising incidence and widening aims of sanctions under U.S. hegemony also reflect important shifts in global economic history. Roosevelt’s sanctions on Spain and Japan in 1940-1941 were made possible because he governed what was then the largest oil-producing economy in the world. This power slipped from America’s grasp due to the rise of OPEC in the 1960s and 1970s. The most notable U.S. attempt to manipulate export power was the underwhelming 1980 embargo on grain exports to the Soviet Union. This did not cause a change in policy in Moscow, which continued to occupy Afghanistan, while the embargo destroyed Midwestern farmers’ support for U.S. President Jimmy Carter in his 1980 reelection campaign against Ronald Reagan.
In the long run, commodity control was not where Washington’s advantage was greatest. The end of the Cold War didn’t just remove the only remaining bloc capable of challenging U.S. power. It also coincided with a renewed wave of financial globalization that expanded the reach of U.S. banks and the dollar. Finance has been a particularly potent conduit for American pressure. British strategists and economists in the 1920s and 1930s saw London as an essential sanctionist hub. In a similar way, the pivotal role of Wall Street in the global financial system—supercharged by neoliberal deregulation since the 1980s—has provided significant levers for policymakers to exploit. Because the dollar is the premier reserve currency and the most popular medium for global trade and debt issuance, a vast segment of international markets and firms falls under U.S. jurisdiction in some way or other.
This “weaponized interdependence,” as the political scientists Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman have described it, has been deepened by the unprecedented interventions of the U.S. Federal Reserve since the 2008 global financial crisis. Today, global banks and corporate finance are the front line of sanctions implementation and compliance. The limits on Washington’s use of this financial power are political rather than infrastructural in nature. U.S. policymakers have shown remarkable ingenuity at mapping and mastering the plumbing of economic globalization. But the challenge that they face is translating these technical capabilities into real-world political and strategic successes. In this they have proved much less successful.
President Joe Biden removes his face mask before giving remarks on his administration's response to the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country from the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on January 13, 2022, in Washington, DC.
U.S. President Joe Biden removes his face mask before giving remarks on his administration’s response to the surge in COVID-19 cases from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Jan. 13. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Today, the United States has an unrivaled ability to use its dollar hegemony against its adversaries, even against the wishes of its European and Asian allies. But its ability to impose steep costs on rival states has not been matched by a corresponding success in changing their behavior. This should not come as a surprise. At a basic empirical level, the odds are stacked against sanctions achieving their goals. Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, the canonical empirical investigation of their use in the 20th century, finds that only 1 in 3 uses of sanctions was “at least partially successful.” Cases of unmitigated success that can clearly be attributed to sanctions are even rarer. Setting more modest goals gives sanctions better chances of working. But the data suggests that the history of sanctions is largely a history of disappointment.
What is striking is that this limited usefulness has not affected frequency of use. To the contrary: Sanctions use doubled in the 1990s and 2000s from its level in the period from 1950 to 1985; by the 2010s it had doubled again. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton used economic pressure to go after human rights violators. His successor George W. Bush deployed them against rogue states, terrorists, and nuclear proliferators. And then Barack Obama turned to sanctions as an easier-to-use form of hard power that did not carry the domestic political costs of the increasingly unpopular interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet while in the 1985-1995 period, at a moment of great relative Western power, the chances of sanctions success were still around 35 to 40 percent, by 2016 this had fallen below 20 percent. In other words, while the use of sanctions has surged, their odds of success have plummeted.
For a long time, the falling effectiveness of sanctions was not a major issue for the United States, as the risks of use had also diminished. But since the global financial crisis, economic globalization has encountered more serious headwinds. Simultaneously, the persistent strength and growing heft of autocracies have increased the risks of using them. Dewey’s warning in 1932 that due to economic isolation “old resentments are renewed and the temper which makes for future war is fostered” has a newfound resonance today. In his first year in office, U.S. President Joe Biden tried to navigate a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while also confronting the power of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran with webs of existing sanctions and threats of further sanctions.
For much of the Cold War, U.S. policymakers avoided the interwar mistake of using tough sanctions against larger states. They focused economic coercion against smaller countries with a limited ability to strike back. Against larger powers such as communist China and the Soviet Union, the main tools used were Western agreements to limit technology transfer. Attempts to go beyond these gentle strategic restrictions with more invasive sanctions risked blowback and struggled to secure consent from allies. When Reagan placed sanctions on pipeline construction ferrying Soviet gas to Europe in 1982, he encountered widespread resistance among European leaders from Germany’s Helmut Schmidt to Britain’s Margaret Thatcher. The Siberian pipeline dispute showed the same dynamic that was on display in the Nord Stream 2 affair last summer, when the Biden White House backed down to avoid splitting the Atlantic alliance.
The United States once took over the sanctions instrument from European states, but those same countries now hesitate to embrace it fully. The risks of using economic sanctions and the limits of what they can achieve first became manifest in the interwar period. For much of the post-World War II era, and especially since the 1990s, these issues seemed to have been overcome. But the shifts and shocks of the last decade suggest that the twin problems of diminishing effectiveness and blowback risk have returned with a vengeance. What began a century ago as an antidote to war has degenerated into an alternative way of waging it: a tool of endless economic war, with few victories within reach and no peace in sight.
Nicholas Mulder is assistant professor of history at Cornell University and the author of The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War (2022). Twitter: @njtmulder
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The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War Cover
This article is adapted from The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, by Nicholas Mulder, Yale University Press, 448 pp., $32.50, January 2022
It is hard to imagine our present world politics without America’s use of such coercive tools. Yet it was not always this way. In the early 20th century, the United States shunned the use of sanctions, while Europeans were very enthusiastic about the economic weapon. Today, the tables have turned. Washington freely uses sanctions, while Europe is often reluctant to join American embargoes. The European Union’s moves to protect trade with Iran and Germany’s continued indecisiveness about the future of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline show that behind the Atlantic alliance lies a Euro-American rift over sanctions.
A striking historical reversal has occurred: The United States, the largest early 20th-century abstainer from economic sanctions, has in the last several decades become their most avid user. Policymakers in Washington have made this powerful weapon their own and extended it into new domains. The significant effects of sanctions are undeniable, as is their profound impact on the history of the international system in the twentieth century.
But their effectiveness as a means of achieving political change is limited. It is this combination of considerable material effects and low political efficacy that poses a challenge today, as sanctions appear to have left the conflicts in which they are used in a costly deadlock rather than any closer to resolution.
Paris Conference 1919 with President Woodrow Wilson
Leaders of the “Big Four” nations—(from left) British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Italian Council President Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson—meet on the opening day of the Conference for Peace on Jan. 19, 1919. AFP/Getty Images
How did this happen?
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Politics
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Are sanctions an effective foreign policy tool?
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yes_statement
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"sanctions" are an "effective" "foreign" "policy" "tool".. the use of "sanctions" is an "effective" "foreign" "policy" strategy.
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https://modeldiplomacy.cfr.org/tools-foreign-policy
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Tools of Foreign Policy | Model Diplomacy
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Tools of Foreign Policy
Sanctions are economic measures intended to either pressure or punish bad actors—whether individuals, groups, or countries—that violate international norms or threaten national interests. Sanctions offer governments a way to pressure or punish others with little cost or risk to themselves. However, they can cause collateral damage and are rarely successful in changing their target’s behavior. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how best to apply sanctions to influence a crisis abroad.
Economic statecraft describes the various economic tools countries use—such as lending, foreign assistance, sanctions, and trade agreements—to advance their foreign policy priorities. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide whether to help a country in crisis and, if so, how to best employ a specific tool of economic statecraft: foreign aid.
Countries use trade to generate economic growth, which provides the resources societies need to function. However, governments can also leverage trade as a direct foreign policy tool to advance other national interests. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how to respond when a rivalry between growing trade partners threatens regional stability.
Armed force encompasses any use or threat of violence to influence a situation. It is a powerful tool of foreign policy, but one that carries immense costs and risks. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide whether armed force is the best tool to influence the trajectory of a crisis and, if so, how to deploy its military to achieve its objectives while minimizing risks.
Deterrence means discouraging unwanted behavior through the threat of significant punishment. Sometimes the threat of severe consequences is enough to discourage or deter a threat without requiring governments to act. However, to be effective, deterrence requires that a country make credible threats and be capable of carrying them out. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how best to use deterrence to block threats against itself and its allies.
Arms control agreements are a specialized subset of diplomacy that limit developing, testing, producing, deploying, or using certain types of weapons. They can prevent costly and destabilizing arms races. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how to use arms control to reduce the threat posed by one relatively new category of arms: anti-satellite weapons (ASATs).
The world lacks a global police force capable of stopping violence in its tracks. However, it does have UN peacekeepers, who can help wind down conflicts and prevent them from recurring. Peacekeeping missions face limitations depending on a conflict’s scale and scope. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to determine whether it should support a peacekeeping mission in a country riddled with ethnic conflict.
Covert action entails taking secret measures aimed at influencing political, economic, or military conditions abroad, all while concealing the U.S. role in those measures. This can include political or economic actions, propaganda campaigns, or funding and training paramilitary groups. Covert action allows a country to address national security concerns where other tools would be too risky but, if discovered, it can risk retaliation or public controversy. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide if and how it should use covert action to address a national security threat.
Soft power is a country’s ability to influence others through example and the normal actions of a society. In practice, this process entails countries projecting their values, ideals, and culture across borders to foster goodwill and strengthen partnerships. This can build admiration and respect that makes working with other countries easier. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide whether and how it can enhance its standing in the world to help pursue its interests.
Published:
02/03/2022
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Tools of Foreign Policy
Sanctions are economic measures intended to either pressure or punish bad actors—whether individuals, groups, or countries—that violate international norms or threaten national interests. Sanctions offer governments a way to pressure or punish others with little cost or risk to themselves. However, they can cause collateral damage and are rarely successful in changing their target’s behavior. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how best to apply sanctions to influence a crisis abroad.
Economic statecraft describes the various economic tools countries use—such as lending, foreign assistance, sanctions, and trade agreements—to advance their foreign policy priorities. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide whether to help a country in crisis and, if so, how to best employ a specific tool of economic statecraft: foreign aid.
Countries use trade to generate economic growth, which provides the resources societies need to function. However, governments can also leverage trade as a direct foreign policy tool to advance other national interests. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how to respond when a rivalry between growing trade partners threatens regional stability.
Armed force encompasses any use or threat of violence to influence a situation. It is a powerful tool of foreign policy, but one that carries immense costs and risks. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide whether armed force is the best tool to influence the trajectory of a crisis and, if so, how to deploy its military to achieve its objectives while minimizing risks.
Deterrence means discouraging unwanted behavior through the threat of significant punishment. Sometimes the threat of severe consequences is enough to discourage or deter a threat without requiring governments to act. However, to be effective, deterrence requires that a country make credible threats and be capable of carrying them out. In this hypothetical scenario, the United States needs to decide how best to use deterrence to block threats against itself and its allies.
Arms control agreements are a specialized subset of diplomacy that limit developing, testing, producing, deploying, or using certain types of weapons. They can prevent costly and destabilizing arms races.
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no
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Politics
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Are sanctions an effective foreign policy tool?
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yes_statement
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"sanctions" are an "effective" "foreign" "policy" "tool".. the use of "sanctions" is an "effective" "foreign" "policy" strategy.
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https://www.nbr.org/publication/chinas-sanctions-strategy-and-its-implications/
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China's Sanctions Strategy and Its Implications - The National ...
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Spotlight
Interview
China’s Sanctions Strategy and Its Implications
In June 2021 the Chinese government passed the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, allowing Chinese authorities to enact countermeasures on entities they believe have harmed China. This law marks an increasingly visible trend where China uses sanctions to communicate its unhappiness with other countries, particularly the United States and its allies. Laurel Holley spoke with Yukon Huang, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Asia Program, to discuss the factors that influence China’s decisions to implement economic sanctions.
What guidelines, including written regulations and unwritten norms, does the Chinese government abide by when deciding whether to use sanctions?
Several regulations and rules have been passed in recent years. The most threatening is the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, which came into play around a year ago. It states that if foreign or Chinese entities implement sanctions that hurt China, then they can be subjected to penalties. A couple years ago, Beijing approved Chinese versions of several U.S. regulations—an export or trade law, an entity list—allowing China to penalize foreign companies for actions interpreted by Beijing as contrary to its interests.
In some sense, these laws are codifying powers that the Chinese government possesses anyway as an authoritarian regime. It can at any time put out a restriction on trade or cultural exchange designed to penalize a company or country. Whether there is a legal or nonlegal basis is irrelevant. In some ways, China is trying to copy legislation that the United States has largely used against China over the last five years. But more importantly, China has the authority and the willingness to sanction a country, individual, or corporation that it feels is working against Beijing’s interests.
As China dramatically increased its overall export volumes at the beginning of the 21st century and took on an increasingly central role in critical supply chains, it began to gain the clout it needed to leverage effective sanctions. What factors encouraged China to develop its sanctioning strategy and usage?
China’s use of sanctions is a policy the country has practiced for decades. Recently, this has been in the form of restrictive trade and investment measures. Historically, China often expressed what it would call “unhappiness” with government policies by banning cultural exchanges. That was built around actions perceived as conflicting with core interests, such as a foreign government receiving the Dalai Lama in a state visit or gestures involving Taiwan that Beijing thought violated its “one China” principle. Then, Beijing would take economic or diplomatic actions to signal its displeasure.
China’s sanctions became more noticeable in terms of trade measures as it became more powerful economically. It is now the largest trading nation and the second-largest recipient of foreign investment. The activities of U.S. companies operating in China are substantial. If you look at the United States’ interests, U.S. exports to China are not that significant in a financial sense. The revenues that companies earn in China are multiples higher. The real threat of sanctions in terms of U.S. interests is the ability of companies operating in China to generate sales. For example, General Motors earns a large share of its profits by selling cars in China. Most of Apple’s products are made in China. U.S. economic activity within China through franchises like McDonald’s and Starbucks is likewise enormous.
There remains a question as to whether the ability to sanction companies is actually effective in altering foreign policies. When the United States sanctions China, will China change its policies? In most cases, sanctions do not work. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a case in point: will Western sanctions, which are the most extreme and united that we have ever seen, fundamentally change Russia’s behavior? Right now, it would not appear to be so.
If sanctions are comprehensive and strong enough, they may have an effect. But that can take decades. When countries introduce sanctions, they are not thinking in time frames of decades. They are thinking about something that will have an effect over the next year or two.
Comprehensive sanctions can work if the burden is put on a relatively small entity that cannot do much to offset them. But sanctions on other significant powers, including middle powers like South Korea and Australia, generally do not work because countries can usually diversify to get around them. Both sides might suffer from the consequences, but sanctions do not hurt either country to the extent of provoking an actual change in behaviors.
What does China seek to achieve whenever it warns the international community that it might use sanctions?
We need to think of sanctions as a softer counterpart than the use of military force, while still being more aggressive than diplomatic measures for responding to a disagreement with a country. These measures include recalling the ambassador, sending signals of unhappiness, or cutting down cultural exchanges—all of which are normal conduct in foreign policy. If countries do not feel that the diplomatic approach will work or want to send a stronger signal while not escalating into a military issue, then countries use economic sanctions. Countries do this if they have the tools. China did not have the tools until the last decade or so, because its trade and foreign investment presence was not significant enough.
Countries rely on the most powerful sanctioning tool they have. For the United States, the first tool is access to the U.S. dollar and global capital markets. That is the most powerful sanction in the world, because it can cut off economic activity. The second U.S. tool, which it has only recently used, is the control of high-tech components and intellectual property rights, which China has been a major target of. One critical example is access to advanced semiconductors.
No country but the United States has these two powerful tools. China does not have anything comparable to them. What China has is access to its domestic market and the ability to influence trade and investment relations. This is very important for its neighboring countries, which are highly dependent on China. The United States is a major trading partner, and sanctioning trade relations can hurt. But it cannot change U.S. policy significantly. China’s sanctions have not meaningfully altered Washington’s behavior, but they have worsened public sentiments toward China. According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted this year, 82% of the U.S. public has an unfavorable view of China, based in part on its aggressive behavior and human rights concerns.
That raises the question of whether sanctions are counterproductive. From a Western perspective, China’s sanctioning policy has hurt more than helped China. So why does China continue to adopt this policy? There are two factors. One is that sanctions are an alternative to military action. From everybody’s perspective, it is far better for countries to rely on economic-related measures than signaling unhappiness through military confrontation. The second factor is rising nationalism. Many of China’s sanctions are not really designed to change the behavior of the foreign target, but to signal to the Chinese public the political interests of the Communist Party—namely that the party will not tolerate foreigners pressuring China in any way.
Ten or fifteen years ago, when China was not a major economic power, it operated under Deng Xiaoping’s advice to keep a low profile and try to not escalate tensions globally, because China did not yet have the means to follow through. Beijing now feels that it has the means. But those means are not really effective in altering outcomes. Promoting nationalism, in contrast, is an objective that is very important for a political system like China’s. Many sanctions are levied almost solely for that purpose.
What is something U.S. policymakers tend to overlook when it comes to Chinese sanctions?
Western sanctions levied on China often relate to one of its core interests: Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. China sees these concerns as internal issues to be dealt with by the Chinese people. Foreign actions targeted toward changing Chinese behavior on these issues are seen as unwarranted interference in domestic concerns. China comes out very strongly in the use of sanctions for these core interests.
When Chinese leaders look toward Western policies, they see a disconnect. There are many issues that the United States recognizes as issues that Americans need to resolve, such as racial and gender equality, voting rights, and abortion rights. Suppose a foreign country expressed discontent with U.S. policies and sanctioned the United States. Washington would find that absurd. That’s the view of Beijing, wondering why a foreign government would try to get involved in another country’s domestic issue.
China is now a major power, but it is a different kind. It is the first developing country that is a major power. It has achieved this status over the past twenty or thirty years, with a speed the world has never seen before. Major powers usually evolve over generations, not decades. Now there is a major power whose institutions and ability to deal with global issues have not matured to the extent that the West would say is needed. China also does not have alliances that might help in forging solutions. This leaves Beijing with few alternatives. Sanctions are not a preferred alternative but have evolved because of a lack of other options. The same thing is true from the Western perspective. The West has not been able to deal effectively with China’s rapid rise. Sanctions from both sides reflect an inability to create the appropriate institutions to handle these tensions.
How does the intertwined economic relationship of the United States and China affect each country’s ability to sanction effectively? Do you have any thoughts on the functionality of sanctions in an environment of high mutual dependence?
Sanctions have become an option for both China and the Western powers to express their unhappiness with the other side’s policies. Some say it is a relatively benign outcome that does not cause any deaths. Both sides have alternatives. Australia, for example, has been sanctioned a lot by China, but has managed to find other markets for its products. Still, there has been a cost: Australian companies have lost business, and prices are higher. Chinese consumers who have relied on Australian products have also suffered. Onlookers can view sanctions as a tool that signals there is a problem but does not solve it.
The consequence often is escalation. But countries do not want to escalate into military confrontation. Instead, the escalation occurs through further additional sanctions and is intensified over a broader range of commodities, so that some economic activities become prohibitive. The United States has restrictions on exports of high-tech components and chips to China, but they are not comprehensive.
Suppose, however, that it decided to stop allowing China from buying any semiconductors that incorporated U.S. technology. In China, these chips are potentially used for military or surveillance equipment that runs counter to U.S. interests regarding human rights or security concerns. But they are mostly used for normal commercial purposes. If the United States stopped exporting high-tech components to China, China would be unable to produce a whole range of consumer items destined for global markets. As a result, American consumers or producers would be unable to buy a range of products that they need. If sanctions escalated to the point where they critically harmed economic interests, both the United States and China would likely find it intolerable. The interlinkages between the two economies are too strong.
Even if sanctions were only partial, meaning that U.S. high-tech companies restrict only some exports of their products to China, China would still be hurt. It would not have the necessary components to produce, for example, high-speed computers, automobiles, or commercial aircraft. But partial sanctions would also hurt U.S. high-tech companies, which earn 30%–50% of their profits from sales to China. If they cannot continue doing so, they will not have the resources to invest in research and development activities needed to maintain the United States’ technological leadership. The growth rate of the United States is very much dependent on innovation and technology, because it is an advanced economy. This is the issue of interlinkages. One really cannot separate the U.S. and Chinese economies.
The United States must find a way to deal with the legitimate security concerns of the West while also preserving the economic benefits from continuing to interact with China. Instead, what U.S. leaders are doing is proceeding with sanctions and breeding more distrust. The ultimate outcome is that both sides will be irreparably damaged.
Yukon Huang is a Senior Fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., and a noted expert on China’s economy and its regional and global impact. He was formerly the World Bank’s country director for China and Russia. He is an adviser to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and various governments and corporations. Dr. Huang has published widely on China’s economy and related foreign policy issues, including the book Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom Is Wrong (2017).
This interview was conducted by Laurel Holley while an intern with the Center for Innovation, Trade, and Strategy at NBR.
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economic activity within China through franchises like McDonald’s and Starbucks is likewise enormous.
There remains a question as to whether the ability to sanction companies is actually effective in altering foreign policies. When the United States sanctions China, will China change its policies? In most cases, sanctions do not work. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a case in point: will Western sanctions, which are the most extreme and united that we have ever seen, fundamentally change Russia’s behavior? Right now, it would not appear to be so.
If sanctions are comprehensive and strong enough, they may have an effect. But that can take decades. When countries introduce sanctions, they are not thinking in time frames of decades. They are thinking about something that will have an effect over the next year or two.
Comprehensive sanctions can work if the burden is put on a relatively small entity that cannot do much to offset them. But sanctions on other significant powers, including middle powers like South Korea and Australia, generally do not work because countries can usually diversify to get around them. Both sides might suffer from the consequences, but sanctions do not hurt either country to the extent of provoking an actual change in behaviors.
What does China seek to achieve whenever it warns the international community that it might use sanctions?
We need to think of sanctions as a softer counterpart than the use of military force, while still being more aggressive than diplomatic measures for responding to a disagreement with a country. These measures include recalling the ambassador, sending signals of unhappiness, or cutting down cultural exchanges—all of which are normal conduct in foreign policy. If countries do not feel that the diplomatic approach will work or want to send a stronger signal while not escalating into a military issue, then countries use economic sanctions. Countries do this if they have the tools. China did not have the tools until the last decade or so, because its trade and foreign investment presence was not significant enough.
Countries rely on the most powerful sanctioning tool they have. For the United States, the first tool is access to the U.S. dollar and global capital markets. That is the most powerful sanction in the world, because it can cut off economic activity.
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no
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Politics
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Are sanctions an effective foreign policy tool?
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no_statement
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"sanctions" are not an "effective" "foreign" "policy" "tool".. the use of "sanctions" does not yield positive results in "foreign" "policy".
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7518878/
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What's new in economic sanctions? - PMC
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In the early 1980s, when Secretary of State George Shultz deplored “light switch diplomacy”, and President Ronald Reagan criticized Jimmy Carter for restricting US agricultural exports to Russia, it seemed that economic sanctions would become a less prominent feature of international affairs. Quite the contrary happened, starting in the Reagan Administration. The imposition of sanctions not only proliferated. There were some 20 on-going sanctions cases in 1960, but by 2014 the figure reached 170 cases (Felbermayr et al 2019).
The 3rd edition of Economic Sanctions Reconsidered (Hufbauer et al., 2009) covered episodes through 2000, and that year will serve as the point of departure when asking “What's New?” in this essay. Roughly, this essay looks at the evolution of sanction over the past two decades, but with greater emphasis on more recent events. New technology has enabled the nature of sanctions to be expanded from traditional trade restrictions to finance, travel and contract cancellation measures. Not only states but also non-state actors have become senders as well as targets of sanction. New actors and new weapons tend to produce new goals of sanctions, compared to traditional actors and weapons. Excellent analysis and a meticulously collected sanction database – presented at the workshop “Sanctions: Theory, Quantitative Evidence, and Policy Implication,” in Drexel University, Philadelphia in April 2019 – are surveyed to highlight potential venues for future research on sanctions regimes. Finally, the New Cold War between the United States and China has dramatically altered the landscape of sanctions by blurring the line between commercial and political diplomacy. The new landscape is now straining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). America's allies in NATO have become targets of US secondary sanctions, intended to punish Iran and China. WTO commercial rules have been superseded by “national security” trade restrictions. The evolution of sanctions that merge security and economic spheres challenges the survival of those organizations. Hence, the essay is divided into five parts: New Weapons; New Actors; New Goals; New Data and Analysis; and New Cold War. It is more qualitative than quantitative, and examines possible consequences arising from the use of new weapons in the New Cold War context.
1. New weapons
Entering the 2000s, new weapons have been introduced to affect target behavior. This section surveys such new weapons from negative measures such as financial measures, offers hard to refuse, and weaponized tariffs, to positive measures such as humanitarian exceptions, diplomatic exceptions and monetary rewards. Also, cyber warfare and private litigation are illustrated as unconventional measures. The emergence of new weapons and the growing preference of sender countries to use them creates fresh concerns, which are discussed at the end of this section.
1.1. Financial tools
Very early in the post Second World War era, the United States and its European allies used the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and regional development banks – institutions they controlled – as on-off spigots to block or limit funding to target countries. This was supplemented by outright denial or slow-walking bilateral grants and loans (military and economic) to persuade recalcitrant foreign leaders. The Soviet Union did much the same to coerce wayward satellites during these decades.
Prior to South African sanctions in the late 1980s and early 1990s, private banks headquartered in Western countries were rarely instructed or even cautioned by their home governments to restrict loans or financial services to target countries (such services as correspondent relations or floating sovereign debt). Partly this reflected the operations of private banks in that era: they did relatively little business in countries that were prime candidates for economic sanctions. But also, it reflected hesitation by Western governments to “meddle” in the affairs of private banks.
All this changed with the presidency of Barack Obama, and the wide-ranging sanctions against Middle East targets. Private banks based in the West were instructed not to do business with Iraq or Iran, and heavy fines were imposed on European banks (such as Société Générale and HSBC) that sought to evade the strictures.1
Equally important, when sanctions against Iran gathered force in 2010, most Iranian banks were cut off from the world's financial centers. This was achieved both by proscriptions against doing business with Iranian banks and by denial of their wire transfers through SWIFT or Fedwire. These novel techniques threw sand into the creaky domain of Iranian finance, hobbling an economy that was already suffering from severe mismanagement.
Why was President Obama so eager to enlist financial institutions in the conflict with Iran? Saddled with flagging military ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama wanted to avoid, at all costs, a third military front with Iran. Like multiple leaders before him, Obama searched for “silver bullet” sanctions that would force Iran to the bargaining table. Finance seemed to fit the bill, and indeed financial pressure was a critical element in creating the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA) which seemed to end the conflict over nuclear weapons in 2015.
Not so quick. President Trump dismissed the JCPOA as ineffective. Yet he resurrected and reinforced the financial techniques applied by his predecessors, though European cooperation became more reluctant than during the Obama years. Many European foreign ministers believe that the JCPOA was as good a deal as Iran would ever sign and, unlike Trump, hesitated to blow it up. However, Iran's threat, publicized on June 17, 2019, to enrich more uranium than permitted in the JCPOA agreement unless European sanctions are lifted, could eventually alter European views.
1.2. Offers hard to refuse
Prior to the 21st century, alliances of willing sender country were formed under UN auspices, often with blessings from the Security Council, the Organization of American States, or ad hoc groups. In earlier decades, the United States enacted statutes (e.g., the Helms-Burton law in 1996) and issued regulations designed to force foreign subsidiaries of US firms, and even foreign firms, not to do business with targets such as Cuba and China. These laws and regulations sparked nationalist backlashes in Canada, France and other US allies because US measures were perceived to intrude on sovereign powers abroad.2
In recent decades, the United States has devised a more direct technique – offer banks and industrial firms in Europe, Japan, Korea and elsewhere a choice: do business in the target country, or do business in the United States, but not both. This was Obama's way of implementing broad sanctions against Iran, and Trump is doing the same. This new approach of making offers bank-by-bank, and firm-by-firm achieves results with far less backlash. Moreover, the surveillance techniques of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provide powerful deterrence against “cheating”. Very likely the offer technique will be applied widely in the future. As Beijing flexes its economic muscle, China may well adopt the same technique. As a harbinger, China has extended Belt-and-Road loans to nearly every country in Latin America except Paraguay – which committed the offense of granting diplomatic recognition to Taiwan.
1.3. Humanitarian exceptions
Seldom acknowledged but hard to deny, broad economic sanctions are akin to area bombing, also known as carpet bombing, a technique favored by Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris during the Second World War and embraced by Winston Churchill. Carpet bombing inevitably kills innocent children and other civilians; broad sanctions inevitably inflict privation and disease on the poorer strata of society, often the young and old.
One answer to the moral dilemma is to make exceptions for exports of food, medicines and other arguably humanitarian products. This answer, intended to pacify critical Western journalists as well as help the vulnerable, came into vogue in the 1990s and is now a regular component of nearly every episode. Even President Trump's renewed sanctions against Cuba and North Korea have humanitarian exceptions. Critics of Trump's sanctions against Venezuela – cutting off US oil purchases and diverting Citgo earnings – have been quick to cite the humanitarian harm to ordinary Venezuelans.
Nevertheless, the overwhelming trend in the past two decades is away from comprehensive sanctions to “smart” or “targeted” sanctions. In the scores of cases unknown to the general public, limited sanctions are the preferred tool – sanctions aimed at specific individuals, companies or transactions, without causing humanitarian harm to the public. However, in high profile cases – the ones average readers remember, such as Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela – the flavor is comprehensive sanctions. So, humanitarian exceptions remain as key component of sanctions policy.
1.4. Diplomatic exceptions
In pre-21st century episodes, sender countries were nominally “all in” the sanctions regime. However, cheating was widespread among senders, even for declared adherents to a UN Security Council resolution. Less than faithful observance was an informal means of avoiding burdens. As well, token compensation was sometimes extended to states neighboring the target, to mitigate their hardship from diminished trade. The Serbian and Iraq episodes are examples.
To recruit countries into the “sheriff's posse”, tailored exceptions were woven into the Iranian sanction regime spearheaded by President Obama. Countries heavily dependent on Iranian oil could maintain traditional, or modestly scaled back, import levels. Such exceptions enlisted Turkey, India, China and a few others into the regime. President Trump's renewed sanctions against Iran contained similar exceptions, but with flexible time limits that eventually ran out.3
The new approach anticipates the reality of unenthusiastic posse members by negotiating diplomatic exceptions in the launch plan.
Whether diplomatic exceptions and humanitarian carve outs make a difference in assembling a “coalition of the willing”, or the ultimate success of sanctions, remains to be explored.
1.5. Weaponized tariffs
President Trump has inaugurated an almost novel technique to the realm of economic sanctions – not an easy feat after more than two centuries of practice since the Napoleonic Wars. Trump has weaponized the US tariff regime, raising selective rates well above maximum (“bound”) levels committed both in the WTO and regional and bilateral free trade agreements. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many countries raised their tariffs as a retaliatory tool in response to the Smoot-Hawley Act. But in that era international commitments did not bind national tariff levels. Trump's justification for weaponization is simple: “When a country [USA] is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.”4
Once Trump settled in the White House, his campaign promises were put in action through tariffs on merchandise imports from China and Mexico. Contending that Chinese practices of forcing technology transfers and stealing intellectual property are threats to the US economy and national security, Trump imposed 10 percent and 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion imports from China. In response, China retaliated by imposing tariffs on some $110 billion imports from the United States, and lowering tariffs to imports from other countries.5
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the rest of Chinese imports (about $325 billion), but the threat was shelved at the G20 Summit held in Osaka, Japan on June 28-29, 2019. In September 2019, however, Trump raised US tariffs on some imports and more tariffs were threatened. But in January 2020, the US and China negotiated a “phase one” deal committing China to step up its purchases of US goods and services (a huge increase over two years of $200 billion compared with 2017), and the additional tariffs were put on ice. If the US is dissatisfied with Chinese performance on any of the phase one commitments, the tariffs can be reinstated. That could well happen in the runup to the US presidential election in November 2020, as one means for Trump to advertise that he is tougher on China than his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
A much smaller version of the same strategy was applied to Mexico, to resolve the issue of Central American refugees passing through Mexico to the United States. Trump announced that a 5 percent tariff would be imposed on all products imported from Mexico, starting June 10, 2019, unless Mexico reduced the flow of illegal migrants. Moreover, he threatened to increase the tariff in 5 percent stages, up to 25 percent, to be reached on October 1, 2019. Mexico caved, and agreed to deploy up to 6,000 national guard troops to its southern border and take additional measures to slow the refugee flow. In turn, Trump suspended the imposition of tariffs.6
In 1960, the percentage of US trade affected by sanctions was under 1%. Several conflicts later, but before Trump entered the White House, still only 5% of US trade was similarly affected.7
Just adding Trump's tariffs on $250 billion imports from China and Chinese retaliation against $110 billions of US exports, that percentage has now reached 13%,8
a magnitude of macroeconomic significance. One unintended result is to erode business confidence worldwide and diminish cross-border investment.
With his weaponized approach, Trump has significantly eroded the distinction between routine commercial tactics in search of markets abroad, on the one hand, and economic sanctions in pursuit of foreign policy goals, on the other. The erosion is particularly evident with respect to China, where Trump's trade war presages a New Cold War (explored later, and likely to be pursued, with fresh vigor, if a Democrat captures the White House in 2020).
Since the founding of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the GATT) in 1947, the United States and other members have imposed penalty duties on top of bound tariffs in retaliation against specific foreign practices – notably countervailing duties against subsidized imports and anti-dumping duties against imports sold below average cost or prevailing prices abroad.
But these and other penalty duties are targeted on narrow product categories in response to individual offenses. Trump's tariffs are aimed at a wide range of products (all autos, all steel, everything Chinese) in pursuit of broad goals that mix commerce and foreign policy (e.g., slash bilateral trade deficits, restore US preeminence as a manufacturing power, or limit technology exports that could strengthen China's military).9
In kindred spirit, the Trump administration is pushing a bill titled the “Reciprocal Trade Act” that would enhance presidential powers to raise US tariffs against specific imports from countries that impose higher tariffs than existing US rates. It is hard to classify the draft bill as commercial policy or sanctions policy, since it conflates the two.
Moreover, Trump's tariff agenda is buttressed by fresh limitations on foreign investment in the United States, via regulations issued under the new Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). The regulations create a pilot program that will review – in a secret star chamber process under the auspices of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) – virtually every foreign acquisition, even of minority interests, in any US company with a technology flavor.10
Again, the distinction is blurred almost beyond recognition between commercial objectives and foreign policy goals. Likewise, new regulations issued under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) subject a broad range of technology exports to government oversight, another conflation of commercial and foreign policy.
New databases have yet to catch up with the weaponization of import tariffs, investment policy, and export controls. For the moment, case-by-case studies will be needed to appraise the success of Trump's approach. The imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs, and the threat of auto tariffs, on Canada and Mexico appear to have wrested concessions from the two neighbors in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – negotiations that led to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Further, Mexico clamped down on Central American refugees bound for the United States, in response to Trump's threat of escalating tariffs. In January 2020, the phase one agreement promised a massive increase in Chinese purchases of US exports, along with many market-opening measures. Whether Beijing can or will carry out these promises remains to be seen, especially in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and heightened technology tensions with Washington.
Whatever the outcome of these episodes, the conflation of commercial policy with sanctions policy has dramatically and adversely changed the face of world trade and finance. Since the Second World War, the United States has espoused market principles for trade and finance – a world economy where government sets the rules, but private firms determine purchases and prices. The new flavor, in the Trump era, is managed trade and finance – government both sets rules and determines outcomes. As other countries emulate Trump, it's hard to believe the US will benefit. The research task for scholars is to evaluate not only the outcome of individual episodes, but also how the new flavor affects the global system. If the conflation becomes a customary staple of sanctions and commercial policy, past the Trump Administration, our prognosis is gloomy.
1.6. Monetary rewards
Every sanctions episode contains the seeds of relief, simply from the potential removal of barriers to trade, investment and finance. Ever since the Marshall Plan was launched to thwart Soviet expansion, the United States has conditioned military or economic aid on the behavior of recipient countries. In the 20th century, South Korea, Pakistan, Chile, Egypt and others have been targets of such positive measures. The new twist, in the realm of positive measures, is the twinning of negative threats with positive incentives. This was done by Europe to slow the arrival of Syrian and other refugees via Turkey. The negative threat was to harden the border between Turkey and its European neighbors; the positive measure was money. EU promised to pay about $3.3 billion to Turkey to contain refugees at the EU-Turkish border in 2016.11
In a similar spirit, President Trump has tabled vague offers of loans and grants, coupled with the threat of stiffer sanctions, to entice North Korea and Iran to curtail and even eliminate their nuclear arsenals. Following the celebrated meeting of Presidents Trump and Kim Jung Un at the end of June 2019, more positive measures seemed to be on the negotiating table, but a subsequent chill seems to have ended the nascent détente.
Far more massive, China launched its “Belt and Road” initiative, offering huge loans, possibly with a grant element, for infrastructure projects in adjacent and distant friendly countries. How much will be expended to improve sea, rail and road ties with China remains to be determined, but the amounts are likely to run into hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. Indeed, a new study suggests the Belt and Road initiative could eventually invest as much as $8 trillion in infrastructure projects (Hurley et al. 2018).12
Anything approaching this magnitude will give China enormous leverage to influence recipient countries, both by offering finance and by withdrawing finance.
The realm of “positive sanctions”, as they have been called, is potentially broad and ambiguous. We prefer to confine the term to situations where the promise of monetary rewards is twinned with the imposition or threat of negative sanctions in a quid pro quo fashion. For example, Belt-and-Road loans are clearly conditioned on the target country not recognizing Taiwan and establishing friendly trade and investment relations with China. US offers to North Korea and Iran hinge on their abandonment of nuclear weapons.
1.7. Cyber warfare
Cyber-attacks clearly rate as a 21st century innovation. Through NSA wizardry, the United States has possessed the capability, for at least a quarter century, to descend chaos on the banking, telecommunications, and power systems of adversaries. Other countries, not only China and Russia, but also North Korea and India, and allies like Germany, France, Britain and Israel possess similar if not quite equal capabilities. Moreover, the United States is highly vulnerable, still struggling to create a Cyber Command capable of mounting defensive measures.
During Obama's tenure, the Pentagon and the National Security Advisor eschewed offensive use of cyber capabilities, arguing that cyber warfare was akin to kinetic warfare. In a classified Executive Order, President Trump has reversed that policy, opening the possibility of offensive cyber-attacks in future economic sanctions episodes.13
Media reports indicate that cyber measures have already been deployed against Russia (its electrical grid) and Iran (its financial system).
Russia made its mark with extensive disinformation and hacking activities during the 2016 US presidential election. But influencing foreign elections is nothing new in the sanctions world; the United States often deployed media campaigns during the Cold War to shift election results in Europe and Latin America. What's new is posting fake opinions and news on social media and hacking private email accounts. Future episodes seem all but certain, starting with the November 2020 US presidential election.
1.8. Private litigation
In a bygone era, sovereign states were shielded from foreign private litigation by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. While the doctrine has been gradually eroded, we define private litigation, when launched in the courts of a hostile country, as a new weapon in the sanctions armory.
Thus, in April 2019, the Trump Administration withdrew the Executive Order, issued by its predecessors, which barred private litigation against Cuban and foreign entities for “trafficking” in Cuban property expropriated from American firms and citizens.14
Such suits were authorized by the Helms-Burton law of 1996 but suspended by the Clinton Administration to settle a case brought against the United States in the WTO by the European Union. The Trump Administration's action could unleash multiple private cases, with claims aggregating billions of dollars. Once the cases are filed, it will be beyond the Administration's powers to shut them down. Hence, they will not be useful as bargaining chips with the Cuban government, but they will inflict punishment on Cuban and foreign firms (principally European and Canadian corporations). Blocking statutes and bruised relations between Washington and its allies seem likely.
As another example, using the amended Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) that allows US victims of terrorism to sue designated State sponsors of terrorism for their terrorist acts, the US federal courts over the last two decades issued some 92 judgments finding Iran liable for terrorist action that claimed American victims, resulting in over $56 billion in damages against Iranian government entities and officials.15
For example, US courts found Iran – acting through Hezbollah – liable for Americans killed in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks. Recently the US Supreme Court ruled that $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets can be turned over to the survivors of the bombing.16
Trump's policies with respect to Cuba may set a precedent for other sanctions cases. Private litigation could become more common if the Congress amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 to broaden existing exceptions to the immunities doctrine to include “trafficking” and other offenses that sanctioned countries and their commercial partners are likely to commit (for example, canceling contracts or imposing tariffs on US exports). From the standpoint of US foreign policy, private litigation may serve as deterrent and retribution, but not as a tool of international negotiation.
1.9. Why the weapons race?
New economic weapons have flourished in the past two decades, alongside an amazing array of battlefield devices, but the economic weapons have had greater use. An overriding reason for the US preference is the record of murky outcomes and outright failures in military actions against Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan – all reminiscent of Vietnam. Economic sanctions rarely lead to American deaths, unlike military operations. Whether sanctions succeed in achieving their goals seems far less important to the public than the outcome of military conflicts. Moreover, when it comes to challenging Russia or China, sanctions are the only tool: US military measures would threaten nuclear war.
Parallel concerns can be found in the preference of other great powers for economic weapons. The Chinese market, like its US counterpart, is big enough that shutting access commands the attention of an adversary. South Korea is the exemplary case, with implications for Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. China cannot threaten military strikes against South Korea, Taiwan or Japan without triggering a US military response, but China can easily close its market to exports from offending neighbors. Russia faces the same dilemma with respect to NATO members, but it has enjoyed a relatively free military hand in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria – correctly calculating that the United States would not respond in those theaters. For other theaters, social media and cyber campaigns are far cheaper than overt or covert Russian military actions. The European Union lacks a joint military force and has no prospect of acquiring one. Apart from moral suasion, economic sanctions are the EU's sole enforcement tool with bearable economic and political cost.
In sum, the growing use of economic sanctions carries adverse implications for the stability and survival of NATO and WTO. For NATO, frictions between the United States and its security allies weaken the effectiveness of sanctions on Iran and other targets and foster dissent between senior officials. The misalignment in Iran sanction policy became worse when the European Union blocked the US attempt to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran.17
Meanwhile, Trump's Cuban policy irritates business firms abroad and seems pointless to Canadian and European military leaders.
Trump's broad national security justification for Section 232 tariffs under the 1962 Trade Act, and his tariff reprisals under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, directly threaten the rules-based multilateral trading system overseen by the WTO. On their face, US trade measures conflict with WTO rules, but since collateral US actions have dismantled the WTO's Appellate Body, aggrieved foreign countries have no meaningful forum for settling disputes. Accordingly, they have resorted to retaliatory measures which are equally inconsistent with WTO rules. Underlying the largest frictions is the New Cold War and it's not at all clear that the WTO system can house both the United States and China. Given the global trade and investment reach of both antagonists, a split of the WTO into two domains will inflict substantial costs on the other 162 member countries. In practice, if not in name, the World Trade Organization may not survive.
2. New actors
Through the turn of century, the United States was the dominant sender country, participating in about 80 percent of cases, often with a posse of allies, followed by the erstwhile Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the European Union. After the end of the Cold War in 1990, the United States sometimes secured UN Security Council resolutions that enlisted nominally committed sender countries. During that era, US targets dotted the globe, while Russian targets were concentrated in neighboring countries, and UK and EU targets were concentrated in Africa (but the UK often joined far-flung US-led episodes). In recent years, new actors and new targets are changing the traditional landscape of sanctions, reflecting technological advances and the rise of social media.
2.1. European union
To this day, the United States remains the dominant sender, but starting in the late 1990s and early 2000s the European Union became much more active, allied with the United Nations, regional partners or the United States. EU targets were concentrated in Africa, usually countries ridden with strife, ruled by despots, or victims of military coups. The European Union sometimes achieved a modest degree of success in stabilizing these countries or displacing their political leaders. For example, the European Union introduced restrictive measures against Zimbabwe in 2002 in relation to the escalating domestic repression against political opponents, and the violation of human rights including freedom of speech. The EU sanctions included arms embargo, travel restrictions and asset freeze. After the constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe was held, most sanctions have been suspended, but several Congolese individuals are still subject to asset freeze and travel bans.
Entering the 2000s, the European Union built a policy framework for more effective use of targeted sanctions. To this end, the EU updated its guidelines for member states, calling for timely implementation and evaluation. EU sanctions aim to deter terrorism (e.g. Iran), delay nuclear proliferation (e.g. Iran and North Korea), reduce human rights violations (e.g., Nicaragua), reverse annexation of foreign territory (e.g. Russia), and destabilize foreign leaders (e.g., Ivory Coast). Between 2004 and 2015, the European Union introduced more than 40 different sanctions against 27 states.18
For example, in 2019, EU members agreed to impose travel bans and asset freezes on Nicaraguan individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations. All designated individuals and entities are listed in the official EU sanctions database.
One EU concern is coping with US “extraterritorial” sanctions. When Trump revoked US participation in the Iranian nuclear agreement and imposed secondary sanctions against firms doing business with Iran (mainly energy deals), third countries became subject to US sanctions. Some argued that European foreign policy autonomy was at risk because the EU could be seen as coerced into following US foreign policy.19
To bypass this perception, France, Germany and Britain created the “Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges” (INSTEX) as a special vehicle to help EU firms do business with Iran and facilitate non-US dollar transactions. Despite Trump's criticism of INSTEX, the EU successfully made its first transaction with Iran using this financial mechanism in March 2020.20
However, this divergence weakened the overall impact of sanctions and lessened the already small likelihood that Iran would abandon its nuclear goals. When Trump re-imposed nuclear sanctions, Iran became less compliant with the JCPOA. In 2020 Iran has exceeded a threshold on uranium enrichment agreed to in the deal, but continues to work with IAEA inspectors in verification and monitoring of sites related to the deal with limiting their access to certain sites.21
2.2. Russia
Shorn of direct control over its erstwhile satellites, Russia turned to active diplomacy towards the “near abroad”. Economic sanctions accompanied the diplomatic mix, leading to episodes aimed at discouraging ties with the West, seizing disputed territory, or protecting Russian-speaking minorities. For instance, Russia imposed economic sanctions on Estonia and Latvia in response to alleged discrimination against Russian minorities (1992–1999). Restrictions on oil and gas exports and access to Russian markets are customary tools.
Entering the 2010s, Russia often imposed sanctions as a retaliatory instrument to counteract Western measures against Russia's own provocative actions, such as the invasion of Ukraine, the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy, and the cyberattack on US elections. Responding to US and EU sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Russia imposed travel bans and food embargos on the two senders. Following annual renewals, these will remain in effect until the end of 2020. Counter sanctions also apply to Ukraine in response to Ukraine's decision to expand its own list of prohibited imports from Russia.22
Trade in energy and food products between Russia and Ukraine has essentially stopped.
2.3. China
Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, starting in 1978, China claimed that non-interference in the affairs of other countries was a guiding principle. Subsequent Chinese leaders sang the same notes, up through Hu Jintao, who stepped down in 2012. The current president, Xi Jinping, apparently leader for life, has changed the music. Ten sanction cases can be identified between 2010 and 2018, which is triple the number of cases between 1978 and 2000.23
China's growing economic power and its integration with the world markets enables China to influence the foreign policies of neighboring countries and even distant nations. President Xi's Belt-and-Road initiative is by far the largest “positive sanction” since the Marshall Plan. As they embrace Belt-and-Road projects, many countries in Asia and Latin America adopt a friendly approach to China in the United Nations and other international fora.
Alongside, China deploys negative measures such as trade and investment restrictions, popular boycotts, limits on Chinese tourism, and informal pressure on business entities. Unilateral sanctions are typically imposed when China perceives specific threats to its national security and sovereignty. For example, China cut off diplomatic and trade talks, and curtailed imports of Norwegian salmon, when Norway awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. In a similar vein, after South Korea installed its defensive missile system of US design in 2016–2017, China restricted tourism and imports of cultural products and used regulatory measures to close almost 90 South Korean owned retail stores in China.24
These sanctions did not reverse Norwegian or South Korean policies, but they did send diplomatic signals to other countries that might consider crossing Chinese “red lines” (Harrell et al, 2018).
All three countries have different reasons for employing sanctions-related policies. The European Union prioritizes its own liberal principles, even as it disagrees with US positions on Iran and other targets. Russia's approach to dominate its neighbors hasn't changed much, but in addition Russia has frequently imposed retaliatory sanctions when Russia itself became a target country. As a newcomer to the offensive use of sanctions, China has specialized in coercive measures that boldly announce the “red lines” in its relations with foreign powers.
2.4. Non-state actors
In the United States and Europe, civil society has actively pushed government to impose sanctions for bad behavior abroad, particularly in the realm of human rights. The first big campaign took place in the late 1980s when ad hoc groups persuaded US states and private firms to sever ties with South Africa. More recently, the Kimberly Process, aimed at limiting the global market for “conflict diamonds”, was embraced by De Beers and other dominant firms. The Magnitsky Act – retaliation against human rights abuses and death suffered by the Russian lawyer Magnitsky – stemmed from the lobbying efforts of his erstwhile employer to blacklist the responsible Russian officials.25
Finally, a group of 58 NGOs impelled US sanctions against senior Burmese military leaders responsible for severe violations of human rights during episodes of killing Rohingya people.26
Gathering steam today are efforts to punish China for its harsh treatment of the Uighur population and Hong Kong protestors and – over a longer time frame – new sanctions against purveyors of coal and other fossil fuels. Civil society has increased its influence on sanction process as its network spreads to the globe via social networks and helps raise public awareness of concerning issues.
2.5. “Specially designated” targets
Fairly recent is the imposition of sanctions against “specially designated” persons or firms. Terrorists, drug dealers and money launderers were early targets, but an innovation is black-listing political and business leaders and select firms. Thanks to advanced technology in communication and data processing, national intelligence agencies such as NSA and CIA can identify assets, travel patterns, families and commercial contacts of designated firms and individuals.
Since January 2019, significant sanctions were launched against designated entities. The European Union imposed its first sanctions in response to a chemical attack, targeting four Russian military intelligence agents for poisoning a former Russian double agent living in Britain. Meanwhile, the US sanctioned a state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), restricting US firms from buying Venezuelan crude. The US complaint against PdVSA was its financial support of the Maduro regime. In August 2020, the Trump administration imposed financial sanctions on individuals who implemented China's national security law in Hong Kong, including chief executive Carry Lam. In turn, China retaliated with similar measures against US politicians who were prominent critics.27
3. New goals
3.1. Deterrence
While certainly not a new goal, deterrence has played a large role in recent cases. No analyst could expect sanctions to diminish Putin's support of pro-Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine, much less dislodge Russian occupation of Crimea. But intelligence officers and foreign ministers could reasonably expect that stiff sanctions in response to Russian adventures would deter further Russian military expansion – into Moldova, the Baltics, or Central Asia. At this writing, Putin has not followed Hitler's playbook, beyond the takeover of Crimea in March 2014 and the subsequent support of pro-Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine. Perhaps deterrence worked.
Turning to another theater, US and allied sanctions against Iran, even with renewed force starting in 2010, were unlikely to force the Supreme Leader to abandon his nuclear weapons project, then in its 20th year.28
But alongside the threat of a military strike, the sanctions apparently deterred Iran from either testing its bombs or miniaturizing them to fit on missiles. In turn, restraint helped pave the way for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).29
Less appreciated is the impact of US and allied sanctions, plus unpublicized on-again, off-again support from China, in limiting North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Kim Jong Un almost certainly could have conducted additional long-distance missile tests and detonated more powerful bombs. But the coupling of US-led and Chinese sanctions, along with the high-profile June 2018 and June 2019 meetings with President Trump in Singapore and the DMZ respectively, may have stayed Kim's hand.30
Again, perhaps a win for deterrence, though well short of a win for nuclear disarmament.
Most recently, reciprocal US and Chinese sanctions over Beijing's absorption of Hong Kong into the mainland legal regime stand no chance of swaying Chinese policy nor of curtailing US criticism. Moreover, it's not obvious that these sanctions will deter further episodes in the New Cold War. But to determine whether deterrence was achieved in these and other cases requires persuasive counterfactual scenarios, not easy to construct.
3.2. Retribution
Again, retribution is not new, but it features prominently in post-2000 cases. Thanks to digital technology, NSA and CIA sleuths, along with their European counterparts, can identify “bad guy” individuals and firms. In turn, the “bad guys” can be singled out for “special designation” status that hits their wallets and persona. For example, in the wake of the Jared Khashoggi's murder in Istanbul, the US revoked visas of Saudis connected to the assassination squad.31
This will inconvenience the designated individuals, even though the chief instigators, likely including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will not be brought to justice.
On a much larger scale, in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine, dozens of well-connected firms and elite Russians were subject to financial, trade and travel sanctions. Careful research by Ahn and Ludema (2016) plus fresh analysis presented at the Workshop, shows that Russian firms were severely affected, on average losing a quarter of their sales. But their pain will not persuade Putin to vacate Crimea or withdraw support from dissidents in Eastern Ukraine. Indeed, as new research by Ahn and Ludema (2019) shows, Putin shielded some 39 “strategic firms” from the brunt of sanctions, at a cost calculated at nearly a half of the total pain imposed on Russian firms by the targeted measures.
As a rule, retribution against individuals and firms – a common response – does not achieve lofty foreign policy goals but it may deter future misdeeds. In fact, severe sanctions against major powers (Russia and China) and against small countries with entrenched autocrats (North Korea and Cuba) rarely achieve advertised goals, but they do punish the targets.
And this is important. In democracies, influential constituents – given voice in parliament and congress – insist on punishing foreign countries for their misdeeds. Retribution is its own goal, and punishment gives satisfaction. Justice is served. Whether sanctions stand a chance of altering policies abroad is a secondary matter.
3.3. Rehabilitation
“Mission Impossible” aptly describes the role of rehabilitation in major episodes of the 21st century. Russia will not abandon imperial aspirations, nor will Cuba and North Korea transition to democratic states. But by far the most ambitious goals of 21st century sanctions are to arrest China's military, economic, and technological rise. If anything, US trade, investment and technology sanctions will spur China's efforts, commercially divorced from the United States, to deepen cooperation with Russia and a few Western countries, and to rely on its own ample resources.
Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was scornful of sanctions on Russia, calling them ‘nonsense’. Travel bans and asset freezes, he claimed, are symbolic and “affect the West as much as the Russians”.32
If Chancellor Schmidt were still alive, he would probably have still more scathing words for the current US economic campaign against China.
4. New data and analysis
At the Workshop scholars presented new theoretical models designed to generate hypotheses worthy of testing against the findings recorded in new databases. The models have two common features: they are mathematically demanding, and they build on costs or benefits incurred by senders and targets. The models often distinguish between threats and imposition, drawing on insights from Thomas Schelling's famous canoe trip.33
In this section, new databases and new analyses by various scholars from the Workshop are summarized to bring attention to their contributions.
4.1. New databases
New and more comprehensive datasets have been constructed since research in the 1980s and 1990s. The main databases now used for empirical research include:
•
Hufbauer et al. (2009): covers 174 episodes between 1914 and 2000. Subsequent episodes are summarized on the Peterson Institute for International Economics website.34
•
Threat and Imposition of Sanctions (TIES Version 4.0): covers 1413 episodes between 1945 and 2005. Principal investigators are Cliff Morgan and Navin Bapat.35
Lord Rutherford, the distinguished British scientist at the turn of the 19th century, declared, “All science is either physics or stamp collecting”. Rutherford might have classified the databases mentioned above as “stamp collecting”. However, a priori hypotheses as to the impact of sanctions, often held with great conviction by leading statesmen, can only be tested with the benefit of these collections.
4.2. New analysis
Before 2000, micro studies of the impact of sanctions on individual firms were rare. The Workshop featured several outstanding examples of this new form of analysis, enabled by vast datasets and sophisticated econometrics.
First, Ahn and Ludema (2019) add to their own pioneering work that analyzed the cost to Russian firms of US and EU sanctions in the wake of the Crimean annexation and Ukrainian occupation.39
Collecting firm/individual data from the Bureau Van Dijk (BvD) Orbis and LexisNexis WorldCompliance databases, the authors developed a model to assess the impact of sanctions at the firm level that features domestic government shielding of “strategic” firms from foreign measures. Their results showed that strategic firms systemically outperformed non-strategic firms under sanctions, implying a cost to the regime that adds to the total cost of sanctions.
Besedeš et al. (2018) explored Bundesbank data on German firms impacted by sanctions aimed at 23 countries during the period 2000 to 2014. Apart from Russia, the target countries were centered in Africa and the Middle East. They found that German firms suffered little loss of sales or employment. In other words, the cost incurred by sender-country firms during these episodes was low. That finding suggests that termination of the JCPOA would at most entail moderate economic costs for European firms, though geopolitical costs could be high.
Using the new Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB), covering the years 1950–2015, Felbermayr et al (2019) studied the impact of sanctions on international trade and welfare, focusing on the Iran case. All else equal, they found that comprehensive bilateral sanctions could reduce two-way trade by about 86 percent. However, their investigation of Iran sanctions showed different effects on Iran's bilateral trade across partner countries.
Fresh research by Grauvogel and Attia (2020) revealed an additional and unexpected positive outcome from the termination of sanctions. Political stability in the target country improved, if the country had resisted strong demands from the sender. Resistance evidently enhanced the ability of political leaders to ward off internal rivals.
In an innovative piece of Workshop research, Weber and Schneider (2019) found that unilateral threats are more persuasive, but multilateral imposition stands a higher chance of success. The reasoning is that a unilateral sender, typically the United States, shows more resolve than a heterogenous group of senders, each with a different agenda. But when threats fail to convince the target, multilateral action brings greater heft to the bargaining table. Meanwhile, Joshi and Mahmud (2016) presented a model that demonstrate how the frequency of sanctions and the frequency of violations of international norms depends on unilateral or multilateral actions using network structure theory.
Miromanova (2018) investigated whether sanctions on products identified at the 8-digit level of the Harmonized System exerted a greater impact on the number of importing firms in the target country (the extensive margin) or on the import flow per affected firm (the intensive margin). She found that the extensive margin is the more important channel.
Portela and Sanguinetti (2019) found that single-party regimes are resistant to sanctions – and single party regimes are common across the globe. However, in countries where two or more parties compete for power there is less resistance, but no significant difference whether the government of the day is a military or personal regime, or a democracy.
Morgan (2019) observed that the cost of sanctions might be better thought of as the enforcement cost (on the part of senders) and adjustment costs (on the part of targets) rather than more traditional metrics such as the volume of trade curtailed. He emphasized that threats are a bargaining tool, but that actual imposition means that diplomacy – in other words, bargaining between two sovereigns – failed.
5. New cold war
Winston Churchill proclaimed the first Cold War, the one with the Soviet Union, in his famous “iron curtain” speech delivered at Westminster College, Missouri, in March 1946.40
By that time, Stalin had already occupied most of Eastern Europe and was busy in the Adriatic. Soon the United States launched the Marshall Plan and created the NATO alliance, buttressed by huge military bases in Western Europe. Restrictions on military and dual-use exports to the Soviet Union, via the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom), were an afterthought.
President Trump, with bipartisan support, has now proclaimed a second Cold War, this time with China, letting the press use the term and not denying its essential accuracy.41
Chinese provocations, according to Trump, are the theft and appropriation of US technology, and commercial malfeasance by running an annual bilateral trade surplus of several hundred billion dollars.42
In the second Cold War, unlike the first, Trump is leading with economic sanctions, but a military buildup is likely to follow, whether Trump or a Democrat wins the 2020 presidential election.
Trump's sanctions take the form of high tariffs, both imposed and threatened, that could eventually cover nearly all US imports from China; a star chamber screening process, under CFIUS auspices, that will deny Chinese investment in any US firm with a technology flavor; and criminal charges against the world's leading telecom company, Huawei, and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, for stealing trade secrets and evading economic sanctions on Iran; and the forced sale of TikTok assets in the United States.43
Beyond these immediate measures, many Americans are gripped with fear that China will dominate 21st century technology – quantum computing, 5G telecommunications, artificial intelligence, robotics, and much more. The response is to “decouple” (meaning divorce) US high-technology firms, as well as individual scientists and engineers, from their Chinese counterparts. The US effort to constrict Huawei's leadership in 5G technology – by denying components and markets – is only the first installment of a broad campaign. In addition, Trump amplified such efforts by issuing executive orders that prevent the use of two Chinese mobile apps, WeChat and TikTok. Broad restrictions on US technology exports to China, the access to Chinese mobile products, and scientific cooperation with Chinese institutions, are in the works.
By far, this makes China the largest target of sanctions in the 21st century. As well, the nature of sanctions between the four great powers – the United States, China, Russia and the European Union – is changing. When one of the great powers targets a smaller country – say Mexico, South Korea, Georgia or Equatorial Guinea – it can use the traditional range of trade and financial measures. When the great powers target each other, more ingenuity is required.
History has shown that great powers are relatively impervious to sanctions: they are not immune to economic damage, but they are highly resistant to changing course. Military conflict between the great powers runs the risk of nuclear escalation, to be avoided at all costs. Hence themes raised in this essay play an important role when great powers are at odds. Of special note are financial restrictions, cyber assaults against leading firms and through social media, offers hard to refuse directed at private firms, weaponized tariffs and kindred investment and technology restrictions, and measures against specially designated leaders.
6. Conclusions
21st century sanctions practice has the flavor of evolution more than revolution. New Weapons reflect, in part, new technologies (finance and cyber), and in part new statecraft (offers hard to refuse, weaponized tariffs and positive measures). As the geopolitical world shifted from a single hegemon to a system of great powers, players besides the United States became significant actors, with new target choices. Pinpoint sanctions aimed at “bad guys” are popular, partly because they avoid moral qualms, partly because digital technology makes them effective. The New Cold War was largely responsible for conflating commercial policy and sanctions policy.
Evaluated against traditional standards of “success” – in other words, was the foreign goal achieved and did sanctions materially contribute to the outcome? – 21st century innovations have not made sanctions more effective. Indeed, Weber and Schneider (2019) conclude that the effectiveness of EU, US and UN sanctions for concluded episodes did not change much during the 26 years between 1989 and 2015. These finding echoes analysis done by Huebaueret al. (2009).
To be sure, measured by traditional standards, sanctions often promote regime change and humanitarian objectives in small or chaotic countries. But in big cases, goals appear to be evolving, leading practitioners to stress different metrics. Deterrence, whether actual or imagined, looms large. As does punishment for its own sake. Rehabilitation, often remote, has diminished as a measure of success.
After this essay was written, Covid-19 swept the world, creating the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It remains to be seen whether economic sanctions are more less numerous, and more or less effective, in dramatically different circumstances.
12John Hurley, Scott Morris, and Gailyn Portelance, “Examining the Debt Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative from a Policy Perspective,” Center for Global Development Policy Paper 121. 2018.
13White House, National Cyber Strategy of the United States of America, September 2018. In June 2019, National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that the United States was expanding its offensive cyber operations, without revealing details of targets or goals. Warren P. Strobel, “Bolton Says US Is Expanding Offensive Cyber Operation,” Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2019.
14Niraj Chokshi and Frances Robles, “Trump Administration Announces New Restrictions on Dealing With Cuba,” New York Times, April 17, 2019.
15For details, see Jennifer K. Elsea, “Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism Updated,” Congressional Research Services, August 8, 2008.
16Orde Kittrie, “Iran Still Owes $53 Billion in Unpaid U.S. Court Judgments to American Victims of Iranian Terrorism,” FDD Research Memo, May 6, 2016.
17Carol Morello, “European powers refuse to back U.S. call for escalating sanctions against Iran,” Washington Post, June 19, 2020.
Felbermayr G., Syropoulos C., Yalcin E., Yotov Y. LeBow College of Business, Drexel University; 2019. On the Effects of Sanctions on Trade and Welfare: New Evidence Based on Structural Gravity and a New Database. School of Economics Working Paper Series 2019-3. [Google Scholar]
Grauvogel J., Attia H. German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA); Hamburg: 2020. How do International Sanctions End? Towards a Process-Oriented, Relational, and Signalling Perspective. GIGA Working Papers, No. 320. [Google Scholar]
Stone M. U.S. Department of State Office of the Chief Economist Working Paper; 2016. The Response of Russian Security Prices to Economic Sanctions: Policy Effectiveness and Transmission. [Google Scholar]
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Georgia or Equatorial Guinea – it can use the traditional range of trade and financial measures. When the great powers target each other, more ingenuity is required.
History has shown that great powers are relatively impervious to sanctions: they are not immune to economic damage, but they are highly resistant to changing course. Military conflict between the great powers runs the risk of nuclear escalation, to be avoided at all costs. Hence themes raised in this essay play an important role when great powers are at odds. Of special note are financial restrictions, cyber assaults against leading firms and through social media, offers hard to refuse directed at private firms, weaponized tariffs and kindred investment and technology restrictions, and measures against specially designated leaders.
6. Conclusions
21st century sanctions practice has the flavor of evolution more than revolution. New Weapons reflect, in part, new technologies (finance and cyber), and in part new statecraft (offers hard to refuse, weaponized tariffs and positive measures). As the geopolitical world shifted from a single hegemon to a system of great powers, players besides the United States became significant actors, with new target choices. Pinpoint sanctions aimed at “bad guys” are popular, partly because they avoid moral qualms, partly because digital technology makes them effective. The New Cold War was largely responsible for conflating commercial policy and sanctions policy.
Evaluated against traditional standards of “success” – in other words, was the foreign goal achieved and did sanctions materially contribute to the outcome? – 21st century innovations have not made sanctions more effective. Indeed, Weber and Schneider (2019) conclude that the effectiveness of EU, US and UN sanctions for concluded episodes did not change much during the 26 years between 1989 and 2015. These finding echoes analysis done by Huebaueret al. (2009).
To be sure, measured by traditional standards, sanctions often promote regime change and humanitarian objectives in small or chaotic countries. But in big cases, goals appear to be evolving, leading practitioners to stress different metrics. Deterrence, whether actual or imagined, looms large. As does punishment for its own sake. Rehabilitation, often remote,
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no
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Politics
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Are sanctions an effective foreign policy tool?
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no_statement
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"sanctions" are not an "effective" "foreign" "policy" "tool".. the use of "sanctions" does not yield positive results in "foreign" "policy".
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https://www3.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol3_1/Delvic.htm
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Economic Sanctions as a Foreign Policy Tool: The Case of ...
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ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AS A FOREIGN POLICY TOOL:
THE CASE OF YUGOSLAVIA
Milica Delevic
The practice of economic sanctions is hardly new in international relations,
but the twentieth century is especially rich in sanction episodes. The use of
sanctions increased from two cases in the 1920s to more than 20 in the 1980s.
Despite their widespread use, traditional scholarly perception is that sanctions
are remarkably unsuccessful in achieving their stated policy objectives.
Nevertheless, the number of disputes in which they were employed during the
first half of the 1990-s contributes to the conclusion about the ever-growing
popularity of sanctions. It also demonstrates clear differences from previous
decades. While the majority of the sanctions employed previously were unilateral
and originated by the United States, today they are predominantly multilateral
and imposed by the United Nations. This reflects a belief that a new, inexpensive
and potentially potent weapon against small and medium size troublemakers has
been found (Mueller 1994, p. 363). This study will argue against this view.
To this end, basic concepts of sanctions will be defined, the post-Cold War
environment will be discussed in view of changes that led to the recent proliferation
of multilateral economic sanctions, and finally, the case of Yugoslavia will
be analyzed. It will be argued that the sanctions, helped to a great extent
by pre-existing economic difficulties and macroeconomic mismanagement, had a
devastating effect on the Yugoslav economy, thus helping make Serbian President
Milosevic more cooperative, but were of no decisive importance for stopping
the war in Bosnia. Moreover, poverty, which increased as a result of the sanctions,
made people more receptive to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, making
democratization ever more difficult to achieve.
A Study of Economics as an Instrument of Politics
Basic concepts
In defining relevant terms, this study will mostly rely on Baldwin’s
(1985) definitions. Baldwin’s takes a more general and theoretical approach,
as opposed to focusing on particular cases, that is more conducive to this study.
Offering economic rewards or withholding economic advantages in order to make
other international actor(s) do what they would not otherwise do means using
economics as an instrument of politics and is, according to Baldwin, best labeled
as -economic statecraft. The economic techniques of statecraft are defined as
governmental influence attempts that have three basic components. Economic policy
instrument, as opposed to other means of statecraft relying primarily on negotiation
(diplomacy) or force (military statecraft), economic statecraft relies on instruments
primarily aimed at affecting other actor’s- production and consumption
of wealth, for example, denying or promising aid or trade boycott. A case can
be made that, insofar as the -going market price- for such transactions exists,
they should be labeled as an economic statecraft. There are, however, borderline
cases, such as the sale or gift of military hardware, that can be classified
either as economic or as military statecraft, depending on the particular case
in question.
Secondly, there is the domain of the influence attempt where other international
actors upon which influence attempt is targeted and is often referred to as
the -target. Finally, the scope of the influence attempt applies to some dimension
of target’s behavior that the sender(s) country(ies) perceives as objectionable
and wants to change. It can be named also as -goal.- It is worth noting that
any dimension of the target’s behavior can be selected. Since the political
quality of the act is a function of the total influence relation, it is not
a function of scope. This implies that attempts at influencing another state’s
attitude towards foreign direct investments or tariff levels are no less -political-
than attempts at influencing its respect for human rights.
Economic statecraft is usually deployed to exercise economic power. It is
used to threaten or damage the wealth of the target, leading to compliance by
making the objectionable policy more expensive and/or provoking political disintegration.
However, the sanctions need not bite in order to work (Baldwin, 1985: 372),
implying that they might work through noneconomic power bases. Trade restrictions
can successfully convey a threat of invasion even if their economic impact is
negligible, while human rights offenders might care more about their moral standing
in the international community than the effects of sanctions on their economic
welfare.
Economic techniques of statecraft are often accused of not working, which raises
the question of how their usefulness is measured. This can be done by employing
one of two alternative criteria--effectiveness and efficiency. The first step
in assessing effectiveness is establishing the intended goals and targets (scope
and domain). However, as Baldwin correctly notes, the evaluation of effectiveness
can be diluted with the importance of secondary, implicit or unstated goals,
as well as third parties. Therefore, instead of considering economic statecraft
strictly in terms of securing compliance with explicit and publicly stated demands,
the approach which recognizes that there are usually a multitude of targets
and goals is likely to bear more fruit. Another problem, as identified by Baldwin,
is that some of the best known applications of economic statecraft involve extraordinary
levels of difficulty. One example of this is promoting economic development
and democracy in countries that have never known either (Baldwin, 1985: 133).
Moreover, not all effects of statecraft are easy to observe. Less glamorous
than diplomacy and less decisive than war, the effects of economic statecraft
tend to be underestimated since they are seldom sudden or dramatic. All this
implies the need to be careful when judging influence attempts into simple dichotomies,
such as -success- or -failure- because the outcome is much more likely to be
mixed or ambiguous.
Given that the concept of effectiveness involves only the achieved benefits
while ignoring the cost sustained by the sender, a more appropriate criterion
would be efficiency, in Baldwin’s view. Efficiency implies that economic
statecraft is always chosen among alternative courses of action, such as negotiations
or military action, depending on the basis of their cost and benefits. However,
this concept is not without its problems, for Baldwin warns that analytical
pitfalls frequently occur, such as completely ignoring cost or misleading cost
comparisons.
Economic statecraft, as defined here, is intentionally broad, since it has
to include all economic forms of influence. However, the distinction can be
made between negative sanctions (withholding economic advantages) and positive
sanctions (offering economic benefits), as well as trade and financial sanctions.
For the purposes of this study, using the case of Yugoslavia, economic sanctions
will be used to describe the technique of economic statecraft that withholds
economic advantages through either trade or financial restrictions.
Sanctions After the Cold War
This section will analyze different patterns in the use of sanctions during
the 1990s, focusing on factors that gave rise to the recent proliferation of
multilateral economic sanctions.
Since the first documented sanctions episode, Pericle’s Megarian decree
enacted in 432 BC Sanctions have remained an important foreign policy tool,
especially for great powers. However, only after World War I was extensive attention
given to the opinion that economic sanctions might substitute for armed hostilities
as a stand-alone policy (Hufbauer, Schott and Elliott, 1990:5). President Wilson
viewed economic means as suitable for pursuing foreign policy goals, as he was
the leading advocate for building a capacity to use the “economic weapon”
in the League of Nation’s. Out of the eight cases Hufbauer, Schott and
Elliott identified between 1918 and 1940, four involved League of Nations attempts
to apply economic sanctions to settle disputes. Sanctions were usually imposed
to disrupt military adventures or to complement a broader war effort (League
of Nations vs. Yugoslavia, League of Nations vs. Greece). In the period after
World War II, the imposition of sanctions occurred against the background of
the rivalry between the superpower, thus making other policy motives increasingly
prevalent. The sanctions were used for strategic reasons –to deny strategic
materials and/or impair military potential (COCOM), destabilize foreign governments
in the context of containment (Cuba, Chile), or overthrow a rebellious government
inside the block (Yugoslavia, Albania). Apart from the episodes with the dominant
Cold War flavor, sanctions were still occasionally used to force a target country
to withdraw its troops from border conflicts, to abandon plans of territorial
acquisition, or to cease other military adventures (as was the case of Egypt
that was forced to withdraw from Yemen and the Congo as a result of withholding
development and food aid) (Hufbauer, Schott and Elliott, 1990:5). Finally, sanctions
were also used on behalf of efforts to protect human rights (as was the case
of Chile, where the United States imposed sanctions after General Pinochet was
charged with widespread violations of human rights), to halt nuclear proliferation
(evidenced by sanctions imposed on Pakistan in 1979 by the United States), to
settle expropriation claims (as demonstrated by sanctions imposed on Ceylon
1961-65 by the United States after expropriating assets of US and UK oil companies),
and to combat international terrorism (as in the case of Syria, where sanctions
were imposed in 1976 after Syria, among others, was listed by the Carter administration
as a country supporting international terrorism).
Of the 116 cases documented by Hufbauer, Schott and Elliott, the United States,
either alone or in cooperation with its allies, have deployed sanctions 77 times
(1990:7). This reflected the US role as an economic hegemon and a political
and military superpower. However, both the economic and political situation
have changed. Beginning with the 1970, trade and financial patterns have become
far more diversified, new technology has spread faster, and new competitive
economic superpowers have emerged. These trends resulted in the declining average
trade linkage between the United States and its targets -- from 24% of GNP prior
to 1973 to 17% since, as well as lower costs imposed on targets – 1.7%
of GNP vs. 0.9% of GNP (1990:107). The overall outcome was a diminishing effectiveness
of US sanctions due to the reduced vulnerability of the potential targets to
unilateral economic coercion.
As the Cold War came to an end, the strategic reasons for imposing sanctions,
which existed due to superpower rivalry, disappeared. Coupled with severe economic
problems at home, Russia became far less likely to assist the countries hit
by the US sanctions as it used to do with Cuba. Not less important, the termination
of the Cold War seemed to have opened the door for an unprecedented degree of
international cooperation. As far as the United Nations was concerned, this
cooperation raised the expectations that it would finally be able to act in
the true spirit of the UN Charter and that the broad use of veto, that had made
the Security Council impotent to act during the Cold War, would be abandoned
(Higgins, 1994:174). This was apparent in the use of multilateral economic sanctions
that were, in fact, collective enforcement measures (Article 41, Chapter VII
of the UN Charter). Article 41 was applied for the first time in the UN history
in December 1966, when comprehensive economic, financial, and diplomatic measures
were adopted against the racist regime of Southern Rhodesia. In the absence
of a similar consensus in the Council, only a mandatory arms embargo could be
decreed against South Africa in 1977. Since the invasion of Kuwait on August
2, 1990, however, sanctions have been instituted against Iraq (1990), the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (1992, lifted in 1960), and Libya (1992). They were also
imposed on Somalia in 1992 and Haitian 1993, but were abolished after unsuccessful
military intervention (Somalia) and when the democratically elected president
came back to power (Haiti).
Nonetheless, as expectations rose to new heights, disappointments lurked just
around the corner, for the improved East-West climate was only one of the preconditions
for the improved prospects of the United Nations. Additional concerns included
the need for reform that would address shortcomings in forms of inefficiency
and too much bureaucracy, as well as the financial problems due to failure of
the member states to pay budgetary dues (Higgins, 1994:180)
However, the euphoria that followed the enforcement measures authorized by the
United Nations against Iraq in 1990-1991 gave way to a new and disturbing reality
(Ibid, 180). After the relatively straightforward two-alliance confrontation
of the cold war, the world has turned back to the riskier maneuverings of a
multi-power system (The International Order, 1994: 17). The world’s chief
powers remembered how different they were from each other and started acting
accordingly (Ibid, 20). This came to a head in the case of Yugoslavia.
The Case of Yugoslavia
The sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were imposed in May 1992.
One year later, the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, in the wake of a deteriorating
economic situation in Yugoslavia and threats of a tighter regiment of sanctions,
urged acceptance of the Vance-Owen peace plan as opposed to the Bosnian Serbs,
who rejected it. In August 1994 he responded with an imposition of sanctions
on the Bosnian Serbs when they refused to accept the Contact Group peace plan,
thus illustrating a clear U-turn from his previous support for the Bosnian Serbs-
war effort. In November 1995, a peace agreement, negotiated by the US, was reached
in Dayton, Ohio. All this suggests the conclusion that the sanctions were successful.
However, the essence of the peace plan that envisioned two separate entities
within the Republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Muslim-Croat Federation
and the Republics of Srpska) as well as the decisive use of NATO’s air-power
in August 1995 cast doubt on the importance of sanctions for stopping the war
in Bosnia.
The following section will address the question of usefulness of sanctions
with reference to the framework discussed previously. To make the domain and
scope (target and goals) of UN action more comprehensible, a historical overview
of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia will be discussed, while the relevant
economic data will describe the impact of the instrument used. Finally, the
sanctions will be assessed with respect to their contribution in achieving the
stated goals (effectiveness) as well as in comparison with other policy alternatives
(efficiency).
Situation
Since defining the intended scope and domain of sanctions is, according to
Baldwin, the basic step in assessing their effectiveness, this section hopes
to contribute to this end through presenting a chronology of the main events
in the crisis in former Yugoslavia, as well as a brief historical overview of
the involvement of the international community.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was a second attempt of
the Yugoslav peoples to live together in one state. The first Yugoslavia, set
up in 1918, brought together peoples of different historical backgrounds: Serbia
and Montenegro were sovereign states that had gained independence at the 1878
Berlin Congress after centuries of Ottoman dominance; Slovenia and Croatia were
parts of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; Bosnia and Herzegovina were under Ottoman
rule until 1908, when they were annexed by the Austria-Hungary; and Macedonia,
as a component part of Serbia, had been under Ottoman rule. This resulted in
a plural society, divided by several lines of cleavages -- nationality, religion,
language -- and further aggravated by an uneven level of economic and cultural
development. The SFRY tried to address those cleavages in a number of ways.
One way was the 1974 constitution, the adoption of which many take as the point
of departure in the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The 1974 constitution established
a loose form of federation and a rather impotent federal government, with the
constituent parts of the federation (six republics and two autonomous provinces,
Kosovo and Vojvodina, that were parts of Serbia) autonomous to a great extent.
Moreover, the communism that existed in Yugoslavia differed from the Communism
in other Central and Eastern European countries due to the Tito-Stalin rift
of the late 1940s. Being independent of Moscow brought Yugoslavia a special
relationship with the US, which included the implicit guarantee of special access
to Western credits in exchange for Yugoslav neutrality and its military capacity
to deter Warsaw Pact forces from invading Western Europe (Woodward, 1995: 104).
In 1980, Marshall Tito died. His death left a void of charismatic leadership
in Yugoslavia -- he was a symbol of the independent policy Yugoslavia had been
pursuing. The outbreak of the debt crisis, triggered by the defaulting of Mexico
and Poland, made it more difficult to get new credits, while increasing in interest
rates aggravated by repaying the old. After a relatively dynamic growth rate,
Yugoslavia entered a decade of economic stagnation (Stamenkovic, Posarac, 1994:
33). Handling the situation required a federal government more in charge of
things, yet constitutional reform could deliver a more powerful central government
could not be agreed on among the republics. As a result, the 1980s passed against
the background of steadily deteriorating economic conditions and numerous attempts
to create economic policy able to serve the foreign debt while reviving economic
growth at home (Woodward, 1995: 114).
In 1987, the leadership of the League of Communists of Serbia, a branch of
the so-called leading political force of Yugoslav society, the League of Communists
of Yugoslavia, changed and Slobodan Milosevic came to the forefront. Soon he
became very popular, capitalizing on the ,people’s will to see Serbia
united, since autonomous provinces were perceived to be -states within a state-
that paralyzed the decision making process. On the other hand, the situation
in Kosovo, Serbia’s southern province with an Albanian majority, was becoming
more complicated and tense. Milosevic’s visit to Kosovo and his famous
statement that he would make sure that no one harmed the Serbs in Kosovo any
more, made him almost a national hero.
As the federal state increasingly malfunctioned, the governments of the republics
became ever more powerful. The poor economic performance in the 1980s caused
republics to begin blaming all the problems on the others, contributing to an
awakening of ethnic tensions. Slovenia and Croatia, as the wealthier parts of
Yugoslavia, complained that helping the poorer members of the Federation slowed
their progress, while Serbia protested against being treated as the chief supplier
of raw materials and the market where the final expensive products could be
sold.
The last attempt to save and reform the SFRY was Ante Markovic’s government
that took office in January 1989. As soon as he took office, Ante Markovic announced
he was going to launch comprehensive economic reforms as well as reforms designed
to transform Yugoslavia into a multiparty parliamentary democracy which would
integrate the country into European institutions. However, apart from having
to compete for power with regional authorities, a problem that his predecessors
also had to face, Markovic also had to deal with the dramatically changed international
environment. By 1989 the Cold War was over, so Yugoslavia no longer had the
geopolitical importance the United States had previously given it (Zimmerman,
1995: 2). With the disintegration of the country well under way, and international
financial institutions unwilling to back up the reform with new financial arrangements,
the collapse of Markovic’s government came as no surprise.
The degeneration of the political system, as well as growing nationalism,
affected the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and it fell apart at the 14th
Congress in 1990, marking the end of party monolithism. Like Serbia, nationalism
proved to be the winning card in other republics, but the communists understood
this only too late, losing power everywhere but in Serbia and Montenegro. The
fact that ethnic parties won power in all of the republics apart from Macedonia
(Zimmerman, 1995: 6) represented a serious setback for those who had hoped that
Yugoslavia could stay together in a democratic framework. The only all-Yugoslav
party was the Alliance of Reformist Forces of Yugoslavia (SRSJ) led by Ante
Markovic. Only created in July 1990 after the parliamentary elections were held
in Slovenia and Croatia, SRSJ took part in the elections in the remaining four
republics. Hopes were high for successful performances in ethnically mixed settings
of Bosnia and Macedonia. In Bosnia, however, the three national parties gained
votes and seats almost directly proportional to individuals- choices of national
identity in the 1981 census , while in Macedonia SRSJ was one of the three best
placed parties. In Serbia and Montenegro, the last republics to hold multiparty
elections, poor electoral results came as no surprise, given the support that
Milosevic’s Socialist Party enjoyed.
Almost all of 1991 passed against the background of increasingly aggravated
inter-republic and inter-national relations. The turn for the worse occurred
at the end of June 1991, when both the Slovenian and the Croatian Parliaments
declared independence and sovereignty. The Yugoslav government responded by
manning all frontier crossings along Slovenia’s borders with Italy, Austria
and Hungary, as well as all airports on that republic’s territory. This
resulted in a short war that included the involvement of the European Community
(EC), who decided to send a peace mission (so-called Troika) to Yugoslavia.
The crisis was temporarily solved with the so-called Brioni Declaration on Yugoslavia,
under the auspices of the European Community, by which the decisions of Slovenia
and Croatia to declare sovereignty and independence were suspended for a duration
of three months. Within the context of its ever broader involvement in resolving
the Yugoslav crisis, the European Community decided, in agreement with all interested
parties in Yugoslavia, to convene a Peace Conference on Yugoslavia at The Hague
(later to be continued in Brussels) that was aimed at brokering a cessation
of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and at reaching a comprehensive solution
of the Yugoslav crisis. Lord Carrington was appointed its chairman. It was also
decided to set up an Arbitration Commission, consisting of five Presidents of
Constitutional Courts of five EC member-states. The Commission was often referred
to as the Badinter Commission after its chairman Robert Badinter, President
of the Constitutional Court of France.
The crisis occurred after the Badinter Commission Report of November 29, 1991.
in which it was stated that Yugoslavia was being dissolved into six republics
as its successors (as opposed to the Serbian view that Slovenia and Croatia
seceded from Yugoslavia, so they could not be its successors). The second report
of the Commission of January 15, 1992 contained the opinion on whether the Serbian
population in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a constituent people of Yugoslavia,
enjoyed the right to self-determination and whether the internal borders could
be considered as borders in the sense of international law. This report also
contained the opinion of the Arbitration Commission on the recognition of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia.
With respect to the first question, the Arbitration Commission replied that
the Serbian population in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia was entitled to enjoy
all rights recognized to minorities and ethnic groups -- that those republics
had an obligation to ensure the members of these minorities and these ethnic
groups were given all human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by international
law, including, in case of need, the right to national determination. As for
the second question, the Arbitration Commission replied that, first, external
borders would have to be recognized in all cases in accordance with the international
law; second, demarcation lines between Croatia and Serbia or Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
or possibly between other neighboring States would be possible to change only
by free and mutual agreement and third, if nothing happened to the contrary,
the former borders would assume the character of borders protected by international
law. Regarding the recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and
Slovenia, the Arbitration Commission replied that Slovenia and Macedonia had
fulfilled the necessary conditions for recognition of new states, while Croatia
had not met, at the time, the European standards on individual and minority
rights or free speech. As far as Bosnia-Herzegovina was concerned, the answer
was that the expression of the desire for sovereignty by the population of Bosnia-Herzegovina
could not be considered fully justified until an internationally controlled
referendum was held in which all of the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina would
be invited to participate.
Faced with the escalating violence in Croatia that had began at the end of
spring 1991, and the increasingly tense situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the
European Community decided to apply economic pressure. Slovenia, as a nationally
homogenous state, remained intact and began to return to normality. The next
instrument available to the Community included diplomatic recognition or nonrecognition
of the warring parties. Paradoxically, though the Badinter Commission had suggested
Slovenia and Macedonia for recognition, the first to be recognized were Slovenia
and Croatia in January 1992, with Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow in April
1992. The unilateral recognition of Slovenia and Croatia and the subsequent
recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina, coupled with the Serbian’s persistent
rejection of the Carrington proposals, finally brought about the failure of
the EC mediation centered on its peace conference.
Posing a -direct threat to international peace and security- the Yugoslav crisis
was put on the Security Council agenda on September 25, 1991. In October 1991,
Secretary General Perez de Cuellar named former US Secretary of State Cyrus
Vance as his special envoy for Yugoslavia. Vance continued his duties after
the arrival of Boutros Boutros Ghali. The Vance plan, which formed an annex
to the report of the Secretary General to the Security Council on December 11,
1991, represented the plan of the United Nations for a peacekeeping operation
in Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR). This temporarily ended hostilities in Croatia and
caused the first rift between Slobodan Milosevic and the Serbian leaders in
Croatia and/or Bosnia, since he was ready to accept the Vance plan, unlike the
Serbian leader in Croatia.
On the other hand, the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina was deteriorating steadily.
The conflicts, that first occurred in the beginning of March, escalated after
the recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina on April 6 , 1992, leading to the adoption
of the Security Council Resolution 752 on May 15, 1992. The Resolution demanded
adherence to the cease-fire agreement signed on May 12, that all forms of interference
by military forces outside Bosnia-Herzegovina, including the Yugoslav People’s
Army units and elements of the Croatian army cease immediately, and that all
irregular military forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina be disbanded and disarmed. After
Resolution 752 had not been complied with, Resolution 757, imposing sanctions
on FR Yugoslavia, was adopted on May 30, 1992. Noting that in the complex context
of events in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia all parties
bore some responsibility for the situation, the Security Council condemned the
failure of official bodies in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to take effective
measures to fulfill the requirements of Resolution 752. The Security Council
also stressed the unacceptability of territorial gains or changes brought about
by violence, condemned violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
including the practice of -ethnic cleansing- and the deliberate impeding of
delivery of food and medical supplies to the civilian population. The Security
Council decided all states should adopt the following measures: prohibition
of imports originating in FRY, and prohibition of the sale and supply of commodities
and products to FRY, excluding supplies intended strictly for medical purposes
and foodstuffs. It also decided that all states should not make available to
the authorities in FRY, or to any commercial, industrial or publicly utility
undertaking in FRY, any funds or any other financial or economic resources.
Air-traffic was also prohibited, as well as participation of persons and groups
representing FRY in sporting events. Finally, scientific and technical cooperation
and cultural exchanges and visits were suspended and the level of the staff
at diplomatic missions and consular posts of FRY reduced.
To sum up, the Yugoslav loose federation, built with the predominate concern
to promote -brotherhood and unity- of the post-war Yugoslavia (Cviic, 1995:
823) failed to resolve economic problems and political antagonisms polarized
around national issues. The crisis came to a head after the Cold War when Yugoslavia
lost much of its geopolitical importance to the United States. In a process
of dissolution, the independent states of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Macedonia were created. Given the significant percentage of the Serbian
population in Croatia and Bosnia (12% and 33%, respectively) as well as Milosevic’s
rise to power based on Serbian nationalism, the outbreak of the war was unavoidable.
Nationalism proved to be winning card in the newly independent states as well.
In such a setting, sanctions were viewed as a tool for stopping the war by containing
Milosevic’s pan-Serbian policy. To put it in Baldwin’s terminology,
putting an end to fighting, violations of humanitarian law and to all forms
of interference in the territorial integrity of the state was the primary goal
of the sanctions. However, the fact that the measures were applied only against
FRY, although the Council had noted that -in the very complex context of events
in the former SFRY all parties bear some responsibility for the situation- could
be explained with the importance of implicit or unstated goals -- a pan-Serbian
policy, pursued by the Serbian president Milosevic, was perceived as a major
threat to peace, so the sanctions were aimed at either changing his policy or
at removing him from power. The domain could be broadly defined as the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) although the sanctions were meant
to convey different signals to different groups in the Yugoslav society. As
for the ruling elite, the sanctions were intended to communicate strong moral
disapproval and to put economic constraints on further assistance to the Bosnian
Serbs war effort. With respect to the ordinary people, whose lives were to be
the most affected by sanctions, it was expected that both isolation and worsening
living conditions would lead to dissatisfaction, which in turn would, through
electoral behavior, result in compliance with the international community’s
demands.
Economic impact of sanctions
While establishing the intended scope and the domain merely explains who is
being influenced with respect to what, the most important element of economic
statecraft is the economic policy instrument that is relied on to accomplish
this. To be labeled as economic, the instrument has to have its price and that
is, in case of Yugoslavia, the damage caused to the Yugoslav economy. However,
the sanctions were only one of the acute factors that aggravated the chronic
state of crisis in the Yugoslav economy and hence cannot be analyzed separately.
Therefore, this section will present the economic data relevant for assessing
the impact of sanctions with regard to pre-existing economic difficulties and
macroeconomic mismanagement.
The crisis in the Yugoslav economy is a cumulative result of both chronic
and acute factors (Stamenkovic, Posarac, et al., 1994: 17). The chronic factors
were the result of system endemic characteristics that resulted in the lack
of proper economic environment and, hence, inadequate economic policy. As opposed
to the other socialist states characterized by state ownership, the Yugoslav
economy was based on--social ownership and a-self-management, a complicated
system where factories were owned and managed by workers and their councils.
This resulted in a situation where it was very difficult to determine who owns
what and who is responsible for taking decisions.
The 1974 Constitution has to be mentioned here again, since it not only reversed
the existing trends towards a market economy (established by 1965 reform), but
also, through promoting greater autonomy for the constituent parts of the Federation,
contributed to disintegration of the Yugoslav economy. The flow of goods and
services between the republics thereafter declined, and a common fiscal policy
was abandoned resulting in a public spending of-explosion between 1974 and 1978
(Stamenkovic, Posarac, et al., 1994: 18). The resulting deficit was closed with
heavy borrowing. Loans, received from the international financial institutions
as well as commercial banks, were also used for investments that were meant
to promote economic development, but resulted in a number of so-called -socialist
giants, that were too big to be flexible to adjust to market conditions.
The impossibility to get new loans due to the outbreak of the debt crisis in
Eastern Europe and Mexico, coupled with the necessity to repay the old ones,
made the problems visible. The partial reforms, that tried to keep system going
rather than to change it fundamentally, failed. Reforming the economic system
was impossible without a fundamental reform of the political system, since the
two were intertwined (Posarac, forthcoming). The old communist elite was reluctant
to undertake such reforms, being aware that they might end party monolithism
and, hence, their absolute power. Postponing the reforms in order to save the
power fueled the process in which the Yugoslav communists lost not only their
power, but also the state they ruled (Posarac, forthcoming). The last and the
most comprehensive attempt to reform the system was undertaken in 1990, by the
Markovic government. However, with the process of disintegration of the country
well under way and the unwillingness of the international financial institutions
to back up the reform with new financial arrangements, the failure of Markovic’s
government came as no surprise.
As a result of the long-term structural factors, the relatively dynamic rates
of growth in the sixties and seventies were replaced with the decade of stagnation
and, in the first half of 1989, with negative rates of growth. This was further
aggravated by the acute factors, including the disintegration and war in Yugoslavia
as well as UN sanctions (Stamenkovic, Posarac et al., 1994: 21). Throughout
1989 the flow of goods between the Yugoslav republics were disturbed, to mention
only the Serbian boycott of the Slovenian goods and the retaliation from Slovenia.
In 1990 the republics adopted the practice of unauthorized printing of money
(the so-called intrusions in the monetary system), thus trying to make their
own position more favorable in view of the possible dissolution of the country.
The closing of the markets of the republics intensified throughout the first
half of 1991, while the outbreak of war and the independence of Slovenia and
Croatia contributed to a complete severance of economic ties.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was established on April 27, 1992, as a federation
of the former federal units, Serbia and Montenegro. The fact that the internal
market was reduced by 60% (FRY accounts for roughly 40% of SFRY’s and
that the number of consumers fell from 24 million (SFRY) to 10.5 million (FRY),
had an enormous effect on the economy. In 1989, Serbia imported from other republics
47% of GDP (compared to imports from the other countries, that accounted for
27%) and exported 49% (compared to 20.4% export to other countries). Conversely,
the share of Serbia's ?exports to other republics accounted for 44.7% of their
GDP, while exports to Serbia accounted for 49.9% of GDP (Stamenkovic, Posarac
et al., 1994: 118). The structure of the consumers changed, not only because
Slovenia and Croatia were the wealthier parts of Yugoslavia, but also because
the inhabitants of Serbia and Montenegro became poorer (GDP per capita fell
from $2083 in 1989 to $1302 in 1992 - Stamenkovic, Posarac et al., 1994: 106).
On the other hand, the Yugoslav producers were deprived of suppliers that were
left outside the new Yugoslavia, while the substitution of missing materials
and energy was expensive and, hence, inefficient. This resulted in a sharp decline
in the standard of living, aggravated by the costs of fighting a war in other
parts of former Yugoslavia.
Shattered with the economic consequences of disintegration of the country,
FR Yugoslavia was badly poised to take severance of economic ties with the outer
world. At the end of 1991, the European Community suspended the Trade and Cooperation
Agreement with Yugoslavia, restored the quantitative limits for textiles, removed
Yugoslavia from the list of beneficiaries of the GSP and suspended the PHARE
program. Finally, on 30 May 1992, the UN sanctions were imposed. Both the general
public and the Yugoslav politicians were very optimistic about the duration
of the sanctions and their effectiveness. However, three months after their
imposition the industrial production fell by 40% (Stamenkovic, Posarac et al.,
1994: 21).
Surprisingly, no serious adjustments to constraints resulting from acute factors
were made. Even when those facts were finally taken into consideration, the
political will to take appropriate measures was still lacking. This primarily
means unwillingness to reduce the budget deficit to the level sustainable by
the economy. According to Stamenkovic, Posarac et al (1994, p. 28), public spending
as a percentage of GDP in FRY in 1990 was 49, while the revenues accounted for
46% of GDP (calculated out of SFRY budget). In 1991, revenues remained the same,
while the spending increased to 63% of GDP, producing a deficit of 17% of GDP.
The estimates for 1992 and 1993 were even higher - total public spending (with
transfers to the Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia) amounted to 65-70% of GDP, while
the revenues fell to 24% in 1992 and not more than 10-11% in 1993, thus making
the enormous deficit of more than 50% of GDP (Stamenkovic, Posarac et al., 1994:
28).
Those gaps were closed by printing money, that was in effect indirect taxation
through inflation tax. The inflation tax refers to a revenue a government raises
when it decides to finance its deficit through printing money. The money is
absorbed by the public that tries to maintain the real value of its money balances
constant in view of the decreasing purchasing power due to an increase in prices.
By making people spend less than their income and pay the difference to the
government in exchange for extra money (Dornbusch and Fisher, 1990: 657), inflation
acts just like a tax. In developed economies, the amount of money that can be
raised through inflation tax is constrained by the fact that the public increases
its holdings of both bank deposits and currency, and thus a part of the increase
in the public’s holdings of money does not go to the government to finance
the deficit . However, in countries in which the banking system is less developed
and in which people therefore hold large amounts of currency, the government
obtains more revenue from inflation and is more likely to give high weight to
the revenue aspects of inflation in setting policy. However, whenever the inflation
tax is used on a large scale, inflation invariably becomes extreme. As the inflation
rate rises, the expectation of the public changes -- people reduce their real
holdings of the money base, because the base is becoming increasingly costly
to hold. Eventually the real monetary base drops so much that the total amount
of inflation tax revenue received by the government falls. This point was reached
by the Yugoslav government by the middle of 1993 with the monthly rate of inflation
was 4667% (Stamenkovic, Posarac et al., 1994: 28), thereafter becoming the loser
in the hyperinflation game.
However, it is well worth noting that the Yugoslav government did not rely
only on the inflation tax for raising the capital to close the budget deficit.
The foreign currency savings, deposited with the state banks, and impossible
to get since late 1990, amounts to $4 billion. Since the public did not trust
state banks any more, the savings were deposited with the so-called -private-
banks, whose owners maintained close relationships with the ruling party. Those
banks offered a monthly interest rate for foreign currency savings of 15%, so
an enormous number of people were attracted to invest their money. The gamble
lasted until the elections in December 1993. After the elections were over,
the owner of the -Jugoskandik left the country, causing the run on the other
big bank, Dafiment. Soon thereafter, they declared insolvency. The amount of
money owed to the public by these -phantom- banks is unknown, since the data
were denied even to the experts that were supposed to -rehabilitate- them. This
suggests the conclusion that those funds had served as a -buffer- in view of
the slowing down of economic activity due to sanctions and other problems --
they postponed the necessary macroeconomic adjustments and reduced the mounting
social tensions, since a number of people were living on the interest their
foreign currency deposits yielded. As a result of both chronic and acute factors,
GDP in 1993 fell by 30%--from $13.60 to $9.52 billion (Stamenkovic, Posarac
et al., 1994: 29). It was produced with only 35% of the existing capacities.
Industrial plants were either closed or worked with minimum capacities. By the
end of 1993, 1.3 million workers were on -paid leave of absence- -- not working,
but receiving salaries, while 750,000 were unemployed (Stamenkovic, Posarac
et al., 1994: 29). Together with sending the money to the Serbs in Bosnia and
Croatia and additional payments for import-export transactions because of the
UN sanctions (the estimates are that the licenses were paid additional 15-100%
of the transaction - Stamenkovic, Posarac et al., 1994: 29), those 2 million
people that were dependent on public spending contributed to an increasing budget
deficit. On the other hand, the government revenues were diminishing. Sharp
declines in inflation tax revenues occurred in the middle of 1993, while the
other revenues rapidly decreased due to the Tanzi-Oliviera effect (in the first
half of 1993 fiscal income accounted for 16% of GDP, in November only 3%, while
in December they were negligible - Stamenkovic, Posarac et al, 1994: 30). This
resulted in extremely low salaries and pensions -- the average monthly salary
at the end of 1993 amounted to $15 (Stamenkovic, Posarac et al., 1994: 29).
By the end of 1993, with the highest monthly inflation rate in the world (313
million percent), the whole system was at a breaking point. To avoid the collapse
that would have had inevitably occurred had the money continued to be printed
with no limits, the Program for Reconstruction of Monetary System and Strategy
for Economic Recovery of Yugoslavia was launched.
The Program for Reconstruction of Monetary System and Strategy for Economic
Recovery of Yugoslavia (hereafter the Program) relied upon three basic pillars:
cutting the hyperinflation by discontinuing the practice of uncontrolled money
printing, significant reduction of the budget deficit accompanied by the reconstruction
of tax collection system and, making enterprises free to set the prices according
to the costs of production by making the state responsible for the social policy.
The new dinar (often referred to as a-super dinar) was introduced and was linked
to the German mark with the parity 1:1. The internal convertibility was declared--the
new dinar was supposed to be printed to the level of foreign currency reserves
and gold. This reintroduced the national currency, brought about the stability
of prices and established a shaky balance. The fact that money was functioning
again and that the stability of prices had been achieved, were the most important
results. Production increased by 41% in the first three months after the Program
had been introduced (19% if the season is taken out, MAP 1, 1994, p. 4 ). The
most significant growth occurred in the parts of industry that experienced the
worst decline. The average salary was approximately 50 dinars (50 DEM). The
psychological effects were great -- people were enjoying normal life, reflected
by the fact that the price of food was not changing by the day.
However, the limits for recovery were soon reached. The average monthly rate
of industrial production growth in 1994 was 2.6% (Opste tendencije, 1995: 11).
This figure hides differences between the first and the second half of 1994
-- while the industrial production in the first half of the year increased by
an average monthly rate of 4.1%, in the second half of the year the average
rate of growth was only 0.7%. On the other hand, wages grew faster than the
growth of production, resulting in 326.1% increase in nominal, and 255.7% in
real wages between February 1994 and February 1995. Prices -exploded- by the
end of 1994. Their monthly growth in November was 7.3% and in December 2.5%.
The internal convertibility functioned till the middle of 1994, while later
on it was administratively restricted and, in fact, informally suspended. The
price of the German mark started increasing in the second half of the year,
resulting in the exchange rate 2:1 in the beginning of 1995. This trend continued
in 1995 as well, resulting in increase of retail prices by 26.5% in the first
four months of 1995, which corresponds to the average rate of growth of 102%
at an annual level (Opste tendencije, 1995: 8 ). The estimated share of public
spending in GDP in 1994 was 60%, implying that no serious fiscal adjustments
were made. Moreover, the projections for 1995 show that they were not planned
for this year either-the share of public spending in GDP in 1995 was projected
at 68.4%. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that the institutional
framework has never been thoroughly reformed, resulting in additional constraints
on the economic policy. The attitude towards privatization and changing ownership
structure is ambiguous. The uncertainty is great, due to frequent changes in
laws as well as possibilities to pass the laws with retroactive force. Finally,
the system, as envisioned in the Program, is frequently suspended by the regulations
and directives brought by the government (Suspenzija privrednog sistema, 1994:
36).
All this invites the conclusion that the economic recovery of the Yugoslav
economy depends on a number of factors, the majority of which come from politics,
not economics (Posarac, forthcoming). Such factors include the decision to open
the process of restructuring the economy, that will address the chronic component
in the Yugoslav economic crisis, while stopping the war, reestablishing cooperation
with the former Yugoslav republics and lifting of the sanctions will eliminate
acute factors. The Dayton agreement changed the situation inasmuch as it ended
the war, established the very basic preconditions for cooperation with the former
Yugoslav republics and suspended the UN sanctions. Even though the trade embargo
was fully lifted after the September 14th elections in Bosnia, an -outer wall-
of sanctions (membership in international financial institutions) remained and
is linked with cooperation with the Tribunal for War Crimes and problem of human
rights in Kosovo. As far as privatization is concerned, plans are on the way
to sell 30% of Serbia’s telecoms system, while the state oil and electricity
companies are likely to be next. However, no overall strategy towards privatization
is adopted yet.
They bite, but do they work?
This section will examine both effectiveness and efficiency of the UN sanctions
in view of theoretical framework discussed in the previous chapter, with effectiveness
defined as a degree of success in achieving stated policy objectives and efficiency
assessed in comparison with costs and benefits of other policy alternatives
that might have been pursued instead of sanctions.
As previously discussed, the sanctions aimed at changing a pan-Serbian policy
pursued by Yugoslavia, both by putting economic constraints to further assistance
to the Bosnian Serbs and by electoral behavior of dissatisfied citizens. However,
the war in Bosnia fully exploded only after Security Council Resolution 757
was passed. For a long time thereafter coercion seemed to have little effect
on Yugoslav/Serbian government efforts to aid the Bosnian Serbs (Pejic 1994,
p. 21). May 1993 can be taken as a turning point. The Geneva negotiations, set
by the London conference on Yugoslavia and co-chaired by Cyrus Vance, on behalf
of UN and Lord David Owen, on behalf of the European Community, resulted in
the Vance-Owen plan for cease-fire agreement, military disengagement and the
demilitarization of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It also created a plan for a constitutional
system of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a decentralized State consisting of ten provinces
based on ethnic, geographic, economic, traffic, cultural and other relevant
criteria. The Plan was accepted and signed in Athens, under the mediation of
Greece, by representatives of Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs, while Karadzic’s
ayes had to be confirmed by the Assembly of the Republics of Srpska. Despite
Milosevic`s persuasion, the Assembly voted no.
This resulted in tightening the sanctions against FR Yugoslavia (the Security
Council Resolution 820 entered into force automatically after the Bosnian Serbs
rejected the Peace plan and prohibited transport and transshipment of goods
through FRY) and prolonging the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Although Yugoslavia
continued to support the Bosnian Serbs for one more year, this was the first
serious attempt by the Yugoslav officials to end the war in Bosnia by trying
to make the Bosnian Serbs comply with the international community’s demands.
The reason behind this was an increasing inability to provide the Bosnian Serbs
with the means necessary for fighting the war in view of the near collapsed
state of the Yugoslav economy, where exploding hyperinflation eliminated inflation
tax revenue and dwarfed other government revenues used previously for this purpose.
Throughout the second half of 1993, the economic situation continued to deteriorate,
while the limits of recovery, brought about by the 1994 Program, were soon reached.
In the long run, stabilization seemed possible only with the lifting of sanctions
and this action was conditioned with the achievement of the peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This is why the Yugoslav officials started applying pressure on the Bosnian
Serbs to accept the peace plan, this time proposed by the Contact Group . After
the Bosnian Serbs had rejected the plan, Milosevic imposed sanctions on them
(August 1994), confirming that he was a man driven by power rather than nationalism
(Zimmerman 1995, p. 5). Welcoming the evolvement of FR Yugoslavia towards a
more cooperative position, the Security Council (Resolution 943) suspended the
restrictions for air traffic from the Belgrade airport, restrictions regarding
the ferry service between Bar (FRY) and Bari (Italy) and the measures concerning
participation in sporting events and cultural exchanges.
With the escalation of violence in spring of 1995, that certainly accounts
for the most tragic parts of the war, the situation in Bosnia seemed to be in
a deadlock. The situation in Croatia, however, started changing. Adoption of
the Vance plan of 1991 froze the then existing situation, with almost one third
of Croatia’s territory controlled by the Serbs. In the beginning of May
1995 in an operation -Lightning- the Croatian forces regained Western Slavonia
-- Serb held territory in former UN sector West. Operation Storm followed in
the beginning of August, when the Croatian forces reintegrated a big part of
the self-proclaimed Serb state with its capital Knin. The majority of the Serbs
fled the region, resulting in a solution, albeit in a nasty way, of the Serbian
question in Croatia (Puhovski, 1995: 2) -- before the war there were 600,000
Serbs in Croatia, while now there would be 100,000 -150,000. The speed of the
Croatian victory as well as lack of intervention from Belgrade came as a surprise
to many, inviting the conclusion that Krajina has just opened the way for the
partition of Bosnia between Milosevic and Tudjman (Puhovski, 1995: 2). Not even
the intervention of Croatian government troops on behalf of Bosnian government
after the Serb assaults against the UN safe areas of Srebrenica and Zepa in
July could reverse this opinion because the areas captured by the Croatian forces
ended up under their control.
Meanwhile, NATO was preparing its own response to the assaults on the safe
areas. In September, after the Serb shelling of Sarajevo, NATO bombers deprived
the Bosnian Serb Army of its command and control links and forced it to withdraw
heavy weapons from around Sarajevo. The moment was seized by the Army of Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Aided by the Bosnian Croats and the Croatian government troops
they captured an enormous swathe of territory in western Bosnia ending up with
at least 52% of the territory. Then the US administration demanded they halt.
The time had come for Pax Americana (Lagumdzija, 1995: 3).
After intensive mediatory effects of the US envoy by Richard Holbrooke, Assistant
Secretary of State, Milosevic announced that he was taking charge of the Bosnian
Serb delegation. Peace talks in Dayton, Ohio were soon to follow. It was agreed
that B-H would continue to exist within internationally recognized borders.
It would consist of two entities, the Federation of B-H and the Republics of
Srpska on a 51% - 49% basis. Elections would be held under international control
and they would have to adopt and observe common -international standard of human
rights.- Sarajevo was to be reunified within the Muslim-Croat federation, Gorazde
(the eastern Muslim enclave) was to be linked with the federation by a secure
land corridor, and Mrkonjic Grad was to be relinquished to the Serb entity.
The final status of Brcko, a Serb held town on a narrow stretch of land connecting
Serb territories in west and east Bosnia would be determined by arbitration
within one year. There would be a NATO implementation force, to be called IFOR,
authorized to use military force to prevent interference with free movement
of and violence against civilians and refugees, with freedom of movement throughout
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The parties were obliged to cooperate fully with an
international investigation and prosecution of war crimes. The UN Security Council
would lift the arms embargo against Bosnia (Resolution 1021) and sanctions against
FRY (Resolution 1022), though the latter would be re-imposed if any Serb authorities
failed to meet their obligations under the peace agreement. Agreed to on November
21 in Dayton, the peace was signed in Paris in December.
A parallel between the economic deterioration in Yugoslavia and Milosevic’s
evolvement towards a more cooperative position suggests that the sanctions,
though helped to a great extent with the pre-existing economic difficulties
and other acute factors, succeeded in making the Serbian president Milosevic
abandon the pan-Serbian policy he had been pursuing. As far as their contribution
to ending the war in Bosnia is concerned, they seem to have been less convincing.
Between August 1994, when Milosevic imposed sanctions on Bosnian Serbs, and
August 1995, the peace process was in a deadlock. This changed after the use
of NATO air force and, more importantly, the US determination not to have the
war in Bosnia on the agenda any more. This was illustrated with diplomatic initiative,
persistent negotiation efforts and, finally, a plan for -united- Bosnia with
two separate political entities formed on ethnical basis. All of this could
have been employed even without the sanctions. True, as Baldwin notes, it is
easier to prevent the war than to stop it, so the task attached to sanctions
involved a high level of difficulty. Still, after four years of war, with 2,702,000
of 3,689,000 people in Bosnia either displaced or affected by war in some other
way (War Report, 1995: 51), the contribution of sanctions can hardly be considered
successful.
With respect to the expectations that the sanctions would create an electorate
more critical about the government, the international community made two mistakes.
The first refers to the lack of democratic tradition after 50 years of party
monolithism. Firmly in control of the media, the Yugoslav officials have managed
to blame the sanctions on the world’s hatred for the Serbs. Having helped
divert dissatisfaction to growing xenophobia, the sanctions provided a convenient
excuse for whatever was wrong in the country. The second mistake was that the
sanctions, rather than creating a more critical electorate, made people more
receptive to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes by increasing poverty .
More than one third of the population cannot satisfy their basic needs, while
another third is very close to the poverty line (Posarac, forthcoming). In view
of the unwillingness to open the process of privatization as well as the small
percentage of employees in existing privately owned firms, those people are
highly dependent on the state for jobs and salaries. Given the fact that the
necessary preconditions for the establishment and development of civil society
and democracy should be citizens economically independent from the state, these
trends will result in postponing the emergence of the civil society in Yugoslavia
(Posarac, forthcoming). The people are likely to support the status quo, since
changes will be too costly. With these facts in mind, the change of policy pursued
towards the Bosnian Serbs does not seem like a remarkable achievement at all,
since everything seems to be predicated on the belief that Milosevic will remain
cooperative. However, if he is replaced by somebody more nationally oriented
or if he decides to adopt any kind of an objectionable policy, the citizens
of Yugoslavia will have no choice but to follow, since the extent to which they
are dependent on the state leaves them little choice.
This brings us to the problem of efficiency or what policy alternative would
have fared better. To answer this question, the crisis has to be examined from
the very beginning because numerous possibilities for alternative action appeared
along the way.
The first possibility for alternative policy course came in sight as early
as 1990, when the federal government of Prime Minister Ante Markovic was trying
to transform the country to a liberal market democracy on the basis of the program
compliant with IMF’s demands. As the reform was taking place against the
background of political disintegration, the federal government increasingly
relied on external factors to legitimize its efforts. Evidence for political
support was abundant -- Bush, Baker, Delors and other leading Western politicians
strongly backed up the economic reform as a means of maintaining the unity and
the territorial integrity of the country, but no new financial agreements were
forthcoming. This seems even more puzzling given the increased assistance provided
by international financial institutions for the process of transition in Central
and Eastern European countries. Whether the reason for this was the loss of
geopolitical importance (Zimmerman 1995, p. 2), or distrust regarding the unity
of the country, still remains to be investigated, but some conflicts would have
certainly been attenuated this way. Instead, Ante Markovic resigned in December
1991, with hardly anybody noticing his resignation, so powerless had Yugoslavia’s
last prime minister become (Zimmerman, 1995: 17).
In June 1991, a couple of days before the crisis came to a head, the American
Secretary of State James Baker visited Belgrade where he expressed the American
hope that Yugoslavia would remain together behind the reformist Markovic. He
also stressed that the United States would not encourage or support unilateral
secession and would strongly oppose any use of force. Opinions about his message
range from the belief that this was an extremely skillful and reasonable presentation
(Zimmerman 1995, p. 11) to the approach that this was a very ambiguous statement
that allowed for different interpretations -- Slovenia and Croatia emphasized
the part about not using force, while the Army attached the greatest importance
on support to unity and discouragement of secession (Klarin, 1996: 3). In any
case, just a few days after Baker’s departure from Belgrade, the Yugoslav
crisis erupted and Slovenia and the Federal Army were at war, thus illustrating
that the moment that the international community could have used to demonstrate
commitment to a negotiated agreement on whatever governing structure to be found,
was not seized. The decisiveness shown in the Dayton peace talks, with the Americans
firmly committed to having Milosevic, Tudjman and Izetbegovic agree on the peace
plan before they left Dayton, is an exemplification of what was lacking, by
way of international commitment to a negotiated agreement, in 1991.
As the crisis continued to deepen, the European Community was given a chance
to deal with what it called a -European problem. This reflected the belief that
-the hour of Europe- (Jacques Poos, 1991, quoted in Dinan 1994: 490) has come
and suited in the context of emerging common foreign and security policy (intergovernmental
conference on common foreign and security policy was in progress when the crisis
broke out in Yugoslavia). The highest point of the involvement of the European
Community in solving the Yugoslav crisis was the establishment of the Conference
on Yugoslavia at The Hague and in Brussels, with the so-called Badinter Arbitration
commission. The most glaring Community weakness, that affected the application
and effectiveness of other policy instruments, involved diplomatic recognition
of secessionist republics (Dinan, 1994: 486). Of the three Yugoslav republics
the European Community had recognized, the Badinter Commission Report supported
only the claim of Slovenia. The claim of Macedonia also supported by the Badinter
Commission, but was blocked by Greece. The determination to achieve closer cooperation
on foreign and security policy accounted for the Community’s inconsistency.
Due to an increasing domestic pressure, Germany began to press for the Community’
recognition of Croatia and Slovenia. Fearing a damaging split immediately after
the Maastricht summit (Dinan, 1994: 486), the other member states agreed and
the Slovenia and Croatia were recognized on January 15, 1992.
In between the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia and the recognition of Bosnia
and Herzegovina that was soon to follow, there was a brief moment when all three
sides agreed on the future of Bosnia. On March 18 a document was signed in Lisbon,
outlining the political principles of a republic composed of three constituent
nations, each with the right to self-determination and of the regional cantonization
along ethnonational lines (laid out on a compromise map proposed by the EC).
In view of Baker’s intensive efforts for the recognition of Bosnia (Woodward,
1995: 196), Izetbegovic reversed his position a week after signing the Lisbon
document. On April 6, Bosnia was recognized, triggering the bloodiest part of
the Yugoslav wars. The Lisbon plan is referred to by many (Pajic, 1995: 18,
Woodward, 1995: 304) as an encouragement for the ethnic partition of Bosnia.
However, in an explosive situation, with the population of Bosnia already nationally
split about political issues, with neighboring Serbia and Croatia eagerly waiting
to step in and each take a slice of Bosnia, the plan addressed the most immediate
concern -- to prevent the war that would further alienate national communities
in Bosnia and possibly endanger the whole region.
As the war grew more violent, the number of the dead, raped and displaced
rapidly increased. Shelling of civilians, ethnic cleansing and concentration
camps became the reality of Bosnia. However, there was no Western military resolve.
Countries contributing troops to UN peacekeeping operation--especially France
and Britain, that had initiated UN involvement and lobbied for more humanitarian
action--objected to greater use of military power fearing that their soldiers
on the ground might be at risk as opposed to the United States, whose fundamental
policy was against sending soldiers. The hostage crisis of June 1995, when the
UN peacekeepers were taken hostage as a response to shelling Serb military positions,
seemed to prove this point. However, the use of NATO air power in August 1995
confirmed that this was not so and that a similar action if used before would
have yielded similarly successful results.
Even this short consideration of alternative policies that could have been
applied in the former Yugoslavia results in four solutions, three of which might
have, arguably, prevented the war. Given the small share of Yugoslavia in the
world economy (less than 1% of world’s exports and imports), costs of
sanctions sustained by the international community seem negligible, inviting
the conclusion that all of the mentioned alternatives fare worse when compared
to sanctions on the basis of costs. Nevertheless, this appears to be so only
at first sight, for enforcing the sanctions was not inexpensive at all, thus
making other alternatives increasingly competitive. When benefits are compared,
however, the fact that tough negotiations and military action had to be applied
anyway to reach peace speaks about the benefits of sanctions loudly enough.
So why have not any of the alternatives been tried earlier- Part of the answer
stems from the fragmented and often contradictory approach to the Yugoslav crisis,
best illustrated by the UN-s Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali comment
that UN peacekeepers were sent in the during the war, while NATO soldiers are
expected to guard peace. This came as no surprise, as institutions and organizations
involved in solving the crisis were themselves undergoing a process of transition
to the post-Cold War era, with the UN constrained with various configurations
of power and State interests, EC shaping it’s political identity and NATO
transforming from an anti Russian alliance to the central security pillar of
the new security architecture. The war in Bosnia not only revealed, but also
underscored the urgency to build a new comprehensive structure of relationships
to form a new security architecture (Holbrooke 1995, p. 38). However, the fact
that the peace was initiated, negotiated and delivered by the Americans, demonstrates
that this is still far from assured.
Now it remains to be seen to what extent will the efforts to stabilize Bosnia
succeed, for the tensions between the Croats and the Muslims in Mostar as well
as majority of the Serbs fleeing Sarajevo after its incorporation into B-H Federation
demonstrate how little of the multiethnic fabric of Bosnia, the existence of
which is essential to differentiate peace from merely a cease-fire, is left
behind. The elections of September 1996, aimed at creating common institutions
that will integrate distinct ethnic enclaves, further demonstrated how alienated
three national communities feel. With politicians who have made careers out
of hating each other (Not all bad, 1996: 32) now in charge of establishing confidence
and trust between people, an option of Bosnia being partitioned by nationalist
forces will remain open for quite some time, thus inviting the conclusion that
efforts to keep the country united might increasingly look as squaring circles.
The creation of a new way of thinking and a more tolerant society is going to
be a long process that might turn out to be even more difficult for the international
community then stopping the war that was going on two years ago.
Conclusion
The belief that the new, credible, inexpensive and potentially potent weapon
against small and medium size troublemakers has been discovered (Mueller, 1994:
363), reflected by the recent proliferation of the multilateral economic sanctions,
certainly calls for critical review. Sanctions are mostly imposed on the countries
with little or no democratic tradition (Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Somalia), and
that strengthens rather than weakens the existing authoritarian regimes. As
a State is less democratic, the punishment is more unfair, since there is no
possibility for the majority to influence the acts of government (Dimitrijevic,
1993: 12). Moreover, even if this possibility existed, it is unlikely that the
citizens of those states would translate the economic signals in their electoral
behavior. Misperceptions of this kind can be compared only with the US action
in Somalia, when an extremely powerful TV signal transmitter was installed to
inform the people what was really going on. Only afterwards was it realized
that a number of privately owned TV sets was very small, thus necessitating
the installment of a radio-signal transmitter. The same can be said about the
economic sanctions applied against undemocratic countries - their population
is not used to judge and change governments according to their economic performance.
Finally, the poverty that inevitably increases due to sanctions, makes the citizens
of the state in question ever more dependent on the state and hence receptive
to totalitarian regimes. This invites the conclusion that, even if the stated
policy objectives are achieved, the solution of the problem is temporary at
best. Therefore, the international community should address the cause rather
than cure the consequences - helping democratization in those countries can
be of greater use to foreign policy goals than the imposition of economic sanctions.
Endnotes
1. In response to the kidnapping of three Aspasian women,Athens imposed a
trade boycott on Megara, a Spartan ally, excluding her from access to ports
in the Athenian empire and the market of Athens.
2. In August 1985 the US Congress approved an amendment to the Foreign Relations
Act - the Kassebaum amendment - which provided that the United States should
pay no more than 20 per cent of the assessed contributions to the budgets of
the United Nations and its specialized agencies until those organizations adopted
weighted voting based on the amount of a member’s contribution on budgetary
questions. The violation by the United States of its legal obligation under
article 17 of the Charter to pay its assessed contributions has encouraged other
states to follow this lead.
3. Both the Vance-Owen and the Contact Group plan will be referred to in the
following chapter.
4. For the detailed chronology of events in the former Yugoslavia, see Facts
on Crisis in the Former Yugoslavia, special issue of Review of International
Affairs, March 1st 1993.
5. SDA, the Muslim party, won 33,8% votes, SDS, the Serbian party 29,6% and
Croatian HDZ 18,3%. Remaining 17% were distributed among two parties formed
out of the republic’s communist party and SRSJ (Woodward 1995, p. 122).
6. The mission included Jacques Pos, Gianni de Michelis and Hans van den Broek
(as the -troika- included foreign ministers from the current, immediately preceding
and immediately succeeding presidencies, its composition was changing relatively
fast, so later on -troika- was joined by Pinheiro, Hurd and Jensen).
7. The Badinter Commission found a precedent in international law relating
to border conflict between Burkina Faso and Mali, resulting from the colonial
rule, which declared the colonial border to be inviolable on a principle of
uti possidetis or -keep what you have.
8. At an extraordinary Ministerial meeting in Rome, the member States of the
European Community agreed on the following measures: immediate suspension of
the application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Yugoslavia, with
a decision to terminate the same Agreement; restoration of the quantitative
limits for textiles; removal of Yugoslavia from the list of beneficiaries of
the General System of Preferences; formal suspension of benefits under the PHARE
program. On 2 December 1991, the European Community adopted a decision on the
so-called positive measures in favor of some Yugoslav republics after the termination
of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Yugoslavia. Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia were to have the preferential trade provisions
contained in the previous Agreement restored, as well as other benefits and
credits it envisaged.
9. As for Croatia, the Serbs made up 12% of the population, while Bosnia had
a strong multiethnic character and the highest percentage of ethnically mixed
marriages of any republic (Zimmerman, 1995: 10).
10. The amount that is received by the government is the increase in the stock
of high-powered money, that consists of the currency and banks? deposits and
the Central bank.
11. Dafiment, Jugoskandik and many other smaller banks.
12. This effect was named after two economists who independently documented
it - Vito Tanzi and Julio Oliviera - and refers to the phenomenon of the declining
real revenue raised from taxation in the hyperinflatory economies, due to lags
in both the calculation and payment of taxes.
13. The Contact Group, that consisted of the representatives of the United
States, Russia, Germany, Great Britain and France, offered the plan that divided
Bosnia and Herzegovina in two parts - the federation of Moslems and Croats that
should account for 51% of the territory, while the remaining 49% should be controlled
by the Bosnian Serbs.
14. For more data, see the Dayton Agreement or Summary of the Dayton Agreement
as in War Report. Bulletin of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, Number
38, November/December 1995.
15. Poverty especially increased among the urban population - while the number
of the people under the poverty line in 1990 was 360,000, 205,000 of which in
rural and 155,000 in urban areas, in the first half of 1994 it increased to
2.1 million, 1.6 million of which from the urban areas (Posarac, forthcoming).
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ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AS A FOREIGN POLICY TOOL:
THE CASE OF YUGOSLAVIA
Milica Delevic
The practice of economic sanctions is hardly new in international relations,
but the twentieth century is especially rich in sanction episodes. The use of
sanctions increased from two cases in the 1920s to more than 20 in the 1980s.
Despite their widespread use, traditional scholarly perception is that sanctions
are remarkably unsuccessful in achieving their stated policy objectives.
Nevertheless, the number of disputes in which they were employed during the
first half of the 1990-s contributes to the conclusion about the ever-growing
popularity of sanctions. It also demonstrates clear differences from previous
decades. While the majority of the sanctions employed previously were unilateral
and originated by the United States, today they are predominantly multilateral
and imposed by the United Nations. This reflects a belief that a new, inexpensive
and potentially potent weapon against small and medium size troublemakers has
been found (Mueller 1994, p. 363). This study will argue against this view.
To this end, basic concepts of sanctions will be defined, the post-Cold War
environment will be discussed in view of changes that led to the recent proliferation
of multilateral economic sanctions, and finally, the case of Yugoslavia will
be analyzed. It will be argued that the sanctions, helped to a great extent
by pre-existing economic difficulties and macroeconomic mismanagement, had a
devastating effect on the Yugoslav economy, thus helping make Serbian President
Milosevic more cooperative, but were of no decisive importance for stopping
the war in Bosnia. Moreover, poverty, which increased as a result of the sanctions,
made people more receptive to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, making
democratization ever more difficult to achieve.
|
no
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Web Design
|
Are sliders bad for SEO?
|
yes_statement
|
"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
|
https://yoast.com/opinion-on-sliders/
|
Sliders suck and should be banned from your website • Yoast
|
Five years ago, we wrote about why we really don’t like sliders. We still don’t like sliders. If your theme forces you to include a slider (also named carousels) on your homepage, please realize that it’s making you use a feature that has no value for SEO. A feature that is probably slowing down your site by loading extra JavaScript. And prevents your user from reading the good stuff (your content) immediately. It will most probably account for less conversion as well.
Before we dive in, if you want to learn more about conversion and other essential SEO skills, you should check out our All-around SEO training! It doesn’t just tell you about SEO: it makes sure you know how to put these skills into actual practice!!
Even though both SEO experts and conversion experts agree on the fact that sliders have little use 99% of the time, website developers insist on adding sliders to their themes. Some customers refer to sliderless themes as “outdated” but we strongly disagree. Let’s make one thing very clear: sliders suck. Let’s explain once more why they suck.
Science and experiments
It’s not often that science is conclusive in its findings. However, sliders seem to be one topic on which it is. There’s literally not one study that we’ve found that says sliders are a good idea. We often point people to shouldiuseacarousel.com when wanting to explain why not to use a slider. This simple website does an awesome job at showing the statistics as well as trigger the annoyance sliders usually evoke.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Over the years, many studies have shown that sliders should be avoided.
But… I need a slider!
Ok, so you’re, for instance, a photographer. You need that slider, right? Wrong. People tend to act as if there’s no other way to show their images but by sliders. This simply isn’t true. If you can’t have a slider and you’re a photographer, would you just give up having a website altogether? Of course not, you would look for other options, such as the revolutionary idea of showing static pictures. If you want moving pictures, you should change careers and become a filmmaker.
Seriously, whatever makes people think that having stuff move on your website is a good idea, ever, is still beyond me. Auto-playing videos are also annoying, right? You can create awesome collages through which people can browse at will. The pictures won’t be forced onto them (if they even notice them in the first place), they’ll just notice the ones they like. And trust me, that will sell better.
If you’re a photographer, it’s likely you’re a creative person. You probably make photo albums for people from time to time, which presumably don’t have sliding images. So how about you showcase that skill and creativity by designing your web pages with static images?
Focus
What you’re saying with a slider is basically: “I really don’t know which product or picture I should put on display on my homepage, so I’ll just grab 10 of them!” In that case, you really need to add focus. If you don’t know what to choose, how would your visitors or clients? You should know what your own business is about and what product or picture deserves that front page spotlight.
By focusing on the right (static) image or message, you will give people a far better feel of your business, and you as a person, than a slider ever could. Not in the least because sliders, as we’ve said twice now, are simply ignored in most cases. And a message that’s ignored hardly ever comes across (notice the sarcasm).
SEO and Conversion Rate Optimization
There is another reason why we recommend against sliders. Sliders push down your main content, plain and simple. In fact, most sliders we encounter in our consultancy these days, are big enough to fill out any screen. This means the content won’t even be visible above the fold. And this backfires on your SEO efforts, which we’ve already shown through the article linked in the list of findings above.
There’s not a CRO expert that will disagree with us on this: sliders kill your conversions. So simply having a slider on your website, will get you fewer sales than without that slider! If that’s not a deal breaker, I seriously don’t know what is.
Just combine the two and realize what a monstrosity the slider actually is. It kills your rankings and your conversions!
Mobile websites and sliders
It’s really convenient to include a slider on a mobile website. It allows you to add more content to that page, that smaller screen, without the page becoming too long. What if people have to scroll, right? Well, quite frankly, they are used to that. That’s just one myth you can forget about. It’s not just that. Lots of times, things go wrong when using a slider on a mobile website. Some of the other pitfalls you’ll encounter when adding a slider to a mobile website:
Image sliders tend to load the desktop site images, not optimized for mobile speed or in fact ruining it for phones on 3g or less.
The same goes for sliders running on JavaScript. Why add JavaScript for something people will treat as a banner or simply skip to get to your content instead?
Bottom line is that sliders might break more than they add in value for your website. But the main question you should ask yourself when using that slider on your mobile website, even if it’s responsive and optimized, is: do I really need that slider? I can’t imagine you do.
Why should you believe us?
If you don’t believe us, believe these experts who we’ve asked for their opinion and experience with sliders:
Sliders never converted and never will
“Sliders only exist because web designers love them. And because they make the life of the web team easy: they can give every department or product division a place on the homepage. And they don’t have to make choices.
But it’s not your job to make your colleagues happy. It’s your job to make your visitors happy. And to sell. And that’s the biggest problem with sliders: they don’t convert. Never did and never will.”
Use static images and copy instead
Just for portfolio displays
“I think sliders are interesting but somewhat problematic. The biggest problem I see is that if visitors are bouncing from the page in a second or two, they will never see the other options on the slider. If you use a slider for navigation, be sure the same choices are visible in static form, too. I think sliders work best for portfolio displays where several large, strong images can be displayed in the same space without impeding the visitor’s ability to navigate or determine what other content is on the site.”
Sliders are distracting
“I think sliders are distracting. It’s a way to put extra crap on a page that’s typically not best for visitors. If it’s important in most cases you should just put it on the page without sliders or extra clicks.”
Sliders are evil
“This popular design element is – for many – the go-to solution when there are more messages to put on the home page than there is room to put them. Rather than make the tough decisions that require prioritizing conversion goals, web teams turn to the rotating banner as an offer of compromise.
Use a static image instead
“In A/B tests, sliders tend to lose. In fact, one of the easiest ways to grow a page’s conversion rate is to remove the slider, and to replace it with a static image. If you want to be really lazy, you can just test the slider against the static version of each of the slider’s options. The static version usually wins.”
Sliders deliver little to no value to the customer
“Sliders please the owner of the site, but they deliver little to no value to the customers. The reason is that we are not going to sit there and wait for your ‘movie’ to play out. I’m also not a fan of sliders because for most businesses they provide an excuse not to think about personalization and being good at giving the customer the right answer, right away.”
Sliders are hardly accessible
Conversion is one thing, but from an accessibility stand, sliders suck as well. Here’s what our own Andrea has to say about this:
Though there are examples and recommendations to follow to make sliders as accessible as possible, I’ve rarely seen a fully accessible slider being used in production. Sometimes sliders are just not coded with accessibility in mind, sometimes they are but there are so many accessibility requirements to address that missing just a couple of them can be disastrous for accessibility. Interaction with keyboards and assistive technologies is so hard that static content is always preferable. It’s no coincidence that shouldiuseacarousel.com was launched by Jared Smith of WebAIM, one of the most influential and respected organizations committed to spreading out accessibility culture and developing accessible web content.
Honestly, we could go on and on. So no matter how pretty you think sliders are, know this: sliders simply suck.
Epilogue
When we first published our (unchanged) opinion on sliders back in 2014, UX designer Ian Armstrong commented that “in some cases, sliders make sense. A slider can be used effectively if it a) tells a story and b) doesn’t auto-forward.” Imagine a real estate page that has a slider for images of a house. It’s not auto-forwarding and helps you to get an idea of the entire house – it tells that story.
Ian also states that “if you properly set expectations and really stress the slider as a story mechanism, you’ll probably see a major uptick in interest.” He’s probably right, or, as Rich Page stated below that initial 2014 post: “If in doubt, TEST IT!” Most of us are used to sliders like that on real estate sites. There is always an exception to the rule, right? Although in this specific case, one might even argue if the ‘slider’ even qualifies as a slider.
Thijs is the former CEO of Yoast. He is a behavioural scientist with a lot of love for SEO, open-source and the internet as a whole. He's had all kinds of jobs both within Yoast and outside, such as ecommerce manager, SEO specialist, support engineer and marketeer.
|
Five years ago, we wrote about why we really don’t like sliders. We still don’t like sliders. If your theme forces you to include a slider (also named carousels) on your homepage, please realize that it’s making you use a feature that has no value for SEO. A feature that is probably slowing down your site by loading extra JavaScript. And prevents your user from reading the good stuff (your content) immediately. It will most probably account for less conversion as well.
Before we dive in, if you want to learn more about conversion and other essential SEO skills, you should check out our All-around SEO training! It doesn’t just tell you about SEO: it makes sure you know how to put these skills into actual practice!!
Even though both SEO experts and conversion experts agree on the fact that sliders have little use 99% of the time, website developers insist on adding sliders to their themes. Some customers refer to sliderless themes as “outdated” but we strongly disagree. Let’s make one thing very clear: sliders suck. Let’s explain once more why they suck.
Science and experiments
It’s not often that science is conclusive in its findings. However, sliders seem to be one topic on which it is. There’s literally not one study that we’ve found that says sliders are a good idea. We often point people to shouldiuseacarousel.com when wanting to explain why not to use a slider. This simple website does an awesome job at showing the statistics as well as trigger the annoyance sliders usually evoke.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Over the years, many studies have shown that sliders should be avoided.
But… I need a slider!
Ok, so you’re, for instance, a photographer. You need that slider, right? Wrong. People tend to act as if there’s no other way to show their images but by sliders. This simply isn’t true. If you can’t have a slider and you’re a photographer, would you just give up having a website altogether? Of course not, you would look for other options, such as the revolutionary idea of showing static pictures.
|
yes
|
Web Design
|
Are sliders bad for SEO?
|
yes_statement
|
"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
|
https://wp-rocket.me/blog/why-you-shouldnt-use-a-slider-on-wordpress-and-other-performance-bad-practices/
|
Why You Shouldn't Use a Slider on WordPress (And Other ...
|
Why You Shouldn’t Use a Slider on WordPress (And Other Performance Bad Practices)
Table of Contents
Last update on August 18, 2021
Image sliders may be quite a popular feature among WordPress websites but their added value is close to none. In fact, whether you ask a performance-minded web developer, an SEO expert or a conversion rate specialist, most will tell you that sliders – or carousels – aren’t a good idea. And we couldn’t agree more.
We’ve sprinkled it in our blog articles here and there that we’re not the biggest fans of image sliders. Truth be told, we don’t like them. At all. Let us explain why.
Why a Slider is not Good for Performance
Sliders and web performance are far from a match made in heaven. With sliders, your website might be pretty but also pretty slow (see what we did here?).
For a slider to work on your website, you’ll need more code:
CSS styles
Extra JavaScript
Most of the time, this leads to:
Increased page size
Increased page load time
Higher number of HTTP requests
All of this causes lower performance, worse Core Web Vitals metrics, and slower pages, even when WP Rocket is running on your website (more about this later).
More specifically, carousels can affect your Core Web Vitals in the following ways:
LCP – Largest Contentful Paint – A page’s LCP element can often be found in above-the-fold image sliders. If these sliders aren’t optimized properly, this can negatively affect your LCP.
FID – First Input Delay – If your sliders contain heavy JavaScript files, JavaScript execution time will be longer. As a result, the main thread could become busy and blocked, and the page might not be able to respond to user interactions.
CLS – Cumulative Layout Shift – Many sliders are unfortunately visually unstable, which can lead to a poor CLS grade.
Of course, not all image sliders will have the same impact on your website depending on the amount of customization, the size of the library, and so on. But even in the case of so-called “fast” image slider plugins, the effects will be detrimental to your performance:
Page Load Time
Page Size
HTTP Requests
Control (No Slider)
0.9 s
515
12
Nivo Slider
0.8 s
554
15
MetaSlider
0.9 s
562
17
Soliloquy
1.1 s
567
23
Smart Slider 3
1.0 s
616
18
Layer Slider
1.0 s
657
20
Slider by 10Web
1.5 s
670
20
Slider Revolution
0.9 s
699
20
Performance tests we ran with different image sliders
Other Performance Bad Practices
In general, animations placed above the fold are not your website’s best friends. This includes text animations too which carry the same pitfalls as image sliders. Animations present at the top of the page are not only irrelevant for conversions, they also push down your content. Unless they play an important role in conveying your brand image, remember that it’s your content that sells, ranks and converts, not your animations.
We also recommend against page preloaders (i.e. the spinner or loading bar some sites display before the actual content appears). If you are using one at the same time as you are delaying JavaScript files, this will cause the preloader to be displayed until there’s user interaction. And if there’s no user interaction, the spinner will simply spin endlessly. Preloaders prevent users from seeing the content right away which is not great for UX. Not to mention that they are counterproductive because they slow down websites. Why add one second of spinner when you could just have a faster loading website?
Why You Won’t Make the Most Out of the Delay JS Feature
A question that one might ask is the following: shouldn’t running WP Rocket on your website compensate for the negative impact of sliders (or other bad practices) on performance? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. If you’re using sliders on your website, you won’t be able to experience WP Rocket to the fullest extent.
Take one of our newest – and most powerful – features for example, the Delay JavaScript Execution feature. The idea behind this feature is that not all files are relevant for the initial render of a page and delaying them can improve the loading time and PageSpeed Score.
Delay JavaScript Execution improves performance by delaying the loading of JavaScript files until there is a user interaction. When this feature is enabled, all JavaScript files are delayed and loaded only when users need them, i.e. when a user interaction is detected (e.g. scrolling, clicking a button).
But here’s the thing: if you have a slider at the top of a page and the Delay JS feature is enabled, the slider’s content will be delayed and the content won’t show during the initial render of the page. Pointless, right? The workaround is unfortunately to disable the feature for the JavaScript files related to the slider.
Given how popular sliders are, our customer support team is frequently helping out WP Rocket users who are facing issues with their sliders when the feature is on. “We often have to exclude files related to sliders to make them work without user interactions,” explains Vasilis, our customer support engineer. Without the feature, these users are losing a great asset for improving performance.
Sliders and Web Performance: the Proof Is in the Pudding
To see exactly how sliders can negatively affect WP Rocket’s performance, we carried out a number of tests on this website with and without a slider.
The slider we used
We covered 4 scenarios:
Audit #1: We measured the performance of our website with Revolution Slider but without the Delay JavaScript Execution feature enabled.
Audit #2: We measured the performance of our website with Revolution Slider and with the Delay JavaScript Execution feature enabled.
Audit #3: We measured the performance of our website with Revolution Slider and with the Delay JavaScript Execution feature enabled. The script related to the slider was excluded.
Audit #4: We measured the performance of our website with a static image and with the Delay JavaScript Execution feature enabled.
Let’s see the results:
Audit #1: Revolution Slider without Delay JavaScript Execution
As you can see, the score is orange (55/100) and the Core Web Vitals are not very healthy.
There are also quite a few issues related to unused resources.
Audit #2: Revolution Slider with Delay JavaScript Execution
As you can see, the score is in the green (90/100) and we achieved much better results overall.
The problem was that the slider did not appear before user interaction.
As you can see, the score is also green but not as great (86/100) and there are again issues with unused resources and images.
Audit #4: No Slider with Delay JavaScript Execution
Instead of using a slider, we added a static image this time:
As you can see, the results were the best out of all scenarios, our score was in the green and we got rid of unused JavaScript issues.
A slider in the header just kills your site’s performance and even the most powerful optimization plugin (that’s us!) won’t make up for it. Our advice? Don’t use sliders.
How Sliders Can Affect SEO
At WP Rocket, we’re obsessed with web performance but there are other reasons why we don’t recommend sliders. In fact, there’s this little thing called SEO which doesn’t always agree with sliders.
With the Core Web Vitals rollout, optimizing your page speed on WordPress is now more important than ever for SEO. As we’ve just seen, sliders slow pages down, there’s no way around it. And research shows that poor performance is only one aspect of sliders that negatively affects SEO. Other reported issues include multiple H1 headings and flash usage for example.
Furthermore, Google’s last update is all about user experience: to rank well, your page needs to deliver the best experience possible to your users. Unfortunately, usability and carousels don’t quite go hand in hand. Sliders can be confusing to users: rotating offers don’t make it clear what you want to put forward. If you can’t choose, visitors won’t be able to either! And these days, bad UX can only undermine your SEO efforts. Sliders also pose accessibility issues for keyboard and screen reader users, which in turn will impact your SEO.
Sliders and Conversion Rates
As we’ve just shown, sliders have a bad effect on the overall user experience. Add to that the fact that only 1% of people actually click on a slider, which almost always is the first slide, it’s easy enough to come to the conclusion that sliders don’t convert.
Given the little interaction they create, sliders are a completely ineffective way to reach your target audience. The content after the first slide will be missed entirely by your users. In some cases, visitors might skip your slider altogether due to “banner blindness” or thinking it’s an ad. Either way, you won’t get your message across.
Bottom line is, if the goal of your website is to trigger conversions, you’ll be much better off trying to improve your loading time as well as your Core Web Vitals metrics than adding sliders, or any sort of animation for that matter.
The Right Alternatives
Think you can’t live without a carousel? Think again. “Website owners can use a single, static image in the place of sliders,” explains Vasilis. “An image is something that will stand out, and convey the message they want to pass.” If you want to showcase multiple images, design your own photo gallery instead.
Static sliders could also be an alternative. They still carry usability and conversion issues but their impact on performance is not as bad. In any case, stay clear of animations. Seriously though.
Last update on August 18, 2021
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About Caroline Wood
Caroline is the brand content and communication specialist at WP Rocket. With a background in marketing, she loves getting creative with words as a way of connecting with people. When she isn’t writing, you’ll be sure to find her at the beach.
Thanks for this. It appears that one of your tests was to enable JS delay but "... exclude files related to sliders to make them work without user interactions."
I'd like to try that. We use Metaslider. How would I have Rocket delay JS for everything except Metaslider?
Tracy August 27, 2021
Perhaps you can explain something to me. I've been periodically running several different speed tests on our site, photography.org for a couple of years now. PageSpeed Insights (the only one that matters) is massively wrong 100% of the time.
We use WPRocket, of course, but as a photography site, we have tens of thousands of images and we also use Metaslider on our home page. Oh Horrors! ... just ask any of the automated page testers.
PageSpeed Insights gives us a score of 24, claiming that the first contentful paint takes 5.2 seconds,the largest contentful Paint is 6.3 seconds and the time to interactive is 13.1 seconds.
BUT, if I clear my Safari cache on my iPhone, turn off wifi and set it cellular data, power the phone on and off, and visit our site, it loads in WELL UNDER 2 SECONDS.
If our site took 13 seconds to become interactive, I'd have to change careers! Try it: visit photography.org and see if it takes 13 seconds to load.
If Google is going to rate our site on theoretical speeds, instead of -actual- speed, that's horribly unfair, to all concerned -to Google; to the user; and to us.
Further, all of these test sites are woefully inadequate in a number of other ways. For example, we get dinged for using jpegs instead of webp images... except that our images are manually compressed to smaller files than webp, (and have better quality).
They say we should be using a CDN. Yeah? What's Amazon S3 and Cloudfront then? We've been serving our images from them for years. Just because we serve the HTML from our server, and only the images (by far the larger, slower downloads) from the CDN, doen't mean we are somehow "not using a CDN".
Yes, I have removed the MetaSlider for testing purposes, and yes, the page scores go up in every single case.
But Google says: "Values are estimated and may vary. The performance score is calculated directly from these metrics."
Not sure how they are "estimating" but it is massively at odds with my stopwatch. (Which, BTW, I almost cannot use, our page renders so fast.)
What on earth is going wrong with these places? Shouldn't these test sites at least -approximate- reality?
Thank you.
Caroline Wood September 11, 2021
Hi Tracy, thank you for your messages. Sorry to hear that you're running into some issues.
Please open a ticket with our Support team (https://wp-rocket.me/support/), they will help you get the best out of WP Rocket, and find some opportunities for improvement. They will also help you find the exact exclusions needed for MetaSlider to load right away while keeping all the other JavaScript files delayed!
Thanks and have a nice day :)
Mike August 28, 2021
Hi Caroline. Good article! My Divi homepage has a built-in slider. However, I only have 1 image there so it does not slide. When I enable Delay JavaScript Execution, the image is practically the last thing to load and by that stage the user has already scrolled down. Why doesn't your plugin recognise that my slider is just 1 static image? And what do you recommend?
Caroline Wood September 11, 2021
Hi Mike, thanks for your feedback!
If you add the image using a slider, Divi will add the whole code required by the slider object. WP Rocket can’t distinguish if it is only one static slide.
Ideally, If you don’t need the slider functionality you could replace this slider with an image. This will improve the overall performance.
Now, to prevent this delay in the image loading, you will need to exclude the Javascript that’s being used by the slider from being delayed by WP Rocket. Please see our exclusions doc to find the Divi related exclusions:
https://docs.wp-rocket.me/article/1560-delay-javascript-execution-compatibility-exclusions#divi
if you still need help, please open a ticket and one of our Rocketeers will assist you (https://wp-rocket.me/support/).
Thanks and have a nice day :)
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Audit #2: Revolution Slider with Delay JavaScript Execution
As you can see, the score is in the green (90/100) and we achieved much better results overall.
The problem was that the slider did not appear before user interaction.
As you can see, the score is also green but not as great (86/100) and there are again issues with unused resources and images.
Audit #4: No Slider with Delay JavaScript Execution
Instead of using a slider, we added a static image this time:
As you can see, the results were the best out of all scenarios, our score was in the green and we got rid of unused JavaScript issues.
A slider in the header just kills your site’s performance and even the most powerful optimization plugin (that’s us!) won’t make up for it. Our advice? Don’t use sliders.
How Sliders Can Affect SEO
At WP Rocket, we’re obsessed with web performance but there are other reasons why we don’t recommend sliders. In fact, there’s this little thing called SEO which doesn’t always agree with sliders.
With the Core Web Vitals rollout, optimizing your page speed on WordPress is now more important than ever for SEO. As we’ve just seen, sliders slow pages down, there’s no way around it. And research shows that poor performance is only one aspect of sliders that negatively affects SEO. Other reported issues include multiple H1 headings and flash usage for example.
Furthermore, Google’s last update is all about user experience: to rank well, your page needs to deliver the best experience possible to your users. Unfortunately, usability and carousels don’t quite go hand in hand. Sliders can be confusing to users: rotating offers don’t make it clear what you want to put forward. If you can’t choose, visitors won’t be able to either! And these days, bad UX can only undermine your SEO efforts. Sliders also pose accessibility issues for keyboard and screen reader users, which in turn will impact your SEO.
Sliders and Conversion Rates
As we’ve just shown, sliders have a bad effect on the overall user experience.
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yes
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Web Design
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Are sliders bad for SEO?
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yes_statement
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"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
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https://searchengineland.com/homepage-sliders-are-bad-for-seo-usability-163496
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Homepage Sliders: Bad For SEO, Bad For Usability
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Homepage Sliders: Bad For SEO, Bad For Usability
One of the most prevalent design flaws in B2B websites is the use of carousels (or sliders) on the homepage. Carousels are an ineffective way to target user personas, which ends up hurting the site’s SEO and usability. In fact, at the recent Conversion Conference in Chicago, about 25% of the speakers mentioned carousels — […]
One of the most prevalent design flaws in B2B websites is the use of carousels (or sliders) on the homepage. Carousels are an ineffective way to target user personas, which ends up hurting the site’s SEO and usability.
In fact, at the recent Conversion Conference in Chicago, about 25% of the speakers mentioned carousels — of those, 100% condemned them. Over the last three months, I have conducted extensive research to suggest that carousels are a bad option for B2B websites.
Research Methodology
I looked at 30 different B2B websites across various industries. Of those 30 sites, a shocking majority of them — 18, to be precise — contained carousels, which is what inspired this research.
After thoroughly evaluating those 18 websites, I was able to identify numerous recurring SEO and usability issues. I also looked at analytics data from three websites using homepage carousels. With B2B websites, carousels seem to only be used for one of three reasons: branding, thought leadership or product/service promotion. The sampling I took is representative of each of the three carousel uses.
SEO Issues
In my research, I found the following SEO problems with the use of carousels: multiple h1 headings, Flash usage, slow page load speed and shallow content.
Alternating Headings
Many of the carousels I looked at were built with jQuery, AJAX or HTML5. In most cases, the headings in the slider were wrapped in an h1 tag. Basic SEO best practices state that there should only be one h1 tag per page, and it should appear before any other heading tag. The problem with using h1 or any heading tag in the carousel is that every time the slide changes, the h1 tag changes. A page with five slides in the carousel will have 5 h1 tags, which greatly devalues the keyword relevance.
Flash Usage
It pains me to even have to bring up this point, but a few of the websites I looked at served up slider content using Flash. Avoiding Flash to serve up content is SEO 101; but apparently, some people are still doing it. Flash objects on a page should have been killed off with the blink and marquee tags, but some designers still think it looks cool. Flash content cannot be crawled by all search engines — so stop using it to display important website content.
Poor Performance
As with any website, the more you complicate and add things, the slower the page loading speed. I came across a few sites featuring full-width carousels packed with high resolution images, which greatly impacted the page load speed. Every second it takes to load a page past two seconds hurts the user experience, and has an impact on search performance. In fact, Matt Cutts recently announced an upcoming penalty for slow page load times for mobile pages.
Content Replacement
As stated earlier, carousels are used as an ineffective method of targeting user personas. Many websites I evaluated took this to an extreme by using shallow content on the page. Some had no content whatsoever. Content is a requirement for ranking for keywords. If you have little or no content, you cannot expect to rank well for any search terms.
Usability Issues
I also found the following usability issues with the use of carousels on the B2B sites I surveyed.
Nobody Clicks On The Carousels
Survey of B2B websites using carousels
The chart above is a data sampling of three sites for which event tracking has been set on carousels. The first site uses the carousel purely for branding purposes. The second site uses the carousel for promoting webinars and white papers. The third site uses their carousel for promoting their services. As you can see from the chart, barely anyone clicks on the carousel. In my next three usability points, you’ll see why those few clicks aren’t even worth the use of a carousel.
Content Is Pushed Below The Fold
Nothing irritates me more than landing on a page where I only see graphics and am forced to scroll down below the fold to locate the content. Content sells — images do not. Sadly, most websites using carousels push their lead-generating content below the fold, meaning that I can see their big, ugly carousel and not the information I was seeking. Forcing users to scroll is a major usability issue. A user should only be forced to scroll down after the page has grabbed their interest and enticed them to continue reading.
The Megaphone Effect
Perhaps the biggest usability issue carousels create is something I call “the megaphone effect.” When a user lands on a page, his or her attention is drawn to the carousel because it has revolving content, alternating text, color changes, and all sorts of other attention-stealing features.
It’s like grabbing a megaphone and telling users to look at the pretty images, but don’t pay any attention to the content below (even though this contains the information they want). Imagine yourself sitting on the couch trying to find something to watch with your significant other. He or she has the remote, and every time a new channel loads up and you try to figure out what’s playing, he/she changes the channel on you. Annoying, isn’t it?
Heatmap of a B2B website using a carousel
The heatmap above was taken from the website I identified above as the “thought leadership carousel” site. Most of the attention is drawn to the navigation first, followed by the carousel. Everything below the carousel has a few random dark blue streaks of attention, but otherwise is mostly barren.
The content below the carousel contains important information (like what the business does) and a few conversion elements. But, the user will rarely see any of that content because his or her attention is dedicated to the carousel. That’s a lot of attention to steal for something that only 0.22% of users click on.
Confusing Objectives
When a user lands on a page, they use the h1 tag before anything else to determine whether or not the page will contain the information they are seeking. When a carousel is used, the user will assume the page talks about whatever heading is used in the carousel. Every time the carousel changes slides, the assumed topic of the page is changed to whatever the new slide talks about. This is confusing and irritating for users. Don’t make them think so much!
Alternatives To Carousels
There are several creative alternatives to engage users in an SEO-friendly way without using carousels. I would recommend giving some of these a try.
Remove carousels immediately!
Implement behavioral content triggering to deliver personalized content based on previous site activity.
Ask users to identify their persona — see Officite.com (not a client of mine) for an example of this.
Use compelling images in conjunction with high-quality content to help communicate the message more effectively.
Use feature areas to help users navigate to where they want to go.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
Third Door Media, Inc. is a publisher and marketing solutions provider incorporated in Delaware, USA, with an address 88 Schoolhouse Road, PO Box 3103, Edgartown, MA 02539. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land the leading Search Engine Optimization digital publication.
Your privacy means the world to us. We share your personal information only when you give us explicit permission to do so, and confirm we have your permission each time. Learn more by viewing our privacy policy.Ok
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Homepage Sliders: Bad For SEO, Bad For Usability
One of the most prevalent design flaws in B2B websites is the use of carousels (or sliders) on the homepage. Carousels are an ineffective way to target user personas, which ends up hurting the site’s SEO and usability. In fact, at the recent Conversion Conference in Chicago, about 25% of the speakers mentioned carousels — […]
One of the most prevalent design flaws in B2B websites is the use of carousels (or sliders) on the homepage. Carousels are an ineffective way to target user personas, which ends up hurting the site’s SEO and usability.
In fact, at the recent Conversion Conference in Chicago, about 25% of the speakers mentioned carousels — of those, 100% condemned them. Over the last three months, I have conducted extensive research to suggest that carousels are a bad option for B2B websites.
Research Methodology
I looked at 30 different B2B websites across various industries. Of those 30 sites, a shocking majority of them — 18, to be precise — contained carousels, which is what inspired this research.
After thoroughly evaluating those 18 websites, I was able to identify numerous recurring SEO and usability issues. I also looked at analytics data from three websites using homepage carousels. With B2B websites, carousels seem to only be used for one of three reasons: branding, thought leadership or product/service promotion. The sampling I took is representative of each of the three carousel uses.
SEO Issues
In my research, I found the following SEO problems with the use of carousels: multiple h1 headings, Flash usage, slow page load speed and shallow content.
Alternating Headings
Many of the carousels I looked at were built with jQuery, AJAX or HTML5. In most cases, the headings in the slider were wrapped in an h1 tag. Basic SEO best practices state that there should only be one h1 tag per page, and it should appear before any other heading tag.
|
yes
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Web Design
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Are sliders bad for SEO?
|
yes_statement
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"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
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https://www.uvdesigns.ca/sliders-and-seo-the-impact/
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Sliders And SEO - How They Impact Website Performance | UV ...
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Sliders And SEO – The Impact on Website Performance
If your current website includes a slider, you might want to think about getting rid of it. Also known as a carousel, sliders are no good for SEO. Not only that, but sliders even stand in the way of your visitors reading your site’s core content right away. Sliders can also negatively affect your conversions.
All in all, sliders don’t do much for a website, if anything at all. Instead, sliders do more harm than good, which is why you should probably consider getting rid of them if your website currently has one.
The Proof is in the Science
Studies have actually been done on the usefulness and effectiveness of sliders, in case you need evidence to convince you that sliders suck. You’d be hard-pressed to find a study that proves sliders actually do a website good.
Here are some things that studies suggest about sliders:
Just 1% of website visitors click on a slider, and it’s usually just the first one;
People tend to ignore sliders;
Sliders can be confusing;
Sliders don’t typically work well on mobile devices;
People often consider sliders advertisements;
Sliders slow websites down;
Sliders push content below the fold, which is bad for SEO.
Pick One Relevant Image That Works For Your Site
Instead of picking many photos to include on your website when using sliders because you can’t just pick one, you should focus on one image. Doing so will have a bigger impact on your website and communicating what your business is about rather than confusing and overwhelming visitors with all the photos.
By focusing on one photo or message, you’ll give your visitors a much better idea about your business compared to sliders. Messages are often lost with sliders, so why include them at all?
Sliders and SEO
Since sliders push down your core content, it won’t be visible above the fold. This is a basic SEO no-no. Content that is found below the fold completely wreaks havoc on any SEO efforts. Any web developer or marketer already knows this, or at least should.
As a result, sliders pull-down conversion rates. Just having a slider on your website will result in fewer sales than you would experience without a slider. Just this simple fact alone should be enough to convince you to get rid of it.
Mobile Websites
Sliders typically load desktop images which are not optimized for mobile speed. Smartphones with 3G or less will not do well at all. The same can be said for sliders running on JavaScript. There’s no sense in adding JavaScript for something that visitors will look at as a banner or skip over to get to your content. If the slider is not responsive, it can ruin your website, even if it is responsive.
The bottom line is, sliders rarely convert. They’re distracting and deliver no value to visitors. Instead, you should use a static image and copy.
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Sliders And SEO – The Impact on Website Performance
If your current website includes a slider, you might want to think about getting rid of it. Also known as a carousel, sliders are no good for SEO. Not only that, but sliders even stand in the way of your visitors reading your site’s core content right away. Sliders can also negatively affect your conversions.
All in all, sliders don’t do much for a website, if anything at all. Instead, sliders do more harm than good, which is why you should probably consider getting rid of them if your website currently has one.
The Proof is in the Science
Studies have actually been done on the usefulness and effectiveness of sliders, in case you need evidence to convince you that sliders suck. You’d be hard-pressed to find a study that proves sliders actually do a website good.
Here are some things that studies suggest about sliders:
Just 1% of website visitors click on a slider, and it’s usually just the first one;
People tend to ignore sliders;
Sliders can be confusing;
Sliders don’t typically work well on mobile devices;
People often consider sliders advertisements;
Sliders slow websites down;
Sliders push content below the fold, which is bad for SEO.
Pick One Relevant Image That Works For Your Site
Instead of picking many photos to include on your website when using sliders because you can’t just pick one, you should focus on one image. Doing so will have a bigger impact on your website and communicating what your business is about rather than confusing and overwhelming visitors with all the photos.
By focusing on one photo or message, you’ll give your visitors a much better idea about your business compared to sliders. Messages are often lost with sliders, so why include them at all?
Sliders and SEO
Since sliders push down your core content, it won’t be visible above the fold. This is a basic SEO no-no. Content that is found below the fold completely wreaks havoc on any SEO efforts. Any web developer or marketer already knows this, or at least should.
As a result, sliders pull-down conversion rates.
|
yes
|
Web Design
|
Are sliders bad for SEO?
|
yes_statement
|
"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
|
https://smartslider3.com/blog/10-faqs-on-wordpress-sliders-everything-you-need-to-know/
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10+ FAQs on WordPress Sliders: Everything You Need to Know
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10+ FAQs on WordPress Sliders: Everything You Need to Know
We’re thrilled to delve into the world of WordPress sliders! They can be a game-changer if you want to boost your website with dynamic content. Additionally, we’ll address the most frequently asked questions regarding WordPress sliders giving you the information you need to make wise choices.
However, there’s still more! We have you covered whether you are an inexperienced or a seasoned user. This article will support you with the necessary information to get the most out of WordPress sliders, from understanding the basics of sliders to improving their performance and customization. So let’s get started and look at the solutions to your most pressing questions concerning WordPress sliders.
What is a WordPress Slider?
Are you brand new to the WordPress slider community? We’ve got you, so don’t worry!
WordPress sliders, sometimes referred to as carousels or slideshows, are dynamic elements of a website that can present a variety of content, including media content in a slideshow format. It often takes up a primary spot on the homepage, drawing the users’ attention, while exhibiting its content in a visually appealing and engaging way.
They provide a dynamic and interactive feature that can improve the aesthetics and usability of your website. You can efficiently share information, pique your visitor’s interest, and advertise certain content or services by using a slider. Visitors can navigate among all types of content without overcrowding the page with material thanks to sliders. They help you display many bits of content in a limited space.
Should I Use Sliders On My Website?
You could be weighing whether you should add a WordPress slider to your website, now that we have a better understanding of what they are. Sliders can be intriguing, but it’s important to take into consideration the benefits and drawbacks before choosing one.
What are the Disadvantages of Using a Slider?
User Distraction: Sliders that change slides automatically can divert users’ attention away from the primary message or call-to-action, which might have an impact on their focus and engagement. So in this case make sure to always allow the visitor to stop the autoplay on demand.
Page Load: Sliders with huge image files can slow down page loads and degrade the user experience. We’ll explore this concept more later on and give you tips on how to avoid it.
Accessibility Problems: Many users choose not to follow the useful recommendations given to make their sliders accessible. This causes it to have accessibility problems. So they either choose to drop the slider or just simply not make their website accessible.
Think of your website’s unique goals, target audience, and content before employing sliders. Sliders are a very useful tool if you have eye-catching visuals or a variety of products to highlight. However, firstly you should always consider the needs and goals of it for a moment.
Do Sliders Negatively Affect SEO?
It makes sense that you are wondering whether WordPress sliders are affecting SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Let’s answer some typical concerns and clarify the connection between sliders and SEO.
Content Accessibility: A possible risk is search engines’ ability to correctly index and comprehend the content within sliders. It’s crucial to make sure the text content within a slider is crawlable. For improved accessibility, use a slider plugin that enables you to add alt text to your images, and lets you structure your content with different H tags. However, a good slider plugin also offers the opportunity to add text as paragraphs as well. In addition, your slider should have a good HTML structure.
Mobile Responsiveness: Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites because they offer a better user experience. So make sure the slider plugin you use has choices for responsive design, and test your sliders on a variety of devices to make sure they appear correctly.
User Engagement: Although not directly associated with sliders, user engagement metrics, like click-through rates, time on page, and bounce rates can nonetheless have an indirect influence on the SEO of your website. These can be positively impacted by engaging sliders that grab users’ attention and promote interaction. They can even inform search engines that your content is important and relevant.
Don’t let SEO concerns stop you from including sliders on your website. You can have a positive effect on your SEO efforts by implementing the best practices for accessibility, performance optimization, mobile friendliness, and unique content. Additionally, make sure to choose a slider plugin that has all the above-mentioned options for better accessibility.
Do Sliders Make Websites Slow?
The possible impact on website performance while utilizing WordPress sliders is a common concern. Let’s explore this and learn more about how to include sliders into your website with the best performance possible.
Image Optimization: Images in sliders are commonly the main cause of longer page loads. To avoid this issue, optimize your slider images by resizing them and compressing them.
Lazy Loading: Implementing lazy loading for your slider can greatly enhance the functionality of your website. It allows for faster initial page loads by only loading images within the slider when they enter the users’ viewport. Lazy loading features are included in several slider plugins, including Smart Slider 3.
Reduce Animations and Effects: Although animations and transition effects can improve the aesthetic attractiveness of your sliders, too many or complex animations can have an adverse effect on the speed of your website. To ensure seamless and quick transitions on and between the slides choose animations that are lighter and simpler.
Performance-Optimized Slider Plugin: Select a slider plugin that has been optimized for performance, because not all slider plugins are made equally in terms of speed. Choose a performance-optimized, lightweight, and well-coded plugin, like Smart Slider 3. Such plugins are created with the intention of prioritizing speed and reducing resource usage without sacrificing functionality.
Remember, optimizing numerous features, including sliders, contributes to the overall performance of your website. Utilize tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to continuously evaluate the performance of your website and spot areas for development.
Don’t let your fear of website slowdown stop you from utilizing sliders to their full potential. You can profit from sliders without losing website speed by adopting optimization strategies like image optimization, lazy loading, and starting to use a performance-focused plugin, like Smart Slider 3.
What is the Easiest WordPress Slider?
Finding the easiest WordPress slider plugin will save you time and trouble, whether you’re new to WordPress or just searching for a user-friendly slider solution. Fortunately, there are some out there that put emphasis on simplicity without sacrificing functionality.
Smart Sldier 3 stands out as a superb option in terms of usability. It has a very user-friendly and straightforward interface, making it available to users of all skill levels. Without coding experience or other technical skills, you can easily design and edit sliders using its drag-and-drop builder.
With real-time previews, Smart Slider 3 offers a fluid editing process so you can see your changes right away. The user-friendly interface makes it easy to add and arrange slides, edit animations, include multimedia elements, and choose transition effects. To kickstart your slider-making process, you can also use the side library and the pre-designed templates.
Additionally, you can easily include sliders in your current website design, thanks to Smart Slider 3’s compatibility with well-known page builders like Elementor, Divi, Brizy, WPBAkery, and Avada Builder.
What is the Best Free Slider for WordPress?
You’ll be happy to know that there are several impressive solutions if you are looking for a free slider plugin for your WordPress website. However, Smart Sldier 3 stands out as a strong free slider plugin among them. It provides an astonishing amount of functions and customization options without charging you a thing.
Here’s why it’s on the top of the free slider plugins for WordPress:
Feature-rich: Smart Slider 3 offers a wide range of features equivalent to those found in premium slider plugins. You can get access to:
Intuitive Interface: Smart Slider 3’s design makes it simple for both beginner and experienced users to build sliders with ease. You can easily organize slides and other layers using the drag-and-drop builder, and the real-time preview lets you watch the changes take effect as you edit your sliders.
Responsiveness: A slider must be responsive and mobile-friendly in order to function properly, given the growing popularity of mobile usage. Your sliders will be entirely responsive and mobile-friendly thanks to Smart Slider 3. It ensures the best viewing experience on a variety of screen sizes.
Template Library: Smart Slider 3 offers a variety of pre-designed templates to get you started with creating sliders. You can save time and work by using one of these templates, which provides a number of aesthetics for different sectors.
Compatibility: As it was already mentioned above, Smart Slider 3 works in perfect harmony with well-known page builders. Because of this, you can build your website using sliders without worrying about compatibility difficulties or conflicts.
Step 3: Create a New Slider
Click the “New Project” button on the Smart Slider 3 dashboard.
Choose whether you want to start from scratch or use a template.
If you choose to build your own, then select the slider type you would like to use (block, simple slider, carousel, or showcase).
Step 4: Customize your Slider
You can add and arrange your slides. To add slides select the “Add Slide” button. Add content on each slide, change the settings, and add animations and effects as desired.
Step 5: Configure Slider Settings
On the Slider settings page, you can adjust and customize your slider wholly like, autoplay, animation, and controls. In addition, based on the layout of your website, modify the slider.
Step 6: Publish the Slider
Click the “Save” button when you are done with customizing the slider.
There are different publishing possibilities available in Smart Slider 3. You can choose to embed the slider using a shortcode or a widget, or directly insert it into a page or post using the Gutenberg editor or page builder.
Step 7: Check and Verify
To make sure that your slider displays and operates as intended, preview it.
To guarantee responsiveness and the best possible user experience, test your slider on a variety of screen sizes.
What Size Should Slider Images Be in WordPress?
Choosing the right size for your WordPress sliders’ images is essential, to ensure that they blend smoothly into the style of your website and offer the best viewing experience to your visitors.
Let’s look at some recommendations that can help you in choosing the right size for your sliders:
Aspect Ratio: It is advised to match the slider’s aspect ratio to your website’s general layout and appearance. Choose an aspect ratio that works with the dimensions of your website’s content space.
Proper Images: The size of the images should match the slider they are placed in. So don’t attempt to fit a 3000 px wide image within a 1200 px wide slider. The same goes for putting smaller images in bigger sliders.
Full Width, Boxed, and Full Page: Choose whether you want your slider to be contained within a certain content area (boxed), cover the entire width of the browser window (full width), or fill in the browser’s width and height (full page). While the boxed layout can provide a more focused and under-control display, the other two can produce an experience that is more visually striking.
Responsive Desing: Your slider must be capable of adjusting to various screen sizes. Therefore, select a slider plugin with responsive design choices, such as Smart Slider 3.
Page Load Times: Even though they are aesthetically pleasing, sliders that require huge image files can considerably slow down page loads. Maintaining the balance between aesthetic appeal and performance is important. If you can, use jpg photos rather than png ones since they load more quickly. A nice slider image should not exceed 500 kb in size.
Testing and Previewing: To make sure that your sliders are displayed as intended across various devices, it’s crucial to preview them. It’s important to ensure that your sliders adapt properly and maintain their aesthetic appeal.
How Do I Get an Image to Fit a Screen?
You can select how an image will fit the screen when you set it as a background image. You can choose one of five fill modes in Smart Slider 3, for each of your slides. Let’s check out how they work!
Fill: This is the default option. If necessary, it crops the images so that it fits the whole slider.
Fit: The entire image is seen, without cropping. The areas where the image can’t reach the slider are left unfilled.
Blur fit: It doesn’t crop the image. However, it also doesn’t leave any blank areas in the slider. Actually, it fills them with the original image’s blurred form.
Stretch: Here the image is stretched to fill the slider without being cropped. The visuals frequently become distorted as a result. Use with caution!
Center: Contrary to popular perception, this setting won’t center the slider. It only places the background image there in its original size. As a result, this mode loses its responsive behavior.
Check out this video for an example of each mode in action:
How Do I Make a Full-Width Slider in WordPress?
A full-width slider in WordPress enables you to make a visually striking effect by leveraging the complete width of the browser window. Creating a full-width slider is simple with the help of Smart Slider 3. So let’s begin:
Step 1: Install and Activate Smart Slider 3
Follow the instructions mentioned previously in this post to install and activate the Smart Slider 3 plugin, if you haven’t yet.
Step 2: Create a New Project
From the WordPress dashboard select Smart Slider 3. Click on the “New Project” button, then choose the “Full width” layout.
Step 3: Slider Settings
In the Slider Editor select the Size tab. To make sure the slider fills the complete width of the browser window turn on the “Force Full Width” option. This option forces the slider to go outside of its container and makes it as wide as your screen. However, it has limitations, so it won’t work in every case.
Step 4: Customize Your Slides
Use the “Add Slide” button to add slides to your slider. Then add layers and animations to make it your own. Use the drag-and-drop editor to organize it in a manner you like.
Step 6: Preview and Test
Always previous and test before moving on to the publishing process. Ensure your slider looks how you intended it to look. Test its responsiveness, and make adjustments to achieve the best results.
Step 7: Publish Your Slider
After you saved all the changes on your slider, you can publish it in your preferred way by choosing one of the publishing options Smart Slider 3 offers.
How Do I Make a Slider Autoplay in WordPress?
Even in the free version of Smart Slider 3, you can make autoplaying sliders, but the Pro version gives you additional features. Let’s go through each step:
Step 1: Choose a Slider
On the WordPress dashboard locate Smart Slider 3 and select it. To edit the slider, click on the one you would like to add autoplay to.
Step 3: Adjust Autoplay Preferences
Additional options will show up after you enable autoplay. In accordance with your preferences, you can adjust the configuration options.
Step 4: Customize Autoplay (Optional)
Advanced settings are available in Smart Sldier 3 to customize the autoplay further. Explore them, and additionally, you can change the options for controls, pause/play buttons, and indicators.
Step 5: Preview and Test
To check that the slider begins autoplaying in accordance with the selected parameters, preview your slider. In addition, test on various devices and screens.
Step 6: Save and Publish
When you are happy with the autoplay settings, click the “Save” button to keep your modifications. After this, you can publish it in your preferred way.
How Do I Make a Responsive Slider in WordPress?
A responsive slider makes sure that it adapts nicely to all screen sizes and devices, giving your visitors the best possible viewing experience. Luckily, making a responsive slider in WordPress is simple with Smart Slider 3, which is fully responsive. Besides, there are some features you can easily customize before proceeding.
Font Sizes: To change the font size of your content just use the Text Scale option. The fact that this is a device-specific setting means that you don’t need to worry about changing the font size on other devices, which is one of the numerous advantages of using it.
Hide Layers On Devices: Anybody can experience having their desktop layers look bad on mobile view. With Smart Slider, you can hide whatever layer you want on any device, so there’s no need to worry. Use the “Hide On” feature in the layer window to get to this option. It can be quite beneficial to be able to hide your layers individually.
Hide Slides On Devices: If you are using the Pro version, hiding your slides on different devices can be another great option to improve the responsiveness of your sliders.
Hide Sliders On Devices: Or just simply disable the slider, which will hide everything on the selected device.
Controls: Your controls can also be hidden since some of them are simpler to use on desktops but on smaller devices, they seem to be more challenging.
How Do I Create a Post Slider?
Making thumbnail sliders for simple navigation is one of Smart Slider 3’s outstanding capabilities. If you want to highlight a number of pages or posts, you can even go one step further and build a WordPress carousel with the help of it.
Although there are many great slider plugins available, let me explain why Smart Slider 3 is unique. You have complete control over the design and can easily make a free full-width slider that looks good on all screens. Additionally, it has more functionality than many other groundbreaking slider plugins.
However, there’s still more! The Dynamic Slider feature is a great tool in Smart Slider 3. You can use this tool to build slides from your WordPress posts that update anytime you make changes to the original post itself. So the maintenance will be simple.
You can make as many dynamic slides as you wish. On top of that, you can create a custom post type slider using Smart Slider 3. This offers full access to the featured image, textual content, URL, post title, categories, and tags of your posts. What’s more, you can add custom layers to design and represent these slides as you wish.
Therefore, Smart Slider 3 is the way to go without any doubt, if you are looking for a user-friendly plugin with advanced customization options, that goes above and beyond the essentials. Give it a try and see how beautiful sliders and carousels can make your website come to life.
How Do You Make a Dynamic Slider?
Now we can move on to the actual process of creating a dynamically changing slider. So follow along for this 5-step guide to create your own:
1. Create a Dynamic Slide
You can add a dynamic slide either to an already-created slider or a new one. When you add new content to your source, the slide will automatically update. You should configure the generator and decide how many dynamic slides you want to have in the slider.
2. Set Up the Generator
There are several sources to pick from. If you have the Pro version of Smart Slider 3, then you can select from 20 sources in WordPress and 27 sources in Joomla to build a post slider from your Joomla articles and WordPress posts.
3. Create Your Own Slider
You can design your own slider if you want to make one that’s distinctive. Additionally, you can import predefined-slider examples in Smart Slider 3 to use as dynamic slides. Simply copy the layout and paste it into your dynamic slide to complete the task.
You can learn more about how to utilize the demo slider in your generator by reading our documentation.
4. Insert Variable
Set variables if you want your content to change dynamically. Where variables are not used, a static layer will be present.
5. Publish the Slider
Your slider can now be published, such as a shortcode, or turned into a Gutenberg block. Your slider will also show up on the frontend and automatically refresh.
How Do I Make a Slider in Elementor?
As you may know in Elemnetor you can create simple sliders. However, there are only 3 layers you can add to it: a heading, text, and a button layer. In addition, they have fixed places, so there’s not much room for creativity. This might be the right choice for some websites. But, if you would like to create a more advanced slider where you would like to add additional content, you need to look for a slider plugin that works well with Elementor.
Let’s look at how you can make it happen with Smart Slider 3:
Install and Activate Smart Slider 3
Create a new slider and add slides
Customize each slide to match your own preferences
Create a new page or edit an existing one with Elementor
Drag and drop the Smart Slider 3 widget wherever you would like it to be
Select your slider
Save and Publish
You don’t need to start from scratch, browse the template library to find the most suitable slider for your project.
As you can see using Smart Slider 3 with Elementor couldn’t be easier. Just create your preferred slider, add the Smart Slider 3 widget to Elementor, and select the one you’ve created. It’s effortless, time-saving, and fun.
How Do I Create a Product Slider in WordPress?
Smart Slider 3 is a great tool for building special and functional product sliders for your online store in WordPress. In addition, you don’t have to worry about losing mobile visitors, since Smart Slider will take care of it for you.
With this plugin, you are offered a wide range of options for how to effectively display your products. To show your items from various perspectives or highlight their unique features you can add additional image layers. It also helps you with adding specific information about each product using the heading and text layers. Besides, you can design call-to-action buttons that send your visitors to the category or product pages for additional information.
The fact that you can select from the pre-made templates or create your own slider without any coding experience is pretty fantastic. There are no restrictions on how many sliders you can make.
You can draw attention to your top-selling items, or special deals. Moreover, it’s very simple to add a call-to-action button that will persuade visitors to take action. Both the Carousel and Showcase slider types offer beautiful layouts and perfect responsiveness, depending on what your preferences are. In contrast to the Showcase type, the Carousel type maintains the same number of visible slides regardless of the screen size.
In short, if you would like to create captivating product sliders that easily catch the attention of your audience and help you achieve your goals, then give Smart Slider 3 a go.
Engaging Product Slider Examples
Now, let’s look at some stunning examples of different product sliders, to help you get started with your next project.
Product Carousel
To present your products in an engaging and responsive manner, you can utilize the WooCommerce carousel slider. The amazing thing about it is that it shows numerous products slides together, rather than just one slide at a time, which creates an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. The slider and the slide widths are completely adjustable, and you can even decide how many products you would like to show at once. With this fantastic tool, making a responsive carousel is quite simple.
Full-Width Product Carousel
A really cool slider that’s ideal for presenting your products is the Full-Width Product Carousel. What’s so eye-catching about this is that it introduces some pretty creative concepts, like creating a background with a complementary color to further highlight your items. Additionally, it has space for special slides, including those that advertise offers or encourages your visitors to sign up to your newsletter. They can view several slides at once with this carousel type, allowing them to see more of what you have to offer. It’s an excellent strategy for getting their attention.
Full Page Product Slider
You don’t see the Full-page product slider every day, do you? It’s a wonderful idea to create a full-page product slider to make yourself stand out from the competition. With its cool animations and smooth navigation. The Top 5 Product template takes it to the next level. And the best thing, though? You have plenty of room to include product descriptions and give your buyers all the information they need. This strategy is fantastic for getting their attention and leaving a positive impact.
Showcase Product Slider
The Showcase slider type stands out because it shows several slides at once, giving your visitors more to look at. Bet here’s the cool part: by making the main slide larger than the others, it always focuses all the attention on it. The centered slide gets all the attention thanks to this innovative design, while also showcasing the remaining slides. It’s a great technique to draw attention to your content and keep people interested. Try it out to see for yourself!
Conclusion
Congrats! Now you have a firm understanding of WordPress sliders and how they can advance your website. Throughout this post, we’ve answered the most frequently asked questions regarding sliders, including their advantages and effect on SEO as well as their functionality and customizability possibilities.
By utilizing sliders, you can attract users to your WordPress site, highlight key content, and significantly impact your visitors. Sliders offer an effective approach to engaging your audience and successfully delivering your message, regardless of whether you are a blogger, designer, developer, or business owner.
And Smart Slider 3 is the real deal when it comes to selecting the best slider plugin. It’s the most outstanding option for building gorgeous sliders that blend with your website flawlessly. All thanks to its user-friendly interface, rich customization options, and compatibility with well-known page builders.
Why wait then? Utilize Smart Slider 3, and discover the full potential sliders can bring to your website when you make the right choices. Get ready to engage your visitors with aesthetically pleasing sliders.
We hope this post has given you insightful information and useful advice for your adventure with sliders. Feel free to get in touch with us through our support system if you have any additional questions or need assistance. We are here to help you make your sliders shine!
Thank you for joining us on this slider adventure. Stay tuned for more exciting content and helpful tips on WordPress and web design. Happy sliding!
About Author
Hey there! I’m Sara, and I’m part of Nextendweb’s team. When I’m not working, you can usually find me baking up a storm in the kitchen. I also love going outside for a run. Above all, spending quality time with my friends and family is what makes me the happiest.
Extending the world of WordPress and Joomla. Take your website to the next level with our plugins. Download Smart Slider 3 today and get started building beautiful sliders with confidence using our advanced editor.
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We’ll explore this concept more later on and give you tips on how to avoid it.
Accessibility Problems: Many users choose not to follow the useful recommendations given to make their sliders accessible. This causes it to have accessibility problems. So they either choose to drop the slider or just simply not make their website accessible.
Think of your website’s unique goals, target audience, and content before employing sliders. Sliders are a very useful tool if you have eye-catching visuals or a variety of products to highlight. However, firstly you should always consider the needs and goals of it for a moment.
Do Sliders Negatively Affect SEO?
It makes sense that you are wondering whether WordPress sliders are affecting SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Let’s answer some typical concerns and clarify the connection between sliders and SEO.
Content Accessibility: A possible risk is search engines’ ability to correctly index and comprehend the content within sliders. It’s crucial to make sure the text content within a slider is crawlable. For improved accessibility, use a slider plugin that enables you to add alt text to your images, and lets you structure your content with different H tags. However, a good slider plugin also offers the opportunity to add text as paragraphs as well. In addition, your slider should have a good HTML structure.
Mobile Responsiveness: Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites because they offer a better user experience. So make sure the slider plugin you use has choices for responsive design, and test your sliders on a variety of devices to make sure they appear correctly.
User Engagement: Although not directly associated with sliders, user engagement metrics, like click-through rates, time on page, and bounce rates can nonetheless have an indirect influence on the SEO of your website. These can be positively impacted by engaging sliders that grab users’ attention and promote interaction. They can even inform search engines that your content is important and relevant.
Don’t let SEO concerns stop you from including sliders on your website. You can have a positive effect on your SEO efforts by implementing the best practices for accessibility, performance optimization, mobile friendliness, and unique content.
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no
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Web Design
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Are sliders bad for SEO?
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"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
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http://www.gobluemedia.com/blog/image-sliders-seo/
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Why You Should Not Use Image Sliders in 2023 | blue media ...
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Why You Should Not Use Image Sliders in 2023
Image Sliders Are Hurtful for SEO and Customer Journey
Also known as Carousel Images, Image Sliders as of 2023 are things of the past. Even more, with the new Core Web Vital updates of Google, Image Sliders now have also become an SEO hurdle.
I will also provide main reasons why you should remove them from your website, and provide alternative practices which will make a good substitute for Image Sliders
One of the major swifts in website design and development is the use of Images Sliders. In the past, they were quite popular among website developers and designers, approximately between the years 2005 and 2015.
Since 2015 until today in 2023, recognized UX/UI experts from highly reputable sources have addressed the issues that come with Image Sliders overall in terms of user experience.
From an SEO perspective, user experience is one of the major ranking factors for search engines such as Google. That gives us even more reason to take a closer look at those arguments that speak against Carousel Images:
Image Sliders as Hero Images Are Bad for User Expectation and Engagement
Image Sliders as Hero Images are not being utilized among experienced UX/UI and SEO experts in 2023, anymore.
It is common knowledge for years that having more than one image displayed on the top of your page confuses the user. The user needs to be confronted with one distinctive image that speaks to them, and that image needs to be chosen wisely.
A static hero image has a very important impact on the user. This has to do with what we call “User Expectation”. Usually, the user lands on a page based on a search on a search engine, or has clicked on one of the CTAs or teasers on your or third-party website — short story long: The user has clicked on a certain link because they were expecting something. That expectation needs to be fulfilled immediately — preferably within 2-3 seconds — after the user has landed on the page.
The main items and elements that to fulfill the user expectation are the Hero Image, H1 and H2, followed by a short content element. If the landing page you have created is based on research, you should expect the user to go on reading, thus giving the user a good reason to engage on the landing page. That engagement will help your SEO.
An Image Slider does nothing more than to add to the confusion.
Instead of displaying one distinctive image to the user, now the user is being confronted with a mash of images, all of them providing a different message and feel. The user can’t get a hold on what actually is the main aspect of the page, instead we are basically expecting them to have multiple personalities.
In the end, a page that has different rotating hero images lacks of getting the message across. It also derives from simplicity and understanding. It’s like a sales guy talking about one thing, and then the other, and the the other, with no end.
A/B tests have also revealed that users tend to bounce of the page more often when an Image Slider is used, rather than one distinctive image. No surprise , since users tend to bounce of pages when they feel confused or overwhelmed.
Image Sliders as Hero Images Are Bad for SEO
Since the Core Web Vital updates of Google, every page being loaded into the page is considered a heavy load. If you are going to display 6 sliding images, Google will most likely give you a bad score for what they call LCP (Largest Contentful Paint).
If each of your hero images on that slider you are using have around have 100 KB in image size, than your Image Slider Section will have a load of 600 KB right at the beginning of the page. That’s lots of file size and bandwidth for a hero section, and most likely Google will penalize you for that heavy load.
You might have heard that one of the solutions that help preventing Large Contentful Paint (LCP) on pages are Lazy Load techniques. The main functionality of Lazy Load is to load images, when scrolled.
However, Lazy Load won’t help you in this occasion for a very simple reason: Image Sliders load automatically, thus without the user’s action. That means file sizes are adding up automatically even without the user scrolling.
With an Image Slider all the images will usually be loaded without the action of the user. Lazy Load then won’t do any good.
On top of that, most of the Image Sliders preload the images anyways, and do not have the new Lazy Load technologies included, thus causing a very bad LCP from Google’s viewpoint.
It’s also not expected for Image Sliders to support Lazy Load in the future, as Image Slider Technologies are obsolete, already, as discussed in this article. Most of the developers who still utilize Image Sliders aim for target audiences that are usually not SEO-savvy.
When Can I use Image Sliders?
Image Sliders are not completely useless.
In many aspects they can be quite handy. For instance, if you want to provide a list of your clients or brands you worked for, but do not necessarily want to provide an overview to prevent an information overflow — or simply you want simplification and do not want to brag about 100 brands you worked for, and simply display 3-4 small sized logos that scroll from left to right.
Many uses of Image Sliders today still make sense as long they are not utilized as hero images.
Why Are Image Sliders Still Popular Today?
Image Sliders were very popular in the past and their usage have been adapted by millions of developers worldwide. On top of that, hundreds if not thousands of tools and plugins exist today that provide Image Sliders since there is still so much demand.
To put it simply: many have missed the trend and are not up-to-date in terms of UX/UI and SEO when it comes to Image Slider.
In web development and SEO, technologies and findings change quite quickly as customer behavior changes rapidly. What was working a year ago can be considered a marketing disaster today. That doesn’t mean it was bad back in the days. It means that market demand, and the way people consume have changed.
Image Slider Alternatives
If you want to display several images to provide a good understanding of your portfolio, gallery features are common in 2023. Instead of hiding images and make them act as mystery boxes, it is more adequate to provide your user an overview of thumbnailed images. That way, the user is provided with a transparent and comprehensible overview what to expect, and they can choose themselves which image to click on. Besides, most of the gallery features nowadays support Lazy Load, and therefore are 100% SEO-friendly assuming they have been configured right.
William Sen has been an SEO since 2001 and is a Software Engineer since 1996, and has been working as an Associate Professor in Germany for the University of Dusseldorf and Cologne. He has been involved in developing custom SEO tools, large website and software projects. William has a PhD in Information Sciences and has worked for brands such as Expedia, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Bayer, Ford, T-Mobile and many more. He is the founder of blue media.
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Why You Should Not Use Image Sliders in 2023
Image Sliders Are Hurtful for SEO and Customer Journey
Also known as Carousel Images, Image Sliders as of 2023 are things of the past. Even more, with the new Core Web Vital updates of Google, Image Sliders now have also become an SEO hurdle.
I will also provide main reasons why you should remove them from your website, and provide alternative practices which will make a good substitute for Image Sliders
One of the major swifts in website design and development is the use of Images Sliders. In the past, they were quite popular among website developers and designers, approximately between the years 2005 and 2015.
Since 2015 until today in 2023, recognized UX/UI experts from highly reputable sources have addressed the issues that come with Image Sliders overall in terms of user experience.
From an SEO perspective, user experience is one of the major ranking factors for search engines such as Google. That gives us even more reason to take a closer look at those arguments that speak against Carousel Images:
Image Sliders as Hero Images Are Bad for User Expectation and Engagement
Image Sliders as Hero Images are not being utilized among experienced UX/UI and SEO experts in 2023, anymore.
It is common knowledge for years that having more than one image displayed on the top of your page confuses the user. The user needs to be confronted with one distinctive image that speaks to them, and that image needs to be chosen wisely.
A static hero image has a very important impact on the user. This has to do with what we call “User Expectation”. Usually, the user lands on a page based on a search on a search engine, or has clicked on one of the CTAs or teasers on your or third-party website — short story long: The user has clicked on a certain link because they were expecting something. That expectation needs to be fulfilled immediately — preferably within 2-3 seconds — after the user has landed on the page.
The main items and elements that to fulfill the user expectation are the Hero Image, H1 and H2, followed by a short content element.
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yes
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Web Design
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Are sliders bad for SEO?
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yes_statement
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"sliders" negatively impact seo.. "sliders" harm seo efforts.
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https://golocad.com/blog/slider-images-for-e-commerce-website/
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Create Slider Images for E-commerce Websites | Locad
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How to Create Powerful E-commerce Sliders
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Reading Time: 12minutes
What is an E-commerce Slider?
An e-commerce slider is a feature on an online store’s website that displays a slideshow of pictures or products while optimizing space on the website. It’s often found on the homepage or category pages of the website and is meant to showcase featured products or sales. The user can use navigation buttons to move through the slideshow, and some sliders might also move automatically.
Benefits of Using E-commerce Sliders
The benefits of slider images for e-commerce websites include the following –
Increased visibility
Slider images for e-commerce websites can help draw attention to featured products, promotions, or sales by showcasing them prominently on the homepage or category pages. This increases your website visibility and ensures users get engaged with it.
Better user experience
By displaying multiple products or promotions in e-commerce sliders, users can quickly find what they’re looking for. This can improve the overall user experience and make users more likely to find what they need and purchase.
Increased engagement
Websites with better user experience record an increased rate of customer engagement. Sliders with compelling visuals and engaging content capture users’ attention and encourage them to interact with the website. This increases overall engagement and makes customers take action.
Flexible design
Slider images for e-commerce websites can be customized to fit your ideas and branding. They showcase various products and promotions and easily update them to reflect new offerings or seasonal promotions.
Video Sliders
Video sliders, also known as video carousels or video galleries, are a user interface element commonly used on websites to display a series of videos in a slideshow format. Like image sliders, video sliders allow multiple videos to be showcased in a single space on a website, often on the homepage or a landing page.
Creating a video slider with a wide range of images
Creating a video slider with a wide range of images can be a great way to showcase your brand, products, or services on your website. Here’s how to create a video slider with a wide range of images:
Choose your video software: Look for software that is easy to use and helps you customize your slider with different features such as transitions, animations, and music.
Create your video slides: Use the video software to create your video slider by importing the chosen images and arranging them in the order you want them to appear. You can customize it with different transitions, animations, and other features.
Add text and other elements: Add text overlays, captions, or other elements to your video slider to provide additional context or information about your brand or products.
Test and refine: Once your video slider is complete, test it on different devices and browsers to ensure it is appealing and engaging.
Making a responsive video slider for your e-commerce site
You can create a responsive video slider for your e-commerce site that looks and functions great on all devices and platforms, providing an engaging and visually appealing experience for your customers –
Use a responsive framework: Consider using a responsive framework or library such as Bootstrap, Foundation, or Materialize to help create a responsive video slider. These frameworks come with built-in responsive design elements, making creating a slider that looks great on all devices easier.
Test your slider: Test your video slider on different devices to ensure it looks and functions properly on all platforms.
Consider accessibility: Ensure your video slider is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Provide alternative text for your images and videos, use clear and easy-to-read fonts, and ensure your slider is keyboard accessible.
Adding transition effects to enhance the visuals of your video slider
You can add some transition effects when preparing a video slider for your e-commerce business. It provides a dynamic way to introduce a new slide/photo of the product while creating an appealing visual. You can use fade effect, slide effect, zoom effect, or Ken Burns effect to enhance the visuals of your video slider.
Static Image Carousel Sliders
Using background images to create an eye-catching carousel slider
Using background images is a great way to create an attractive carousel slider that captures users’ attention and communicates your brand message.
Choose high-quality images as banner slider images for e-commerce websites to support your brand and message. You can consider using parallax scrolling or other effects to create a sense of motion and engagement.
Adding controls to your carousel slider for easy navigation
Use clear and prominent navigation buttons, such as arrows or dots, to indicate the number of slides and the user’s current position. You can also add hover effects or other animations to enhance the user’s interaction with the controls.
Incorporating modern design elements in the carousel slider creates a visually appealing and engaging user experience.
You can use bold typography, color gradients, and other trendy design elements to create a contemporary and eye-catching design. Remember to balance style with functionality and ensure your design choices support your brand image.
Taking advantage of custom widgets and layout options in popular plugins
You can experiment with different custom widgets and layout options on your websites via various plugins. This help to create a more flexible and customizable layout for your banner slider images for your e-commerce website.
Building an interactive experience with action buttons, block editor, and more
You can use features like action buttons, block editors, and custom code to provide a better user experience to your customers.
Action buttons: Adding action buttons to your carousel slider encourages user interaction and engagement. Use clear, compelling calls to action to encourage users to take the desired action. For example, you might add a button that takes users to a specific product page, encouraging them to sign up for your email newsletter.
Block Editor: Many carousel slider plugins now offer integration with the WordPress block editor, which allows you to create complex and interactive layouts for your carousel slider. Take advantage of this feature to create custom layouts and add interactive elements like buttons, videos, or images with hover effects.
Custom Code: If you have coding skills, add custom code to your carousel slider to create more complex and interactive features. For example, you might add a custom hover effect or create a more complex animation that adds visual interest and engages users.
Ensuring compatibility with major browsers and screen sizes for maximum reach
Browser compatibility: Test your carousel slider images for an e-commerce website on different browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge, to ensure it works properly and looks good on all of them. Use browser developer tools to identify and fix any issues that may arise.
Screen size compatibility: Test your carousel slider on different screen sizes, including desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, to ensure it looks good and is easy to use on all screen sizes.
Code validation: Validate your code using tools like W3C Markup Validation Service or CSS Validation Service to ensure it meets web standards and is compatible with different browsers and devices.
User testing: Finally, test your slider with real users to ensure it provides a good user experience on different browsers and screen sizes.
The Pros and Cons of Sliders
It’s important to consider sliders’ pros and cons when deciding whether to include them on your website.
Pros:
Visual appeal Sliders can add visual interest and appeal to a website by showcasing multiple images or videos in a slideshow format. These also provide great product tours to your customers.
User engagement Slider images for e-commerce websites can help to increase user engagement by encouraging users to interact with your content. By featuring relevant images or videos to your brand or products, you can encourage users to spend more time on your site.
Space saving Sliders can effectively showcase multiple pieces of content in a small space, making them ideal for websites with limited space for large visuals.
Flexibility Banner slider images for an e-commerce website are customizable and can be modified to fit the design and aesthetic of your website. You can choose from various options such as size, speed, transition effects, and more.
Cons:
Slow load times Sliders can load slowly sometimes, especially with large image or video files. This leads to slower page load times and a poor user experience.
Decreased conversion rates Slider images for e-commerce websites can be distracting and may not always effectively communicate the main message of your website. This can result in decreased conversion rates and a lower return on investment.
Decreased accessibility Sliders may not be accessible to all users, particularly those with visual or cognitive impairments. This can make navigating and understanding your site difficult for some users.
Reduced SEO Sliders can negatively impact your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) by reducing the content visible on the page. This makes it difficult for search engines to crawl and index your site.
How to Create Attractive Slider Images
Here are some easy yet effective ways to create banner slider images for an e-commerce website:
Start with high-quality images
High-quality images will look better and attract more attention from users, helping to increase engagement and conversions. Ensure your high-resolution images are optimized for the web to load quickly and look great on all devices.
Be creative with content placement
Try experimenting with different layouts and placements for your images and text, and consider using custom widgets or code to create more complex and interactive layouts. The goal is to make your slider images for your e-commerce website stand out and capture your audience’s attention.
Use faces, if possible
People are naturally drawn to faces and can quickly connect with the person in the image. It builds trust and increases conversions. If possible, try to include images of people in your carousel slider to make it more engaging and effective.
Choose the right fonts and colors
Choosing the right fonts and colors is crucial for creating a visually appealing carousel slider that effectively conveys your brand identity and message. Use easy-to-read fonts and complementary colors that support your brand, and maintain consistency throughout the slider.
Tips for Converting With a Slider
Here are some tips that can help you convert customers with a slider –
Choose good calls to action
Your CTAs should be clear, specific, and relevant to the content in your slider. Use action-oriented language and make it simple for users to take action by providing clear instructions and a prominent button or link. Consider A/B testing different CTAs to find the most effective ones for your audience.
Use clear navigation
Use clear and descriptive labels for navigation buttons, and make sure they are prominently displayed and easily accessible. Consider using visual cues like arrows or dots to specify the position and number of slides in your carousel. It’s important to simplify navigation to encourage users to explore your content and take action.
Remember accessibility
Consider using alt text for images to describe users who use screen readers. Use high-contrast colors and legible fonts to make your content easy to read for users with visual impairments. Ensure that your slider images for the e-commerce website are keyboard accessible, and provide an option to pause or stop the auto-advance feature for users who may need more time to interact with the content.
Don’t be too complicated
Avoid cluttering your slider with too much text or images, which can overwhelm and confuse users. Stick to a clear, concise message, and use images and text supporting your brand and message.
Choose concise messaging
Your messaging should be clear, direct, and focused on your product or service’s benefits. Use brief, punchy headlines that capture attention and quickly communicate your key selling points. Use subheadings and bullet points to break up text and make it easier to read.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that a powerful slider can make your website stand out and grab users’ attention. But creating an exceptional slider that truly captivates your audience is an art form that requires a strategic approach.
By using these tips and tricks, you can craft a great carousel slider that effectively communicates your brand and message. So why settle for a mediocre slider when you can create a stunning, unforgettable one that leaves a lasting impression on your users? Get creative, experiment with different ideas, and let your imagination run wild – endless possibilities!
FAQs
Do sliders affect SEO?
Yes, sliders can affect SEO if they slow down website loading times or are not optimized for accessibility and mobile responsiveness. When implemented correctly, they can improve engagement and user experience, positively impacting SEO.
How many sliders should you have on a website?
There is no set number of sliders that a website should have, as it depends on the website’s design, content, and purpose. However, having too many sliders can negatively affect user experience, increase page loading times, and decrease engagement.
What are the features of website sliders?
The features of a website slider include
Ability to display multiple images or videos in a single space, often with transition effects and navigation controls.
Optimized for accessibility
Mobile responsiveness
SEO
What are the advantages of the slider?
The advantages of using sliders on a website include
Ability to showcase multiple images or videos in a single space
Increasing engagement
Visual interest
Enhance user experience and navigation
Optimize for mobile and accessibility
What is the difference between a slider and a range slider?
A slider is a UI element that selects a single value within a predefined range by dragging a handle along a track. A range slider, on the other hand, allows users to select a range of values within a predefined range by dragging two handles along a track.
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Don’t be too complicated
Avoid cluttering your slider with too much text or images, which can overwhelm and confuse users. Stick to a clear, concise message, and use images and text supporting your brand and message.
Choose concise messaging
Your messaging should be clear, direct, and focused on your product or service’s benefits. Use brief, punchy headlines that capture attention and quickly communicate your key selling points. Use subheadings and bullet points to break up text and make it easier to read.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that a powerful slider can make your website stand out and grab users’ attention. But creating an exceptional slider that truly captivates your audience is an art form that requires a strategic approach.
By using these tips and tricks, you can craft a great carousel slider that effectively communicates your brand and message. So why settle for a mediocre slider when you can create a stunning, unforgettable one that leaves a lasting impression on your users? Get creative, experiment with different ideas, and let your imagination run wild – endless possibilities!
FAQs
Do sliders affect SEO?
Yes, sliders can affect SEO if they slow down website loading times or are not optimized for accessibility and mobile responsiveness. When implemented correctly, they can improve engagement and user experience, positively impacting SEO.
How many sliders should you have on a website?
There is no set number of sliders that a website should have, as it depends on the website’s design, content, and purpose. However, having too many sliders can negatively affect user experience, increase page loading times, and decrease engagement.
What are the features of website sliders?
The features of a website slider include
Ability to display multiple images or videos in a single space, often with transition effects and navigation controls.
Optimized for accessibility
Mobile responsiveness
SEO
What are the advantages of the slider?
The advantages of using sliders on a website include
Ability to showcase multiple images or videos in a single space
Increasing engagement
Visual interest
Enhance user experience and navigation
Optimize for mobile and accessibility
What is the difference between a slider and a range slider?
|
no
|
Web Design
|
Are sliders bad for SEO?
|
no_statement
|
"sliders" do not have a negative impact on seo.. "sliders" do not harm seo efforts.
|
https://soliloquywp.com/wordpress-sliders-and-seo-are-sliders-bad-for-search-engine-rankings/
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WordPress Sliders and SEO - Are Sliders Bad for Search Engine ...
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Soliloquy Blog
Are you wondering if you should add image sliders to your site? You may have heard that image sliders are bad for your search engine rankings, but they can be a powerful tool to engage your visitors.
The truth is, not all image sliders are bad for SEO. You need to be careful in choosing the best image slider plugin for WordPress so it doesn’t affect your rankings and traffic.
How can you tell whether an image slider can hurt your rankings? In this guide, we will share about WordPress sliders and SEO, why sliders can be bad for search engine rankings, and which image slider can work for you.
Why Sliders Are Bad for SEO
Image sliders are used to attract and engage visitors on websites.
But before choosing an image slider plugin, there are a few points that you should know about WordPress sliders and SEO. That way, you’ll know which sliders to avoid so your rankings aren’t affected.
Here’s what to watch out for when choosing an SEO-friendly slider:
1. Heading Tags
You should know that a basic SEO rule is to use the HTML heading tag H1 only one time per page.
In many image sliders, every slide has an H1 tag that changes whenever it moves to the next slide.
2. Fully Responsive
Soliloquy is fully responsive and works amazingly on any mobile or tablet device. It automatically adjusts the image resolution and dimensions according to screen size.
3. No Flash Usage
Soliloquy is updated to the latest web coding standards with no flash usage. Its structure is designed to make your images rank on search engines easily.
4. Standard Tags
Since we shared that most WordPress sliders use H1 tags which are bad for SEO, Soliloquy uses tags that make sure to match SEO rules. You can display your text on the slides, and it doesn’t harm the search engine rankings of your site.
5. Powerful Addons
This plugin comes with feature rich and powerful addons that makes your image slider extraordinary. You can use these addons to add themes to your slider, share slides on Pinterest, and more.
6. Easy to Use
What do you need in an image slider? Simplicity and ease of use. Soliloquy has a drag and drop feature that makes it easy and intuitive to create a slider in just a few minutes.
You can simply add a shortcode or template tag in your WordPress page/post or theme file to display the image sliders.
Conclusion
Why are sliders bad for SEO? Because most image sliders don’t follow the right rules and standards. However, you can use Soliloquy to achieve your image slider goals. It’s the best slider for websites and looks amazing on any device.
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Soliloquy Blog
Are you wondering if you should add image sliders to your site? You may have heard that image sliders are bad for your search engine rankings, but they can be a powerful tool to engage your visitors.
The truth is, not all image sliders are bad for SEO. You need to be careful in choosing the best image slider plugin for WordPress so it doesn’t affect your rankings and traffic.
How can you tell whether an image slider can hurt your rankings? In this guide, we will share about WordPress sliders and SEO, why sliders can be bad for search engine rankings, and which image slider can work for you.
Why Sliders Are Bad for SEO
Image sliders are used to attract and engage visitors on websites.
But before choosing an image slider plugin, there are a few points that you should know about WordPress sliders and SEO. That way, you’ll know which sliders to avoid so your rankings aren’t affected.
Here’s what to watch out for when choosing an SEO-friendly slider:
1. Heading Tags
You should know that a basic SEO rule is to use the HTML heading tag H1 only one time per page.
In many image sliders, every slide has an H1 tag that changes whenever it moves to the next slide.
2. Fully Responsive
Soliloquy is fully responsive and works amazingly on any mobile or tablet device. It automatically adjusts the image resolution and dimensions according to screen size.
3. No Flash Usage
Soliloquy is updated to the latest web coding standards with no flash usage. Its structure is designed to make your images rank on search engines easily.
4. Standard Tags
Since we shared that most WordPress sliders use H1 tags which are bad for SEO, Soliloquy uses tags that make sure to match SEO rules. You can display your text on the slides, and it doesn’t harm the search engine rankings of your site.
5. Powerful Addons
This plugin comes with feature rich and powerful addons that makes your image slider extraordinary. You can use these addons to add themes to your slider, share slides on Pinterest, and more.
6. Easy to Use
What do you need in an image slider?
|
no
|
Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36044584/
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Inheritance of somatic mutations by animal offspring
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Abstract
Since 1892, it has been widely assumed that somatic mutations are evolutionarily irrelevant in animals because they cannot be inherited by offspring. However, some nonbilaterians segregate the soma and germline late in development or never, leaving the evolutionary fate of their somatic mutations unknown. By investigating uni- and biparental reproduction in the coral Acropora palmata (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), we found that uniparental, meiotic offspring harbored 50% of the 268 somatic mutations present in their parent. Thus, somatic mutations accumulated in adult coral animals, entered the germline, and were passed on to swimming larvae that grew into healthy juvenile corals. In this way, somatic mutations can increase allelic diversity and facilitate adaptation across habitats and generations in animals.
Figures
Fig. 1.. Detection and mapping of somatic…
Fig. 1.. Detection and mapping of somatic mutations across a parent coral colony and five…
Fig. 1.. Detection and mapping of somatic mutations across a parent coral colony and five nearest neighbor colonies (ramets) from the same coral genet.
(A) Sampling map of the parent colony and its five nearest neighbor colonies. Colonies are arranged according to their location on the reef with linear distances between colonies indicated next to the arrows. Colored circles indicate the locations of the tissue samples that were genotyped. Individual colonies in the line drawing are enlarged to show detail and not drawn to scale. Photo credit: Kate L. Vasquez Kuntz, The Pennsylvania State University. (B) Plot of Prevosti’s pairwise genetic distance within the parent colony and between the parent colony and the five neighboring colonies. All genetic distances were smaller than the distance threshold for genet assignment; therefore, all six colonies belonged to the same coral genet. (C) Histogram showing the frequency of pairwise genetic distances for 263 A. palmata samples collected from across the Caribbean in a previous study. The genet threshold is 0.032 (dashed black line). Average genetic distance was 0.0057 ± 0.0054 among ramets of the same genet (blue line, n = 148 ramets from 34 genets). Average genetic distance was 0.128 ± 0.025 among genets that fall above the genet threshold (orange line) [modified with permission from Kitchen et al. (26)]. (D) Neighbor-joining trees for all samples taken from the parent colony (B1 to B10) and nearest neighbor colonies (C1 to C5) showing all loci analyzed (upper tree, n = 19,696) and only those loci identified as mutations (lower tree, n = 268). Nodal values represent support from 100 bootstrap replicates.
(A) Bar plot showing the number of total mutations (dark blue bars) categorized as a GOH or LOH, and the number of mutations in each category that were passed on to offspring (light blue bars). GOH mutations outnumbered LOH mutations, but a greater proportion of LOH mutations were inherited by offspring. (B) Plots of two metrics used to investigate somatic mutations: BAF (B allele frequency; top row) and LRR (log R ratios; bottom row). The orange line represents the 20-bp sliding average of LRR along the scaffold (position in megabases). Blue and black symbols represent specific mutations. Black shapes: not inherited; blue shapes: inherited. Above each plot, adult coral colonies are labeled as in Fig. 1A and juveniles are denoted as “Offspring”. Sample labels are filled according to specific, shared mutations (light blue, locus AX-197954877; medium blue, locus AX-212313644). Samples without those mutations have a white label fill. (C) RFLP validation of inherited GOH mutation AX-212313644. For each sample, the uncut (U) and cut (C) polymerase chain reaction products are shown next to a size standard (lane M). The two offspring (179 and 181) both share the heterozygous mutation also detected in colony 3, resulting in three bands, while colony 5, predicted to have the nonmutant homozygous state for this site, produced only one uncut band. (D) Schematic of inheritance of somatic mutations. RFLP-validated somatic mutation AX-212313644 (down triangle) is found within the intron of the dynein heavy chain 3. GOH mutation AX-197954877 (square) is found on the same scaffold. Symbols represent the five mutations detected along this scaffold in at least one sample in (B). Filled shapes, A allele; open shapes, B allele. Arrows denote inheritance and crosses denote lack of inheritance. Offspring 144 was parthenogenetic (denoted by an asterisk).
Biparental offspring resulted from a cross between the focal A. palmata parent colony in Curaçao and a Florida colony whose sperm had been cryopreserved (27). Previously identified somatic mutations at 268 loci in the Curaçao parent were tracked into 11 outcrossed biparental offspring that were identified during genotyping (n = 11). Most loci matched the expectations of Mendelian inheritance for the Curaçao ancestral allele [(A), 73.5%]. At the remaining loci, offspring either putatively inherited the Curaçao mutant allele [(B), 15.3%] or exhibited unexpected inheritance patterns inconsistent with the Curaçao ancestral or mutant allele [(C), 11.1%]. For example, at locus AX-212300259, one offspring had an unexpected mutant AA genotype, while the parent from Florida did not have an A allele to contribute. These unexpected alleles in the offspring may have resulted from technical errors (26) or represent de novo (germline) mutations (19, 35). n/a, no mutant allele detected.
Fig. 4.. Modes of inheritance of genetic…
Fig. 4.. Modes of inheritance of genetic mutations in animals.
( 1 ) If animals…
Fig. 4.. Modes of inheritance of genetic mutations in animals.
(1) If animals differentiate and segregate germline cells (light blue) from somatic cells (light orange) early in development, then only germline mutations (medium blue) can be inherited by offspring (1). (2) Planarians, sponges, and some cnidarians continuously segregate a germline and somatic tissue from a population of stem cells (brown) as they grow, allowing for an accumulation of mutations that are heritable (11). (3) Cnidarian somatic cells may de- or transdifferentiate into germline cells, passing on mutations that are somatic in origin (dark blue) (14). The cellular source (soma, germ, or stem) for polyp growth is an active area of research. (4) Somatic mutations (dark orange) may rise to fixation in new modules (polyps) through budding from a limited number of soma cells. Lightning bolts represent mutation-causing events. Figure modified with permission from Reusch et al. (21).
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Abstract
Since 1892, it has been widely assumed that somatic mutations are evolutionarily irrelevant in animals because they cannot be inherited by offspring. However, some nonbilaterians segregate the soma and germline late in development or never, leaving the evolutionary fate of their somatic mutations unknown. By investigating uni- and biparental reproduction in the coral Acropora palmata (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), we found that uniparental, meiotic offspring harbored 50% of the 268 somatic mutations present in their parent. Thus, somatic mutations accumulated in adult coral animals, entered the germline, and were passed on to swimming larvae that grew into healthy juvenile corals. In this way, somatic mutations can increase allelic diversity and facilitate adaptation across habitats and generations in animals.
Figures
Fig. 1.. Detection and mapping of somatic…
Fig. 1.. Detection and mapping of somatic mutations across a parent coral colony and five…
Fig. 1.. Detection and mapping of somatic mutations across a parent coral colony and five nearest neighbor colonies (ramets) from the same coral genet.
(A) Sampling map of the parent colony and its five nearest neighbor colonies. Colonies are arranged according to their location on the reef with linear distances between colonies indicated next to the arrows. Colored circles indicate the locations of the tissue samples that were genotyped. Individual colonies in the line drawing are enlarged to show detail and not drawn to scale. Photo credit: Kate L. Vasquez Kuntz, The Pennsylvania State University. (B) Plot of Prevosti’s pairwise genetic distance within the parent colony and between the parent colony and the five neighboring colonies. All genetic distances were smaller than the distance threshold for genet assignment; therefore, all six colonies belonged to the same coral genet. (C) Histogram showing the frequency of pairwise genetic distances for 263 A. palmata samples collected from across the Caribbean in a previous study.
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yes
|
Cytogenetics
|
Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
|
yes_statement
|
"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
|
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220831152728.htm
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Corals pass mutations acquired during their lifetimes to offspring ...
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In a discovery that challenges over a century of evolutionary conventional wisdom, corals have been shown to pass somatic mutations -- changes to the DNA sequence that occur in non-reproductive cells -- to their offspring. The finding, by an international team of scientists led by Penn State biologists, demonstrates a potential new route for the generation of genetic diversity, which is the raw material for evolutionary adaptation, and could be vital for allowing endangered corals to adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions.
"For a trait, such as growth rate, to evolve, the genetic basis of that trait must be passed from generation to generation," said Iliana Baums, professor of biology at Penn State and leader of the research team. "For most animals, a new genetic mutation can only contribute to evolutionary change if it occurs in a germline or reproductive cell, for example in an egg or sperm cell. Mutations that occur in the rest of the body, in the somatic cells, were thought to be evolutionarily irrelevant because they do not get passed on to offspring. However, corals appear to have a way around this barrier that seems to allow them to break this evolutionary rule."
Since the time of Darwin, our understanding of evolution has become ever more detailed. We now know that an organism's traits are heavily determined by the sequence of their DNA. Individuals in a population vary in their DNA sequence, and this genetic variation can lead to the variation in traits, such as body size, that could give an individual a reproductive advantage. Only rarely does a new genetic mutation occur that gives an individual such a reproductive advantage and evolution can only proceed further if -- and this is the key -- the individual can pass the change to its offspring.
"In most animals, reproductive cells are segregated from body cells early in development," said Kate Vasquez Kuntz, a graduate student at Penn State and the co-lead author of the study. "So only genetic mutations that occur in the reproductive cells have the potential to contribute to the evolution of the species. This slow process of waiting for rare mutations in a particular set of cells can be particularly problematic given the rapid nature of climate change. However, for some organisms, like corals, the segregation of reproductive cells from all other cells may occur later in development or may never occur at all, allowing a path for genetic mutations to travel from a parent's body to its offspring. This would increase genetic variation and potentially even serve as a 'pre-screening' system for advantageous mutations."
Corals can reproduce both asexually (through budding and colony fragmentation) and sexually, by producing egg and sperm cells. For the Elkhorn corals studied here, which broadcast their egg and sperm cells into the water in spawning events, eggs from one coral colony are usually fertilized by sperm from a neighboring colony. However, the research team found that some Elkhorn coral eggs developed into viable offspring without a second coral being involved, a kind of single-parent sexual reproduction.
"This single-parent reproduction allowed us to more easily search for potential somatic mutations from the parent coral and track them into the offspring by simplifying the total number of genetic possibilities that could occur in the offspring," said Sheila Kitchen, co-lead author of the study, a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State and the California Institute of Technology co-lead author of the study.
The research team genotyped samples -- using a high-resolution molecular tool called a microarray to investigate DNA differences between the samples -- from ten different locations on a large Elkhorn coral colony that had produced single-parent offspring, and samples from five neighboring colonies at nearly 20,000 genetic locations. The results showed that all six of the separate coral colonies belonged to the same original coral genotype (known as a "genet"), meaning essentially that they were clones derived from a single original colony through asexual reproduction and colony fragmentation. Thus, any genetic variation found in these corals would have been the result of somatic mutation. The team found a total of 268 somatic mutations in the samples, with each coral sample harboring between 2 and 149 somatic mutations.
The team then looked at the single-parent offspring from the parent Elkhorn coral colony and found that 50% of the somatic mutations had been inherited. The exact mechanism of how the somatic mutations make their way into germline cells in the corals is still unknown, but the researchers suspect that the segregation between body and germline cells in corals may be incomplete and some body cells may retain the capacity to form germ cells, allowing somatic mutations to make their way into offspring. They also found evidence for the inheritance of somatic mutations in some offspring from the mating of two separate coral parents but will need additional studies to confirm this.
"Because corals grow as colonies of genetically-identical polyps, somatic mutations that arise in one coral polyp can be exposed to the environment and screened for their utility without necessarily affecting the entire colony," said Baums. "Therefore, cells with potentially harmful mutations may die off and cells with potentially advantages mutations could thrive and spread as the coral colony continues to grow. If these mutations can then be passed on to offspring -- as we have now demonstrated -- it means that corals have an additional tool that might be able to speed up their adaptation to climate change."
June 13, 2022 Many sections of the non-coding region of the human genome play a key role in regulating gene activity. But the relationship between non-coding mutations and cancer risk has been a mystery. New ...
Aug. 25, 2020 A newly developed genotyping 'chip' -- the first of its kind for corals -- allows researchers to genetically identify corals and the symbiotic algae that live within the coral's cells, a vital step ...
July 23, 2019 New guidelines drafted by a consortium of concerned experts could enable corals to adapt to changing environments and help restore declining populations in the Caribbean. The guidelines provide a ...
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State and the California Institute of Technology co-lead author of the study.
The research team genotyped samples -- using a high-resolution molecular tool called a microarray to investigate DNA differences between the samples -- from ten different locations on a large Elkhorn coral colony that had produced single-parent offspring, and samples from five neighboring colonies at nearly 20,000 genetic locations. The results showed that all six of the separate coral colonies belonged to the same original coral genotype (known as a "genet"), meaning essentially that they were clones derived from a single original colony through asexual reproduction and colony fragmentation. Thus, any genetic variation found in these corals would have been the result of somatic mutation. The team found a total of 268 somatic mutations in the samples, with each coral sample harboring between 2 and 149 somatic mutations.
The team then looked at the single-parent offspring from the parent Elkhorn coral colony and found that 50% of the somatic mutations had been inherited. The exact mechanism of how the somatic mutations make their way into germline cells in the corals is still unknown, but the researchers suspect that the segregation between body and germline cells in corals may be incomplete and some body cells may retain the capacity to form germ cells, allowing somatic mutations to make their way into offspring. They also found evidence for the inheritance of somatic mutations in some offspring from the mating of two separate coral parents but will need additional studies to confirm this.
"Because corals grow as colonies of genetically-identical polyps, somatic mutations that arise in one coral polyp can be exposed to the environment and screened for their utility without necessarily affecting the entire colony," said Baums. "Therefore, cells with potentially harmful mutations may die off and cells with potentially advantages mutations could thrive and spread as the coral colony continues to grow. If these mutations can then be passed on to offspring -- as we have now demonstrated -- it means that corals have an additional tool that might be able to speed up their adaptation to climate change.
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yes
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
|
"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Mutation
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Mutation
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Mutation
Definition
A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. Mutations can result from errors in DNA replication during cell division, exposure to mutagens or a viral infection. Germline mutations (that occur in eggs and sperm) can be passed on to offspring, while somatic mutations (that occur in body cells) are not passed on.
Narration
Mutation. Mutations are happening in our cells all the time, but almost none of these affect our health. This is very different than what we often see in science fiction in movies. In real life, a mutation is never so beneficial that it turns a person into a superhero or does something bizarre like cause them to grow wings. There are many reasons that mutations usually don't have major consequences. One reason is that our cells have very sophisticated machinery for repairing mutations very quickly. So there's not enough time for them to cause problems. Another is that most mutations occur in somatic cells like muscle cells or skin cells and can only affect the cell where the mutation occurred and cells that grow from that cell. On the other hand, when mutations occur in germline cells, eggs and sperm, they will be present in every cell that develops from that egg or sperm, an entire person, and can have larger effects.
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Mutation
Definition
A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. Mutations can result from errors in DNA replication during cell division, exposure to mutagens or a viral infection. Germline mutations (that occur in eggs and sperm) can be passed on to offspring, while somatic mutations (that occur in body cells) are not passed on.
Narration
Mutation. Mutations are happening in our cells all the time, but almost none of these affect our health. This is very different than what we often see in science fiction in movies. In real life, a mutation is never so beneficial that it turns a person into a superhero or does something bizarre like cause them to grow wings. There are many reasons that mutations usually don't have major consequences. One reason is that our cells have very sophisticated machinery for repairing mutations very quickly. So there's not enough time for them to cause problems. Another is that most mutations occur in somatic cells like muscle cells or skin cells and can only affect the cell where the mutation occurred and cells that grow from that cell. On the other hand, when mutations occur in germline cells, eggs and sperm, they will be present in every cell that develops from that egg or sperm, an entire person, and can have larger effects.
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no
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
|
"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_mutation
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Somatic mutation - Wikipedia
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While somatic mutations are not passed down to an organism's offspring, somatic mutations will be present in all descendants of a cell within the same organism. Many cancers are the result of accumulated somatic mutations.
Somatic mutations that occur earlier in embryonic development are generally present in a larger fraction of body cells. In F), the mutation happened earlier in development than in G), and therefore is present in more of the child's cells.
The term somatic generally refers to the cells of the body, in contrast to the reproductive (germline) cells, which give rise to the egg or sperm. For example, in mammals, somatic cells make up the internal organs, skin, bones, blood, and connective tissue.[1]
In most animals, separation of germ cells from somatic cells (germline development) occurs during early stages of development. Once this segregation has occurred in the embryo, any mutation outside of the germline cells can not be passed down to an organism's offspring.
However, somatic mutations are passed down to all the progeny of a mutated cell within the same organism. A major section of an organism therefore might carry the same mutation, especially if that mutation occurs at earlier stages of development.[2] Somatic mutations that occur later in an organism's life can be hard to detect, as they may affect only a single cell - for instance, a post-mitotic neuron;[3][4] improvements in single cell sequencing are therefore an important tool for the study of somatic mutation.[5] Both the nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA of a cell can accumulate mutations; somatic mitochondrial mutations have been implicated in development of some neurodegenerative diseases.[6]
Hydra oligactis with two buds. Reproduction by budding is an exception to the rule that somatic mutations can not be inherited.
There are many exceptions to the rule that somatic mutations cannot be inherited by offspring. Many organisms simply do not dedicate a separate germline during early development. Plants and basal animals such as sponges and corals instead generate gametes from pluripotent stem cells in adult somatic tissues.[7][8] In flowering plants, for example, germ cells can arise from adult somatic cells in the floral meristem. Other animals without a designated germ line include tunicates and flatworms.[9]
Somatic mutations can also be passed down to offspring in organisms that can reproduce asexually, without production of gametes. For instance, animals in the cnidarian genus Hydra can reproduce asexually through the mechanism of budding (they can also reproduce sexually). In hydra, a new bud develops directly from somatic cells of the parent hydra.[10] A mutation present in the tissue that gives rise to the daughter organism would be passed down to that offspring.
Many plants naturally reproduce through vegetative reproduction - growth of a new plant from a fragment of the parent plant - propagating somatic mutations without the step of seed production. Humans artificially induce vegetative reproduction via grafting and stem cuttings.
UV light can damage DNA by causing pyrimidine dimers. Adjacent bases bond with each other, instead of across the “ladder”. The distorted DNA molecule does not function properly. Mutation can result if mistakes occur in DNA repair or replication.
As with germline mutations, mutations in somatic cells may arise due to endogenous factors, including errors during DNA replication and repair, and exposure to reactive oxygen species produced by normal cellular processes. Mutations can also be induced by contact with mutagens, which can increase the rate of mutation.
Most mutagens act by causing DNA damage - alterations in DNA structure such as pyrimidine dimers, or breakage of one or both DNA strands. DNA repair processes can remove DNA damages that would, otherwise, upon DNA replication, cause mutation. Mutation results from damage when mistakes in the mechanism of DNA repair causes a change in nucleotide sequence, or if replication occurs before repair is complete.
Research suggests that the frequency of mutations is generally higher in somatic cells than in cells of the germline;[12] furthermore, there are differences in the types of mutation seen in the germ and in the soma.[13] There is variation in mutation frequency between different somatic tissues within the same organism[13] and between species.[2]
Milholland et al. (2017) examined the mutation rate of dermal fibroblasts (a type of somatic cell) and germline cells in humans and in mice. They measured the rate of single nucleotide variants (SNVs), most of which are a consequence of replication error. Both in terms of mutational load (total mutations present in a cell) and mutation rate per cell division (new mutations with each mitosis), somatic mutation rates were more than ten times that of the germline, in humans and in mice.
In humans, mutation load in fibroblasts was over twenty times greater than germline (2.8 × 10−7 compared with 1.2 × 10−8 mutations per base pair). Adjusted for differences in the estimated number of cell divisions, the fibroblast mutation rate was about 80 times greater than the germ (respectively, 2.66 × 10−9 vs. 3.3 × 10−11 mutations per base pair per mitosis).[2]
The disparity in mutation rate between the germline and somatic tissues likely reflects the greater importance of genetic integrity in the germline than in the soma.[12] Variation in mutation frequency may be due to differences in rates of DNA damage or to differences in the DNA repair process as a result of elevated levels of DNA repair enzymes.[13]
In April 2022 it has been reported that most mammals have about the same number of mutations by the time they reach the end of their lifespan, so those that have similar lifespan will have similar somatic mutation rates and those who live less/more will have a higher/lower rate of somatic mutations respectively.[14][15]
As a part of the adaptive immune response, antibody-producing B cells experience a mutation rate many times higher than the normal rate of mutation. The mutation rate in antigen-binding coding sequences of the immunoglobulin genes is up to 1,000,000 times higher than in cell lines outside the lymphoid system. A major step in affinity maturation, somatic hypermutation helps B cells produce antibodies with greater antigen affinity.[16]
Somatic mutations accumulate within an organism's cells as it ages and with each round of cell division; the role of somatic mutations in the development of cancer is well established, and the accumulation of somatic mutations is implicated in the biology of aging.[4]
Mutations in neuronal stem cells (especially during neurogenesis)[17] and in post-mitotic neurons lead to genomic heterogeneity of neurons - referred to as "somatic brain mosaicism".[3] The accumulation of age-related mutations in neurons may be linked to neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, but the association is unproven. The majority of central-nervous system cells in the adult are post-mitotic, and adult mutations might affect only a single neuron. Unlike in cancer, where mutations result in clonal proliferation, detrimental somatic mutations might contribute to neurodegenerative disease by cell death.[18] Accurate assessment of somatic mutation burden in neurons therefore remains difficult to assess.
If a mutation occurs in a cell of an organism, that mutation will be present in all the descendants of this cell within the same organism. The accumulation of certain mutations over generations of somatic cells is part of the process of malignant transformation, from normal cell to cancer cell.
Cells with heterozygous loss-of-function mutations (one good copy of a gene and one mutated copy) may function normally with the unmutated copy until the good copy has been spontaneously somatically mutated. This kind of mutation happens often in living organisms, but it is difficult to measure the rate. Measuring this rate is important in predicting the rate at which people may develop cancer.
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While somatic mutations are not passed down to an organism's offspring, somatic mutations will be present in all descendants of a cell within the same organism. Many cancers are the result of accumulated somatic mutations.
Somatic mutations that occur earlier in embryonic development are generally present in a larger fraction of body cells. In F), the mutation happened earlier in development than in G), and therefore is present in more of the child's cells.
The term somatic generally refers to the cells of the body, in contrast to the reproductive (germline) cells, which give rise to the egg or sperm. For example, in mammals, somatic cells make up the internal organs, skin, bones, blood, and connective tissue.[1]
In most animals, separation of germ cells from somatic cells (germline development) occurs during early stages of development. Once this segregation has occurred in the embryo, any mutation outside of the germline cells can not be passed down to an organism's offspring.
However, somatic mutations are passed down to all the progeny of a mutated cell within the same organism. A major section of an organism therefore might carry the same mutation, especially if that mutation occurs at earlier stages of development.[2] Somatic mutations that occur later in an organism's life can be hard to detect, as they may affect only a single cell - for instance, a post-mitotic neuron;[3][4] improvements in single cell sequencing are therefore an important tool for the study of somatic mutation.[5] Both the nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA of a cell can accumulate mutations; somatic mitochondrial mutations have been implicated in development of some neurodegenerative diseases.[6]
Hydra oligactis with two buds. Reproduction by budding is an exception to the rule that somatic mutations can not be inherited.
There are many exceptions to the rule that somatic mutations cannot be inherited by offspring. Many organisms simply do not dedicate a separate germline during early development.
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no
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23095-genetic-mutations-in-humans
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Genetic Mutations: Overview & Types
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Genetic Mutations in Humans
Genetic mutations are changes to your DNA sequence that happen during cell division when your cells make copies of themselves. Your DNA tells your body how to form and function. Genetic mutations could lead to genetic conditions like cancer, or they could help humans better adapt to their environment over time.
Overview
A genetic mutation is a change to your DNA sequence by removing, adding or replacing pieces of your DNA.
What are genetic mutations?
A genetic mutation is a change in a sequence of your DNA. Your DNA sequence gives your cells the information they need to perform their functions. If part of your DNA sequence is in the wrong place, isn’t complete or is damaged, you might experience symptoms of a genetic condition.
When do genetic mutations happen?
Genetic mutations occur during cell division when your cells divide and replicate. There are two types of cell division:
Mitosis: The process of making new cells for your body. During mitosis, your genes instruct your cells to split into two by making a copy of your chromosomes.
Meiosis: The process of making egg and sperm cells for the next generation. During meiosis, chromosomes copy themselves with half the amount of chromosomes as the original (from 46 to 23). That’s how you’re able to get your genetic material equally from each parent.
How do genetic mutations happen?
Genetic mutations occur during cell division. When your cells divide, they hand-write your body’s instruction manual by copying the original document word for word. There’s a lot of room for error during cell division because your cells might substitute (replace), delete (remove) or insert (add) letters while they’re copying. If you have an error (genetic mutation), your genetic instruction manual for your cells may not be readable by the cells, or may have missing parts or unnecessary parts added. All of this can mean that your cells can’t function as they normally should.
Function
How do genetic mutations affect other organs?
A genetic mutation changes the information your cells need to form and function. Your genes are responsible for making proteins that tell your body what physical characteristics you should have. If you have a genetic mutation, you could experience symptoms of a genetic condition because your cells are doing a different job than they should be.
Symptoms of genetic conditions depend on which gene has a mutation. There are many different diseases and conditions caused by mutations. The signs and symptoms you experience could include:
Physical characteristics like facial abnormalities, a cleft palate, webbed fingers and toes, or short stature.
Are genetic mutations bad?
Not all genetic mutations lead to genetic disorders. Some genetic mutations don’t have any effect on your health and well-being. This is because the change in the DNA sequence doesn’t change how your cell functions.
Your body also has enzymes, which are a substance that creates chemical reactions in our body. These enzymes help your body protect itself from disease. Enzymes can repair a variety of genetic mutations before they affect how a cell functions.
Some genetic mutations even have a positive effect on humans. Changes in how cells work can sometimes improve the proteins that your cells produce and allow them to adapt to changes in your environment. An example of a positive genetic mutation is one that can protect a person from acquiring heart disease or diabetes, even with a history of smoking or being overweight.
How do genetic mutations lead to genetic variations?
A genetic mutation is a change to a gene’s DNA sequence to produce something different. It creates a permanent change to that gene’s DNA sequence.
Genetic variations are important for humans to evolve, which is the process of change over generations. A sporadic genetic mutation occurs in one person. That person passes their genetic mutation onto their children (hereditary), and it continues for generations. If the mutation improves that person’s chance of survival, or freedom from disease, then it begins being passed through generations and spread through the population. As the mutation passes from generation to generation, it becomes a normal part of the human genome and evolves from a gene variant into a normal gene.
Anatomy
Where are genes in my body?
Genes reside on thread-like structures in your body called chromosomes. Chromosomes are in each cell in your body. There are trillions of cells in your body that make you who you are.
What are the different types of genetic mutations?
There are different types of genetic mutations based on where they form. Types of genetic mutations include:
Germline mutation: A change in a gene that occurs in a parent’s reproductive cells (egg or sperm) that affects the genetic makeup of their child (hereditary).
Somatic mutation: A change in a gene that occurs after conception in the developing embryo that may become a baby. These occur in all cells in the developing body — except the sperm and egg. Somatic mutations can’t pass from parents to their children (hereditary) because traits are passed only from the sperm and egg.
Can I inherit genetic mutations?
Yes, you can inherit germline genetic mutations, while somatic mutations occur with no previous history of the mutation in your family. There are several patterns that genetic mutations can pass from the parent to a child (hereditary).
Pattern of inheritance
Summary
Example of genetic conditions
Autosomal dominant
Only one parent needs to pass the genetic mutation onto their child for their child to inherit the mutation.
If only dad has the mutation, there’s 100% that female offspring will be carriers and no male offspring will be affected. If only mom the mutation, there’s a 50% chance that female offspring will be carriers and a 50% chance male offspring will have the condition. If both parents have the mutation, 50% of male offspring will have the condition and 100% of female offspring will have the mutation.
Babies assigned male or female have an X chromosome. Mutations on the X chromosome can pass in a dominant or recessive pattern, but not every pattern is clear on how the child acquired the mutation from their parents.
The mitochondria are the part of a cell that creates energy. Only mitochondria from the egg survive fertilization, when the two cells come together. So, all maternal DNA in the embryo come from the egg. This is why mitochondrial inheritance is also known as maternal inheritance.
Conditions and Disorders
What are genetic disorders?
A genetic disorder is a condition caused by changes in your genome, or the genetic material present in a human. It includes your DNA, genes and chromosomes. Several factors cause genetic conditions, including:
You can inherit the genetic condition from your parents (if it’s germ cell DNA in the sperm or egg) or the genetic condition can happen randomly, without having a history of the genetic condition in your family.
What are common genetic disorders?
There are thousands of genetic conditions that exist. Some of the most common genetic conditions are:
Alzheimer’s disease.
Some cancers.
Cystic fibrosis.
Down syndrome.
Sickle cell disease.
Is there a test that checks for genetic mutations?
If your healthcare provider suspects that you have a genetic condition or you’re at risk of having a child with a genetic condition, they may offer a genetic test. There are many genetic tests that require a sample of your blood, skin, hair, amniotic fluid or tissues to identify changes to your genes, chromosomes or proteins. Genetic testing can locate mutated genes or chromosomes that cause genetic conditions. These tests can also let you know if you’re at risk of having a child with a genetic condition, if you plan on fathering a child or becoming pregnant.
Care
How do I keep my genes healthy to prevent genetic mutations?
Some genetic mutations happen randomly and you can’t prevent them from occurring. Other genetic mutations can be the result of changes to your environment. You can take steps to prevent some genetic mutations by:
While some genetic mutations can lead to genetic conditions, most mutations don’t cause symptoms in humans. It’s difficult to prevent mutations from happening, especially as genetic mutations can occur randomly, some without being present in your family history. If you plan on fathering a child or becoming pregnant and want to understand your risk of passing a genetic mutation onto your child, talk with your healthcare provider about genetic testing.
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What are the different types of genetic mutations?
There are different types of genetic mutations based on where they form. Types of genetic mutations include:
Germline mutation: A change in a gene that occurs in a parent’s reproductive cells (egg or sperm) that affects the genetic makeup of their child (hereditary).
Somatic mutation: A change in a gene that occurs after conception in the developing embryo that may become a baby. These occur in all cells in the developing body — except the sperm and egg. Somatic mutations can’t pass from parents to their children (hereditary) because traits are passed only from the sperm and egg.
Can I inherit genetic mutations?
Yes, you can inherit germline genetic mutations, while somatic mutations occur with no previous history of the mutation in your family. There are several patterns that genetic mutations can pass from the parent to a child (hereditary).
Pattern of inheritance
Summary
Example of genetic conditions
Autosomal dominant
Only one parent needs to pass the genetic mutation onto their child for their child to inherit the mutation.
If only dad has the mutation, there’s 100% that female offspring will be carriers and no male offspring will be affected. If only mom the mutation, there’s a 50% chance that female offspring will be carriers and a 50% chance male offspring will have the condition. If both parents have the mutation, 50% of male offspring will have the condition and 100% of female offspring will have the mutation.
Babies assigned male or female have an X chromosome. Mutations on the X chromosome can pass in a dominant or recessive pattern, but not every pattern is clear on how the child acquired the mutation from their parents.
The mitochondria are the part of a cell that creates energy. Only mitochondria from the egg survive fertilization, when the two cells come together. So, all maternal DNA in the embryo come from the egg. This is why mitochondrial inheritance is also known as maternal inheritance.
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no
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-mutation-441
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Genetic Mutation | Learn Science at Scitable
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Although the haploid human genome consists of 3 billion nucleotides, changes in even a single base pair can result in dramatic physiological malfunctions. For example, sickle-cell anemia is a disease caused by the smallest of genetic changes. Here, the alteration of a single nucleotide in the gene for the beta chain of the hemoglobin protein (the oxygen-carrying protein that makes blood red) is all it takes to turn a normal hemoglobin gene into a sickle-cell hemoglobin gene. This single nucleotide change alters only one amino acid in the protein chain, but the results are devastating.
Beta hemoglobin (beta globin) is a single chain of 147 amino acids. As previously mentioned, in sickle-cell anemia, the gene for beta globin is mutated. The resulting protein still consists of 147 amino acids, but because of the single-base mutation, the sixth amino acid in the chain is valine, rather than glutamic acid. This substitution is depicted in Table 1.
Table 1: Single-Base Mutation Associated with Sickle-Cell Anemia
Sequence for Wild-Type Hemoglobin
ATG
GTG
CAC
CTG
ACT
CCT
GAG
GAG
AAG
TCT
GCC
GTT
ACT
Start
Val
His
Leu
Thr
Pro
Glu
Glu
Lys
Ser
Ala
Val
Thr
Sequence for Mutant (Sickle-Cell) Hemoglobin
ATG
GTG
CAC
CTG
ACT
CCT
GTG
GAG
AAG
TCT
GCC
GTT
ACT
Start
Val
His
Leu
Thr
Pro
Val
Glu
Lys
Ser
Ala
Val
Thr
Molecules of sickle-cell hemoglobin stick to one another, forming rigid rods. These rods cause a person's red blood cells to take on a deformed, sickle-like shape, thus giving the disease its name. The rigid, misshapen blood cells do not carry oxygen well, and they also tend to clog capillaries, causing an affected person's blood supply to be cut off to various tissues, including the brain and the heart. Therefore, when an afflicted individual exerts himself or herself even slightly, he or she often experiences terrible pain, and he or she might even undergo heart attack or stroke—all because of a single nucleotide mutation (Figure 1).
A sickle-shaped red blood cell is shown among a group of healthy red blood cells. A change in a single amino acid in one of the hemoglobin proteins is responsible for causing the abnormal sickle shape of this red blood cell.
Sickle-cell anemia is one of hundreds of life-threatening disorders that are known to be caused by a change in just one of those 3 billion A's, T's, C's, or G's. Because so many diseases are associated with mutations, it is common for mutations to have a negative connotation. However, while many mutations are indeed deleterious, others are "silent"; that is, they have no discernible effect on the phenotype of an individual and remain undetected unless a molecular biologist takes a DNAsample for sequence analysis. In addition, some mutations are actually beneficial. For example, the very same mutation that causes sickle-cell anemia in affected individuals (i.e., those people who have inherited twomutant copies of the beta globin gene) can confer a survival advantage to unaffected carriers (i.e., those people who have inherited one mutant copy and one normal copy of the gene, and who generally do not show symptoms of the disease) when these people are challenged with the malaria pathogen. As a result, the sickle-cell mutation persists in populations where malaria is endemic.
Beyond the individual level, perhaps the most dramatic effect of mutation relates to its role in evolution; indeed, without mutation, evolution would not be possible. This is because mutations provide the "raw material" upon which the mechanisms of natural selection can act. By way of this process, those mutations that furnish individual organisms with characteristics better adapted to changing environmental conditions are passed on to offspring at an increased rate, thereby influencing the future of the species.
The Relationship Between Mutations and Polymorphisms
While a mutation is defined as any alteration in the DNA sequence, biologists use the term "single nucleotide polymorphism" (SNP) to refer to a single base pair alteration that is common in the population. Specifically, a polymorphism is any genetic location at which at least two different sequences are found, with each sequence present in at least 1% of the population. Note that the term "polymorphism" is generally used to refer to a normal variation, or one that does not directly cause disease. Moreover, the cutoff of at least 1% prevalence for a variation to be classified as a polymorphism is somewhat arbitrary; if the frequency is lower than this, the allele is typically regarded as a mutation (Twyman, 2003).
SNPs are important as markers, or signposts, for scientists to use when they look at populations of organisms in an attempt to find genetic changes that predispose individuals to certain traits, including disease. On average, SNPs are found every 1,000–2,000 nucleotides in the human genome, and scientists participating in the International HapMap Consortium have mapped millions of these alterations (International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, 2001).
Types of Changes in DNA
The DNA in any cell can be altered through environmental exposure to certain chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, other genetic insults, or even errors that occur during the process of replication. If a mutation occurs in a germ-line cell (one that will give rise to gametes, i.e., egg or sperm cells), then this mutation can be passed to an organism's offspring. This means that every cell in the developing embryo will carry the mutation. As opposed to germ-line mutations, somatic mutations occur in cells found elsewhere in an organism's body. Such mutations are passed to daughter cells during the process of mitosis (Figure 2), but they are not passed to offspring conceived via sexual reproduction.
Figure 2: Mutations can occur in germ-line cells or somatic cells.
Germ-line mutations occur in reproductive cells (sperm or eggs) and are passed to an organism’s offspring during sexual reproduction. Somatic mutations occur in non-reproductive cells; they are passed to daughter cells during mitosis but not to offspring during sexual reproduction.
As mentioned, sickle-cell anemia is the result of a change in a single nucleotide, and it represents just one class of mutations called point mutations. Changes in the DNA sequence can also occur at the level of the chromosome, in which large segments of chromosomes are altered. In this case, fragments of chromosomes can be deleted, duplicated, inverted, translocated to different chromosomes, or otherwise rearranged, resulting in changes such as modification of gene dosage, the complete absence of genes, or the alteration of gene sequence. The type of variation that occurs when entire areas of chromosomes are duplicated or lost, called copy number variation (CNV), has especially important implications for human disease and evolution. Table 2 summarizes the types of mutations and provides examples of various diseases associated with each.
Table 2: Types of DNA Mutations and Their Impact
Class of Mutation
Type of Mutation
Description
Human Disease(s) Linked to This Mutation
Point mutation
Substitution
One base is incorrectly added during replication and replaces the pair in the corresponding position on the complementary strand
Sickle-cell anemia
Insertion
One or more extra nucleotides are inserted into replicating DNA, often resulting in a frameshift
One form of beta-thalassemia
Deletion
One or more nucleotides is "skipped" during replication or otherwise excised, often resulting in a frameshift
Mutations can result from a number of events, including unequal crossing-over during meiosis (Figure 3). In addition, some areas of the genome simply seem to be more prone to mutation than others. These "hot spots" are often a result of the DNA sequence itself being more accessible to mutagens. Hot spots include areas of the genome with highly repetitive sequences, such as trinucleotide repeats, in which a sequence of three nucleotides is repeated many times. During DNA replication, these repeat regions are often altered because the polymerase can "slip" as it disassociates and reassociates with the DNA strand (Viguera et al., 2001). To better understand a polymerase slip, imagine you are reading a page of text that is a repeat of a simple sequence. Say that the whole page is just copies of the word "And" ("And And And..."). Now, imagine that while reading the page, you briefly glance away and then look back at the text. It's quite likely that you will have lost your place. As a result, you may read the wrong number of copies from the page. Similarly, DNA polymerase sometimes slips and makes mistakes when reading repeats.
Figure 3: Unequal crossing-over during meiosis.
When homologous chromosomes misalign during meiosis, unequal crossing-over occurs. The result is the deletion of a DNA sequence in one chromosome, and the insertion of a DNA sequence in the other chromosome.
In other cases, mutations alter the way a gene is read through either the insertion or the deletion of a single base. In these so-called frameshift mutations, entire proteins are altered as a result of the deletion or insertion. This occurs because nucleotides are read by ribosomes in groups of three, called codons. Thus, if the number of bases removed or inserted from a gene is not a multiple of three, the reading frame for the rest of the protein is thrown off. To better understand this concept, consider the following sentence composed entirely of three-letter words, which provides an analogy for a series of three-letter codons:
THE BIG BAD FLY HAD ONE RED EYE AND ONE BLU EYE.
Now, say that a mutation eliminates the first G. As a result, the rest of the sentence is read incorrectly:
THE BIB ADF LYH ADO NER EDE YEA NDO NEB LUE YE.
The same will happen in a protein. For example, a protein might have the following coding sequence:
AUG AAA CUU CGC AGG AUG AUG AUG
A codontranslation table (Figure 4) can be used to determine that this mRNA sequence would encode the following stretch of protein:
Met-Lys-Leu-Arg-Arg-Met-Met-Met
Now, suppose that a mutation removes the fourth nucleotide. The resulting code, separated into triplet codons, would read as follows:
AUG AAC UUC GCA GGA UGA UGA UG
This would encode the following stretch of protein:
Met-Asn-Phe-Ala-Gly-STOP-STOP
Each of the STOP codons tells the ribosome to terminate protein synthesis at that point. Thus, the mutant protein is entirely different due to the deletion, and it's shorter due to the premature stop codon.
Figure 4: The amino acids specified by each mRNA codon. Multiple codons can code for the same amino acid.
The codons are written 5' to 3', as they appear in the mRNA. AUG is an initiation codon; UAA, UAG, and UGA are termination (stop) codons.
How Mutations Occur
As previously mentioned, DNA in any cell can be altered by way of a number of factors, including environmental influences, certain chemicals, spontaneous mutations, and errors that occur during the process of replication. Each of these mechanisms is discussed in greater detail in the following sections.
Mutations and the Environment
DNA interacts with the environment, and sometimes that interaction can be detrimental to genetic information. In fact, every time you go outside, you put your DNA in danger, because ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun can induce mutations in your skin cells. One type of UV-generated mutation involves the hydrolysis of a cytosine base to a hydrate form, causing the base to mispair with adenine during the next round of replication and ultimately be replaced by thymine. Indeed, researchers have found an extremely high rate of occurrence of this UV-induced C-to-T fingerprint-type mutation in genes associated with basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer (Seidl et al., 2001).
UV light can also cause covalent bonds to form between adjacent pyrimidine bases on a DNA strand, which results in the formation of pyrimidine dimers. Repair machinery exists to cope with these mutations, but it is somewhat prone to error, which means that some dimers go unrepaired. Furthermore, some people have an inherited genetic disorder called xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), which involves mutations in the genes that code for the proteins involved in repairing UV-light damage. In people with XP, exposure to UV light triggers a high frequency of mutations in skin cells, which in turn results in a high occurrence of skin cancer. As a result, such individuals are unable to go outdoors during daylight hours.
In addition to ultraviolet light, organisms are exposed to more energetic ionizing radiation in the form of cosmic rays, gamma rays, and X-rays. Ionizing radiation induces double-stranded breaks in DNA, and the resulting repair can likewise introduce mutations if carried out imperfectly. Unlike UV light, however, these forms of radiation penetrate tissue well, so they can cause mutations anywhere in the body.
Mutations Caused by Chemicals
Oxidizing agents, commonly known as free radicals, are substances that can chemically modify nucleotides in ways that alter their base-pairing capacities. For instance, dioxin intercalates between base pairs, disrupting the integrity of the DNA helix and predisposing that site to insertions or deletions. Similarly, benzo[a]pyrene, a known carcinogen and a component of cigarette smoke, has been demonstrated to induce lesions at guanine bases in the tumor suppressor gene P53 at codons 157, 248, and 273. These codons are the major mutational hot spots seen in clinical studies of human lung cancers (Denissenko et al., 1996). Mutations such as these that are fairly specific to particular mutagens are called signature mutations. A variety of chemicals beyond those mentioned here are known to induce such mutations.
Spontaneous Mutations
Mutations can also occur spontaneously. For instance, depurination (Figure 5), in which a purine base is lost from a nucleotide through hydrolysis even though the sugar-phosphate backbone is unaltered, can occur without an explicit insult from the environment. If uncorrected by DNA repair enzymes, depurination may result in the incorporation of an incorrect base during the next round of replication.
Figure 5: Depurination is a spontaneous mutation that occurs when a nucleotide loses a purine base.
During replication, two strands of DNA separate. If a nucleotide on one strand has lost a purine base, the apurinic site on this strand cannot provide a template for a complementary base on the newly-synthesized strand. An incorrect nucleotide (most often adenine) is inserted into the newly-synthesized strand, across from the empty apurinic site on the template strand. The result is a normal double-stranded DNA molecule that does not contain a mutation, and a mutant double-stranded DNA molecule. When the mutant DNA undergoes a second round of replication, the incorrectly incorporated base (adenine) acquired during the previous replication round is used as a template for synthesizing a new DNA strand. The two resulting double-stranded DNA molecules each contain a permanent mutation in both of their strands.
Deamination, or the removal of an amine group from a base, may also occur. Deamination of cytosine converts it to uracil, which will pair with adenine instead of guanine at the next replication, resulting in a base substitution. Repair enzymes can recognize uracil as not belonging in DNA, and they will normally repair such a lesion. However, if the cytosine residue in question is methylated (a common modification involved in gene regulation), deamination will instead result in conversion to thymine. Because thymine is a normal component of DNA, this change will go unrecognized by repair enzymes (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Deamination is a spontaneous mutation that occurs when an amine group is removed from a nitrogenous base.
The nitrogenous base cytosine is converted to uracil after the loss of an amine group. Because uracil forms base-pairs with adenine, while cytosine forms base-pairs with guanine, the conversion of cytosine to uracil causes base substitutions in DNA.
Errors During DNA Replication
Errors that occur during DNA replication play an important role in some mutations, especially trinucleotide repeat (TNR) expansions. It is thought that the ability of repeat sequences to form secondary structures, such as intrastrand hairpins, during replication might contribute to slippage of DNA polymerase, causing this enzyme to slide back and repeat replication of the previous segment (Figure 7). Supporting this hypothesis, lagging-strand synthesis has been shown to be particularly sensitive to repeat expansion. For instance, the secondary structure of some TNR DNA has been shown to inhibit an enzyme (FEN1) necessary for proper resolution of the Okazaki fragments generated during lagging-strand replication; as a result, FEN1mutant yeast cells demonstrate increased expansion of CAG repeats.
As previously mentioned, repeats also occur in nonmitotic tissue, and CAG repeats have further been shown to accumulate in mice defective for individual DNA repair pathways, suggesting that multiple repair mechanisms must be operative in repeat expansion in nonproliferating cells (Pearson et al., 2005). In agreement with this hypothesis, studies have revealed increased repeat instability following induction of double-stranded breaks and UV-induced lesions, which are corrected by nucleotide excision repair.
To date, all diseases associated with TNRs involve repeat instability upon transmission from parent to offspring, often in a sex-specific manner. For example, the CAG repeats that characterize Huntington's disease typically exhibit greater expansion when inherited paternally. This expansion has been shown to occur prior to meiosis, when germ cells are proliferating. Contraction of other TNRs has been linked to sex-specific differences in germ-line DNA methylation patterns (Pearson et al., 2005).
Mutations, DNA Repair, and Evolution
Thus, mutations are not always a result of mutagens encountered in the environment. There is a natural—albeit low—error rate that occurs during DNA replication. In most cases, the extensive network of DNA repair machinery that exists in the cell halts cell division before an incorrectly placed nucleotide is set in place and a mismatch is made in the complementary strand. However, if the repair machinery does not catch the mistake before the complementary strand is formed, the mutation is established in the cell. This mutation can then be inherited in daughter cells or in embryos (if the mutation has occurred in the germ line).
Together, these different classes of mutations and their causes serve to place organisms at risk for disease and to provide the raw material for evolution. Thus, mutations are often detrimental to individuals, but they serve to diversify the overall population.
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Types of Changes in DNA
The DNA in any cell can be altered through environmental exposure to certain chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, other genetic insults, or even errors that occur during the process of replication. If a mutation occurs in a germ-line cell (one that will give rise to gametes, i.e., egg or sperm cells), then this mutation can be passed to an organism's offspring. This means that every cell in the developing embryo will carry the mutation. As opposed to germ-line mutations, somatic mutations occur in cells found elsewhere in an organism's body. Such mutations are passed to daughter cells during the process of mitosis (Figure 2), but they are not passed to offspring conceived via sexual reproduction.
Figure 2: Mutations can occur in germ-line cells or somatic cells.
Germ-line mutations occur in reproductive cells (sperm or eggs) and are passed to an organism’s offspring during sexual reproduction. Somatic mutations occur in non-reproductive cells; they are passed to daughter cells during mitosis but not to offspring during sexual reproduction.
As mentioned, sickle-cell anemia is the result of a change in a single nucleotide, and it represents just one class of mutations called point mutations. Changes in the DNA sequence can also occur at the level of the chromosome, in which large segments of chromosomes are altered. In this case, fragments of chromosomes can be deleted, duplicated, inverted, translocated to different chromosomes, or otherwise rearranged, resulting in changes such as modification of gene dosage, the complete absence of genes, or the alteration of gene sequence. The type of variation that occurs when entire areas of chromosomes are duplicated or lost, called copy number variation (CNV), has especially important implications for human disease and evolution. Table 2 summarizes the types of mutations and provides examples of various diseases associated with each.
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no
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/corals-upend-longstanding-idea-about-genetic-inheritance-70450
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Corals Upend Longstanding Idea About Genetic Inheritance | The ...
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Corals Upend Longstanding Idea About Genetic Inheritance
Most animals can’t pass on mutations that arise spontaneously throughout their lives—but Elkhorn corals can.
Natalia Mesa was previously an intern at The Scientist and now freelances. She has a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s in biological sciences from Cornell University.
Corals native to Caribbean waters may have broken a basic tenet of biology. When a mutation occurs in the body cells of nearly any animal on Earth, it’s not passed on to offspring via reproductive cells. But these corals do pass on such mutations, according to a new study published in Science Advances yesterday (August 31).
The finding points to a new source of genetic variation in coral that may hasten the rate at which these organisms evolve and adapt.
“It’s the first report of somatic mutations being passed [via reproductive cells] in an animal, as far as I can tell,” says Daniel Schoen, an evolutionary biologist at McGill University who was not involved in the study. “I’m not sure they make that claim, but I haven’t seen that before in the literature.”
Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), found in reefs throughout the Caribbean coast, grows in long, fractal-like branches that resemble its namesake—elk horns. Corals with the same genetic makeup can exist in massive mile-long colonies, indicating they’ve been around for centuries. Study coauthor Iliana Baums, a marine biologist at Penn State University, has been studying the corals for years, trying to make sense of why and how they live so long. As corals age, they accumulate a number of somatic mutations—that is, mutations in their bodies rather than their germ cells—that they must live with.
Baums is also interested in the genetic diversity of corals, so she studies how they reproduce. Elkhorn coral reproduces both sexually and asexually. During asexual reproduction, a portion of the parent coral either breaks or buds off and attaches to the seabed nearby. Sexual reproduction is a bigger event: Every August, shortly after the full moon, all of the corals in a reef sync up to release their reproductive cells at once, which can then merge in the water. Eggs typically require fertilization by sperm from different colonies, then turn into larvae and swim up to hundreds of miles away to establish a new colony. “It’s an absolutely stunning experience,” says Baums. “It looks like it snows, but the wrong way around, from the bottom.”
Elkhorn coral during a spawning event
Mark Vermeij
It was while Baums and her team were investigating such a fertilization event at a study site in Curaçao that they accidentally made the discovery that elkhorn coral could pass along somatic mutations. They were looking for which of the surrounding corals had fertilized eggs at the site, and, to their surprise, found that the corals had self-fertilized.
During the process of comparing the genomes of the parent corals with the offspring that arose via self fertilization and the nearby clones that arose via budding, she and her team realized “that this really old clone had accumulated a number of somatic mutations, and those somatic mutations ended up in those [offspring],” she says. Since the corals had self-fertilized, limiting the number of genetic possibilities that could occur in the offspring, the researchers could relatively easily search for somatic mutations. They found 268 somatic mutations in the parent clone, with each nearby clone that arose from the parent sharing between 2 and 149 of these mutations. Around 50 percent of the mutations found in the parent clone also showed up in offspring that were produced via self-fertilization. “It’s really unusual for an animal,” says Baums.
It turned out that self-fertilization wasn’t required to pass along the somatic mutations: After unfertilized eggs from the clone in Curaçao joined with sperm from a coral in Florida, they produced offspring that also shared somatic mutations with the Curaçao parent.
Previously, it was thought that in order for mutations to be passed on to offspring in animals, they need to be present in the reproductive or germline cells. Mutations that develop throughout life are thought to remain only in our body cells. Baums says that the researchers aren’t sure how germ cells are acquiring these mutations, but they hypothesize that the somatic cells may have dedifferentiated into stem cells, and then redifferentiated into germ cells.
“This is an observation we made that’s just really stunning. It’s just unexpected,” Baums says. She says that somatic mutations might be a previously-unrecognized source of genetic diversity for corals, which might influence how they adapt in response to stressors such as ocean warming and acidification. “We really want to understand what evolutionary impact the somatic mutations might have. Are they really a source for novelty and an adaptation for these corals that might be significant, given the huge stressors these corals are exposed to at the moment?”
But Michael Lynch, a geneticist at Arizona State University who was not involved in the work, says that the conclusions the authors suggest are “a bit of an oversell.” He says he’s “a bit skeptical that . . . what [the authors] are seeing here could have implications for our understanding of evolutionary rates.”
He adds, “it’s not clear that the mutation rate differs between somatic vs. germline . . . and if it does not, then nothing is gained or lost” in terms of how much variation parents are providing to offspring.
Much of the process by which corals transfer somatic mutations to reproductive cells remains a mystery, but Baums says her team intends to find out.
Correction (September 13): The article was updated to distinguish between self-fertilization, a type of sexual reproduction, and asexual reproduction and to reflect the contributions the coauthors made to the scientific discoveries. The article was also updated to reflect that corals asexually reproduce via fragmentation as well as budding. The Scientist regrets the errors.
Meet the Author
Natalia Mesa, PhD
Natalia Mesa was previously an intern at The Scientist and now freelances. She has a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s in biological sciences from Cornell University.
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Since the corals had self-fertilized, limiting the number of genetic possibilities that could occur in the offspring, the researchers could relatively easily search for somatic mutations. They found 268 somatic mutations in the parent clone, with each nearby clone that arose from the parent sharing between 2 and 149 of these mutations. Around 50 percent of the mutations found in the parent clone also showed up in offspring that were produced via self-fertilization. “It’s really unusual for an animal,” says Baums.
It turned out that self-fertilization wasn’t required to pass along the somatic mutations: After unfertilized eggs from the clone in Curaçao joined with sperm from a coral in Florida, they produced offspring that also shared somatic mutations with the Curaçao parent.
Previously, it was thought that in order for mutations to be passed on to offspring in animals, they need to be present in the reproductive or germline cells. Mutations that develop throughout life are thought to remain only in our body cells. Baums says that the researchers aren’t sure how germ cells are acquiring these mutations, but they hypothesize that the somatic cells may have dedifferentiated into stem cells, and then redifferentiated into germ cells.
“This is an observation we made that’s just really stunning. It’s just unexpected,” Baums says. She says that somatic mutations might be a previously-unrecognized source of genetic diversity for corals, which might influence how they adapt in response to stressors such as ocean warming and acidification. “We really want to understand what evolutionary impact the somatic mutations might have. Are they really a source for novelty and an adaptation for these corals that might be significant, given the huge stressors these corals are exposed to at the moment?”
But Michael Lynch, a geneticist at Arizona State University who was not involved in the work, says that the conclusions the authors suggest are “a bit of an oversell.” He says he’s “a bit skeptical that . . .
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yes
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/coral-can-pass-somatic-mutations-to-offspring-365281
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Coral Can Pass Somatic Mutations Down to Offspring | Technology ...
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The Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, grows into large stands via polyp budding and fragmentation so that many colonies belong to the same clone or genet. During growth, mutations can accumulate in its cells and new research shows that the Ekhorn coral is able to pass these mutations onto to their sexual offspring. This is unlike most animals that prevent such a transfer from the body to reproductive cells. Credit: Iliana Baums.
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Scientists from Pennsylvania State University have published a new study in Science Advances demonstrating that coral can pass somatic mutations to future generations.
The Weissman barrier and germline mutations
Over recent decades, we have witnessed remarkable progress in the field of DNA research, owing to the completion of landmark projects such as the Human Genome Project (HGP) and advancements in modern technologies such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing. The ability to identify genomic mutations and characterize the phenotypic consequence of such mutations has furthered our understanding of genetic diversity and evolution.
A core tenet of biology was first outlined by August Weissman in 1892 – known as the “Weissman barrier”. This theory proposes that germ cells – or reproductive cells – are “fundamentally separate” from somatic cells. “For most animals, a new genetic mutation can only contribute to evolutionary change if it occurs in a germline or reproductive cell, for example in an egg or sperm cell. Mutations that occur in the rest of the body, in the somatic cells, were thought to be evolutionarily irrelevant because they do not get passed on to offspring,” says Iliana Baums, professor of Biology at Penn State.
A new discovery by Baums and colleagues challenges this principle: “Corals appear to have a way around this barrier that seems to allow them to break this evolutionary rule,” she says.
In most animals, the reproductive cells are isolated from somatic cells in early development. This means that only mutations occurring in the reproductive cells can be passed on to offspring, which can occur rarely and makes evolution a slow process. “However, for some organisms, like corals, the segregation of reproductive cells from all other cells may occur later in development or may never occur at all, allowing a path for genetic mutations to travel from a parent’s body to its offspring," Kate Vasquez Kuntz, a graduate student at Penn State and the co-lead author of the study explains. “This would increase genetic variation and potentially even serve as a “pre-screening” system for advantageous mutations.” Corals are not the only animals in which the germline segregates later in development – this process also occurs in flatworms, sea urchins and hydrozoans.
Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) are found in the Caribbean and resemble an “elk” tree due to their many branches. They can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
In 2018, the Penn State researchers observed that coral eggs collected from a single parent colony in Curaçao could spontaneously developed without the need for a second coral. “This single-parent reproduction allowed us to search more easily for potential somatic mutations from the parent coral and track them into the offspring by simplifying the total number of genetic possibilities that could occur in the offspring,” Dr. Sheila Kitchen, co-lead author of the study, a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State and the California Institute of Technology, comments.
Taking samples from 10 different locations on a large Elkhorn colony that had produced single-parent offspring, and samples from 5 neighboring colonies, the researchers used microarray technology to conduct a genotype analysis – searching for DNA differences between the samples.
They found that the six separate colonies belonged to the same coral genotype; put simply – they were all clones derived from one original colony, produced via asexual reproduction. Any genetic variation identified between these corals would therefore have to be a product of somatic mutation, not germline.
Vasquez Kuntz and team discovered a total of 268 somatic mutations in the samples, with each of the corals possessing between 2–149 mutations individually. When conducting genetic analysis on the offspring of the single-parent Elkhorn coral colony, they found that ~50% of the somatic mutations had been inherited.
How? The molecular mechanisms that enable somatic mutation inheritance are yet to be determined. The researchers hypothesize that segregation between somatic and germline cells in corals might be incomplete – i.e., some somatic cells may be able to maintain the ability to transform into germ cells.
“Because corals grow as colonies of genetically-identical polyps, somatic mutations that arise in one coral polyp can be exposed to the environment and screened for their utility without necessarily affecting the entire colony,” said Baums.
Cells that carry harmful mutations may therefore die off, providing an evolutionary advantage to the coral colony – a characteristic that could help them defend against climate change. “If these mutations can then be passed on to offspring — as we have now demonstrated — it means that corals have an additional tool that might be able to speed up their adaptation to climate change,” Baums concludes.
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The Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, grows into large stands via polyp budding and fragmentation so that many colonies belong to the same clone or genet. During growth, mutations can accumulate in its cells and new research shows that the Ekhorn coral is able to pass these mutations onto to their sexual offspring. This is unlike most animals that prevent such a transfer from the body to reproductive cells. Credit: Iliana Baums.
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Read time:
Scientists from Pennsylvania State University have published a new study in Science Advances demonstrating that coral can pass somatic mutations to future generations.
The Weissman barrier and germline mutations
Over recent decades, we have witnessed remarkable progress in the field of DNA research, owing to the completion of landmark projects such as the Human Genome Project (HGP) and advancements in modern technologies such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing.
|
yes
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://www.genomicseducation.hee.nhs.uk/genotes/knowledge-hub/constitutional-germline-vs-somatic-tumour-variants/
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Constitutional (germline) vs somatic (tumour) variants — Knowledge ...
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Constitutional (germline) vs somatic (tumour) variants
Constitutional (also known as germline) variants are present in all the body’s cells, including the germ cells, and can therefore be passed on to offspring; somatic variants arise during an individual’s lifetime in tissues other than the germ cells and so are not passed on.
Where do variants come from?
Variants in a person’s genome can be inherited from either or both parents, or they can arise in a person’s DNA for the first time, which is known as a de novo variant, or a new variant. Variants may also be referred to as mutations, especially when referring to those associated with cancer.
De novo variants can arise during natural cellular processes, such as cell growth and division, or as a result of exposure to environmental factors, such as smoking, UV light, or other harmful agents. Sophisticated mechanisms exist within our cells to prevent or reduce the chance of this happening, but sometimes changes are not detected and new variation is introduced.
Depending on the type of cell that the new variant has been introduced into, the variant may or may not be passed on to future generations. Variants in somatic cells cannot be passed on from one generation to the next, whereas both inherited and de novo variants in germline cells can be.
Constitutional (germline) variants
Any variant that occurs in a gamete (egg or sperm) or cells that produce gametes (germ cells) is termed a constitutional, or germline, variant. The resulting embryo and baby will have the variant in every cell of their body that contains a copy of the genome, including the cells that produce their own gametes (see figure 1). The variants could therefore be passed on to their offspring, who in turn could pass the variants on to their offspring and so on.
When considering inheritance of a genetic condition, it is those that are the result of a constitutional (germline) variant that have implications for the patient’s relatives.
Figure 1: Constitutional (germline) variants
Somatic variants
Cells that are not part of the germline are called somatic cells, and any changes to the DNA that occur within these cells are known as somatic variants. Somatic variants are not present in every cell in the body, and are not passed from parent to child.
A somatic variant can be present in a large number of cells in the body or just a few, depending on when in a person’s lifetime the new variant occurs. If the change occurs early in embryo development, a large proportion of the individual’s cells may contain the new variant. If the change occurs later in development, then it may only be present in a particular tissue type, or only part of a tissue (see figure 2). This results in different cells in the body having slight differences in their genomes – some with the variant and some without – known as mosaicism.
Figure 2: Somatic variants
Clinical example: Cancer
Most cancers are a result of somatic mutations, which is why many cancers are localised to a particular organ or tissue of the body.
In the context of cancer, the term ‘somatic mutations’ refers to those changes that have accumulated in the cancer genome, either as drivers of oncogenesis or as passenger mutations, but are not present constitutionally in the individual.
Constitutional (germline) variants in cancer predisposition genes are present in affected individuals in all the body’s nucleic cells, as well as the cancer genome, and may therefore be inherited. These underlie inherited cancer predisposition syndromes, such as Lynch syndrome and hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome.
Watch the video to hear honorary consultant in clinical genetics Professor Clare Turnbull talk about the “two different genomes” that are relevant in oncology.
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Variants in somatic cells cannot be passed on from one generation to the next, whereas both inherited and de novo variants in germline cells can be.
Constitutional (germline) variants
Any variant that occurs in a gamete (egg or sperm) or cells that produce gametes (germ cells) is termed a constitutional, or germline, variant. The resulting embryo and baby will have the variant in every cell of their body that contains a copy of the genome, including the cells that produce their own gametes (see figure 1). The variants could therefore be passed on to their offspring, who in turn could pass the variants on to their offspring and so on.
When considering inheritance of a genetic condition, it is those that are the result of a constitutional (germline) variant that have implications for the patient’s relatives.
Figure 1: Constitutional (germline) variants
Somatic variants
Cells that are not part of the germline are called somatic cells, and any changes to the DNA that occur within these cells are known as somatic variants. Somatic variants are not present in every cell in the body, and are not passed from parent to child.
A somatic variant can be present in a large number of cells in the body or just a few, depending on when in a person’s lifetime the new variant occurs. If the change occurs early in embryo development, a large proportion of the individual’s cells may contain the new variant. If the change occurs later in development, then it may only be present in a particular tissue type, or only part of a tissue (see figure 2). This results in different cells in the body having slight differences in their genomes – some with the variant and some without – known as mosaicism.
Figure 2: Somatic variants
Clinical example: Cancer
Most cancers are a result of somatic mutations, which is why many cancers are localised to a particular organ or tissue of the body.
In the context of cancer, the term ‘somatic mutations’ refers to those changes that have accumulated in the cancer genome, either as drivers of oncogenesis or as passenger mutations, but are not present constitutionally in the individual.
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no
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10682-022-10188-3
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Fitness effects of somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative ...
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Abstract
The unique life form of plants promotes the accumulation of somatic mutations that can be passed to offspring in the next generation, because the same meristem cells responsible for vegetative growth also generate gametes for sexual reproduction. However, little is known about the consequences of somatic mutation accumulation for offspring fitness. We evaluate the fitness effects of somatic mutations in Mimulus guttatus by comparing progeny from self-pollinations made within the same flower (autogamy) to progeny from self-pollinations made between stems on the same plant (geitonogamy). The effects of somatic mutations are evident from this comparison, as autogamy leads to homozygosity of a proportion of somatic mutations, but progeny from geitonogamy remain heterozygous for mutations unique to each stem. In two different experiments, we find consistent fitness effects of somatic mutations from individual stems. Surprisingly, several progeny groups from autogamous crosses displayed increases in fitness compared to progeny from geitonogamy crosses, likely indicating that beneficial somatic mutations occurred in some stems. These results support the hypothesis that somatic mutations accumulate during vegetative growth, but they are filtered by different forms of selection that occur throughout development, resulting in the culling of expressed deleterious mutations and the retention of beneficial mutations.
Working on a manuscript?
Introduction
Mutation is the source of variation for evolution and adaptation, but organisms differ in whether mutations originating during gamete formation (meiosis) or somatic growth (mitosis) contribute to heritable variation. For the vast majority of organisms, including viruses, unicellular microbes, and some multicellular eukaryotes, sexual reproduction is rare or absent. In these organisms, mutations can occur during mitotic cell replication, and the primary mechanism for adaptation and diversification occurs via selection on cell lineages without recombination. By contrast, acquired mutations occurring during somatic growth of animals are not heritable. This is because in most metazoans (but possibly excepting corals; Barfield et al. 2016; Schweinsberg et al. 2014), the germline is determined early in development and relatively few cell divisions occur before the formation of gametes (the Weismann Barrier; Buss 1983). Consequently, heritable mutations typically occur in animals only during the development of gonads and gametes.
Plants differ from animals and microbes, because mutations contributing to heritable variation can arise both during gamete formation and somatic growth (Antolin and Strobeck 1985; Klekowski and Godfrey 1989). This is due to the fact that plants lack a separate germline and grow from the division of a population of undifferentiated meristem cells within the stem tip that is known as the central zone. These germ cell lineages go on to produce future stem, leaf, and reproductive tissues (e.g., flowers). Therefore, as plants grow, individual ramets of the same genet (separate stems or vegetatively propagated plants) can continue to accumulate mitotic mutations, which can make their way into the gametes and thus be passed to the next generation (Bobiwash et al. 2013; Dubrovina and Kiselev 2016; Klekowski 2003; McKnight et al. 2002; Schmid-Siegert et al. 2017; Schultz and Scofield 2009; Watson et al. 2016; Yu et al. 2020). This aspect of plant biology is well known (Ally et al. 2010; Monro and Poore 2009; Monroe et al. 2022; Reusch and Bostrom 2011), and somatic mutation accumulation has been important in agriculture, where the origin of many clonally-derived varieties of fruits, including citrus, apples, and wine grapes, have been cultivated by grafting from genetically differentiated bud tips (Aradhya et al. 2003; Jarni et al. 2015; McKey et al. 2010; Miller and Gross 2011; Pelsy et al. 2015; Vezzulli et al. 2012). Thus, since somatic mutations can be heritable, they may be an important source of genetic variation for evolution. However, there is disagreement over the extent and evolutionary importance of somatic mutation accumulation in plants (Burian et al. 2016; Hanlon et al. 2019; Kuhlemeier 2017; Plomion et al. 2018; Schmid-Siegert et al. 2017; Schultz and Scofield 2009; Watson et al. 2016).
When we consider the potential for meiotic and somatic mutations to contribute to the total mutational load of plant populations—particularly for long-lived plants—it becomes evident that not all of the mutations occurring during a plant’s lifespan are passed to the next generation (Cruzan 2018, pp. 86–98). Indeed, plants have mechanisms of “developmental selection” (Buchholz 1922; Langridge 1958; Williams et al. 1999) that occur during vegetative growth and reproduction to filter the set of mutations that are inherited by progeny (Monroe et al. 2022). New somatic mutations occur as a single copy within the diploid genome, so their fitness effects for the germ cells that carry them will depend on their expression in the heterozygous state. Mathematical models have demonstrated that unexpressed mutations (i.e. neutral and recessive deleterious mutations) are likely to accumulate as germ cells divide, but expressed mutations that reduce cell growth will be eliminated. More rarely, expressed beneficial mutations will arise, such that any mutations that elevate the rate of cell division will tend to increase in frequency until they have replaced the entire germ cell population (clonal selective sweep; Lang et al. 2013; Nowell 1976). As a consequence, the composition of mutations carried by the germ cell population will be altered (Elena and Lenski 2003; Greaves and Maley 2012; Long et al. 2015; Orive 2001; Otto and Hastings 1998; Otto and Orive 1995). This process—referred to as cell lineage selection—will lead to some ramets carrying deleterious somatic mutations, while others could possess beneficial mutations.
In addition to cell lineage selection, some proportion of recessive deleterious mutations may be eliminated during the haploid life stage due to pollen tube attrition and pollen competition (Gemetophytic Selection; Armbruster and Rogers 2004; Arunkumar et al. 2013; Cruzan 1989; Harder et al. 2016; Mable and Otto 1998; Mulcahy 1979). Moreover, a portion of deleterious mutations will be homozygous in zygotes, which can lead to higher rates of seed and fruit abortion (Selective Embryo Abortion; Husband and Schemske 1995; Korbecka et al. 2002), thereby increasing the average fitness of surviving offspring (Cruzan and Thomson 1997; Mena-AlÍ and Rocha 2005). The sum effects of these processes of developmental selection, which include cell lineage selection, gametophytic selection, and selective embryo abortion, may filter the set of mutations that enters the next generation. Therefore, understanding the role of somatic mutations for plant biology is critical to fundamental assumptions concerning the frequencies of deleterious and beneficial mutations in populations, and to the processes of adaptation and diversification.
In this study, we make crosses within individual clones of hermaphroditic plants to assess the fitness effects of inherited mutations that accumulated during somatic growth. Although it is often challenging to track the effects of somatic mutations that accumulate within a single generation, plants with separate stems contain distinct germ cell lineages that are derived from the same zygote. As a consequence, each stem can potentially contain different sets of somatic mutations that have originated during growth. By making crosses either within the same flower (autogamy) or between flowers on separate stems of the same plant (inter-ramet geitonogamy—hereafter referred to as geitonogamy), we can produce progeny segregating for somatic mutations unique to each stem (Fig. 1). These crosses are both self-fertilizations, but the offspring of each cross type will differ in the complement of somatic mutations that they inherit. For a diploid plant, we can assume that somatic mutations (a → aʹ) will be in the heterozygous state when they first appear. For progeny generated via autogamy, a somatic mutation will segregate as 25% homozygous (aʹaʹ), 50% heterozygous (aaʹ), and 25% the original (wildtype) homozygote (aa). By contrast, because progeny from geitonogamous crosses will segregate for somatic mutations that are unique to each stem, 50% of offspring will be carrying mutations in the heterozygous state, and none of the progeny will be homozygous for mutations that arose in a single stem. Thus, the average fitness effects of somatic mutations can be evaluated by comparing the difference in fitness of progeny generated by autogamous and geitonogamous crosses (Bobiwash et al. 2013; Schultz and Scofield 2009).
Fig. 1
Experimental design to test for the average fitness effects of somatic mutations accumulating in stems of Mimulus guttatus during vegetative growth. A proportion of somatic mutations accumulating during stem growth (dark blue arrows) is made homozygous after within-flower (autogamous) self-pollinations, while all somatic mutations will be heterozygous after between-stem (geitonogamous) self-pollinations. Comparison of the mean fitness of autogamous seedlings (\({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\)) to geitonogamous seedlings from the same stem (\({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\)) provides an estimate of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to each stem (δAD(k) = \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) − \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\))
The effects of deleterious somatic mutations often are apparent as higher rates of embryo abortion after autogamous compared to geitonogamous pollinations, which is referred to as autogamy depression (Schultz and Scofield 2009; Fig. 1). While autogamy depression for seed and fruit abortion has been observed in several species (reviewed in Bobiwash et al. 2013), no previous study has evaluated the fitness effects of somatic mutations inherited by progeny. In this study, we develop and validate methods that use autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollinations to estimate the fitness effects of somatic mutations segregating in offspring, and then use these methods in two separate experiments to estimate the fitness effects of somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative growth in perennial Mimulus guttatus DC (Erythranthe guttata G.L. Nesom; Phrymaceae).
Methods
Estimating the fitness effects of somatic mutations
As described above, progeny from autogamous self-pollinations will be homozygous for a proportion of somatic mutations, while progeny from geitonogamous crosses will be heterozygous. Consequently, we can estimate the average fitness effects of somatic mutations that are unique to each stem by comparing the average fitness of progeny from autogamous (\({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\)) and geitonogamous (\({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\)) crosses to a given stem k as: δAD(k) = \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) − \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\). The parameter δAD(k) has been described before in a slightly different format (referred to as Autogamy Depression; Schultz and Scofield 2009; Bobiwash et al. 2013) and summarizes the average magnitude and overall direction of the fitness effects of all expressed somatic mutations that have been transmitted to the next generation. We note that δAD(k) is a quantitative genetic estimate of the sum effect of all somatic mutations that accumulated in a stem (Bobiwash et al. 2013; Schultz and Scofield 2009) and is analogous to estimates of inbreeding depression (Charlesworth and Willis 2009). While standing genetic variation can also lead to fitness effects in offspring, there is no a priori reason to expect these effects to differ in progeny from fruits on different stems of the same plant. Hence, differences in the fitness of progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations are expected to reflect only the effects of recessive and partially dominant somatic mutations that have accumulated during stem elongation.
Validation of fitness estimates
Given that δAD(k) is based on fitness differences between offspring from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses, it is possible that variation in the dominance of somatic mutations may reduce the reliability of the parameter. In particular, combining somatic mutations from two separate stems in progeny from geitonogamous crosses may reduce fitness and generate estimates of δAD(k) that falsely indicate the presence of beneficial somatic mutations in autogamous progeny, when mutations are actually deleterious (i.e. causing a change in the sign of the estimate). Therefore, to evaluate the reliability of δAD(k), we simulated three different scenarios for variation in the strength of selection and dominance of somatic mutations across multiple stems using randomization functions in Excel (Microsoft Office Professional 2019). First, we assumed that there was only one somatic mutation in each of the two stems, and we calculated expected fitness in the geitonogamous (wG) and autogamous (wA) progeny as;
where s1 and s2 represent the selective effects of mutations, and h1 and h2 represent the dominance coefficients of single somatic mutations in stem 1 and stem 2, respectively. Dominance values were chosen assuming that deleterious somatic mutations with high levels of dominance would be eliminated by cell lineage selection during vegetative growth, and beneficial mutations with high dominance would not display strong fitness differences between autogamous and geitonogamous progeny. For simulations, we randomly chose values of s ranging from -0.2 to 0.2 for 200 pairs of stems. Values of h for s > 0 were allowed to range from 0 to 0.7 for each stem. Because deleterious alleles tend to be recessive (Dudash and Carr 1998; Peters et al. 2003), values of h were constrained to range between 0 and 0.1 for s < 0. To match our experimental design in Mimulus guttatus (see below), we calculated the fitness of autogamous progeny (wA) for one of the stems in each pair. We then calculated wG using information on s and h for both stems in each pair. Then we calculated the difference in fitness between each estimate as a measure of autogamy depression (δAD(k) = wA − wG), compared the estimate of δAD(1) to values of s1, and evaluated the frequency of estimates that were opposite in sign to the actual selective value. This simulation was repeated 20 times (4,000 pairs of stems total) and average values were calculated.
One limitation of the formulation above is that estimates of wG will be out of range when large numbers of mutations are involved (i.e., wG = 1 + 0.5 ∑hi si for a large number of loci segregating for deleterious alleles). To remedy this, we used two sets of fitness calculations for simulations with multiple loci. For the first, we assumed that interactions among somatic mutations would be additive. We estimated the average effect of n loci segregating for deleterious alleles (i.e. ∑hi si /n). If we apply this approach for two loci (one mutation per stem) we obtain,
For a second set of simulations that examined the effects of alleles at multiple loci, we assumed the interactions were multiplicative. In this case, the fitness estimates of geitonogamous and autogamous progeny become,
For both the additive and multiplicative interaction scenarios, we conducted simulations of 200 stems 20 times as described above (a spreadsheet to conduct simulations is available as Appendix 1).
Fitness estimates based on variation among autogamous progeny
To provide additional confirmation of the δAD(k) estimates, we developed an independent approach for estimating the fitness effects of somatic mutations that is based entirely on the variance in mean fitness among autogamous progeny from the same fruit. If somatic mutations affect offspring fitness, variation in fitness should be greater for progeny groups from autogamy than from geitonogamy, as long as mutations do not have complete expression in heterozygotes (i.e. h < 1.0; Appendix 2). This is because somatic mutations will segregate as homozygotes and heterozygotes in autogamous progeny but will remain heterozygous in the progeny of geitonogamous crosses. Therefore, we can estimate the fitness effects of somatic mutations based on the standard deviation in fitness from autogamous crosses (SD), according to the equation: wSD = cSD, where c is the slope of the linear relationship between wSD and SD. For dominance levels of h = 0.0 and 1.0, c = 2.31, and the slope reaches a maximum of 2.83 when h = 0.5 (Appendix 2; Fig. S1). Thus, using only the variation in fitness among progeny from autogamous crosses, we obtain a good approximation of the magnitude of the fitness effects (w) for somatic mutations accumulating in each stem. This approach is independent of δAD(k), which therefore provides an important means of confirming our estimates of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations present in individual stems.
Tests of predictions
From the considerations above, we can identify three predictions for the fitness effects of somatic mutations that occur during stem growth and are passed to offspring. First, on a single stem, the average fitness of progeny deriving from an autogamous cross should be different from the fitness of progeny arising from a geitonogamous cross made using pollen from a different stem. We test for differences in the fitness of progeny from autogamous vs. geitonogamous crosses, and use the mean fitness of each progeny group paired by stem to estimate the sign and magnitude of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations using the formula δAD(k) = \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) − \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\) as described above. The second prediction is that somatic mutations unique to individual stems will result in greater variation in mean fitness among autogamous progeny from the same fruit compared to geitonogamous progeny. We test this prediction by comparing the variance among autogamous and geitonogamous progeny groups. Since we expect each stem to possess unique somatic mutations that will be made homozygous in autogamous progeny, there should be greater variation in mean fitness among autogamous progeny from different stems compared to geitonogamous progeny, which will be heterozygous for somatic mutations or homozygous for the non-mutant allele. Consequently, the third prediction is that somatic mutations will result in significant cross type by stem interactions for mean fitness. Below, we test these three hypotheses using two different experiments with Mimulus guttatus.
Study system
Populations of M. guttatus display a wide range of life histories—from annuals to herbaceous perennials that outcross to varying degrees (Wu et al. 2008). We use perennial M. guttatus plants that produce substantial vegetative growth prior to initiation of flowering. These plants are easily propagated from rosettes, and selfing produces substantial numbers of seeds to allow for statistical comparisons. To increase the chances of detecting somatic mutations that impacted fitness, we exposed plants to novel environments. Furthermore, we exposed parental plants and seedlings to the same controlled environments to evaluate the fitness effects of mutations (Baer et al. 2007; Halligan and Keightley 2009; Shaw et al. 2002).
First experiment
We grew plants of M. guttatus in the Research Greenhouse facility at Portland State University from seed collected in July 2013 from three different populations in northern Oregon (Jackson Bottom Wetlands–JB: 45.501794 N, − 122.98776 W; and two from Saddle Mountain–SMB: 45.9861 N, − 123.6859 W, and SMC: 45.9634 N, − 123.6837 W). We assumed that greenhouse conditions were different enough from field environments to provide a novel environment. In August 2013, seeds were cold stratified on moist paper towels at 2 °C for 30 days prior to being sown in soil. Seedlings were transplanted to pots (approximately 10 × 10 × 12 cm) and grown for seven months before the application of pollination treatments. Temperature was maintained between 21 and 26 °C during the day, and 15–21 °C at night. Supplemental HID lights ran for 12 h a day when the seedlings first emerged, and 14 h a day during adult growth.
After plants became established and began producing multiple stems, we conducted autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollinations using flowers on stems 15 to 20 cm in length from two plants from each of four maternal families representing each of the three populations (2 plants × 4 families × 3 populations). Flowers from pairs of stems on individual plants (ramets of the same genet) were reciprocally crossed (geitonogamy), or individual flowers from these same stems were self-pollinated (autogamy). A total of 139 pollinations were conducted across two treatments: limited (pollen was applied to stigmas with one touch from a plastic pipette tip) or excess (where the stigma surface was coated with pollen) in an attempt to manipulate the intensity of gametophytic selection (Cruzan and Barrett 1996). Pollinations were conducted on 12 different days (pollination date) over several weeks in July 2014. Mature fruits were collected and placed individually into paper envelopes, and their contents were examined under a Leica MZ-16 stereoscope. The first 100 ovules from each fruit were categorized as filled seeds (brown, almond-shaped), unfertilized ovules (small, flattened and light-colored), or aborted (larger than unfertilized, dark-colored, shriveled). Ovules that were flattened and appeared to lack endosperm were assumed to be unfertilized or aborted and were not used in germination tests. Seed set and ovule abortion were analyzed using ANOVA models with the GLM procedure of SAS (SAS 2008), with population, maternal plant nested within population, and pollination date as random effects, and cross type (autogamous or geitonogamous) and pollination treatment as fixed effects. Seed set and ovule abortion data were approximately normal so were not transformed prior to analysis.
We assessed the fitness of progeny arising by autogamy and geitonogamy in the same greenhouse environment that was used to grow the parental plants. Seedlings from a subset of ten maternal plants (at least two plants from each of the three populations) that had fruits from both cross types and at least 20 filled seeds were sown in soil and transplanted to 36-cell trays (blocks) in September in a randomized incomplete block design. After 3 months of growth, the progeny were scored for survival, and above ground biomass was measured after drying at 60 °C for at least 24 h. Since all seedlings germinated within a few days of each other, the final biomass is an estimate of growth rate. The fitness of each progeny was estimated as its final biomass, which was log transformed and weighted by the survival frequency of progeny from the same cross. Growth rate is considered to be an appropriate estimate of fitness for perennials (Younginger et al. 2017). Furthermore, we evaluated fitness of seedlings under novel selection regimes in the greenhouse rather than under field conditions, which allowed us to minimize environmental differences between the growth environments of parental plants and seedlings. These estimates were rescaled relative to the maximum value from all crosses, so that \(\overline{w }\) ranged from 0 to 1 across progeny from all crosses.
Second experiment
To control for variation among genets and to further assess the fitness effects of mutations that accumulated during vegetative growth, a single plant (genet BV; obtained from Willamette Gardens native plant nursery, Corvallis, OR) was vegetatively propagated to generate 12 plants (ramets) that were exposed to high salinity and control conditions. This genet was originally propagated from wild-collected seed and retains a high level of genetic diversity (J.A. Schwoch, unpub. data). Plants were grown in pea gravel (4–8 mm) in pots placed in four 53 L tubs using a flood and drain hydroponics system (flooding at 15 min intervals). Two tubs had no added salt and were used as controls, and two tubs had high salinity. The initial salt concentration in the high salinity treatment was 5 mM but increased weekly to 25 mM after plants became established. Salt concentrations were monitored using a conductivity meter to ensure stable concentrations. To provide nutrients, 30 ml of hydroponics fertilizer (FloraGrow, Planet Natural, Bozeman, MT) was added per tub. During the course of the experiment, some plants grew substantially. We imposed selection to favor the fastest growing ramets over the next three months by repeatedly removing single rosettes and transplanting them back into the hydroponics system up to four times.
To promote stress recovery, plants were transplanted to soil for six months, which included a two-month vernalization period in a growth chamber (4 °C and 8 h light; Conviron E8, Controlled Environments Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). After vernalization, plants were returned to the greenhouse to induce flowering. Autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations were made to pairs of flowers at single nodes or consecutive nodes (seven nodes and 14 pollinations total) on the largest ramets in each of the control and high salt treatments. To account for somatic mutation turnover that may occur due to the effects of cell lineage selection during stem growth, we compared progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations for a subset of four stems that produced fruits from pairs of flowers from the same node. Without a priori knowledge of the expression of somatic mutations in heterozygotes, it is difficult to determine the best pollen donor for geitonogamous crosses. Consequently, we opted to generate progeny from geitonogamy by pollinating flowers with pollen from a potentially more genetically divergent ramet from the other treatment (i.e. salt pollinated with control pollen, and control pollinated with salt pollen; two stems from each treatment). The fruits were collected, and the total number of aborted and mature seeds and unfertilized ovules were counted under a dissecting microscope. Seeds were planted in soil in trays with three seeds per cell. Seeds were cold stratified in moist soil for three weeks before they germinated in the greenhouse.
To determine whether seedlings from autogamous crosses from ramets exposed to salt stress showed improved performance under the same conditions, all progeny were exposed to high salinity. After germination and establishment in soil, seedlings from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses from control and salt stress ramets were transplanted into pots filled with pea gravel and subjected to high salt in the hydroponics system, as described above. A total of 239 seedlings from 11 fruits (five autogamous and six geitonogamous) were randomly and evenly distributed among 12 hydroponic tubs to ensure equal representation across blocks (tubs). Plant size was measured as the product of the length and width of vegetative spread after two months of growth and was used as a proxy for overall plant performance. Since plants germinated within a few days of each other, plant size represents a good estimate of growth rate. Salt concentration increased from 10 to 37.5 mM over the course of the experiment to induce mortality (~ 57% across all progeny groups). Fitness was estimated as plant size (log transformed to improve normality) weighted by the survival frequency for progeny from the same cross.
Data analyses
Data were analyzed to compare the means and variance in autogamous and geitonogamous progeny fitness to test the three predictions described above. We first test the prediction that somatic mutations would generate greater variation among autogamous compared to geitonogamous progeny grouped by fruit separately in each experiment. We test this prediction using two-way ANOVAs and the stem x cross type (i.e. autogamy vs. geitonogamy) interaction for progeny fitness (Prediction 3 above). We then use data pooled from the two experiments (see below) to test the prediction that the fitness of autogamous and geitonogamous progeny paired by stem will differ (Prediction 1), and that, among progeny within fruits, there will be greater variation in fitness among autogamous compared to geitonogamous progeny (Prediction 2).
Results
Validation of fitness estimates
Our simulations revealed that values of δAD(k) were accurate across a range of values and assumptions for the effects of somatic mutations. For the simulations assuming one mutation per stem, estimates of δAD(k) and s1 were strongly correlated, with R2 values ranging from 0.76 to 0.82 (see Fig. S4 for example results). For simulations assuming additive interactions among multiple somatic mutations, the relationship between δAD(k) and s1 was stronger (R2 ranging from 0.86 to 0.90), and was stronger still when we assumed multiplicative interactions (R2 ranging from 0.93 to 0.95).
Overall, these results indicate that our estimate of δAD(k) is a valid estimate of s; however, it does appear that we are underestimating s (i.e., the slope of the line is less than 1; Fig. S4), making δAD(k) a conservative estimate of the fitness effects of somatic mutations. It is also notable that our simulation assumes a wider range of h values than are generally observed for deleterious mutations. Estimates indicate that the product of hs for deleterious alleles is generally around 0.02, and that the relationship between s and h is generally negative (hyperbolic; Lynch et al. 1999). Minor effects of deleterious somatic mutations are expected, because somatic mutations having strong effects would be eliminated by cell lineage selection. Therefore, these simulations confirm that δAD(k) provides a valid estimate of the mean fitness of somatic mutations occurring within a stem.
Experimental results
In the first experiment, there was no effect of cross type on seed set (Table S5 in Appendix 3), but there was higher abortion of developing seeds after autogamous compared to geitonogamous crosses (Table S6). For ramets from both experiments, there was significant variation in mean fitness among seedlings from fruits generated from autogamous crosses, but not among seedling groups derived from geitonogamy. Consequently, tests of the cross-type by stem interaction were significant for both experiments (Tables S1 and S2 in Appendix 3), which is consistent with the third prediction described above. Since the results from these two experiments were qualitatively similar, we combined the data for all of the following analyses (10 stems from Experiment 1 and four from Experiment 2, for a total of 14 comparisons).
To test the first prediction described above, that inheritance of somatic mutations will have larger effects on autogamous progeny fitness (\({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\)), we compared them with the fitness of geitonogamous progeny from the same stem (\({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\); Tables S3 in Appendix 3). As validated by our simulations, the difference in mean fitness for the two cross types provides an estimate of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to each stem. The total fitness effects of all mutations (δAD(k)) occurring in each stem (first experiment) or stem/node combination (second experiment) were calculated as the difference in fitness between progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses, as described above (δAD(k) = \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) − \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\)). We observed extensive variation in δAD(k) among stems, with nine stems that were significantly different from zero (Fig. 2). Four of the stems had average fitness effects of somatic mutations that were positive, suggesting a net beneficial effect of somatic mutations transmitted to offspring. In addition, the average fitness of progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses on the same stems or nodes was positively correlated (Fig. S2), which indicates that the effects of somatic mutations from the pollen-donor stem were minimal and do not account for the instances of beneficial mutation estimates found in some stems. Note also that the δAD(k) estimates that deviated the most from zero generally had the highest \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) values (Fig. S3). However, this was not always the case, as one stem (stem 9) with a value of δAD(k) close to zero produced progeny with relatively high fitness after both autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations.
Fig. 2
Estimates of δAD(k) for fourteen different stems (ramets) of Mimulus guttatus from two separate experiments (Experiment 1–blue bars; Experiment 2–orange bars) based on mean progeny fitness after autogamous \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) and geitonogamous \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\) self-pollinations (δAD(k) = \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) − \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\)). Horizontal lines represent standard errors. Asterisks indicate values of δAD(k) that are significantly different from zero based on the t value, calculated as \(t={\delta }_{AD(k)}/\sqrt{SE}\) with n-1 df, where n is the mean of sample sizes for progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy. The relationship between \({\overline{w} }_{k(A)}\) and \({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\) across stems is shown in Fig. S3. Means and sample sizes for progeny groups are available in Table S2 and Fig. S4 in Appendix 3
To make an independent estimate of the average fitness effects for mutations unique to each stem or node, we used the standard deviation in progeny fitness from autogamous crosses based on the relationship\({w}_{SD}=cSD\), where c = 2.83, which assumes dominance close to h = 0.5 (qualitatively similar results are obtained if we choose other values of c between 2.83 and 2.31, and when h = 0 or 1; Appendix 2). Because the sign of wSD could not be inferred directly from this approach, we used the sign estimated from the δAD(k) method (Fig. 3; Appendix 2). For stems with values of δAD(k) greater than zero, there was a strong positive relationship between δAD(k) and estimates of wSD made from the within-family variation among progeny from autogamy (Fig. 3). In contrast, the relationship for negative values of δAD(k) appeared to be driven largely by a single observation. Note that this observation was not supported by a similarly high value of wSD, and the remaining negative fitness effects were more modest based on both estimates. This one highly negative estimate of δAD(k) may be due to a large influence of mutations from the second stem on the fitness of geitonogamous progeny (note that this stem had the highest estimate of\({\overline{w} }_{k(G)}\); Fig. S2). It is also notable that the variation in fitness for progeny from autogamy did not decline to zero for values of δAD(k) close to zero, which could be due to the presence of both beneficial and detrimental mutations, and possibly genetic background effects (i.e. epistasis), but it may also reflect uncontrolled environmental variation. Overall, the results from both approaches reveal consistent estimates of the average fitness consequences associated with the accumulation of somatic mutations in individual stems.
Fig. 3
Relationships between estimates of fitness effects of somatic mutations in Mimulus guttatus, based either on the difference in fitness of progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy (δAD(k)), or the standard deviation in fitness within progeny groups from autogamy for each stem (wSD). Estimates of wSD corresponding to negative values of δAD(k) were transformed to negative values. Estimates from Experiment 1 are indicated by blue circles and from Experiment 2 are orange squares. Dashed lines indicate the separate relationships for positive and negative values of fitness estimates
Discussion
In this study, we have provided evidence that somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative growth can affect the fitness of progeny in the next generation. Consistent with previous work (Bobiwash et al. 2013), we observed significant autogamy depression in the form of greater ovule abortion in autogamous relative to geitonogamous crosses. However, we also detected more variation in survival and growth rate for progeny from autogamous compared to geitonogamous self-pollinations, which provides evidence that somatic mutations that accumulated during vegetative growth can have demonstrable effects on the fitness of plants in the next generation. Both the differences in the mean fitness between progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy (δAD(k)) and variation in fitness of autogamous progeny (wSD) provided consistent estimates of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations segregating in progeny. We found evidence for the effects of beneficial mutations in progeny from some stems, with estimates of δAD(k) and wSD exceeding 0.1 in four cases, while estimates for negative fitness effects were more modest (mostly > − 0.15). These results imply that, in these plants, many deleterious mutations can be culled by the various types of developmental selection prior to seed dispersal.
Somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative growth had an overall positive effect for four of the stems tested. This result appears to contrast with widely held views that the appearance of beneficial somatic mutations should be exceedingly rare (Charlesworth and Willis 2009; Crow 1993). However, this finding is consistent with expected outcomes of clonal evolution occurring during vegetative growth. We expect that most somatic mutations in germ cells in the central zone of the apical meristem will be neutral and occur at low frequencies, but some could contribute to higher rates of division for some cell lineages over others (Otto and Hastings 1998; Otto and Orive 1995). This hypothesis is supported by the observation that the majority of somatic mutations tend to occur at low frequencies in stem tissue, and a minority occur at high frequencies (Yu et al. 2020; Schwoch et al. unpublished data), suggesting that clonal selective sweeps due to the appearance of beneficial mutations have occurred during stem elongation. While the stem cell population is small (e.g., ~ 35 in Arabidopsis; Reddy and Meyerowitz 2005), selection on somatic mutations was apparently strong enough to overcome genetic drift, resulting in higher fitness of autogamous progeny from some stems. Thus, it appears that cell lineage selection has the potential to retain beneficial somatic mutations, as individual cell lineages divide at faster rates resulting in clonal evolution during vegetative growth.
Although there may be few opportunities for beneficial changes to alter basic cellular metabolism, it is becoming apparent from experimental evolution studies with microbes that even basic aspects of cellular metabolism can be sensitive to environmental conditions, which can increase the chances that mutations in clonal populations are beneficial (Böndel et al. 2019; e.g., Lang et al. 2013; Lee and Marx 2013; Maharjan et al. 2015). In the experiments described above, we exposed plants to novel environments either in the greenhouse (experiment 1) or in high salinity in hydroponics (experiment 2). Moreover, genomic evidence suggests that clonal selective sweeps, which may be indicative of the spread of beneficial somatic mutations in the meristem tissue, are more common for stems that have recently been exposed to high salinity (J. A. Schwoch, unpublished data). In this regard, cell lineage selection in a plant meristem represents a potentially powerful forum for the removal of deleterious somatic mutations while favoring the retention of beneficial ones. In addition, gametophytic selection and selective embryo abortion can act as prominent additional filters (Armbruster and Rogers 2004; Arunkumar et al. 2013; Cruzan 1989; Harder et al. 2016; Mable and Otto 1998; Mulcahy 1979), but they are most likely to have effects by culling deleterious mutations. Regardless, the combined effects of these different forms of developmental selection appear to have had a considerable effect on filtering of somatic mutations under controlled conditions in the greenhouse, such that the distribution of fitness effects among stems has shifted to include more beneficial mutations than expected. Future studies should test whether similar findings are found under field conditions, which could indicate a prominent role for somatic mutation in local adaptation.
An alternative explanation for the observed fitness differences is that exposure to environmental stress has induced heritable epigenetic modifications (Quadrana and Colot 2016). However, phenotypic responses due to epigenetic modifications are expected to be consistent and predictable, as they are hypothesized to represent an adaptive response to historic exposure to similar stressors (Baulcombe and Dean 2014; Itabashi et al. 2018). The results of the experiments described here are unlikely to support a role for epigenetics, because fitness responses in the next generation were inconsistent in direction and magnitude, and they were not predictable based on environmental exposure of the parent stem. Moreover, there is no a priori reason to expect that epigenetic modifications would differ between fruits from autogamous and geitonogamos crosses developing on the same stem. We observed that the mean fitness of progeny from autogamy displayed both increases and decreases compared to the geitonogamy controls, which is consistent with the hypothesis that individual ramets are accumulating unique complements of somatic mutations. Furthermore, these conclusions are supported by the observation of numerous somatic variants in the transcriptomes of meristem tissue from multiple ramets derived from a single genet (Yu et al. 2020; Schwoch et al. unpublished data). Thus, the results of the current study indicate that somatic mutations accumulating during stem growth are most likely to be responsible for the observed fitness effects.
The potential for the acquisition of mutations during vegetative growth is a well-known aspect of plant biology (Bobiwash et al. 2013; Klekowski 2003; Schultz and Scofield 2009), but no previous study has demonstrated the effects of somatic mutations on the fitness of progeny in the next generation. Moreover, most studies have focused on the detrimental effects of somatic mutations; chloroplast mutants have been observed in a number of species (Klekowski 2003), declines in pollen fertility were found in older clones of quaking aspen (Ally et al. 2010), and higher rates of seed and fruit abortion after autogamous pollinations were found in several studies (reviewed in Bobiwash et al. 2013). In contrast, agriculturalists have taken advantage of beneficial somatic mutations to improve economically important plants (Aradhya et al. 2003; Jarni et al. 2015; McKey et al. 2010; Miller and Gross 2011; Pelsy et al. 2015; Vezzulli et al. 2012), and a handful of studies report phenotypic responses to selection in asexual lineages. For example, Breese et al. (1965) succeeded in selecting for increased tillering ability (production of new grass stems) within genets of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Similarly, artificial selection on clonal lineages effectively improved branching in the red seaweed, Asparagopsis armata (Monro and Poore 2009). The current study on M. guttatus contributes to this literature by highlighting the potential for plants to exhibit significant levels of clonal variation within a single generation.
The transmission of beneficial mutations in autogamous crosses may explain some heretofore difficult to understand results from mutation accumulation studies. Our results suggest that beneficial somatic mutations are likely to be partially dominant (i.e. not completely recessive), because they would have to be expressed in the heterozygous state to be favored by cell lineage selection. While somatic mutations may become homozygous through mitotic recombination, this appears to be rare in non-cancerous somatic growth (LaRocque et al. 2011). Mutations accumulating during vegetative growth could contribute to standing genetic variation, but autogamy may be more effective for the accumulation of beneficial somatic mutations in populations than geitonogamy or outcrossing, because beneficial mutations could be made homozygous in progeny in a single generation. Depending on the crossing design, outcrossing would take at least two generations for beneficial somatic mutations to be made homozygous, and under geitonogamy they would remain heterozygous. It is striking that high rates of beneficial mutation accumulation have been observed in at least some mutation accumulation studies in the autogamous plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Rutter et al. 2012, 2018, 2010; Shaw et al. 2002), but not in outcrossing and partially-selfing species of Amsinckia (Schoen 2005). With a few exceptions (e.g., Baer et al. 2005; Denver et al. 2010), nearly all mutation accumulation studies on animals consistently show a prevalence of deleterious mutations (Baer et al. 2007; Halligan and Keightley 2009; but see Bao et al. 2022). Our results suggest that the adaptive potential of autogamous plants may be greater than previously thought, which may help explain the wider geographic ranges of selfing compared to closely-related outcrossing species (Grant and Kalisz 2020; Grossenbacher et al. 2015). Although developmental selection has the potential to contribute to adaptation in all plants, its effects may be enhanced in autogamous lineages, because beneficial mutations arising during vegetative growth have a greater chance of becoming homozygous in offspring and being retained across generations.
As stems grow, mutations can be generated during every mitotic cell division, so the potential for somatic mutation accumulation in plants appears substantial. Thus, understanding how long-lived plants, such as trees, avoid mutational meltdown from the accumulation of deleterious somatic mutations remains a longstanding question. Paradoxically, however, the rate of mutation accumulation observed across generations in plant and animal genomes is similar (Gaut et al. 2011). One hypothesis for this pattern is that, similar to animal germlines, a subset of cell lines in the apical meristem undergoes fewer mitotic divisions, which would protect lineages from the negative effects of mutation accumulation during development of the soma (Plant Germline Hypothesis; Burian et al. 2016; Cruzan 2018; page 90). An alternative hypothesis posits that somatic mutations are generated in apical meristems during plant growth, but these mutations are filtered by developmental selection prior to the establishment of offspring (Somatic Mutation Accumulation Hypothesis; Cruzan 2018, p. 86). Plants have retained the capacity to undergo clonal evolution from their algal ancestors, and thus developmental selection during growth and reproduction has the potential to skew the distribution of fitness effects of transmitted mutations to include a larger proportion of beneficial variants than would be expected through random processes. In addition, this provides a reasonable explanation for why longer-lived plants appear to have slower rates of mutation accumulation across generations (Gaut et al. 2011; Yue et al. 2010). This could be due to the fact that longer generation time leads to more time between recombination events, which can lead to more background selection in non-recombining cell lineages during vegetative growth (Cruzan 2018, pp. 94–95). Recent studies in oaks, spruce, and eel grass (Hanlon et al. 2019; Plomion et al. 2018; Yu et al. 2020), as well as our unpublished data from M. guttatus, confirm that multiple somatic variants are likely, even in plants of very different size. Future work that combines information from experiments evaluating the genomic consequences of somatic variation with anatomical estimates of stem cell population dynamics will allow for the development of new models that provide insights into the extent and limitations of somatic evolution in plants.
In conclusion, despite the potential for somatic mutation accumulation to generate novel genetic variation in plant populations, its role in evolution remains almost entirely unexplored. Our estimates of the fitness effects of somatic mutations were consistent across two different methods and indicate that some stems accumulated primarily deleterious mutations while others produced autogamous progeny with high fitness, which likely indicates the presence of beneficial mutations. Even though high levels of mutation accumulation are often believed to be detrimental, the basic biology of plants suggests that the role of somatic mutations in plant evolution should be considered carefully in the future. Future lines of investigation will improve our understanding of these fundamental aspects of plant development and evolution that may have contributed to the remarkable diversification of plants, and may help to account for some of the variation in mutation rates detected among lineages.
Data archiving
Data and all scripts for data analysis will be submitted to DataDryad upon publication.
Data availability
Data and all scripts for data analysis will be submitted to DataDryad upon publication.
Acknowledgements
We thank J. Thompson, E. Perez, and our research greenhouse manager Linda Taylor for plant maintenance and assistance with this research in the greenhouse and in the lab. Several people made helpful suggestions on this manuscript including N. Diaz, C.B. Fenster, M. Grasty, J. Persinger, and an anonymous reviewer. This research was supported by an NIH NIGMS BUILD EXITO grant (5TL4GM118965-03, 5UL1GM118964-03, and 5RL5GM118963-03) to Portland State University, and by NSF-DEB awards 2051235 to MBC and 2051242 to MAS.
Funding
This research was supported by an NIH NIGMS BUILD EXITO grant (5TL4GM118965-03, 5UL1GM118964-03, and 5RL5GM118963-03) to Portland State University, and by NSF-DEB awards 2051235 to MBC and 2051242 to MAS.
Contributions
JAS conducted the greenhouse experiments, processed samples, and assisted with data analysis and wrote a portion of the manuscript. MAS assisted with data analysis and data presentation, and wrote a portion of the manuscript. MBC conducted data analyses and simulations and wrote the majority of the manuscript.
Supplementary Information
Rights and permissions
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The sum effects of these processes of developmental selection, which include cell lineage selection, gametophytic selection, and selective embryo abortion, may filter the set of mutations that enters the next generation. Therefore, understanding the role of somatic mutations for plant biology is critical to fundamental assumptions concerning the frequencies of deleterious and beneficial mutations in populations, and to the processes of adaptation and diversification.
In this study, we make crosses within individual clones of hermaphroditic plants to assess the fitness effects of inherited mutations that accumulated during somatic growth. Although it is often challenging to track the effects of somatic mutations that accumulate within a single generation, plants with separate stems contain distinct germ cell lineages that are derived from the same zygote. As a consequence, each stem can potentially contain different sets of somatic mutations that have originated during growth. By making crosses either within the same flower (autogamy) or between flowers on separate stems of the same plant (inter-ramet geitonogamy—hereafter referred to as geitonogamy), we can produce progeny segregating for somatic mutations unique to each stem (Fig. 1). These crosses are both self-fertilizations, but the offspring of each cross type will differ in the complement of somatic mutations that they inherit. For a diploid plant, we can assume that somatic mutations (a → aʹ) will be in the heterozygous state when they first appear. For progeny generated via autogamy, a somatic mutation will segregate as 25% homozygous (aʹaʹ), 50% heterozygous (aaʹ), and 25% the original (wildtype) homozygote (aa).
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yes
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/392175v3.full
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Fitness Effects of Somatic Mutations Accumulating during Vegetative ...
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Abstract
The unique life form of plants promotes the accumulation of somatic mutations that can be passed to offspring in the next generation, because the same meristem cells responsible for vegetative growth also generate gametes for sexual reproduction. However, little is known about the consequences of somatic mutation accumulation for offspring fitness. We evaluate the fitness effects of somatic mutations in Mimulus guttatus by comparing progeny from self-pollinations made within the same flower (autogamy) to progeny from self-pollinations made between stems on the same plant (geitonogamy). The effects of somatic mutations are evident from this comparison, as autogamy leads to homozygosity of a proportion of somatic mutations, but progeny from geitonogamy remain heterozygous for mutations unique to each stem. In two different experiments, we find consistent fitness effects of somatic mutations from individual stems. Surprisingly, several progeny groups from autogamous crosses displayed increases in fitness compared to progeny from geitonogamy crosses, indicating that beneficial somatic mutations were prevalent in some stems. These results support the hypothesis that somatic mutations accumulate during vegetative growth, but they are filtered by different forms of selection that occur throughout development, resulting in the culling of expressed deleterious mutations and the retention of beneficial mutations.
Introduction
Mutation is the source of variation for evolution and adaptation, but organisms differ in whether mutations originating during gamete formation (meiosis) or somatic growth (mitosis) contribute to heritable variation. For the vast majority of organisms, including viruses, unicellular microbes, and some multicellular eukaryotes, sexual reproduction is rare or absent. In these organisms, mutations can occur during mitotic cell replication, and the primary mechanism for adaptation and diversification occurs via selection on cell lineages without recombination. By contrast, acquired mutations occurring during somatic growth of animals are not heritable. This is because in metazoans (but possibly excepting corals; Schweinsberg et al. 2014; Barfield et al. 2016), the germline is determined early in development and relatively few cell divisions occur before the formation of gametes (the Weismann Barrier; Buss 1983). Consequently, heritable mutations only occur in animals during the development of gonads and gametes.
In general, it is difficult to assess the effects of somatic mutations accumulating during growth because clonal cell lineages lack recombination, and the fitness effects of beneficial mutations can be muted by the co-occurrence of detrimental genetic variants (Hill-Robertson Effect; Selective Interference; Hill and Robertson 1966; Fogle et al. 2008). Although sexual reproduction does allow mutations to segregate among progeny, it is difficult to detect the fitness effects of somatic mutations in eukaryotes with separate sexes. This is because the genomes of two individuals are combined, so individual somatic mutations that occur in one individual will always be heterozygous in offspring (Long et al. 2015). A more effective approach would be to make self-fertilizations in a hermaphroditic species, so a proportion of offspring would be homozygous for novel somatic mutations. In this study, we make crosses within individual clones of hermaphroditic plants to assess the fitness effects of inherited mutations that accumulated during somatic growth.
Hermaphroditic plants have several advantages for the study of somatic mutations. Separate stems on the same plant contain multiple germ cell lineages that are derived from the same zygote, but they may differ for somatic mutations that have accumulated during stem elongation. To produce recombinant progeny segregating for somatic mutations unique to each stem, crosses can be made either within the same flower (autogamy), or between flowers on separate stems of the same plant (inter-ramet geitonogamy – hereafter referred to simply as geitonogamy; Fig. 1). These crosses are both self-fertilizations, but the offspring will differ in the complement of somatic mutations that they inherit. Mutations unique to a stem will be homozygous in 25% of autogamous progeny, while none of the progeny from geitonogamous crosses will be homozygous, and half will be heterozygous for unique somatic mutations. Thus, the average fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to each stem can be evaluated by comparing progeny generated by autogamous and geitonogamous crosses of the same stem. The potential for somatic mutations to accumulate during vegetative growth, and the ability to study their effects among recombinant progeny, make plants an attractive model for the study of fundamental processes of clonal evolution.
Experimental design to test for the average fitness effects of somatic mutations accumulating in stems during vegetative growth. See text for further explanation.
Plants grow from the division of a population of undifferentiated meristem cells within the stem tip that is known as the central zone. These germ cell lineages go on to produce future stem, leaf, and reproductive tissues (flowers). As plants grow, individual ramets of the same genet (separate stems or vegetatively propagated plants) can continue to become differentiated as they accumulate somatic mutations (Fig. 2). Therefore, when we consider the potential for meiotic and somatic mutations to contribute to the total mutational load of plant populations – particularly for long-lived plants – it becomes evident that not all of the mutations occurring during a plant’s lifespan are passed to the next generation (Cruzan 2018 pages 86-98). Indeed, plants have mechanisms of “developmental selection” (Buchholz 1922) that occur during vegetative growth and reproduction to filter the set of mutations that are inherited by progeny. For example, because new somatic mutations occur as a single copy within the diploid genome, their immediate fitness effects will depend on the combination of their fitness effects and their expression in the heterozygous state. Mathematical models have demonstrated that multiple unexpressed mutations (i.e. neutral and recessive deleterious mutations) are likely to accumulate as germ cells divide, so any selective cell deaths that occur during somatic growth will reduce the total mutational load and alter the composition of mutations carried by the germ cell population (Otto and Orive 1995; Otto and Hastings 1998). Thus, lineages that carry expressed deleterious mutations causing slower rates of division can be eliminated as they are replaced by cell lineages displaying more rapid growth (Otto and Orive 1995; Otto and Hastings 1998; Orive 2001; Elena and Lenski 2003; Greaves and Maley 2012; Long et al. 2015). (Fig. 2A). More rarely, expressed beneficial mutations will arise. Similar to the process of clonal evolution in mammalian cancer, any mutations that elevate the rate of cell division will tend to increase in frequency until they have replaced the entire germ cell population (clonal selective sweep; Nowell 1976; Lang et al. 2013; Fig. 2B green arrows). This process – referred to as cell lineage selection – will lead to some ramets containing a prevalence of deleterious somatic mutations, while others could possess beneficial mutations. The potential for these clonal selective sweeps to occur during vegetative growth has been confirmed by the observation of somatic mutations occurring at frequencies near 50% (heterozygosity) within the stem tissue (Yu et al. 2020; Schwoch et al. unpublished data). Hence, germ cell populations in plant apical meristems have the potential to undergo clonal evolution during vegetative growth.
An illustration of cell lineage selection as it acts on a number of cell lines that differ in growth rate within the apical meristem of a plant. A) Expressed deleterious mutations are predicted to lead to the demise of a cell line (brown cells) that is replaced by neighboring cell lines. The appearance of a mutation that increases cell growth rate in the current environment results in a selective sweep of the meristem (light green cells). B) Multiple ramets of the same genet become differentiated by unique somatic mutations during vegetative growth. Most ramets carry deleterious mutations (orange, red, purple, and pink arrows), but expressed beneficial mutations cause clonal selective sweeps of the meristem in some ramets (green arrows).
In addition to cell lineage selection, some proportion of recessive deleterious mutations may be eliminated during the haploid life stage due to pollen tube attrition and pollen competition (Gemetophytic Selection; Mulcahy 1979; Cruzan 1989; Mable and Otto 1998; Armbruster and Rogers 2004; Arunkumar et al. 2013; Harder et al. 2016). Finally, a portion of deleterious mutations will be homozygous in zygotes, which can lead to higher rates of seed and fruit abortion (Selective Embryo Abortion; Husband and Schemske 1995; Korbecka et al. 2002), thereby increasing the average fitness of surviving offspring (Cruzan and Thomson 1997; Mena-AlÍ and Rocha 2005). The sum effects of these processes of developmental selection, which includes cell lineage selection, gametophytic selection, and selective embryo abortion, may filter the set of mutations that enters the next generation. Indeed, the effects of deleterious somatic mutations often are apparent as higher rates of embryo abortion after autogamous compared to geitonogamous pollinations, which is referred to as autogamy depression (Schultz and Scofield 2009). While autogamy depression for seed and fruit abortion has been observed in several species (reviewed in Bobiwash et al. 2013), no previous study has evaluated the fitness effects of somatic mutations inherited by progeny. The question we address here is whether somatic mutations that characterize individual ramets have measurable fitness effects in the offspring generation.
In this study, we use autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollinations to estimate the fitness effects of somatic mutations segregating in offspring of Mimulus guttatus DC (Erythranthe guttata G.L. Nesom; Phrymaceae). Populations of M. guttatus display a wide range of life histories – from annuals to herbaceous perennials that outcross to varying degrees (Wu et al. 2008). We use perennial M. guttatus plants that produce substantial vegetative growth prior to initiation of flowering. These plants are easily propagated from rosettes, and selfing produces substantial numbers of seeds to allow for statistical comparisons. In two separate experiments, we characterized the fitness effects of somatic mutations in perennial M. guttatus plants in controlled environments.
We begin by describing the analytical approaches we use, followed by providing specifics of the two experiments that we conducted. We show that somatic mutations accumulate during stem growth, as progeny from autogamous crosses have greater variance in mean fitness compared to progeny from geitonogamous crosses. We further reveal evidence for the presence of beneficial mutations in some stems, which indicates that developmental selection may be responsible for filtering mutations and modifying the distribution of fitness effects transmitted to progeny. The results from these experiments provide the first evidence that inherited somatic mutations can have fitness consequences for plants in the next generation, which suggests that somatic mutations may be an additional source of genetic variation that can be used for adaptation.
Approach
We made autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollinations across multiple stems and estimated the fitness effects of somatic mutations segregating in progeny. To increase the chances of detecting somatic mutations that impacted fitness, we exposed plants to novel environments. According to Fisher’s geometric model, displacement from a fitness optimum increases the chances that any mutation would move a genotype in a direction that increases fitness (Fisher 1930; Stearns and Fenster 2016). Furthermore, we evaluated fitness of seedlings under novel selection regimes in the greenhouse. Exposing parental plants and seedlings to the same controlled environments is common in experimental designs that test for the fitness effects of mutations accumulating across generations (Shaw et al. 2002; Baer et al. 2007; Halligan and Keightley 2009), or in our case, for observing the fitness effects of somatic mutations arising within a single generation.
For a diploid plant, we can assume that somatic mutations (a → a’) will be in the heterozygous state when they first appear. For progeny arising by autogamy, a mutation will segregate as 25% homozygous (a’a’), 50% heterozygous (aa’), and 25% the original homozygote (aa). By contrast, because progeny from geitonogamous crosses will be segregating for mutations that are unique to each stem, half of them will be carrying mutations in the heterozygous state, and none of the progeny will be homozygous for mutations that arose in a single stem. The fitness effects of somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative growth have been quantified in terms of “autogamy depression” (δAD) using the formula; δAD = 1 – wA/wG (Schultz and Scofield 2009; Bobiwash et al. 2013), where wA and wG are the relative fitnesses of progeny derived from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses, respectively.
Tests of autogamy depression have been applied previously only to estimates of fitness based on fruit and seed set, and it generally assumes that fitness from autogamous crosses will be lower than from geitonogamy. However, somatic mutations that are transmitted to progeny can affect fitness in the offspring generation across different life stages, and beneficial mutations are possible. Thus, for each stem, we examined the fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to stem k as: , where and are the average fitnesses of the progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses from stem k, respectively. We evaluate δAD for each stem separately, because we expect that individual stems will have unique complements of somatic mutations and thus differ in their fitness effects. By controlling for environmental effects with a common garden design, the parameter δAD(k) and its sign describe the average magnitude and overall direction of the fitness effects of all expressed somatic mutations that have been transmitted to the next generation. To evaluate the reliability of δAD(k) as an estimate of the fitness effects of somatic mutations, we simulated variation in the strength of selection and dominance of somatic mutations across multiple pairs of stems (ramets). We determined that values of δAD(k) were accurate across a range of values and assumptions for the effects of multiple mutations (Appendix 1).
To provide additional confirmation of the δAD(k) estimates, we developed an alternative approach for estimating the fitness effects of somatic mutations that was based entirely on the variance in mean fitness among autogamous progeny. Individual germ cell lineages within the meristem may possess unique sets of somatic mutations (Yu et al. 2020; Schwoch et al. in preparation), and flowers on the same stem can develop from only a portion of the germ cells present in the meristem (McManus and Veit 2002). Hence, no pair of flowers within a stem is likely to contain exactly the same complement of mutations. Therefore, we generated an additional estimate of the fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to a stem that is based on the variance in fitness of offspring from autogamous crosses. If somatic mutations affect offspring fitness, the variance in fitness should be greater for progeny groups from autogamy than from geitonogamy from the same stem, as long as mutations do not have complete expression in heterozygotes (i.e. h < 1.0; Appendix 2). Somatic mutations that are unique to stems will have different effects on the variance in fitness among progeny from autogamy depending on their fitness (w) and their expression in the heterozygous state (h). Our analytical results demonstrated that the large majority of variance in fitness among progeny from autogamy (as measured by the standard deviation, SD) could be explained by the fitness effects of a mutation rather than the dominance level (Appendix 2; Fig. S1). Moreover, the derived relationship allows us to estimate the fitness effects of mutations based on the standard deviation in fitness according to the equation: wSD = cSD, where c is the slope of the linear relationship between wSD and SD. For dominance levels of h = 0.0 and 1.0, c = 2.31, and the slope reaches a maximum of 3.01 when h = 0.5 (Appendix 2; Fig. S1). Thus, the variance in fitness among progeny from autogamous crosses provides a good approximation of the magnitude of the fitness effects (w) for somatic mutations accumulating in each stem. These two approaches are independent of each other, and therefore provide an important means to confirm our estimates of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations present in individual stems (Appendix 1 and 2).
From the considerations above, we can make three specific predictions that allow us to test for the fitness effects of somatic mutations that occur during stem growth and are passed to offspring. First, there should be greater variation among progeny groups from autogamy compared to those from geitonogamy (i.e. as indicated by the stem x cross type interaction for progeny fitness). Second, the average fitness of progeny from autogamy should be different from the progeny of geitonogamous crosses from the same stem. The difference in the fitness of progeny from autogamous vs. geitonogamous crosses provides an approximate estimate of the sign and magnitude of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations for individual stems. In addition to influencing the mean fitness, somatic mutations will increase the variance in fitness among progeny from autogamy. Consequently, the third prediction we can make is that the mean fitness effects of somatic mutations will scale linearly with the within-family standard deviation in fitness among progeny from autogamous crosses (Appendix 2). In general, we predict that if somatic mutations with fitness effects accumulate during vegetative growth, then the mean progeny fitness should differ between autogamous and geitonogamous crosses, and the variance in fitness of progeny from autogamous crosses would be greater than for progeny from geitonogamous crosses. Below, we test these predictions using two different experiments with Mimulus guttatus.
First Experiment
Methods
This experiment originally was designed to test the effects of somatic mutations on seed set and ovule abortion (autogamy depression; Schultz and Scofield 2009; Bobiwash et al. 2013), so we used multiple plants from several populations to obtain a large number of fruits. We grew plants of M. guttatus in the Research Greenhouse facility at Portland State University from seed collected in July 2013 from three different populations in northern Oregon (Jackson Bottom Wetlands–JB: 45.501794 N, - 122.98776 W; and two from Saddle Mountain–SMB: 45.9861 N, -123.6859 W, and SMC: 45.9634 N, - 123.6837 W). We assumed that greenhouse conditions were different enough from field environments to provide a novel selection regime. In August 2013, seeds were cold stratified on moist paper towels at 2°C for 30 days prior to being sown in soil. Seedlings were transplanted to pots (approximately 10 × 10 x 12 cm) and grown for seven months before the application of pollination treatments. Temperature was maintained between 21–26°C during the day, and 15–21°C at night. Supplemental HID lights ran for 12 hours a day when the seedlings first emerged, and 14 hours a day during adult growth.
After plants became established and began producing multiple stems, we conducted autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollinations using flowers on several stems (15 to 20 cm in length) from two plants from each of four maternal families representing each of the three populations. Flowers from pairs of stems on individual plants were reciprocally crossed (geitonogamy), or individual flowers from these same stems were self-pollinated (autogamy). A total of 139 pollinations were conducted across two treatments: limited (pollen was applied to stigmas with one touch from a plastic pipette tip) or excess (where the stigma surface was coated with pollen). Pollinations were conducted on 12 different days (pollination date) over several weeks in July 2014. Mature fruits were collected and placed individually into paper envelopes, and their contents were examined under a Leica MZ-16 stereoscope. The first 100 ovules from each fruit were categorized as filled seeds (brown, almond-shaped), unfertilized ovules (small, flattened and light-colored), or aborted (larger than unfertilized, dark-colored, shriveled). Ovules that were flattened and appeared to lack endosperm were assumed to be unfertilized or aborted and were not used in germination tests. Seed set and ovule abortion were analyzed using ANOVA models with the GLM procedure of SAS (SAS 2008), with population, maternal plant nested within population, and pollination date as random effects, and cross type (autogamous or geitonogamous) and pollination treatment as fixed effects. Seed set and ovule abortion data were approximately normal so were not transformed prior to analysis.
We assessed the fitness of progeny arising by autogamy and geitonogamy in the same greenhouse environment that was used to grow the parental plants. Seedlings from a subset of ten maternal plants that had fruits from both cross types and at least 20 filled seeds were sown in soil and transplanted to 36-cell trays (blocks) in September in a randomized incomplete block design. After three months of growth, the progeny were scored for survival, and above ground biomass was measured after drying at 60°C for at least 24 hours. Since all seedlings germinated within a few days of each other, the final biomass is an estimate of growth rate. The fitness of each progeny was estimated as its final biomass, which was log transformed and weighted by the survival frequency of progeny from the same cross. Growth rate is considered to be an appropriate estimate of fitness for perennials (Younginger et al. 2017). Furthermore, we evaluated fitness of seedlings under novel selection regimes in the greenhouse rather than under field conditions, which allowed us to control for environmental differences by having parental plants and seedlings exposed to the same conditions. These estimates were rescaled relative to the maximum value from all crosses, so that ranged from 0 to 1 across progeny from all crosses. Data were analyzed to estimate the mean fitness for progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy from each stem, and the variance in fitness (as measured by the standard deviation; SD) for each group of progeny produced by autogamy and geitonogamy from single stems.
Results
Levels of seed set and germination were similar between cross types, but ovule abortion was greater in autogamous crosses. The mean number of seeds produced after autogamous (56.72 ±2.24, N = 87) and geitonogamous (57.52 ±3.42, N = 52) pollinations was similar (Cross in Table S2), and there was little variation among populations (Pop in Table S2), maternal plants nested within population (Mat(Pop) in Table S2), and pollination dates (Date in Table S2). Limited pollinations produced fewer seeds than excess pollinations (Pollen in Table S2), but the effect of pollen dosage in the overall model was not significant. However, the mean number of aborted ovules was greater for autogamous (17.36 ±1.27, N = 87) than for geitonogamous (13.90 ±1.70, N = 52) pollinations (Cross in Table S3), which is consistent with the predicted effects of autogamy depression (Schultz and Scofield 2009; Bobiwash et al. 2013). There also were significant differences among populations in the level of ovule abortion (Pop in Table S3), which perhaps reflects differences in historical inbreeding and levels of genetic load. There were significant differences in ovule abortion among maternal plants nested within population (Mat (Pop) in Table S3), but not for pollination treatments (Pollen in Table S3) or pollination dates (Date in Table S3). The overall model for ovule abortion was significant (Table S3). Seed germination was similar between autogamous (mean = 13.03 out of 20 planted per fruit) and geitonogamous crosses (mean = 13.28; F1,101 = 0.16, P = 0.694). Of the 354 seedlings that germinated, 202 survived, and interestingly, survival was higher for progeny from autogamy (67%) compared to geitonogamy (50%; chi-square = 12.03, P = 0.0005). For the surviving plants that flowered by the end of the experiment, flower production was correlated with growth rate (r = 0.58, P < 0.001, N = 282).
The average fitness of progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy varied widely among individual stems. Consistent with our first prediction for the effects of somatic mutations on offspring fitness, there was a significant interaction between cross type and stem identity (Table S4). Little of the variation in progeny fitness was explained by differences among stems (Mat in Table S4), but larger amounts were explained by cross type (Cross in Table S4) and among blocks (Tray in Table S4). When data were analyzed separately for each cross type, we found that mean fitness of progeny from autogamy varied among stems to a much greater degree (F8,130 = 4.44, P < 0.0001) than progeny from geitonogamous crosses (F8,70 = 1.47, P = 0.1866); a result that supports our first prediction for the effects of somatic mutations on progeny fitness. These data are analyzed further along with data from the second experiment described below.
Second Experiment
The observation of greater variation in fitness among stems for progeny from autogamous crosses in the first experiment is consistent with the hypothesis that somatic mutations arising during vegetative growth are transmitted and can have substantial fitness effects in the next generation. Furthermore, the results from the first experiment do not support the view that somatic mutations during vegetative growth are rare (Burian et al. 2016; Groot and Laux 2016; Watson et al. 2016; Kuhlemeier 2017; Schmid-Siegert et al. 2017), but they are consistent with several studies demonstrating that somatic mutations can be inherited by offspring in the next generation (Klekowski and Godfrey 1989; Schultz and Scofield 2009; Bobiwash et al. 2013). However, the first experiment was not designed specifically to compare the effects of autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations on offspring fitness. Thus, to confirm results from the first experiment, we performed a second experiment to provide a more robust assessment of the effects of autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollination on the fitness of offspring. The second experiment used a single clone of M. guttatus to make comparisons between autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations paired at the same node. The plant chosen was a self-compatible perennial that displayed vigorous vegetative growth. We exposed plants to novel conditions using high salinity under hydroponics cultivation, which increased the potential that mutations would have fitness consequences. Moreover, our recent genomic results confirm more low-frequency somatic mutation among plants exposed to high salt stress compared to the control hydroponics treatment without added salt (Schwoch et al. in preparation). This experimental design provided a more refined test of the hypothesis that the fitness effects of somatic mutations differed in the offspring of autogamous and geitonogamous crosses.
Methods
To assess the fitness effects of mutations that accumulated during vegetative growth, a single plant (genet BV, obtained from Willamette Gardens native plant nursery, Corvallis, OR) was vegetatively propagated to generate 12 plants (ramets) that were exposed to high salinity and control conditions. Plants were grown in pea gravel (4–8 mm) in pots placed in four 53 L tubs using a flood and drain hydroponics system (flooding at 15 min intervals). Two tubs had no added salt and were used as controls, and two tubs had high salinity. The initial salt concentration in the high salinity treatment was 5 mM but increased weekly to 25 mM after plants became established. Salt concentrations were monitored using a conductivity meter to ensure stable concentrations. To provide nutrients, 30 ml of hydroponics fertilizer (FloraGrow, Planet Natural, Bozeman, MT) was added per tub. During the course of the experiment, some plants grew substantially. We imposed selection to favor the fastest growing ramets over the next three months by repeatedly removing single rosettes and transplanting them back into the hydroponics system up to four times.
To promote stress recovery, plants were transplanted to soil for six months, which included a two-month vernalization period in a growth chamber (4°C and 8 h light; Conviron E8, Controlled Environments Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). After vernalization, plants were returned to the greenhouse to induce flowering. Autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations were made to pairs of flowers at single nodes or consecutive nodes (seven nodes and 14 pollinations total) on the largest ramets in each of the control and high salt treatments. To account for somatic mutation turnover that may occur due to the effects of cell lineage selection during stem growth, we compared progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations at pairs of flowers from the same node. Without a priori knowledge of the expression of somatic mutations in heterozygotes, it is difficult to determine the best pollen donor for geitonogamous crosses. Consequently, we opted to generate progeny from geitonogamy by pollinating flowers with pollen from a potentially more genetically divergent ramet from the other treatment (i.e. salt pollinated with control pollen, and control pollinated with salt pollen). The fruits were collected, and the total number of aborted and mature seeds and unfertilized ovules were counted under a dissecting microscope. Seeds were planted in soil in trays with three seeds per cell. Seeds were cold stratified in moist soil for three weeks before they germinated in the greenhouse.
To determine whether seedlings from autogamous crosses from ramets exposed to salt stress showed improved performance under the same conditions, all progeny were exposed to high salinity. After germination and establishment in soil, seedlings from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses from control and salt stress ramets were transplanted into pots filled with pea gravel and subjected to high salt in the hydroponics system, as described above. A total of 239 seedlings from 11 fruits (five autogamous and six geitonogamous) were randomly and evenly distributed among 12 hydroponic tubs to ensure equal representation across blocks (tubs). Plant size was measured as the product of the length and width of vegetative spread after two months of growth and was used as a proxy for overall plant performance. Since plants germinated within a few days of each other, plant size represents a good estimate of growth rate. Salt concentration increased from 10 mM - 37.5 mM over the course of the experiment to induce mortality (∼57% across all progeny groups). Fitness was estimated as plant size (log transformed to improve normality) weighted by the survival frequency for progeny from the same cross.
Results
Similar to experiment 1 and consistent with our first prediction for the effects of somatic mutations, there was greater variation in the fitness of progeny from autogamous compared to geitonogamous crosses, as indicated by a significant interaction between cross type and stem/node identity (Stem/Node*Cross in Table S5). There was no consistent difference in progeny fitness between autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations when averaged across stems (Cross in Table S5), but there were larger differences among individual stems/nodes (Stem/Node in Table S5). Also consistent with our first prediction, there was significant variation in progeny fitness among stems (F2,89 = 3.76, P = 0.028) and nodes (nested within stems; F3,89 = 2.59, P = 0.0596) for autogamous, but not geitonogamous crosses (F1,136 = 0.63, P = 0.431 and F4,136 = 1.19, P = 0.317 for stems and nodes, respectively). There were significant differences in average size among the blocks (Tray in Table S5), but there was no consistent difference in the performance of progeny based on the treatment history of their maternal ramets (F1,126 = 0.02, P = 0.888), and there was no interaction between cross type and historical treatment (F1,136 = 0.64, P = 0.423). Three nodes were dropped from further analysis, because one of the paired fruits aborted or produced fewer than five seedlings. However, similar to experiment 1, and consistent with the hypothesis that somatic mutations accumulate during stem growth, the variance in fitness among progeny from autogamy among stems was greater than for geitonogamy. Since results from the two experiments were similar, the data for four nodes from experiment 2 were analyzed together with the first experiment, as described in the next section.
Fitness Estimates
Results from the two experiments described above are consistent with the hypothesis that somatic mutations unique to individual stems can have demonstrable effects on the fitness of progeny when a proportion is made homozygous by autogamous self-pollination. In both experiments, the variance in fitness among progeny groups from autogamy was significantly greater than among progeny from geitonogamy from the same set of stems. As the results from these two experiments are qualitatively similar, we estimated the fitness effects of somatic mutations in each stem (ten comparisons of autogamy and geitonogamy from Experiment 1 and four from Experiment 2, for a total of 14 comparisons). Specifically, we tested the second and third predictions described above. Since 25% of somatic mutations unique to a stem will be homozygous in autogamous progeny, we expect that their fitness effects will be greater than for progeny from geitonogamous crosses on the same stem (providing an estimate of δAD(k)). In addition, the within-family variance in fitness among progeny should be greater after autogamy compared to geitonogamy (providing an estimate of wSD). These estimates of the fitness effects of somatic mutations should be similar, so we assessed whether there was a positive relationship between the variance in fitness among progeny from single fruits produced by autogamous pollination (wSD) and the fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to each stem estimated from the average fitness of progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses to the same stem (δAD(k)).
Estimates of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations unique to each stem were made based on the fitness of progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses (Table S1 in Appendix 3). In both experiments, fitness was estimated as growth rate weighted by the survival of seedlings from the same fruit and scaled to a maximum value of 1.0. We have demonstrated that growth rate is correlated with flower production, and it has been shown to be a good predictor of fitness among perennial plants (Younginger et al. 2017). The average fitness effects of mutations (δAD(k)) for each stem (first experiment) or stem/node combination (second experiment) were calculated as the difference in fitness between progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses, as described above . We observed extensive variation in δAD(k) among stems, with nine stems that were significantly different from zero (Fig. 3). Four of the stems had average fitness effects of somatic mutations that were positive, suggesting a net beneficial effect of somatic mutations transmitted to offspring. In addition, the average fitness of progeny from autogamous and geitonogamous crosses on the same stems or nodes was positively correlated (Fig. S2; Table S6). Note also that the δAD(k) estimates that deviated the most from zero generally had the highest (or lowest) values relative to all of the stems (Fig. S3). However, this was not always the case, as one stem (stem 9) with a value of δAD(k) close to zero produced progeny with relatively high fitness after both autogamous and geitonogamous pollination.
Estimates of δAD(k) for fourteen different stems (ramets) from two separate experiments (Experiment 1–blue bars; Experiment 2–orange bars) based on mean progeny fitness after autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollinations . Horizontal lines represent standard errors. Asterisks indicate values of δAD(k) that are significantly different from zero based on the t value, calculated as with n-1 df, where n is the mean of sample sizes for progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy. The relationship between and across stems is shown in Fig. S2. Means and sample sizes for progeny groups are available in Table S6 and Fig. S3.
To make an independent estimate of the average fitness effects for mutations unique to each stem or node, we used the standard deviation in progeny fitness from autogamous crosses based on the relationship wSD= cSD, where c = 3, which assumes dominance close to h = 0.5 (qualitatively similar results are obtained if we choose other values of c between 3 and 2.31; Appendix 2). Because the sign of wSD could not be inferred directly from this approach, we used the sign estimated from the δAD(k) method (Fig. 4; Appendix 2). Our simulations show that the sign of δAD(k) is almost always estimated correctly (Appendix 1). For stems with values of δAD(k) greater than zero, there was a strong positive relationship between δAD(k) and estimates of wSD made from the within-family variation among progeny from autogamy (Fig. 4). In contrast, the relationship for negative values of δAD(k) appeared to be driven largely by a single observation. Note that this observation was not supported by a similarly high value of wSD, and the remaining negative fitness effects were more modest based on both estimates. This one highly negative estimate of δAD(k), may be due to a large influence of mutations from the second stem on the fitness of geitonogamous progeny (note that this stem had the highest estimate of ; Fig. S2). It is also notable that the variance in fitness for progeny from autogamy did not decline to zero for values of δAD(k) close to zero, which could be due to the presence of both beneficial and detrimental mutations, and possibly genetic background effects (i.e. epistasis), but it may also reflect uncontrolled environmental variation. Overall, the results from both approaches reveal consistent estimates of the average fitness consequences associated with the accumulation of somatic mutations in individual stems.
Relationships between estimates of fitness effects of somatic mutations, based either on the difference in fitness of progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy (δAD(k)), or the standard deviation in fitness within progeny groups from autogamy for each stem (wSD). Estimates of wSD corresponding to negative values of δAD(k) were transformed to negative values. Estimates from Experiment 1 are indicated by blue circles and from Experiment 2 are orange squares. Dashed lines indicate the separate relationships for positive and negative values of fitness estimates.
Discussion
In this study, we have shown that somatic mutations can accumulate during vegetative growth and have substantial fitness effects on plants in the next generation. Consistent with previous work (Bobiwash et al. 2013), we observed significant autogamy depression in the form of greater ovule abortion in autogamous relative to geitonogamous crosses. However, we also detected more variation in survival and growth rate for progeny from autogamous compared to geitonogamous self-pollinations, which provides the first evidence that somatic mutations that accumulated during vegetative growth can have demonstrable effects on the fitness of plants in the next generation. Both the differences in the mean fitness between progeny from autogamy and geitonogamy (δAD(k)) and variation in fitness of autogamous progeny (wSD) provided consistent estimates of the average fitness effects of somatic mutations segregating in progeny. We found evidence for the effects of beneficial mutations in progeny from some stems, with estimates of δAD(k) and wSD exceeding 0.1 in four cases, while estimates for negative fitness effects were more modest (mostly > -0.15). Furthermore, the observation that progeny from autogamous crosses occasionally had higher fitness than progeny from geitonogamous crosses argues for the accumulation of beneficial mutations and implies that many deleterious mutations are culled by the various types of developmental selection prior to seed dispersal. These results imply that even though numerous somatic mutations are generated during vegetative growth, many of them are filtered due to different forms of developmental selection, which results in a shift in the distribution of fitness effects for the mutations that are passed to the next generation.
Somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative growth had an overall positive effect for four of the stems tested. This result is contrary to widely held views that the accumulation of beneficial somatic mutations should be exceedingly rare (Crow 1993; Charlesworth and Willis 2009). However, an explanation for these findings is afforded by the unique biology of plants; somatic mutations in germ cells in the central zone of the apical meristem could contribute to higher rates of division for some cell lineages over others (Otto and Orive 1995; Otto and Hastings 1998). This hypothesis is supported by the observation that a minority of somatic mutations occur at high frequencies in meristem tissue (Yu et al. 2020; Schwoch et al. unpublished data), suggesting that clonal selective sweeps have occurred during stem elongation. Thus, cell lineage selection has the potential to retain beneficial somatic mutations, as individual cell lineages divide at faster rates resulting in clonal evolution during vegetative growth.
Although there may be few opportunities for beneficial changes to alter basic cellular metabolism, it is becoming apparent from experimental evolution studies with microbes that even basic aspects of cellular metabolism can be sensitive to environmental conditions, which can increase the chances that mutations in clonal populations are beneficial (e.g., Lang et al. 2013; Lee and Marx 2013; Maharjan et al. 2015). In this regard, cell lineage selection in a plant meristem represents a potentially powerful forum for the removal of deleterious somatic mutations while favoring the retention of beneficial ones. In addition, gametophytic selection and selective embryo abortion can act as prominent additional filters (Mulcahy 1979; Cruzan 1989; Mable and Otto 1998; Armbruster and Rogers 2004; Arunkumar et al. 2013; Harder et al. 2016), but they are most likely to have effects by culling deleterious mutations. Regardless, the combined effects of these different forms of developmental selection appear to have had a considerable effect on filtering of somatic mutations under controlled conditions in the greenhouse, such that the distribution of fitness effects among stems has shifted to include more beneficial mutations than expected. Future studies should test whether similar findings are found under field conditions, which could indicate a prominent role for somatic mutation in local adaptation.
An alternative explanation for the observed fitness differences is that exposure to environmental stress has induced heritable epigenetic modifications (Quadrana and Colot 2016). However, epigenetic modifications are considered to be consistent in direction and predictable, as they are hypothesized to represent an adaptive response to historic exposure to similar stressors (Baulcombe and Dean 2014; Itabashi et al. 2018). The results of the experiments described here are unlikely to support a role for epigenetics, because fitness responses in the next generation were inconsistent in direction and magnitude, and they were not predictable based on environmental exposure of the parent stem. Indeed, among stems and nodes, the mean fitness of progeny from autogamy displayed both increases and decreases compared to the geitonogamy controls, which is consistent with the hypothesis that individual ramets are accumulating unique complements of somatic mutations. Furthermore, these conclusions are supported by the observation of numerous somatic variants in the transcriptomes of meristem tissue from multiple ramets derived from a single genet (Yu et al. 2020; Schwoch et al. unpublished data). Thus, the results of the current study appear to indicate that somatic mutations accumulating during stem growth are responsible for the observed fitness effects.
The potential for the acquisition of mutations during vegetative growth is a well-known aspect of plant biology (Klekowski 2003; Schultz and Scofield 2009; Bobiwash et al. 2013), but no previous study has demonstrated the effects of somatic mutations on the fitness of progeny in the next generation. Moreover, most studies have focused on the detrimental effects of somatic mutations; chloroplast mutants have been observed in a number of species (Klekowski 2003), declines in pollen fertility were found in older clones of quaking aspen (Ally et al. 2010), and higher rates of seed and fruit abortion after autogamous pollinations were found in several studies (reviewed in Bobiwash et al. 2013). In contrast, agriculturalists have taken advantage of beneficial somatic mutations to improve economically important plants (Aradhya et al. 2003; McKey et al. 2010; Miller and Gross 2011; Vezzulli et al. 2012; Jarni et al. 2015; Pelsy et al. 2015), and a handful of studies report phenotypic responses to selection in asexual lineages. For example, Breese et al. (1965) succeeded in selecting for increased tillering ability (production of new grass stems) within genets of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Similarly, artificial selection on clonal lineages effectively improved branching in the red seaweed, Asparagopsis armata (Monro and Poore 2009). The current study on M. guttatus contributes to this literature by highlighting the potential for plants to exhibit significant levels of clonal variation within a single generation.
The transmission of beneficial mutations in autogamous crosses may explain some heretofore difficult to understand results from mutation accumulation studies. Our results suggest that beneficial somatic mutations are likely to be partially dominant (i.e. not completely recessive), because they would have to be expressed in the heterozygous state to be favored by cell lineage selection. Mutations accumulating during vegetative growth could contribute to standing genetic variation, but autogamy may be more effective for the accumulation of beneficial somatic mutations in populations than geitonogamy or outcrossing, because beneficial mutations could be made homozygous in progeny in a single generation. Depending on the crossing design, outcrossing would take at least two generations for beneficial somatic mutations to be made homozygous, and under geitonogamy they would remain heterozygous. It is striking that high rates of beneficial mutation accumulation have been observed in at least some mutation accumulation studies in the autogamous plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Shaw et al. 2002; Rutter et al. 2010; Rutter et al. 2012), but not in outcrossing and partially-selfing species of Amsinckia (Schoen 2005). With a few exceptions (e.g., Baer et al. 2005; Denver et al. 2010), nearly all mutation accumulation studies on animals consistently show a prevalence of deleterious mutations (Baer et al. 2007; Halligan and Keightley 2009). Similarly, our results suggest that the adaptive potential of autogamous plants may be greater than previously thought, which may help explain the wider geographic ranges of selfing compared to closely-related outcrossing species (Grossenbacher et al. 2015; Grant and Kalisz 2020). Although developmental selection has the potential to contribute to adaptation in all plants, its effects may be enhanced in autogamous lineages, because beneficial mutations arising during vegetative growth have a greater chance of becoming homozygous in offspring and being retained across generations.
As stems grow, mutations can be generated during every mitotic cell division, so the potential for somatic mutation accumulation in plants appears substantial. Thus, understanding how long-lived plants, such as trees, avoid mutational meltdown from the accumulation of deleterious somatic mutations remains a longstanding question. Paradoxically, however, the rate of mutation accumulation observed across generations in plant and animal genomes is similar (Gaut et al. 2011). One hypothesis for this pattern is that, similar to animal germlines, a subset of cell lines in the apical meristem undergoes fewer mitotic divisions, which would protect lineages from the negative effects of mutation accumulation during development of the soma (Plant Germline Hypothesis; Burian et al. 2016; Cruzan 2018; page 90). An alternative hypothesis posits that somatic mutations are generated in apical meristems during plant growth, but these mutations are filtered by developmental selection prior to the establishment of offspring (Somatic Mutation Accumulation Hypothesis). Because plants have retained the capacity to undergo clonal evolution from their algal ancestors, the ability to filter mutations during growth and reproduction has existed for some time, and thus developmental selection has the potential to skew the distribution of fitness effects of transmitted mutations to include a larger proportion of beneficial mutations than would be expected through random processes. In addition, this provides a reasonable explanation for why longer-lived plants appear to have slower rates of mutation accumulation across generations (Yue et al. 2010; Gaut et al. 2011). This could be due to the fact that longer generation time leads to more time between recombination events, which can lead to more background selection in non-recombining cell lineages during vegetative growth (Cruzan 2018; pages 94-95). Recent studies in oaks, spruce, and eel grass (Plomion et al. 2018; Hanlon et al. 2019; Yu et al. 2020), as well as our unpublished data from M. guttatus, confirm that multiple somatic variants are likely, even in plants of very different size. Moreover, results from the current study identify the presence of beneficial mutations that were passed to offspring in the next generation, likely a consequence of developmental selection. Future work that combines information from experiments evaluating the genomic consequences of somatic variation with anatomical estimates of stem cell population dynamics will allow for the development of new models that provide insights into the extent and limitations of somatic evolution in plants.
In conclusion, despite the potential for somatic mutation accumulation to generate novel genetic variation in plant populations, its role in evolution remains almost entirely unexplored. Our estimates of the fitness effects of somatic mutations were consistent across two different methods and indicate that some stems possessed a prevalence of deleterious mutations while others produced autogamous progeny with high fitness, which indicates the presence of beneficial mutations. Even though high levels of mutation accumulation are often believed to be detrimental, the basic biology of plants suggests that the role of somatic mutations in plant evolution should be considered carefully in the future. Moving forward, our results indicate that we must keep in mind that all eukaryotes are not necessarily equivalent, and specific features of the organism’s biology may have unexpected consequences for the evolutionary phenomena that we observe. Future lines of investigation will improve our understanding of these fundamental aspects of plant development and evolution that may have contributed to the remarkable diversification of plants, and may help to account for some of the extensive variation in mutation rates detected among lineages.
Data Archiving
Data and all scripts for data analysis will be submitted to DataDryad upon publication.
Acknowledgements
We thank J. Thompson, E. Perez, and our research greenhouse manager Linda Taylor for plant maintenance and assistance with this research in the greenhouse and in the lab. Several people made helpful suggestions on this manuscript including N. Diaz, M. Grasty, and J. Persinger. This research was supported by an NIH NIGMS BUILD EXITO grant (5TL4GM118965-03, 5UL1GM118964-03, and 5RL5GM118963-03) to Portland State University.
Appendix 1. Validity of the δAD(k) Estimate
For a pair of stems from the same genet, we assume that wG represents the fitness of geitonogamous progeny after a cross between the pair of stems, and that wA represents the fitness of autogamous progeny after selfing a single flower on one stem:
Where, s1 and s2 represent the selective effects of mutations, and h1 and h2 represent the dominance of single somatic mutations in stem 1 and stem 2, respectively.
For simulations, we randomly chose values of s ranging from -0.2 to 0.2 for 200 pairs of stems. Values of h for s > 0 were allowed to range from 0 to 0.7 for each stem. Because deleterious alleles tend to be recessive, values of h were constrained to range between 0 and 0.1 for s < 0. Dominance values were chosen assuming that deleterious somatic mutations with high levels of expression would be eliminated by cell lineage selection during vegetative growth, and beneficial mutations with high dominance would not display strong fitness effect differences between autogamous and geitonogamous progeny. To match our experimental design in Mimulus guttatus, we calculated the fitness of autogamous progeny (wA) for one of the stems in each pair. We then calculated wG using information on s and h for both stems in each pair. Then we calculated the difference in fitness between each estimate as a measure of autogamy depression (δAD(k) = wA – wG). This simulation was repeated 20 times (4,000 pairs of stems total) and average values were calculated.
Results
Estimates of δAD(k) and s1 are strongly correlated, with R2 values ranging from 0.76 to 0.82 (one example of 200 random estimates):
The frequency of δAD(k) estimates having the opposite sign of s1 was very low. Mean number of correct signs was 178.7 (+/- 1.04 standard error) and was 21.30 (+/-1.04; or 12%) for incorrect signs.
Estimates of δAD(k) with incorrect signs were closer to zero. Mean absolute values of s for δAD(k) estimates with incorrect signs was 0.054 (+/- 0.0021) and was 0.106 (+/-0.0011) for correct signs. Hence, estimates of δAD(k) that are further from zero are more reliable estimates of s1.
We note that the formulation used above for wG could result in estimates that are out of range when large numbers of mutations are involved (i.e., wG = 1 + 0.5 ∑hisi for a large number of loci segregating for deleterious alleles). A better estimate may be the average effect of n loci segregating for deleterious alleles (i.e. ∑hisi/n). If we apply this approach for two loci (one mutation per stem) we obtain,
Using this formula, the relationship between δAD(k) and s1 is stronger (R2 ranging from 0.86 to 0.90), with only an average of 13 out of 200 estimates with opposite signs (7%). The average of correct signs was similar to the one above (0.105, +/- 0.0007), but the mean for incorrectly assigned values was much closer to zero (0.038, +/- 0.0022).
Another model for the effects of alleles at multiple loci on fitness assumes the interaction is multiplicative. In this case the estimate of wG becomes,
Using this formula, the relationship between δAD(k) and s1 is stronger (R2 ranging from 0.93 to 0.95), with only an average of 7.1 out of 200 estimates with opposite signs (4%). The average of correct signs was similar to the ones above (0.103, +/- 0.0010), but the mean for incorrectly assigned values was closer to zero (0.023, +/- 0.0020).
Interpretation
These results indicate that our estimate of δAD(k) is a valid estimate of s for stem 1. However, it does appear that we are underestimating s (i.e., the slope of the line is less than 1), as these estimates do not consider the effects of multiple somatic mutations or possible genetic background effects (i.e. epistasis).
It is also notable that our simulation assumes a wider range of h values than are generally observed for deleterious mutations. Estimates indicate that the product of hs for deleterious alleles is generally around 0.02, and that the relationship between s and h is generally negative (hyperbolic; Lynch et al. 1999). Minor effects of deleterious mutations are expected for our data, because somatic mutations having strong effects in the heterozygous condition would be eliminated by cell lineage selection. Adding the constraint of a negative relationship between h and s to our simulation model would marginally improve the predictive power of δAD(k) for estimates of s.
These simulations also support our use of the correlation between wA and wG to confirm that our estimates are similar to the simulation estimates.
Appendix 2. Estimating the selection coefficient due to somatic mutations from the variance in fitness among progeny
In this Appendix, we demonstrate that the standard deviation (SD) in fitness among progeny from autogamous crosses can be used to estimate the selection coefficient for the average effects of somatic mutations occurring within a stem. The variance in fitness among progeny from autogamy can be affected by the selection coefficient (s) and the dominance effects (h) of somatic mutations unique to a stem.
To evaluate the effects of a single mutation on progeny fitness, we assume fitnesses of;
The mean progeny fitness is then calculated as
Which simplifies to
The variance in progeny fitness can be calculated as
After substituting, we get
For simplification, we separate the effects of homozygous and heterozygous genotypes (terms within the three sets of square brackets)
and evaluate each one;
By combining and then simplifying these three results, we get
And the standard deviation can be obtained by taking the square root of V(w)
We note that this relationship holds regardless of the sign (positive or negative values of s), so for this relationship we can substitute w for s. The standard deviation in progeny fitness scales linearly with the selective effects of somatic mutations, and the effects of dominance on variation among progeny is minor (Fig. S1; which shows values of s or w predicted from values of SD for fitness ranging from 0 to 0.5). We note that the standard deviation is highest when mutations are completely recessive or dominant (h = 0 or 1) and SD(w) = 0.433s. When h = 0.5, the standard deviation is at its minimal value and SD(w) = 0.332s. By rearranging, we can obtain the regression equations to estimate the selective effects of somatic mutations from the standard deviation in progeny fitness as sSD = cSD, where c is the slope of the regression line in Fig. S1. From this analysis, it is clear that the effects of h on the within-family SD in fitness is minor compared to the effects of s. We obtain estimates of the regression slopes from the standard deviation in progeny fitness to produce the relationships in Fig. S1;
The effects of selection (s) or fitness (w) and dominance (h) on the standard deviation (SD) in fitness among progeny. The effect of dominance on variation in fitness is minimized when h = 0.5 and maximized when h = 0.0 and h = 1.0.
From these relationships we can estimate the selective effects of somatic mutations from the standard deviation in progeny fitness as wSD = cSD, where c is the slope of the regression lines in Fig. S1.
Appendix 3. Supplemental Tables and Figures
Analysis of variance results for seed set after autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations (Cross) with limited and excess pollen (Pollen). Population (Pop), maternal stem nested within population (Mat(Pop)), and pollination date (Date) were declared as random effects in the model.
Analysis of variance results for aborted ovules after autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations (Cross) with limited and excess pollen (Pollen). Population (Pop), maternal stem nested within population (Mat(Pop)), and pollination date (Date) were declared as random effects in the model.
Analysis of variance for progeny fitness (biomass weighted by survival of seedlings) after autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations (Cross) for ten maternal stems (Mat) and their interaction (Mat*Cross). Planting block (Tray) was declared as a random effect in the model.
Analysis of variance for progeny fitness (biomass weighted by survival of seedlings) after autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations (Cross) for seven paired pollinations at individual nodes (Stem/Node) and their interaction (Stem/Node*Cross). Hydroponic planting block (Tray) was declared as a random effect in the model and initial size of seedlings (Initial Size) was entered as a covariate.
Means and standard deviations (SD) for progeny groups from autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations in experiments 1 and 2. Experiment 1 included ten different genets. Experiment 2 was conducted with two ramets (C1 and D1) from the same genet. The fitness of progeny was estimated as its final biomass (log transformed to improve normality), weighted by the survival frequency of progeny from the same cross.
The relationship between the autogamous and geitonogamous progeny from the 14 comparisons from experiments 1 (blue circles) and 2 (orange squares) as listed in Table S6. The solid line represents a 1:1 relationship and the dashed line represents the best-fit to the data. Stems falling above the solid line apparently had a prevalence of deleterious somatic mutations whereas those falling below the line displayed a prevalence of beneficial somatic mutations.
Buss, L. W.1983. Evolution, development, and the units of selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America-Biological Sciences80:1387–1391. (http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.80.5.1387).
Monro, K. and A. G. B.Poore. 2009. The potential for evolutionary responses to cell-lineage selection on growth form and its plasticity in a red seaweed. Am. Nat. 173:151–163. (http://doi.org/10.1086/595758).
Watson, J. M., A.Platzer, A.Kazda, S.Akimcheva, S.Valuchova, V.Nizhynska, M.Nordborg, and K.Riha. 2016. Germline replications and somatic mutation accumulation are independent of vegetative life span in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America113:12226–12231. (http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1609686113).
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Consequently, heritable mutations only occur in animals during the development of gonads and gametes.
In general, it is difficult to assess the effects of somatic mutations accumulating during growth because clonal cell lineages lack recombination, and the fitness effects of beneficial mutations can be muted by the co-occurrence of detrimental genetic variants (Hill-Robertson Effect; Selective Interference; Hill and Robertson 1966; Fogle et al. 2008). Although sexual reproduction does allow mutations to segregate among progeny, it is difficult to detect the fitness effects of somatic mutations in eukaryotes with separate sexes. This is because the genomes of two individuals are combined, so individual somatic mutations that occur in one individual will always be heterozygous in offspring (Long et al. 2015). A more effective approach would be to make self-fertilizations in a hermaphroditic species, so a proportion of offspring would be homozygous for novel somatic mutations. In this study, we make crosses within individual clones of hermaphroditic plants to assess the fitness effects of inherited mutations that accumulated during somatic growth.
Hermaphroditic plants have several advantages for the study of somatic mutations. Separate stems on the same plant contain multiple germ cell lineages that are derived from the same zygote, but they may differ for somatic mutations that have accumulated during stem elongation. To produce recombinant progeny segregating for somatic mutations unique to each stem, crosses can be made either within the same flower (autogamy), or between flowers on separate stems of the same plant (inter-ramet geitonogamy – hereafter referred to simply as geitonogamy; Fig. 1). These crosses are both self-fertilizations, but the offspring will differ in the complement of somatic mutations that they inherit.
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yes
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Cytogenetics
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Are somatic mutations passed to offspring?
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yes_statement
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"somatic" "mutations" are "passed" to "offspring".. "offspring" inherit "somatic" "mutations".
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https://evolution.berkeley.edu/dna-and-mutations/the-effects-of-mutations/
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The effects of mutations - Understanding Evolution
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DNA and Mutations
The effects of mutations
Since all cells in our body contain DNA, there are lots of places for mutations to occur; however, not all mutations matter for evolution. Somatic mutations occur in non-reproductive cells and so won’t be passed on to offspring.
For example, the yellow color on half of a petal on this red tulip was caused by a somatic mutation. The seeds of the tulip do not carry the mutation. Cancer is also caused by somatic mutations that cause a particular cell lineage (e.g., in the breast or brain) to multiply out of control. Such mutations affect the individual carrying them but are not passed directly on to offspring.
The only mutations that matter to large-scale evolution are those that can be passed on to offspring. These occur in reproductive cells like eggs and sperm and are called germ line mutations.
Effects of germ line mutations
Some mutations don’t have any noticeable effect on the organism. This can happen in many situations: perhaps the mutation occurs in a stretch of DNA with no function, or perhaps the mutation occurs in a protein-coding region, but does not affect the amino acid sequence of the protein. Other mutations have a noticeable effect, but one that doesn’t seem to help or hurt. For example, a single mutation caused this cat’s ears to curl backwards slightly, a trait that doesn’t seem to affect its health.
Detrimental effect
Some mutations harm an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce. For example, in humans, Marfan syndrome is caused by a mutation affecting a protein that forms part of connective tissue, leading to heart problems and other health challenges. Detrimental mutations known as lethals disrupt DNA critical to survival and cause the death of the organism.
Beneficial effect
Other mutations are helpful to the organisms that carry them. For example, DDT resistance in insects is sometimes caused by a single mutation. While resistant insects might be downer for us, they are undoubtedly helpful for bugs trying to survive on pesticide-laden crops.
According to popular culture, it seems that mutations mainly cause either cancer or superpowers. Of course, the cancer is true enough. But in the real world, beneficial mutations are rare. Most mutations have no effect or a detrimental effect. And major evolutionary change (e.g., the “superpower” of flight in bats!) generally involves the accumulation of many, many mutations over many, many generations, with a few notable exceptions…
Little mutations with big effects: Mutations to control genes
Some regions of DNA control other genes, determining when and where other genes are turned “on”. Mutations in these parts of the genome can substantially change the way the organism is built. The difference between a mutation to a control gene and a mutation to a less powerful gene is a bit like the difference between whispering an instruction to the trumpet player in an orchestra versus whispering it to the orchestra’s conductor. The impact of changing the conductor’s behavior is much bigger and more coordinated than changing the behavior of an individual orchestra member. Similarly, a mutation in a gene “conductor” can cause a cascade of effects in the behavior of genes under its control.
Many organisms have powerful control genes that determine how the body is laid out. For example, Hox genes are found in many animals (including flies and humans) and designate where the head goes and which regions of the body grow appendages. Such master control genes help direct the building of body “units,” such as segments, limbs, and eyes. So evolving a major change in basic body layout may not be so unlikely; it may simply require a change in a Hox gene and the favor of natural selection.
Weird Fact: Mutations to control genes can transform one body part into another. Scientists have studied flies carrying Hox mutations that sprout legs on their foreheads instead of antennae!
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DNA and Mutations
The effects of mutations
Since all cells in our body contain DNA, there are lots of places for mutations to occur; however, not all mutations matter for evolution. Somatic mutations occur in non-reproductive cells and so won’t be passed on to offspring.
For example, the yellow color on half of a petal on this red tulip was caused by a somatic mutation. The seeds of the tulip do not carry the mutation. Cancer is also caused by somatic mutations that cause a particular cell lineage (e.g., in the breast or brain) to multiply out of control. Such mutations affect the individual carrying them but are not passed directly on to offspring.
The only mutations that matter to large-scale evolution are those that can be passed on to offspring. These occur in reproductive cells like eggs and sperm and are called germ line mutations.
Effects of germ line mutations
Some mutations don’t have any noticeable effect on the organism. This can happen in many situations: perhaps the mutation occurs in a stretch of DNA with no function, or perhaps the mutation occurs in a protein-coding region, but does not affect the amino acid sequence of the protein. Other mutations have a noticeable effect, but one that doesn’t seem to help or hurt. For example, a single mutation caused this cat’s ears to curl backwards slightly, a trait that doesn’t seem to affect its health.
Detrimental effect
Some mutations harm an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce. For example, in humans, Marfan syndrome is caused by a mutation affecting a protein that forms part of connective tissue, leading to heart problems and other health challenges. Detrimental mutations known as lethals disrupt DNA critical to survival and cause the death of the organism.
Beneficial effect
Other mutations are helpful to the organisms that carry them. For example, DDT resistance in insects is sometimes caused by a single mutation. While resistant insects might be downer for us, they are undoubtedly helpful for bugs trying to survive on pesticide-laden crops.
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no
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Product Design
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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yes_statement
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-health-benefits-standing-desks-180950259/
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Five Health Benefits of Standing Desks | Science| Smithsonian ...
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Much of this research has been spurred by James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic. "The way we live now is to sit all day, occasionally punctuated by a walk from the parking lot to the office," he recently said during a phone interview, speaking as he strolled around his living room. "The default has become to sit. We need the default to be standing."
All this might sound suspiciously like the latest health fad, and nothing more. But a growing body of research—conducted both by Levine and other scientists—confirms that a sedentary lifestyle appears to be detrimental in the long-term.
The solution, they say, isn't to sit for six hours at work and then head to the gym afterward, because evidence suggests that the negative effects of extended sitting can't be countered by brief bouts of strenous exercise. The answer is incorporating standing, pacing and other forms of activity into your normal day—and standing at your desk for part of it is the easiest way of doing so. Here's a list of some of the benefits scientists have found so far.
Reduced Risk of Obesity
Levine's research began as an investigation into an age-old health question: why some people gain weight and others don't. He and colleagues recruited a group of office workers who engaged in little routine exercise, put them all on an identical diet that contained about 1000 more calories than they'd been consuming previously and forbid them from changing their exercise habits. But despite the standardized diet and exercise regimens, some participants gained weight, while others stayed slim.
Eventually, using underwear stitched with sensors that measure every subtle movement, the researchers discovered the secret: the participants who weren't gaining weight were up and walking around, on average, 2.25 more hours per day, even though all of them worked at (sitting) desks, and no one was going to the gym. "During all of our days, there are opportunities to move around substantially more," Levine says, mentioning things as mundane as walking to a colleague's office rather than emailing them, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Failing to take advantage of these constant movement opportunities, it turns out, is closely associated with obesity. And research suggests that our conventional exercise strategy—sitting all day at work, then hitting the gym or going for a run—"makes scarcely more sense than the notion that you could counter a pack-a-day smoking habit by jogging," as James Vlashos puts it in the New York Times. The key to reducing the risk of obesity is consistent, moderate levels of movement throughout the day.
Scientists are still investigating why this might be the case. The reduced amount of calories burned while sitting (a 2013 study found that standers burn, on average, 50 more calories per hour) is clearly involved, but there may also be metabolic changes at play, such as the body's cells becoming less responsive to insulin, or sedentary muscles releasing lower levels of the enzyme lipoprotein lipase.
Of course, all this specifically points to danger of sitting too much, not exactly the same as the benefit of standing. But Levine believes the two are closely intertwined.
"Step one is get up. Step two is learn to get up more often. Step three is, once you're up, move," he says. "And what we've discovered is that once you're up, you do tend to move." Steps one and two, then, are the most important parts—and a desk that encourages you to stand at least some of the time is one of the most convenient means of doing so.
Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Other Metabolic Problems
The detrimental health impacts of sitting—and the benefits of standing—appear to go beyond simple obesity. Some of the same studies by Levine and others have found that sitting for extended periods of time is correlated with reduced effectiveness in regulating levels of glucose in the bloodstream, part of a condition known as metabolic syndrome that dramatically increases the chance of type 2 diabetes.
A 2008 study, for instance, found that people who sat for longer periods during their day had significantly higher levels of fasting blood glucose, indicating their their cells became less responsive to insulin, with the hormone failing to trigger the absorption of glucose from the blood. A 2013 study [PDF] came to similar findings, and arrived at the conclusion that for people already at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the amount of time spent sitting could be a more important risk factor than the amount of time spent vigorously exercising.
Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Scientific evidence that sitting is bad for the cardiovascular system goes all the way back to the 1950s, when British researchers compared rates of heart disease in London bus drivers (who sit) and bus conductors (who stand) and found that the former group experienced far more heart attacks and other problems than the latter.
Since, scientists have found that adults who spend two more hours per day sitting have a 125 percent increased risk of health problems related to cardiovascular disease, including chest pain and heart attacks. Other work has found that men who spend more than five hours per day sitting outside of work and get limited exercise were at twice the risk of heart failure as those who exercise often and sit fewer than two hours daily outside of the office. Even when the researchers controlled for the amount of exercise, excessive sitters were still 34 percent more likely to develop heart failure than those who were standing or moving.
Reduced Risk of Cancer
A handful of studies have suggested that extended periods of sitting can be linked with a higher risk of many forms of cancer. Breast and colon cancer appear to be most influenced by physical activity (or lack thereof): a 2011 study found that prolonged sitting could be responsible for as much as 49,000 cases of breast cancer and 43,000 cases of colon cancer annually in the U.S. But the same research found that significant amounts of lung cancer (37,200 cases), prostate cancer (30,600 cases), endometrial cancer (12,000 cases) and ovarian cancer (1,800 cases) could also be related to excessive sitting.
The underlying mechanism by which sitting increases cancer risk is still unclear, but scientists have found a number of biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein, that are present in higher levels in people who sit for long periods of time. These may be tied to the development of cancer.
Lower Long-Term Mortality Risk
Because of the reduced chance of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, a number of studies have found strong correlations between the amount of time a person spends sitting and his or her chance of dying within a given period of time.
A 2010 Australian study, for instance, found that for each extra hour participants spent sitting daily, their overall risk of dying during the study period (seven years)increased by 11 percent. A 2012 study found that if the average American reduced his or her sitting time to three hours per day, life expectancy would climb by two years.
These projects control for other factors such as diet and exercise—indicating that sitting, in isolation, can lead to a variety of health problems and increase the overall risk of death, even if you try to get exercise while you're not sitting and eat a healthy diet. And though there are many situations besides the office in which we sit for extended periods (driving and watching TV, for instance, are at the top of the list), spending some of your time at work at a standing desk is one of the most direct solutions.
If you're going to start doing so, most experts recommend splitting your time between standing and sitting, because standing all day can lead to back, knee or foot problems. The easiest ways of accomplishing this are either using a desk that can be raised upward or a tall chair that you can pull up to your desk when you do need to sit. It's also important to ease into it, they say, by standing for just a few hours a day at first while your body becomes used to the strain, and move around a bit, by shifting your position, pacing, or even dancing as you work.
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"Step one is get up. Step two is learn to get up more often. Step three is, once you're up, move," he says. "And what we've discovered is that once you're up, you do tend to move." Steps one and two, then, are the most important parts—and a desk that encourages you to stand at least some of the time is one of the most convenient means of doing so.
Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Other Metabolic Problems
The detrimental health impacts of sitting—and the benefits of standing—appear to go beyond simple obesity. Some of the same studies by Levine and others have found that sitting for extended periods of time is correlated with reduced effectiveness in regulating levels of glucose in the bloodstream, part of a condition known as metabolic syndrome that dramatically increases the chance of type 2 diabetes.
A 2008 study, for instance, found that people who sat for longer periods during their day had significantly higher levels of fasting blood glucose, indicating their their cells became less responsive to insulin, with the hormone failing to trigger the absorption of glucose from the blood. A 2013 study [PDF] came to similar findings, and arrived at the conclusion that for people already at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the amount of time spent sitting could be a more important risk factor than the amount of time spent vigorously exercising.
Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Scientific evidence that sitting is bad for the cardiovascular system goes all the way back to the 1950s, when British researchers compared rates of heart disease in London bus drivers (who sit) and bus conductors (who stand) and found that the former group experienced far more heart attacks and other problems than the latter.
Since, scientists have found that adults who spend two more hours per day sitting have a 125 percent increased risk of health problems related to cardiovascular disease, including chest pain and heart attacks.
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yes
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Product Design
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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yes_statement
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-benefits-of-a-standing-desk
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7 Benefits of a Standing Desk
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1. Standing Lowers Your Risk of Weight Gain and Obesity
While exercise is the most effective way to burn calories quickly, simply choosing to stand instead of sitting can also be beneficial.
In fact, when compared to an afternoon of sedentary work, an equal amount of time spent standing has been shown to burn over 170 additional calories (6).
That’s almost 1000 extra calories burned each week from simply standing at your desk each afternoon.
This caloric difference could be one of the reasons why sitting longer is so strongly linked to obesity and metabolic disease (1, 7).
2. Using a Standing Desk May Lower Blood Sugar Levels
Generally speaking, the more your blood sugar levels increase after meals, the worse it is for your health.
This is especially true for those with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.
In a small study of 10 office workers, standing for 180 minutes after lunch reduced the blood sugar spike by 43% compared to sitting for the same amount of time (6).
Both groups took the same amount of steps, indicating that the smaller spike was due to standing rather than additional physical movements around the office.
Another study involving 23 office workers found that alternating between standing and sitting every 30 minutes throughout the workday reduced blood sugar spikes by 11.1% on average (7).
The harmful effects of sitting after meals could help explain why excessive sedentary time is linked to a whopping 112% greater risk of type 2 diabetes (2).
Bottom Line:
Studies show that using a standing desk at work can lower blood sugar levels, especially after lunch.
3. Standing May Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease
The idea that standing is better for heart health was first proposed in 1953.
A study found that bus conductors who stood all day had half the risk of heart disease-related deaths as their colleagues in the driver’s seats (8).
Since then, scientists have developed a much greater understanding of the effects of sitting on heart health, with prolonged sedentary time thought to increase the risk of heart disease by up to 147% (2, 9).
It is so harmful that even an hour of intense exercise may not make up for the negative effects of an entire day spent sitting (10).
There is no doubt that spending more time on your feet is beneficial for heart health.
Bottom Line:
It is widely accepted that the more time you spend sitting, the greater your risk of developing heart disease.
4. Standing Desks Appear to Reduce Back Pain
Back pain is one of the most common complaints of office workers who sit all day.
To determine if standing desks could improve this, several studies have been done on employees with long-term back pain.
Participants have reported up to a 32% improvement in lower back pain after several weeks of using standing desks (11, 12).
Another study published by the CDC found that use of a sit-stand desk reduced upper back and neck pain by 54% after just 4 weeks (13).
Additionally, removal of the sit-stand desks reversed some of those improvements within a 2-week period.
Bottom Line:
Several studies show that standing desks can dramatically decrease chronic back pain caused by prolonged sitting.
5. Standing Desks Help Improve Mood and Energy Levels
Standing desks appear to have a positive influence on overall well-being.
In one 7-week study, participants using standing desks reported less stress and fatigue than those who remained seated the entire work day (13).
Additionally, 87% of those using standing desks reported increased vigor and energy throughout the day.
Upon returning to their old desks, overall moods reverted to their original levels.
These findings align with broader research on sitting and mental health, which links sedentary time with an increased risk of both depression and anxiety (14, 15).
Bottom Line:
One study found that standing desks can lower feelings of stress and fatigue, while improving mood and energy levels.
6. Standing Desks May Even Boost Productivity
A common concern about standing desks is that they hinder daily tasks, such as typing.
While standing each afternoon may take some getting used to, standing desks appear to have no significant impact on typical work tasks.
In a study of 60 young office employees, using a standing desk for 4 hours each day had no impact on characters typed per minute or typing errors (15).
Considering that standing improves mood and energy as well, using a standing desk is more likely to boost productivity rather than hinder it (5).
7. Standing More May Help You Live Longer
Studies have found a strong link between increased sitting time and early death.
This is not surprising given the strong association between sedentary time, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
In fact, a review of 18 studies found those who sit the most are at a 49% greater risk of dying early than those who sit the least (2).
Another study estimated that reducing sitting time to 3 hours per day would raise the average American’s life expectancy by 2 years (16).
While these observational studies do not prove cause and effect, the weight of evidence indicates standing more often could help lengthen our lifespan.
Bottom Line:
Research suggests that reduced sitting time may lower your risk of dying early and therefore help you live longer.
It’s Time to Take a Stand
Reducing sedentary time can improve physical, metabolic and even mental health. This is why sitting less and standing more is such an important lifestyle change.
If you want to try this out, then most places who sell office furniture also offer sit-stand desks. You can also purchase one online.
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2, 9).
It is so harmful that even an hour of intense exercise may not make up for the negative effects of an entire day spent sitting (10).
There is no doubt that spending more time on your feet is beneficial for heart health.
Bottom Line:
It is widely accepted that the more time you spend sitting, the greater your risk of developing heart disease.
4. Standing Desks Appear to Reduce Back Pain
Back pain is one of the most common complaints of office workers who sit all day.
To determine if standing desks could improve this, several studies have been done on employees with long-term back pain.
Participants have reported up to a 32% improvement in lower back pain after several weeks of using standing desks (11, 12).
Another study published by the CDC found that use of a sit-stand desk reduced upper back and neck pain by 54% after just 4 weeks (13).
Additionally, removal of the sit-stand desks reversed some of those improvements within a 2-week period.
Bottom Line:
Several studies show that standing desks can dramatically decrease chronic back pain caused by prolonged sitting.
5. Standing Desks Help Improve Mood and Energy Levels
Standing desks appear to have a positive influence on overall well-being.
In one 7-week study, participants using standing desks reported less stress and fatigue than those who remained seated the entire work day (13).
Additionally, 87% of those using standing desks reported increased vigor and energy throughout the day.
Upon returning to their old desks, overall moods reverted to their original levels.
These findings align with broader research on sitting and mental health, which links sedentary time with an increased risk of both depression and anxiety (14, 15).
Bottom Line:
One study found that standing desks can lower feelings of stress and fatigue, while improving mood and energy levels.
6. Standing Desks May Even Boost Productivity
A common concern about standing desks is that they hinder daily tasks, such as typing.
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yes
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Product Design
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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yes_statement
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://www.ohow.com/2021/02/08/standing-desk-ergonomics-7-benefits-of-standing-at-work/
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Standing Desk Ergonomics: 7 Benefits of Standing at Work ...
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Standing Desk Ergonomics: 7 Benefits of Standing at Work
We’ve all been there, slumped over a computer, typing away, back aching, shoulders hunched, as the hours tick away. Chances are if you’ve ever been in this (poor) position, you’ve likely wondered about the benefits of standing at work.
Standing desks and treadmill desks have gained in popularity over the past several years. A recent survey of HR professionals reported that the use of standing desks had increased by 7% in the last year as an employer-provided office perk. Offering a standing desk is one of those wellness options that are easy for employers to support and really improves office morale.
At the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin, helping you work comfortably and safely is one of our top priorities. We care about your back health. Stave off back pain and the damage from too much computer work by learning about standing desk ergonomics. Here are the benefits of standing at work.
Standing Desk Ergonomics: Get the Position Right
You may hear the word ergonomics associated with office furniture and computer equipment. Ergonomics refers to the way designers create equipment to align comfortably with the shape of the human body. Using biotechnology and design engineering, office furniture manufacturers have some ingenious solutions to help you have better posture while you work.
In the early days, standing desks were often a few boxes or a pile of books propped up under your laptop. Now a standing desk may be adjustable with different levers to raise and adjust the keyboard, keep the monitor at eye level (to counteract “hunching” and neck strain), and even a comfortable wrist pad for your mouse.
It’s often not practical to stand during every task. For example, taking a call, video conferencing, or quick emails might be easy standing activities. On the other hand, writing, design, or intensive research may be easier to do while sitting down. Give yourself time to ease into a routine of sitting and standing. Aim for a few 15-30-minute standing intervals throughout your day until you reach a balance that feels right to you.
Another aspect of standing desk ergonomics to consider are measures to prevent knee and leg strain. Standing for a long time with your knees locked or wearing heels can cause stress to your legs and even your lower back. Keep your knees loose and slightly bent. Look for a comfortable standing mat that’s made to accompany the desk and wear comfortable, supportive shoes while you stand.
Choose an adjustable standing desk. Many options sit right on top of your standard desk and use hydraulics to raise and lower the platform that holds your computer easily. These ergonomic standing desks make it simple to reap all the benefits of standing at work.
7 Benefits of Standing at Work
Whether you’re working from your home office or working from a busy shared space, a standing desk is a great option to improve your health during the workday. Here are 7 benefits of standing at work.
1. Burns Calories
Standing burns more calories than sitting, even if you simply stand still. Now, the calorie difference between standing versus sitting isn’t huge. Standing burns about 100-200 calories per hour, while sitting burns 60-130 calories. But over time, it can add up.
The other calorie-burning benefit of standing at work is the shift in your mindset. When you’re standing up, you’re more likely to keep your mind in “wellness mode.” You’ll walk around a bit more often throughout the day. You might do some leg lifts or take a quick break with some squats or jumping jacks. These little shifts in activity help you burn more calories during your workday.
2. Gives You an Energy Burst
In an analysis of 53 studies published in the Applied Ergonomics journal, having a standing desk encouraged workers to spend more time on their feet. Researchers in the UK found that 66% of workers felt more productive and 87% felt more energized by spending just an hour of their workday standing. The findings were so useful that they began the Smart Work and Life program to encourage office workers to get more active.
Small movements and active moments throughout the day help you stay awake and alert. You feel more engaged when you literally “think on your feet.” If you’re feeling sluggish throughout your workday, adding a few periods of standing can help you get back some of that energy and enthusiasm.
3. Improves Posture
Using a standing desk with proper ergonomics can help you have good posture at the computer. Your monitor should be at eye level, about 20 inches from your face at a 20-degree tilt, while you should bend your arms at 100-degree angles at your sides. Wrists should hover comfortably above the keyboard, with weight shifting between legs.
4. Reduces Back Pain
Like poor posture, you may think back pain is caused by sitting, but it’s not something that you have to live with or accept as part of work. If you have a comfortable chair designed with back and lumbar support and alternate with periods of standing, you will likely remedy your minor back pain.
5. Helps with Wrist Position
If you’ve sat with a laptop on your lap while typing, you’ve probably noticed your wrists start to fall and “rest” on your keyboard. This can lead to wrist strain and pain. Sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome, a pinched nerve in the wrist may notice more discomfort when wrists are held in the wrong position (although contrary to popular belief, there’s no correlation between keyboard use and CTS).
It’s good to be cognizant of your wrist position and strain on your body while you work. If you use a standing desk, you can keep your arms comfortably bent at a 90-100-degree angle. This is often a more ergonomic position and may even improve your typing speeds!
6. Keeps Circulation Going
If we look back at human evolution, our bodies were made to move. When we stand, we improve our leg muscles, our balance, and our core strength. We also prevent blood clots from forming in the legs. When people sit for a long time (such as on a plane), blood may slow and pool in their legs. In the worst cases, this can lead to a blood clot.
When we stand up, we move our legs and get the blood flowing throughout our bodies. In some studies, people who sat for long periods even had shorter life spans due to poor cardiovascular health. Standing often is part of a healthier lifestyle.
7. Boosts Your Mood and Focus
Finally, if your workday seems long and you find yourself distracted, standing up can give you a focus and mood boost to increase your productivity. A study at Texas A&M University found people who stood up at work in a call center were 50% more productive.
Standing helps us feel healthier, and when we feel well, we’re often in a better mood. Participants in standing studies at work have reported improved mood as a peripheral benefit of standing at work. So if you’re having a slow workday (or feeling down), get on your feet!
At the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin, we want to help you work, play, and live pain-free. If you’re experiencing discomfort during your workday, please contact us for an assessment. We can help you move and work with ease.
The entire staff especially the nurses, PA’s, assistants etc were AWESOME!! Friendly, caring and knowledgeable but never annoying. It was an excellent experience!!!!
Harry A.
1691879427
Caring, friendly staff from security/reception to nurses & doctors to food service and housekeeping, in a quiet,calm environment made for the best possible experience. Every step, from my initial consultation through physical therapy, was better than I expected. Thanks to everyone.
Roo D.
1691795302
Hands down best experience, from the surgeon to all the staff! Highly recommend!!!
vicki S.
1691794926
I had wonderful care today! Excellent, top notch staff. Beautiful facility and so efficient and effective all the way around.
Gayelin L.
1691786223
The team nurses were wonderful!Jean,Gretchen, Stephanie in post-op, and Judie in recovery!
Liz S.
1691712909
The process for my surgery was very organized. The staff in all areas was knowledgeable, respectful and enjoyable to interact with. The hospital facility was great for my overnight stay. The rooms are private and there is quiet so patients can sleep and recover. I would recommend this hospital to anyone for joint replacement.
Amy M.
1691709948
I’ve never had surgery before and I was quite nervous. From the moment arrived every nurse and nursing assistant I had was wonderful. Compassionate and informative. My PT and OT were outstanding as well. I left knowing exactly what I needed to do to heal well. I am so thankful for Dr. Kroner and his team, my hip replacement went smoothly and the relief of my initial pain was practically immediate. I cannot wait to heal from the surgery and lead an active life again. I cannot say enough good about my experience at Wisconsin Orthopedic Hospital. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Rodney P.
1691708931
Second time using this hospital and once again the entire staff was friendly, supportive and compassionate. Thank you!
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Ann B.
1691584680
From admission to discharge, I was treated with the utmost courtesy, warmth and respect. Pre- and postop care were comforting and reassuring from everyone. My recovery is going smoothly, and OHOW had a major role in that. Thank you, everyone.Even the chef called to see how the food was.
Nunya B.
1691536784
I’ve received 5 epidural injections in my back now by Dr. Donatello. He comes into your room before the injection to explain things and asks if you have any questions. He is such an outstanding doctor and a genuinely nice and honest gentleman. You can tell he actual cares about the people he’s helping. The staff are all friendly and professional as well! Recently I just had a radio frequency ablation done and it’s no different from the epidural injections or facet joint injections I also had done. He comes into the room before the procedure, explains everything from what gets done to results you can expect. I could not be any happier with Dr Donatello and his staff. Would recommend him to anyone in a heartbeat!
P. L. & Shanetta R.
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Great service and personable!!
Paul L.
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Walter T.
1691449357
Every aspect of my hand surgery was excellent in regard to the efficiency of all involved who knew exactly what they were responsible for and performed accordingly.
Carrie I.
1691431114
Friendly knowledgeable staff made this unexpected life event a little more comfortable!
Heather Ingram O.
1691421814
I have never visited the OHW. Rob in the MRI department was super welcoming and conversational. The procedure went smoothly because of Rob's expertise and know-how. Thank you for a pleasant experience!!
Suzanne M.
1691244738
A wonderful staff of healthcare people who took special care of me!
Simone G.
1691189173
Everyone is so kind, patient, and understanding. I would highly recommend OHOW! They made my experience memorable. Dr. Middleton is by far the greatest surgeon. What can I say, OHOW ROCKS THE PLANET!
Kathleen M.
1691159874
The best hospital for Orthopaedic surgery!All staff is well experienced in the specifics of orthopedic care & are great at it.I was well cared for, having the same 2 RN's, on days and nights, for the 2 nights I was there. Continuity of care was reassuring and helpful for my recovery.I can't say enough about the quality of care I received at OHOW!
Edward B.
1691104438
Great people and facility.. Had shoulder surgery done there and nothing but a good experience..
Rochelle W.
1691104012
Great team. Explicit, thorough, patient, very skilled, and professinal.
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The Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin is partially owned by physicians and meets the Federal definition of a "physician-owned hospital." A list of physician-owners is available upon request and we are happy to answer any questions you may have.
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Standing for a long time with your knees locked or wearing heels can cause stress to your legs and even your lower back. Keep your knees loose and slightly bent. Look for a comfortable standing mat that’s made to accompany the desk and wear comfortable, supportive shoes while you stand.
Choose an adjustable standing desk. Many options sit right on top of your standard desk and use hydraulics to raise and lower the platform that holds your computer easily. These ergonomic standing desks make it simple to reap all the benefits of standing at work.
7 Benefits of Standing at Work
Whether you’re working from your home office or working from a busy shared space, a standing desk is a great option to improve your health during the workday. Here are 7 benefits of standing at work.
1. Burns Calories
Standing burns more calories than sitting, even if you simply stand still. Now, the calorie difference between standing versus sitting isn’t huge. Standing burns about 100-200 calories per hour, while sitting burns 60-130 calories. But over time, it can add up.
The other calorie-burning benefit of standing at work is the shift in your mindset. When you’re standing up, you’re more likely to keep your mind in “wellness mode.” You’ll walk around a bit more often throughout the day. You might do some leg lifts or take a quick break with some squats or jumping jacks. These little shifts in activity help you burn more calories during your workday.
2. Gives You an Energy Burst
In an analysis of 53 studies published in the Applied Ergonomics journal, having a standing desk encouraged workers to spend more time on their feet. Researchers in the UK found that 66% of workers felt more productive and 87% felt more energized by spending just an hour of their workday standing. The findings were so useful that they began the Smart Work and Life program to encourage office workers to get more active.
Small movements and active moments throughout the day help you stay awake and alert.
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://health.clevelandclinic.org/will-standing-work-improve-health/
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Are Standing Desks Better for You? – Cleveland Clinic
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Looking for health + wellness advice?
Are Standing Desks Better for You?
If you have an office job where you sit hunched over a desk, clicking away at a computer most of the day, you need to take steps – literally – to reduce your sedentary habits. Our bodies are built to move, so sitting for hours at a time is bad news for your health (hello dead butt syndrome!).
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
“Some research suggests that people who sit excessively have increased risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease,” says occupational therapist Michael Milicia. “Even if you’re actively working, usually your lower body is relatively static, and there is decreased circulation. Also, less movement throughout your day means more aches and pains.”
Studies show that standing and moving more throughout the day will positively impact your health. Exercise and activity level (or movement in general) is one of the most dramatically modifiable risk factors that individuals can change.
How to get more movement into your day
While you probably can’t completely get away from sitting at your desk (or at least sitting for some parts of your workday), there are things you can do to be an “active sitter.”
Take breaks often. Take micro breaks to stand, stretch and walk around to get your blood pumping and circulating. Set your computer alarm to remind yourself to stop working and stretch. Or do some standing yoga poses. If your work space allows, get your blood flowing with squats, lunges, wall push-ups or planks.
Try a standing desk. If you can, invest in a standing desk or find tasks where you can stand, such as talking on the telephone or reading hard copy reports. Put your file cabinet on the other side of the room so that you have to walk over to it. If you do have a standing desk, alternate between sitting and standing every hour. Movement is your best defense for a desk job!
Walking meetings. Find reasons to go for a walk or to do walking meetings. Instead of sending an email, walk to your colleague’s office down the hall.
Exercise and commutes. Incorporating some time in your day to workout at home or go to the gym before or after your workday will help offset the sitting you may do throughout the day. Instead of taking the car to work, turn your commute into a workout by biking to work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or invest in a treadmill walking desk.
Incorporate seated exercises.Do exercises while seated at your desk, such as interlocking your fingers, turning your palms out and extending your arms. You can also rotate your shoulders, neck and ankles.
Step away from your desk at lunchtime. Leave your cube or home office. Climb some stairs. Take a 10-minute walk around the block. Trust us, your physical and mental health will thank you.
Mindful monitoring. A pedometer, heart rate monitor or fitness tracker can help you be more aware of your activity level and encourage more exercise, such as walking, throughout the day. Aim to get at least 10,000 steps a day.
Use a therapy ball chair. Rather than an office chair, try sitting in a therapy ball chair instead. The ball forces you to use your postural muscles to stay upright and balanced and you can shift your weight easily. As a bonus, you tend to stay more alert while sitting on a therapy ball.
Remember good eye hygiene is important
Prolonged staring at a computer screen does more damage than good, aka it can cause computer vision syndrome. Things like changing your viewing angle, practicing the 20-20-20 rule and remembering to blink often, can help.
Keep your seated posture ergonomically correct
Office workers typically conform to whatever configuration their desks and work stations are set at when they get them, but things don’t have to stay that way. It’s easy to set up an ergonomic office so that your work station doesn’t cause you pain or a loss in productivity.
Adjust your computer monitor, keyboard and mouse so that they’re correct for your height. Your monitor screen should be approximately an arm’s length away. The top of the monitor should be at your forehead level when your head is facing forward. Be careful so that you aren’t looking up or down, but straight ahead.
The height of your keyboard and mouse should keep your elbows at your side and bent at 90 degrees. Make sure you’re not reaching or straining to reach your mouse or keyboard. It’s also worth mentioning the investment of an ergonomics mouse, which keeps your wrist in a neutral position, almost as if you’re shaking someone’s hand.
Your hips and knees should be at 90 degree angles. When you’re sitting, your feet should rest on the ground or be supported on a foot rest. Your back should be fully supported in an upright, straight-on position against the back of the chair.
Make sure you keep your head directly over your shoulders. Rather than leaning forward toward the computer like so many of us do, be sure to sit straight with a neutral spine. Leaning forward puts significant strain and pressure on your neck and upper back.
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Looking for health + wellness advice?
Are Standing Desks Better for You?
If you have an office job where you sit hunched over a desk, clicking away at a computer most of the day, you need to take steps – literally – to reduce your sedentary habits. Our bodies are built to move, so sitting for hours at a time is bad news for your health (hello dead butt syndrome!).
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
“Some research suggests that people who sit excessively have increased risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease,” says occupational therapist Michael Milicia. “Even if you’re actively working, usually your lower body is relatively static, and there is decreased circulation. Also, less movement throughout your day means more aches and pains.”
Studies show that standing and moving more throughout the day will positively impact your health. Exercise and activity level (or movement in general) is one of the most dramatically modifiable risk factors that individuals can change.
How to get more movement into your day
While you probably can’t completely get away from sitting at your desk (or at least sitting for some parts of your workday), there are things you can do to be an “active sitter.”
Take breaks often. Take micro breaks to stand, stretch and walk around to get your blood pumping and circulating. Set your computer alarm to remind yourself to stop working and stretch. Or do some standing yoga poses. If your work space allows, get your blood flowing with squats, lunges, wall push-ups or planks.
Try a standing desk. If you can, invest in a standing desk or find tasks where you can stand, such as talking on the telephone or reading hard copy reports. Put your file cabinet on the other side of the room so that you have to walk over to it. If you do have a standing desk, alternate between sitting and standing every hour. Movement is your best defense for a desk job!
Walking meetings. Find reasons to go for a walk or to do walking meetings.
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/standing-desks-help-beat-inactivity
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Standing Desks: How They Can Help You Beat Inactivity
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Standing Desks: How They Help You Beat Inactivity
In this Article
Youâve probably seen a co-worker catch up on emails at the officeâs treadmill desk, while another knocks out reports at their standing desk. But did you know theyâre lowering their risk for heart disease, obesity, and back and neck pain, too?
Studies have linked sitting a lot to these and other health problems. Even people who exercise most days face health risks if they sit too much. Standing desks raise your computer high enough for you to work and stand at the same time. This keeps you on your feet for more of the day.
Types of Standing Desks
All standing desks follow the same basic idea -- they let you work while you stand.
Fixed-height desks stay at your standing height. Sit-stand desks go up and down so you can sit or stand whenever you feel like it. Power sit-stand desks go up with the push of a button. You can lift manual ones with a handle or raise them with a lever or crank.
You can buy a standing desk online or at an office supply, electronics, or big-box store.
A basic fixed-height desk will cost you less than $100, but a really nice electric desk can cost more than $1,000. Treadmill desks take the idea a step further by letting you walk while you work, but they can cost more than $1,000, too.
The Pros
Besides less sitting time, standing at work has other benefits:
More calories burned: One study showed that standing sheds 88 calories an hour, compared to 80 calories for sitting. Walking burns a lot more -- 210 calories an hour.
Less back pain: Sitting for long periods of time tightens your muscles and can hurt your lower back, especially if you have bad posture. Standing desks seem to help ease back pain, but doctors don't know how much time you need to stand to get this benefit.
More productive: In a study of call center employees, those with standing desks were 45% more productive on a daily basis than employees who sat during their shift.
The Cons
Standing desks aren't perfect. They can cause a few problems:
Leg and foot pain: Standing for long periods of time puts pressure on your knees, hips, and feet. This could lead to pain. If you lift one foot to ease the pressure, being off-balance could affect your posture.
Vein problems: Being on your feet for too long makes blood collect in your leg veins. The vein may stretch to fit the extra blood and get weaker. This leads to varicose veins. People who stand for more than 6 hours a day are two or three times more likely to need surgery for varicose veins than people who stand or walk for less than 4 hours a day.
Standing doesn't replace exercise: You'll only burn a few more calories standing, which is better than nothing. But walking more than doubles your calorie burn. Studies that compared the two showed treadmill desk users had much greater improvements in blood sugar and cholesterol levels than standing desk users.
Standing desks aren't ideal for every task: You may be able to type or answer the phone while on your feet, but some tasks, like drawing and writing, are easier when you sit.
The Right Way to Stand
Experts say the best way to use a standing desk is to stand for a while, sit, then stand again. Do this several times throughout the day. To start, stand for just 30 minutes at a time, a few times a day. Add an hour, then add 2 or more hours as you feel comfortable.
Move the standing desk so your body is properly aligned. Your head, neck, and spine should be in a straight line when you stand. And your elbows should form a 90-degree angle when your wrists are flat on the desk. Put your computer monitor at eye level.
Wear comfortable shoes with no heel or a low one. Stand on a cushioned mat for more support.
Every 30 minutes or so, leave your desk and take a walk. Head to a co-worker's desk or grab a drink at the fountain to get some exercise and give your back a break. And even though you're standing more, don't forget to do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, 5 days a week.
Show Sources
SOURCES:
American Cancer Society: "Study: An hour of physical activity a day needed to offset dangers of prolonged sitting."
BMC Public Health: "Evaluation of sit-stand workstations in an office setting: a randomized controlled trial."
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Standing Desks: How They Help You Beat Inactivity
In this Article
Youâve probably seen a co-worker catch up on emails at the officeâs treadmill desk, while another knocks out reports at their standing desk. But did you know theyâre lowering their risk for heart disease, obesity, and back and neck pain, too?
Studies have linked sitting a lot to these and other health problems. Even people who exercise most days face health risks if they sit too much. Standing desks raise your computer high enough for you to work and stand at the same time. This keeps you on your feet for more of the day.
Types of Standing Desks
All standing desks follow the same basic idea -- they let you work while you stand.
Fixed-height desks stay at your standing height. Sit-stand desks go up and down so you can sit or stand whenever you feel like it. Power sit-stand desks go up with the push of a button. You can lift manual ones with a handle or raise them with a lever or crank.
You can buy a standing desk online or at an office supply, electronics, or big-box store.
A basic fixed-height desk will cost you less than $100, but a really nice electric desk can cost more than $1,000. Treadmill desks take the idea a step further by letting you walk while you work, but they can cost more than $1,000, too.
The Pros
Besides less sitting time, standing at work has other benefits:
More calories burned: One study showed that standing sheds 88 calories an hour, compared to 80 calories for sitting. Walking burns a lot more -- 210 calories an hour.
Less back pain: Sitting for long periods of time tightens your muscles and can hurt your lower back, especially if you have bad posture. Standing desks seem to help ease back pain, but doctors don't know how much time you need to stand to get this benefit.
More productive: In a study of call center employees, those with standing desks were 45% more productive on a daily basis than employees who sat during their shift.
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://www.wsj.com/buyside/home/standing-desk-questions-01653614094
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Are Standing Desks Good For You? 8 Questions and Answers - Buy ...
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It’s funny calling standing desks a trend when, in fact, Thomas Jefferson used one back in the 1770s. But there’s no doubt that working on our feet is having another moment.
While tech companies from Apple to Google have been outfitting their offices with them for more than a decade, sit-stands didn’t really take off for home work zones until our post-2020, hybrid era. They fill our need to furnish our work-from-home space with a comfortable, flexible setup—while also satisfying that modern-day wish to work hard but maintain a healthy balance. “People are much more invested in where and how they’re working now,” says Irvington, N.J.-based interior designer Beth Diana Smith.
But snapping up an adjustable-height desk to try to stand more for wellness reasons comes with some tricky decisions. From finding one that’s comfortable for your height to figuring out the best ratio of standing to sitting, there’s a lot to weigh before getting with the sit-stand program, including whether it should double as your home gym. You can now pair a standing desk with a treadmill, as Victoria Beckham reportedly does, or swap out your chair for a bike desk chair…but is that wise? To find out, we talked with ergonomists, interior designers and healthy work experts. Ahead, tips to help you clarify your stance on it all.
Who needs a standing desk?
That’s an easy one: “Everyone,” says Jack Dennerlein, professor of physical therapy, movement and rehabilitation sciences at Northeastern University in Boston. “If you want to improve your well-being, having a sit-stand workstation allows you to change your posture and that just helps everybody.”
Many studies have looked into the health benefits of standing desks, and the big winners are your neck and back. “When you feel a little stiff or achy, it lets you change things up,” Dennerlein says. Some studies have found the desks make a difference for easing lower back and shoulder and neck discomfort. In fact, a 2019 review of 53 studies published in Applied Ergonomics concluded sit-stand desks are successful at changing behavior—i.e. getting sitters to stand more—and relieving aches.
They may help your mental health too. Research has shown that when companies implement sit-stand desks, their staffers become a lot happier. “They’ve got more control over their work environment,” Dennerlein says, and that decision power can improve their well-being.
There’s also a social contagion factor that means you have the power to spur someone else to move more—even if you only see each other over Zoom. “I know when I’m in a meeting and I see someone standing, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to stand too,’” Dennerlein says.
Is the goal to stay on your feet all day?
No—that’s about the worst thing you could do. “We know standing all day is not good for you,” Dennerlein says. “People who stand for work have more back pain and often have higher rates of cardiovascular disease.”
You need to mix it up, and your body is the best judge of the right ratio for you. Some people can only stand for five or 10 minutes before they start to feel pain and have to sit, Dennerlein says, while others can comfortably stand for a couple of hours at a clip.
Why are standing desks so good for pain?
It’s not the standing part that is beneficial, but rather the movement, explains April Chambers, associate professor of health and human development at University of Pittsburgh. Unlike a traditional desk, a standing station nudges us off our chairs, changing our posture. Then once we’re up, we naturally shift around.
Think about Zoom calls: You can usually tell when someone’s at a standing desk because they’re moving around, Dennerlein points out. These micro and macro movements do more for the muscles and joints than you’d think. By changing your posture, the load on your joints changes and you get the blood flowing to other parts of the body, he notes. “That’s why going between sitting and standing is really helpful for you.”
So they really live up to the hype?
Well, if you buy one hoping it’ll help you drop pounds, you might be disappointed. When standing desks first came out, some people thought of them as a weight loss tool, but that promise hasn’t held up in research, Chambers says.Turns out, doing a desk job on your feet isn’t much of a fat burner. As Dennerlein puts it, “The calories burned if you stand all day are equivalent to a slice of bread.”
What’s the best way to position yourself at an adjustable-height desk?
There’s no one-size-fits-all, says Dennerlein. “What’s important when using a standing desk is paying attention to your body. What feels good? What doesn’t feel good?”
While the classic 90-90-90 ergonomics rule for sitting at a desk—where your knees, pelvis and elbows are all at 90-degree angles—is a good starting point, there’s actually a lot of deviation in how people like to work while standing, and that’s just fine. A study Dennerlein led that was published in the journal Human Factors compared how people arrange their sitting and standing setups and found most preferred the standing desk set slightly lower than elbow height. They also arranged their monitor lower than they did while sitting, with more upward tilt, and kept their mouse closer to the body while standing than while sitting.
The inspiration for the study came from his own realization that he was setting up his sit-stand desk differently when standing than when sitting, and it was giving him neck pain. He says to pay attention to those twinges and adjust accordingly because “people find comfort in different ways when they work at a computer.”
What’s the most important thing to consider when shopping?
Your height is a crucial consideration because if the desk doesn’t fit you, it won’t be comfortable. If you’re shorter than average, you want to make sure your sit-stand goes low enough so you can sit comfortably. Atlanta-based writer Kate Rope, who is 5-foot-3, bought this Vari sit-stand desk strictly because of its adjustability. “I like the fact that it goes lower than a normal desk for my short self,” she says.
If you’re tall, you need one that adjusts high enough so you don’t have to stoop down—or put it up on bricks, as a 6-foot-6-inch friend of Dennerlein had to do. The specs generally spell out the desk height range in inches, along with which heights those work for, so read carefully before investing. These adjustable standing desks, including the two below, work for a wide range of heights.
Steelcase
Migration SE Sit-to-Stand Desk
UpLift
24-inch Deep Standing Desk
I keep seeing treadmill desks and bike chairs. What are the pros and cons?
On the plus side, these are active workstations that integrate actual gym equipment so they “do increase your energy expenditure more than the calories in a slice of bread,” Dennerlein says.
Still, there are downsides. One is the safety risk that comes from trying to accomplish two things at once. “You’re walking on the treadmill at your desk while working and you suddenly miss a step,” Dennerlein says. Ouch. On top of that, research has shown we’re less productive at them, particularly when doing fine motor work as opposed to, say, scanning email. The bottom line is it’s a nice to have, not a need to have. “If you can take a call while you go for a walk, that’s just as good as a treadmill would be,” Dennerlein says.
Any way to make a standing desk look less sterile?
No doubt, with their metal legs and shades of gray, sit-stand desks can feel stark, says Smith, the designer. “You want to warm it up by considering what you put beneath it, behind it and on top of it,” she says. Start with your base: “Run an area rug fully under the desk. You’re looking for something a bit plush and colorful to distract the eye from those metal legs.” (Avoid high-pile rugs, though, or your chair wheels won’t move.)
Next, spruce up the surface with something that’s pleasing to the eye, like a plant—which may even help you feel better during your 9 to 5, according to Jenny Roe, a researcher and director of the Center for Design and Health at the University of Virginia. “A view of nature will restore mental fatigue and improve your mood,” Roe says. Snake plants are great-looking and low-maintenance. “I always recommend putting it in a patterned and brightly colored pot,” Smith adds. (Again, it’s your Zoom stage.)
Finally, think about what goes behind your adjustable desk, Smith advises, such as oversized art or “a really fun wallpaper.” She likes the 1980’s Office Wallpaper from Milton & King, or you can find inspiration from nature or Hollywood sets. With the boom in video calls, “there’s now a bigger push to make sure what’s behind you is quote-unquote pretty.”
The advice, recommendations or rankings expressed in this article are those of the Buy Side from WSJ editorial team, and have not been reviewed or endorsed by our commercial partners.
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Why are standing desks so good for pain?
It’s not the standing part that is beneficial, but rather the movement, explains April Chambers, associate professor of health and human development at University of Pittsburgh. Unlike a traditional desk, a standing station nudges us off our chairs, changing our posture. Then once we’re up, we naturally shift around.
Think about Zoom calls: You can usually tell when someone’s at a standing desk because they’re moving around, Dennerlein points out. These micro and macro movements do more for the muscles and joints than you’d think. By changing your posture, the load on your joints changes and you get the blood flowing to other parts of the body, he notes. “That’s why going between sitting and standing is really helpful for you.”
So they really live up to the hype?
Well, if you buy one hoping it’ll help you drop pounds, you might be disappointed. When standing desks first came out, some people thought of them as a weight loss tool, but that promise hasn’t held up in research, Chambers says. Turns out, doing a desk job on your feet isn’t much of a fat burner. As Dennerlein puts it, “The calories burned if you stand all day are equivalent to a slice of bread.”
What’s the best way to position yourself at an adjustable-height desk?
There’s no one-size-fits-all, says Dennerlein. “What’s important when using a standing desk is paying attention to your body. What feels good? What doesn’t feel good?”
While the classic 90-90-90 ergonomics rule for sitting at a desk—where your knees, pelvis and elbows are all at 90-degree angles—is a good starting point, there’s actually a lot of deviation in how people like to work while standing, and that’s just fine.
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"standing" "desks" are beneficial for your "health".. using "standing" "desks" improves your overall "health".
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https://www.autonomous.ai/ourblog/9-true-health-benefits-of-a-standing-desk
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9 True Health Benefits of a Standing Desk
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9 True Health Benefits of a Standing Desk
Something well known to everyone is that a physically active lifestyle is essential to everyone’s well-being as it can reduce the risk of chronic diseases. However, people who sit for extended periods at their desk job often have a sedentary behavior detrimental to their health. Many studies show that this behavior is associated with multiple health risks, such as heart disease and diabetes.
For that reason and others, alternatives to typical desks such as standing desks have become more prevalent in many workplaces and home offices. The ergonomic health benefits of a standing desk are countless compared to simply continuing to work while sitting at your desk-bound job. If you’ve ever suffered from back pain while working or worry about your health, then you should consider getting a standing desk.
With a new product or concept popping up in the market, there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding it. Some are too unconvinced of the actual benefits, while some are sure that it is just another ruse to make you spend money. Though the popularity and benefits of standing desks are backed by many scientific arguments that have convinced many people to opt for a standing desk as their ultimate way of working, the question of “does standing desk burn calories” finally has resulted in a unanimous affirmative.
Along with the standing desk advantages and enjoying standing desk health benefits, it is also equally important to realize that standing desks are only helpful when applied, used and researched properly. Since staying in the same position for your body is harmful and stressful, whether sitting or standing, you need to learn all about using a standing desk in your workplace. Below is an extensive guide on how to make the most of standing while working and the types of posture to avoid or practice while using a standing desk.
What Is a Standing Desk?
Standing desks, which are also referred to as height-adjustable desks, sit-stand desks, or stand-up desks, is essentially a desk that lets you draw, write, and work while standing up or using a high stool. There are several different types, which allows you to get the one that fits your office and budget the best. The mental health benefit of the standing desk and the physical ones are just some of the advantages that this desk provides over your regular office desks.
How Standing Desks Help Your Mental and Physical Health
Are standing desks good for your health? Working for long hours while sitting puts people’s health at risk due to the sedentary life it enforces. As an office worker, you may not have a choice in the matter while you’re at work, but you may even spend your evening at home sitting as well.
When you begin fixing that sedentary habit by investing in a standing desk, you considerably reduce some of the risks associated with it, such as obesity, weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes. The mental health benefit of a standing desk is also plentiful, as it considerably improves your work satisfaction.
If that still doesn’t convince you that a standing desk is worth it, you only need to look a little bit further to be wholly convinced. Here are nine true health benefits of a standing desk:
1. Reduces the Risk of Weight Gain and Obesity
Nearly everybody knows that you gain weight by consuming more calories than you can burn. Contrarily, you can also lose weight whenever you burn more calories than you consume. If you work while standing instead of sitting, you can reduce the risk of weight gain and obesity by burning some extra calories each hour you work.
Those calories you burn can pile up over time, and if you were to do so over an entire year, the amount of burnt calories becomes quite notable. If you want to enhance this physical standing desk advantage, you can incorporate some standing desk exercises while working. For example, if you march in place, you can burn up to 225 calories per hour while stimulating your brain activity, making you more productive and energetic.
2. May Lower Your Blood Sugar Levels
Lowering your blood sugar levels is another health benefit of a standing desk. Whenever you have a meal, your blood sugar can increase quite a bit. The more it does, the worse it can be for your health. People that have insulin resistance or diabetes are even more at risk.
Fortunately, a standing-based office work study showed that you could significantly reduce the sugar spike after lunch by 43% by standing for three hours after the meal. This is in comparison to people who were sitting for the same amount of time. Switching between sitting and standing throughout the workday on a 30-minute interval after lunch break also reduces the blood sugar spike by 11% on average.
There may even be a link between these effects and how excessive sedentary time links to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. If you want to be on the safe side, get a standing desk and implement a sit-stand routine, especially after meals.
3. May Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease
The notion that standing is better than sitting is something that’s been studied for a long time now. In particular, a study in 1953 found that bus conductors who sit throughout the day had twice the chance of dying from heart diseases than coworkers who had been standing during the whole day.
Since then, it has been a matter of constant study, but now there is a greater understanding of the matter. Frequently sitting for an extended time can significantly increase the risk of heart disease. If you spend your entire day sitting, even an hour of intense exercise may not compensate for the negative effect it has.
There isn’t any doubt that spending more time standing is beneficial for you. The physical standing desk health benefit, in this case, is tremendous.
4. Improves Circulation
Another great physical standing desk health benefit is that it improves your circulation, which can lead to other health benefits. Choosing to stand at your desk lets you have a better blood flow compared to when you’re sitting. Whenever you work in an upright position, your circulation to your extremities significantly improves.
Sitting, on the other hand, can slow it down or impede it. It can lead to several health problems like blood clots, varicose veins, swollen ankles, and more. Remember to stand, stretch, and do a slight jog in place every hour if you want to enjoy the health benefits of a standing desk thoroughly.
5. Reduces Neck and Back Pain
If you have a desk-bound job, the chances are that you’ve experienced some degree of back pain. When you sit for prolonged times, you apply pressure on your lower back, straining yourself and possibly developing a worse condition if left unchecked.
You can also get neck pains If your monitor display isn’t in the proper position, as it may cause you to tilt your head to see it correctly. If you have a poor sitting posture and don’t have enough ergonomic support, you may aggravate the strain to both your neck and lower back.
This physical benefit of a standing desk primarily comes from its ergonomic design. It helps to prevent neck and back pain. It helps you by making a change in your usually repetitive daily work cycle. When you promote a dynamic posture by standing up for a while every now and then, you can mitigate the strain you endure on your back, neck, and shoulders from sitting for extended periods.
It may not immediately eliminate your back pains, but if you make sure to have the correct posture while standing and sitting, it’s only a matter of time.
6. Improves Mood and Increases Energy
It’s nearly impossible to get through a week unscathed when you’re sitting and working grueling hours from beginning to end. When you remain in that repetitive sedentary position, you subject your body to stress, become more fatigued, and you may even start to feel unmotivated. It might surprise you how much investing in a standing desk and changing your work posture can affect your mood, overall energy, and well-being.
The mental health benefit of a standing desk, along with the physical advantages, become numerous when you begin a regular sit-stand session schedule. It provides significant relief to your body, helps you prevent fatigue, and reduces the psychological distress you feel on those tough days. The reason is that by standing, you can release some of the tension piling up in your body, boosting your mood and energy and improving your productivity.
7. Raises Productivity
Some people have concerns about how standing desks may slow them down during their jobs, whether they’re typing, writing, or anything related. Luckily, they don’t have any impact on your typical daily tasks. You only need to get used to working with a standing desk.
While the desk itself doesn’t directly affect productivity, it can improve your mood, energy, and well-being, indirectly influencing it. If you are in a good mood and don’t feel back, neck, or shoulder pains, focusing on your task at hand becomes considerably easier. These health benefits of a standing desk let you perform your job more efficiently, which makes you have a more productive workday.
8. Improves Posture
Sitting puts plenty of stress on your spine, even more so if you don’t have a proper posture. Standing can provide some relief to your spine, reducing strain and slightly improving your posture. However, you can’t immediately put the standing desk’s benefits to use.
If you want to enjoy every physical benefit of a standing desk and make your good posture, putting some effort into knowing how to use a sit-stand desk properly is the key. Figuring out a good sitting and standing schedule should be the first thing you do. Standing for a long time Is a quick way to burn yourself out, worsen your posture, and harm yourself after some time.
Initially, you’re looking to incorporate standing into your routine with short periods. Raising your desk for 10 minutes after spending 50 minutes sitting is an excellent start. It gets you moving twice an hour and allows you to enjoy the desk’s benefits. Then, once you start getting accustomed to the desk, you can start changing the ratio.
The schedule varies from person to person. Some people can get adjusted quickly to the desk, while others need to spend more time on it. You may be able to focus more if you work while sitting, while for other people, it may be the exact opposite. Find out your preferences and make a plan that fits you adequately and lets you enjoy every physical benefit of a standing desk.
9. It May Help You Live Longer
The overall physical and mental health benefits of a standing desk lead to a higher life expectancy. When you shorten your sitting time and tackle the problem of a sedentary lifestyle, you are decreasing your risk of suffering from health issues and improving your well-being, which in turn helps you live longer.
How to Use a Standing Desk Correctly?
Standing eliminates the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle from your work routine by adding the opportunity to work while standing. But are standing desks good for you and won't work while standing for more than six hours a day hurt your legs? Here are some tips for using a standing desk properly.
Alternate Between Sitting and Standing
There is no doubt that sitting for prolonged periods is harmful to your health and many studies suggest that it gives rise to many long term diseases. While sitting, you are also vulnerable to unhealthy postures and slouching hence inactivity while working. On the other hand, standing all day isn't a treat for the body either.
This means that you need to find a perfect balance between sitting and standing throughout the day. The only right way to use a standing desk is to divide your day into periodic schedules of sitting and standing. By getting a perfect balance of standing vs sitting calories, you can soon feel an improvement in overall health.
Adjust your Desk
Ability to stand is one of the remarkable benefits of standing desks. Often, people face trouble using a standing desk or don't experience any improvement because they aren't adjusting it well to the right position. There are some correct guidelines on how to adjust your desk properly. Correct desk height and computer screen placement are critical for increasing comfort and reducing the risk of harm in the workplace.
For an ergonomic working position, adjust your standing desk’s height, around your elbow level. This means that the angle between your elbows and the ground should be a 90 degrees for your arms to be comfortable and in a neutral position. Next, you need to adjust the screen to a minimum of 20 inches from your face. The screen level should match your eye level, so no tilt or inclination is involved.
Using Standing Desk Accessories
Anti-fatigue mats are frequently used in prolonged standing tasks, such as working on a production line or at a counter. Standing tiredness is said to be combated by these mats, which encourage small leg muscle movements. This increases blood flow and alleviates discomfort. Using an anti-fatigue mat for a standing desk is like using a seat cushion for your chair; it prevents your body from experiencing excessive strain.
Taking Frequent Breaks
One way to rest your body while working when you have a lot to manage is using a standing desk. Because with a sit-stand L-shaped desk, you can alternate between sitting and standing; thus, no muscle undergoes prolonged stress. But for active working and healthy work-life balance, mental breaks are equally important as physical breaks.
Hence it would be best to remove yourself from work after a few hours to recharge the mind or freshen it up. The right way is to take a stroll or walk away from your desk for at least 10 minutes three times a day. If you aren’t able to find a place to be away from your desk, standing desk exercises are a wonderful way to recharge your mind and relax your muscles. There are many benefits of practicing the exercise at your workstation, and you can find some easy stretches right at your desk as well.
How to Choose the Right Standing Desk for You?
Though the concept might have started from one place, standing desks are now a part of every other furniture store in the USA and worldwide. Since there are many choices, it is likely true that one gets confused picking out the best type of standing desk for them. Here are some tips for choosing the best standing desk for you.
Quality
One cannot depend on a cheap product with poor quality claims for an investment as huge as a standing desk. Thus focusing on quality is the first thing one should do when picking a product as big as a standing desk. Rather than opting for cheap unsung names, it is wise to pick a reputable office furniture manufacturing brand. Though they might be a little out of your budget, incentives like an Autonomous employee purchase program can help you earn a good deal.
Noise
Motors are widely used in adjustable height workstations. As a result, when they're turned on, they normally clatter. Check the noise level mentioned on the desk guidelines to ensure your desk doesn't disturb everyone working around you.
Functionality
Some desks may be preset to various settings, making it simple to achieve the best ergonomics every time. This allows more accurate and easy single touch height adjustment operation. The desks are also suitable for a wider range of people, so each can present their ergonomic height level.
Weight Capacity
The weight capacity of your table determines the gadgets and accessories you can have on your table. If the weight capacity is too low, you don't have enough room to hang all of your workplace necessities. Decide the type of work setting you will need, whether a single monitor or multi-monitor setup. Choose a desk with a weight capacity a few pounds greater than you need.
Type of Desk
Hand cranks, electric, and pneumatic lifts are all options for raising and lowering desks. The latter two are the quietest, most efficient, and easiest to use. Although electric standing desks are expensive, they are a one-time investment with long term benefits.
Autonomous SmartDesk Commercial promotes a healthier workplace. Take advantage of our current bulk deals to enhance your office environment. This exceptional standing desk offers a perfect combination of functionality and convenience. Enjoy its quiet operation, which makes it suitable for any office setting.
Setting up your workspace is a breeze with the effortless usability and simple assembly process of the SmartDesk Commercial. Rest assured with the built-in anti-collision technology that guarantees a safe and seamless transition between sitting and standing positions. Additionally, benefit from the added peace of mind of the impressive 10-year warranty.
These desks can be easily adjusted to accommodate both sitting and standing positions. They typically feature an electric or manual mechanism to change the desk's height according to your preference.
Standing Desk Converters:
These are compact units that can be placed on top of an existing desk. They provide an elevated platform for your computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse, allowing you to work while standing. Standing desk converters are a cost-effective option for those who want to convert their regular desk into a standing desk.
Fixed Standing Desks:
Fixed standing desks have a fixed height and cannot be adjusted. They are designed for users who prefer to work solely in a standing position. It's important to ensure that the height of the desk is ergonomically suitable for your height to maintain proper posture.
Treadmill Desks:
Treadmill desks combine a standing desk with a treadmill, allowing you to walk or even jog while you work. This type of desk promotes movement and can help you stay active throughout the day.
Mobile Standing Desks:
These desks are equipped with wheels or casters, making them easy to move around. They are convenient for people who need flexibility and frequently change their workspace.
Corner Standing Desks:
Corner standing desks are designed to fit into the corner of a room, maximizing the use of available space. They provide a larger work surface and are suitable for individuals who require ample desk space.
Regardless of the type, every standing desk follows one main goal: to let you work while you stand. Most of these desks can improve your ergonomic workspace along with your health and well-being. However, the most basic type of them, a fixed-height standing desk, does not.
The limited functionality of static height standing desks takes away an essential feature that they should have: adjustability. Any health benefit of a standing desk tends to show only when you continuously switch between sitting and standing positions throughout your workday. Regardless, It’s a simple and affordable option, but it would be best to have a backup workspace where you can sit, allowing you to switch at will.
Height-adjustable standing desks come in two types: manual and electric ones. Manually adjustable desks let you change their height whenever you like, but it takes some time and effort to do so.
They are cheaper than electric-powered desks and have fewer meddling pieces overall. There isn’t any variance between the physical health benefit of this standing desk type compared to the electric kind, besides the effort of cranking your desk up and down.
Electric height-adjustable standing desks are the best and most comfortable option out of every type. When people refer to ergonomic standing desks, they are typically referring to this type of desk. Most of these desks allow you to change the height with the push of a button swiftly and quietly. It makes it easy to keep a dynamic posture by changing between sitting and standing positions regularly.
If you have a corner office, you may be interested to know that many standing desks have L-shaped models, whether they’re manual, fixed, or electric, that can adequately fit your workspace. Purchasing the best standing desk you can afford is a worthwhile long-term investment, but if you can’t cover the cost at the moment, a desk riser is more affordable and can be just as helpful.
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Along with the standing desk advantages and enjoying standing desk health benefits, it is also equally important to realize that standing desks are only helpful when applied, used and researched properly. Since staying in the same position for your body is harmful and stressful, whether sitting or standing, you need to learn all about using a standing desk in your workplace. Below is an extensive guide on how to make the most of standing while working and the types of posture to avoid or practice while using a standing desk.
What Is a Standing Desk?
Standing desks, which are also referred to as height-adjustable desks, sit-stand desks, or stand-up desks, is essentially a desk that lets you draw, write, and work while standing up or using a high stool. There are several different types, which allows you to get the one that fits your office and budget the best. The mental health benefit of the standing desk and the physical ones are just some of the advantages that this desk provides over your regular office desks.
How Standing Desks Help Your Mental and Physical Health
Are standing desks good for your health? Working for long hours while sitting puts people’s health at risk due to the sedentary life it enforces. As an office worker, you may not have a choice in the matter while you’re at work, but you may even spend your evening at home sitting as well.
When you begin fixing that sedentary habit by investing in a standing desk, you considerably reduce some of the risks associated with it, such as obesity, weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes. The mental health benefit of a standing desk is also plentiful, as it considerably improves your work satisfaction.
If that still doesn’t convince you that a standing desk is worth it, you only need to look a little bit further to be wholly convinced. Here are nine true health benefits of a standing desk:
1.
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yes
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Product Design
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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no_statement
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"standing" "desks" do not have a positive impact on your "health".. there is no evidence to suggest that "standing" "desks" are "better" for your "health".
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https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-for-march-31-2019-1.5076642/there-is-little-evidence-that-standing-desks-make-you-healthier-or-help-you-lose-weight-1.5076665
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There is little evidence that standing desks make you healthier or ...
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But is it really better to stand all day, rather than sit? Can standing make you healthier, or help you lose weight?
Dr. Aaron Carroll isn't so sure.
Dr. Aaron Carroll says there's not much evidence to suggest that standing desks have a real impact on health. (Submitted by Aaron Carroll) "There's just not much evidence that that's the case," said Carroll, who is the director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
"In fact, there's very little evidence at all that switching people from sitting to standing desks makes much of a difference on anyone's health," he said.
With the proliferation of reports about the hazards of sitting, Carroll can understand why people think standing is better, but says that the connection between poor health and sitting isn't always so simple.
"We're trying to argue somehow that it's the sitting that makes people unhealthy, instead of saying that perhaps people who are otherwise unhealthy or poor or unemployed or who have other issues are sitting a lot, and that's what's making them unhealthy, not necessarily the sitting," he said.
Standing is not exercise
Standing is not exercise, and jobs that require people to spend most of their day standing often tend to be unhealthier, Carroll said.
"Just standing doesn't get you the same kinds of benefits or health effects that exercising would," he said. "Secondly, there's not a lot of great evidence to show that exercise is the way to lose weight. Most of the way that people lose weight has much more to do with what they're eating and nutrition than it does with exercise."
While standing does not bring the health benefits people think, Carroll says it is important to get up and move during the day.
"People need to get up every once in a while, walk around and be active," he said. "There's probably a bunch of reasons that might be a good idea, the least of which is weight loss. It might actually clear your head, it might provide you with a better work environment, it might improve your mood. All of those things are great."
Carroll says his goal isn't to talk people out of standing desks altogether.
"If you find that using a standing desk helps you in a personal way, it relieves pain, it makes you more comfortable, by all means do it," he said.
"I just think that as a policy it's problematic, especially if people don't want to do it, find that it hurts them or find that it's very expensive. There's just not much reason to do it, unless you're deriving a personal benefit."
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But is it really better to stand all day, rather than sit? Can standing make you healthier, or help you lose weight?
Dr. Aaron Carroll isn't so sure.
Dr. Aaron Carroll says there's not much evidence to suggest that standing desks have a real impact on health. (Submitted by Aaron Carroll) "There's just not much evidence that that's the case," said Carroll, who is the director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
"In fact, there's very little evidence at all that switching people from sitting to standing desks makes much of a difference on anyone's health," he said.
With the proliferation of reports about the hazards of sitting, Carroll can understand why people think standing is better, but says that the connection between poor health and sitting isn't always so simple.
"We're trying to argue somehow that it's the sitting that makes people unhealthy, instead of saying that perhaps people who are otherwise unhealthy or poor or unemployed or who have other issues are sitting a lot, and that's what's making them unhealthy, not necessarily the sitting," he said.
Standing is not exercise
Standing is not exercise, and jobs that require people to spend most of their day standing often tend to be unhealthier, Carroll said.
"Just standing doesn't get you the same kinds of benefits or health effects that exercising would," he said. "Secondly, there's not a lot of great evidence to show that exercise is the way to lose weight. Most of the way that people lose weight has much more to do with what they're eating and nutrition than it does with exercise. "
While standing does not bring the health benefits people think, Carroll says it is important to get up and move during the day.
"People need to get up every once in a while, walk around and be active," he said. "There's probably a bunch of reasons that might be a good idea, the least of which is weight loss. It might actually clear your head, it might provide you with a better work environment, it might improve your mood. All of those things are great.
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no
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Product Design
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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no_statement
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"standing" "desks" do not have a positive impact on your "health".. there is no evidence to suggest that "standing" "desks" are "better" for your "health".
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https://hive.com/blog/standing-desk-benefit/
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Are Standing Desks Worth It? Benefits, Explained
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Are Standing Desks Worth It?
If you’ve paid attention to, well, the world over the past half decade, you’re probably aware of the latest hype-train in workplace technology: standing desks. There’s a good chance that at least one person in your office is a “standing desk” advocate. And now, as we outfit our homes with the latest remote work tools, these contraptions have found their way to our bedrooms, living rooms, and makeshift home offices.
The perfect companion to mindfulness and Soylent, standing desks became all the rage as a way to counteract the negative health impacts of sitting in a crouched position all day. While the hype has died down a little bit (in no small part due to a predictable counter-hype training accusing standing desks of causing knee problems), standing desks continue to grow in popularity and millions of people swear by them.
Is the hype justified? This article will dig into the facts and fiction behind standing desks, and try to answer a simple question: are standing desks worth it?
The Origin Of Standing Desks
Standing desks are by no means a recent invention. In fact, many famous intellectuals, writers & statesmen worked on standing desks as a means to improve posture and drive focus — names like Thomas Jefferson, Ernest Hemingway and Charles Darwin among them.
The theory behind standing desks are sound: according to a meta-analysis of studies done on the topic, it’s clear that prolonged sitting consistently leads to much higher mortality rates. So, following that train of thought, standing should solve that problem. Right?
Well, the answer there is frustratingly fuzzy. Part of why it’s a difficult question to answer is because we aren’t entirely certain why sitting is so bad. We know it’s bad for your posture, and we know it causes issues with circulation. It’s also a strong signal for obesity (though that’s more of a lifestyle issue than directly related to sitting). So if posture and obesity are the two primary issues with sitting, are standing desks the answer?
Are Standing Desks Better Than Sitting?
In part because of a lack of studies on the issue, and in other part because the results simply aren’t convincing, there isn’t much evidence to make a strong case against sitting. In other words, we can’t convincingly say that standing desks are better for you.
Here’s what we do know. A 2011 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that standing desks reduced upper back and neck pain and improved overall mood vs sitting down. While this sounds compelling, there are two obvious flaws to this conclusion: 1) there’s likely a placebo effect at least partially involved with the latter, and 2) the study didn’t look into possible drawbacks of standing desk.
Orthopedic Health Effects
On the topic of orthopedic health, standing is certainly a better option for your posture, as well as back and neck, than sitting. However, standing for long periods of time also brings it’s own share of issues, primarily related to knee pain. When factoring in all the unique drawbacks of standing desk, research around this issue suggests that standing desks generally don’t offer more orthopedic benefits to sitting desks.
There are ways to counteract some of the drawbacks of standing desks. For example, fatigue mats have been shown in some studies to reduce standing fatigue and knee strain by as much as 60%. While there certainly isn’t any research to drive this conclusion, that difference might just be enough to tip a standing desk setup over the edge in comparing it to it’s 4-legged counterpart.
Impact On Obesity
The other purported benefit of standing desks is supposed to be for obesity. On that front, there is a scientific consensus. A standing desk setup doesn’t burn significantly more calories than sitting down, and it certainly isn’t anywhere close to the miracle obesity cure it has often been hyped to be. At best you can expect to burn a few pounds a year, but week to week it won’t make much of a difference.
So, if we had to summarize, the actual physiological impacts of standing desks don’t have enough research behind them to say conclusively one way or the other, but the little research that does exist seems to strongly suggest that they aren’t all that helpful an alternative.
Are Standing Desks Worth It?
Short answer: It depends.
Long answer: Research doesn’t seem to suggest that a standing desk is helpful from a physical perspective, but that doesn’t mean it wont improve your overall work experience. Until there’s more research on the issue, the right answer likely depends on your personal preference and physical responses to standing while you work. And even if standing desks don’t significantly impact your physical health, there’s a good chance they could improve your overall mood or improve your productivity.
The issues with standing desks are independent from those with sitting desks. In other words, standing mitigates a lot of the problems that sitting has while introducing some of it’s own, and vice versa.
Following that train of thought, you could conclude that the best way to maximize the benefits of both while minimizing the risks is a hybrid setup. Sit-stand desks are an increasingly popular alternative to a pure sit or stand desk — desks that can be electronically shifted up or down to switch between sitting or standing.
In theory, this setup should enable the best of both worlds; minimizing the risks of either setup, while still attaining the benefits.
Sit-stand desks are still relatively new and not very well understood, but there is some research out there that suggests this line of thinking is valid. A study done by a team of researchers in the UK aimed to answer this question, studying the impacts of hundreds of office workers who switched to a sit-stand desk. The results were fairly convincing: participants showed notable improvements in job performance, work engagement, occupational fatigue, daily anxiety and quality of life.
Standing Desk Reviews
Several Hive employees use standing desks, so we reached out to get their thoughts. When we asked 2 people if their standing desks were worth the purchase, both immediately responded yes. They were very eager to share their thoughts about the desks they use (and love) right now.
Jovanna, our head of People Ops, uses this Fully Standing Desk for kids. Although it’s on the pricey side, Jo says it has been worth the money. Her pro tip? Get the kids desk! The size still works for adults, but it’s small enough to fit in an apartment, which is great for remote workers.
CJ, Hive’s VP of Product & Engineering, also uses his standing desk — the Realspace Magellan Performance Desk — to be more productive while working from home right now. He says the desk gives him an excuse to get up for a few hours every day, which is something all remote workers will relate to. One unexpected benefit CJ mentioned? It’s a great space saver. The elevated height lets him tuck his chair under the desk, which keeps it out of the way in his apartment.
So Should You Buy One?
Standing desks are, without a doubt, over-hyped, and most of the supposed benefits simply aren’t true. While the science is still catching up, the existing research strongly points in the direction that standing desks simply aren’t worth the investment.
Sit-stand desks, however, do show some promise, which ultimately belies the underlying point: the real issue is structural, and not related to your desk. We need to move away from sedentary office life, and move towards encouraging workplace cultures that promote activity.
Regardless of your desk setup, there is one consistently proven technique for improving your health: walk. Replacing 2 minutes of sitting time every hour with a quick stroll around the office reduced risk in office workers of premature death by a whopping 33 percent.
Seriously — just by getting up to get a glass of water once an hour you’re 33% less likely to die prematurely compared to your peers. That’s a significantly bigger health impact (for significantly cheaper) than any reported benefits of standing desks.
Instead of focusing on a desk, the best workplaces have a steady mix of sitting, standing & walking — and ultimately, that’s the future of work we need to strive towards.
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In other words, we can’t convincingly say that standing desks are better for you.
Here’s what we do know. A 2011 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that standing desks reduced upper back and neck pain and improved overall mood vs sitting down. While this sounds compelling, there are two obvious flaws to this conclusion: 1) there’s likely a placebo effect at least partially involved with the latter, and 2) the study didn’t look into possible drawbacks of standing desk.
Orthopedic Health Effects
On the topic of orthopedic health, standing is certainly a better option for your posture, as well as back and neck, than sitting. However, standing for long periods of time also brings it’s own share of issues, primarily related to knee pain. When factoring in all the unique drawbacks of standing desk, research around this issue suggests that standing desks generally don’t offer more orthopedic benefits to sitting desks.
There are ways to counteract some of the drawbacks of standing desks. For example, fatigue mats have been shown in some studies to reduce standing fatigue and knee strain by as much as 60%. While there certainly isn’t any research to drive this conclusion, that difference might just be enough to tip a standing desk setup over the edge in comparing it to it’s 4-legged counterpart.
Impact On Obesity
The other purported benefit of standing desks is supposed to be for obesity. On that front, there is a scientific consensus. A standing desk setup doesn’t burn significantly more calories than sitting down, and it certainly isn’t anywhere close to the miracle obesity cure it has often been hyped to be. At best you can expect to burn a few pounds a year, but week to week it won’t make much of a difference.
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no
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Product Design
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Are standing desks better for your health?
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no_statement
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"standing" "desks" do not have a positive impact on your "health".. there is no evidence to suggest that "standing" "desks" are "better" for your "health".
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https://walkolution.com/blogs/the-walkolution-blog/standing-deks-overrated
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Standing Desks Don´t Provide Health Benefits | Walkolution ...
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Item added to your cart
Why standing desks are not the solution
Standing Desks Are Overrated
A growing body of research suggests that many of the benefits claimed by standing desk evangelists are overblown. In this article we will talk about the disadvantages of standing desks.
Simply put, there's no substitute for good, old fashioned movement and the our bodies are not designed to stand for prolonged periods of time. Just as our bodies are also not designed to sit. As a consequence, switching between these two postures, as popularized by providers of sit/stand workstations, is useless. Nevertheless, standing desks have become trendy and are promoted by well-meaning safety professionals and even some countries.
I want to declare a conflict of interest. My company Walkolution manufacturers and develops treadmill desks. I based the decision to build that particular product on my previous professional experience as a medical doctor and researcher. Walking is what keeps us healthy, not sitting, not pedaling and not standing. It would be easy for us to jump on the standing desk hype and sell standing desks instead of convincing people that they should rather walk at work. We subject our work to every scientific scrutiny, just as everything we say and write contains a scientific source.
Sitting is bad - but standing is not any better
At least five large, prospective studies have found that increased total sitting time, that is, combined work and leisure sitting time, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. These studies controlled for important confounders, such as age, education, smoking, employment, leisure time physical activity, body mass index (BMI), diet, hypertension, and cholesterol. The risk increased approximately 50% among those who sat more than 10 to 12 hours per day compared with those who sat less. These and numerous other studies raised public awareness, that sitting at work (and the high amount of sitting outside of work) leads to various public health risks and alternatives needs to be offered. The solution has been found quick. Getting rid of the chair and elevate the desk. The only problem is: it's useless.
The hype in numbers
The introduction of height-adjustable desks in offices all over the world clearly reflects that there is a strong desire for health conscious work spaces. According to a 2017 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, standing desks are the fastest growing benefits trend; 13% of employers provided or subsidised them in 2013 versus 44% in 2017. In some countries, up to 25% of offices introduced standing desks. The global standing desk market is estimated to reach $2.8 billion by 2025 (Credence Research, 2017), making it a trend that appears to be here to stay.
The calorie burning myth
Isn't standing supposed to burn more calories than sitting? Yes, but you can count on two hands how many more calories it burns. While not sitting, a standing person is still largely inactive. Many have altered their personal work environments in the effort to make a positive impact on their health, however, what they have gotten is an outright false sense of security that has not been backed by science.
A Harvard study published in Circulation in 2016 compared findings of 44 studies with more than 1,000 participants. What they found is that the mean difference in energy expenditure between sitting and standing was only 9 calories per hour. This means, that if a user of a standing desk would stand for six hours per day, it would equate to the amount of calories in one apple. (Saeidifard et al., 2016). Thatmeans that an attempt to lose weight by using a standing desk is little more than wishful thinking. As a comparison, walking for 1 hour burns around 400 calories, because walking requires that half of the 650 muscles of the body are active.
This finding has greater implications when considering that a motivation for many users when starting to use a standing desk is the desire to lose body weight.
The predominant association is that standing workstations are measures to promote health in work environments. The existence of subsidised programs by health insurance companies also indicates their overall positive health benefits. However, looking into this further, we find that the latest research actually points in the opposite direction.
Standing is bad for posture
The main issue with standing desks is connected to the very body position they force the user into. Standing for periods of time is unpleasant. Out of our own experience, we know that standing while waiting in a queue comes along with sensations of heaviness in the legs, back pain and generally leads to fatigue and even affects our mood.
Maintaining proper posture while standing in order to avoid the pain sensations described above proves to be challenging for many. There is a simple reason for this. The human anatomy and physiology is not optimised to facilitate such a posture for any extended period of time.
After years of sitting, the body’s soft tissue and muscles have likely sustained considerable damage, resulting in relative weakness in the core and glute muscles, with consecutive lack of stabilisation and a forward tilted pelvis. Tight hip flexor muscles, which are often considerably shortened due to sitting, also contribute to a bad posture while standing. Same as in sitting, many people who stand tend to slouch and lean to one side, still relying rather loosely on soft tissue structures.
The body easily comes off balance when standing, resulting in favouring one side or constant shifting forward and backward. The posture typically seen in office workers using standing desks, is one where the arch in the lower back is exaggerated, resulting in compression of intervertebral disk spaces and often resulting in muscular pain. Lower back pain, therefore, is one of the most complaints that I have heard from patients using standing desks, which is somewhat ironic as many have sought to use standing desks to alleviate these very same ailments.
Standing makes tired
Scientific studies have looked into the question of standing desk ergonomics. In a 2018 study, adult participants performed standing computer work to investigate possible changes in discomfort as well as cognitive function. After just two hours, most users complained of muscle fatigue, lower limb swelling and mental state deterioration, coupled with decreases in attention and reaction time (Baker et al., 2018).
Most standing desks are not used
The associated discomfort of height-adjustable desks often results in them not being used in the intended way. A large study performed in Germany looked at this question in more detail. Almost 700 participants were interviewed regarding their usage of a sit-to-stand desk. Out of the study population, 16% had access to such a desk, similar to the range of other countries. Surprisingly, only half of these individuals utilised the standing functionality of the desk, the remaining half had stopped standing and instead lowered it back to a height that allows usage with a conventional chair (Wallmann-Sperlich et al., 2017).
Having access to a standing desk also appears to fail in substantially decreasing overall sitting time, likely due to a compensation with more time spent inactive during leisure time. A systematic review that compared the results from 21 different trials, published in the Cochrane Registry in 2016, concluded that the availability of standing desks only leads to a reduction of overall sitting time of around 30 minutes to two hours (Shrestha et al., 2016).
Not good for the heart either
Standing for extended periods of time might actually cause more harm than good. A study from Canada compared standing and sitting at work across 7,000 workers; researchers reviewed the employees’ healthcare records and looked for associations of occupational standing, sitting and cases of heart disease over the past 12 years. At the beginning of the study period, all of the people were free of heart disease. The study found that those who had to stand at their workplace had twice the risk of heart disease, compared to those who spent their time predominantly seated at work. Possible falsifying factors such as other health, sociodemographic, educational and work variables were excluded.
While not entirely understood, the underlying reasons are likely the result of a combination of too much blood pooling in the legs with an associated increase of pressure in the veins and an increase of oxidative stress in blood vessels. Over an extended period of time, this permanent stress on the vessel walls could explain the paradoxically increased risk for heart disease in those who stand more (Smith et al., 2017). And the heart doesn’t appear to be the only organ that suffers from prolonged standing at work. Early studies have indicated that serious pregnancy related risks, such as preterm births and spontaneous abortions could also be a result (McCulloch et al., 2002, Waters et al, 2015).“
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Item added to your cart
Why standing desks are not the solution
Standing Desks Are Overrated
A growing body of research suggests that many of the benefits claimed by standing desk evangelists are overblown. In this article we will talk about the disadvantages of standing desks.
Simply put, there's no substitute for good, old fashioned movement and the our bodies are not designed to stand for prolonged periods of time. Just as our bodies are also not designed to sit. As a consequence, switching between these two postures, as popularized by providers of sit/stand workstations, is useless. Nevertheless, standing desks have become trendy and are promoted by well-meaning safety professionals and even some countries.
I want to declare a conflict of interest. My company Walkolution manufacturers and develops treadmill desks. I based the decision to build that particular product on my previous professional experience as a medical doctor and researcher. Walking is what keeps us healthy, not sitting, not pedaling and not standing. It would be easy for us to jump on the standing desk hype and sell standing desks instead of convincing people that they should rather walk at work. We subject our work to every scientific scrutiny, just as everything we say and write contains a scientific source.
Sitting is bad - but standing is not any better
At least five large, prospective studies have found that increased total sitting time, that is, combined work and leisure sitting time, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. These studies controlled for important confounders, such as age, education, smoking, employment, leisure time physical activity, body mass index (BMI), diet, hypertension, and cholesterol. The risk increased approximately 50% among those who sat more than 10 to 12 hours per day compared with those who sat less. These and numerous other studies raised public awareness, that sitting at work (and the high amount of sitting outside of work) leads to various public health risks and alternatives needs to be offered. The solution has been found quick. Getting rid of the chair and elevate the desk. The only problem is: it's useless.
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no
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://taxfoundation.org/blog/corporate-tax-cuts-effects/
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Corporate Tax Cuts Effects: Research & Analysis | Tax Foundation
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New Research Shows Positive Long-Run Effects from Corporate Tax Cuts
When thinking about tax policy, economists typically distinguish between the short run and long run. While there might be temporary boosts to the economy in the short term from a tax cut due to increased incomes, changes in tax policy alter the incentives to work, save, and invest, which can produce benefits to economic growth in the long run. New research finds that while the benefits of personal income tax cuts are often concentrated in the short run, corporate income tax cuts generate “large and persistent” positive effects on the economy in the long run.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 permanently cut the statutory corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. However, most of The CJA’s individual and business provisions are set to expire after 2025. For example, full expensing for short-lived equipment and software begins phasing out next year, meaning firms will no longer be able to fully deduct the costs of these investments from their taxable income. The temporary nature of these provisions suggests that the economic benefits are likely to be concentrated in a shorter time horizon.
When it comes to reductions in the corporate tax rate, the motivation for this policy is specifically to alter the long-run incentives for firms to invest and boost productivity, rather than providing a short-term stimulus to the economy. However, many analyses of tax policy tend to focus only on the short-run impacts, typically one to two years after a policy change. This will miss many of the positive growth effects from cutting the corporate tax rate.
In a new paper, a team of economists studied post-WWII U.S. federal tax policy changes to estimate their long-run impacts, looking specifically at changes in average tax rates. For personal income tax cuts, they found large and significant effects on GDP for the first six quarters, but none after two years. But for corporate income tax cuts, the short-run impacts on the economy were small while the long-run impacts were strong, peaking after eight years. Personal income tax changes had temporary impacts on productivity and an insignificant effect in research and development (R&D) investment, while corporate income tax cuts boosted R&D investment and led to a sustained increase in productivity. The authors identified the innovation channel from these R&D investments as the main channel through which corporate tax cuts generate long-run growth.
The economists also examined how total employment and hours worked changed in response to tax cuts. They found that for corporate tax cuts, labor supply response was modest, while personal income tax cuts had a temporary impact on hours worked and smaller effects on employment. However, the increases in investment and consumption following corporate tax cuts indicates that they do raise labor income overall, consistent with other evidence on the effects of corporate taxes on wages.
Broadly, the evidence presented in this paper is largely consistent with economic theory regarding corporate tax cuts: In the long run, they incentivize firms to invest in capital, especially R&D, which raises the productivity of their workers and increases their incomes. And these economic impacts are larger and more persistent than changes in personal income tax rates. Policymakers should continue to focus on longer term impacts rather than emphasizing the short-term stimulus effects of tax cuts.
Related Articles
A new tax expenditures report by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) reveals two problematic developments: 1) policymakers have increasingly relied on the tax code to deliver benefits to individuals, and 2) the broad, neutral tax treatment of investment has shifted to targeted subsidies for businesses.
A marriage penalty exists when a state’s income brackets for married taxpayers filing jointly are less than double the bracket widths that apply to single filers. In other words, married couples who file jointly under this scenario have a higher effective tax rate than they would if they filed as two single individuals with the same amount of combined income.
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New Research Shows Positive Long-Run Effects from Corporate Tax Cuts
When thinking about tax policy, economists typically distinguish between the short run and long run. While there might be temporary boosts to the economy in the short term from a tax cut due to increased incomes, changes in tax policy alter the incentives to work, save, and invest, which can produce benefits to economic growth in the long run. New research finds that while the benefits of personal income tax cuts are often concentrated in the short run, corporate income tax cuts generate “large and persistent” positive effects on the economy in the long run.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 permanently cut the statutory corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. However, most of The CJA’s individual and business provisions are set to expire after 2025. For example, full expensing for short-lived equipment and software begins phasing out next year, meaning firms will no longer be able to fully deduct the costs of these investments from their taxable income. The temporary nature of these provisions suggests that the economic benefits are likely to be concentrated in a shorter time horizon.
When it comes to reductions in the corporate tax rate, the motivation for this policy is specifically to alter the long-run incentives for firms to invest and boost productivity, rather than providing a short-term stimulus to the economy. However, many analyses of tax policy tend to focus only on the short-run impacts, typically one to two years after a policy change. This will miss many of the positive growth effects from cutting the corporate tax rate.
In a new paper, a team of economists studied post-WWII U.S. federal tax policy changes to estimate their long-run impacts, looking specifically at changes in average tax rates. For personal income tax cuts, they found large and significant effects on GDP for the first six quarters, but none after two years. But for corporate income tax cuts, the short-run impacts on the economy were small while the long-run impacts were strong, peaking after eight years. Personal income tax changes had temporary impacts on productivity and an insignificant effect in research and development (R&D)
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yes
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2018/06/28/usda-report-highlights-benefits-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-farmers
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USDA Report Highlights Benefits of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for Farmers
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USDA Report Highlights Benefits of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for Farmers
Release & Contact Info
(Washington, D.C., June 28, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today highlighted a new report showing the positive impacts of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on American farms. Six months after the President signed the tax cuts and reforms into law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) has released a report, titled “Estimated Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Farms and Farm Households” (PDF, 3.5 MB). The report examines in detail how the historic tax cuts and reforms will alleviate the tax burden on American farms to help them grow and prosper. According to the report, average tax rates are expected to decline across all farm sizes and commodity specializations and fewer farm estates will be subject to the Death Tax.
“Most family farms are run as small businesses, and they should be able to keep more of what they earn to reinvest in their operations and take care of their families,” Perdue said. “Simplifying the tax code and easing the burden on farmers will free them up to make choices for themselves, create jobs, and boost the overall American economy. This report just shows what we knew all along: the tax cuts and reforms will benefit farmers.”
The TCJA significantly reformed the Federal income tax system, including individual and business income tax rates, business expenses, taxable income deductions, and the alternative minimum tax. The TCJA also doubled the Federal estate tax exclusion. The USDA ERS report estimates the impact of current Federal income tax provisions on farm households by using 2016 tax-year data.
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USDA Report Highlights Benefits of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for Farmers
Release & Contact Info
(Washington, D.C., June 28, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today highlighted a new report showing the positive impacts of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on American farms. Six months after the President signed the tax cuts and reforms into law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) has released a report, titled “Estimated Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Farms and Farm Households” (PDF, 3.5 MB). The report examines in detail how the historic tax cuts and reforms will alleviate the tax burden on American farms to help them grow and prosper. According to the report, average tax rates are expected to decline across all farm sizes and commodity specializations and fewer farm estates will be subject to the Death Tax.
“Most family farms are run as small businesses, and they should be able to keep more of what they earn to reinvest in their operations and take care of their families,” Perdue said. “Simplifying the tax code and easing the burden on farmers will free them up to make choices for themselves, create jobs, and boost the overall American economy. This report just shows what we knew all along: the tax cuts and reforms will benefit farmers.”
The TCJA significantly reformed the Federal income tax system, including individual and business income tax rates, business expenses, taxable income deductions, and the alternative minimum tax. The TCJA also doubled the Federal estate tax exclusion. The USDA ERS report estimates the impact of current Federal income tax provisions on farm households by using 2016 tax-year data.
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yes
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://academic.oup.com/ser/article/20/2/539/6500315
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economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich | Socio ...
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Abstract
The last 50 years has seen a dramatic decline in taxes on the rich across the advanced democracies. There is still fervent debate in both political and academic circles, however, about the economic consequences of this sweeping change in tax policy. This article contributes to this debate by utilizing a newly constructed indicator of taxes on the rich to identify all instances of major tax reductions on the rich in 18 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries between 1965 and 2015. We then estimate the average effects of these major tax reforms on key macroeconomic aggregates. We find tax cuts for the rich lead to higher income inequality in both the short- and medium-term. In contrast, such reforms do not have any significant effect on economic growth or unemployment. Our results therefore provide strong evidence against the influential political–economic idea that tax cuts for the rich ‘trickle down’ to boost the wider economy.
1. Introduction
The past half century has been a period of substantial change in tax policy in the advanced democracies (Steinmo, 2003; Kiser and Karceski, 2017). A particularly prominent part of this transformation has been the dramatic fall in taxes on the rich across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (Ganghof, 2006; Hope and Limberg, 2021). While this sweeping policy change has been well documented, its consequences for the economy are less well understood.
On the other side of the debate, many opponents of tax cuts for the rich argue that they simply further concentrate income in the hands of the affluent. The pioneering work of Piketty and co-authors charting the evolution of top incomes over the course of the 20th century has shown that reductions in tax progressivity in recent decades have gone hand-in-hand with soaring income inequality, especially in the Anglo-Saxon countries (Atkinson and Piketty, 2007; Alvaredo et al., 2013; Piketty, 2014). This is supported by evidence from cross-country panel studies that have found that lower taxes on the rich, especially top marginal income tax rates, are strongly associated with rising top income shares (Roine et al., 2009; Volscho and Kelly, 2012; Piketty et al., 2014; Huber et al., 2019).
Given the lack of consensus in existing empirical analyzes and the difficulties of making causal inferences from macro-level panel data analyzes, it remains an open empirical question how cutting taxes on the rich affects economic outcomes. We believe the question is best answered by looking at the effects of major tax cuts packages, as the story of taxing the rich in the advanced democracies over the past 50 years is one of discrete and stark changes in policy. For example, Ronald Reagan implemented two major packages of tax cuts for the rich in his time in the White House, one in 1981 and another in 1986. A similar pattern of large, infrequent tax cuts characterized Thatcher’s tax reforms in the UK, as well as reform trajectories in many other advanced democracies (see Section 3).
Focusing on the effects of individual reforms also allows us to apply a new statistical approach for causal inference in observational studies that applies a novel matching method to pooled time series data. This is particularly pertinent in this case, as there is a large literature on the power of rich voters and organized business interests to shape public policies (including tax policies) in their favor (Gilens, 2005; Bartels, 2009; Hacker and Pierson, 2010; Svallfors, 2016; Emmenegger and Marx, 2019), which suggests reverse causality could be a major issue in empirical studies lacking a clear identification strategy.
There are only a handful of existing macro-level studies exploring the economic consequences of specific tax cuts for the rich and their external validity is constrained by focusing on a small number of tax cuts (Saez, 2017; Rubolino and Waldenström, 2020) or on tax reforms in a single country (Zidar, 2019). This article takes a wider lens, looking at all major reductions in taxes on the rich across 18 OECD countries from 1965 to 2015. We also draw on a more comprehensive indicator of taxes on the rich, which takes into account changes across an array of taxes on top incomes, assets, and capital. This approach allows us to draw more generalizable conclusions. It also provides researchers with a new dataset of major tax cuts for the rich that can be utilized for future empirical analyzes.
Our results show that major tax cuts for the rich increase income inequality in the years following the reform (t+1 to t+5). The magnitude of the effect is sizeable; on average, each major reform leads to a rise in top 1% share of pre-tax national income of over 0.7 percentage points. The results also show that economic performance, as measured by real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and the unemployment rate is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich. The estimated effects for these variables are statistically indistinguishable from zero, and this finding holds in both the short and medium run.
Our findings on the effects of growth and unemployment provide evidence against supply side theories that suggest lower taxes on the rich will induce labor supply responses from high-income individuals (more hours of work, more effort, etc.) that boost economic activity (see standard models of optimal labor income taxation in Saez, 2001 and Piketty and Saez, 2013). Relatedly, they also show little support for the influential political–economic idea that tax cuts for the rich ‘trickle down’ to boost wider economic performance (Sowell, 2012). They are, in fact, more in line with recent empirical research showing that income tax holidays, windfall gains and tax cuts targeted at the top decile of the income distribution do not lead individuals to significantly alter the amount they work (Akee et al., 2010; Jones and Marinescu, 2018; Martínez et al., 2021; Zidar, 2019).
Overall, our analysis finds strong evidence that cutting taxes on the rich increases income inequality but has no effect on growth or unemployment. We employ a measure of top 1% share of pre-tax national income that includes both labor and capital income, which makes it less likely that tax shifting and avoidance are driving the results. In fact, our results are more in line with Piketty et al. (2014), who suggest that lower taxes on the rich encourage high earners to bargain more forcefully to increase their own compensation, at the direct expense of those lower down the income distribution.
The remainder of the article is structured as follows. Section 2 explores the existing literature on the economic effects of cutting taxes on the rich. Section 3 sets out our data and empirical strategy. We present our headline results in Section 4, before carrying out a variety of robustness tests in Section 5. Lastly, Section 6 concludes.
2. The economic effects of cutting taxes on the rich
The 20th century was one of immense change in the tax systems of advanced democracies. Highly progressive income taxes arose in the wake of the two World Wars, with average top marginal income tax rates still standing at around 60% in the early 1980s. That decade proved to be a major turning point, however, and average rates have since fallen to under 40% (Scheve and Stasavage, 2016; Kiser and Karceski, 2017). This trend was mirrored in other taxes on the wealthy and corporations, which also dropped sharply over the past half century (Hope and Limberg, 2021).
A large body of work that spans economics, sociology and political science has sought to explore the causes and consequences of this widespread and significant reduction in tax progressivity. Scheve and Stasavage’s (2010, 2012, 2016) pioneering historical research argues that progressive systems emerged due to mass conscription for war, but that the strength of these compensatory demands for fiscal fairness have weakened over time, leading to falling progressivity. Other scholars point to the role of major structural changes in the advanced democracies, such as capital mobility and trade (Swank and Steinmo, 2002), international tax competition (Genschel and Schwarz, 2011), and the rise of the knowledge economy (Hope and Limberg, 2021), in undermining the highly progressive tax systems of the post-war era. Lastly, Blyth (2002) and Swank (2006, 2016) find evidence that the diffusion of neoliberal economic ideas from the USA was crucial to driving the major tax reductions seen elsewhere.
There is already a substantial theoretical literature on the economic effects of cutting taxes on the rich. There are a number of lines of reasoning in that literature that predict positive effects of cutting taxes on the rich on economic performance. Standard models of optimal labor income taxation (see, e.g. the textbook models in Saez, 2001 and Piketty and Saez, 2013) predict a positive labor supply response from high-income individuals to lower top tax rates (e.g. working more hours) that boosts overall economic activity. On a more macro-level, theoretical models of economic growth typically predict that more progressive tax systems dampen economic performance by stifling investment in physical and human capital (Gemmell et al., 2014). Recent work has also drawn a link between taxes on the rich and productivity. In so far as taxes on the rich approximate for taxes on entrepreneurs, lower taxes on the rich may stimulate growth and employment by encouraging risk-taking, innovation and entrepreneurship (Lee and Gordon, 2005; Arnold et al., 2011).
On the other side of the coin, there are theories that predict adverse economic effects from reducing taxes on the rich. The most prominent theory relates to the bargaining power of CEOs and other top executives. When taxes on top incomes are lower, high earners have more to gain from aggressively bargaining to increase their own compensation. This rise in unproductive, rent-seeking behavior pushes up incomes at the top but at the expense of employment and growth in the wider economy (Alvaredo et al., 2013; Piketty et al., 2014). Another important strand of the literature focuses on the relationship between corporate income taxes and corporate savings. General equilibrium models with capital and product market imperfections predict that corporate income tax cuts will increase corporate savings (Chen et al., 2017). Related empirical work shows that corporate income tax cuts have indeed contributed to the stark accumulation of savings among non-financial firms in advanced economies in recent decades, which have been largely stashed in financial markets instead of being reinvested in ways that stimulate growth and employment (Redeker, 2021).
While there is clear ambiguity in the theoretical literature on the predicted effects of cutting taxes on the rich on growth and employment, there is more consensus when looking at the predicted effects on income inequality. There are three main arguments in the literature for why we would expect lower taxes on the rich to be associated with higher income inequality, as measured by the pre-tax income share of the top 1% (Huber et al., 2019). The first is that lower taxes on the rich improve the work incentives of high earners, leading them to accrue more earned income, as well as raising their incentives to invest, boosting capital incomes (see the discussion of the relevant literature in Volscho and Kelly, 2012). The second argument relates to tax evasion and avoidance. When taxes on the rich are lower, this may reduce the incentives for shifting taxable incomes into other time periods or bases to minimize tax liabilities (Piketty et al., 2014; Rubolino and Waldenström, 2020). Third, as already outlined previously, lower taxes on the rich may increase the incentives of top executives to bargain forcefully for higher compensation (Alvaredo et al., 2013; Piketty et al., 2014).
Turning to the growing empirical literature on the economic effects of cutting taxes on the rich, we also see more ambiguity when looking at the effects on economic activity. Several prominent cross-country panel data analyzes have found that tax progressivity is not significantly associated with economic growth (Lee and Gordon, 2005; Angelopoulos et al., 2007; Piketty et al., 2014), although there are some exceptions, which find adverse effects of more progressive tax systems on economic performance (Padovano and Galli, 2002; Gemmell et al., 2014). Studies using similar methodologies that explore the relationship between taxing the rich and income inequality tend to find a strong negative association between top marginal income tax rates and top income shares. In other words, they find that falling taxes on the rich since the 1980s have coincided with rapidly rising income inequality, especially at the top of the distribution (Roine et al., 2009; Volscho and Kelly, 2012; Piketty et al., 2014; Huber et al., 2019).
A pitfall of a large portion of the empirical literature on the consequences of falling tax progressivity is that it does not take into account the typical pattern of tax reform within countries. Tax cuts for the rich in the advanced democracies have mostly been stark and irregular, as shown in Section 3. It is therefore important to look at the consequences of individual reform packages if we hope to understand the economic effects of cutting taxes on the rich.
There are few existing studies that estimate the economic effects of instances of major tax reform on the rich. Saez (2017) analyzes the 2013 tax increase on the rich in the USA and finds it has only short-term effects on income inequality. In another analysis focused on the USA, Zidar (2019) exploits regional variation to look at the growth and employment effects of cutting taxes on different part of the income distribution. He finds that the effect of cutting taxes on the top 10 percent on employment growth is small. The closest study to ours, however, is Rubolino and Waldenström (2020). They utilize the synthetic control method and find that three major reductions in top marginal income tax rates in Australia, New Zealand and Norway had lasting and large positive effects on top income shares, but no significant effects on economic growth. We build upon this study by identifying major reductions in tax progressivity using a more comprehensive measure of taxes on the rich that goes beyond income tax progressivity. We also look at all major reductions in taxes on the rich across 18 OECD countries from 1965 to 2015, which strengthens the generalizability of our results.
Our research is also closely related to a nascent strand of experimental research in political economy that looks at how citizens’ preferences for taxing the rich are shaped by their views about how the economy works (Barnes, 2021) and by their beliefs in the extent to which the benefits of tax cuts for the rich ‘trickle down’ to those lower down the income distribution (Stantcheva, 2021).
3. Data and empirical strategy
Estimating the effect of tax cuts for the rich faces two major empirical problems: measuring taxes on the rich and isolating the effect of tax reforms. First, governments do not levy solely one single tax on the richest members of society. Instead, they have a broad toolkit of different tax policy instruments. They can lay taxes on high personal incomes, capital and assets such as inheritances, immovable property, and net wealth. All of these different taxes are commonly seen as highly progressive as they target the richest members of society (Messere et al., 2003). Most studies solely focus on one single type of tax. While some authors look at taxes on personal income (Ganghof, 2006; Cansunar, 2020), others focus on corporate taxation (Genschel et al., 2011) or taxes on assets like inheritance taxes (Graetz and Shapiro, 2005; Scheve and Stasavage, 2012; Lierse, 2021; Limberg and Seelkopf, 2021) and net wealth taxes (Lierse, 2021; Limberg and Seelkopf, 2021). Although such a zoomed-in focus allows researchers to trace policy-making in one particular field of progressive taxation, it overlooks the fact that all of these taxes can serve as substitutes for one another. For instance, a government might choose to raise taxes on the rich by increasing taxes on inheritances while keeping income taxes the same (or vice versa). Thus, solely focusing on one of these taxes fails to adequately capture overall taxes on the richest members of society as it overlooks the variety of tax policy instruments at hand (Capano and Lippi, 2017; Durazzi, 2020). Furthermore, empirical studies often have to make decisions about how to operationalize tax policy-making (Genschel, 2002; Swank and Steinmo, 2002). For instance, some scholars argue that statutory tax rates are more capable of capturing actual policy changes (Lierse and Seelkopf, 2016; Limberg, 2019), while others prefer measures such as effective tax rates or revenue that take the definition of the tax base into account (Osterloh and Debus, 2012). In sum, there is no clear and comprehensive approach to measuring taxes on the rich, as scholars have looked at different taxes as well as different indicators.
Second, estimating the effect of macro-level tax policy change from a comparative perspective faces endogeneity problems. Most studies have analyzed long-term developments of tax indicators and economic outcomes. For instance, Huber et al. (2019) find that the top personal income tax rate is negatively correlated with top 1% income shares. Furthermore, some studies find negative correlations between progressive taxation and economic growth (Gemmell et al., 2014), while others find no significant association (Lee and Gordon, 2005; Piketty et al., 2014). These existing studies are important as they detect broad correlations between macro-level dynamics over the long run of history. However, they are only able to make limited claims about the causal effects of specific tax cuts. For instance, if countries that experience lower economic growth rates are more likely to cut taxes on the rich, results will be biased. Hence, we have to compare countries with similar socio-economic trajectories. In more technical terms, this means that we need an approach that allows us to check whether trends of our outcome variables are parallel prior to treatment. Furthermore, we have to ensure that countries with and without a tax cut do not differ with regards to other important variables.
In order to tackle these two problems, we proceed in two steps. First, we use a new, comprehensive measure to identify major tax cuts for the rich. Second, we employ a new approach for panel data analysis that combines matching methods with a difference-in-differences estimation (Imai et al., 2021). We explain each step in turn.
3.1 Identifying major tax cuts for the rich
In order to build a more complete picture of how taxes on the rich have evolved over time in the advanced economies, we use a newly constructed, comprehensive measure of taxes on the rich (Hope and Limberg, 2021). The measure utilizes Bayesian latent variable analysis (Lee, 2007) and covers three types of taxes that fall predominantly on the rich: taxes on top incomes, capital and assets. Table 1 shows the seven indicators that feed into the comprehensive measure, as well as their coverage and sources. For each of the three tax types, there is a measure of both top statutory tax rates and effective tax rates or tax revenues (as a percentage of GDP).
Modeling taxes on the rich as a latent variable that relies solely on the shared variance of commonly used indicators allows for the creation of a measure that is comparable across countries and over time. This approach has three advantages. First, it looks beyond a single tax policy measure. Instead, identifying common variation across a range of different taxes and indicators that are typically used to measure taxes on the rich. Solely relying on statutory tax rates would crucially, overlook reforms that alter the definition of the tax base. Hence, our comprehensive indicator incorporates changes in the definition of the tax base, as well as changes statutory tax rates. Second, the approach avoids the need for fine-grained micro-data and is less sensitive to aggregation rules (Saez and Zucman, 2019). Finally, compared to classic factor analysis based on frequentist models, Bayesian latent variable analysis is particularly robust to missing values, which allows the measure to cover a longer time span. In total, the measure covers 18 OECD economies over five decades (1965–2015). The latent variable is estimated using a Bayesian Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach with a single dimension, diffuse normal priors, three MCMC chains and 1000 burnin iterations (Lee, 2007; Merkle and Rosseel, 2018; Hanson and Sigman, 2021; Hope and Limberg, 2021).
Figure 1 shows the development of the taxing the rich indicator in the sample.1 In line with other empirical studies that have found substantially declining taxes on the rich in the last decades (Genschel and Schwarz, 2011; Genschel et al., 2011; Scheve and Stasavage, 2016), the indicator decreases substantially from the mid-1980s onwards. From the late 1960s to the end of the 1990s, the average value of the latent variable for taxes on the rich across the sample dropped by more than 30%. Furthermore, the cross-sectional standard deviation (SD) of the indicator steadily declined from the late 1960s. This indicates that tax policies on the rich have converged among OECD countries over time (Kemmerling, 2010).
In a second step, we use the latent variable to detect major tax cuts for the rich. We calculate country-specific first-differences of the indicator and then define major tax cuts as years in which the indicator drops by at least 2 SD.2 Since we are interested in the effects of major tax cuts for the rich, this high threshold is in line with our theoretical focus. Furthermore, 2 SD shocks are often employed in the empirical literature in macroeconomics (Fernández-Villaverde et al., 2015) and this size threshold is in line with the size of tax and spending changes identified in the literature exploring the effects of large fiscal policy adjustments on economic outcomes (Blanchard and Perotti, 2002; Alesina and Ardagna, 2010).
Figure 2 visualizes the resulting binary variable, which shows years in which taxes on the rich were reduced substantially.3 In total, we identify 30 country–year observations where taxes on the rich were significantly reduced. Governments enacted major tax reforms across the whole observation period and only two countries in the sample (France and Switzerland) did not see any major tax cuts. Many countries implemented major tax cuts for the rich in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Furthermore, the identification of tax cuts is also in line with previous studies that have focused on income tax progressivity (Rubolino and Waldenström, 2020) or on overall tax progressivity within specific countries (Saez and Zucman, 2019). For instance, echoing these authors’ findings, we find two major reforms that reduced taxes on the rich significantly in the USA: 1982 (First Reagan Tax Cut) and 1986/1987 (Second Reagan Tax Cut). This approach also identifies other well-known examples of tax reforms that reduced progressivity. Among others, these include the Austrian tax reform in 1989 that cut taxes on top incomes, corporate profits, and capital income; the German tax reform of the red-green coalition, which was legislated in 2000 and became effective from 2001 onwards; Norway’s 1992 tax reform that cut top income and corporate tax rates; and the major package of tax cuts in Sweden in 1991. However, we also identify tax cuts for the rich that have received a bit less attention, such as the Canadian reform that repealed the inheritance tax in 1971 and the corporate tax reform in Germany in 2008.
Distribution of major tax cuts for the rich, 1 965–2015. Note: Each square shows a country–year observation. Red squares show observations with a major tax cut for the rich, and blue squares show those without.
3.2 Estimating the effect of major tax cuts for the rich
In order to estimate effects of cutting taxes on the rich on economic outcomes, our empirical design leverages variation in tax reform timings. Let us consider classical approaches of estimating economic effects from pooled time series data with N countries and T years. To date, most panel data analyzes on this topic rely on linear regression techniques with two-way fixed effects and control variables. Such models typically take the following form:
Yit=αi+γt+β0Xit+∑k=1K(βkXkit)+εit,
(1)
for i=1,…,N and t=1,…,T, and where Yit denotes our main outcome variable in country i and year t. β0 is the estimated effect of the binary variable Xit, which measures major tax cuts for the rich. αi is the unobserved time-invariant country-specific effect and γt is the unobserved year-specific effect. ∑k=1K(βkXkit) denotes a set of K time-varying covariates and εit is the error term.
Using such an approach to estimate the effect on economic outcomes of major tax cuts for the rich creates three methodological challenges. First, the effect of tax cuts may vary over time. However, Equation (1) requires the researcher to specify a lag of the treatment registration. For instance, Equation (1) would estimate the contemporaneous effect of tax cuts (t+0). Second, related to this, the standard approach does not account for past tax cuts. Put differently, if β0≠0 for Xi,t-n, where n∈N, estimating the effect of tax cuts might run danger of being biased due to previously implemented tax cuts. Thus, we need to compare cases with similar pre-treatment trajectories of tax cuts. Third, tax cuts do not come at random. Instead, political and economic factors might make major tax cuts on the rich more likely, and these factors can also affect subsequent macroeconomic dynamics. Furthermore, the practice of adding potential confounders as covariates, as in Equation (1), does not allow for the assessment of covariate balance.
To deal with these threats to identification, we use a new econometric approach that implements matching methods together with a difference-in-differences estimator for panel data analysis (Imai et al., 2021). This technique compares units with a major tax cut for the rich in a respective year (treated units) with units that have a similar pre-treatment trajectory but did not enact a tax cut in the same year (control units). Furthermore, the method allows us to estimate how the treatment effects evolve over time. Most importantly, Imai et al. (2021) introduce F, which denotes the number of years after a major tax cut for the rich, and L, which denotes the number of periods prior to the treatment. Specifying F allows the researcher to estimate varying treatment effects over time. For instance, setting F=5measures the cumulative treatment effect for 5 years after a major tax cut for the rich. In contrast, L allows the researcher to adjust for treatment histories, e.g. L=5 adjusts for the treatment history up 5 years prior to the treatment. Thus, the average treatment effect on the treated takes the following form,
where countries that experience a major tax cut in year t are the treated unit, hence Xit=1 as well as Xi,t-1=0. Hence, Yi,t+FXit=1,Xi,t-1=0,∑ℓ=2LXi,t-ℓ is the potential outcome for countries that have enacted a major tax cut and Yi,t+FXit=0,Xi,t-1=0,∑ℓ=2LXi,t-ℓ is the counterfactual potential outcome. We are interested in the cumulative effect up to F years after a tax reform and adjust for treatment histories up to Lyears prior to a tax reform.
Unfortunately, the counterfactual outcome for treated countries, i.e. Yi,t+FXit=0,Xi,t-1=0,Xi,t-ℓℓ=2L|Xit=1,Xi,t-1=0, cannot directly be observed. Thus, we have to take the potential outcome for countries without a major tax cut for the rich instead:
However, tax cuts are not random. In particular, observed confounders, ∑k=1K(Xkit), as well as unobserved confounders can lead to biased results. Therefore, we use a difference-in-differences estimator as well as non-parametric matching techniques for additional time-varying covariates (Imai et al., 2021). Matching is an intuitive and powerful tool to deal with selection into treatment (Ho et al., 2007; Diamond and Sekhon, 2013). In contrast to adding confounders as covariates like in Equation (1), it is less prone to modeling decisions and allows for the assessment of covariate balance. Furthermore, the difference-in-differences estimator relaxes the unconfoundedness assumption, but crucially assumes a parallel trend in the outcome variable after adjusting via matching on the previous treatment history, ∑ℓ=2LXi,t-ℓ, as well as on the covariate trajectory, ∑ℓ=0L∑k=1K(Xki,t-ℓ). Thus, we need to explicitly check whether the parallel trend assumption holds.
We use the block-bootstrap procedure proposed by Imai et al. (2021) to calculate standard errors. Following Otsu and Rai (2017) and Imbens and Rubin (2015), this approach circumvents the inference problems caused by standard bootstrapping procedures for matching by calculating the weight that each observation gets in the matching procedure. This weight-variable is used as a conditioning factor and is not recomputed in the bootstrapping procedure (Imai et al., 2021, p. 12).
Our main treatment variable is the presence of a major tax cut for the rich (calculated as outlined in Section 3.1). The first dependent variable we look at is income inequality. The top 1% income share is the most commonly used measure in existing empirical studies looking at the relationship between taxes on the rich and income inequality (Roine et al., 2009; Volscho and Kelly, 2012; Piketty et al., 2014; Scheve and Stasavage, 2016; Huber et al., 2019; Rubolino and Waldenström, 2020). To fit with the previous literature and because our theoretical focus is on the rich (see Section 2), we use the top 1% share of pre-tax national income from the World Inequality Database (Alvaredo et al., 2018) as our measure of income inequality.4 The measure includes both labor and capital income, and is calculated from administrative tax sources using a common methodology, so allows for comparison over time and across countries (Atkinson et al., 2011). It is particularly important to note that this is a measure of market income inequality—i.e. it is before taking into account the operation of the tax/transfer system. There is therefore no mechanical feed through of changes in taxes on the rich on this measure of income inequality (Rubolino and Waldenström, 2020). Rather, any effects on income inequality from tax cuts for the rich will be due to behavioral responses (as per the mechanisms outlined in Section 2).
Second, we analyze whether tax cuts for the rich boost growth by looking at the effect on real GDP per capita. In line with other studies, we look at logged real GDP per capita (Piketty et al., 2014; Rubolino and Waldenström, 2020). The data is from the Penn World table 9.1 (Feenstra et al., 2015) and is in 2011 US dollars. Finally, we analyze the effects on the labor market using harmonized unemployment rates from the OECD (2020).
In our models that include covariate matching, we include a battery of additional time-varying covariates, covering economic and political determinants of economic outcomes. We include capital account openness (Chinn–Ito Index; Chinn and Ito, 2006), trade openness (as a percentage of GDP; IMF, 2020), government expenditure (as a percentage of GDP; OECD, 2019), government debt (as a percentage of GDP; IMF 2020), left vote share in the last election (Brady et al., 2020).5
4. Results
Figure 3 presents the results. Countries are matched upon their treatment and covariate histories up to 5 years prior to a tax cut (i.e. L=5).6 To differentiate between short- and medium-term effects of tax cuts for the rich, we look at the effects for up to 5 years after the reform (i.e. F=5). For each year, the graph displays the cumulative treatment effect and 95% confidence intervals.
The upper panel shows that major tax cuts lead to a significant increase in inequality and that this effect becomes stronger with time. Three years after the major tax cut, the top 1% income share increases by 0.6 percentage points. Over 5 years, the top 1% share of pre-tax national income increases by more than 0.7 percentage points. This effect is highly statistically significant, with P < 0.0001. Furthermore, the top panel of Figure 3 also shows a placebo test by estimating the effect of tax cuts in the years before the reform. These placebo models test whether trajectories of inequality are significantly different in countries with and without a major tax cut for the rich prior to the reform actually taking place. The point estimates of the placebo tests are statistically indistinguishable from zero. Thus, we find no evidence that countries that cut taxes for the rich experience a stronger (or weaker) growth in inequality prior to tax reforms.7 In other words, the findings show strong support for the parallel trends assumption that underlies the difference-in-differences estimator.
The middle panel of Figure 3 repeats the analysis but looks at the effect of major tax cuts for the rich on real GDP per capita. The results suggest that tax reforms do not lead to higher economic growth. The effect size of major tax cuts for the rich on real GDP per capita is close to zero and statistically insignificant. Major tax cuts for the rich do not lead to higher growth in either the short or medium run. Furthermore, we do not find any effect of tax cuts in the placebo tests. Countries with and without major tax cuts for the rich experience similar economic growth trajectories prior to reforms. Thus, the parallel trend assumption holds. We also calculated the same model by replacing (log) real GDP per capita with the real GDP per capita growth rate. Again, we find no significant effect of tax reforms on changes in real GDP per capita growth (see Supplementary Appendix Figure A4).8
Finally, we look at the effect of major tax cuts for the rich on unemployment. The lower panel of Figure 3 shows the results. In general, we see more fluctuation in the estimates. In the years immediately following the tax reform, the point estimates are negative. In the medium term, the estimates return to close to zero. However, none of these estimates are statistically significant at any conventional level. Furthermore, we see small fluctuations in unemployment rate trajectories prior to the tax reform. While the placebo estimate for period t-5 is negative, unemployment grew slightly faster in the year directly before the reform. However, the point estimates in the placebo tests are all statistically insignificant and there is no clear trend in unemployment rates prior to tax cuts. In sum, although the results show slight indications of a flash in the pan effect of tax cuts for the rich on unemployment, these findings are neither statistically significant nor robust.
5. Robustness tests
We run several alternative specifications to check the robustness of our findings. Figure 4 visualizes the results for the different models. First, we repeat our main analyzes but solely match upon previous treatment trajectories. Not matching on covariates increases transparency, as it ensures that our results are not driven by covariate choices (Gelbach, 2016). Our results for the effect of major tax cuts for the rich on inequality, growth and unemployment hold.
Second, we match upon the propensity score instead of the Mahalanobis distance (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1985). Although some studies have argued that propensity score matching is based on modeling assumptions and might therefore increase bias compared to non-parametric matching procedures (King and Nielsen, 2019), it is an intuitive and widely applied matching approach (Caliendo and Kopeinig, 2008). We apply two types of propensity score matching: one that solely matches upon the propensity score, and one that uses covariate balancing propensity scores (CBPS), which were designed to overcome common problems of propensity scores (Imai and Ratkovic, 2014). Our findings are robust to these alternative specifications.
Third, we use a weighting instead of a matching approach (Hirano et al., 2003). Weights are calculated by using propensity scores as well as CBPS. Again, our main findings hold: major tax cuts for the rich lead to a higher top 1% income share. In fact, the effect size is even slightly larger than in the original model. In contrast, the coefficients for growth and unemployment remain statistically indistinguishable from zero.
Fourth, we apply a lower threshold of 1 SD to detect major tax cuts for the rich. Using a 1 SD threshold means that we include tax cuts of smaller magnitude. Hence, it is a more conservative approach of estimating the effects of tax cuts for the rich on economic outcomes. At the same time, this approach covers more tax cuts, which increases statistical power and ensures that our results are not driven by specific outliers. The findings hold when using this alternative threshold. Cutting taxes for the rich increases the top 1% share of pre-tax national income significantly and this effect persists over time. The new models using the lower threshold estimate that tax cuts for the rich lead to an increase in top 1% income shares of 0.6 percentage points. The smaller effect size is unsurprising, given the lower threshold for identifying major reforms. Furthermore, we find no effect of tax reforms on real GDP per capita. When looking at the effect on unemployment rates, the estimates show a slightly different pattern. Here, tax cuts for the rich lead to slightly higher unemployment rates immediately after the reform. However, this effect does not hold over time either. Hence, it supports our previous finding that tax cuts for the rich do not have a robust effect on unemployment.
Another important point is that our newly constructed indicator of taxes on the rich takes both statutory tax rates and effective tax rates into account. Crucially, the measurement of effective tax rates partly relies on the underlying macroeconomic tax bases (e.g. corporate income). These tax bases, in turn, might be affected themselves by our outcome variables of interest. This should not pose a significant problem for our estimation for two reasons. First, both the numerator and the denominator of effective tax rates would be affected by economic dynamics. For example, GDP growth is unlikely to drive effective tax rates, as it is connected to both a larger tax base and, consequently, a higher tax burden. Second, we identify tax cuts prior to changes in our outcome variables. This temporal dimension rules out the possibility that our measurement of tax cuts is endogenous to changes in our outcome variables. However, our results also stay similar when running additional analyzes that identify tax cuts by relying on more conventional tax policy indicators (i.e. top personal income tax rates and the corporate income tax rate) instead of using our newly constructed indicator of taxes on the rich (Supplementary Appendix Figure A8).
6. Discussion and conclusion
Taxes on the rich have fallen substantially across the OECD in recent decades, but the economic consequences of this dramatic shift in tax policy are still not fully understood. This article aims to close this gap in our knowledge by utilizing a two-stage process to estimate the effects of major tax cuts for the rich on economic outcomes. First, we identify instances of major reductions in tax progressivity by looking at substantial falls in a new, comprehensive indicator of taxes on the rich that covers 18 OECD countries from 1965 to 2015. Second, we utilize a new statistical approach that applies matching methods to pooled time series data to estimate the effect of major tax cuts for the rich on income inequality, economic growth, and unemployment.
We find that major tax cuts for the rich push up income inequality, as measured by the top 1% share of pre-tax national income. The size of the effect is substantial: on average, each major tax cut results in a rise of over 0.7 percentage points in top 1% share of pre-tax national income. The effect holds in both the short and medium term. Turning our attention to economic performance, we find no significant effects of major tax cuts for the rich. More specifically, the trajectories of real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate are unaffected by significant reductions in taxes on the rich in both the short- and medium-term.
Our analysis provides some indicative evidence about the mechanisms underpinning the results. On the income inequality side, the results do not closely align with the theory that the rich have greater incentives to work and invest when their taxes are cut, given that we do not find any statistically significant effects on growth, unemployment or investment from cutting taxes on the rich. Given our measure of income inequality includes both realized capital gains and labor income, it is also unlikely the results are being driven by tax avoidance, because a significant part of avoidance takes the form of shifting income into capital (Piketty et al., 2014). Rather, our results are most consistent with Piketty et al.’s (2014) argument that lower taxes on top incomes induce the rich to bargain more aggressively to increase their own rewards, to the direct detriment of those lower down the income distribution. Turning to our (null) results on economic growth and unemployment, it is more difficult to disentangle the mechanisms at work. It could be that cutting taxes on the rich does not affect economic activity, but it could equally be that there are positive and negative effects that are counteracting one another. The latter explanation would fit with the existing (ambiguous) theoretical literature on the relationship between taxes on the rich and economic performance (as outlined in Section 2).
Our results have important implications for current debates around the economic consequences of taxing the rich, as they provide strong evidence that cutting taxes on the rich increases top income shares, but has little effect on economic performance. These findings are in line with a growing pool of macro-level panel studies on the economic consequences of cutting top marginal rates of income taxation (Angelopoulos et al., 2007; Piketty et al., 2014), as well as Rubolino and Waldenström’s (2020) synthetic control analysis of major tax cuts for the rich in Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
One open question is why our findings differ from the small number of studies that have found that higher top marginal income tax rates and tax progressivity adversely affect economic growth (Padovano and Galli, 2002; Gemmell et al., 2014)? One reason could be our more comprehensive approach that takes different taxes into account when measuring tax cuts for the rich. We have argued that this approach has several advantages over relying on single tax rates and indicators. Our results also hold, however, when using statutory tax rates as the main independent variable (as in Gemmell et al., 2014). Hence, the most likely reason for the difference in our findings is that we utilize new methods for causal inference with pooled time series data (Imai et al., 2021). In contrast to the methods used in previous work, this approach combines matching methods with a difference-in-differences design. This enables us to (a) identify the effect of tax cuts in the potential outcomes framework, (b) estimate varying treatment effects over time, and (c) check the covariate balance, previous treatment trajectories and the parallel trends assumption. This approach therefore allows us, unlike previous research, to estimate generalizable and dynamic causal effects of tax cuts.
In sum, this study finds that major tax cuts for the rich push up income inequality, but do not boost economic performance. It therefore provides strong evidence against the influential political–economic idea that tax cuts for the rich ‘trickle down’ to benefit the wider economy. The study also points to a number potentially fruitful avenues for future research. It remains puzzling why ‘trickle down’ ideas have been so powerful and persistent in tax policy-making in the advanced democracies despite the lack of macroeconomic benefits from cutting taxes on the rich. Further research is also needed to more rigorously test the specific mechanisms driving our results. Lastly, future studies could investigate the extent to which the results generalize to developing and emerging economies, as well as non-democratic regimes.
Footnotes
Standard deviations are calculated based on the variance of the indicator in the whole sample.
3
Supplementary Appendix Figure A2 shows how changes in the latent variable translate into the binary variable of major tax cuts for the rich based on the 2 standard deviations threshold.
4
We also re-run our analysis with two other measures of market income inequality—the market income Gini coefficient and the top 10% share of pre-tax national income (see Supplementary Appendix Figure A6). We choose to present these results as a robustness test of our main results (in Section 5), as these alternative measures of income inequality do not fit as closely with the theoretical focus of our analysis as the top 1% share of pre-tax national income (see Section 2).
5
See Supplementary Appendix Table A1 for the sources and summary statistics of the dataset. There are a small number of missing data points for top income shares (<10% of cases) and some of the additional covariates. In these cases, we have used an exponentially weighted 5-year moving averages interpolation procedure.
6
Since we match upon covariate histories prior to tax cuts, controls should not be subject to post-treatment bias.
7
Since the model calculates the first differences in relation to the year before the tax reform (i.e. t − 1), the effect is always zero (by design) for this year.
8
Before matching, several variables showed significant imbalance with a standardized mean differences beyond the commonly accepted threshold of 0.25 (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1985). After matching, the standardized mean differences no longer exceed this threshold. Supplementary Appendix Figure A3 shows changes in the standardized mean difference for different specifications.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Marco Giani, Cevat Giray Askoy, Leo Ahrens and the participants of Inequalities Seminar Series at the LSE International Inequalities Institute for their helpful comments and suggestions.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
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Our results have important implications for current debates around the economic consequences of taxing the rich, as they provide strong evidence that cutting taxes on the rich increases top income shares, but has little effect on economic performance. These findings are in line with a growing pool of macro-level panel studies on the economic consequences of cutting top marginal rates of income taxation (Angelopoulos et al., 2007; Piketty et al., 2014), as well as Rubolino and Waldenström’s (2020) synthetic control analysis of major tax cuts for the rich in Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
One open question is why our findings differ from the small number of studies that have found that higher top marginal income tax rates and tax progressivity adversely affect economic growth (Padovano and Galli, 2002; Gemmell et al., 2014)? One reason could be our more comprehensive approach that takes different taxes into account when measuring tax cuts for the rich. We have argued that this approach has several advantages over relying on single tax rates and indicators. Our results also hold, however, when using statutory tax rates as the main independent variable (as in Gemmell et al., 2014). Hence, the most likely reason for the difference in our findings is that we utilize new methods for causal inference with pooled time series data (Imai et al., 2021). In contrast to the methods used in previous work, this approach combines matching methods with a difference-in-differences design. This enables us to (a) identify the effect of tax cuts in the potential outcomes framework, (b) estimate varying treatment effects over time, and (c) check the covariate balance, previous treatment trajectories and the parallel trends assumption. This approach therefore allows us, unlike previous research, to estimate generalizable and dynamic causal effects of tax cuts.
In sum, this study finds that major tax cuts for the rich push up income inequality, but do not boost economic performance.
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no
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/two-years-tax-cuts-continue-boosting-united-states-economy/
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Two Years On, Tax Cuts Continue Boosting the United States ...
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Two Years On, Tax Cuts Continue Boosting the United States Economy
December 22 marks 2 years since President Donald J. Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). TCJA’s pro-growth reforms of individual and corporate taxes were the largest tax cut in United States history. Additionally, since TCJA’s passage, United States multinational enterprises have repatriated $1 trillion in past overseas earnings that were previously invested abroad.
Prior to TCJA’s passage, CEA made a number of predictions about the legislation’s long-term effects on economic growth, business investment, wages, and the labor market. Though TCJA’s full economic benefits will require additional time to materialize, CEA’s projections have been largely borne out.
A major TCJA provision allows businesses to immediately and fully deduct the cost of new capital investments, enabling them to invest more in their operations. CEA predicted an initial increase in the investment growth rate during the transition to an elevated steady state.
Investment levels have been notably higher in the post-TCJA period than Blue Chip’s pre-TCJA projections from October 2016. In 2018, investment was 4.5 percent higher than the projections. In 2019, investment was 3.3 percent higher than the projections and the capital stock is on track to expand across each major asset class (equipment, structures, and intellectual property products).
Additionally, TCJA provided much needed tax relief for America’s small businesses by letting certain pass-through entities deduct 20 percent of their qualified business income. As a result, over 80 percent of small firms believe that TCJA had a significant impact on the economy and over 50 percent believe it had a positive effect on their business, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
CEA estimated that a drop in the corporate tax rate would increase average United States household income by $4,000 over 5 or so years. The individual tax cuts, which were not included in CEA’s $4,000 forecast, also boosted disposable income for most households. For example, this year, TCJA’s doubling of the child tax credit will benefit 40 million American families, each receiving an average of over $2,200 dollars.
Altogether, real disposable personal income per household has risen by about $6,000 since TCJA was signed into law. Of that, our best estimate is that $1,500 to $2,900 (in real 2019 dollars) is due to the combination of TCJA’s individual and corporate tax reforms, meaning that a substantial portion of our estimated five-year income gains of $4,000 have already been realized.
The $1,500 lower-bound estimate is based on the divergence of real salary and wage compensation per household—a pre-tax measure that reflects corporate tax cuts, but not individual tax cuts—from the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) final pre-TCJA projections in June 2017 (shown in the figure below). The $2,900 upper-bound estimate is based on the divergence of real disposable personal income per household—a post-tax measure that incorporates the effects of both corporate and individual tax cuts—from the March 2017 Blue Chip projections.
By increasing businesses investment and worker earnings, TCJA has also supported today’s strong labor market. The United States unemployment rate continues to fall below pre-2016 election forecasts and reached 3.5 percent this year, the lowest rate in a half-century. A surge in labor demand means that for the first time since job openings data began to be collected, there are more job openings than unemployed people. Openings have now outpaced unemployed people for 20 straight months.
These labor market milestones were not expected before TCJA was signed into law. Actual post-TCJA cumulative nonfarm job gains of 4.7 million were nearly three times the 1.6 million gains estimated in the CBO’s final pre-TCJA projection. Furthermore, the robust job market is bringing Americans off the sidelines and into the labor market. The 1.6 million increase in the prime-age labor force in the 23 months after the passage of TCJA has more than offset the loss of 1.5 million prime-age workers under the Obama Administration’s entire expansion period.
In addition to keeping more of their earnings because of individual tax cuts, workers across all income groups are seeing their wages rise. Since TCJA was passed, wage growth for production and nonsupervisory employees (blue collar) has been higher than wage growth for nonproduction and supervisory employees (white collar), reversing the results from the Obama Administration’s expansion period.
Blue collar wages rose at a 3.0 percent annual rate from January 2017 through November 2019, much higher than the 2.4 percent annual rate from July 2009 through December 2016. Annual blue collar wage growth post-TCJA also exceeded annual white collar wage growth over the entirely of the current economic expansion.
Another major TCJA provision created Opportunity Zones to spur investment and increase investment and labor demand in economically-depressed areas. This change directly helps the 35 million Americans who live in the 8,764 communities designed as Opportunity Zones. The Opportunity Zones provision is a means-tested, supply-side policy to reduce poverty by enhancing self-sufficiency. There is evidence that Opportunity Zones, along with other reforms that lowered taxes on capital, are working as intended. Indeed, the lowest wage earners have seen the fastest nominal wage growth (10.6 percent) of any income group since TCJA was signed.
Two years after President Trump signed TCJA into law, economic growth continues exceeding expectations and the labor market continues breaking records on a monthly basis. By lowering the cost of capital, TCJA has raised business investment and personal income above pre-TCJA forecasts. While the full benefits of TCJA are yet to be realized, economic data show that the law has already improved the United States economy and Americans’ standard of living.
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Two Years On, Tax Cuts Continue Boosting the United States Economy
December 22 marks 2 years since President Donald J. Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). TCJA’s pro-growth reforms of individual and corporate taxes were the largest tax cut in United States history. Additionally, since TCJA’s passage, United States multinational enterprises have repatriated $1 trillion in past overseas earnings that were previously invested abroad.
Prior to TCJA’s passage, CEA made a number of predictions about the legislation’s long-term effects on economic growth, business investment, wages, and the labor market. Though TCJA’s full economic benefits will require additional time to materialize, CEA’s projections have been largely borne out.
A major TCJA provision allows businesses to immediately and fully deduct the cost of new capital investments, enabling them to invest more in their operations. CEA predicted an initial increase in the investment growth rate during the transition to an elevated steady state.
Investment levels have been notably higher in the post-TCJA period than Blue Chip’s pre-TCJA projections from October 2016. In 2018, investment was 4.5 percent higher than the projections. In 2019, investment was 3.3 percent higher than the projections and the capital stock is on track to expand across each major asset class (equipment, structures, and intellectual property products).
Additionally, TCJA provided much needed tax relief for America’s small businesses by letting certain pass-through entities deduct 20 percent of their qualified business income. As a result, over 80 percent of small firms believe that TCJA had a significant impact on the economy and over 50 percent believe it had a positive effect on their business, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
CEA estimated that a drop in the corporate tax rate would increase average United States household income by $4,000 over 5 or so years.
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-delivering-for-businesses-for-families-and-for-you
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Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Delivering for Businesses, for Families, and ...
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Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Delivering for Businesses, for Families, and for You
December 10, 2019
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is delivering for families and for you.
Nearly two years since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), our economy is thriving. The TCJA is delivering real, tangible benefits for the American people. Unemployment rates are at multi-decade lows, more people are keeping their hard-earned money and, most importantly, are enjoying the economic freedom to live their version of the American dream. American workers and their families are experiencing the benefits of pro-growth policies that are generating booming job creation and wage growth.
Here are the facts:
Thanks in large part to TCJA, unemployment is at its lowest rate in nearly a half century.[1]
Since November 2016, 24 states have achieved or matched their lowest-ever unemployment rates.[2]
We are in the midst of a 16-month streak of 3% year-over-year wage growth.[4]
The typical family earning $75,000 also received a tax cut of over $2,000.[5]
More people are participating in the labor market than ever before – and are more productive as a result of the Trump administration’s economic policies.
Labor force participation in November was just below the 6-year high of 63.3%.[6]
More adults are at work – with individuals between the ages of 25 and 54 participating in the labor force at the highest rate since 2009.[7]
Americans are being afforded the financial freedom and flexibility to pursue their version of the American dream.
New single-family home sales are up 31.6% in October 2019 compared to just one year ago.[8]
The poverty rate fell to a 17-year low of 11.8% under the Trump administration as a result of a jobs-rich environment.[9]
Poverty rates for African and Hispanic Americans have reached their lowest levels since the U.S. began collecting such data.[10]
Over 6 million Americans have left the food stamp program since February of 2017.
The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey’s income inequality measure declined in 2018.[11]
American consumers continue to drive economic growth. Real consumer spending grew at a strong 2.9% annual rate in Q3 of 2019, up from the 2.6% pace set during the preceding four quarters.[12]
Real disposable personal income grew at a 2.9% annual rate in Q3 of 2019, a total increase of nearly $110 billion.[13]
The average pace of annual growth in real disposable personal income per household under the Trump Administration ($2,577) has nearly doubled the pace from President Obama’s expansion period ($1,606).[14]
The stock market is reaching unprecedented heights, allowing the average American to put away more money for their retirement.
Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have seen record highs this fall.[15]
Since fall of 2016, the S&P 500 has increased a whopping 50.3% which means the average American saving for retirement by holding the S&P 500 index saw a more than 50% increase in the value of their retirement plan. [16]
According to the 2017 Survey of Consumer Finance, the median retirement account had assets of approximately $60,000 in 2016.[17] If that account were invested in the stock market for the last three years, that $60,000 has increased to approximately $90,000, without including any additional contributions.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is delivering for American businesses.
The TCJA is serving as the jet-fuel our economy needed to soar to new heights.It has made our economy competitive again, resulting in higher GDP growth, faster job creation, and increased wages for hardworking Americans. In almost every measurable statistical category, the U.S. economy is exceeding expectations and outperforming other G7 economies. As a result of the TCJA, businesses have been able to invest in more workers and more U.S. business operations. Businesses are now able to offer more opportunities to hardworking Americans and our economy is reaping the benefits.
Here are the facts:
Through TCJA and other administration actions, our economy is creating jobs at an exceptional pace.
Since November 2016, the economy has added more than 7 million jobs.[18]
For reference, this is more than the combined 2018 populations of Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Montana.
There are 5.1 million more jobs than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had projected in its August 2016 report.[19]
Over the past twelve months, employment growth has averaged a whopping 183,700 jobs a month.[20]
According to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 1.3 million more job openings than unemployed persons.[21]
September 2019 marks the 19th month in a row where there were more jobs available than people to fill them. This is a first since the data series began in the year 2000.[22]
Since November 2016, the manufacturing sector has added an impressive 524,000 jobs.[23]The National Association of Manufacturers’ survey of the industry hit record levels of confidence under the Trump administration.[24]
In November 2019 alone, 54,000 new manufacturing jobs were created.
United States’ growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shows that while other countries have begun to slow down, our economy remains vibrant.
U.S. GDP is $320 billion higher than the CBO had projected it would be in 2016.[25]
In 2019 so far, the U.S. economy grew 2.4% at an average annual rate, while the rest of the G7 has grown at 1.0%.[26]
U.S. companies are bringing money back home from overseas.
As a result of TCJA, U.S. companies have brought back close to a trillion dollars from overseas.
As reported by Bloomberg as recently as June, corporations have brought back $876.8 billion dollars since TCJA was enacted.[28]
The TCJA stemmed the tide of corporate tax inversions by substantially reducing incentives for companies to go overseas.
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Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Delivering for Businesses, for Families, and for You
December 10, 2019
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is delivering for families and for you.
Nearly two years since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), our economy is thriving. The TCJA is delivering real, tangible benefits for the American people. Unemployment rates are at multi-decade lows, more people are keeping their hard-earned money and, most importantly, are enjoying the economic freedom to live their version of the American dream. American workers and their families are experiencing the benefits of pro-growth policies that are generating booming job creation and wage growth.
Here are the facts:
Thanks in large part to TCJA, unemployment is at its lowest rate in nearly a half century.[1]
Since November 2016, 24 states have achieved or matched their lowest-ever unemployment rates.[2]
We are in the midst of a 16-month streak of 3% year-over-year wage growth.[4]
The typical family earning $75,000 also received a tax cut of over $2,000.[5]
More people are participating in the labor market than ever before – and are more productive as a result of the Trump administration’s economic policies.
Labor force participation in November was just below the 6-year high of 63.3%.[6]
More adults are at work – with individuals between the ages of 25 and 54 participating in the labor force at the highest rate since 2009.[7]
Americans are being afforded the financial freedom and flexibility to pursue their version of the American dream.
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yes
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://www.epi.org/publication/the-likely-economic-effects-of-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-tcja-higher-incomes-for-the-top-no-discernible-effect-on-wage-growth-for-typical-american-workers/
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The likely economic effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA ...
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The likely economic effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA): Higher incomes for the top, no discernible effect on wage growth for typical American workers
Two weeks ago, the Tax Policy Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives announced a series of hearings on the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed last December. The committee has invited submissions of written testimony from the public.
The authors of this testimony work for the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the nation’s premier research institute studying the effect of policy on the living standards of low- and middle-income American families. Our view, supported below, is that the TCJA is deeply flawed policy. It will deliver the vast majority of its direct benefits to the richest households; claims that large benefits will trickle down through indirect channels to low- and middle-income families are clearly incorrect. The key points we make in this testimony are:
There is no compelling evidence yet available to make firm claims about the effect of the TCJA on the American economy. Claims that evidence is already showing large positive effects are based on data cherry-picking and are either innumerate or dishonest.
The clearest reason why evidence so far shows no compelling effect of the TCJA on the economy is that it’s simply too soon since its passage for a full set of data to be assembled. However, the data that have come in so far have shown no break in trend at all for most economic indicators. There is no basis to claim that data so far show any positive effect of the TCJA.
The largest and only permanent cut in taxes stemming from the TCJA is a cut to corporate tax rates. Thus the best predictor of the likely effect of the TCJA is what happened after past episodes when corporate tax rates were cut.
This evidence based on past experience with corporate rates cuts—either in the United States, in international peer countries, or in individual U.S. states—argues strongly that capital investment and pay for most American workers will not noticeably increase due to the TCJA.
Do data since the TCJA passed tell us anything about its effects?
All objective analysis indicates that the direct, first-round benefits of the TCJA will accrue overwhelmingly to richer households when the act is fully phased. The Tax Policy Center (TPC), for example, estimates that the top 1 percent of households will see 83 percent of the total benefits from the law by 2027.1 In the run-up to the passage of the TCJA, proponents often claimed that the law would have indirect effects as that would lead to higher capital investment which in turn would eventually filter through to the economy in the form of higher productivity and pay for most American workers.2 Since its passage, these proponents have not been shy about claiming it has already had beneficial effects for the U.S. economy. The two broad claims made most often are that the TCJA is responsible for an alleged tsunami of wage increases and bonus payments that appeared in its wake, and that it is responsible for a large increase in investments made by American firms in plants, equipment, and research and development. These two strong claims about what has already appeared in the data are clearly false.
With regard to claims about bonuses and wages, there are several points to make. First, there is no evidence that wage growth has materially picked up since the TCJA’s passage. Figure 1 shows nominal wage growth (measured relative to the same month last year) before and after the passage of the TCJA. There is no obvious effect at all.
Figure 1
Nominal wage growth has been far below target in the recovery: Year-over-year change in private-sector nominal average hourly earnings, 2007–2018
Second, though there were plenty of anecdotal claims about bonuses being spurred by the TCJA, bonuses are not permanent wage increases, i.e., not the sort of boost that leads to permanently higher wages because productivity has been boosted and because workers have been given the bargaining clout to claim a fair share of this productivity growth. In a sense, focusing on bonuses over permanent wage increases already constitutes an admission that claims made during the run-up to the TCJA’s passage about permanent wage gains were excessively rosy.
Third nearly 40 percent of American workers get bonuses every year.3 So, in any given year tens of millions of stories could’ve been written about the bonuses workers received. No TCJA proponents have mobilized any systematic evidence that bonuses surged because of the tax cut.
Finally, there really was an incentive in the TCJA to provide bonuses in 2017.4 Because labor costs are an expense that can be written off on corporate taxes, these bonuses become more costly when tax rates are low. Because the TCJA slashed the headline corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, it made granting bonuses much cheaper in 2017 than in 2018 and all other post-TCJA years. What this means is that even if some increase in bonuses occurred in 2017 because of the TCJA (this remains a big “if”), there is no reason to think such bonuses will recur in the future. In short, if you didn’t get your paycheck bump from the TCJA by New Year’s Eve 2017, you’re likely to not get it at all.
With regard to the corporate investment claim, there is no serious evidence that the TCJA spurred a notable pickup in business investment. In an embarrassingly over-the-top defense of the TCJA made in the Wall Street Journal last month, the director of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) for the Trump Administration, Kevin Hassett, made lots of hay over the fact that business investment in the last quarter of 2017 grew 6.3 percent, an improvement over very recent years’ growth. He argued that this represented a radical improvement over an investment-starved recovery during the Obama administration’s tenure. To explain away the inconvenient fact that the TCJA didn’t come into effect until 2018, and hence would have a hard time directly explaining any late-2017 investment surge, Hassett speculated (with no evidence) that firms could predict the future improvements to post-tax profitability that would accompany the law’s effect, and that “when profits go up, capital investment goes up, and wages follow.” 5
However, in recent decades as profits and corporate managers’ salaries rose rapidly, the pay for typical workers didn’t.6 But, setting this aside for one second, even the claim that capital investment responds strongly to higher profits is impossible to square with the level of investment during the Obama administration. (As Hassett scornfully noted, “For perspective, real private nonresidential fixed investment was anemic at the end of the Obama administration.”) It’s hard to square because during these same years when capital investment genuinely was weak, profitability of corporations was historically high.7 In short, it just cannot be the case that low after-tax profitability was a binding constraint on capital investment and economic growth in recent years because profitability was not low, it was high.
Further, it’s worth lingering a bit on the data point Hassett trumpets as proving the TCJA’s effectiveness in spurring investment. He points to the 6.3 percent year-over-year increase in real, private nonresidential investment in the last quarter of 2017. We plot this in Figure 2. Readers can decide for themselves if they think this second-to-last last data point (which is what Hassett is lauding) looks like the TCJA (or anything else) has been a game changer in driving investment. It doesn’t seem like it to us, given that the year-over-year increase in real, private nonresidential investment was substantially higher several times during the Obama recovery that Hassett claims was “anemic.”
Figure 2
Preliminary data show no signs of an investment boom from the TCJA: Year-over-year change in real, nonresidential fixed investment, 2000Q1–2018Q1
The preliminary data for the first quarter of 2018 showed that nonresidential investment growth slowed in the first quarter of 2018 to 6.1 percent. The second round of revisions to this data (another round will come next month) boosted this growth to 6.8 percent—faster than the last quarter of 2017, but still below rates of growth from 2011 and 2014. In short, we do not yet have economy-wide data showing a rapid upsurge of investment due to the TCJA.
While this economy-wide data is quite damning of claims that the TCJA has spurred investment, the law’s proponents have taken some succor in a recent report citing evidence from nonpublic data that tracks investment by S&P 500 firms.8 This report claimed a large pickup in business investment that saw it grow faster in the first quarter of 2018 than at any point since 2011.
But this report should not lead one to think that the official, economy-wide data should be discounted. Besides being nonpublic and hence largely non-replicable, the firms surveyed from the S&P account for well under 10 percent of total private business investment in the U.S. economy.9 As such, even if faster investment occurred in these firms, this more-rapid investment apparently could not pull up the economy-wide numbers that are much more relevant for American living standards.
Further, much investment done by S&P companies is likely done overseas. This does not boost American productivity and does not show up (properly) in U.S. national accounts. It is by now well-known that the TCJA provided incentives for firms to make investments overseas rather than in the United States.10 A much-slower pace of overall American capital investment relative to what S&P firms undertook is consistent with the TCJA doing little-to-nothing to boost American investment, but nudging multinationals to invest offshore. In short, American workers should take no solace at all in S&P firms boosting investments while growth in overall national investments by businesses remains flat.
What past evidence on corporate tax cuts tells us
Again, no side in the debate over the effect of the TCJA should be making large claims about what the data tell us so far; there simply isn’t enough data yet to make a serious evaluation. One can, of course, look at past experience to assess the likely effect of lowering corporate tax rates on investment and wage growth. EPI did that in a number of reports and analyses released during the debate spurred by the introduction of the TCJA.
For example, the Trump administration’s Council of Economic Advisers released a paper last year arguing that cuts in the statutory corporate tax rate would lead to gains in business investment, productivity, and wages.11 We noted in report released shortly thereafter why this was unlikely to be true.12
The simplest reason that cutting corporate taxes will not boost American productivity or wages is that the past history corporate tax cuts in the United States shows no such relationship. Figure 3 shows the top corporate tax rate, productivity growth, and growth in typical workers’ hourly pay since the 1950s. It shows clearly that productivity and pay actually grew more rapidly when tax rates were higher.
Source: Productivity is the 5-year average annual change in total economy productivity (TEP) measure using unpublished data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Pay growth measures real compensation of production and nonsupervisory workers, using data from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program of the BLS and Table 7.8 from the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), as described in Josh Bivens and Lawrence Mishel, Understanding the Historic Divergence between Productivity and Typical Workers’ Pay: Why It Matters and Why It’s Real, Economic Policy Institute, September 2, 2015.
The CEA report claimed that the wage-boosting effect of corporate tax cuts was “highly visible in the data” and presented as evidence a graph that showed faster unweighted wage growth over just two years in a set of “low-tax” countries relative to a set of “high-tax” countries. It is deeply puzzling just what this graph was supposed to prove. Most notably, there is no claim that corporate tax policy changed in the years analyzed by the CEA, and that these changes hence could be linked to differing wage outcomes. Even the CEA report itself implicitly confirms that corporate tax policy changes are the correct variable to assess. In a later section of its report, the CEA praises another study for assessing “long-run outcomes…[that should be] thought of as the recurring flow of income after the corporate tax changes have fully taken hold” (emphasis added). Showing a short-run graph that has results that are driven by corporate tax levels rather than changes completely fails to demonstrate that the benefits to wage growth of cutting corporate taxes are “clearly visible in the data.”
Using data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we were able to essentially replicate the CEA results. The most striking finding is that the fast wage growth of the “low-tax countries” highlighted by the CEA in 2015 and 2016 was driven disproportionately by three small countries: Estonia (6.6 percent average wage growth in those years), Iceland (7.5 percent average wage growth), and Latvia (6.8 percent average wage growth). These three countries combined account for 30 percent of the unweighted “low-tax” sample but well over half of the wage growth in the low-tax group, yet their GDPs combined represent less than 0.4 percent of U.S. GDP.
Finally, we use this same OECD data to show changes in corporate tax rates and cumulative wage growth from 2000 to 2016 (see Figure 4). This assessment that is longer-run and examines the effect of corporate rate changes on wage growth is much more relevant for testing theoretical predictions about changing corporate rates and wages. This figure shows that there is no obvious correlation between corporate rate changes and wages; again the beneficial effect of cutting corporate taxes on wages is absolutely not “highly visible in the data.” In fact, the simple slope of the line through the scatterplot is positive, indicating that steeper cuts in corporate rates (the farther to the left of zero) were associated with slower wage growth (slightly and insignificantly, to be sure, as rate cuts just don’t affect wages much).
The key theory behind claims that corporate rate cuts will boost wages is the idea that these rate cuts will lead to substantially faster investment in productivity-enhancing plants and equipment, boosting the nation’s capital stock and making workers more productive.13 We can assess the first link in that chain of causation below, asking simply “are lower corporate tax rates associated with a larger capital stock”? Figure 5 shows a scatterplot of the relationship between the average statutory corporate tax rate between 2000 and 2014 and the capital-to-labor ratio in 2014. The hypothesis is that low-tax countries should have attracted more capital investment and hence should have accumulated a large stock of capital relative to their workforce by the end of the period. As the trend line through the scatter indicates, the relationship actually goes the wrong way—countries with higher corporate tax rates over this period had larger capital stocks by 2014.
This irrelevance of corporate tax rates for the wage growth of typical workers is confirmed by looking across U.S. states as well. These states are in many ways the best possible candidates for providing any evidence that lower corporate taxes actually show up as higher wages. In the jargon of economists, these individual states can be thought of as “small and open” economies—meaning that their wages, prices, and interest rates are highly driven by influences external to the state economy. This is important because economic models that suggest that corporate income tax rate cuts could translate into large wage gains essentially require economies be small and open. If the data show that even individual U.S. states see little correlation between corporate rate cuts and wage growth, it is almost impossible to credibly claim that a cut in the federal corporate rate for the entire—clearly not “small and open”—U.S. economy would deliver wage growth.
Figure 6 shows the change in state corporate income tax rates from 1980 to 2010 and the change in the inflation-adjusted state median wage in that period. There is no correlation at all visible in the data. This reveals a key truth policymakers should face: boosting wages will require a range of policies, and most of these useful wage-boosting policies will not involve taxes.14
Figure 6
Cutting corporate tax rates is not associated with gains in median wages: Percentage-point change in state corporate income tax rate and annualized growth in median wages, 1980–2010
Source: EPI analysis of data on state corporate tax rates from Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato and Owen Zidar, "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, 106 (9): 2582-2624 [2016 working paper version] (summary data here). Data on state median wages from the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Groups (ORG). Data is deflated using the CPI-U-RS. Data points weighted by state population in 2010.
Are we sure that nobody in these states will see any gain from cutting corporate taxes? No. Figure 7 looks at the same 1980 to 2010 period and shows the relationship between the change in state corporate income tax rates and the change in the share of total state income claimed by the richest 1 percent of households. Here the correlation (evidenced by the downward sloping trend line) is clearer: a reduction in the corporate rate is associated with an increase in the share of total income claimed by the top 1 percent.
Figure 7
Cutting corporate rates boosts top 1 percent incomes: Percentage-point change in state corporate income tax rates and top 1 percent income share, 1980–2010
Source: EPI analysis of data on state corporate tax rates from Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato and Owen Zidar, "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, 106 (9): 2582-2624 [2016 working paper version] (summary data here). Data on top 1 percent income shares by state from the Frank-Price-Sommeiller state income data. Data points weighted by state population in 2010.
Conclusion
The case that large, deficit-financed corporate tax cuts will boost capital investment, productivity, and wages in the United States is extraordinarily weak. Evidence from past changes in federal taxes, from cross-national comparisons, and from the experiences of individual U.S. states all argue strongly that wages for typical Americans will not benefit from the TCJA.
Claims that the meager data collected so far—data that show no trend break at all in capital investment or wage growth—already indicate a large, positive impact of the TCJA are simply not credible. All in all, the TCJA will serve to boost incomes for the already-rich while doing nothing to help the wages of typical American workers. Additionally, the TCJA is likely to increase incentives to offshore production and profits of American firms. We can certainly do better for America’s workers than the TCJA, and future Congresses should.
9. This assumes that the $166 billion total capital investment number from Otani, Eisen, and Dulaney’s 2018 article in the Wall Street Journal (from the previous footnote) is correct. This number is then compared with total private nonresidential fixed investment from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
10. For evidence on this, see Kimberly Clausing, “Profit Shifting and Offshoring, Then and Now,” and Rebecca Kysar, “Profit Shifting and Offshoring in the New International Regime,” presentations for “Will the Trump Tax Cuts Accelerate Offshoring by U.S. Multinational Corporations,” a conference hosted by the Economic Policy Institute, May 7, 2018.
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This is important because economic models that suggest that corporate income tax rate cuts could translate into large wage gains essentially require economies be small and open. If the data show that even individual U.S. states see little correlation between corporate rate cuts and wage growth, it is almost impossible to credibly claim that a cut in the federal corporate rate for the entire—clearly not “small and open”—U.S. economy would deliver wage growth.
Figure 6 shows the change in state corporate income tax rates from 1980 to 2010 and the change in the inflation-adjusted state median wage in that period. There is no correlation at all visible in the data. This reveals a key truth policymakers should face: boosting wages will require a range of policies, and most of these useful wage-boosting policies will not involve taxes.14
Figure 6
Cutting corporate tax rates is not associated with gains in median wages: Percentage-point change in state corporate income tax rate and annualized growth in median wages, 1980–2010
Source: EPI analysis of data on state corporate tax rates from Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato and Owen Zidar, "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, 106 (9): 2582-2624 [2016 working paper version] (summary data here). Data on state median wages from the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Groups (ORG). Data is deflated using the CPI-U-RS. Data points weighted by state population in 2010.
Are we sure that nobody in these states will see any gain from cutting corporate taxes? No.
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no
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2017/09/01/the-benefits-and-costs-of-a-u-s-tax-cut
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The Benefits and Costs of a U.S. Tax Cut
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The Benefits and Costs of a U.S. Tax Cut
[caption id="attachment_21145" align="alignnone" width="980"] A recent IMF paper looks at the effects of lowering personal income tax rates on income distribution and the U.S. economy (photo: Ingram Publishing/Newscom)[/caption]
U.S. lawmakers getting ready to rewrite the nation’s tax code have a fundamental question to answer: What are the priorities for tax reform? Do you want faster growth? Less income inequality? A tax cut that doesn’t increase the budget deficit? In a recent working paper, we find that, depending on how a tax cut is targeted, it is possible to make some progress toward the first two objectives. Personal income tax cuts can help support growth and, if well targeted, can also help improve income distribution. However, we find that lowering personal income tax rates does not raise growth enough to offset the revenue loss that is caused by the tax cut itself.
The tax reform debate is unfolding, with the U.S. economy in one of its longest expansions in history. In the medium term, though, growth prospects are constrained by weak productivity growth, falling labor force participation, increasingly polarized income distribution, and high levels of poverty. These trends have reduced the labor share of national income by about 5 percent in 15 years, have shrunk the middle class to the smallest share of the population in 30 years, and—aside from the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis—have resulted in the lowest potential growth rate since the 1940s.
Finding solutions to these issues requires action in multiple areas, among them trade, education, and health. In the latest economic assessment of the U.S. economy , the IMF and U.S. authorities have also mentioned tax policy as an important lever. Our paper looks more closely at the notion that tax reforms—and individual income tax cuts in particular—can go a long way in solving these challenges. But how far can a tax cut really take you? Can a personal income tax cut boost growth? And if it does, can it boost it enough to not weigh on the budget? More importantly, will the benefits of the reform reach low and middle-income households?
Our paper assesses the dynamic effects of lowering effective personal income tax rates on income distribution and the U.S. economy. We do so based on modern tools for quantitative macroeconomic analysis, relying on a model capturing salient features of the United States that are key for the question at hand; namely, different types of households (differentiated by education level), different productive sectors (manufacturing and services) interlinked through a realistic input-output structure, and international trade. In addition, and contrary to standard incidence analyses, our approach incorporates dynamics and forward looking behavior, which allows us to consider the medium-term effects of policy changes.
Three key results emerge from our analysis.
First, although we find that tax cuts provide a one-time boost to GDP, consumption, and investment, these effects are never strong enough to prevent a loss of revenue. Thus, tax cuts would need to be financed either through increasing the public debt, cutting spending, or by raising revenues from other taxes. Since we aim at obtaining better distributional outcomes while still preserving some modest upside to growth, we focus on financing the cuts with a shift from personal income taxes to consumption taxes, combined with an expansion of the earned income tax credit to protect the poor.
Second, we find that personal income tax cuts can benefit lower income groups, even if those at the bottom of the earnings scale do not directly receive a tax cut. Our economic model predicts that when tax cuts are targeted at middle (or high) income groups, these groups will spend some of the tax savings on (non-tradable) services, which are typically provided by lower-income people. Wealthier groups, on average, dedicate a larger share of their consumption expenditures to services. Consequently, when wealthier people pay less in taxes, their spending on services increases, raising demand for—and the wages of—low-skilled labor.
Third, our analysis reveals a fundamental tradeoff between growth and income inequality, depending on who gets the tax cut. In our simulations, while tax cuts for higher income groups may generate greater gains in GDP through higher investment and labor supply, they also exacerbate income polarization and inequality, both already at historical highs. Even accounting for the fact that rich people might consume more goods and services produced by people in the lower part of the income distribution, and allowing for an increase in the earned income tax credit to protect the poor, the income gap would still widen substantially if taxes were cut for higher income groups. On the other hand, a tax cut targeted at middle-income groups would help reduce income disparity and polarization, but might provide smaller growth dividends.
Recent
About the Blog
IMFBlog is a forum for the views of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and officials on pressing economic and policy issues of the day.
The IMF, based in Washington D.C., is an organization of 190 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation and financial stability around the world.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF and its Executive Board. Read More
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These trends have reduced the labor share of national income by about 5 percent in 15 years, have shrunk the middle class to the smallest share of the population in 30 years, and—aside from the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis—have resulted in the lowest potential growth rate since the 1940s.
Finding solutions to these issues requires action in multiple areas, among them trade, education, and health. In the latest economic assessment of the U.S. economy , the IMF and U.S. authorities have also mentioned tax policy as an important lever. Our paper looks more closely at the notion that tax reforms—and individual income tax cuts in particular—can go a long way in solving these challenges. But how far can a tax cut really take you? Can a personal income tax cut boost growth? And if it does, can it boost it enough to not weigh on the budget? More importantly, will the benefits of the reform reach low and middle-income households?
Our paper assesses the dynamic effects of lowering effective personal income tax rates on income distribution and the U.S. economy. We do so based on modern tools for quantitative macroeconomic analysis, relying on a model capturing salient features of the United States that are key for the question at hand; namely, different types of households (differentiated by education level), different productive sectors (manufacturing and services) interlinked through a realistic input-output structure, and international trade. In addition, and contrary to standard incidence analyses, our approach incorporates dynamics and forward looking behavior, which allows us to consider the medium-term effects of policy changes.
Three key results emerge from our analysis.
First, although we find that tax cuts provide a one-time boost to GDP, consumption, and investment, these effects are never strong enough to prevent a loss of revenue. Thus, tax cuts would need to be financed either through increasing the public debt, cutting spending, or by raising revenues from other taxes.
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no
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2020/L-December/Tax-cuts-for-the-rich
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Keeping tax low for rich does not boost economy
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News
Keeping tax low for the rich does not boost economy
Our research shows that the economic case for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak
- Dr David Hope
Major reforms reducing taxes on the rich lead to higher income inequality but do not have any significant effect on economic growth or unemployment, according to new research by LSE and King’s College London.
Researchers say governments seeking to restore public finances following the COVID-19 crisis should therefore not be concerned about the economic consequences of higher taxes on the rich.
The paper, published by LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, uses data from 18 OECD countries, including the UK and the US, over the last five decades. The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich, by David Hope and Julian Limberg, shows that the last 50 years were a period of falling taxes on the rich in the advanced economies. Major tax cuts were spread across countries and throughout the observation period but were particularly clustered in the late 1980s.
It states: “Our results show that…major tax cuts for the rich increase the top 1% share of pre-tax national income in the years following the reform. The magnitude of the effect is sizeable; on average, each major reform leads to a rise in top 1% share of pre-tax national income of 0.8 percentage points. The results also show that economic performance, as measured by real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate, is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich. The estimated effects for these variables are statistically indistinguishable from zero.”
It continues: “Our findings on the effects of growth and unemployment provide evidence against supply side theories that suggest lower taxes on the rich will induce labour supply responses from high-income individuals (more hours of work, more effort etc.) that boost economic activity. They are, in fact, more in line with recent empirical research showing that income tax holidays and windfall gains do not lead individuals to significantly alter the amount they work.”
The authors conclude: “Our results have important implications for current debates around the economic consequences of taxing the rich, as they provide causal evidence that supports the growing pool of evidence from correlational studies that cutting taxes on the rich increases top income shares, but has little effect on economic performance.”
Dr Hope, Visiting Fellow at LSE’s International Inequalities Institute and Lecturer in Political Economy at King’s College London, said: “Our research shows that the economic case for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak. Major tax cuts for the rich since the 1980s have increased income inequality, with all the problems that brings, without any offsetting gains in economic performance.”
Dr Limberg, Lecturer in Public Policy at King’s College London, said: “Our results might be welcome news for governments as they seek to repair the public finances after the COVID-19 crisis, as they imply that they should not be unduly concerned about the economic consequences of higher taxes on the rich.”
The countries studied in the paper are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
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News
Keeping tax low for the rich does not boost economy
Our research shows that the economic case for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak
- Dr David Hope
Major reforms reducing taxes on the rich lead to higher income inequality but do not have any significant effect on economic growth or unemployment, according to new research by LSE and King’s College London.
Researchers say governments seeking to restore public finances following the COVID-19 crisis should therefore not be concerned about the economic consequences of higher taxes on the rich.
The paper, published by LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, uses data from 18 OECD countries, including the UK and the US, over the last five decades. The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich, by David Hope and Julian Limberg, shows that the last 50 years were a period of falling taxes on the rich in the advanced economies. Major tax cuts were spread across countries and throughout the observation period but were particularly clustered in the late 1980s.
It states: “Our results show that…major tax cuts for the rich increase the top 1% share of pre-tax national income in the years following the reform. The magnitude of the effect is sizeable; on average, each major reform leads to a rise in top 1% share of pre-tax national income of 0.8 percentage points. The results also show that economic performance, as measured by real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate, is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich. The estimated effects for these variables are statistically indistinguishable from zero.”
It continues: “Our findings on the effects of growth and unemployment provide evidence against supply side theories that suggest lower taxes on the rich will induce labour supply responses from high-income individuals (more hours of work, more effort etc.) that boost economic activity. They are, in fact, more in line with recent empirical research showing that income tax holidays and windfall gains do not lead individuals to significantly alter the amount they work.”
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no
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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yes_statement
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"tax" "cuts" have a positive impact on the "economy".. the "economy" benefits from "tax" "cuts".
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https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/video-ahead-of-tax-day-young-highlights-tax-reforms-positive-impact-in-indiana
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VIDEO: Ahead of Tax Day, Young Highlights Tax Reform's Positive ...
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WASHINGTON — In advance of Tax Day on April 15, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) spoke on the Senate Floor today to highlight the positive impact of tax reform in Indiana. Since Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 3.2 million new jobs have been created nationwide. In Indiana, businesses are expanding and investing in their employees, and the creation of Opportunity Zones will incentivize new investment in distressed rural and urban communities.
“The bottom line here is that Hoosiers continue to benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Workers are taking home more of their hard-earned money, and businesses of all sizes are expanding, hiring, and investing in their employees. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue supporting policies like tax reform that have our economy booming,” said Senator Young.
I rise today to speak about our booming economy and the stellar jobs report we saw on Friday thanks in part to tax reform.
With Tax Day just around the corner, I’d like to briefly highlight the many benefits American families, workers, and job creators have experienced as a result of lower tax rates.
Since Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 3.2 million new jobs have been created.
Our 3.8 percent unemployment rate is near a 50-year low.
The unemployment rate for women in particular matches the lowest rate since 1953.
And jobless claims have recently dropped to the lowest level since 1969.
Additionally, manufacturing job creation was the highest in 2018 that it has been in over twenty years. As the most manufacturing intensive state in the nation, this is particularly good news for people in my home state of Indiana.
Last year, in conjunction with Tax Day, I spoke on the Senate Floor about the many stories that had already poured into my office – from Indiana businesses who are paying their workers more and constituents who are earning more.
This year, I’m proud to say that these stories continue.
My guest to last year’s State of the Union, Chelsee Hatfield, is a prime example. When tax reform was signed into law, Chelsee, a young mother of three, was working as a teller at a rural branch of First Farmers Bank and Trust in Tipton. She received a raise and a bonus as a result of tax reform.
This additional income helped Chelsee go back to school to earn her Associate’s degree, and it enabled her to put money away for her children’s future college education. I’m proud to say that this summer Chelsee graduated with her degree and she has been promoted to a Commercial Loan Administrative Assistant.
What a powerful story.
I recently had the opportunity to visit with a third-generation small business owner in Fort Wayne. Dan Parker, The owner of Parker Towing and Recovery, was able to purchase several new trucks, thanks in part to tax reform. This means more trucks will be available to assist Hoosiers who have been a car accident or have had their car break down.
Parker also recently expanded the company’s office space and gave his staff raises. “We have less turnover now,” Parker said about the raises.
Another Indiana employer, Cardinal Manufacturing Company, Inc. in Indianapolis, rewarded its team members with bonuses and pay raises.
And Albanese Confectionery, a candy manufacturing company in Merrillville, provided bonuses that it says will happen annually as long at the tax reform bill stays in effect.
Lastly, I would note that this new tax code incentivizes new investment into distressed rural and urban communities to help the least among us through the creation of tax advantaged opportunity zones around the state of Indiana.
The bottom line is that Hoosiers continue to benefit from Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Workers are taking home more of their hard-earned money, and businesses of all sizes are expanding, hiring, and investing in their employees.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue supporting policies like tax reform that have our economy booming.
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WASHINGTON — In advance of Tax Day on April 15, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) spoke on the Senate Floor today to highlight the positive impact of tax reform in Indiana. Since Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 3.2 million new jobs have been created nationwide. In Indiana, businesses are expanding and investing in their employees, and the creation of Opportunity Zones will incentivize new investment in distressed rural and urban communities.
“The bottom line here is that Hoosiers continue to benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Workers are taking home more of their hard-earned money, and businesses of all sizes are expanding, hiring, and investing in their employees. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue supporting policies like tax reform that have our economy booming,” said Senator Young.
I rise today to speak about our booming economy and the stellar jobs report we saw on Friday thanks in part to tax reform.
With Tax Day just around the corner, I’d like to briefly highlight the many benefits American families, workers, and job creators have experienced as a result of lower tax rates.
Since Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 3.2 million new jobs have been created.
Our 3.8 percent unemployment rate is near a 50-year low.
The unemployment rate for women in particular matches the lowest rate since 1953.
And jobless claims have recently dropped to the lowest level since 1969.
Additionally, manufacturing job creation was the highest in 2018 that it has been in over twenty years. As the most manufacturing intensive state in the nation, this is particularly good news for people in my home state of Indiana.
Last year, in conjunction with Tax Day, I spoke on the Senate Floor about the many stories that had already poured into my office – from Indiana businesses who are paying their workers more and constituents who are earning more.
This year, I’m proud to say that these stories continue.
My guest to last year’s State of the Union, Chelsee Hatfield, is a prime example.
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yes
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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no_statement
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"tax" "cuts" do not have a "beneficial" effect on the "economy".. the "economy" does not benefit from "tax" "cuts".
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https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/archive/4-8-08tax.htm
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Senate Housing Legislation Highly Disappointing: Less Than One ...
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SENATE HOUSING LEGISLATION HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING:
Less Than One-Fourth of Cost of Senate Bill Goes for Provisions That Will Actually Help Address the Foreclosure Crisis by Aviva Aron-Dine, Barbara Sard and Chad Stone
On April 10, the Senate passed legislation that its supporters say will help struggling families hold on to their homes and assist the communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis. Measures that would help achieve these goals, however, account for less than one-fourth of the bill’s cost. The remainder of the cost comes from an array of tax-cut provisions that either are unrelated to housing or are related but would do little or nothing to aid either homeowners at risk of foreclosure or hard-hit communities. Moreover, one of the bill’s provisions would actually worsen the problems that local governments face, and several other provisions could have adverse consequences, as well.
In addition, to avert a Republican filibuster, Senate negotiators omitted from the bill the one provision likely to be the most beneficial in averting foreclosures — a measure to provide a mechanism for large numbers of homeowners at risk of foreclosure to work out new mortgage arrangements with lenders. This measure was not passed over due to cost; its cost is lower than the amount the bill would spend on tax cuts that would do little or nothing to address the foreclosure crisis.[1]
The Senate also rejected an amendment to modify bankruptcy law so that judges would have the option of writing down the principal an individual owes on a mortgage on a primary home, as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. This provision, as well, could have a significant effect in preventing foreclosures and would do so without a cost to taxpayers.
In other words, the Senate bill is replete with costly, ineffective provisions, while measures that would be less costly and more efficacious were left out.
Tax Cuts in Package Would Largely Fail to Achieve Bill’s Avowed Goals
In introducing the tax components of the bill on the Senate floor, Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus declared, “simply put, we are here today to help families to keep their homes.”[2] Yet of the bill’s $22 billion in tax cuts (which constitute about 85 percent of the total cost of the bill), only $1.8 billion is devoted to provisions that would help to alleviate the foreclosure crisis. (These provisions are discussed in the box on page 6.) The remainder of the tax package is divided between provisions that are entirely unrelated to foreclosures and problems in the housing market ($9.8 billion, or 37 percent of the cost of the bill’s tax provisions are in this category[3]) and provisions that seemingly aim to address these problems but would, in fact, do little or nothing to help ($10.5 billion, or 40 percent of the bill’s tax package is in this category).[4]
Tax Provisions that Aim to Address the Problem But Would Do Little or Nothing to Help
In this section of the analysis, we focus on the tax provisions the Finance Committee has presented as addressing the housing-market crisis.
Net Operating Loss Carry-Back Provision
The Senate bill’s single largest provision deals with business net operating losses. A business experiences a “net operating loss” when its tax deductions exceed its income. Under current law, businesses may use their net operating losses to reduce their previous two years’ taxable income, in which case they receive refunds of taxes they paid in those years. Businesses also may use these losses to reduce their taxable income in any of the next 20 years.[5]
The Senate legislation would extend the “carryback” period from two years to four years for net operating losses incurred in 2008 or 2009, at a cost of $6.1 billion over the next decade (2008-2018). The tax benefits that businesses would receive upfront would be much larger than this — about $25 billion worth — but much of this forgone revenue would be recouped in subsequent years (since some of the losses that would be claimed as carrybacks in 2009 and 2010 would otherwise have been deducted as carryforwards in later years ).[6]
Table 1: Major Tax Cuts in Senate Bill That Some Have Claimed Would Address
the Foreclosure Crisis But That Would In Reality Do Little or Nothing to Help
Provision
Description
Cost
(2008-2018)
Main Problems
Extension of net operating loss carryback period*
Allows businesses to use 2008 and 2009 business losses to obtain refunds of tax payments made for the four prior years (instead of refunds of tax payments for only the two prior years, as under current law)
$6.1 billion
Supposed to help the housing sector by boosting the homebuilding industry, but unlikely to change builders’ decisions about whether to invest, retain workers, or sell houses at “firesale” prices. Could even encourage “firesales,” by making it easier for sellers to take immediate tax write-offs for the resulting losses.
Much of the tax benefit would go to firms that have no relation to housing. The tax break is unlikely to help the economy; in its recent report on economic stimulus options, CBO gave this proposal the lowest of its three ratings for cost-effectiveness as economic stimulus.
Credit for purchases of foreclosed homes
Provides a $7,000 nonrefundable tax credit, spread over two years, to taxpayers who purchase foreclosed homes (with no income limit on who may qualify for the credit.)
$1.6 billion
Unlikely to boost overall housing demand enough to benefit current homeowners by raising home values. Instead, most of the benefits would likely go to people who would purchase homes anyway, without the tax incentive. To the extent that the credit did boost demand for foreclosed homes, the beneficiaries would mostly be banks and other lenders who own foreclosed properties.
Could have unintended adverse consequences, such as boosting prices for foreclosed homes at the expense of other homes or making banks and other lenders quicker to foreclose by increasing the demand for foreclosed homes.
Not well-targeted to help communities hard hit by foreclosures.
Property tax deduction for non-itemizers
Creates a temporary $1,000 per-couple, $500 per-individual, tax deduction for property tax payments by filers who do not itemize their deductions
$1.5 billion
Benefits all homeowners who do not itemize and who have incomes high enough to benefit from a deduction, instead of targeting those most likely to need help. Because the assistance would be spread so thinly, the tax benefits would be too small — $150 for a couple in the 15 percent tax bracket — to have a meaningful effect in helping families avert foreclosures.
Denies the deduction to taxpayers who live in jurisdictions that increase property tax rates. This would effectively prevent localities from raising property tax rates to help compensate for shrinking property tax revenues, which in turn could worsen localities’ fiscal problems and lead to sharp cuts in schools, police, and other services. The provision also would be virtually impossible for the IRS to administer.
* A smaller provision of the Senate legislation, added as an amendment during floor debate on the bill,
would allow certain businesses to obtain refundsof Alternative Minimum Tax and research and
development tax credits. The effects of this provision on the economy would likely be similar to the effects
of the net operating loss provision.
Supporters of the net operating loss provision claim it would help to address the housing crisis by boosting the homebuilding industry. According to a Finance Committee press release, “homebuilders and other housing sector businesses particularly need cash to prevent layoffs, to avoid selling land and houses at distressed prices, and simply to shore up their lagging bottom lines.” The press release also implies that the net operating loss provision would encourage homebuilders to make new investments.[7] These claims, however, do not withstand scrutiny.
Providing Businesses With More Cash
Generally Will Not Change Their Business Decisions
Generally speaking, homebuilders (and other businesses) will retain workers if they believe that the value of what the workers can produce exceeds their wages. They will invest in new construction if they anticipate adequate demand for new houses. And they will avoid selling houses at “firesale” prices if they expect to be able to sell them at higher values in the not-too-distant future.
None of these calculations is influenced significantly by a tax break like the NOL provision, which provides businesses with more cash whether or not they avoid layoffs and firesales or increase investment. Simply put, a no-strings-attached cash infusion will not prevent businesses from making profit-maximizing choices about hiring, investment, and sales.
To be sure, the NOL provision could potentially affect the decisions of one group of businesses: companies that would like to retain workers, undertake new construction, or keep their newly-built homes off the market but are constrained by low cash flow and borrowing constraints. Given the current stare of the economy and the housing market, however, it is unlikely there are many homebuilders who believe it would be profitable to scale up production now and who would do so if only they had more cash on hand.
It is conceivable that a cash infusion could increase the willingness of some homebuilders to hold on to newly-built homes, since some businesses may be selling those assets to avoid bankruptcy. But the NOL provision also could make firesales more attractive — since it would make it easier for businesses to take immediate tax write-offs for the resulting losses.[8]
Furthermore, even if the NOL provision could somehow accomplish the goals the Finance Committee press release sets for the legislation, it is not clear that all of these goals are desirable. Additional housing construction now would only add to the glut in the housing market, further depressing home values and likely prolonging the crisis as a consequence. In addition, “shor[ing] up lagging bottom lines” for businesses that are not doing well in the market place is not generally considered a federal responsibility.
Most of the Benefits From the NOL Provision Would Accrue to Businesses Outside the Housing Sector, and the Measure Would Provide Little Boost to the Overall Economy
Many businesses experience net operating losses even during an economic expansion, with some of them exhausting the standard two-year NOL carryback period. During an economic downturn, the number of businesses that suffer losses in excess of what they can apply against their prior two years’ taxable income rises.
IRS data show that, during the last economic downturn, firms in the manufacturing, information, and finance and insurance sectors made the biggest use of net operating loss deductions.[9] Together, these three sectors claimed more than half of all NOL deductions in 2002. These data indicate that the claim that the NOL provision is a subsidy targeted to the homebuilding industry is incorrect.
That might not be a problem if the NOL provision were likely to boost the overall economy by providing effective economic stimulus. But in its January 2008 report on stimulus options, the Congressional Budget Office gave the NOL proposal its lowest cost effectiveness rating for stimulus (out of three possible ratings). CBO noted that NOL provision would likely do little to stimulate near-term investment.[10]
This is because the points noted above with respect to the homebuilding industry — that the NOL provision would likely have little effect on hiring and investment decisions — also apply to businesses generally. As a Goldman Sachs analysis explained, “companies don’t spend money just because it’s there to spend. To justify outlays for new projects, the expected returns have to exceed the cost, and that usually requires growth in demand strong enough to put pressure on existing resources.”[11]
In other words, in the absence of adequate consumer demand, provisions like the Senate NOL provision simply benefit companies’ bottom lines without doing much to boost investment, jobs, or the overall economy. To increase business production and investment during an economic downturn, policymakers generally must take measures to boost consumer demand rather than simply to increase business cash flow.
Tax Credit for Purchases of Foreclosed Homes
Under the Senate bill, people purchasing foreclosed homes who intend to occupy those homes as their primary residences could claim a tax credit worth $7,000, spread over two years. The theory appears to be that the tax credit would increase the demand for foreclosed homes, which would help struggling homeowners by raising the prices of their properties and thereby facilitating refinancing. Supporters also argue that this tax credit would help neighborhoods suffering from an epidemic of foreclosures, by making it more likely that foreclosed homes would be sold to new owner-occupants.[12]
Provisions in the Senate Bill that Respond to the Foreclosure Crisis
The bill does include some provisions to address mounting foreclosures and their consequences.
Helping current homeowners avoid foreclosures. The bill contains the following provisions that should be helpful in this regard:
Lower-cost loans to refinance current mortgages. The bill would give states and localities a one-time increase of $10 billion in tax-exempt housing bond authority and would allow these bonds to be used to assist with refinancings of adjustable-rate, subprime mortgages that were issued between 2002 and 2007. (Currently, this bond authority can be used only to help finance new mortgages for first-time homebuyers with low and moderate incomes and for multi-family rental housing.) Proponents have estimated that the $10 billion increase in bond authority, which would come at a cost of $1.8 billion to the Treasury, could fund mortgages for 80,000 households. These mortgages would have lower interest rates than conventional loans, making them more affordable for lower-income borrowers.
Housing counseling. The bill would provide an addition $180 million for housing counseling to aid homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
Help for active-duty service-members. The bill would strengthen protections against foreclosure on the homes of active-duty service-members.
Assistance for hard-hit communities. The bill would provide $3.9 billion in supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that states, localities, or other entities could use to purchase and redevelop foreclosed or abandoned properties for resale or rental.* At least 25 percent of these funds would have to be used for properties that would house families with incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median income. (Nationally, 50 percent of median income equals $30,750 for a family of four in 2008.) The remaining funds would have to be used for housing for families with incomes at or below 120 percent of area median income (nationally, $73,800 for a family of four).
These funds would be distributed on the basis of actual foreclosures and the prevalence of subprime loans and mortgage defaults and delinquencies. Lenders would benefit from the purchase of foreclosed properties they owned, but not excessively so, as the properties would be purchased at a discount from their current value.
Improvements in future mortgage lending. The bill includes a number of provisions to reform FHA lending. Most notably, it would permanently increase the mortgage amount that the FHA can provide or insure from 95 percent of the median home price in an area to 110 percent of the median price (with certain limitations). These changes would provide a foundation for the expanded role that Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Barney Frank are seeking to have the FHA play in refinancing troubled mortgages (see pages 10-11). The Senate bill also makes changes to the Truth in Lending Act to help borrowers better understand loan terms and better choose loans that they can afford.
___________________________
* In areas without sufficient demand for housing, state or localities could demolish blighted structures and hold the land for future redevelopment.
Unfortunately, this strategy, as well, is unlikely to provide meaningful help to current homeowners. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 2.8 million foreclosure proceedings will be initiated in the next four years, with about 1.1 million of these homeowners ultimately losing their homes through foreclosure.[13] To address the glut in the housing market, the tax credit would have to generate an increase in demand for foreclosed homes that is both swift and massive — on a scale far beyond what is plausible.[14]
Moreover, the tax credit could do harm. While a $7,000 credit is unlikely to be large enough to induce many people not otherwise planning to purchase a home to enter the market, it could sway some households’ decisions about which home to buy. If the credit induced homebuyers to purchase foreclosed homes instead of other homes, it would pump up demand and prices for foreclosed homes at the expense of other homes. To the extent this occurred, it would help banks and other lenders who owned foreclosed properties, at the expense of other homeowners, many of whom have already been hurt by declining home values.
Some analysts have noted that the proposed tax credit could even encourage foreclosures.[15] If the credit made it easier for banks and other lenders to sell foreclosed homes quickly, they might be more eager to foreclose on properties and less willing to renegotiate mortgage terms. In recent testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers criticized the tax credit on these grounds. Summers emphasized the credit’s potential adverse effects and the fact that the benefits of the credit would flow to lenders rather than homeowners, explaining that “Providing tax credits conditioned on initiation of the foreclosure process is likely to have perverse effects — foreclosures may be encouraged, and the benefits will flow to financial institutions that have foreclosed on homes rather than to families in need.”[16]
Credit Poorly Targeted for Helping Communities
The proposed tax credit for purchases of foreclosed homes also would be an inefficient way to aid neighborhoods plagued by large numbers of foreclosures. The tax credit would not be targeted to such neighborhoods. Since demand almost certainly is stronger for foreclosed homes in areas with few foreclosures than in areas with many, most of the benefits of the tax credit would likely go to people who purchase homes that are not in areas with a high concentration of foreclosures. (The added funds that the Senate bill would provide for the Community Development Block Grant, by contrast, would be much better targeted on hard-hit-areas; see the box on page 8.)
The Non-Itemizer Property Tax Deduction
The Senate bill also includes a new property tax deduction for non-itemizers (that is for taxpayers who claim the standard deduction rather than itemizing their deductions). Homeowners who are struggling to keep their homes must pay property taxes (like all homeowners), and those who do not itemize would receive some assistance from this provision, provided their incomes are high enough for them to benefit from a tax deduction.
More Worthwhile Uses for the Funds that the Senate Bill Spends on Unhelpful Tax Cuts
In general, expenditure programs are likely to be more effective than tax cuts in addressing the foreclosure crisis, in part because such programs can better target assistance to families and communities that need it. The Senate bill’s dubious tax cuts would consume funds that could otherwise be used for much more targeted responses to the housing crisis, including the following:
A proposal by Senator Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank to have the Federal Housing Administration guarantee the restructuring of mortgages on certain properties that are at risk of foreclosure. This measure, which would provide a mechanism for large numbers of at-risk homeowners to work out new mortgage arrangements with lenders, would likely do more than any other to help families remain in their homes. (This proposal is discussed in more detail on page 10-11 of this analysis.) The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the version of this proposal approved by the House Financial Services Committee would cost $2.7 billion, or about one seventh of what the Senate bill spends on tax cuts that would do little to address the foreclosure crisis. (The House approved this proposal May 8 by a vote of 266-154.)
Assistance for renters who have been evicted from their homes because of the foreclosure crisis. A growing number of families who have paid their rent have been evicted nonetheless, because the owners of their homes defaulted on their mortgages. (Lenders typically evict renters after repossessing homes, rather than act as landlords.) These families often cannot get their security deposits back, making it more difficult for them to come up with the funds to obtain other housing. A relatively modest amount could help avert homelessness among such families. An estimated 100,000 renters with incomes below $15,000 reside in units expected to be foreclosed; for $300 million, these renters could be provided with $3,000 per household for relocation expenses.
Additional assistance for communities hard hit by foreclosures. Some analysts have concluded that these communities need significantly more than the $4 billion the Senate bill would provide to purchase foreclosed properties and rehabilitate them for resale or rental (or in some cases to demolish them). Legislation that the House of Representatives has approved would provide $15 billion for this purpose, half in grants and half in loans, at a net cost of $8.4 billion.
Reforms to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. The housing tax package that the House Ways and Means Committee recently passed contains several provisions to improve and temporarily expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the largest source of federal funding for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing. While these provisions would do little to address the immediate foreclosure crisis, they would, over time, provide an increase in moderately-priced rental housing, which could help meet the needs of some low-income families who have been displaced from their homes by foreclosure (or who are unable to purchase homes as a result of the more restrictive mortgage lending practices being instituted in response to the crisis). More generally, by strengthening the LIHTC, these provisions would help state agencies administering the tax credit to do more to address affordable housing shortages, enable more low-income families to live in lower-poverty neighborhoods that currently have shortages of moderately priced rental housing, and provide a boost to some distressed communities. The housing tax credit improvements that the Ways and Means Committee adopted would cost $1.8 billion.
Yet this provision is poorly designed and poorly targeted. Millions of homeowners who own their homes outright, as well as millions of others who are not struggling with their mortgage payments, would benefit. Because the tax benefits would be spread so widely, they would be exceedingly small. The Senate bill’s deduction of $1,000 per couple ($500 per individual) which would cost $1.5 billion for one year but would provide a benefit worth only $100 to a couple in the 10 percent tax bracket and only $150 to a couple in the 15 percent tax bracket. (It would be worth $50 and $75, respectively, to singles in these brackets.) These amounts are too trivial to make a difference in protecting families facing foreclosure.
The idea of a non-itemizer property tax deduction appears to have arisen during a period when housing values were appreciating rapidly and property taxes were perceived to be a major burden on moderate-income homeowners. In today’s housing market, however, where property values are falling rather than rapidly rising, this issue is less important and the deduction makes little sense.
Low- and Moderate-Income Seniors Would Not Benefit From a Property Tax Deduction
Much of the concern around property taxes typically centers on seniors, for whom these taxes are sometimes thought to constitute a burden. Yet low- and moderate-income seniors would receive little or no benefit from the Senate’s property tax deduction for non-itemizers. They generally owe no income tax and hence could not use the deduction. (Social Security benefits are not taxable for low- and moderate-income beneficiaries, so seniors generally owe federal income tax only if they have substantial non-Social Security income.) Estimates from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center indicate that 61 percent of elderly households would not benefit from any new federal tax deduction, because they have no federal income tax liability.[17]
Senate Provision Would Worsen Problems Facing Local Governments
The Senate bill also contains a related provision that would deny the new property tax deduction to residents of any locality that raised its property tax rate between April 2, 2008 and January 1, 2009. This provision would effectively prevent localities from raising property tax rates to help compensate for shrinking property tax revenues caused by falling home values. As a result, the Senate bill could force many hard-pressed localities to cut police, firefighting, schools, and other basic public services.
This provision would represent an inappropriate federal intrusion into local taxing authority. It also would intensify pressure on state governments to help make up the lost local revenue, despite the fact that many states are facing serious budget problems of their own. States — unlike the federal government — must balance their budgets, even during recessions.
In dealing with the current economic problems, a first principle for Congress should be to “do no harm.” Due to its effects on local governments, this provision fails that minimal test.[18]
This provision also would place unprecedented demands on the IRS and likely would be impossible for the IRS to administer. At least 40,000 towns, counties, and school districts levy property taxes, and in many cases, their boundaries do not correspond to other boundary measures such as zip codes. It would take a Herculean effort for the IRS to try to determine which tax filers live in areas that make them eligible for the tax deduction and which filers do not.
Tax Cut Provisions Entirely Unrelated to the Housing Crisis
The previous section of this analysis examined the $10.5 billion in tax cuts contained in the Senate bill that are supposed to be related to the foreclosure crisis but would actually provide little help in averting foreclosures (and in some cases, would likely have adverse effects). Another $9.8 billion in tax cuts in the Senate bill do not even purport to be related to housing or foreclosures.
The bulk of these unrelated tax cuts — $8.3 billion of them — consist of measures to extend various tax incentives for renewable energy. These provisions appear to have been added to the housing bill as a way to circumvent the Pay-As-You-Go budget rules that require such measures to be paid for. The Senate waived the PAYGO rules for the housing bill as a whole, on the grounds that it is important to act rapidly to address the foreclosure crisis and that including offsets in the bill would delay its enactment. Whatever the merits of that decision, it should not be abused to justify waiving PAYGO so that the Senate can extend unrelated tax cuts without paying for them. The tax provisions in question may well warrant extension, but if so, they warrant being paid for.
Bill Disappointing for What It Omits
The Senate housing bill does not include a proposal Senator Chris Dodd has developed and the House Financial Services Committee has adopted, under which the Federal Housing Administration would facilitate the restructuring of mortgages on homes at risk of foreclosure. Such a measure would provide a mechanism for large numbers of homeowners at risk of foreclosure to work out new mortgage arrangements.[19] Its absence from the Senate bill is a major omission; many experts believe it could substantially reduce the number of foreclosures and enable many homeowners in danger of defaulting on their mortgages to remain in their homes. Noted economist and former Federal Reserve vice-chairman Alan Blinder has written that such a measure “… [while] not a panacea, offers a smart approach to a knotty set of problems — an approach that should breathe some life into the housing market, the mortgage market, and the related securities markets.”[20]
Bankruptcy Provisions
During floor debate on the housing bill, the Senate rejected an amendment to modify bankruptcy laws to allow judges to write down the principal amount owed on a mortgage. This decision was unfortunate. Allowing judges in bankruptcy proceedings to write down the principal would be beneficial, as it would help bring about mortgage restructurings in which the interests of both parties have a chance to be weighed. In addition, for homes that have more than one mortgage lien, as many do, it may be difficult to make a workable arrangement among the necessary parties without the type of forum that a bankruptcy proceeding provides. The prospect of bankruptcy proceedings in which a judge could write down a mortgage also could have another beneficial effect — it could increase incentives for lenders to enter into restructuring agreements before that stage is reached.[21]
A number of leading mainstream economists, including Larry Summers, have advised that such a provision would be helpful in averting widespread foreclosures.[22] Critics of such a change in bankruptcy rules argue that it would increase the number of bankruptcy filings and lead to tighter restrictions on lending in the future. Summers has counseled, however, that while some lenders might increase the risk premium on future mortgages (to reflect the very modest increased possibility that they could incur losses as a result of bankruptcy proceedings), such concerns are substantially outweighed by the beneficial effects a bankruptcy provision would have in ameliorating the looming foreclosure crisis.
Congress Needs to Do Better
Since the Senate passed its housing bill, the House of Representatives has approved two bills to address the foreclosure problem. The first bill, H.R. 3221, combines Rep. Frank’s version of the proposal to have the FHA guarantee new mortgages for struggling homeowners with several other measures, including a housing tax package passed by the House Ways and Means Committee a few weeks ago. The Ways and Means bill represents a significant improvement over the Senate version, although it devotes several billion dollars to tax provisions that would not constitute an effective use of scarce resources.[23] The second bill (H.R. 5818) would provide $15 billion in grant and loan assistance to states and communities hit hard by foreclosures.[24]
As Congress moves forward on legislation to address the mortgage crisis, it should drop ineffectual tax provisions included in either the Senate bill or the House bill, include the important housing-related provisions that the Senate bill omits, and retain funding to stabilize communities hard hit by foreclosures and provisions to help renters. In addition, as Congress continues to refine its response to the foreclosure crisis, it should include measures to ameliorate the harm to innocent renters who lose their homes to foreclosure through no fault of their own.
End Notes:
[1] The cost of a similar proposal that House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank has crafted is $1.7 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office, or $2.7 billion assuming that funds for administration and counseling are appropriated. CBO Cost Estimate for H.R. 5830, May 2, 2008.
[3] This category includes the extensions of renewable energy tax incentives, the changes to rules governing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and the small provisions targeted to the Katrina-affected region and the areas affected by the March 2008 tornados.
[4] This category includes the net operating loss provision, the provision allowing businesses to receive refunds of Alternative Minimum Tax and research and development tax credits, a credit for purchases of foreclosed homes, and a non-itemizer property tax deduction.
[5] Loss “carrybacks” have a higher value than “carryforwards” because they are paid out immediately, instead of years in the future. In addition, companies cannot be certain they will have the opportunity to use all of their loss carryforwards.
[6] A smaller provision in the Senate bill also would allow corporations, under certain circumstances, to obtain refunds of certain business tax credits. The effects of this provision on the economy would likely be similar to the effects of the net operating loss provision. This provision would cost $1.4 billion over ten years.
[14] The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the cost of the $7,000 credit which would be in effect for one year, is $1.6 billion. This suggests that the Joint Tax Committee expects 200,000-250,000 people to claim the credit. Even if all of these people were buyers who entered the housing market because of the credit, the boost to housing demand would still represent a modest fraction of the projected number of foreclosures. In reality, most of these individuals would probably be people who would have purchased homes anyway, meaning that the true boost to demand for housing would be much smaller.
[15] See for example, The Washington Post, “A Pro-Foreclosure Bill,” April 7, 2008.
[18] For more discussion of this provision, see “Statement by Iris Lav, Deputy Director, on Provision in Bipartisan Senate Housing Package Affecting Local Property Taxes,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 3, 2008, https://www.cbpp.org/4-3-08sfp-stmt.htm.
[19] These proposals would encourage mutually beneficial mortgage restructurings by having the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) guarantee new mortgages issued to struggling homeowners. Essentially, lenders could agree to allow homeowners to pay off existing mortgages at below face value (reflecting the reality of diminished home values) or to issue new mortgages to homeowners in amounts they could better afford to pay. The FHA would guarantee the new mortgages.
[20] Alan S. Blinder, “How to Cast a Mortgage Lifeline,” New York Times, March 30, 2008.
[21] Because the FHA refinancing proposal that Rep. Frank and Senator Dodd have proposed would be voluntary, the incentives that a bankruptcy provision would provide also could enhance the effectiveness of that initiative. The bankruptcy measure would thus complement the FHA proposal.
[23] For further discussion, see Aviva Aron-Dine, Barbara Sard, and Will Fischer, “Ways and Means Committee Housing Tax Package Improves Significantly on Senate Version: But Addressing the Foreclosure Crisis Will Require Other Measures,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 11, 2008, https://www.cbpp.org/4-11-08tax.htm.
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2009. This provision would effectively prevent localities from raising property tax rates to help compensate for shrinking property tax revenues caused by falling home values. As a result, the Senate bill could force many hard-pressed localities to cut police, firefighting, schools, and other basic public services.
This provision would represent an inappropriate federal intrusion into local taxing authority. It also would intensify pressure on state governments to help make up the lost local revenue, despite the fact that many states are facing serious budget problems of their own. States — unlike the federal government — must balance their budgets, even during recessions.
In dealing with the current economic problems, a first principle for Congress should be to “do no harm.” Due to its effects on local governments, this provision fails that minimal test.[18]
This provision also would place unprecedented demands on the IRS and likely would be impossible for the IRS to administer. At least 40,000 towns, counties, and school districts levy property taxes, and in many cases, their boundaries do not correspond to other boundary measures such as zip codes. It would take a Herculean effort for the IRS to try to determine which tax filers live in areas that make them eligible for the tax deduction and which filers do not.
Tax Cut Provisions Entirely Unrelated to the Housing Crisis
The previous section of this analysis examined the $10.5 billion in tax cuts contained in the Senate bill that are supposed to be related to the foreclosure crisis but would actually provide little help in averting foreclosures (and in some cases, would likely have adverse effects). Another $9.8 billion in tax cuts in the Senate bill do not even purport to be related to housing or foreclosures.
The bulk of these unrelated tax cuts — $8.3 billion of them — consist of measures to extend various tax incentives for renewable energy. These provisions appear to have been added to the housing bill as a way to circumvent the Pay-As-You-Go budget rules that require such measures to be paid for.
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no
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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no_statement
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"tax" "cuts" do not have a "beneficial" effect on the "economy".. the "economy" does not benefit from "tax" "cuts".
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https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/02/text/20080211-8.html
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Press Briefing by Edward Lazear, Chairman, Council of Economic ...
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MR. FRATTO: Good afternoon, everyone, thanks for coming. We have Ed
Lazear, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, is going to talk
about the release of the Economic Report of the President. Ed will have an
opening and then be happy to take your questions. Thanks.
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Thank you. The President has just signed the Economic
Report of the President for 2008. The Economic Report of the President is
a detailed summary of the economic issues and policies that face our nation
today. Although not every topic worthy of consideration can be covered in
one volume, we believe that those covered in this report are among the most
important.
The report begins with a summary of the macroeconomic situation. Economic
growth over the four quarters of 2007 was 2.5 percent, slightly below that
of the previous year but still solid, given conditions in housing and
credit markets. Going forward, most forecasters expect the first half of
2008 to have slow, but positive, growth, followed by a pick-up in the
latter half of the year. The stimulus package just passed by Congress that
will be signed by the President shortly should help ensure against risks in
the economy.
This year's most significant economic events revolved around housing and
credit markets. An apparent under-pricing of risk was revealed first in
mortgage markets, and later in a variety of credit markets. The President
was quick to respond to these issues by focusing on borrowers through
programs like FHA Secure, suspension of the tax liability on mortgage
write-downs, and HOPE NOW programs. Additionally, the Federal Reserve
acted to pump liquidity into the market. Some credit markets have become
more stable since the acute tightening that occurred in the summer.
One very positive development this year was increases in exports that has
occurred. Net exports shifted from reducing GDP growth to being a
significant contributor in 2007. In large part, this resulted from growth
in the economies of our trading partners, from our own productivity growth
and from changes in the terms of trade. We remain committed to open trade,
which has beneficial overall effects on the economy.
At the same time, we are cognizant that not all Americans benefit to the
same extent from open trade policies. The President continues to support
programs and reforms in programs like Trade Adjustment Assistance that help
those whose jobs are displaced as a result of trade.
Health care has been an important focus of the President. The President's
plan for standard deduction would remove the disadvantage felt by consumers
who buy their health care outside their employers. It would allow
consumers to benefit from cost saving in the plan that they choose and in
the amount of medical treatment that they purchase. It would help provide
coverage for several million uninsured and it would encourage competition
that will drive costs down. Government-paid Medicare costs are a
significant threat to fiscal stability and the President's plan is a step
in the direction of bringing these costs down.
This year's report provides a number of observations on taxes. First, the
ratio of tax revenue to GDP in 2007 was 18.8 percent, which is above the
40-year historic average of 18.3 percent. Second, failing to extend the
President's tax cuts will have adverse consequences for the economy. Low
taxes are important for creating an environment conducive to continued
economic growth. Equally significant is that allowing the tax cuts to
expire will result in 116 million Americans facing tax increases of an
average of about $1,800. Finally, the tax cuts help move to a more
efficient tax system with respect to saving and business investment.
Our infrastructure is an important factor in economic growth. One chapter
explores the current state of our roads, bridges, railways,
telecommunications and aviation systems, and explores policies in these
important areas.
Alternative energy is also a major thrust of the President's policies. The
20-in-10 legislation that he proposed in last year's State of the Union was
passed by Congress. This legislation will move us in the direction of
energy security, and also will help reduce the growth of greenhouse gas
emissions. The President believes that technology is an important part of
the solution, and the United States is a leader in producing new
technologies.
Finally, this year's Economic Report of the President contains a chapter on
economic statistics. Economic statistics are also part of our
infrastructure. They guide policy and private market decisions, as well,
and we have an obligation to make sure that they are accurate and as
informative as possible. It's important to maintain the continuity in
economic statistics and to make sure that they remain relevant in a
changing economy, by keeping pace with new sectors and new technologies.
This report contains the usual statistical tables that have come to be a
staple for policy makers, researchers and businesses. We hope you find
this year's report informative. Thank you, and I welcome your questions.
Q The chapter on exports notes that that's one of the bright spots in
the economy. It identifies one of the causes of the increase in exports as
the change in terms of trade, or, in other words, the weakness of the U.S.
dollar relative to where it was before. Secretary Paulson frequently
comments on how a strong dollars in the U.S. interest. How do you
reconcile the benefits of a strong and a weak dollar at the same time?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, as you probably know, we are not -- the only people
who speak about the dollar per se are the President and the Secretary of
Treasury, and I really can't comment on our dollar policy. I can certainly
comment on the factual issue that you raised, which is the notion that
terms of trade have changed over time. And if we look back at the exchange
rates in 2001 and compare them to exchange rates today, they are different.
And what that implies, of course, is that American goods have become
cheaper and that imported goods have become more expensive over time.
That's just a fact. That's not a policy statement, that's the reality.
In addition to that, there have been other factors that we think are
equally important in driving export growth, and that would be primarily the
growth in our -- the economies of our trading partners. That's an
extremely important factor. To a first approximation, a 1 percent growth
in the economy of a trading partner translates into a 1 percent growth in
their demand for our goods and services, as well. And so when our trading
partners are growing, that's good for our economy.
The third factor that I would talk about just in this same context is that
one of the nice things that's happened over the past few years is that
productivity growth has been quite strong. When productivity growth is
strong, it means that American goods become cheaper, and even at a given
exchange rate, our goods become more competitive as a result. And that's
been another factor that's driven our export growth.
Q In the report you say that the period of somewhat slower than normal
growth that began in 2007 is likely to continue into 2008. Is the White
House's forecast of 2.7 percent growth for '08 still viable, and why or why
not, at this stage?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, we only do our forecasts twice a year, so we really
only have two formal forecast point -- we have the mid-session review and
the annual forecast. The last forecast was done in November. So the 2.7
percent that you're referring to comes from November. Obviously there have
been new data since that point that might alter our forecast that you'll
see coming next time. I don't want to foreshadow that or tell you where
it's going to be because, obviously, we don't know where we'll be at that
point and we'll have new data even between now and the time at which we
issue that forecast.
But if we look at the forecast of professional forecasters -- those not in
the government, but outside government -- those numbers have come down to
some extent, but most of those outside forecasters are still predicting
positive growth, albeit slower than the growth that we've seen over the
past couple of years.
Q So you see no reason to dispute those figures?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Which figures?
Q The private sector forecast.
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, again, what I would say is that there are a variety
of outside figures. Forecasts have a significant range to them. Some are
quite high -- in fact, I saw one that was extremely high for the third and
fourth quarter of this year. That's possible, but that creates a lot of
variance to these sorts of things. And again, I wouldn't want to pick one
or the other and place too much weight on any one of them.
But I think the bulk of the forecasts, again, are predicting strong --
sorry, positive growth and stronger growth in the second half of the year.
I think that's the general consensus right now.
Q Having said that, do you think we're going to go into a recession or
are in a recession right now?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: The answer is, I don't think we are in a recession right
now, and we are not forecasting a recession. We are forecasting slower
growth. There's no denying that the growth that we had in the fourth
quarter of last year was significantly lower than the growth that we had in
the third quarter. Now I just remind you that we had similar growth rates
in the first quarter of last year, and those similar growth rates were
followed by two very strong quarters. So these things are somewhat
volatile.
I am not suggesting that we expect that in this quarter we'll see the same
kind of growth that we saw, say, in the third quarter of last year -- we've
had some issues, obviously, in terms of credit tightening, in terms of the
housing markets. And that's the reason why the President was very active
in pushing through the stimulus package, which we're very pleased about. I
think we got that in record time. We think that's insurance against risks
on lower economic growth, and we think that will help a good bit. We think
it should help immediately, because businesses will build those
expectations into their plans, and we expect that will help the economy
even in the very near term.
Q Two questions. One on the labor -- page 38. You talk about long-term
unemployment up and median duration up as well. Can you talk a little bit
about why these continue to trend up for a number of years, and whether
it's reflective of the kinds of jobs that have been created, or something
else is at play?
And then the section on housing, you talk about FHA and HUD, and how HUD --
the HUD loans dropped so precipitously, to 40,000, I think; that
corresponded with that huge jump in private label issuance and
mortgage-backed securities, et cetera. Realistically -- and it advocates
price -- risk-based pricing. Wasn't the whole private-label market
risk-based pricing to begin with? And what would be different now under
risk-based pricing for HUD? Do you think that the private-label is going
to go away and that's going to replace it?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Okay, good. Two good questions. Let me just scribble
down -- they're quite detailed, let me make sure I get the first one here.
On the first -- on the second one, let me go to that first, about HUD. We
think that FHA reform is important and will be useful for a variety of
reasons. If you look at places like California right now, the FHA business
in California is essentially shut down, and the reason for that is obvious:
Houses in California are much more expensive than they are in the nation
as a whole, and so what happens is that these limitations on FHA's ability
to insure those loans has differential impacts in certain regions of the
country. So making FHA loans be a bit more sensitive to local conditions
we think is a good idea.
We also think it's a good idea to allow the insurance rates to reflect the
relative risks associated with different kinds of loans. That seems to
make sense. That's what private markets do, and to the extent that FHA is
competing with private markets, we think that a system that mimics at least
to some extent what we see out there is probably something that will
enhance efficiency, and that's why we think that will be a good step, as
well. So we think these FHA reforms can actually be quite helpful in terms
of moving the market in the right direction.
On your first question, in terms of the labor market and duration of
unemployment -- right now, unemployment duration, if we look at long-term
unemployment, it's about where it was in the mid-'90s. So in terms of the
proportion of individuals who are facing long-term unemployment, it's about
the same as it was in the mid-'90s, and actually lower than throughout most
of the past few years.
That said, long-term unemployment is always a major concern. It's one of
our most serious concerns because you always worry about individuals who
remain chronically unemployed. That's a big problem. Obviously if you're
unemployed for a week or two, you get a new job, and you get a new job at
approximately the same wage rate or sometimes a higher wage rate, that's
less of a concern. So that's something that we always monitor, and we're
certainly keeping our eye on those numbers right now.
Q Any explanation for it as to why -- why it's trending up?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, again, I would say it hasn't really -- this
particular number that I'm talking about has not trended up. It's
basically where it was in the mid-'90s, so I don't see a particular trend
in that number at all. Now, there are differences in the labor market. As
we see a move to services, one of the things that we know has changed over
time is that the -- both the labor market and the economy as a whole has
become less cyclically-sensitive, simply because those sectors tend to be
less cyclically-sensitive. So you do see some changes over time, but those
are long-term trends, rather than something that you'll notice in any one
year or even eight-year period; it tends to be something that happens over
20 or 30 years.
Q I know you're not forecasting a recession, but a lot of Americans look
at the fourth quarter figures, they look at the stock market, they look at
the shrinkage in the job figures in the fourth quarter, and they say, well,
I'm worried about it. Are they wrong to be worried about it?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, we look at those numbers too, and that was the
motivation, of course, behind the stimulus package, because of the concerns
out there -- and it wasn't just the public's concerns, it was our concern
that there are some factors that suggest some potential weakness in the
economy. We were worried about lower growth, and as a result of that, we
decided that it was the right time to act.
We believe that the stimulus package that was voted on last week will be
quite effective in ensuring against these downside risks, and we think that
they will keep the economy from slipping into lower levels of growth. And
again I think that our forecasts are realistic, they're consistent with
what you're seeing out on the street, as well. I think this is -- we're
moving in the right direction.
I should also mention, by the way, that the Federal Reserve has also acted
to change their monetary policy stature over the last few weeks, and in a
pretty aggressive way, and that will also contribute, we think, to the
economic picture.
Q Are you saying that you were -- that they were right to be concerned
about that, but those two steps -- the Fed, and what you have done --
should take care of those concerns?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, again, I don't want to make a normative statement
about whether the Fed is right or wrong; the Fed is independent, and they
make their own decisions. It is a factual matter that they cut rates
pretty aggressively over the past month. Simply if you look at it compared
to historic rate cuts, that's a fact; it is a big rate cut. We believe
that, coupled with the stimulus, will have an effect on the economy.
Q Congress is planning to advance a second stimulus package in a few
weeks. First of all, given the timing, would you even agree that it would
be a stimulus package? And whether or not it has a stimulative effect, is
the administration willing to consider additional measures?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: We think the proposal that we put out a few weeks ago,
and it was acted on last week, is the right thing to do. We think 1
percent of GDP is about the right number -- it's slightly higher than 1
percent, but we think that's an effective stimulus. We think it will have
the desired effect. And that was the policy that we thought was
appropriate. We still think that policy is appropriate and we'll stick
with that.
Q When you pass that stimulus package, aren't you pretty much
handcuffing the Fed in terms of how low they can lower interest rates?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Again, I don't want to comment on what the Fed can or
cannot do. I'm not even sure I follow your -- follow the logic of your
question. I'm sorry.
Q Well, if you're stimulating the economy and you're pumping more money
into --
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: I think I know where you're going. Okay. I'm sorry. I
think you're question is whether we have to worry about inflation, and I'm
not sure if that's the question -- but that's a question that I would pose
and I'm certainly willing to talk about. (Laughter.)
Currently, inflation rates are in the moderate range, and there are a
variety of indexes that people look at, but in the low 2s if you look at,
say, the PCE deflator, which tends to be the number that the Fed looks at.
That is still within the range where I believe that both the government,
the fiscal policy and monetary policy still have sufficient flexibility.
We're not talking about handcuffing either of the various -- the two policy
instruments for dealing with that. Obviously, we always worry about
inflation. Obviously the Fed always worries about inflation; that's one of
their two mandates, and so they're not going to ignore that. But right
now, things seem to be okay.
Now, again, I would not argue that all prices have been stable. We know
that energy prices, in particular, and food prices have also gone up at a
pretty significant rate. And that's a concern for a couple of reasons:
One is, it's a concern just for the macro economy, as you point out; but
it's also a concern because those are two components of consumption that
tend to affect the poor disproportionately. They tend to consume a
relatively larger share on food, and a relatively larger share on energy.
So that's always a concern when those prices go up.
And we think some of the policies that we've put into place will help
address that, in particular, the energy policies that we're talking about
will get to some of these energy cost issues at least over the longer haul.
One could always argue we should have started them 10 years ago, 15 years
ago, things would be cheaper now. I wish we had. We haven't. But it's
better now than not doing it at all.
Q Ten years ago, when people talked about unemployment going down below
6 percent, they were very worried about inflation, and it caused a sense of
panic. Now, at 5 percent inflation, we're worried that we're in recession
-- 5 percent unemployment -- worried about that we might be in recession.
What has changed fundamentally in the economy that has put us in this
position?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, again, I would argue that the 4.9 percent
unemployment that we have right now still reflects a relatively tight labor
market. Obviously last month's labor market numbers were not as strong as
we've seen for the past -- actually, for the past four years or so. And
that's something that we're going to keep watching. But at an unemployment
rate of 4.9 percent, we still see tightness in the labor market.
I think that the concerns that the economy has, that people looking at the
economy have, are concerns that we share, as well, which is we know that
the housing market has been negative, and it's been negative for a couple
of years now. We also know that we face some tightness in credit markets,
and that those credit markets are working their way through a variety of
issues, one of which is the under-pricing of risk. I think that, in
retrospect, it's pretty clear that people had the wrong notion of what was
the appropriate risk premium. And those things take some time. As the
structure adjusts, it's going to take some time to work through that.
So I believe that that may be a source of concern. It was certainly a
source of concern for us, and it was one of the reasons why we favored
being aggressive, taking the steps right now to enact the stimulus package.
But again, with the stimulus package, I think that ensures us against some
of these downside risks, and I think the economy will continue to grow.
Q I guess what I'm trying to figure out, what has changed in the economy
that we no longer worry that a low unemployment rate, like 6 percent, will
cause a burst in inflation and excessive tightness in the economy? Now
we're looking at 5 percent unemployment and we think, gosh, we may be in
recession. What fundamental shift has taken place in the economy in 10
years?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, I don't know whether a fundamental shift has taken
place in the economy. Again, I don't think we want to be complacent about
even a low unemployment rate. Obviously, anytime people are unemployed we
worry about that. And that was the reason that I gave the answer before,
particularly about long duration unemployment, which is a particular
concern if it gets out of hand. Right now it is not and, as you point out,
4.9 percent unemployment is low. That's not a major concern either in
terms of the macro economy, but obviously we always get concerned when any
Americans find it difficult to find work. And that may be the source of
the concern, but, you know, again it's something that we always pay
attention to.
Q Do you still think that the official forecast for unemployment this
year is going to turn out about correct and -- by the end of the year,
given that there does seem to be additional slowing that's happening, at
least in the first half of this year?
And second question related to that is, as you know, one of the big
arguments on the stimulus package was whether to extend unemployment
benefits. If it were the case, if we have a really slow couple of quarters
here and we have an uptick in longer-term unemployment, would you say that
the arguments have improved in favor of offering an additional 13 weeks?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: In answer to your first question about whether the
forecast is right or not -- I mean, the forecast was somewhere around 5
percent, somewhere around high 4s, and that's about where we are right now.
Whether we remain there, of course, is something that we'll have to see
how that plays out over the next couple of months.
But, again, you know, I hate to keep referring to the stimulus package, but
I think that the stimulus package, coupled with the Fed rate cuts, are
significant in terms of their effect on the economy, and we estimate that
the stimulus will have the effect of increasing jobs by about a half a
million above the number that would have been the case in the absence of
that. So that's a pretty significant number, and that would have a pretty
significant effect on the unemployment rate.
So it is certainly consistent and by no means unreasonable that we would
have numbers that are consistent with our forecast from November. Again,
you know, we will update our forecast at the usual time, and keep you
posted on how that looks, but, again, no reason that we would think that we
would be way off.
On the second question about extended unemployment benefits, extension of
unemployment benefits has never occurred when the unemployment rate was
below 5.7 percent. And usually, if you look at the historical record, it's
somewhat closer to 7 percent. So it would be unprecedented to extend
unemployment benefits at a time when the unemployment rate is 4.9 percent.
That also is true given that the duration of long-term unemployment is
still relatively low. And again, as I had mentioned earlier, kind of
middle level of 1990s is about the same. So it would be -- it would really
be unprecedented to go that route at this point.
Q Can I maybe jump back into his question. I think what he was asking
is what has changed in the economy -- if I'm not wrong, the answer is our
perception of what maximum unemployment without an inflationary effect
would be. And the 7 percent figure you just listed, would that suggest
that maybe we're in a time where it would necessitate the extended
unemployment because our perception of maximum employment has also shifted?
And then the question I really wanted to ask: Where do you -- the home
price, as an economist who happens to be the CEA head, how far do the home
prices still have to drop -- 6.5 percent on the Shiller Index -- aren't we
putting a floor -- with the stimulus package, by getting -- raising loan
limits, aren't we at risk of putting a floor on prices that haven't reset
completely?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Okay, you guys are giving me two questions at a time
here, so you're making me write everything down, make sure I remember this.
First, with respect to unemployment rate, what you're referring to I guess
is the so-called NAIRU, Natural Rate of Unemployment Without Inflation,
non-accelerating inflation rates of unemployment. Many people think those
have dropped. Again, that depends on the models that you estimate. There
are very sophisticated models behind these kinds of indexes. And some
might argue that that rate has dropped. But again, even if we go with the
most aggressive notion of what is a high unemployment rate, 5.7 percent,
we're still quite a ways from that right now. So 4.9 percent -- I think by
anybody's measure, 4.9 percent is still low unemployment. Remember, that's
well below the average that we've had over -- the historical average; it's
below the average for the '90s, the '80s and the '70s, each taken
separately.
So we're still at low rates of unemployment. And again, that doesn't mean
that we're not worried about people who are unemployed. We surely are; we
always worry about people who are unemployed. That's one thing. It's
another thing to institute a policy -- a significant policy change that
would extend unemployment benefits beyond the normal level.
Now let me get to your second question, house prices. I'm not going to --
obviously, I'm not going to give you market advice on whether to speculate
on homes or not. I think most people believe that the housing market
declined more than we expected. I would have to say, in honesty, if we
looked back a year ago most people who were looking at the housing market
would not have forecasted that it would fall as much as it has since then.
Whether it will continue to fall I think remains to be seen. It is
difficult to believe at some point that it's going to continue to fall,
because once you get to lower and lower levels, it's just much tougher for
that to take as much off of GDP as it did before. First of all, it becomes
a smaller part of GDP, and second, as it gets closer to lower and lower
levels, it's harder for it to fall by a significant amount.
So I would say going forward, eventually this has to bottom out. I think
most probably would have expected that to have started to happen right now.
Last quarter we know housing was a significant drag on GDP growth, and it
will continue to be, at least for the first quarter, simply because there
are lags. So once you see housing starts down, it takes some time for
investment to play out. And so it will be a drag for the first quarter and
probably into the second quarter of this year, even if things were to
bottom out right now.
Q Back in March, the great debate was, will this housing crisis spill
over into any other sector, and economists were divided, and of course by
August we knew it was spilling into the financial sector. Now, if you pick
up the papers you're reading about corporate debt market seems to be under
pressure. Is your forecast assuming no more spillover, or have you
actually taken into effect possible spillover into corporate debt and other
marketplaces?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, when you say "spillover," I guess I would say
that's still a debatable point. The fact that we saw some distress in
other credit markets does not necessarily mean that it was a spillover from
the housing market. It could have been, but it could also be a reflection
of the same underlying phenomenon. I think most market observers believe
that most of what we've seen in terms of credit markets reflects the
under-pricing of risk that occurred over the past couple of years, that
happen to have shown up first in mortgages.
Okay, so it showed up first in subprime. That doesn't mean that subprime
necessarily was the cause of what we saw in other markets. It's just a
reflection of the same forces perhaps showing up there first. And my guess
is that will be something that will be debated by academics for the next 10
years to come.
Is it over? You know, who knows whether it's over. I think the good thing
that has happened in credit markets is that many firms have recognized
their losses and, in addition to that, they've been able to raise capital.
I think that's the most encouraging sign -- that firms have suffered some
distress and financial markets, no question about it, but after they've
declared those losses they've been able to go out and raise capital and to
start again. And that's what's most important, I think, going forward.
Q I didn't see any mention in the book of the $9 trillion national debt.
What level of concern does the Council have about that?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: The national debt is always a concern, although we tend
to look at the public debt, rather than the national debt. I think the
public debt is a number that, at least to my mind as an economist, is more
informative, because it's the debt held by the public. The national debt
includes inter-governmental transfers, so when one department lends money
to another department, that shows up in the national debt. But the public
debt is still --
Q But the money doesn't exist, right?
CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: But the public debt is still a relevant number. And if
you look at the number on the public debt, the public debt is about 37
percent of GDP, which is kind of on the average that we've seen
historically. It's the number that we tend to look at in terms of whether
the deficit is too high or not too high.
When the deficit is below about 2 percent to 2.5 percent of GDP, depends on
the growth rate, but when it's about 2 percent to 2.5 percent of GDP, what
that tends to mean is that the ratio of the public debt to GDP tends to
fall over time. If the deficit gets larger than that, then that tends to
drive up the ratio of the public debt to GDP. And obviously, large
deficits that tend to drive that public debt up relative to the GDP are a
significant concern in the long run.
The thing that I would point to is that certainly not only by historic
standards, but also by the standards of other major countries that are in
the comparison group -- look at the other G7 countries -- we're still in
pretty good shape in terms of our public debt to GDP ratio, because -- I
think it's only one country has a slightly lower ratio than we have. And
so we're still in relatively good shape.
That said, we are never complacent about the deficit. And that's why the
President has laid out his plans to try to cut the deficit to zero by 2012.
We believe that we can still do that. We believe that the stimulus, which
will obviously increase the deficit for next year, is a one-time shot; it's
an investment worth making. It does increase the public debt, national
debt as well, no doubt about it. But again, it's a cost that we think is
appropriate to bear right now, because of its investment in long-term
growth.
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At the same time, we are cognizant that not all Americans benefit to the
same extent from open trade policies. The President continues to support
programs and reforms in programs like Trade Adjustment Assistance that help
those whose jobs are displaced as a result of trade.
Health care has been an important focus of the President. The President's
plan for standard deduction would remove the disadvantage felt by consumers
who buy their health care outside their employers. It would allow
consumers to benefit from cost saving in the plan that they choose and in
the amount of medical treatment that they purchase. It would help provide
coverage for several million uninsured and it would encourage competition
that will drive costs down. Government-paid Medicare costs are a
significant threat to fiscal stability and the President's plan is a step
in the direction of bringing these costs down.
This year's report provides a number of observations on taxes. First, the
ratio of tax revenue to GDP in 2007 was 18.8 percent, which is above the
40-year historic average of 18.3 percent. Second, failing to extend the
President's tax cuts will have adverse consequences for the economy. Low
taxes are important for creating an environment conducive to continued
economic growth. Equally significant is that allowing the tax cuts to
expire will result in 116 million Americans facing tax increases of an
average of about $1,800. Finally, the tax cuts help move to a more
efficient tax system with respect to saving and business investment.
Our infrastructure is an important factor in economic growth. One chapter
explores the current state of our roads, bridges, railways,
telecommunications and aviation systems, and explores policies in these
important areas.
Alternative energy is also a major thrust of the President's policies. The
20-in-10 legislation that he proposed in last year's State of the Union was
passed by Congress. This legislation will move us in the direction of
energy security, and also will help reduce the growth of greenhouse gas
emissions.
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yes
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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no_statement
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"tax" "cuts" do not have a "beneficial" effect on the "economy".. the "economy" does not benefit from "tax" "cuts".
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https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/cea/progrowth.html
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Pro-Growth Tax Policy
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Pro-Growth Tax Policy
Introduction
While taxes are necessary to finance the public sector, they have a substantial cost to the economy. If there were no taxes on labor and capital income, individuals and firms would allocate their resources where they are most productive. Taxes encourage individuals to lower their tax burdens by avoiding activities that are taxed, thereby distorting the efficient allocation of resources. For example, taxes on labor income reduce the reward from working. Taxes on capital income reduce the reward from saving and investing.
Pro-growth tax policy aims to reduce economic distortions. In 2001, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) reduced individual income tax rates, created a new 10% bracket rate, provided marriage penalty relief, and began a phase-out of the estate tax. In 2003, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) reduced the tax rates on dividends and long-term capital gains. It also accelerated the phase-in of the tax rate reductions scheduled to occur under EGTRRA.1
These tax cuts have reduced distortions to labor supply, saving, and investment decisions by lowering the tax burden on labor and capital income. They have also resulted in a more efficient tax structure by reducing the double taxation of corporate income. However, the economic benefits of the tax cuts are limited because they are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. Making the tax cuts permanent could greatly improve long-run economic performance.
Key Findings
The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts have substantially reduced the tax burden on labor and capital income, thereby increasing the rewards from working, saving, and investing.
The 2003 reduction in the dividend and capital gains tax rates improved the business tax structure by reducing the tax bias in favor of retaining earnings relative to paying out dividends, and using debt rather than equity to finance new investments.
If the tax cuts were made permanent and financed by a reduction in government spending, long-run economic output could be expected to increase substantially.
General Points
The individual income tax creates substantial distortions. A recent study estimates that for every dollar of revenue raised by the individual income tax, there is an additional cost to society of 30-50 cents from distortions to behavior and the resulting lost output. That is, raising a dollar from the individual income tax has a cost to taxpayers of $1.30-1.50 the dollar collected by the government plus an additional 30-50 cents from distorted behavior. Analogously, a reduction in individual income taxes leads to reduced distortions. (Source: Parry)
Cutting tax rates on capital income improves incentives to save and invest. Cutting taxes on capital income rewards saving by individuals and investing by businesses. Increased investment raises the amount of capital per worker, which in turn improves productivity and long-run economic growth. Making the tax cuts permanent could increase the Nation's capital stock by 2.3% in the long run. A larger capital stock improves the productivity of labor and results in higher wages. (Source: Treasury)
Cutting dividend tax rates improves the efficiency of the business tax system. When a corporation issues shares to finance an investment, the returns on the investment are taxed once at the corporate level and again when shareholders receive them in the form of dividends. Thus, corporations have an incentive to use debt rather than equity to finance new investment and to retain earnings rather than pay out dividends. The 2003 dividend tax cut reduced these distortions and is estimated to have increased regular dividend payments by about 20%. (Source: Chetty and Saez)
Making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent can have a substantial impact on economic output. Making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent and financing them with reductions in government spending could be expected to increase output by 0.7% in the long run. In terms of today's $14 trillion economy, this would amount to almost $100 billion per year in additional output, or $329 per capita. (Source: Treasury)
Labor Supply and Saving
Taxes represent a transfer of resources from the private sector to the government. In the process of making the transfer, output that would have created value for producers, consumers, and workers is lost because taxes give individuals an incentive to avoid activities that are taxed. The lost value of output from tax distortions is referred to as deadweight loss it is a cost borne by the private sector that does not result in any additional government revenue. A recent study by Parry (2002) suggests that the personal income tax creates 30-50 cents of deadweight loss for every additional dollar of revenue raised.2 Thus, any government services funded by that revenue would have to have a social value of at least $1.30 in order to justify the cost (direct taxpayer cost plus deadweight loss).
Individuals decide whether to work and how much to work by weighing the take-home pay that they would earn against the value of the leisure time they forgo. Income taxes distort the labor supply decision by reducing individuals' take-home pay from working.
Example: Suppose an individual is currently earning $30,000 per year before taxes. The individual is considering a higher paying job (which requires much longer hours) and pays $70,000. In the absence of taxes, the individual would take the higher paying job if the value of the forgone leisure time is less than $40,000 (the difference in pay). If the individual pays a tax of 25% on the additional $40,000 in income, then he or she would only take the higher paying job if the value of the forgone leisure time is less than $30,000 (the difference in pay after taxes). Suppose the value of the individual's forgone leisure time is $35,000. Then, with taxes, the individual would not take the higher-paying job. However, there is a net loss to society from this decision. The higher paying job would have resulted in a benefit of $30,000 in additional take-home pay to the individual and $10,000 in revenue for the government. The total social benefit would have been $40,000, $5,000 more than the cost to the individual of forgoing the leisure. That $5,000 net loss in value is the deadweight loss from the tax.
The average tax rate the share of income paid in taxes affects an individual's decision to enter the labor force. High average tax rates can discourage labor force participation. The marginal tax rate the share of additional income paid in taxes affects an individual's decision to work more hours, take a higher paying job, or invest in education. Because of the joint treatment of married individuals, a family's marginal tax rate can also affect the second earner's decision to enter the labor force. Workers vary in their sensitivity to average and marginal tax rates. Single mothers and married women are especially sensitive to income taxes, so the deadweight loss is particularly high for these groups. Meyer and Rosenbaum (2001) show that a $1,000 reduction in taxes increases single mothers' employment rate by 2.7 percentage points. Eissa, Kleven, and Kreiner (2004) show that the 2001 tax cuts increased the labor supply of single mothers.
Income taxes also distort the decision to save and invest. When individuals choose to save, they forgo current consumption in favor of future consumption. Individuals' savings get channeled through financial markets to firms, which can use the funds to invest in capital and become more productive in the future. Taxes on capital income reduce the return to saving and investment. Under the current tax code, some firms (Subchapter C corporations) are subject to a firm-level tax on their income (after deducting expenses, including interest payments). Individual savers may also be subject to tax when they receive this income in the form of interest on bonds or dividends and capital gains on stock. Thus, income from dividends and capital gains is often subject to double taxation it is taxed at both the firm and the individual levels.
Example: Suppose a corporation is considering an investment project that generates a 10% rate of return. The return will be paid out to the firm's shareholders in the form of dividends. Suppose further that individuals are willing to forgo $1 of current consumption in exchange for $1.08 of future consumption. Under these circumstances, the investment project generates a net benefit for society by forgoing $1 of consumption today and investing in the project, individuals can receive $1.10 of consumption in a year. In the absence of taxes, this is exactly what will occur individuals will save and invest by buying the firm's stock and receive a 10% return in the form of dividends. Now suppose the corporation is required to pay a 20% firm-level tax on the investment return. This reduces the project's after-tax return to 8%. Also suppose that individual shareholders pay a tax of 10% on their dividend income, which further reduces the after-tax return to 7.2%. Individuals no longer find it desirable to buy the firm's stock, and the investment project does not take place. This outcome results in deadweight loss because the total social benefit from the project is still 10% 7.2% would go to individuals and 2.8% would go to the government in the form of taxes. This would exceed the cost to individuals of forgoing current consumption. But the project does not take place, so the value created by the project is lost.
The tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 reduced the tax burden on capital income in several ways. First, the 2001 tax cuts lowered individual income tax rates. Many small businesses including Subchapter S corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships are subject to individual income tax. These types of firms are known as flow through businesses their income flows through to the owners who pay personal income tax on it. As a result of the lower individual income tax rates, these businesses face a lighter tax burden on their investment returns. Interest income also receives the benefit of lower ordinary income tax rates. Second, the 2003 tax cuts reduced the top tax rate on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains. Third, the 2001 tax cuts also began a phase-out of the estate tax, which reduces the tax burden on savings left to one's heirs.
The Business Tax Structure
The structure of taxation refers to the way in which the tax burden is distributed across individuals and activities. A tax structure is more efficient if it can raise the same amount of revenue with less deadweight loss. Thus, making the tax structure more efficient can improve economic outcomes even if the overall level of taxation remains the same.
The 2003 tax cuts have substantially improved the business tax structure. As discussed above, many small businesses do not pay a firm-level tax their income is attributed to the owners and taxed under the individual income tax system. However, businesses organized as Subchapter C corporations (referred to here as "corporations") pay a firm-level tax of up to 35% on their income after deducting wages, interest payments, raw materials, and depreciation. When corporations undertake investments, they can finance them with equity (issuing new shares of stock or using retained earnings) or debt (issuing bonds). If a firm chooses equity financing, it can either pay the investment returns to shareholders in the form of dividends, or retain the earnings to reinvest in the firm. The tax treatment of these organization, financing, and payout options results in a number of distortions.
Dividends versus retained earnings: Dividends paid to shareholders are taxed at both the corporate level and the individual level. Prior to 2003, dividends were potentially subject to the top individual tax rate (38.6% in 2002). Retained earnings are taxed at the firm level; to the extent that they result in capital gains for shareholders, they are potentially subject to individual-level tax as well. Prior to 2003, long-term capital gains faced a maximum tax rate of 20%, generally lower than the rate on dividends. Capital gains taxes are also deferred until the stock is sold, which gives retained earnings an additional tax advantage over dividends. Therefore, there is a tax bias in favor of retaining earnings rather than paying out dividends. This tax bias has a social cost in terms of corporate governance. Dividends provide a way for firms to return earnings to shareholders, rather than leaving them in the hands of managers. Because managers' pay is not perfectly tied to their firm's performance, managers may have an incentive to use retained earnings in a way that does not maximize shareholder value.
Equity versus debt financing: Interest payments on bonds are deductible to the firm and taxable at the individual level, at ordinary income tax rates. Thus, debt-financed investment faces only one layer of taxation, giving debt financing a considerable tax advantage over equity financing. The overuse of debt financing can potentially increase the chances of bankruptcy, subjecting investors to unnecessary costs and risks.
Organizational Form: The double taxation of corporate equity distorts a firm's choice of organizational form. It discourages firms from organizing as corporations rather than flow-through entities.
The tax cuts of 2003 reduced all three of these distortions by lowering individual-level tax rates on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains to 15%. This substantially reduced the bias against paying out dividends (although capital gains still have some tax advantage because of deferral). It also reduced the tax bias in favor of debt financing. Finally, it reduced the tax disadvantage from choosing the corporate form of organization.
The tax cuts have clearly had an impact on dividend payments. Chart 1 shows the amount of dividend income received by households over time. From the beginning of 1983 to the end of the second quarter of 2003, real dividend income increased at an annual rate of 5.8%. After the second quarter of 2003, that rate increased to 12.8%.3 Chetty and Saez (2005) find that the fraction of companies paying dividends increased substantially following the 2003 tax cuts, after 20 years of decline. Moreover, firms that were already paying dividends increased their regular dividend payments after 2003. Overall, there was a 20% increase in regular dividend payments.4 A study by Poterba (2004) suggests that the reduction in distortions has the potential to raise the long-run level of dividends by 31%.
Benefits of Making the Tax Cuts Permanent
The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. This scheduled expiration limits their beneficial impact on the economy, particularly with regard to decisions that pay off over long periods of time (for example, education or long-term investments). Making the tax cuts permanent can substantially improve economic performance. However, the long-run effects of extending the tax cuts depend on how the tax cuts are financed.
This point is illustrated in a 2006 study by the Treasury Department, which examines the long-run macroeconomic impact of making the tax cuts permanent. This study assumes that the tax cuts are financed by additional government borrowing through 2016. After 2016, two scenarios are considered. In the first scenario, government spending is reduced after 2016 to maintain a constant debt-to-GNP ratio. In the second scenario, income tax rates are raised across-the-board after 2016 to maintain a constant debt-to-GNP ratio. Treasury finds that in the first scenario, the capital stock increases by 2.3%, and long-run GNP increases by 0.7%. In terms of today's $14 trillion economy, this would amount to almost $100 billion per year in additional output, or $329 per capita. In the second scenario, long-run GNP falls by 0.9%.
Not all of the tax cuts have the same impact on output. Treasury also estimates that extending only the dividend and capital gains rate cuts would raise long-run GNP by 0.4% (assuming they are offset by spending reductions). If the top four ordinary income tax rates were made permanent as well, long-run output would increase by 1.1%. Adding the remaining tax cuts (including the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, and the 10% bracket rate) would lower the impact on long-run output to 0.7%. These remaining provisions lower long-run output because they increase take-home pay without a reduction in marginal tax rates. The increase in take-home pay allows individuals to reduce their labor supply.
Summary and Conclusion
The tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 reduced the tax burden on labor and capital income, thereby reducing economic distortions to individuals' work, saving, and investment decisions. The tax cuts of 2003 also improved the efficiency of business taxation and reduced distortions to corporate financing and payout decisions. Making the tax cuts permanent combined with control of government spending can substantially boost economic performance.
Eissa, Nada, Henrik Jacobsen Kleven, and Claus Thustrup Kreiner (2004). "Evaluation of Four Tax Reforms in the United States: Labor Supply and Welfare Effects for Single Mothers," NBER Working Paper #10935, November 2004.
1 These two tax bills also included an increase in the child tax credit, increased contribution limits to IRAs and 401(k) plans, and other provisions. The provisions discussed in the text accounted for the bulk of the tax relief. In 2005, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act extended the dividend and capital gains tax rate reductions through 2010.
2 This study takes into account the various exemptions and deductions (for example, the mortgage interest deduction) that narrow the tax base. If all income were taxed at the same rate, the deadweight loss would be lower.
3 The spike in the graph represents a special one-time dividend paid by Microsoft Corporation.
4 As further evidence, they note that dividend payments did not increase for the subset of firms whose largest shareholder was exempt from taxes (as would be the case for a pension fund). This suggests that the increase in dividend payments was indeed a response to the reduction in the tax distortion.
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Pro-Growth Tax Policy
Introduction
While taxes are necessary to finance the public sector, they have a substantial cost to the economy. If there were no taxes on labor and capital income, individuals and firms would allocate their resources where they are most productive. Taxes encourage individuals to lower their tax burdens by avoiding activities that are taxed, thereby distorting the efficient allocation of resources. For example, taxes on labor income reduce the reward from working. Taxes on capital income reduce the reward from saving and investing.
Pro-growth tax policy aims to reduce economic distortions. In 2001, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) reduced individual income tax rates, created a new 10% bracket rate, provided marriage penalty relief, and began a phase-out of the estate tax. In 2003, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) reduced the tax rates on dividends and long-term capital gains. It also accelerated the phase-in of the tax rate reductions scheduled to occur under EGTRRA.1
These tax cuts have reduced distortions to labor supply, saving, and investment decisions by lowering the tax burden on labor and capital income. They have also resulted in a more efficient tax structure by reducing the double taxation of corporate income. However, the economic benefits of the tax cuts are limited because they are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. Making the tax cuts permanent could greatly improve long-run economic performance.
Key Findings
The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts have substantially reduced the tax burden on labor and capital income, thereby increasing the rewards from working, saving, and investing.
The 2003 reduction in the dividend and capital gains tax rates improved the business tax structure by reducing the tax bias in favor of retaining earnings relative to paying out dividends, and using debt rather than equity to finance new investments.
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yes
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Politics
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Are tax cuts beneficial for the economy?
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no_statement
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"tax" "cuts" do not have a "beneficial" effect on the "economy".. the "economy" does not benefit from "tax" "cuts".
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https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/cea/speeches-testimony/impact-of-the-recovery-act-and-economic-outlook
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The Impact of the Recovery Act and the Economic Outlook | The ...
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The Impact of the Recovery Act and the Economic Outlook
The Impact of the Recovery Act and the Economic Outlook
Christina D. Romer
Chair, Council of Economic Advisers
July 14, 2010
Testimony to the Joint Economic Committee
Chairwoman Maloney, Vice Chairman Schumer, Ranking Member Brownback, Congressman Brady, it is a pleasure to be with you today to discuss two issues of interest to both the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) and the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). One is the economic impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As part of the unprecedented transparency and accountability provisions of the Act, the CEA provides a report to Congress about the Act each quarter. In the Fourth Quarterly Report released this morning, we not only find that the Act has had a substantial effect on output and employment, but that it is leveraging private capital and making important investments in the future productivity of the country.
The second topic I will discuss is the economic outlook. The Recovery Act and other actions have helped to turn the economy from freefall to recovery. But, much work obviously remains to return the economy to full health. I will discuss the role that the targeted actions currently being discussed by Congress could play in counteracting some of the headwinds to growth that have become more apparent in recent weeks and, by doing so, in accelerating the rate of recovery.
Impact of the Recovery Act
Let me begin by discussing what the CEA’s new report finds about the impact of the Recovery Act as of the second quarter of 2010. With the Chair’s permission, I would like to enter a full copy of the report into the record.
The Changing Composition of Recovery Act Stimulus. Congress designed the Recovery Act both to begin spending out quickly and to provide crucial support to the economy over a two-year period. It has met and is continuing to meet these goals. The state fiscal relief, payments to seniors, and the emergency unemployment insurance benefits went out almost immediately, and started aiding the economy in the spring and summer of 2009. The tax cuts also went into effect immediately, but it has been during tax season (the first two quarters of this year) that many Americans have seen concrete signs in the form of reduced tax payments and increased tax refunds. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that more than 95 million households received the Making Work Pay tax credit from the Recovery Act and that average tax refunds were up by over $200 from last year in part because of this and other Recovery Act tax provisions. In previous CEA Recovery Act reports, we have highlighted the state fiscal relief and the tax cuts and income support provisions of the Act, and found evidence of their effectiveness.
In today’s quarterly report, we highlight the public investment spending in the Recovery Act. This is the project spending that not only creates jobs in the short run, but leaves us with an expanded and improved ability to create high-paying jobs in the future. The Recovery Act includes $319 billion of public investment on everything from basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges to twenty-first century infrastructure such as a smarter electrical grid and universal broadband. It invests in community health centers, health information technology, education, and job training to improve the health and skills of our citizens -- our human capital. And, it makes unprecedented investments in basic scientific research to enhance innovation and so help retain our competitive edge. All of these investments will help increase the long-run productivity of our economy and the standard of living of ordinary Americans.
The public investment components of the Recovery Act were always expected to spend out more gradually, because they typically require planning and are often awarded through a rigorous competitive process. But as of the end of June, roughly two-thirds of the public investment funds included in the Act had been obligated, and more than $86 billion had been outlayed. Public investment outlays increased by more than 50 percent between the first and second quarters of this year, which explains why the Vice-President has named this summer the "Summer of Recovery." In the area of transportation infrastructure alone, nearly 14,000 projects had been awarded as of the first quarter of 2010. Importantly, as the other stimulus in the Recovery Act gradually winds down over the next few quarters, the public investments will continue at a rapid pace, providing continued support to the economy.
Leverage Provisions of the Act. An innovative feature of the Recovery Act is its focus on partnering public investment with private and other funds. Much of the Recovery Act investment spending takes the form of matching grants, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, and tax incentives that support and encourage outside investment. For example, the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit gives private firms that pass the Department of Energy’s competitive process a 30 percent tax credit for their investments in factories to produce solar panels, wind turbines, and other clean energy products. The Broadband Initiatives Program provides grants and loans to firms and regional authorities to bring internet access to rural communities. And, the Build America Bond program subsidizes the interest cost of state and local government borrowing for schools, transportation, and other vital projects, so that these entities are encouraged to invest in local infrastructure.
The CEA’s report collected information from 15 agencies on the nature and extent of these leverage provisions in the Recovery Act. We find that roughly $100 billion of Recovery Act funds use leverage, and that these provisions are encouraging co-investment in a wide range of areas. The greatest use of these innovative provisions are in the areas of clean energy, economic development, and building construction. We estimate that the $100 billion of Recovery Act funds will partner with close to $300 billion of other funds, the majority of which are from the private sector. That is, $1 of Recovery Act funds is matched by $3 of other funds. All told, the $100 billion investment from the Recovery Act will support more than $380 billion of total investment spending.
A detailed examination of the incentives for wind energy production suggests that such leverage provisions can have a significant impact on private sector investment behavior. Thus, the Recovery Act appears to be stimulating private investment and job creation at a time when the economy needs it most.
Jobs Impact. In our report, we estimate the impact of the Recovery Act on job creation in two ways. One is a model-based approach, similar to that used by the Congressional Budget Office. This approach uses multiplier estimates based on the historical record to estimate how the Recovery Act tax cuts and outlays to date likely translate into employment effects. Importantly, when we apply this approach, we err on the side of caution and consider only the effects of the government expenditures and tax cuts; we do not include the employment effects from the private investment spending that may have been leveraged by the innovative features of the Act.
The second approach that we use to estimate the employment impact of the Act does not depend on policy multipliers estimated from past history. Instead, it uses statistical procedures to project the likely path of employment based on the information available through the end of the first quarter of 2009, when the Recovery Act was passed. It then compares the actual path of employment with the forecasted baseline. This projection approach implicitly takes into account features such as the innovative leverage provisions that may have caused the Recovery Act to have impacts different from previous fiscal actions. At the same time, it is important to realize that this approach also captures any unusual influences on the economy, either positive or negative, other than fiscal policy.
The model-based approach indicates that the Recovery Act has raised employment relative to what it otherwise would have been by 2.5 million jobs as of the second quarter of 2010. Of these jobs saved or created, more than 800,000 are due to the public investment outlays that have occurred so far. The projection approach yields a substantially larger number: it suggests that employment as of the second quarter is 3.6 million higher than it otherwise would have been. By this estimate, the Recovery Act has met the President’s goal of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs -- two quarters earlier than anticipated.
Our review of a wide range of other estimates of the employment effects of the Act shows that our model-based estimate is similar to that of outside experts. Our projection-based estimate is higher than other estimates, though very similar to the Congressional Budget Office’s high-end estimate of 3.4 million. There is obviously a great deal of uncertainty around any jobs estimate, and I suspect the true effects of the Act will not be fully analyzed or fully appreciated for many years. But, our compendium of outside estimates shows that respected analysts across the ideological spectrum, as well as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, agree that the Act has had a significant beneficial effect on employment and output over the past year.
Economic Outlook
Let me turn to the second topic I want to discuss today -- the state of the U.S. economy and the outlook for the future.
Current Conditions. First, and most obviously, the economy is doing much better today than it was when I last testified to the JEC in October 2009. At that point, we were just beginning to see the signs of recovery. We now know that GDP began to grow again in the third quarter of 2009, and has been expanding at a moderate pace since then. In October 2009, we were still losing jobs, although at a much slower rate than in the depths of the crisis. Since the beginning of 2010, we have been consistently adding jobs: private sector employment is up nearly 600,000 since the start of the year. In October 2009, the unemployment rate hit 10.1 percent. It has fallen six-tenths of a percentage point since then, to 9.5 percent in the most recent report.
While conditions are much improved from last October, and dramatically better than they were in the dark days of late 2008 and early 2009, the economy remains far from fully recovered. The financial crisis and the ensuing recession inflicted a terrible toll on American families and workers, and much work remains to be done to repair the damage left after the storm.
Some might see a conflict between my earlier discussion of how useful the Recovery Act has been and the fact that economic conditions are still very tough. But there is none. The Recovery Act is doing what the Administration and other analysts said it would do: it has increased employment greatly relative to what it otherwise would have been. It has helped to fill some of the shortfall in demand, and has played a fundamental role in the dramatic change in the trajectory of the economy. But, because the deterioration of the economy was so severe in late 2008 and early 2009, even with this essential aid, the economy remains troubled. It is surely little comfort to families that are still struggling to hear that without the Recovery Act conditions would have been far worse. But it is, nevertheless, true.
What can we expect for the economy in the months ahead? The past few weeks have seen more mixed economic reports than we saw in the spring. Following the troubles in Europe associated with the Greek debt crisis, stock prices have declined noticeably and financial markets have been subject to greater volatility than we had seen for more than a year. Perhaps related to this financial sector unease, some measures of consumer confidence have fallen somewhat. Also, housing sales and building permits took a decided drop in May, suggesting that a self-sustaining recovery has not yet taken hold in the housing sector.
Importantly, despite these troublesome developments, many areas of the economy are continuing to show strength. The fact that personal consumer expenditures grew in May suggests that consumer spending, the largest source of aggregate demand, is continuing at a solid pace. The data on shipments of capital goods in May indicate that business investment in equipment and software continues to grow rapidly. Also, industrial production has expanded strongly, particularly in the high-tech manufacturing sector, where production is up 18 percent since May of 2009. Manufacturing jobs are growing at their strongest pace since 1998.
The Headwinds We Face. As we look forward, it is clear that the economy continues to face some strong headwinds. The dire situation of state and local budgets means that without additional Federal aid, state and local governments will continue to shed jobs and act as a contractionary force on overall economic activity. Though credit conditions have ceased tightening, both recent statistics and reports from market participants suggest that many borrowers, particularly small businesses, still find it difficult to get loans. This obviously hinders small business growth and job creation. Finally, the housing bubble and bust has left many homeowners over-indebted and the U.S. economy with a substantial oversupply of housing. As a result, the prospects of a rapid growth in residential investment, as we have seen in previous recoveries, are slim.
Because of these persistent headwinds and the recent spate of mixed indicators, most private forecasters are predicting continued growth and job creation, but at a somewhat more subdued pace than the robust growth that looked possible a few months ago. Without further aid, the economy will continue to grow, but the rate of recovery will likely continue to fall short of the rapid expansion that is needed to bring the unemployment rate down quickly.
The Need for Targeted Actions. It is for this reason that the additional targeted actions that the President recommended last winter are even more important today than when he first proposed them. Each of the actions is designed to counteract some of the headwinds that we face, and by doing so, to increase the speed of recovery.
The most fundamental of these targeted actions is an extension of emergency unemployment insurance benefits. According to the Department of Labor, 2.1 million Americans have already seen their unemployment insurance benefits stop because of the failure to extend the program. This number will rise to 3.2 million by the end of the month. It will be devastating to both the families affected and the overall economy if this support is not renewed. Studies by the Congressional Budget Office and private analysts identify emergency unemployment benefits as one of the most cost-effective programs for supporting output and employment. At a time when the unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, there can be little question that such support is deeply needed.
Support for small business lending is another essential program to counteract the headwinds we face. This is an exceptionally low-cost measure that promises to materially increase the availability of credit to the small firms currently struggling. Such credit support, together with the small business tax cuts and bonus depreciation included in the bill, will be a much needed shot in the arm for small businesses. Such support will help them to expand and create jobs.
The third targeted measure that will help ensure more rapid recovery is additional aid to state and local governments. There has been much discussion in the past weeks of innovative ways to structure this aid so that it encourages beneficial reforms or pays for itself over time. Many variations have merit, and the Administration is anxious to work with Congress to pass a sound plan. But some form of meaningful state fiscal relief is necessary both to prevent widespread layoffs of teachers, firefighters, and police officers, and to accelerate job growth throughout the economy.
We are all keenly aware of our large budget deficit and the long-run fiscal challenges that we face. The President is committed to meeting those challenges. That is why he worked with Congress to pass health care reform that will lower the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next two decades. It is why his budget includes a three-year freeze in nonsecurity discretionary spending, and why he established a bipartisan commission to forge the necessary consensus for sensible, serious deficit reduction. It is also why the Administration has pursued a wide range of low-cost measures to spur growth, such as export promotion and public-private partnerships that have proven successful in leveraging private sector investment through the Recovery Act.
But not taking additional targeted actions, many of which are fully paid for over the budget window, because of concern about the deficit would be misguided. Allowing the unemployment rate to remain severely elevated for an extended period runs the risk of permanently lowering labor force participation and worker skills. Such permanent damage would not only be terrible for the workers involved, it would be terrible for our long-run budget situation.
Our report today contains the latest evidence that the Recovery Act has been highly effective at helping to turn the economy from freefall to growth. It also describes how, through its innovative investment programs, it has helped to support private investment and rebuild the public, private, and human capital stocks of the United States. What we need to do now is take some targeted, fiscally responsible additional steps to speed the recovery, and finally return the economy to health after the wrenching events of the past few years.
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The Recovery Act and other actions have helped to turn the economy from freefall to recovery. But, much work obviously remains to return the economy to full health. I will discuss the role that the targeted actions currently being discussed by Congress could play in counteracting some of the headwinds to growth that have become more apparent in recent weeks and, by doing so, in accelerating the rate of recovery.
Impact of the Recovery Act
Let me begin by discussing what the CEA’s new report finds about the impact of the Recovery Act as of the second quarter of 2010. With the Chair’s permission, I would like to enter a full copy of the report into the record.
The Changing Composition of Recovery Act Stimulus. Congress designed the Recovery Act both to begin spending out quickly and to provide crucial support to the economy over a two-year period. It has met and is continuing to meet these goals. The state fiscal relief, payments to seniors, and the emergency unemployment insurance benefits went out almost immediately, and started aiding the economy in the spring and summer of 2009. The tax cuts also went into effect immediately, but it has been during tax season (the first two quarters of this year) that many Americans have seen concrete signs in the form of reduced tax payments and increased tax refunds. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that more than 95 million households received the Making Work Pay tax credit from the Recovery Act and that average tax refunds were up by over $200 from last year in part because of this and other Recovery Act tax provisions. In previous CEA Recovery Act reports, we have highlighted the state fiscal relief and the tax cuts and income support provisions of the Act, and found evidence of their effectiveness.
In today’s quarterly report, we highlight the public investment spending in the Recovery Act. This is the project spending that not only creates jobs in the short run, but leaves us with an expanded and improved ability to create high-paying jobs in the future. The Recovery Act includes $319 billion of public investment on everything from basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges to twenty-first century infrastructure such as a smarter electrical grid and universal broadband.
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yes
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Neuroscience
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Are the brains of men and women wired differently?
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yes_statement
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"men" and "women" have "differently" "wired" "brains".. the "brains" of "men" and "women" are "wired" "differently".. there are "differences" in the "wiring" of the "brains" of "men" and "women".
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https://www.bbc.com/news/health-25198063
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Men and women's brains are 'wired differently' - BBC News
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Men and women's brains are 'wired differently'
Men and women's brains are connected in different ways which may explain why the sexes excel at certain tasks, say researchers.
A US team at the University of Pennsylvania scanned the brains of nearly 1,000 men, women, boys and girls and found striking differences.
Image caption,
The "connectome maps" reveal the differences between the male brain (seen in blue) and the female brain (orange)
Male brains appeared to be wired front to back, with few connections bridging the two hemispheres.
In females, the pathways criss-crossed between left and right.
These differences might explain why men, in general, tend to be better at learning and performing a single task, like cycling or navigating, whereas women are more equipped for multitasking, say the researchers in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The same volunteers were asked to perform a series of cognitive tests, and the results appeared to support this notion.
But experts have questioned whether it can be that simple, arguing it is a huge leap to extrapolate from anatomical differences to try to explain behavioural variation between the sexes. Also, brain connections are not set and can change throughout life.
In the study, women scored well on attention, word and face memory, and social cognition, while men performed better on spatial processing and sensori-motor speed.
To look at brain connectivity, the researchers used a type of scan called DTI - a water-based imaging technique that can trace and highlight the fibre pathways connecting the different regions of the brain.
"Detailed connectome maps of the brain will not only help us better understand the differences between how men and women think, but it will also give us more insight into the roots of neurological disorders, which are often sex related."
Complex organ
Prof Heidi Johansen-Berg, a UK expert in neuroscience at the University of Oxford, said the brain was too complex an organ to be able to make broad generalisations.
"We know that there is no such thing as 'hard wiring' when it comes to brain connections. Connections can change throughout life, in response to experience and learning.
"Often, sophisticated mathematical approaches are used to analyse and describe these brain networks. These methods can be useful to identify differences between groups, but it is often challenging to interpret those differences in biological terms."
Dr Michael Bloomfield, Clinical Research Fellow at the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre in London, said: "It has been known for some time that there are differences between the sexes when it comes to how our bodies work and the brain is no exception.
However, he said care must be taken in drawing conclusions from the study, as the precise relationships between how our brains are wired and our performance on particular tasks needed further investigation.
"We cannot say yet that one is causing the other.
"Furthermore, the measure used in the study, called "connectivity", is only one aspect of how our brains our wired.
"We think that there can also be differences in certain chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters, for example, and so we need more research to fully understand how all these different aspects of brain structure and function work together to answer fundamental questions like "how do we think?".
"One thing that remains unknown is what is driving these differences between the sexes. An obvious possibility is that that male hormones like testosterone and female hormones like oestrogren have different affects on the brain.
"A more subtle possibility is that bringing a child up in a particular gender could affect how our brains are wired."
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Men and women's brains are 'wired differently'
Men and women's brains are connected in different ways which may explain why the sexes excel at certain tasks, say researchers.
A US team at the University of Pennsylvania scanned the brains of nearly 1,000 men, women, boys and girls and found striking differences.
Image caption,
The "connectome maps" reveal the differences between the male brain (seen in blue) and the female brain (orange)
Male brains appeared to be wired front to back, with few connections bridging the two hemispheres.
In females, the pathways criss-crossed between left and right.
These differences might explain why men, in general, tend to be better at learning and performing a single task, like cycling or navigating, whereas women are more equipped for multitasking, say the researchers in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The same volunteers were asked to perform a series of cognitive tests, and the results appeared to support this notion.
But experts have questioned whether it can be that simple, arguing it is a huge leap to extrapolate from anatomical differences to try to explain behavioural variation between the sexes. Also, brain connections are not set and can change throughout life.
In the study, women scored well on attention, word and face memory, and social cognition, while men performed better on spatial processing and sensori-motor speed.
To look at brain connectivity, the researchers used a type of scan called DTI - a water-based imaging technique that can trace and highlight the fibre pathways connecting the different regions of the brain.
"Detailed connectome maps of the brain will not only help us better understand the differences between how men and women think, but it will also give us more insight into the roots of neurological disorders, which are often sex related. "
Complex organ
Prof Heidi Johansen-Berg, a UK expert in neuroscience at the University of Oxford, said the brain was too complex an organ to be able to make broad generalisations.
"We know that there is no such thing as 'hard wiring' when it comes to brain connections.
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yes
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Neuroscience
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Are the brains of men and women wired differently?
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yes_statement
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"men" and "women" have "differently" "wired" "brains".. the "brains" of "men" and "women" are "wired" "differently".. there are "differences" in the "wiring" of the "brains" of "men" and "women".
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/02/men-women-brains-wired-differently
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Male and female brains wired differently, scans reveal ...
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Scientists have drawn on nearly 1,000 brain scans to confirm what many had surely concluded long ago: that stark differences exist in the wiring of male and female brains.
Maps of neural circuitry showed that on average women's brains were highly connected across the left and right hemispheres, in contrast to men's brains, where the connections were typically stronger between the front and back regions.
Ragini Verma, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, said the greatest surprise was how much the findings supported old stereotypes, with men's brains apparently wired more for perception and co-ordinated actions, and women's for social skills and memory, making them better equipped for multitasking.
"If you look at functional studies, the left of the brain is more for logical thinking, the right of the brain is for more intuitive thinking. So if there's a task that involves doing both of those things, it would seem that women are hardwired to do those better," Verma said. "Women are better at intuitive thinking. Women are better at remembering things. When you talk, women are more emotionally involved – they will listen more."
She added: "I was surprised that it matched a lot of the stereotypes that we think we have in our heads. If I wanted to go to a chef or a hairstylist, they are mainly men."
Neural map of a typical woman's brain. Photograph: National Academy of Sciences/PA
The findings come from one of the largest studies to look at how brains are wired in healthy males and females. The maps give scientists a more complete picture of what counts as normal for each sex at various ages. Armed with the maps, they hope to learn more about whether abnormalities in brain connectivity affect brain disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.
Verma's team used a technique called diffusion tensor imaging to map neural connections in the brains of 428 males and 521 females aged eight to 22. The neural connections are much like a road system over which the brain's traffic travels.
The scans showed greater connectivity between the left and right sides of the brain in women, while the connections in men were mostly confined to individual hemispheres. The only region where men had more connections between the left and right sides of the brain was in the cerebellum, which plays a vital role in motor control. "If you want to learn how to ski, it's the cerebellum that has to be strong," Verma said. Details of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Male and female brains showed few differences in connectivity up to the age of 13, but became more differentiated in 14- to 17-year-olds.
"It's quite striking how complementary the brains of women and men really are," Ruben Gur, a co-author on the study, said in a statement. "Detailed connectome maps of the brain will not only help us better understand the differences between how men and women think, but it will also give us more insight into the roots of neurological disorders, which are often sex-related."
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Scientists have drawn on nearly 1,000 brain scans to confirm what many had surely concluded long ago: that stark differences exist in the wiring of male and female brains.
Maps of neural circuitry showed that on average women's brains were highly connected across the left and right hemispheres, in contrast to men's brains, where the connections were typically stronger between the front and back regions.
Ragini Verma, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, said the greatest surprise was how much the findings supported old stereotypes, with men's brains apparently wired more for perception and co-ordinated actions, and women's for social skills and memory, making them better equipped for multitasking.
"If you look at functional studies, the left of the brain is more for logical thinking, the right of the brain is for more intuitive thinking. So if there's a task that involves doing both of those things, it would seem that women are hardwired to do those better," Verma said. "Women are better at intuitive thinking. Women are better at remembering things. When you talk, women are more emotionally involved – they will listen more. "
She added: "I was surprised that it matched a lot of the stereotypes that we think we have in our heads. If I wanted to go to a chef or a hairstylist, they are mainly men. "
Neural map of a typical woman's brain. Photograph: National Academy of Sciences/PA
The findings come from one of the largest studies to look at how brains are wired in healthy males and females. The maps give scientists a more complete picture of what counts as normal for each sex at various ages. Armed with the maps, they hope to learn more about whether abnormalities in brain connectivity affect brain disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.
Verma's team used a technique called diffusion tensor imaging to map neural connections in the brains of 428 males and 521 females aged eight to 22. The neural connections are much like a road system over which the brain's traffic travels.
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yes
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Neuroscience
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Are the brains of men and women wired differently?
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yes_statement
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"men" and "women" have "differently" "wired" "brains".. the "brains" of "men" and "women" are "wired" "differently".. there are "differences" in the "wiring" of the "brains" of "men" and "women".
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https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/womens-mens-brains-respond-differently-hungry-infants-cries
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Women's, men's brains respond differently to hungry infant's cries ...
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Women’s, men’s brains respond differently to hungry infant’s cries
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have uncovered firm evidence for what many mothers have long suspected: women’s brains appear to be hard-wired to respond to the cries of a hungry infant.
Researchers asked men and women to let their minds wander, then played a recording of white noise interspersed with the sounds of an infant crying. Brain scans showed that, in the women, patterns of brain activity abruptly switched to an attentive mode when they heard the infant cries, whereas the men’s brains remained in the resting state.
“Previous studies have shown that, on an emotional level, men and women respond differently to the sound of an infant crying,” said study co-author Marc H. Bornstein, Ph.D., head of the Child and Family Research Section of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the institute that conducted the study. “Our findings indicate that men and women show marked differences in terms of attention as well.”
The earlier studies showed that women are more likely than men to feel sympathy when they hear an infant cry, and are more likely to want to care for the infant.
Dr. Bornstein collaborated with Nicola De Pisapia, Ph.D., Paola Rigo, Simona DeFalco, Ph.D., and Paola Venuti, Ph.D., all of the Observation, Diagnosis and Education Lab at the University of Trento, Italy, and Gianluca Esposito, Ph.D., of RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan.
Previous studies have shown differences in patterns of brain activity between when an individual’s attention is focused and when the mind wanders. The pattern of unfocused activity is referred to as default mode, Dr. Bornstein explained. When individuals focus on something in particular, their brains disengage from the default mode and activate other brain networks.
For about 15 minutes, participants listened to white noise interspersed with short periods of silence and with the sounds of a hungry infant crying. The patterns of their brain activity were recorded by a technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging.
The researchers analyzed brain images from 18 adults, parents and nonparents. The researchers found that when participants listened to the typical infant cries, the brain activity of men and women differed. When hearing a hungry infant cry, women’s brains were more likely to disengage from the default mode, indicating that they focused their attention on the crying. In contrast, the men’s brains tended to remain in default mode during the infant crying sounds. The brain patterns did not vary between parents and nonparents.
Infants cry because they are distressed, hungry, or in need of physical closeness. To determine if adults respond differently to different types of cries, the researchers also played the cries of infants who were later diagnosed with autism. An earlier study of Dr. Bornstein and the same Italian group found that the cries of infants who develop ASD tend to be higher pitched than those of other infants and that the pauses between cries are shorter. In this other study, both men and women tended to interrupt their mind wandering when they heard these cries.
“Adults have many-layered responses to the things infants do,” said Dr. Bornstein. “Determining whether these responses differ between men and women, by age, and by parental status, helps us understand instincts for caring for the very young.”
In an earlier study, Dr. Bornstein and his colleagues found that patterns of brain activity in men and women also changed when they viewed an image of an infant face and that the patterns were indicative of a predisposition to relate to and care for the infant.
Such studies documenting the brain activity patterns of adults represent first stages of research in neuroscience understanding how adults relate to and care for infants, Dr. Bornstein explained. It is possible that not all adults exhibit the brain patterns seen in these studies.
About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the Institute’s website at http://www.nichd.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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Women’s, men’s brains respond differently to hungry infant’s cries
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have uncovered firm evidence for what many mothers have long suspected: women’s brains appear to be hard-wired to respond to the cries of a hungry infant.
Researchers asked men and women to let their minds wander, then played a recording of white noise interspersed with the sounds of an infant crying. Brain scans showed that, in the women, patterns of brain activity abruptly switched to an attentive mode when they heard the infant cries, whereas the men’s brains remained in the resting state.
“Previous studies have shown that, on an emotional level, men and women respond differently to the sound of an infant crying,” said study co-author Marc H. Bornstein, Ph.D., head of the Child and Family Research Section of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the institute that conducted the study. “Our findings indicate that men and women show marked differences in terms of attention as well.”
The earlier studies showed that women are more likely than men to feel sympathy when they hear an infant cry, and are more likely to want to care for the infant.
Dr. Bornstein collaborated with Nicola De Pisapia, Ph.D., Paola Rigo, Simona DeFalco, Ph.D., and Paola Venuti, Ph.D., all of the Observation, Diagnosis and Education Lab at the University of Trento, Italy, and Gianluca Esposito, Ph.D., of RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan.
Previous studies have shown differences in patterns of brain activity between when an individual’s attention is focused and when the mind wanders. The pattern of unfocused activity is referred to as default mode, Dr. Bornstein explained. When individuals focus on something in particular, their brains disengage from the default mode and activate other brain networks.
For about 15 minutes, participants listened to white noise interspersed with short periods of silence and with the sounds of a hungry infant crying. The patterns of their brain activity were recorded by a technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging.
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yes
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Neuroscience
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Are the brains of men and women wired differently?
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yes_statement
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"men" and "women" have "differently" "wired" "brains".. the "brains" of "men" and "women" are "wired" "differently".. there are "differences" in the "wiring" of the "brains" of "men" and "women".
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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/so-happy-together/201904/male-and-female-brains
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Male and Female Brains | Psychology Today
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Male and Female Brains
Are they wired differently?
In a previous article, we talked about how men and women have distinct perspectives and often approach and interpret events differently. It's not that one is better than the other; they’re just different. This is certainly no earth-shattering revelation.
Just to continue on this theme, we decided to take a look at the research as to what might be underlying these differences. There's a debate going on in the scientific community as to whether or not the unique characteristics of men and women have a physiological basis.
The male brain is about 10 percent larger on average, but size doesn't matter here. After all, elephants have brains that are three times larger and have more neurons than humans, but we don't see them doing brain surgery, and it's not just because they don't have fingers.
Some researchers argue that the brains of men and women are wired differently. The male brain is wired from front to back, with few connections across the two hemispheres. Women, on the other hand, have more wiring from left to right, so the two hemispheres are more inter-connected.
Without getting into the neurological details, researchers propose that these wiring differences result in men and women having different strengths. So, while we mentioned that one sex is not better than the other overall, each is better, on average, in certain respects. Here are some of the findings:
Men are better at performing single tasks; women are better at multi-tasking.
Women are better at fine-motor coordination and retrieving information from long-term memory
Women are more oriented toward and have better memories of faces, men of things.
Men are better at visualizing a two- or three-dimensional shape rotated in space, at correctly determining angles from the horizontal, at tracking moving objects, and at aiming projectiles.
In finding their way, men rely more on dead reckoning – that is, they determine their position from the direction and distance traveled. Women tend to rely more on landmarks.
Unfortunately, there are also gender-specific tendencies that are not so good. Women are more prone to experience depression and post-traumaticstress disorder. Men are more likely to suffer from schizophrenia, dyslexia, and autism, and to become alcoholic or drug-dependent. These are proposed to result from their distinctive wiring patterns.
We know that men and women react differently from an emotional perspective, and that, researchers argue, may also have to do with brain issues. The female brain has greater blood flow in the cingulate gyrus, the part of the brain that's involved in processing emotions, resulting in more intense emotional reactions and stronger emotional memories.
There are also some sex-specific behaviors that seem to be innate, not learned. Since behaviors are initiated by our brains, this suggests there some hard-wiring going on. Female mice, for example, have a trait not found in males of protecting their nests from invaders. In monkeys, males prefer toys with wheels while females prefer plush toys. Moving up the ladder, human toddlers show a preference for sex-specific toys, before they know they're a gender, and show some of the perceptual differences found in adults that are mentioned above.
The female brain also has more wiring in the areas that play a role in social cognition and verbal communication. That may be why they're better at empathizing with others, have a better sense of what is happening around them, and are richer in their verbal descriptions.
Because there's less connectivity in the male brain between their verbal centers, and their emotions and memories, they're not as effective as communicators, and that may be why they also tend to have less interest in conversations.
During activities, the male brain uses much more gray matter while the female brain uses more white matter. This difference is believed to account for the greater ability of males to focus on a specific task to the exclusion of what's happening around them, while women are better at switching between tasks.
This sounds pretty convincing, right? Well, not to everyone. There are researchers who argue the other side—even if the adult male and female brains are wired differently, it's a huge leap to say that these differences are programmed in at birth. There are socio-cultural factors at work.
Brain connections change as a result of experience and learning. When the same signals are processed over and over, those neural networks get stronger, just as muscles or skills develop with usage and practice. Male and female brains may start out similar but become different over time as boys and girls are treated differently, and for whom there are different expectations. How we're brought up plays a major role in how we act, think, and believe and our brains may adapt accordingly.
A reasonable conclusion is that it's both—there may be neurological differences, but there are also cultural influences. The percent of differences that are neurological vs. societal/cultural (i.e. nature vs. nurture) is anybody's guess at this point in time.
This debate is likely to continue for quite some time. At least that gives researchers something to do.
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Male and Female Brains
Are they wired differently?
In a previous article, we talked about how men and women have distinct perspectives and often approach and interpret events differently. It's not that one is better than the other; they’re just different. This is certainly no earth-shattering revelation.
Just to continue on this theme, we decided to take a look at the research as to what might be underlying these differences. There's a debate going on in the scientific community as to whether or not the unique characteristics of men and women have a physiological basis.
The male brain is about 10 percent larger on average, but size doesn't matter here. After all, elephants have brains that are three times larger and have more neurons than humans, but we don't see them doing brain surgery, and it's not just because they don't have fingers.
Some researchers argue that the brains of men and women are wired differently. The male brain is wired from front to back, with few connections across the two hemispheres. Women, on the other hand, have more wiring from left to right, so the two hemispheres are more inter-connected.
Without getting into the neurological details, researchers propose that these wiring differences result in men and women having different strengths. So, while we mentioned that one sex is not better than the other overall, each is better, on average, in certain respects. Here are some of the findings:
Men are better at performing single tasks; women are better at multi-tasking.
Women are better at fine-motor coordination and retrieving information from long-term memory
Women are more oriented toward and have better memories of faces, men of things.
Men are better at visualizing a two- or three-dimensional shape rotated in space, at correctly determining angles from the horizontal, at tracking moving objects, and at aiming projectiles.
In finding their way, men rely more on dead reckoning – that is, they determine their position from the direction and distance traveled. Women tend to rely more on landmarks.
Unfortunately, there are also gender-specific tendencies that are not so good. Women are more prone to experience depression and post-traumaticstress disorder.
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yes
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Neuroscience
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Are the brains of men and women wired differently?
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yes_statement
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"men" and "women" have "differently" "wired" "brains".. the "brains" of "men" and "women" are "wired" "differently".. there are "differences" in the "wiring" of the "brains" of "men" and "women".
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https://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-mens-and-womens-brains-wired-differently-120713
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Men's and Women's Brains Are Wired Differently, But What Does It
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Using a relatively new technique called diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) on 949 young people, the team was able to track how different regions of their brains wire up with each other, and how large each connection is.
The brain is split into two halves, called hemispheres. Verma’s study found that men have more connections within each hemisphere of the cerebrum, linking the regions for planning and decision-making with the regions for sight and speech.
Women, on the other hand, have more connections between each hemisphere, allowing the two halves of the brain to share information more easily. In the cerebellum, the brain’s physics and motion calculator, the opposite was true—men had more connections between the two hemispheres, and women had more connections within each hemisphere.
The study found minimal gender differences in children under the age of 13, but the differences were much more distinct by age 17. Many brain wiring changes occur during puberty, and men and women seem to develop differently.
Verma seems to think these differences are significant. “These maps show us a stark difference in the architecture of the human brain that helps provide a potential neural basis as to why men excel at certain tasks, and women at others,” said Verma in a press release.
According to the study, greater connectivity within hemispheres would make men better at performing single, focused tasks, while women’s connections between hemispheres would make them better at analysis, reasoning, and multitasking.
This notion is supported by a previous study performed on a group of 3500 people ages eight to 21, which included the 949 individuals used for Verma’s study. It found that women performed better at attention, word and facial memory, and social tasks.
Men, on the other hand, performed better at spatial processing and hand-eye coordination tasks. Interestingly, the differences were largest in kids ages 12 to 14, right on the cusp of puberty. By age 21, the differences were smaller.
What other differences are there between the brains of men and women? One is the ratio of gray matter to white matter. Gray matter is found along the surface of the brain’s creases and folds, forming the brain’s computing nodes. White matter is found in the interior of the brain, forming the connections between nodes. Verma’s study, using dMRI, tracked the white matter connections.
Another study from some of the same scientists on Verma’s team, led by Dr. Ruben Gur, found that compared with total brain size, women have more gray matter than men, and men have more white matter.
However, a different study, led by Dr. Richard Haier of the University of California, Irvine found that if you compare the brains of men to women, region-by-region, in areas related to IQ, the picture is much more complicated.
Although women had a higher ratio of gray matter to white matter than men, men had 6.5 times as much gray matter in intelligence-related areas, and women had nine times as much white matter.
The differences between men and women were greatest in the frontal lobe, which is responsible for long-term planning, decision-making, and self-control.
Compared to body size, men’s brains are eight to 10 percent larger than those of women. But there are no real differences in IQ between men and women.
Haier thinks the answer is developmental. In order to achieve the same IQ in a smaller space, women’s brains find different wiring solutions for the same tasks that men do.
And none of these differences are enough to explain the massive discrepancy between men and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. That problem is almost certainly social, not a matter of wiring.
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Using a relatively new technique called diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) on 949 young people, the team was able to track how different regions of their brains wire up with each other, and how large each connection is.
The brain is split into two halves, called hemispheres. Verma’s study found that men have more connections within each hemisphere of the cerebrum, linking the regions for planning and decision-making with the regions for sight and speech.
Women, on the other hand, have more connections between each hemisphere, allowing the two halves of the brain to share information more easily. In the cerebellum, the brain’s physics and motion calculator, the opposite was true—men had more connections between the two hemispheres, and women had more connections within each hemisphere.
The study found minimal gender differences in children under the age of 13, but the differences were much more distinct by age 17. Many brain wiring changes occur during puberty, and men and women seem to develop differently.
Verma seems to think these differences are significant. “These maps show us a stark difference in the architecture of the human brain that helps provide a potential neural basis as to why men excel at certain tasks, and women at others,” said Verma in a press release.
According to the study, greater connectivity within hemispheres would make men better at performing single, focused tasks, while women’s connections between hemispheres would make them better at analysis, reasoning, and multitasking.
This notion is supported by a previous study performed on a group of 3500 people ages eight to 21, which included the 949 individuals used for Verma’s study. It found that women performed better at attention, word and facial memory, and social tasks.
Men, on the other hand, performed better at spatial processing and hand-eye coordination tasks. Interestingly, the differences were largest in kids ages 12 to 14, right on the cusp of puberty. By age 21, the differences were smaller.
What other differences are there between the brains of men and women? One is the ratio of gray matter to white matter.
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yes
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Neuroscience
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Are the brains of men and women wired differently?
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yes_statement
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"men" and "women" have "differently" "wired" "brains".. the "brains" of "men" and "women" are "wired" "differently".. there are "differences" in the "wiring" of the "brains" of "men" and "women".
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https://www.voanews.com/a/mens-and-womens-brains-are-wired-differently/1802730.html
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Men's and Women's Brains are Wired Differently
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Follow Us
Men's and Women's Brains are Wired Differently
Brain networks show increased connectivity in males and females.(University of Pennsylvania)
Share
Men's and Women's Brains are Wired Differently
share
It turns out that men’s brains may literally be wired differently than those of women. Researchers say the differences could explain why the sexes seem more suited to certain types of tasks than their counterparts. For example, women seem to be hardwired for multitasking.
Using imaging techniques, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found men tended to display neural activity in one hemisphere of the brain for certain activities, while in women the activity bounces across hemispheres.
“These maps show us a stark difference - and complementarity - in the architecture of the human brain that helps provide a potential neural basis as to why men excel at certain tasks, and women at others,” said Ragini Verma, PhD, an associate professor in the department of Radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
The study shows that, on average, men are more likely better at learning and performing a single task at hand, like cycling or navigating directions, whereas women have superior memory and social cognition skills, making them more equipped for multitasking and creating solutions that work for a group.
Past studies have shown sex differences in the brain, but the neural wiring connecting regions across the whole brain that have been tied to such cognitive skills has never been fully shown in a large population, the researchers said.
The study imaged brain activity of 949 people, 521 females and 428 males, using DTI imaging. DTI is water-based imaging technique that can trace and highlight the fiber pathways connecting the different regions of the brain, laying the foundation for a structural connectome or network of the whole brain.
Researchers found that in the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain, females displayed greater connectivity between the left and right hemispheres. Males, on the other hand, displayed greater connectivity within each hemisphere.
By contrast, the opposite prevailed in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that plays a major role in motor control, where males displayed greater inter-hemispheric connectivity and females displayed greater intra-hemispheric connectivity.
These connections likely give men an efficient system for coordinated action, where the cerebellum and cortex participate in bridging between perceptual experiences in the back of the brain, and action, in the front of the brain, according to the authors. The female connections likely facilitate integration of the analytic and sequential processing modes of the left hemisphere with the spatial, intuitive information processing modes of the right side.
The findings meshed with other University of Pennsylvania studies in which females outperformed males on attention, word and face memory, and social cognition tests. Males performed better on spatial processing and sensorimotor speed. Those differences were most pronounced in the 12 to 14 age range.
“It’s quite striking how complementary the brains of women and men really are,” said Dr. Ruben Gur. “Detailed connectome maps of the brain will not only help us better understand the differences between how men and women think, but it will also give us more insight into the roots of neuropsychiatric disorders, which are often sex related.”
The study was published this month in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
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Follow Us
Men's and Women's Brains are Wired Differently
Brain networks show increased connectivity in males and females.(University of Pennsylvania)
Share
Men's and Women's Brains are Wired Differently
share
It turns out that men’s brains may literally be wired differently than those of women. Researchers say the differences could explain why the sexes seem more suited to certain types of tasks than their counterparts. For example, women seem to be hardwired for multitasking.
Using imaging techniques, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found men tended to display neural activity in one hemisphere of the brain for certain activities, while in women the activity bounces across hemispheres.
“These maps show us a stark difference - and complementarity - in the architecture of the human brain that helps provide a potential neural basis as to why men excel at certain tasks, and women at others,” said Ragini Verma, PhD, an associate professor in the department of Radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
The study shows that, on average, men are more likely better at learning and performing a single task at hand, like cycling or navigating directions, whereas women have superior memory and social cognition skills, making them more equipped for multitasking and creating solutions that work for a group.
Past studies have shown sex differences in the brain, but the neural wiring connecting regions across the whole brain that have been tied to such cognitive skills has never been fully shown in a large population, the researchers said.
The study imaged brain activity of 949 people, 521 females and 428 males, using DTI imaging. DTI is water-based imaging technique that can trace and highlight the fiber pathways connecting the different regions of the brain, laying the foundation for a structural connectome or network of the whole brain.
Researchers found that in the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain, females displayed greater connectivity between the left and right hemispheres. Males, on the other hand, displayed greater connectivity within each hemisphere.
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yes
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Bioacoustics
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Are the calls of birds unique to each individual?
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yes_statement
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the "calls" of "birds" are "unique" to each "individual".. each "individual" "bird" has "unique" "calls".
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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126081710.htm
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Hungry chicks have unique calls to their parents -- ScienceDaily
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It can be hard to get noticed when you're a little chick in a big colony, but new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology reveals that baby birds in need of a feed have individual ways of letting their parents know.
German and Swiss ornithologists studied the calls of chicks in a population of Jackson's golden-backed weaver birds on the shores of Lake Baringo in Kenya. Already knowing that parent birds can distinguish their own chicks from others by unique pattern changes in the frequency of their call, the researchers wondered how the parents could also tell if their own chick was hungry, and how hungry.
By temporarily removing chicks from their nests, the team set up cameras and microphones to record the chicks' behavior and begging calls. Lead researcher Hendrik Reers said, "Weaver bird chicks have two parts to their call; a "whistle-like" call followed by a "trill-like" call. In a non-hungry state, these parts of the call are slightly different from bird to bird,., and this allows the mother to identify their chicks. As the chicks get hungrier, as you might expect with any baby, the call gets louder and more energetic, but each bird still has a unique way of modifying their "normal" call to an "I'm hungry" call. These results imply that parents have to be familiar with their chicks' begging calls in order to estimate their hunger precisely."
The group found that the weaver bird chicks changed the length, pitch and amplitude of their begging calls, adding extra trills and shortening whistles. In fact, the hungrier a chick got, the more unique the call became. It seems that if you're a baby bird singing for your supper, the best way to make sure you get fed is to sing a different tune from everyone else!
Sep. 13, 2022 Brown-headed cowbirds are generalist brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of many other bird species and letting the host parents raise their young. A new study seeks to understand the ...
July 27, 2020 Humans have a hard time identifying individual birds just by looking at the patterns on their plumage. An international study has now shown how computers can learn to differentiate individual birds ...
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It can be hard to get noticed when you're a little chick in a big colony, but new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology reveals that baby birds in need of a feed have individual ways of letting their parents know.
German and Swiss ornithologists studied the calls of chicks in a population of Jackson's golden-backed weaver birds on the shores of Lake Baringo in Kenya. Already knowing that parent birds can distinguish their own chicks from others by unique pattern changes in the frequency of their call, the researchers wondered how the parents could also tell if their own chick was hungry, and how hungry.
By temporarily removing chicks from their nests, the team set up cameras and microphones to record the chicks' behavior and begging calls. Lead researcher Hendrik Reers said, "Weaver bird chicks have two parts to their call; a "whistle-like" call followed by a "trill-like" call. In a non-hungry state, these parts of the call are slightly different from bird to bird,., and this allows the mother to identify their chicks. As the chicks get hungrier, as you might expect with any baby, the call gets louder and more energetic, but each bird still has a unique way of modifying their "normal" call to an "I'm hungry" call. These results imply that parents have to be familiar with their chicks' begging calls in order to estimate their hunger precisely."
The group found that the weaver bird chicks changed the length, pitch and amplitude of their begging calls, adding extra trills and shortening whistles. In fact, the hungrier a chick got, the more unique the call became. It seems that if you're a baby bird singing for your supper, the best way to make sure you get fed is to sing a different tune from everyone else!
Sep. 13, 2022 Brown-headed cowbirds are generalist brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of many other bird species and letting the host parents raise their young. A new study seeks to understand the ...
July 27, 2020
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yes
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Bioacoustics
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Are the calls of birds unique to each individual?
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yes_statement
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the "calls" of "birds" are "unique" to each "individual".. each "individual" "bird" has "unique" "calls".
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_vocalization
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Bird vocalization - Wikipedia
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Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by function from calls (relatively simple vocalizations).
The distinction between songs and calls is based upon complexity, length, and context. Songs are longer and more complex and are associated with territory[1] and courtship and mating, while calls tend to serve such functions as alarms or keeping members of a flock in contact.[2] Other authorities such as Howell and Webb (1995) make the distinction based on function, so that short vocalizations, such as those of pigeons, and even non-vocal sounds, such as the drumming of woodpeckers and the "winnowing" of snipes' wings in display flight, are considered songs.[3] Still others require song to have syllabic diversity and temporal regularity akin to the repetitive and transformative patterns that define music. It is generally agreed upon in birding and ornithology which sounds are songs and which are calls, and a good field guide will differentiate between the two.
Wing feathers of a male club-winged manakin, with the modifications noted by P. L. Sclater in 1860[4] and discussed by Charles Darwin in 1871.[5] The bird produces sound with its wings.
Bird song is best developed in the orderPasseriformes. Some groups are nearly voiceless, producing only percussive and rhythmic sounds, such as the storks, which clatter their bills. In some manakins (Pipridae), the males have evolved several mechanisms for mechanical sound production, including mechanisms for stridulation not unlike those found in some insects.[6] The production of sounds by mechanical means as opposed to the use of the syrinx has been termed variously instrumental music by Charles Darwin, mechanical sounds[7] and more recently sonation.[8] The term sonate has been defined as the act of producing non-vocal sounds that are intentionally modulated communicative signals, produced using non-syringeal structures such as the bill, wings, tail, feet and body feathers.[8]
Song is usually delivered from prominent perches, although some species may sing when flying.
In extratropical Eurasia and the Americas almost all song is produced by male birds; however, in the tropics and to a greater extent the desert belts of Australia and Africa it is more typical for females to sing as much as males. These differences have been known for a long time[9][10] and are generally attributed to the much less regular and seasonal climate of Australian and African arid zones requiring that birds breed at any time when conditions are favourable, although they cannot breed in many years because food supply never increases above a minimal level.[9] With aseasonal irregular breeding, both sexes must be brought into breeding condition and vocalisation, especially duetting, serves this purpose. The high frequency of female vocalisations in the tropics, Australia and Southern Africa may also relate to very low mortality rates producing much stronger pair-bonding and territoriality.[11]
The avian vocal organ is called the syrinx;[12] it is a bony structure at the bottom of the trachea (unlike the larynx at the top of the mammalian trachea). The syrinx and sometimes a surrounding air sac resonate to sound waves that are made by membranes past which the bird forces air. The bird controls the pitch by changing the tension on the membranes and controls both pitch and volume by changing the force of exhalation. It can control the two sides of the trachea independently, which is how some species can produce two notes at once.
One of the two main functions of bird song is mate attraction.[16] Scientists hypothesize that bird song evolved through sexual selection, and experiments suggest that the quality of bird song may be a good indicator of fitness.[17][18] Experiments also suggest that parasites and diseases may directly affect song characteristics such as song rate, which thereby act as reliable indicators of health.[19][20] The song repertoire also appears to indicate fitness in some species.[21][22] The ability of male birds to hold and advertise territories using song also demonstrates their fitness. Therefore, a female bird may select males based on the quality of their songs and the size of their song repertoire.
The second principal function of bird song is territory defense.[16] Territorial birds will interact with each other using song to negotiate territory boundaries. Since song may be a reliable indicator of quality, individuals may be able to discern the quality of rivals and prevent an energetically costly fight.[17] In birds with song repertoires, individuals may share the same song type and use these song types for more complex communication.[23] Some birds will respond to a shared song type with a song-type match (i.e. with the same song type).[24] This may be an aggressive signal; however, results are mixed.[23] Birds may also interact using repertoire-matches, wherein a bird responds with a song type that is in its rival's repertoire but is not the song that it is currently singing.[25] This may be a less aggressive act than song-type matching.[25] Song complexity is also linked to male territorial defense, with more complex songs being perceived as a greater territorial threat.[26]
Birds communicate alarm through vocalizations and movements that are specific to the threat, and bird alarms can be understood by other animal species, including other birds, in order to identify and protect against the specific threat.[27]Mobbing calls are used to recruit individuals in an area where an owl or other predator may be present. These calls are characterized by wide frequency spectra, sharp onset and termination, and repetitiveness that are common across species and are believed to be helpful to other potential "mobbers" by being easy to locate. The alarm calls of most species, on the other hand, are characteristically high-pitched, making the caller difficult to locate.[28]
Communication through bird calls can be between individuals of the same species or even across species. For example, the Japanese tit will respond to the recruitment call of the willow tit as long as it follows the Japanese tit alert call in the correct alert+recruitment order.[29]
Individual birds may be sensitive enough to identify each other through their calls. Many birds that nest in colonies can locate their chicks using their calls.[30] Calls are sometimes distinctive enough for individual identification even by human researchers in ecological studies.[31]
Many birds engage in duet calls. In some cases, the duets are so perfectly timed as to appear almost as one call. This kind of calling is termed antiphonal duetting.[32] Such duetting is noted in a wide range of families including quails,[33]bushshrikes,[34]babblers such as the scimitar babblers, and some owls[35] and parrots.[36] In territorial songbirds, birds are more likely to countersing when they have been aroused by simulated intrusion into their territory.[37] This implies a role in intraspecies aggressive competition.
Sometimes, songs vocalized in the post-breeding season act as a cue to conspecific eavesdroppers.[38] In black-throated blue warblers, males that have bred and reproduced successfully sing to their offspring to influence their vocal development, while males that have failed to reproduce usually abandon the nests and stay silent. The post-breeding song therefore inadvertently informs the unsuccessful males of particular habitats that have a higher likelihood of reproductive success. The social communication by vocalization provides a shortcut to locating high quality habitats and saves the trouble of directly assessing various vegetation structures.
A mated pair of white-naped cranes (Antigone vipio) performing a "unison call", which strengthens the pair bond and provides a territorial warning to other cranes
Some birds are excellent vocal mimics. In some tropical species, mimics such as the drongos may have a role in the formation of mixed-species foraging flocks.[39] Vocal mimicry can include conspecifics, other species or even man-made sounds. Many hypotheses have been made on the functions of vocal mimicry including suggestions that they may be involved in sexual selection by acting as an indicator of fitness, help brood parasites, or protect against predation, but strong support is lacking for any function.[40] Many birds, especially those that nest in cavities, are known to produce a snakelike hissing sound that may help deter predators at close range.[41]
The hearing range of birds is from below 50 Hz (infrasound) to around 12 kHz, with maximum sensitivity between 1 and 5 kHz.[22][46] The black jacobin is exceptional in producing sounds at about 11.8 kHz. It is not known if they can hear these sounds.[47]
The range of frequencies at which birds call in an environment varies with the quality of habitat and the ambient sounds. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis predicts that narrow bandwidths, low frequencies, and long elements and inter-element intervals should be found in habitats with complex vegetation structures (which would absorb and muffle sounds), while high frequencies, broad bandwidth, high-frequency modulations (trills), and short elements and inter-elements may be expected in open habitats, without obstructive vegetation.[48][49][50]
Low frequency songs are optimal for obstructed, densely vegetated habitats because low frequency, slowly modulated song elements are less susceptible to signal degradation by means of reverberations off of sound-reflecting vegetation. High frequency calls with rapid modulations are optimal for open habitats because they degrade less across open space.[51][52] The acoustic adaptation hypothesis also states that song characteristics may take advantage of beneficial acoustic properties of the environment. Narrow-frequency bandwidth notes are increased in volume and length by reverberations in densely vegetated habitats.[53]
It has been hypothesized that the available frequency range is partitioned, and birds call so that overlap between different species in frequency and time is reduced. This idea has been termed the "acoustic niche".[54] Birds sing louder and at a higher pitch in urban areas, where there is ambient low-frequency noise.[55][56] Traffic noise was found to decrease reproductive success in the great tit (Parus major) due to the overlap in acoustic frequency.[57] During the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced traffic noise led to birds in San Francisco singing 30% more softly.[58] An increase in song volume restored fitness to birds in urban areas, as did higher frequency songs.[59]
It has been proposed that birds show latitudinal variation in song complexity; however, there is no strong evidence that song complexity increases with latitude or migratory behaviour.[60]
The acquisition and learning of bird song involves a group of distinct brain areas that are aligned in two connecting pathways:[64]
Anterior forebrain pathway (vocal learning): composed of Area X, which is a homologue to mammalian basal ganglia; the lateral part of the magnocellular nucleus of anterior nidopallium (LMAN), also considered a part of the avian basal ganglia; and the dorso-lateral division of the medial thalamus (DLM).
Posterior descending pathway (vocal production): composed of HVC (proper name, although sometimes referred to as the high vocal center); the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA); and the tracheosyringeal part of the hypoglossal nucleus (nXIIts).[65][66]
The posterior descending pathway (PDP) is required throughout a bird's life for normal song production, while the anterior forebrain pathway (AFP) is necessary for song learning, plasticity, and maintenance, but not for adult song production.[67]
Both neural pathways in the song system begin at the level of HVC, which projects information both to the RA (premotor nucleus) and to Area X of the anterior forebrain. Information in the posterior descending pathway (also referred to as the vocal production or motor pathway) descends from HVC to RA, and then from RA to the tracheosyringeal part of the hypoglossal nerve (nXIIts), which then controls muscular contractions of the syrinx.[64][68]
Information in the anterior forebrain pathway is projected from HVC to Area X (basal ganglia), then from Area X to the DLM (thalamus), and from DLM to LMAN, which then links the vocal learning and vocal production pathways through connections back to the RA. Some investigators have posited a model in which the connection between LMAN and RA carries an instructive signal based on evaluation of auditory feedback (comparing the bird's own song to the memorized song template), which adaptively alters the motor program for song output.[67][69] The generation of this instructive signal could be facilitated by auditory neurons in Area X and LMAN that show selectivity for the temporal qualities of the bird's own song (BOS) and its tutor song, providing a platform for comparing the BOS and the memorized tutor song.[69][70]
Models regarding the real-time error-correction interactions between the AFP and PDP will be considered in the future. Other current research has begun to explore the cellular mechanisms underlying HVC control of temporal patterns of song structure and RA control of syllable production.[71]
Brain structures involved in both pathways show sexual dimorphism in many bird species, usually causing males and females to sing differently. Some of the known types of dimorphisms in the brain include the size of nuclei, the number of neurons present, and the number of neurons connecting one nucleus to another.[72]
In the extremely dimorphic zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), a species in which only males typically sing, the size of the HVC and RA are approximately three to six times larger in males than in females, and Area X does not appear to be recognizable in females.[73] Research suggests that exposure to sex steroids during early development is partially responsible for these differences in the brain. Female zebra finches treated with estradiol after hatching followed by testosterone or dihydrotestosterone (DHT) treatment in adulthood will develop an RA and HVC similar in size to males and will also display male-like singing behavior.[74]
Hormone treatment alone does not seem to produce female finches with brain structures or behavior exactly like males. Furthermore, other research has shown results that contradict what would be expected based on our current knowledge of mammalian sexual differentiation. For example, male zebra finches castrated or given sex steroid inhibitors as hatchlings still develop normal masculine singing behavior.[72] This suggests that other factors, such as the activation of genes on the z chromosome, might also play a role in normal male song development.[75]
Hormones also have activational effects on singing and the song nuclei in adult birds. In canaries (Serinus canaria), females normally sing less often and with less complexity than males. However, when adult females are given androgen injections, their singing will increase to an almost male-like frequency.[76] Furthermore, adult females injected with androgens also show an increased size in the HVC and RA regions.[77]Melatonin is another hormone that is also believed to influence song behavior in adults, as many songbirds show melatonin receptors in neurons of the song nuclei.[78]
Both the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and house sparrow (Passer domesticus) have demonstrated changes in song nuclei correlated with differing exposures to darkness and secretions of melatonin.[79][80] This suggests that melatonin might play a role in the seasonal changes of singing behavior in songbirds that live in areas where the amount of daylight varies significantly throughout the year. Several other studies have looked at seasonal changes in the morphology of brain structures within the song system and have found that these changes (adult neurogenesis, gene expression) are dictated by photoperiod, hormonal changes and behavior.[81][82]
The gene FOXP2, defects of which affect both speech production and comprehension of language in humans, becomes highly expressed in Area X during periods of vocal plasticity in both juvenile zebra finches and adult canaries.[83]
A timeline for song learning in different species. Diagram adapted from Brainard & Doupe, 2002.[84]Superb lyrebird mimicking several different native Australian bird callsSample of the rich repertoire of the brown thrasher
The songs of different species of birds vary and are generally typical of the species. Species vary greatly in the complexity of their songs and in the number of distinct kinds of song they sing (up to 3000 in the brown thrasher); individuals within some species vary in the same way. In a few species, such as lyrebirds and mockingbirds, songs imbed arbitrary elements learned in the individual's lifetime, a form of mimicry (though maybe better called "appropriation" (Ehrlich et al.), as the bird does not pass for another species). As early as 1773, it was established that birds learned calls, and cross-fostering experiments succeeded in making linnet Acanthis cannabina learn the song of a skylark, Alauda arvensis.[85] In many species, it appears that although the basic song is the same for all members of the species, young birds learn some details of their songs from their fathers, and these variations build up over generations to form dialects.[86]
Song learning in juvenile birds occurs in two stages: sensory learning, which involves the juvenile listening to the father or other conspecific bird and memorizing the spectral and temporal qualities of the song (song template), and sensorimotor learning, which involves the juvenile bird producing its own vocalizations and practicing its song until it accurately matches the memorized song template.[87]
During the sensorimotor learning phase, song production begins with highly variable sub-vocalizations called "sub-song", which is akin to babbling in human infants. Soon after, the juvenile song shows certain recognizable characteristics of the imitated adult song, but still lacks the stereotypy of the crystallized song – this is called "plastic song".[64]
After two or three months of song learning and rehearsal (depending on species), the juvenile produces a crystallized song, characterized by spectral and temporal stereotypy (very low variability in syllable production and syllable order).[88] Some birds, such as zebra finches, which are the most popular species for birdsong research, have overlapping sensory and sensorimotor learning stages.[84]
Research has indicated that birds' acquisition of song is a form of motor learning that involves regions of the basal ganglia. Further, the PDP (see Neuroanatomy below) has been considered homologous to a mammalian motor pathway originating in the cerebral cortex and descending through the brain stem, while the AFP has been considered homologous to the mammalian cortical pathway through the basal ganglia and thalamus.[64] Models of bird-song motor learning can be useful in developing models for how humans learn speech.[89]
In some species such as zebra finches, learning of song is limited to the first year; they are termed "age-limited" or "close-ended" learners. Other species such as the canaries can develop new songs even as sexually mature adults; these are termed "open-ended" learners.[90][91]
Researchers have hypothesized that learned songs allow the development of more complex songs through cultural interaction, thus allowing intraspecies dialects that help birds to identify kin and to adapt their songs to different acoustic environments.[92]
Early experiments by Thorpe in 1954 showed the importance of a bird being able to hear a tutor's song. When birds are raised in isolation, away from the influence of conspecific males, they still sing. While the song they produce, called "isolate song", resembles the song of a wild bird, it shows distinctly different characteristics from the wild song and lacks its complexity.[93][94] The importance of the bird being able to hear itself sing in the sensorimotor period was later discovered by Konishi. Birds deafened before the song-crystallization period went on to produce songs that were distinctly different from the wild type and isolate song.[95][96] Since the emergence of these findings, investigators have been searching for the neural pathways that facilitate sensory/sensorimotor learning and mediating the matching of the bird's own song with the memorized song template.
Several studies in the 1990s have looked at the neural mechanisms underlying birdsong learning by performing lesions to relevant brain structures involved in the production or maintenance of song or by deafening birds before and/or after song crystallization. Another experimental approach was recording the bird's song and then playing it back while the bird is singing, causing perturbed auditory feedback (the bird hears the superposition of its own song and a fragmented portion of a previous song syllable).[88] After Nordeen & Nordeen[97] made a landmark discovery as they demonstrated that auditory feedback was necessary for the maintenance of song in adult birds with crystallized song, Leonardo & Konishi (1999) designed an auditory feedback perturbation protocol in order to explore the role of auditory feedback in adult song maintenance further, to investigate how adult songs deteriorate after extended exposure to perturbed auditory feedback, and to examine the degree to which adult birds could recover crystallized song over time after being removed from perturbed feedback exposure. This study offered further support for role of auditory feedback in maintaining adult song stability and demonstrated how adult maintenance of crystallized birdsong is dynamic rather than static.
Brainard & Doupe (2000) posit a model in which LMAN (of the anterior forebrain) plays a primary role in error correction, as it detects differences between the song produced by the bird and its memorized song template and then sends an instructive error signal to structures in the vocal production pathway in order to correct or modify the motor program for song production. In their study, Brainard & Doupe (2000) showed that while deafening adult birds led to the loss of song stereotypy due to altered auditory feedback and non-adaptive modification of the motor program, lesioning LMAN in the anterior forebrain pathway of adult birds that had been deafened led to the stabilization of song (LMAN lesions in deafened birds prevented any further deterioration in syllable production and song structure).
Currently[when?], there are two competing models that elucidate the role of LMAN in generating an instructive error signal and projecting it to the motor production pathway:
Bird's own song (BOS)-tuned error correction model
During singing, the activation of LMAN neurons will depend on the match between auditory feedback from the song produced by the bird and the stored song template. If this is true, then the firing rates of LMAN neurons will be sensitive to changes in auditory feedback.
Efference copy model of error correction
An efference copy of the motor command for song production is the basis of the real-time error-correction signal. During singing, activation of LMAN neurons will depend on the motor signal used to generate the song, and the learned prediction of expected auditory feedback based on that motor command. Error correction would occur more rapidly in this model.
Leonardo[98] tested these models directly by recording spike rates in single LMAN neurons of adult zebra finches during singing in conditions with normal and perturbed auditory feedback. His results did not support the BOS-tuned error correction model, as the firing rates of LMAN neurons were unaffected by changes in auditory feedback and therefore, the error signal generated by LMAN appeared unrelated to auditory feedback. Moreover, the results from this study supported the predictions of the efference copy model, in which LMAN neurons are activated during singing by the efference copy of the motor signal (and its predictions of expected auditory feedback), allowing the neurons to be more precisely time-locked to changes in auditory feedback.
A mirror neuron is a neuron that discharges both when an individual performs an action and when he/she perceives that same action being performed by another.[99] These neurons were first discovered in macaque monkeys, but recent research suggests that mirror neuron systems may be present in other animals including humans.[100]
Song selectivity in HVCx neurons: neuron activity in response to calls heard (green) and calls produced (red). a. Neurons fire when the primary song type is either heard or sung. b, c. Neurons do not fire in response to the other song type, regardless of whether it is heard or sung.[101]
They are action-specific – mirror neurons are only active when an individual is performing or observing a certain type of action (e.g., grasping an object).
Because mirror neurons exhibit both sensory and motor activity, some researchers have suggested that mirror neurons may serve to map sensory experience onto motor structures.[102] This has implications for birdsong learning– many birds rely on auditory feedback to acquire and maintain their songs. Mirror neurons may be mediating this comparison of what the bird hears, how it compares to a memorized song template, and what he produces.
In search of these auditory-motor neurons, Jonathan Prather and other researchers at Duke University recorded the activity of single neurons in the HVCs of swamp sparrows.[101] They discovered that the neurons that project from the HVC to Area X (HVCX neurons) are highly responsive when the bird is hearing a playback of his own song. These neurons also fire in similar patterns when the bird is singing that same song. Swamp sparrows employ 3–5 different song types, and the neural activity differs depending on which song is heard or sung. The HVCX neurons only fire in response to the presentation (or singing) of one of the songs, the primary song type. They are also temporally selective, firing at a precise phase in the song syllable.
Prather, et al. found that during the short period of time before and after the bird sings, his HVCX neurons become insensitive to auditory input. In other words, the bird becomes "deaf" to his own song. This suggests that these neurons are producing a corollary discharge, which would allow for direct comparison of motor output and auditory input.[103] This may be the mechanism underlying learning via auditory feedback. These findings are also in line with Leonardo's (2004) efference copy model of error correction in birdsong learning and production.
Overall, the HVCX auditory motor neurons in swamp sparrows are very similar to the visual motor mirror neurons discovered in primates. Like mirror neurons, the HVCX neurons:
Are action-specific – a response is only triggered by the "primary song type"
The function of the mirror neuron system is still unclear. Some scientists speculate that mirror neurons may play a role in understanding the actions of others, imitation, theory of mind and language acquisition, though there is currently insufficient neurophysiological evidence in support of these theories.[102] Specifically regarding birds, it is possible that the mirror neuron system serves as a general mechanism underlying vocal learning, but further research is needed. In addition to the implications for song learning, the mirror neuron system could also play a role in territorial behaviors such as song-type matching and countersinging.[104][105]
Culture in animals is usually defined to consist of socially transmitted behavior patterns ("traditions") that are characteristic of certain populations.[106] The learned nature of bird song as well as evidence of "dialect"-like local variations have support theories about the existence of avian culture.[107][29]
As mentioned above, bird song's dependence on learning was studied by Thorpe, who found that chaffinches raised in isolation from their first week of life produce highly abnormal and less complex songs compared to other chaffinches.[108] This suggested that many aspects of song development in songbirds depends on tutoring by older members of the same species. Later studies observed canary-like elements in the song of a chaffinch raised by canaries,[109] evidencing the strong role of tutors in the learning of song by juvenile birds.
Similar chaffinch song types (categorized based on their distinct elements and their order) were observed to cluster in similar geographic areas,[110] and this discovery led to hypotheses about "dialects" in birdsong. It has since been postulated that these song type variations are not dialects like those we found in human language. This is because not all members of a given geographic area will conform to the same song type, and also because there is no singular characteristic of a song type that differentiates it from all other types (unlike human dialects where certain words are unique to certain dialects).[106]
Based on this evidence of learning and localized song types, researchers began to investigate the social learning of birdsong as a form of cultural transmission.[29][107] The behavior patterns constituting this culture are the songs themselves, and the song types can be considered as traditions.
A recent study has shown that a dopamine circuit in zebra finches may promote social learning of bird song from tutors.[111] Their data shows that certain brain areas in juvenile zebra finches are excited by the singing of conspecific (i.e. same-species) tutors and not by loudspeakers playing zebra finch song. Additionally, they show that dopamine released into the HVC aids in the encoding of song.
Although a significant amount of research was done on bird song during the 20th century, none was able to elucidate the evolutionary "use" behind birdsong, especially with regards to large vocal repertoires. In response, Lachlan and Slater proposed a "cultural trap" model to explain persistence of wide varieties of song.[112] This model is based on a concept of "filters", in which:
a male songbird's (i.e. singer's) filter contains the range of songs that it can develop
a female songbird's (i.e. receiver's) filter contains the range of songs that it finds acceptable for mate choice
In one possible situation, the population consists mainly of birds with wide filters. In this population, a male songbird with a wide filter will rarely be chosen by the few females with narrow filters (as the male's song is unlikely to fall within a narrower filter). Such females will have a relatively small choice of males to mate with, so the genetic basis of the females' narrow filter does not persist. Another possible situation deals with a population with mostly narrow filters. In the latter population, wide-filter males can feasibly avoid mate choice rejection by learning from older, narrow-filter males. Therefore, the average reproductive success of wide-filter birds is enhanced by the possibility of learning, and vocal learning and large song repertoires (i.e. wide filters) go hand-in-hand.[112][106]
The cultural trap hypothesis is one example of gene-culture coevolution, in which selective pressures emerge from the interaction between genotypes and their cultural consequences.[112]
Various studies have shown that adult birds that underwent stress during critical developmental periods produce less complex songs and have smaller HVC brain regions.[113][114] This has led some researchers to hypothesize that sexual selection for more complex songs indirectly selects for stronger cognitive ability in males.[115] Further investigation showed that male song sparrows with larger vocal repertoires required less time to solve detour-reaching cognitive tasks.[116] Some have proposed that bird song (among other sexually selected traits such as flashy coloring, body symmetry, and elaborate courtship) allow female songbirds to quickly assess the cognitive skills and development of multiple males.
The specificity of bird calls has been used extensively for species identification. The calls of birds have been described using words or nonsense syllables or line diagrams.[117] Common terms in English include words such as quack, chirp and chirrup. These are subject to imagination and vary greatly; a well-known example is the white-throated sparrow's song, given in Canada as O sweet Canada Canada Canada and in New England as Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody (also Where are you Frederick Frederick Frederick?). In addition to nonsense words, grammatically correct phrases have been constructed as likenesses of the vocalizations of birds. For example, the barred owl produces a motif which some bird guides describe as Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? with the emphasis placed on you.[118] The term "warblish" has been coined to explain this approach to bird call description.[119] Musical notation to depict bird sound began with Athanasius Kircher in his Musurgia universalis (1650) but more careful use was attempted with enhancements in the twentieth century by the Germans Alwin Voigt, Cornel Schmitt, and Hans Stadler.[120][121][122]
Kay Electric Company, started by former Bell Labs engineers Harry Foster and Elmo Crump, made a device that was marketed as the "Sona-Graph" in 1948. This was adopted by early researchers[123] including C.E.G. Bailey who demonstrated its use for studying bird song in 1950.[124] The use of spectrograms to visualize bird song was then adopted by Donald J. Borror[125] and developed further by others including W. H. Thorpe.[126][127] These visual representations are also called sonograms or sonagrams. Beginning in 1983, some field guides for birds use sonograms to document the calls and songs of birds.[128] The sonogram is objective, unlike descriptive phrases, but proper interpretation requires experience. Sonograms can also be roughly converted back into sound.[129][130]
Bird song is an integral part of bird courtship and is a pre-zygotic isolation mechanism involved in the process of speciation. Many allopatric subspecies show differences in calls. These differences are sometimes minute, often detectable only in the sonograms. Song differences in addition to other taxonomic attributes have been used in the identification of new species.[131] The use of calls has led to proposals for splitting of species complexes such as those of the Mirafra bushlarks.[132]
Smartphone apps can identify birds using sounds.[133] These apps work by comparing against spectrographic databases for matches.
The language of the birds has long been a topic for anecdote and speculation. That calls have meanings that are interpreted by their listeners has been well demonstrated. Domestic chickens have distinctive alarm calls for aerial and ground predators, and they respond to these alarm calls appropriately.[134][135]
However, a language has, in addition to words, grammar (that is, structures and rules). Studies to demonstrate the existence of language have been difficult because of the range of possible interpretations. For instance, some have argued that in order for a communication system to count as a language it must be "combinatorial",[136] having an open-ended set of grammar-compliant sentences made from a finite vocabulary.
Research on parrots by Irene Pepperberg is claimed to demonstrate the innate ability for grammatical structures, including the existence of concepts such as nouns, adjectives and verbs.[137] In the wild, the innate vocalizations of black-capped chickadees have been rigorously shown[136] to exhibit combinatorial language. Studies on starling vocalizations have also suggested that they may have recursive structures.[138]
The term bird language may also more informally refer to patterns in bird vocalizations that communicate information to other birds or other animals in general.[139]
Some birds have two distinct "languages" — one for internal communications and one for use in flocks. All birds have a separate type of communication for "songs" vs. communicating danger and other information. Konrad Lorenz demonstrated that jackdaws have "names" identifying each individual in the flock and when beginning flight preparations each of them says one other bird's name creating a "chain". In his book King Solomon's Ring, Lorenz describes the name he was given by the birds and how he was recognized several years later in a far away location following WWII.[citation needed]
Studies in parakeets have shown a striking similarity between a talking bird's verbal areas in the brain and the equivalent human brain areas, suggesting that mimicry has much to do with the construction of language and its structures and order.[140] Research in 2016 showed that birds construct sentence-like communications with a syntax and grammar.[141][142]
Among birds which habitually borrow phrases or sounds from other species, the way they use variations of rhythm, relationships of musical pitch, and combinations of notes can resemble music.[153] Hollis Taylor's in-depth analysis of pied butcherbird vocalizations provides a detailed rebuttal to objections of birdsong being judged as music.[154] The similar motor constraints on human and avian song may have driven these to have similar song structures, including "arch-shaped and descending melodic contours in musical phrases", long notes at the ends of phrases, and typically small differences in pitch between adjacent notes, at least in birds with a strong song structure like the Eurasian treecreeper Certhia familiaris.[155]
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These calls are characterized by wide frequency spectra, sharp onset and termination, and repetitiveness that are common across species and are believed to be helpful to other potential "mobbers" by being easy to locate. The alarm calls of most species, on the other hand, are characteristically high-pitched, making the caller difficult to locate.[28]
Communication through bird calls can be between individuals of the same species or even across species. For example, the Japanese tit will respond to the recruitment call of the willow tit as long as it follows the Japanese tit alert call in the correct alert+recruitment order.[29]
Individual birds may be sensitive enough to identify each other through their calls. Many birds that nest in colonies can locate their chicks using their calls.[30] Calls are sometimes distinctive enough for individual identification even by human researchers in ecological studies.[31]
Many birds engage in duet calls. In some cases, the duets are so perfectly timed as to appear almost as one call. This kind of calling is termed antiphonal duetting.[32] Such duetting is noted in a wide range of families including quails,[33]bushshrikes,[34]babblers such as the scimitar babblers, and some owls[35] and parrots.[36] In territorial songbirds, birds are more likely to countersing when they have been aroused by simulated intrusion into their territory.[37] This implies a role in intraspecies aggressive competition.
Sometimes, songs vocalized in the post-breeding season act as a cue to conspecific eavesdroppers.[38] In black-throated blue warblers, males that have bred and reproduced successfully sing to their offspring to influence their vocal development, while males that have failed to reproduce usually abandon the nests and stay silent.
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yes
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Bioacoustics
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Are the calls of birds unique to each individual?
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yes_statement
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the "calls" of "birds" are "unique" to each "individual".. each "individual" "bird" has "unique" "calls".
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https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1034-1
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Individual Recognition | SpringerLink
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Definition
Animal social behavior depends on recognition. There are many types of recognition, including self, kin, mate, gender, friend, offspring, predator, and prey. All recognition involves (i) cue production by the signaler, (ii) cue perception and template matching by the receiver, and (iii) a behavioral response by the receiver (Sherman et al. 1997).
Multiple definitions of individual recognition have been proposed that differ slightly in their specificity and complexity. The most common definition of individual recognition proposes that receivers discriminate a signaler from others based on the signaler’s unique characteristics and associate the unique characteristics with individual-specific information about the signaler (Tibbetts and Dale 2007) (Fig. 1). For example, king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) exhibit individual recognition because each chick has individual-specific calls (signaler’s cue). Parents learn their chick’s unique calls and respond in a unique way; they treat their own chick differently than other chicks (Aubin and Jouventin 1998).
Fig. 1
The criteria for individual recognition. Signalers have unique cues and receivers behave in a unique way toward the signaler
Steiger and Müller (2008) proposed a less restrictive definition of individual recognition: receivers need only discriminate a signaler from others based on the signaler’s unique characteristics. As long as receivers have a unique phenotype, the behavior is considered individual recognition, even if receivers associate the unique characteristics with class-specific information about the signaler. For example, if a bird has multiple chicks and learns to discriminate their own chicks from among unrelated chicks using the chicks’ unique calls, this behavior would be termed individual recognition. Others would consider this offspring recognition, a type of class-level recognition, rather than individual recognition because the parents treat all their chicks similarly.
A challenge associated with Steiger and Müller’s definition is that it can be difficult to assess whether or not receivers perceive cues as unique if receivers don’t have unique behavioral responses. Cues that appear unique to researchers might not be perceived as unique by the receiver’s sensory system. For example, computer-based acoustic analysis suggests that the alarm calls of meerkats are individually distinctive yet receivers do not respond differently to alarm calls based on the identity of callers (Schibler and Manser 2007). How can we test if meerkats perceive the alarm calls from different individuals as unique without a unique behavioral response?
Others argue for a more restrictive definition of individual recognition that requires receivers to learn and recall multiple, unique individuals (e.g., Thom and Hurst 2004). Under this restrictive definition, king penguins would not have individual recognition because parents only learn and identify one chick at a time.
Introduction
Individual recognition is interesting from a cognitive perspective because it is considered a relatively specific and complex form of recognition. During individual recognition, receivers must learn the unique features of conspecifics, associate the features with individual-specific information, and recall the feature/information link during subsequent interactions. Individual recognition is also interesting from a cognitive perspective because it allows the formation of individually differentiated social relationships. The potential for individually differentiated social relationships influences the type and sophistication of social interactions possible within a society (Platt et al. 2016).
In this entry, individual recognition will be addressed from both the receiver and signaler perspectives. Receivers assess, perceive, and respond to signals. In some cases, receivers have perceptual and cognitive adaptations to facilitate accurate individual recognition. On the other side, signalers have unique phenotypes that are used for recognition. This entry will discuss the contexts in which individual recognition is used, how individual recognition varies across contexts, receiver cognitive and sensory adaptations for individual recognition, and how selection acts on the signaler to facilitate individual recognition.
Social Contexts in which Individual Recognition is Used
Interspecific Variation in Individual Recognition across Contexts
Individual recognition is common in social contexts when there are repeated interactions between the same target individuals and also nontarget individuals. Such situations include territoriality, dominance interactions, cooperation, providing parental care, and pair bonding (Tibbetts and Dale 2007).
Much of the earliest research on individual recognition examined recognition of territorial neighbors (originally termed “dear enemy” recognition). For example, many birds use song to identify the identity and position of their neighbors. Birds largely ignore playbacks of neighbor songs positioned on the correct territorial boundary but responded aggressively to playbacks of neighbor songs positioned on the incorrect territorial boundary and to playbacks of stranger songs (Stoddard 1996). Individual recognition is thought to reduce the energetic costs of territorial defense by enabling territory holders to focus their aggressive efforts on non-territorial floaters instead of their less threatening neighbors (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2
The dear enemy approach to testing individual recognition. White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is less aggressive to neighbor songs on the correct territorial boundary than neighbor songs on the incorrect territorial boundary, indicating that white-throated sparrow recalls the individual identity and position of neighbors. Speakers played back neighbor and stranger songs from the boundary shared with the neighbor (regular), the center of the territory (center), and the boundary shared with a different neighbor (opposite). The behavioral data are normalized composite scores for the number of flights and the closest approach to the playback speaker (Taken from Stoddard 1996)
Individual recognition is also important during aggressive competition because it can reduce the costs associated with competition and stabilize dominance hierarchies (Barnard and Burk 1979). Individual recognition is likely to be beneficial when there are repeated aggressive interactions between small numbers of individuals. In this situation, learning the individual identity and competitive ability of conspecifics will provide a precise way to assess rivals without multiple fights. For example, some species of fish, including brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), individually identify rivals via scent. Trout assess relative dominance ranks based on the outcome of their own aggressive interactions as well as observations of others via transitive inference. If a fish beats rival A in a fight and then observes A win in a contest with B, the fish will correctly infer that it is more dominant than individual B (White and Gowan 2013). Transitive inference was once thought to be a cognitively complex task restricted to few taxa but has now been found in many vertebrate species with individual recognition that form dominance hierarchies (Paz-y-Miño et al. 2004). Individual recognition associated with aggressive competition is widespread in nature, as many species use individual recognition to minimize the costs of conflict (Barnard and Burk 1979).
Although cooperation can occur without individual recognition, there is much evidence that cooperative behaviors such as reciprocity, alliances, social prestige, punishment of non-cooperators, and image scoring are facilitated by individual recognition. As a result, many taxa with complex social interactions rely on individual recognition. Individual recognition of group members is ubiquitous in primates and also occurs in many species that live in cooperative groups, including mammals, fish, and birds (Sharpe et al. 2013). Although social insects have complex social behavior, individual recognition is relatively rare in social insects. Instead, most social insect societies rely on class-level recognition and self-organization to produce apparently complex behavior with little individual cognitive investment.
Individual recognition is involved in multiple aspects of reproduction, including parent-offspring interactions and monogamous pair bonding. Individual recognition during parental care is particularly likely to occur when there is potential for confusion among offspring, such as among organisms that breed in high-density groups with synchronous reproduction and reduced recognition potential based on positional information. For example, the Australian sea lion Neophoca cinerea reproduces in large colonies. Both mothers and pups use individual-specific calls to find each other after the mother’s foraging trips (Charrier et al. 2009). Monogamous species with biparental care use individual recognition to maintain pair bonds and mate guard and defend territories. For example, Chaetodon multicinctus butterfly fish uses visual and olfactory cues to discriminate their mate from non-mates (Boyle and Tricas 2014).
Individual recognition during monogamous pairing and parent-offspring recognition is sometimes considered simple forms of individual recognition because receivers need only learn and recall one individual. Some argue “true” individual recognition requires receivers who can individually discriminate many individuals (Thom and Hurst 2004). As a result, future work that tests whether multiple mates, parents, or offspring can be individually identified will be useful. For example, in taxa with multiple offspring, do parents treat different offspring uniquely? For instance, there is evidence that parents of the songbird black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) respond more to the calls of the fledglings that they preferentially fed, suggesting that parents can discriminate between offspring (Draganoiu et al. 2006).
While most examples of individual recognition occur within species, individual recognition is not restricted to conspecifics. Some animals recognize individuals of other species. For example, mockingbirds learn to assess the level of threat posed by different humans. When the same human approaches a mockingbird’s nest for 4 successive days, mockingbirds begin flushing from the nest when the human is a great distance from the nest and also increase alarm calling and attack flights. Mockingbird response to humans who have not threatened the nest does not change (Levey et al. 2009).
Intraspecific Variation in Individual Recognition across Contexts
A large body of research has examined the types of social behavior associated with interspecific variation in individual recognition, but less is known about intraspecific variation in individual recognition. Examining intraspecific variation is important because responses to individual identity signals may vary across the biotic and abiotic environment. For example, a species may use individual recognition during aggressive encounters in certain social or environmental circumstances, but not in other circumstances.
Previous work has shown that there is some intraspecific variation in receiver responses to signals. For example, receiver responses to quality signals often vary with traits like sex, maturity, season, habitat, and social context. Many studies have shown that the biotic and abiotic environment influences whether females choose male partners based on sexual signals or ignore sexual signals during partner choice (Searcy and Nowicki 2005). Such variation occurs because assessing and responding to signals can be costly, so receivers will only pay attention to signals when signal response is sufficiently beneficial. Therefore, intraspecific variation in recognition may occur whenever the benefits of recognition differ across contexts.
A few studies have found intraspecific variation in individual recognition. Notably, pair-bonded male prairie voles learn to recognize individual females, while single males do not learn to recognize females. The authors found no difference in male motivation to contact females across paired and unpaired males, so they speculate that recognition differs because the social relevance of information about females varies across contexts (Blocker and Ophir 2015).
In the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus, the social benefits of individual recognition and receiver capacity for individual recognition vary across castes. Specifically, workers are less able to learn and remember individual conspecifics than foundresses (Tibbetts et al. in press). During social interactions, workers are unable to remember unique individuals following a 6-day separation, though foundresses remember other foundresses for 6 days. The differences in individual recognition across castes are initially surprising because Polistes lack discrete queen/worker castes. Workers and queens are morphologically similar, and workers can take over nests as queens. Differences in recognition may occur because the social benefits of individual recognition differ across foundresses and workers. Workers do not benefit by being individually recognizable on stable queenright nests because worker-worker aggression on queenright nests is low and workers do not reproduce or have unique roles in the colony. In contrast, foundresses benefit by being individually recognizable, as it reduces aggression and stabilizes social interactions among cooperating foundresses (Fig. 3). Individual recognition also allows foundresses to keep track of individual social relationships, including division of aggression, food, and work (Sheehan and Tibbetts 2009).
Fig. 3
Being individually distinctive is beneficial. Faces of Polistes fuscatus foundresses were manipulated so three wasps had a common, indistinguishable appearance while one wasp had a unique appearance (a, lower-right image). Distinctive wasps received the least aggression (1, most; 4, least) in a disproportionate number of trials, indicating that a unique appearance that allows individual recognition is beneficial. Dotted line represents the expected aggression received by chance (b) (Taken from Sheehan and Tibbetts 2009)
Complexity of Individual Recognition
There is enormous variation in the cognitive demands of individual recognition. Learning and remembering a few individuals for a short time may be relatively simple compared with learning many individuals, maintaining memories for long periods, or associating multiple types of information with individual identity. In this section, cognitively challenging aspects of individual recognition are described.
Most early individual recognition research examined how animals recognize others using a single cue in a single sensory modality. However, more recent work has shown that many animals integrate multiple cues from the same or different sensory modalities during individual recognition. For example, golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) have multiple odor glands, and hamsters generalize between different scents from the same individual. The authors suggest that males form integrated representations of conspecifics that incorporate multiple odors (Johnston and Bullock 2001). Other species form cross-modal representations of known individuals by combining unique auditory and visual cues. For example, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) can produce multisensory representations by matching olfactory and visual signals to individually recognize conspecifics, though the specific proximate mechanisms that are used for sensory integration are not yet clear (Kulahci et al. 2014).
Many animals can remember individual conspecifics after a lengthy separation. For example, fur seal pups (Callorhinus ursinus) remember their mother’s unique calls for at least 4 years (Insley 2000). Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) may be able to remember unique conspecifics for decades (Bruck 2013). Male hooded warbler birds (Wilsonia citrina) use song to recognize their neighbors individually and are able to retain the memory after being separated for 8 months. During the separation, birds do not sing and migrate to Central America (Godard 1991). Ravens (Corvus corax) remember previous individual calls after up to a 3-year separation (Boeckle and Bugnyar 2012).
Long-term individual memory may be particularly important in societies with fission-fusion dynamics, where individuals meet after unpredictably long periods of separation. Memory is also affected by the context in which the recognition is effective. For example, the mantis shrimp Neogonodactylus bredini can remember conspecifics for 4 weeks, perhaps because this amount of time correlates with their reproductive periodicity because female’s receptivity and male-female pairing is timed with the full moon (Vetter and Caldwell 2015).
The cognitive challenges of individual recognition are also influenced by the number of individuals that are learned. African elephants (Loxodonta africana) have large recognition networks, as adult females can recognize up to 100 other females (McComb et al. 2000). Elephant females can recognize their own family, as well as approximately 14 other families they regularly encounter. Such impressive networks of vocal recognition may be typical of long-lived species that have fission-fusion social systems and long-distance vocal communication.
Some species learn to identify surprisingly few individuals despite apparently high levels of social complexity. For example, gelada baboons (Theropithecus gelada) use vocalizations for individual recognition only within the small social group known as a “unit.” They do not vocally recognize other males, even males from their own band with whom they have extensive social overlap (Bergman 2010).
It is often difficult to assess whether memory constrains individual recognition. Does reduced recognition in geladas occur because males have poor memories, reduced motivation, or little social need for individual recognition? In a creative experiment, Stoddard tested whether memory constrained the ability of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) to learn neighbor’s songs. Song sparrows can memorize the full song repertoire of new neighbors without a decline in overall learning performance and without forgetting the old songs, even when the number of songs learned approached the number of songs a song sparrow would have to know to make accurate discriminations across neighbors (Stoddard et al. 1992).
Another factor that influences the complexity of individual recognition is the types of information associated with individual identity cues. For example, baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) simultaneously classify other females according to dominance rank and matrilineal kinship. Associating both rank and kinship information with the unique calls of conspecifics increases the challenge of individual recognition as well as the functional complexity of social interactions (Bergman et al. 2003). To our knowledge, there is no evidence for this type of two-dimensional classification outside primates, so research in additional taxa will be important.
Some nonhuman primates use individual recognition to keep track of others’ relationships. For example, baboons are more likely to approach and tolerate an opponent if they hear a “reconciliatory” grunt of a close relative of the opponent. However, “reconciliatory” grunts from individuals unrelated to the opponent have no effect on behavior. This behavior means baboons keep track of relatedness between other individuals rather than merely remembering their own relatives. Recognition of others’ relationships will dramatically increase the amount of information individuals need to remember. For example, in a group of 80 individuals, a baboon who keeps track of their own relationship with each group member may only recall two pieces of information about the 79 other group members: are they related or unrelated to the focal individual and are they dominant or subordinate to the focal individual? In that same group of 80 individuals, there are 3160 possible dyad and 82,160 triad combinations (Platt et al. 2016). Current data suggests baboons can identify the relatedness and relative rank in all those potential groupings, a truly outstanding feat. In the future, additional work will be important to understand how well nonhuman species keep track of other’s relationships.
Cognitive and Sensory Adaptations in Receivers to Facilitate Accurate Recognition
Learning and remembering many unique individuals are thought to be cognitively challenging. As a result, some species have cognitive adaptations to facilitate accurate individual recognition. These adaptations fall into three categories: (1) general increase in cognitive capacity in species with individual recognition, (2) specialized increase in cognition related to individual recognition, and (3) sensory adaptations to facilitate assessment of individual identity signals.
First, individual recognition may produce generalized increase in cognitive capacity. The social intelligence hypothesis proposes that the benefits of being able to learn and remember multiple individuals and social relationships have selected for increased cognitive capacity in many social taxa (Dunbar 1998). Between species comparisons have provided consistent support for the social intelligence hypotheses. Across many taxa, species with more complex social behavior have larger brains or brain regions than species with less complex social behavior (e.g., primates, hyenas, lemurs, ungulates, carnivores, cetaceans, birds). For example, a comparative analysis in nonhuman primate species found that relative neocortical volume is linked with social group size, but not ecology, suggesting that individual social relationships are a key factor that shapes brain size evolution (Dunbar 1992).
Other analyses have found no relationship between brain size and social complexity. For example, a comparative study on brain size and social complexity in 29 species of vespids (including solitary and social wasps) showed that brain size does not correlate with colony size, social structure (hierarchies), and type of nest foundation (solitary vs. social) (O’Donnell et al. 2015). The authors hypothesized that insects can perform relatively complex tasks with minor adjustments of neural circuitry. Further, many highly social insects have been selected to have more specialized brains rather than larger brains. More generally, there is a growing appreciation that understanding the relationship between social behavior and cognition requires nuanced assessment of social complexity that is relevant to the taxa of interest (Platt et al. 2016).
Second, some species have specific cognitive adaptations that facilitate individual recognition. Polistes fuscatus paper wasps use individual face recognition and are specialized for face learning; wasps learn to identify conspecific faces more quickly and accurately than other visual information. In contrast, paper wasp species without individual recognition perform poorly at face learning. A closely related wasp species that lacks individual face recognition, P. metricus, lacks face specialization and has trouble learning conspecific faces. The divergence in face learning between closely related wasp species suggests that face specialization in P. fuscatus is an adaptation to facilitate individual recognition (Sheehan and Tibbetts 2011). Face specialization in paper wasps may be associated with some neural changes in the antennal lobe and the mushroom body sub-compartments. However, there appears to be no major optic lobe specialization in species with visual individual recognition, suggesting that the visual processing capabilities of paper wasps might be preadapted to discriminate complex visual features, such that the ability to discriminate facial markings could require relatively small changes in their neuronal substrate (Gronenberg et al. 2007).
Neural specialization for individual recognition has been best studied in primates. Humans are experts at using facial features for individual recognition. Humans can learn and remember many individuals over their lifetime and only require short exposure to form individual memories. Humans also use configural processing to learn faces, as the spatial arrangement of facial features is integrated into a single “face image” rather than recognition being based on the component parts of a face. Finally, humans have neural specialization for face learning; there is a network of distributed neural regions that respond specifically to faces, not other visual stimuli. Damage in specialized area can produce individuals who are unable to recognize individual faces (Tsao and Livingstone 2008). Nonhuman primates also use faces for individual recognition and have some specialization for face learning, including face-selective neural responses in certain regions of the brain. Some primates also use configural processing to discriminate between individual faces, though most primates rely less on configural face processing than do humans (Leopold and Rhodes 2010).
Finally, some animals have sensory adaptations to optimize assessment of individual identity signals. Paper wasps with visual recognition have larger facets in the eye’s acute zone than species without visual recognition. Larger facets improve resolution of small images, such as wasp facial signals. Therefore, the wasps’ sensory systems may evolve to optimize signal assessment (Fig. 4) (Sheehan et al. 2014). In mice, odors (major urinary protein) signal individuality. The neurons in the vomeronasal system (olfactory system) are activated selectively by odors that signal individuality and gender, suggesting an olfactory adaptation for individually recognition of conspecifics (Cheetham et al. 2007).
Signals Versus Cues
Individual recognition can occur via signals or cues. Signals and cues are similar in that both modify the behavior of receivers. The key difference between signals and cues is that signals benefit the signaler, while cues do not (Searcy and Nowicki 2005). For example, human faces are signals that convey information about individual identity to receivers. Humans likely benefit by having unique, easily recognizable faces. As a result, human facial variation has been selected to optimize receiver recognition, and this selection has shaped human facial variation as well as the genetic regions that code for human facial variation (Fig. 5; Sheehan and Nachman 2014). In contrast, human fingerprints are a cue of individual identity. While it is possible to discriminate among individual humans based on fingerprints, variation in fingerprints is a by-product of development. Fingerprints have not been selected to convey information about individual identity, so fingerprints and the regions that code for fingerprint variation will not have signatures of selection to optimize distinctiveness.
Fig. 5
Genomic regions associated with facial morphology show evidence of selection for individual identity signaling. Bars represent the proportion of SNPs within each minor allele frequency (MAF). Genomic regions associated with facial morphology have elevated levels of intermediate-frequency alleles when compared with neutral regions or genomic regions associated with variation in height. The higher genetic diversity in face-associated SNPs is consistent with negative frequency-dependent selection acting on human facial features (Taken from Sheehan and Nachman 2014)
The distinction between signals and cues is important because signals show signatures of adaptive evolution to facilitate receiver responses, while cues do not. The following sections describe the predicted characteristics of individual identity signals.
Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection Acts on Signalers
Individual identity signals are expected to evolve via negative frequency-dependent selection (Dale et al. 2001). Individuals with rare phenotypes are favored by selection because they are less likely to be confused with other individuals than those with common phenotypes. There is experimental evidence in both Polistes paper wasps and guppies, Poecilia reticulata, showing that individuals with a rare appearance are favored relative to individuals with a more common appearance. For example, Polistes fuscatus paper wasps have highly variable facial patterns that are used for individual recognition (Tibbetts 2002). Wasps with unique faces that are easy to discriminate receive less aggression than wasps with common, less distinguishable faces. Receiving aggression is costly, so these results indicate that individuals with unique phenotypes benefit by revealing their identity (Sheehan and Tibbetts 2009; Fig. 3). Field studies have shown that guppies with rare body coloration benefit by receiving more mates than guppies with a common appearance (Hughes et al. 2013). Guppies use body coloration for individual recognition, so the mating benefit may arise through identity signaling if rare guppies are easier to learn and remember than common guppies.
Comparative work provides further evidence that individual recognition selects for increased phenotypic diversity. In paper wasps, mammals, swallows, and bird eggs, individual identity signaling is linked with increased phenotypic diversity (Tibbetts et al. 2017). This relationship is consistent with the hypothesis that social benefits of being individually recognizable favor increased phenotypic diversity in certain social contexts. For example, computer-based model has shown that egg signatures by hosts of the common cuckoo evolve surprisingly fast in the presence of brood parasites. The simulation suggests many hosts evolve unique, highly recognizable egg pattern signatures as a defense against cuckoo egg mimicry (Stoddard et al. 2014).
Effects of Individual Identity Signaling on Phenotypes and Genotypes
Because identity signals evolve under negatively frequency-dependent selection, identity signals are expected to be highly variable and multimodal and have low intercorrelation among identity signaling traits. These predictions are developed in detail in the model by Dale and colleagues (2001). Further, in the taxa that have been tested, there is low intercorrelation among identity signaling traits (Dale 2000; Tibbetts 2002). Finally, reliable identity signals are predicted to be stable over time rather than plastic.
Theoretical and empirical work suggests that individual identity signals will be highly heritable and have low condition dependence. The few individual identity signals studied have high heritability (Dale 2000). Identity signals are also expected to have low costs associated with signal production and maintenance because phenotypes that are not costly will spread to a higher equilibrium frequency than costly phenotypes. For example, the birds ruff sandpipers (Philomachus pugnax) and red-billed queleas (Quelea quelea) live in dense aggregations in which individual recognition is key for territory defense. In both species, plumage coloration is highly heritable and has low production costs (Dale et al. 2001). Similarly, rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) uses the same highly variable calls for individual recognition across multiple years, and these calls are not linked to geographic locations or relatedness (Lee and Eli 2011). Paper wasps use facial patterns for individual recognition. Facial patterns are fixed during adulthood, and facial pattern development is not condition dependent, as larval diet quality has no effect on facial pattern development (Tibbetts and Curtis 2007).
Because individual identity signals are highly heritable traits under negatively frequency-dependent selection, selection for identity signaling may increase genetic diversity. Positive selection for signaling individual identity may have more widespread genetic effects than other cases of negative frequency-dependent selection because identity signaling favors high levels of variation in multiple, uncorrelated traits (Tibbetts et al. 2017). In contrast, other examples of negative frequency-dependent selection typically maintain a limited number of morphs at stable ratios in the population.
The precise effects of individual identity signaling on the genome will differ based on the genetic architecture of identity signals (Tibbetts et al. 2017). For example, negative frequency-dependent selection acting on individual identity signals will have broader genomic consequences if signal development is influenced by many, independently segregating loci than if signal development is influenced by epistatic interactions in a small cluster of genes. Population genetic evidence indicates that negative frequency-dependent selection acting on loci that encode human facial features influences genomic diversity in humans. Specifically, loci that encode human facial features have higher nucleotide diversity than loci associated with variation in height or neutral, intergenic variation, consistent with human facial features experiencing negative frequency-dependent selection (Fig. 5; Sheehan and Nachman 2014). Further, the genomic regions surrounding areas that code for face variation also have increased nucleotide diversity, indicating that selection on human identity signals has broader effects on genomic diversity. In contrast, selection for identity signaling in mice has limited genomic consequences. Mice use major urinary proteins (MUPs) as chemical signals of individual identity. Although variation in MUPs is maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection, identity signaling in mice has little overall effect on the genome because a small number of clustered loci produce the overall MUP signature (Sheehan et al. 2016).
Conclusions
In this entry, we consider the evolution of individual recognition from the perspective of the receiver and signaler. Studies of individual recognition from the receiver’s perspective are very common and have demonstrated that individual recognition is an important aspect of social behavior in a wide range of taxa, including birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, and aquatic invertebrates. Individual recognition is also used in diverse contexts, including territoriality, dominance interactions, cooperation, providing parental care, and pair bonding.
Individual recognition can be cognitively demanding for signal receivers, especially when receivers learn many individuals, maintain those memories for long periods, or associate multiple types of information with individual identity. Complex behaviors involving individual recognition that were once thought to be rare (e.g., transitive inference) have recently been found to be surprisingly common. Further, many taxa have surprisingly sophisticated individual recognition, including long individual memories and the ability to recall many individuals and associate diverse information with individual identities. Future research will likely continue to uncover the diversity and sophistication of individual recognition across taxa.
Individual recognition also has important selective consequences for signalers. In particular, there is growing evidence that signalers are selected to reveal their individual identity by having phenotypes that are memorably different. Individuals with rare phenotypes are favored by selection because they are less likely to be confused with other individuals than those with common phenotypes. Selection on signalers to reveal their individual identity may be an underappreciated mechanism for the origin and maintenance of phenotypic and genetic diversity. Given the growth of genomic data in non-model organisms, future work examining the genetic architecture of individual identity signals as well as the consequences of individual identity signals on animal phenotypes and genotypes will be important.
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For example, in taxa with multiple offspring, do parents treat different offspring uniquely? For instance, there is evidence that parents of the songbird black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) respond more to the calls of the fledglings that they preferentially fed, suggesting that parents can discriminate between offspring (Draganoiu et al. 2006).
While most examples of individual recognition occur within species, individual recognition is not restricted to conspecifics. Some animals recognize individuals of other species. For example, mockingbirds learn to assess the level of threat posed by different humans. When the same human approaches a mockingbird’s nest for 4 successive days, mockingbirds begin flushing from the nest when the human is a great distance from the nest and also increase alarm calling and attack flights. Mockingbird response to humans who have not threatened the nest does not change (Levey et al. 2009).
Intraspecific Variation in Individual Recognition across Contexts
A large body of research has examined the types of social behavior associated with interspecific variation in individual recognition, but less is known about intraspecific variation in individual recognition. Examining intraspecific variation is important because responses to individual identity signals may vary across the biotic and abiotic environment. For example, a species may use individual recognition during aggressive encounters in certain social or environmental circumstances, but not in other circumstances.
Previous work has shown that there is some intraspecific variation in receiver responses to signals. For example, receiver responses to quality signals often vary with traits like sex, maturity, season, habitat, and social context. Many studies have shown that the biotic and abiotic environment influences whether females choose male partners based on sexual signals or ignore sexual signals during partner choice (Searcy and Nowicki 2005). Such variation occurs because assessing and responding to signals can be costly, so receivers will only pay attention to signals when signal response is sufficiently beneficial. Therefore, intraspecific variation in recognition may occur whenever the benefits of recognition differ across contexts.
A few studies have found intraspecific variation in individual recognition.
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yes
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Bioacoustics
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Are the calls of birds unique to each individual?
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yes_statement
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the "calls" of "birds" are "unique" to each "individual".. each "individual" "bird" has "unique" "calls".
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https://vetmed.illinois.edu/wildlife-blog/saw-whet-sounds/
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Saw-Whet Sounds - Veterinary Medicine at Illinois
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Saw-Whet Sounds
I think I speak for most people when I say that the sounds animals can make are incredible! From communication, to mating, each animal’s call is unique to their species, and in some cases, distinct even to each individual animal. As humans, we also have a huge variety of sounds that we use in our daily lives. Communicating with each other via talking, expressing danger with screams, and creating repetitive patterns as forms of entertainment in music are just a few examples of the complexity of our sounds. Now, what would happen if human sounds and animal sounds collided?
Haley Shaw, known as @SoWylie on Tiktok, is a music producer and sound designer. She was inspired by my personal favorite owl, the northern saw-whet owl, and how delicate their calls sound. She decided to combine her talent for music with the naturally occurring saw-whet call to create an amazing beat. Check out the video below!
Haley didn’t stop there, she went on to create songs for a barred owl, boreal owl, and a barn owl, all of which are amazing listens (linked below). One of the greatest things we can do for wildlife is appreciate all of their natural beauties, with bird calls being an easy one to highlight. Many individuals spend their entire lives studying the intricacies of each bird’s unique sound. Even if your ideal Saturday isn’t spent in the woods in silence hoping to hear just a whisper of a saw-whet owl call, it is hard to dispute the fact that wildlife impact our daily lives in ways we could never imagine. These songs are a unique example of just how integrated our lives are with animals, and are a great reminder to always appreciate wildlife as the incredible creatures they are, all on their own!
Make sure to check out Haley’s songs, and keep an eye for any more owl sounds! Have you heard or seen any fascinating birds recently? Let us know on our Facebook page, we’d love to see!
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Saw-Whet Sounds
I think I speak for most people when I say that the sounds animals can make are incredible! From communication, to mating, each animal’s call is unique to their species, and in some cases, distinct even to each individual animal. As humans, we also have a huge variety of sounds that we use in our daily lives. Communicating with each other via talking, expressing danger with screams, and creating repetitive patterns as forms of entertainment in music are just a few examples of the complexity of our sounds. Now, what would happen if human sounds and animal sounds collided?
Haley Shaw, known as @SoWylie on Tiktok, is a music producer and sound designer. She was inspired by my personal favorite owl, the northern saw-whet owl, and how delicate their calls sound. She decided to combine her talent for music with the naturally occurring saw-whet call to create an amazing beat. Check out the video below!
Haley didn’t stop there, she went on to create songs for a barred owl, boreal owl, and a barn owl, all of which are amazing listens (linked below). One of the greatest things we can do for wildlife is appreciate all of their natural beauties, with bird calls being an easy one to highlight. Many individuals spend their entire lives studying the intricacies of each bird’s unique sound. Even if your ideal Saturday isn’t spent in the woods in silence hoping to hear just a whisper of a saw-whet owl call, it is hard to dispute the fact that wildlife impact our daily lives in ways we could never imagine. These songs are a unique example of just how integrated our lives are with animals, and are a great reminder to always appreciate wildlife as the incredible creatures they are, all on their own!
Make sure to check out Haley’s songs, and keep an eye for any more owl sounds! Have you heard or seen any fascinating birds recently? Let us know on our Facebook page, we’d love to see!
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yes
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Bioacoustics
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Are the calls of birds unique to each individual?
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yes_statement
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the "calls" of "birds" are "unique" to each "individual".. each "individual" "bird" has "unique" "calls".
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https://www.americanscientist.org/article/vocal-matching-in-animals
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Vocal Matching in Animals | American Scientist
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This Article From Issue
July-August 2012
Volume 100, Number 4
Page 306
We can often tell the country or region someone is from simply by hearing them speak. We do this, usually unconsciously, using cues such as speech pattern and vocabulary, which characterize regional dialects.
Figure 1. Coyotes (Canis latrans ) howl together at dusk in Death Valley, in California’s Mojave Desert. Coyotes are among a number of species that use different types of calls in different social contexts. Coyotes’ calls, which are characterized in a dissertation by Brian Reid Mitchell at the University of California, Berkeley, include a bark, a bark-howl, a howl, a group howl and a group yip-howl. Gordon Illg, whose partner Cathy Illg captured the photograph above, observed the coyotes “running around socializing, kicking up a lot of dust” before they began their vocalizations.
Cathy & Gordon ILLG
Ad Right
We can also frequently discover clues about someone’s social identity based on hearing them speak: People from different socioeconomic classes or age groups may use different inflections or intonations, even if they have the same regional dialect. In the movie Good Will Hunting, for example, characters from universities in Boston use different accents than do working-class characters from South Boston. The entire cast had to adopt a regional accent, but the actors imitated subtly different versions of that accent that were appropriate for the group their characters represented.
The phenomenon in which individuals from the same geographic area or social group share vocal characteristics is not unique to humans. Such shared vocal characteristics also occur in animal species that are capable of vocal learning. Vocal learning is defined as the production of a vocalization based on auditory input. It is a uncommon trait in the animal world, documented only in birds, cetaceans, bats, elephants and some species of primates. Although most animals probably do not need social experience to produce vocalizations that are species-typical, a handful of species are believed to learn to produce the vocal signals they make. Many of the species that are capable of learned vocal production also engage in vocal matching—imitating companions to generate vocalizations with similar acoustic structures. The occurrence of vocal matching across diverse species suggests that this relatively rare trait may play an important social function in the animal world. Like the aspects of human speech that point to social class and region of origin, shared features of animal communication signals have the potential to reflect aspects of individuals’ social background, because matched vocalizations in animals can be specific to different species, subspecies, populations, social groups, bonded pairs or families.
Figure 2. Orca whales (Orcinus orca ) form small social groups, called pods , whose members display matched calls. Call matching may aid the whales in collaborative hunting and in finding and staying near to their pod mates. All the pods in a region make up a clan. Individual orcas produce some calls that are shared with clan members, but even more of their vocalizations are matched with pod mates. Thus, the learned vocalizations of orca whales reflect clan affiliation and also membership in a specific pod.
Francois Gohier/Photo Researchers
Orca whales (Orcinus orca) are one species capable of learning matched vocalizations. These whales hunt in stable groups, called pods. Research by Volker Deecke of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and John Ford and colleagues at the University of British Columbia demonstrated that all of the pods in a given geographic region, which are genetically related to one another and are termed clans, produce a set of matched vocalizations. The shared features of these vocalizations result in a vocal dialect that is analogous to a human accent, reflecting the animals’ lineage and group membership. However, the vocalizations of pod mates share even more characteristics than do the dialects of clan members, making it possible for researchers to determine which particular social group a whale belongs to as well as its region of origin.
This example illustrates that shared vocalizations in animals clearly have the potential to reflect an individual’s social identity. However, we don’t expect animals to pay attention or respond to matched vocalizations unless doing so improves their survival and reproduction (which evolutionary biologists refer to as fitness). That is, in contrast to considering the complex social factors that influence patterns of language similarity in humans, studying vocal matching in animals first requires evaluating how the behavior affects measures related to individuals’ fitness, because traits in animals are shaped by natural and sexual selection.
Calls for Each Occasion
Why do diverse animal species match companions’ vocalizations? Most species that engage in vocal matching do so specifically for a category of vocalizations referred to as contact calls. Vocalizing animals often use calls with particular sounds and structures in different circumstances (see sidebar, below). Many people are familiar with the angry chatter alarm call a squirrel makes when it detects a predator, or the aggressive bark of a male sea lion as it vies for space on the piers in San Francisco. Contact calls are a particular category of calls that animals produce to establish and maintain contact with companions while moving through their habitat or reuniting after separation.
Many animals produce contact calls, but the species that match contact calls with companions are almost all highly social. They may cooperate to find or defend food, raise young or avoid predators. Reviewing many animal studies yields the observation that diverse species with similar social dynamics converge on this specific category of calls that mediate social interactions. This finding is an important first clue that vocal matching may have a real fitness benefit. Common patterns of vocal behavior, ecology and sociality suggest that the ability to learn and match calls is an adaptive trait selected for by a particular set of environmental conditions. Further, the finding that vocal matching of contact calls often occurs among members of social groups that work together, or among members of mated pairs that rear young together, corroborates the idea that vocal matching specifically facilitates cooperative, mutually beneficial interactions.
The association between vocal matching and cooperation may seem intuitive because we (that is, humans) mimic other people’s accents and speech patterns. This vocal accommodation, as it is termed in the linguistics literature, is thought both to gain the trust of a listener and to improve the listener’s understanding of what is being said, thereby reflecting cooperative and affiliative intentions. But what evidence is there that individual animals actually increase their survival or reproductive success by imitating or responding to calls matched with mates, group members or others in their population?
There is probably one nearly universal benefit to imitating the calls of companions, which is that matched calls are more easily detected by listeners. Evidence from studies of several species suggests that animals’ auditory processing systems are sensitized to signals similar to those that an individual produces. Several researchers have argued that selective sensitivity ensures that listeners will detect and pay attention to matched vocalizations. Thus, matching calls may ensure that companions can hear one another or gain the attention of an intended listener. This might be analogous to hearing one’s name called in a noisy crowd; our sensory system picks up this important information despite background noise.
Some specific evidence that call matching improves signal detection comes from behavioral studies of spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus). Spectacled parrotlets are small South American parrots that live in groups of 10 to 25 individuals, many of them bonded pairs or family members. Ralf Wanker and his colleagues at Universität Hamburg, Germany, found that each parrotlet produces a unique contact call, its signature call, but it also produces a mimicked version of the signature call of each family member when interacting with that specific bird. Playback studies by the authors show that birds respond more strongly to the imitations of their own signature call than to other calls, leading the biologists to conclude that imitated calls draw the attention of a targeted receiver. Similarly, budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as the common pet parakeet or budgie, produce signature calls and also sometimes mimic the calls of their mates and flock members. A neurobiological study in budgies, by Steven E. Brauth and his colleagues at the University of Maryland, found different patterns of brain activity in response to matched contact calls than in response to unmatched calls. Such differential neural responses suggest that matched calls are processed differently in the brain and support the hypothesis that individuals are sensitized to calls like their own.
Evidence that matched signals are more easily detected by listeners supports the idea that vocal matching could benefit those animals—called signalers—that imitate their companions’ calls. But the benefits of call production alone do not explain its common occurrence across vocal learning species. For matched calls to persist they must provide benefits to the individuals that listen to and then respond to the calls—known as receivers—as well. If imitation exploits the sensory sensitivity of receivers and permits signalers to manipulate receivers, then we can expect that individuals responding to matched calls will have decreased fitness and, over many generations, receivers will be selected to ignore matched calls. The persistence of vocal matching across species capable of vocal learning, and the association of vocal matching with affiliation and cooperation, lead us to infer that, instead, there must be fitness benefits for both signalers and receivers.
Mated Pairs, Matched Calls
Call matching is most frequently described in mated pairs of animals. One fitness benefit that call matching may offer prospective pair members is the acceptance of a mate and thus an opportunity to breed. This hypothesis is based on reports that males of several species, including pygmy marmosets (Callithrix pygmaea), African elephants (Loxodonta africana) and several birds, change their calls to imitate females, apparently as part of the bonding process. For example, Arla G. Hile and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, have found that male budgerigars change their calls to imitate a female over a period of several weeks during pair bonding, and they maintain pair-specific matched calls through the breeding season. In cases like these, males (the signalers) benefit from matching because they gain the acceptance of a mate; scientists hypothesize that females (the receivers) benefit because matching is indicative of a commitment to the pair bond.
Figure 3. Biologists represent animals’ vocalizations visually with spectrograms , graphs of signal pitch (quantified as frequency) at different time points. The top row of spectrograms (top) shows the calls of two red crossbills of the same call dialect before pair bonding. (Call dialects are call variants that emerge at the population level.) In the bottom row, which shows the same birds’ calls after pairing, the calls are even more similar. The call dialects red crossbills produce are reliably associated with morphological differences and foraging specializations within the species, so any changes to call structure are intriguing. Call dialects could help birds identify companions with the same foraging preferences, and thus crossbills are expected to suffer if they change dialect: If an individual did so, it would associate with companions of the wrong foraging specialization and have reduced access to food. On the other hand, like other birds that forage communally, form long-term pair bonds and cooperate with their mates to rear young, crossbills are expected to benefit from matching calls with mates and family members. These conflicting pressures on vocal matching make crossbills unique: They only form social bonds (and thus only match calls) with members of their same size class and dialect, and they almost never match calls or bond with birds of a different size class or dialect. This conditional call matching generates calls with two levels of variation. Crossbill contact calls contain features that are shared with mates and flock members and reflect investments in current social bonds. At the same time, the birds’ overarching dialect structures, which are exclusive to their size class and foraging specialization, limit communication and social interaction with birds of different size classes.
Photo at bottom by Christine Pentecost.
Spectrograms courtesy of the author.
Males of several vocal-matching species imitate females to generate pair-specific calls, but females of some species also learn new calls, with the result that both members of a pair slowly converge on a novel call that is distinct from their original calls. For example, a 2009 study of mine demonstrated that male and female red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) in the North American range change their calls to converge on a new, shared pair-specific call (see Figure 3). In cases where both pair members arrive at a new call structure, the process of convergence may reflect a mutual investment in the social bond, rather than the effort of one individual to attract another.
Regardless of how they come about, matched calls in mated pairs not only reflect a social bond but may also help coordinate parental care of young, thus increasing reproductive success by increasing the survival rates of offspring. One clue that matched calls may improve parental care is that call matching in pairs is often associated with biparental care.
Figure 4. Male pygmy marmosets (Callithrix pygmaea ) are thought to alter their calls to match those of a female mate. The process of matching vocalizations can take several weeks and is, biologists speculate, an important part of the pair-bonding process. Pygmy marmosets are native to the Upper Amazon basin in South America; the group above was photographed at the San Diego Zoo.
Gregory G. Dimijian, M.D./Photo Researchers
A classic example of matched calls in mated pairs, described by Paul Mundinger of Queens College in New York, is that male goldfinches (Carduelis species),like many other temperate zone songbirds, feed their mates while they are incubating eggs and later feed the nestlings. Males produce contact calls that are matched to the calls of their mates when returning to the nest with food, and females briefly come off the nest to be fed. In a study by Mundinger in which female goldfinches were played previously recorded calls both from neighboring males and from their mates, the females only approached the speaker and solicited food in response to their mates’ calls. We don’t know whether pairs that produce more similar calls have better reproductive success, but the pattern of behavior implicates matched calls in coordinating parental care of young and may thus improve the parents’ fitness.
In some animals, the young also learn calls like those of their parents, generating family-specific calls, which can help parents and young reunite when adults return from foraging trips. Parents are thought to benefit from vocal matching within families because it increases their reproductive success, and their offspring could clearly benefit because when their parents find them, they receive food, and thus their likelihood of survival is increased. For example, as Ian Rowley of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation found in 1980, in galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla), a cockatoo species native to Australia, pairs converge on matched calls, and chicks learn calls just like those of their parents, generating matched family-specific calls. These family-specific calls are important for reuniting parents with their offspring after foraging trips. Galahs roost in large colonies and nest in cavities, so parents can have trouble identifying the correct nest entrance. Chicks call back to their parents when they hear them approach the roost, helping direct the parents and stimulate feeding. When young birds fledge and move throughout the roosting area while the parents are foraging, matched calls become even more important, helping families reunite in a noisy, crowded social environment.
A Password for Group Membership
Vocal matching in the context of pair bonding may help individuals gain access to mates or improve parental care of young and thus, presumably, increase their reproductive success. Biologists have found evidence that matched calls among members of a social group provide different benefits—group-specific calls often facilitate the cooperative defense of resources, such as food, from competing groups, thereby increasing access to those resources.
Figure 5. Call matching is important for group cohesion as well as for mated pairs. At top, pale spear-nosed bats (Phyllostomus discolor ), roost together at Zoo Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Greater spear-nosed bats (Phyllostomus hastatus ), members of the same genus as pale spear-nosed bats and native to South and Central America, form groups known as roosts. Call matching may serve in this species as a password for group membership. Janette Boughman and Gerald Wilkinson of the University of Maryland found that female greater spear-nosed bats use roost-specific calls to help each other locate and defend food. At bottom are spectrograms of representative calls from two different roosts, showing the group-specific variation in the calls.
Both producing a call matched with group members (as a signaler) and responding to companions’ matched calls (as a receiver) may benefit individuals in several ways. First, matched calls present an efficient way to identify group members, particularly in large groups when not all individuals are familiar with one another. Because matched calls emerge through the process of imitative learning, which often requires sustained social contact, they reflect the social experiences of the signaler and effectively encode aspects of that individual’s social background. Thus, matched calls might provide listeners with information about individuals within their larger social network with whom they are less familiar, permitting listeners to quickly determine whether another animal has experience with, and therefore belongs to, their social group. This idea is known as the badge, or password, hypothesis. A case in which group-specific calls may serve as passwords was studied by Janette Boughman and Gerald Wilkinson, of the University of Maryland, College Park. Female greater spear-nosed bats (Phyllostomus hastatus) form roosts together in very large aggregations; all members of a single roost produce matched social calls during nighttime foraging excursions. Experiments in which new roosts were formed showed that female bats converged on new matched calls with their new companions over a period of months. Subsequent observational and playback studies have demonstrated that female bats use these matched calls to recruit other members of their roost when they find a rich food resource and that the members of a roost then collectively defend the food source from other bats. Taken together, these studies suggest that matched calls serve as passwords for group membership and help coordinate cooperative foraging in a noisy, fast-paced social environment by facilitating the rapid discrimination of group members from outsiders and permitting bats who are guarding a food source to quickly identify roost mates.
The example of greater spear-nosed bats illustrates at least one other related but distinct benefit of matched calls within social groups—their capacity to reflect group identity to non–group members. That is, matched calls may not only facilitate the rapid identification of companions, but they may also inform outsiders of the size and competitive ability of a defending social group.
Figure 6. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops species ) communicate using calls that sound like whistles to human ears but are made in a similar fashion to other mammals’ vocalizations. Male dolphins form groups, called alliances , and change their calls to match those of alliance members. Shown at bottom are spectrograms from two dolphins producing matched whistles, which often indicate social alliance (column B ), and from two dolphins that are producing distinctive signature whistles, which are not matched (column A ).
Photo at top by Rene Frederick.
Spectrograms from Vincent M. Janik, 2000. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.
A review article by Peter L. Tyack of the University of Saint Andrews includes the example of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops species), which provide an opportunity to assess how calls are employed in communication with familiar group members. Male dolphins form alliances with one or two other individuals upon reaching maturity. These small groups spend up to 80 percent of their time together, often until one member of the alliance dies. Members of a dolphin alliance slowly converge on a shared whistle, but they also maintain signature whistles. Thus, unlike species such as goldfinches and greater spear-nosed bats, in which each individual produces a single contact call variant, dolphins have at least two contact signals—a signature whistle that reflects individual identity and an alliance-specific whistle that is a badge of group membership. To understand how dolphins use their two whistle types, researchers studied males of a captive alliance that were permitted to move freely between two pools. They found that males used their signature whistles, not their alliance-specific whistles, when they were separated from their group. Dolphins, and probably other animals, use signals or signal features that reflect individual identity when communicating with familiar companions and, biologists hypothesize, use matched calls that reflect group identity in the presence of unfamiliar competitors.
Whether matched calls communicate group membership to companions or inform non–group members of the size and intent of the defending group, researchers have found evidence that producing and responding to matched calls provides fitness benefits to group members for at least two reasons: By producing the “correct” call, they gain access to resources, and by responding to matched group-specific calls, they can better protect resources from non–group members that might try to enter their territory or monopolize resources.
Finding the Right Companions
In addition to improving cooperative group dynamics and the coordination of parental care of young, matched calls at the level of populations, which are referred to as dialects, may help animals identify appropriate mates and companions. Although call dialects are relatively rare, they have been described in orca whales and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), as reviewed by Tyack, as well as in bird species such as yellow-naped Amazon parrots (Amazona auropalliata) and red crossbills. In each of these species, there are several categorically distinct dialects, and individuals produce calls ascribed to a single dialect type (see below).
Figure 7. Red crossbills, shown bathing in a thawed puddle in Connecticut at right, have adapted into different size classes, each of which feeds on a different species of conifer. The rows in the chart at left contain spectrograms of four different red crossbill call dialects. Call dialects are rare among animal species. In red crossbills, each dialect is produced by birds of a different size class, and the calls in each row were produced by three different birds of the given size class. Although acoustic structure varies slightly among individuals of the same dialect, categorical differences permit discrimination (by human ears and, presumably, by the birds) of the distinct dialect types.
Photo at bottom by Ardea/Jim Zipp/Animals Animals
Spectrograms courtesy of the author.
As with group-specific matched calls, there is evidence that individuals of species with dialects generally adopt the calls of their new companions when they disperse to a different population. For example, Timothy Wright, now of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, and his colleagues inferred from genetic studies that yellow-naped Amazon parrots disperse across dialect boundaries and learn the call structure of their adopted locale, concurrently adopting new roost-specific matched calls and new population-specific dialects. The authors have proposed that immigrants in this and other species learn the local dialect to gain access to roost sites and to be permitted on foraging trips during which they learn about and gain access to local foraging areas—resources important for their survival. In species such as parrots that often forage and roost in groups and cooperate in rearing young, individual receivers that choose foraging partners and mates that produce the local call dialect are thus assured that their companions are capable of finding food and selecting a safe roost site, so they too will benefit from access to those resources.
Although animals such as yellow-naped Amazon parrots learn new call dialects, a handful of species are unable or unwilling to learn different dialects in adulthood. When animals do not or cannot learn to produce or recognize one another’s vocalizations, their ability to coordinate social behaviors is constrained. The failure to learn new call dialects might limit communication between populations and thus limit their social and genetic intermixing.
Figure 8. Red crossbills use contact calls to locate members of their group and find food sources. Crossbills of different ecomorphs , which are distinguished by differing size and the ability to feed best on different conifer species, often forage in the same regions. Call dialects differ across ecomorphs, so birds of one ecomorph (blue balloons ) can locate each other among members of another ecomorph (green balloons ) by their calls.
Illustration by Barbara Aulicino.
For example, Jeff Groth of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Craig Benkman at the University of Wyoming found that call dialects were associated with different size classes, or “races,” of red crossbills. Crossbills of each size class have a distinctive bill size and shape that permits them to feed especially well on a particular type of conifer cone. Studies by Julie W. Smith and her colleagues at New Mexico State University found that crossbills benefit from flocking with birds that share their feeding preference, because companions share information about foraging success, increasing the feeding efficiency of each group member.
However, crossbills of different foraging specializations can be difficult to identify based on appearance alone, and birds of different size classes and foraging specializations can be found in mixed forests. The distinct call dialects that birds of each size class produce are the most conspicuous differences among these groups and have the potential to inform crossbills of other birds’ foraging specializations. Indeed, my research, in conjunction with work from the Benkman lab, demonstrates that crossbills learn their call dialects early in life, prior to fledging and dispersing into new populations, and they almost never change their call dialects upon reaching maturity. Thus, call dialects are reliable indicators of size class and feeding specialty. Because contact calls are central to group formation and cohesion, dialects not only reflect the foraging specialization of each individual but also permit assortment by size class and foraging preference. Collectively, call dialects impede communication and social bonding between birds of different size classes and are believed to be facilitating the ongoing speciation of red crossbills.
Sidebar
Different Calls for Different Contexts
Calls play a central role in the interactions of many social animals, including whales, dolphins, seals, elephants and primates. They are particularly well studied in birds. All animals that use calls in their communication have a repertoire of acoustically distinct categories of calls, each of which is produced in a different context. Call categories are often labeled by human researchers according to their inferred function—for example, begging calls are made by young birds being fed by their parents—but they can also be labeled by the sound the animals produce, as with the bark-howl calls produced by coyotes. Although researchers once thought that animals produce all of their calls without having to learn them, evidence increasingly suggests that at least some calls are shaped by experience. There is very good evidence that animals such as vervet monkeys must learn to make different calls in different contexts—such as when a snake approaches or when a hawk approaches—and to respond to each call type differently. This process is termed contextual learning. In the case of contact calls, which are used by animals to find mates and group members, there is also increasing evidence that some animals learn to modify the way their calls sound as their social conditions change. Shown below are examples of several different call categories found in red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra). Alarm calls are given when a predator is detected, aggression calls are produced during social conflicts, excitement calls are often heard around rich food resources or social shifts, begging calls are used by young to solicit feeding and contact calls (which are known to be learned in crossbills) are used to remain connected with companions.
The cumulative evidence from studies considering animals with many different social systems suggests that vocal matching increases individuals’ survival and reproduction in three possible ways: by securing the acceptance of a mate or improving the coordination of parenting efforts, by securing and preserving access to shared resources, or by aiding in the selection of appropriate mates and companions. If we accept this evidence, we then have to ask what mechanisms ensure that vocal matching is a reliable indicator of social identity and cooperation. What prevents cheaters from taking advantage of the system and matching but not reciprocating as mates or group members? Identifying the mechanisms that ensure that individuals don’t simply adopt the calls of multiple mates, foraging groups or populations to reap the benefits of call matching without reciprocation requires examining the learning process that underlies vocal matching. (For more on the different types of calls animals use, see the sidebar above.)
Honesty in Matching
One reason that the process of matching calls with companions could reliably reflect a signaler’s investment in a social bond or a commitment to cooperate is that the process of learning new vocalizations generally carries some cost, as explained by William A. Searcy of the University of Miami in Florida and Stephen Nowicki of Duke University, in an article for the March–April 2008 issue of American Scientist. In the case of call learning, there is evidence that the learning process requires time and effort, which could indicate to companions that an individual is invested in and committed to a cooperative relationship. Further, vocal learning can require specialized brain circuitry, and the brain regions specialized for vocal learning can demand energetic resources, particularly during a vulnerable period of development when extra growth is especially costly. Thus the very capacity to learn vocalizations and engage in vocal matching reflects an investment. However, the process of learning new matched calls probably forges the strongest link between vocal matching and affiliation.
Species from chickadees (Poecile species) to pygmy marmosets require several weeks to settle on a matched vocalization with new mates or group members. In some cases, social bonds have been shown to form during the period of vocal matching, linking investment in the matching process with social bonding. For example, male European siskins (Carduelis spinus) housed together in captivity modify their contact calls to match one another. The process of vocal change requires several weeks, and the birds that match the calls of their companions most quickly also engage in affiliative behaviors more quickly and at a higher rate than birds that are slower to engage in vocal matching.
Figure 9. Yellow-naped Amazon parrots (Amazona auropalliata ), like red crossbills and some whale species, display call dialects. In the case of the parrots, these dialects are determined by geographical region. For instance, parrots in Horizontes and Hacienda el Pelon de la Bajura, Costa Rica, display significantly different call dialects. Biologists infer that when a parrot moves from one location to another, it learns both the call dialect of its new population and the matched calls of its new roost.
The temporal correlation between learning and affiliation may actually occur because the process of learning can be improved by, or may even require, social interaction. In some species, vocal learning can be reinforced by positive feedback, so better or faster matching should result from positive social interactions with the mate or companions an individual is learning to imitate. Specific evidence that vocal matching is improved or guided by positive feedback comes from studies of male budgerigars. Kazuchika Manabe of Nihon University and Robert J. Dooling of the University of Maryland used the experimental approach known as operant conditioning, in which animals are rewarded for displaying particular behaviors, to train male budgies to imitate a call they hear for a food reward. Female budgerigars prefer males that produce calls more like their own, so it is possible that positive feedback from females could similarly direct and reinforce vocal matching. Cases in which time and social experience are associated with the rate or degree of vocal matching illustrate that the learning process itself can reliably link vocal matching with social bonding and support a direct connection between affiliation and investment in vocal change.
Collectively, the time, the effort and particularly the cognitive machinery that animals must invest in learning new vocalizations could ensure that vocal matching honestly reflects an affiliative bond. These requisite resources may explain the association of vocal matching and affiliation both across levels of social organization and across the diverse species capable of vocal learning.
The Benefits of Learning
As my work and the other studies considered here show, call matching occurs in many of the animals capable of vocal learning, and there is evidence that it confers fitness benefits to signalers and receivers by increasing individuals’ reproductive success and survival. Specifically, call matching may help individuals gain access to a mate or coordinate parental care of offspring; secure and retain access to resources; or identify appropriate mates and companions. Though the specific fitness benefits that drive vocal matching vary across levels of social organization, the learning process underlying it may explain the association between vocal matching and affiliation among vocal learners. Studies that tease out direct links between vocal matching and fitness are ongoing, but thus far it seems that species who learn to produce matched calls are better able to gain companions’ attention and maintain contact with them in complex, changeable and often noisy social environments—and that this improved communication contributes to increased fitness.
Groth, J. G. 1993. Evolutionary differentiation in morphology, vocalizations, and allozymes among nomadic sibling species in the North American red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) complex. University of California Publications in Zoology 127.
Tyack, P. L. 2008. Convergence of calls as animals form social bonds, active compensation for noisy communication channels, and the evolution of vocal learning in mammals. Journal of Comparative Psychology 122:319–331.
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The rows in the chart at left contain spectrograms of four different red crossbill call dialects. Call dialects are rare among animal species. In red crossbills, each dialect is produced by birds of a different size class, and the calls in each row were produced by three different birds of the given size class. Although acoustic structure varies slightly among individuals of the same dialect, categorical differences permit discrimination (by human ears and, presumably, by the birds) of the distinct dialect types.
Photo at bottom by Ardea/Jim Zipp/Animals Animals
Spectrograms courtesy of the author.
As with group-specific matched calls, there is evidence that individuals of species with dialects generally adopt the calls of their new companions when they disperse to a different population. For example, Timothy Wright, now of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, and his colleagues inferred from genetic studies that yellow-naped Amazon parrots disperse across dialect boundaries and learn the call structure of their adopted locale, concurrently adopting new roost-specific matched calls and new population-specific dialects. The authors have proposed that immigrants in this and other species learn the local dialect to gain access to roost sites and to be permitted on foraging trips during which they learn about and gain access to local foraging areas—resources important for their survival. In species such as parrots that often forage and roost in groups and cooperate in rearing young, individual receivers that choose foraging partners and mates that produce the local call dialect are thus assured that their companions are capable of finding food and selecting a safe roost site, so they too will benefit from access to those resources.
Although animals such as yellow-naped Amazon parrots learn new call dialects, a handful of species are unable or unwilling to learn different dialects in adulthood. When animals do not or cannot learn to produce or recognize one another’s vocalizations, their ability to coordinate social behaviors is constrained. The failure to learn new call dialects might limit communication between populations and thus limit their social and genetic intermixing.
Figure 8. Red crossbills use contact calls to locate members of their group and find food sources.
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no
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Bioacoustics
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Are the calls of birds unique to each individual?
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no_statement
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the "calls" of "birds" are not "unique" to each "individual".. each "individual" "bird" does not have "unique" "calls".
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https://pages.vassar.edu/sensoryecology/a-quick-lesson-in-raven-grammar/
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A Quick Lesson in Raven Grammar |
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A Quick Lesson in Raven Grammar
From seemingly simple statements to the sophistications of poetry, human language is incredibly complex. There is enormous unconscious cognitive effort behind extracting precise information from speech, which is ultimately a series of sounds varying in frequency, intensity and timing. Meaning thus depends not only on the sounds we make, but the grammar and structure built up by these individual noises. Understanding how complex vocalizations work within the larger context of animal life is an important step in getting a clear picture of what made language the incredibly diverse, and often beautiful, mode of communication it is today.
The intricacies of bird song provide enormous amounts of information. Passerines (songbirds) have a large repertoire of available songs and calls for communicating between themselves and amongst other species; the common raven (Corvus corax) has demonstrated at least 79 unique calls for territorial interactions alone. Studies have shown that not only groups of ravens but individuals display unique calls, allowing others to identify them from a long distance. As they display cognitive intelligence on par with some primates, exploring the actual components of calls ravens interpret and respond to provides fertile ground for acoustic research.
Researchers have known that songbirds differentially interpret the patterns within songs in addition to the tone and loudness of each song syllable. However, all previous studies have depended upon conditioning the birds’ response over time to differently structured songs. In this study, Reber et al. explored how ravens would react to novel songs composed of different component patterns than they were accustomed to. They hoped to determine if birds were able to distinguish a spontaneously heard new song structure composed of individual syllables to which they had been habituated, as primates have been shown to do.
They recorded long-distance calls used by raven mating pairs (one female, one male) in marking territory. With computer programs, they broke these songs into individual components and rearranged them into an (AB)npattern, in which A is a male syllable, B is female, and n is the number of times the calls were repeated. Ravens were allowed to grow accustomed to these calls, after which the researchers rearranged the pattern, either by lengthening the overall call (increasing n), changing the pattern of component A to B (for instance, AABB versus ABAB), or dropping the final syllable (ABA versus ABAB). In order to determine whether the birds were interpreting and responding to the sounds, they recorded the time the ravens spent oriented towards a speaker from which the sound was played.
The birds were clearly more interested when the pattern was spontaneously changed than when a control was played through the speaker. Although dropping the last syllable and lengthening the call did not result in a behavioral change, the birds may have been processing the information and simply been uninterested in responding. Considering that ravens vocalize as pairs, the actual order of syllables within the call seems to provide relevant information about the two birds (for example, a pair invading another’s territory) together. Further research among not only other birds in different lineages but among primates as well may provide a clearer picture of the development of complex vocalizations across evolutionary time.
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A Quick Lesson in Raven Grammar
From seemingly simple statements to the sophistications of poetry, human language is incredibly complex. There is enormous unconscious cognitive effort behind extracting precise information from speech, which is ultimately a series of sounds varying in frequency, intensity and timing. Meaning thus depends not only on the sounds we make, but the grammar and structure built up by these individual noises. Understanding how complex vocalizations work within the larger context of animal life is an important step in getting a clear picture of what made language the incredibly diverse, and often beautiful, mode of communication it is today.
The intricacies of bird song provide enormous amounts of information. Passerines (songbirds) have a large repertoire of available songs and calls for communicating between themselves and amongst other species; the common raven (Corvus corax) has demonstrated at least 79 unique calls for territorial interactions alone. Studies have shown that not only groups of ravens but individuals display unique calls, allowing others to identify them from a long distance. As they display cognitive intelligence on par with some primates, exploring the actual components of calls ravens interpret and respond to provides fertile ground for acoustic research.
Researchers have known that songbirds differentially interpret the patterns within songs in addition to the tone and loudness of each song syllable. However, all previous studies have depended upon conditioning the birds’ response over time to differently structured songs. In this study, Reber et al. explored how ravens would react to novel songs composed of different component patterns than they were accustomed to. They hoped to determine if birds were able to distinguish a spontaneously heard new song structure composed of individual syllables to which they had been habituated, as primates have been shown to do.
They recorded long-distance calls used by raven mating pairs (one female, one male) in marking territory. With computer programs, they broke these songs into individual components and rearranged them into an (AB)npattern, in which A is a male syllable, B is female, and n is the number of times the calls were repeated.
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yes
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Endangered Species
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Are there more tigers kept as pets than in the wild?
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yes_statement
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there are more "tigers" "kept" as "pets" than in the "wild".. the number of "tigers" "kept" as "pets" exceeds the number of "tigers" in the "wild".
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https://www.whyanimalsdothething.com/more-tigers-in-texas
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Are There More Tigers in Texas and Florida Than in the Wild ...
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Are There More Tigers in Texas and Florida Than in the Wild?
A close examination of the data regarding captive tiger populations in the United States suggests it is highly unlikely pet tiger populations are as large as commonly thought.
Are There More Tigers in Texas and Florida than in the Wild?
12/27/2018 - Rachel Garner
More tigers live in American backyards than exist in the wild anywhere else in the world.
— Typical Tiger Population Claim
One of the most commonly heard phrases about tigers in the United States is that the populations of pet tigers in one or two southern states exceeds the entire combined population of tigers anywhere else in the world. It is a sound bite that has been repeated for almost two decades by zoo educators, sanctuary groups, and reporters. While the claim appears at first glance to have some foundation in academic sources, a closer examination indicates that there is very little data to support that conclusion, and that what data does exist suggests there are likely to be far less tigers in the U.S.
Why Do People Think There Are So Many Tigers?
Two narratives currently exist about the privately owned captive tiger population in the United States: first that there are easily 5,000 - 7,000 pet tigers in the country, possibly more (World Wildlife Fund, 2010; HSUS, 2017; The Wild Animal Sanctuary, 2017; Jeffreys, 2018), and second, that more tigers are kept in Texas and/or Florida than are currently living in the wild (Born Free, 2012; Graef, 2013; Brulliard, 2016). These two claims both seem to have originated in around the early 2000s. Although the claims are close to two decades old, both continue to have widespread acceptance. Neither claim seems particularly accurate, however, in light of the current data.
By the late 1990s, it was well known that there was a huge population of big cats in private hands in the United States. Before the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, there were no restrictions on the importation or purchase of big cats by regular citizens, and privately owned populations as well as those used in commercial endeavors flourished. By 1997, the total population of tigers in the United States was assessed at a little over 7,500 animals (Werner, 1997 as cited in Werner, 2005). It appears that the first claims about the large number of privately owned (i.e. non-commercial use) tigers started to occur fairly frequently in the mainstream news media in the early 2000s. The first documented instance of the claim that the domestic tiger population exceeded the wild population was in an article in the Dallas Observer, which stated that “those familiar with the issue claim that the tiger population in Texas is at about 4,000 animals” which “would mean there are more tigers in the state than in India” (Siderius, 2002). The frequency of online newspaper records discussing the size of captive tiger populations in the United States increased around 2003, when between 5,000 - 7,000 tigers were thought to be in the entire United States. Most of the claims from that period source The Humane Society of the United States or the director of an animal sanctuary in Colorado as the origin of their numbers (Brennan, 2003; Kelley, 2003; My Plainview, 2003).
Thereafter, population claims numbering upwards of 5,000 began to be repeated more frequently, often without sourcing (Garner, 2018c). By the end of 2005, claims of as many as 10,000 and 15,000 privately owned tigers had begun to appear (Oversight, 2005; Indian Express, 2005). Privately owned tiger population claims of anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 animals were repeated the most often over the subsequent decade or so, frequently without sources or attributed only to “experts” or “advocacy groups” (Garner, 2018c) and were generally considered “common knowledge” within the relevant industries by 2018. Note that the wild tiger population worldwide in 2018 is known to be only somewhere between 2,100 and 3,900 animals (Hauser, 2016; IUCN, 2018). If the population of tigers claimed to exist in the United States is accurate, there would clearly be more of them privately owned within the country’s borders than living in the wild. The claims about current captive tiger populations in the U.S., however, appear to be inflated and are not supported by what is known about the progression of privately owned big cat populations of all species in the country.
What Data Is There?
After the Endangered Species Act (ESA) passed in 1973, privately owned big cat populations continued to flourish in the United States due to efforts by breeders and owners to circumvent the letter of the law and inconsistent enforcement the law on the part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The permitting process established by the ESA for legitimate entities to continue propagating endangered species turned out to be too resource-intensive; after an intensive review the Captive Bred Wildlife (CBW) permitting process was implemented in 1979. The new program allowed registered entities to engage in otherwise prohibited activities prohibited by the Endangered Species Act, such as interstate commerce, as long as their activities could be shown to enhance the propagation or survival of the species (U.S. FWS, 2016). In order to register with the CBW program and benefit from this expedited permitting process, holders of any endangered species covered by the program were required to maintain “accurate written records of activities, including births, deaths, and transfers of specimens (Federal Register, 2016)” and make them available to the agency upon request. In 1998, the FWS amended the CBW regulations to exclude “generic” or “sub-species hybrid” tigers to reduce the large number of man-hours required to track animals that were not “purebred” and were not of value to legitimate conservation breeding efforts. Thus, while breeders producing generic tigers, which were essentially mutts, were still technically restricted from commercial trade in big cats under the ESA, they were now exempt from the only type of direct and consistent oversight from the Department of the Interior. So while the population of privately owned big cats in the United States was decreasing overall due to the effectiveness of the ESA’s prohibitions against importations and purchase (Nyhus et al.,2009), the generic tiger exemption from the CBW program actually facilitated an increased domestic market for privately owned tigers until the loophole was closed again in 2016.
While there is no government or private registry recording or tracking all of the captive big cats in the United States, there are still many sources from which to draw information that can inform a broad estimate of the tiger population in the country. All big cats of any species residing in a facility licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA APHIS, n.d.) are recorded in inventories that licensees are required to submit yearly. These records include all tigers used for exhibition, breeding programs, and entertainment, and are accessible through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums maintains studbooks tracking all of the tigers that are part of their conservation breeding programs (Tiger SSP, 2018). Tigers in other exhibition settings have been counted by researchers using records kept through tracking programs such as Species 360 (Nyhus et al., 2010), and might also be identified through examinations of regional or international studbook data. The most difficult part of creating an accurate survey of the captive tiger populations in the United States is identifying all the individuals that reside in private ownership situations. Some states or municipalities require registration and/or licensing for privately owned dangerous exotic animals such as tigers, and these records are often available through freedom of information laws.
Only one private entity has ever really been willing or able to track the privately owned exotic felids in the United States that exist either in areas without registration requirements or are held secretly. While the Feline Conservation Federation (FCF) is the only organization who has undertaken felid census work in the United States, the first census of the big cat population was actually completed in 1997 by Brian Werner, a researcher who later joined the FCF before publishing a follow-up census in 2005. In the 2005 census, Werner documented fewer than 5,000 big cats in all settings in the entirety of the United States; of the 1,830 big cats identified to be in private homes, the vast majority were tigers (1,129 animals, or 88.6%). Virtually no academic work has been done since Werner’s 2005 census to ascertain the true extent of big cat populations in the country. His numbers were cited in a World Wildlife Fund report discussing the country’s potential contribution to the black market tiger trade (Williamson & Henry, 2008), as well as repeatedly cited as the most “reasonable” extant population estimates in multiple publications by the prominent tiger researchers Nyhus & Tilson (2009; Nyhus et al., 2010). The FCF has continued Werner’s census work, publishing out a report in 2011 about the number of big cats in USDA-licensed facilities (Culver), of which 2,621 were identified as tigers. The FCF also undertook a census in 2016 that attempted to identify all big cats in the United States, including those that were “off-grid,” i.e., privately owned (Chambers, 2017). They determined a total population in the United States of slightly more than 5,000 big cats in all ownership settings, with tigers comprising almost half (2,330). While it is improbable that the 2016 FCF census managed to identify and include every privately owned big cat, it is likely that their big cat population numbers are more accurate than the higher claims repeated that are more frequently. (See Garner, 2018a for a longer discussion of why that is the case).
Only 554 of the 2,330 tigers identified in the 2016 FCF census resided outside of a zoo or sanctuary setting, a category which includes those used in circuses, films, or other production work in the Untied States, as well as privately owned animals. This extremely low number of tigers outside the zoo and sanctuary systems is at odds with the multiple thousands of tigers frequently claimed to exist by animal advocacy groups and members of the media. While there are no studies yet that could conclusively confirm a specific number of tigers within the United States, or prove that one number claimed to date is definitively ‘right’, there are a number of factors that suggest that the lower and more recent estimates of privately owned tiger populations are closer to the truth.
Additional evaluation appears to confirm the veracity of the data from the FCF censuses, and seems to validate their conclusion that tiger populations have been decreasing in the United States during the last decade. This is due in part to the the Captive Wildlife Safety Act (CWSA) passing in 2003, which prohibited the transport of big cats across state lines without a federal permit (Captive Wildlife Safety Act, 2003), as well as to the increase in the number of laws and regulations restricting or prohibiting private big cat ownership at both state and municipal levels since the beginning of the 2000s (Nyhus et al., 2009; IFAW, 2016; BCR 2018 big cat bans). The sanctuary industry has thoroughly documented that when the CWSA was fully implemented in 2007, it had an immediate impact. The law created a need for rehoming or rescuing a large number of big cats, and, longer-term, it kept the populations low as commercial breeding decreased as interstate commerce became less feasible (Baskin, 2015). Only four states (Alabama, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin) are currently without any laws related to the private ownership of big cats at the end of 2018 (Turpentine Creek, 2018), and all are likely to have relevant bills sponsored in their state legislatures during the 2019 legislative session. The sanctuary Big Cat Rescue publishes annual reports tracking the number of big cats in the US in need of rescue, as well as how many they were able to take; while they don’t report how many of each species needed rescue in a given year, their data shows that the number of cats needing placement since 2008 has dropped sharply. (Baskin, 2018a). Their reports note that in recent years, almost all of the big cats in need of rescue have come from other sanctuaries, zoos, or exhibitors that were closing, rather than private ownership settings (Baskin, 2015; Baskin, 2017) (for a further discussion of this trend, see Garner, 2018a).
Another indicator of the decreasing privately owned tiger population is the sharp drop in attacks and escapes that have occurred after the Captive Wildlife Safety Act passed in 2003. Big cats are one of the most dangerous exotic animals to keep in a captive setting, due to their size, pre-equipped weaponry, intelligence, and predatory natures; tigers are the species responsible for the largest fraction of any safety incident involving a captive big cat in any type of setting in the United States (Garner, 2018b). Since the year 2000, more than 350 incidents in which a captive big cat in the United States jeopardized human safety have occurred; almost half (175) of those total incidents involved tigers. (Garner, 2018b). Of those 175 incidents involving tigers, only 45 involved privately owned tigers, less than half the number of incidents that occurred in zoos during that same time period (Garner, n.d.). The number of incidents in all settings has decreased over the last ten years, but the number of incidents occurring in the private sector has dropped much more sharply and consistently than in zoo management settings [Figure 1].
This data is particularly relevant because of the implications about both the number of tigers as well as the total number of big cats believed to be in private hands. Of the approximately 2,000 big cats currently housed in zoos in the United States (Chambers, 2017), only 300 - 550 are tigers (Chambers, 2017, Tiger SSP, 2018). They have had 143 total incidents over the past 18 years (Garner, 2018b), just less than half of which (73) of which involved tigers. According to a compilation of the big cat incidents recorded by major organizations that track them (Garner, 2018b), private ownership situations have only had 130 incidents over the same period of time, 45 of which involved tigers.
Figure 2. Number of Safety Incidents Involving Tigers per Year by Setting.
Data from Garner, 2018d, unpublished.
Click image to view larger version.
It would be inconsistent for the private sector to have so many fewer incidents over time than zoos, if the private sector maintains a tiger population that is said to be at least fifteen times the size of the total zoo tiger population. Zoos have far more safety features incorporated into their big cat management: they have professionally constructed animal enclosures, trained staff, and extensive safety protocols that most private owners cannot match. And while zoos, with a relatively stable tiger population over time, see frequent safety incidents involving those tigers, the number of private ownership incidents per year dropped markedly around 2005 and has stayed very low for the last decade [Figure 2]. It is not logical that so few safety incidents would occur in private settings if there are so many more tigers residing there than in zoos, where they are managed with fewer safety features; the data implies that something has changed within the private sector to cause the sharp drop in safety incidents since the early 2000s, and it seems most likely to be the decrease in privately owned tiger populations indicated by the FCF census data.
As discussed in Garner, 2018a, “a case might be made that those incident numbers from private settings might be skewed to the low side, as incidents occurring in zoos are much more likely to be publicized and private owners might be inclined to hide incidents, especially if they’re keeping their animals secretly.” But that is exceedingly hard to do in today’s world, where everyone carries a smartphone with an internet connection and when “pet tigers” is a popular topic for the media to report on. Keeping a tiger secret in modern America means keeping it entirely off social media, as well as off the radar of anyone who lives nearby who might put online their theories or questions about what type of animal you own. Neither are the resources required to support keeping big cats easy to keep secret, as discussed in Garner, 2018a, and tigers are inherently noisy and odorous animals. Even if a private tiger owner has no visitors, says nothing about their pet tiger to friends, and posts no photos on social media, eventually most communities notice something odd and - figure out that they are keeping some type of exotic pet. Once tigers are noticed as being in private possession, the story usually comes to the attention of mainstream media very quickly (CNN, 2003; McMahon, 2017; CBS Los Angeles, 2018), and then to the attention of law enforcement and animal advocacy groups.
The probability that the low estimates of backyard tigers numbers are more correct is increased by a survey of current events from 2017 and 2018. While messaging about the captive tiger population that reports high numbers of animals in private hands tends to imply that there are a large number of exhibitors breeding and distributing cubs that are destined to be abandoned into the private sector after growing too old to be easily handled (Big Cat Rescue, n.d., Russo, 2015), one of the major animal advocacy groups that fights against private ownership of exotic animals is confident enough that that is no longer a reality to put it forth as evidence in a lawsuit. In their 2016 filing against Dade City’s Wild Things (DCWT), a zoo that bred tiger cubs for use in public interaction programs, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) stated that “DCWT plays a large role in the captive-tiger overpopulation crisis as one of the relatively few exhibitors [emphasis added] who are breeding cubs for public encounters and fueling the overpopulation problem” (PETA v. Dade City, 2016). PETA then adds that Dade City “maintains a waiting list for facilities wanting tiger cubs,” which implies that demand in the United States for tigers is higher than the available supply, i.e., that not many tiger cubs are being bred. This implication seems to be borne out by the fact that tiger cubs now being found while being smuggled into United States (presumably to go to private ownership situations) (Associated Press, 2018; Okungu, 2018). While illegal commercial activity with big cat cubs does appear to exist in shadier parts of the exhibition world (USA v Maldonado-Passage, 2018), incidents in which people are caught selling tiger cubs as pets now occur very infrequently (McMahon, 2017; USA v Maldonado-Passage, 2018). This is mirrored by the fact that sanctuaries around the country are reporting that the need for rescuing big cats is decreasing, and that they are visibly focusing their efforts on importing rescued big cats from other countries rather than taking in tigers domestically (Big Cat Rescue, 2018; Butzer 2018; Brulliard, 2017).
If it’s unlikely that there are tens of thousands of tigers in the entire United States, what about the high populations purported to be concentrated just in Texas or Florida? While both those states do allow legal tiger ownership as long as owners meet certain permitting or registration requirements (Turpentine Creek, 2018), the population numbers alleged in those states seem implausible. Florida and Texas have historically had the largest big cat populations in the United States, and according to the FCF 2016 census they still do have the highest concentrations of tigers in the country, but the numbers that census published are far lower than what has been claimed previously. Chambers identified 416 tigers across all ownership settings (zoos, sanctuaries, and “others”) in Florida, as well as 198 tigers living in Texas; these 614 identified tigers comprise only about one quarter of the 2,330 tigers the study identified in the entire country, but are much less than the 2,000 - 3,000 commonly claimed to live in in private settings in one or both of those states. If there were four times as many hidden tigers in those states as have been identified, there must be problems with regulatory enforcement or injury reporting, because it’s highly unlikely that that many tigers in a few highly concentrated areas wouldn’t be injuring people or escaping at the same rate as in other private ownership situations.
Consider also fact that both Florida and Texas experienced major natural disasters in 2017 and 2018: Hurricanes Michael and Irma in Florida and Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Yet no dead tigers were reported to found in the aftermath, nor were there incidents reported involving escaped pet tigers. Evacuating a large, dangerous predator in advance of a major emergency is complicated and time-consuming for even the most well-funded and professional zoos, as it requires not only the physical arrangements required to crate a big cat, but also transportation that is immediately available and a back-up location where a dangerous animal can be safely housed for an indefinite period of time. As a result, many established zoos and sanctuaries choose to shelter their animal in place when facing serious weather hazards rather than risk attempting to move them. Given that most private owners are not likely to have the same resources available to them that established professional facilities would, it is highly unlikely that people who owned tigers illegally in the areas affected by those hurricanes would have attempted to evacuate their cats. Each of the hurricanes in Florida and Texas during the last two years caused widespread property damage that would have demolished all but the most well-built containment and caused extensive flooding over large areas that would have drowned any animal unable to seek higher ground, yet there was not a single news report about dead or escaped tigers being found in the aftermath of any of the storms. The alleged large population of big cats living secretly in both states is considered by federal legislators and national animal advocacy groups to be a huge safety risk for first responders (IFAW, 2015; Baskin, 2018b), and so any incident in which the emergency response teams addressing the aftermath of these disasters could have potentially been put at risk by the existence of secret dangerous predators would absolutely have extremely newsworthy and would have been reported at a national level. If there are truly multiple thousands of tigers living in secret in one or both states, it makes no sense that not a single one was in an area impacted by any of those major natural disasters.
So How Many Tigers Are There in the US?
While it’s conceivable that there might have been multiple thousands of tigers living hidden in private situations in Texas or Florida near the end of the 1990s, all available information indicates that those claims inaccurate as of the end of 2018. The claims about tiger populations both in those states and in the nation as a whole appear to have escalated without any actual data, and what little data has been recently acquired seems to refute such claims. Many of the talking points repeated in 2018 appear to have come into existence through informal transmission over many years (Garner, 2018c). As a result these claims frequently contradict each other or make claims that are obviously untrue, such as that the Texas tiger population is larger than any other in the world (TWAS Intro Video; 2018) - even the giant tiger farms in Asia - or that there are free-roaming tigers in Texas (Olson, 2018). Given that so many of these numbers seem to have been repeatedly inflated without supporting data, and that the evolution of laws and regulations restricting ownership and transportation of big cats in the United States appears to have been successful at reducing private populations over the past twenty years, it’s likely that the real number of privately owned tigers is far lower than what is quoted as “common knowledge” in the United States today. A larger population of tigers in the U.S., especially if it is highly concentrated in just a couple of states, would result in very different data on attacks, escapes, and sightings.
A Selection of Current Captive Tiger Population Claims
“In the case of tigers, of the estimated 5000 in this country, only about 250 are pure bred subspecies and those are housed in AZA accredited zoos.” - Fact Sheet: Big Cat Public Safety Act (Big Cat Rescue, n.d.)
“By today’s environmental standards, a self-sustaining tiger population - based on 7,000 plus animals - would be considered a success story. However, when those 7,000 tigers are found in captivity - living outside of our public zoo system – it is considered a travesty.” The Wild Animal Sanctuary: The Captive Wildlife Crisis (The Wild Animal Sanctuary, 2017, para. 1)
“Taj is one of as many as 7,000 tigers living in the US either in zoos or privately owned, according to some estimates.” - James Jeffrey, BBC America (Jeffrey, 2018)
“It is estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers are kept as “pets” — more than exist in the wild.” Born Free: Ten Fast Facts about Exotic Pets (“Fast Facts”, 2012)
“In American backyards we have at least an estimated 5000-7000 tigers, (...) and these are completely excluding what you think of as a zoo.” - Heather Rally, Peta Foundation (Rally, 2017)
“With an estimated 5,000 tigers, the U.S. captive tiger population is on par with the captive tiger population of China (estimated to be over 5,000) and far exceeds the approximately 3,200 individuals believed to exist in the wild today.” - World Wildlife Fund: Tigers Among Us (World Wildlife Fund, 2010)
“There are 7,000 tigers in [the United States], more than live in the wild in the rest of the world.” - Tigers in America (Nimmo, n.d.)
“There are an estimated 5,000 – 7,000 tigers living in captivity today, with only about 400 of those living in Zoos. “ - Big Cat Alliance: The Big Cat Public Safety Act is Important to You (Heckman, 2018)
“There’s such a patchwork of laws regulating tiger ownership that no one actually knows how many tigers call America home. But the U.S. government and conservation and animal welfare groups estimate that between 5,000 and 10,000 do.” - The Washington Post (Brulliard, 2016)
“10,000 tigers are in private hands in this country right now.” Michelle Thew, Animal Protection Institute quoted in ABC News (ABC News, 2006)
“There are now more tigers in private hands in the U.S. than remain in the wild.” - Carson Barylak, International Fund for Animal Welfare (The Humane Society of the United States, 2017, para. 5)
“They also believe that there are currently more tigers living in captivity in Texas than in the wild, where their population is estimated to be around around 3,000.” - Care2 Petition (Graef, 2013)
“The largest population of tigers in the world is actually in private residences in Texas.” The Wild Animal Sanctuary Intro / Rules Video (TWAS Intro Video, n.d.)
“Animal population experts believe at least a couple thousand tigers live in the Lone Star State, which would make Texas the second-largest tiger population of any region in the world, behind only India. While some of those big cats are roaming free and others are smuggled in from outside the country, many are actually living as pets.” KTRH News Radio (Olson, 2018)
“Ron Tilson, Conservation Director for the Minnesota Zoo, states unequivocally that there are more tigers in backyards across the U.S. than in all of the zoos put together.” - The Wildcat Sanctuary: Captive Wildlife Laws (“Captive Wildlife Laws”, n.d., “What is the Captive Wildlife Crisis”, para. 2)
“How many of these cats are out there right now, in backyards, in farms, or in whatever ad-hoc facility someone designs to keep them in? ‘Well over 10,000,’ says Barylak — and that's mostly tigers with a good number of lions and smaller groups of leopards and other wild cats.” International Fund for Animal Welfare, as quoted in Business Insider (Loria, 2016)
“An estimated 10,000 big cats are kept as pets and for profit in places like basements, backyards and roadside zoos throughout the U.S. today. In fact, the U.S. is thought to be home to more captive tigers than are found in the wild.” Big Cat Public Safety Act: International Fund For Animal Welfare (IFAW, n.d.)
Brulliard, K. (2017, January 19). One problem with shutting down the circus: Where will the animals go? Washington Post. Retrieved December 23, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/01/19/one-problem-with-shutting-down-the-circus-where-will-the-animals-go/?utm_term=.562d943238b2
Garner, R. (2018a, December 24). Are There Tens Of Thousands Of Big Cats In American Backyards? Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://www.whyanimalsdothething.com/tens-of-thousands-of-backyard-big-cats
Garner, R. (2018c, May 23). Media Claims About The Tiger Population In The United States Are Frequently Exaggerated. Retrieved December 23, 2018, from https://www.whyanimalsdothething.com/tiger-population-numbers-exaggerated/
Graef, A. (2013, March 19). There Are More Captive Tigers in Texas Than in the Wild. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://www.care2.com/causes/theres-more-captive-tigers-in-texas-than-in-the-wild.html
Hauser, C. (2016, April 11). Number of Tigers in the Wild is Rising, Wildlife Groups Say. New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/world/asia/wild-tiger-numbers-are-rising-wildlife-groups-say.html
Lions and Tigers and Bears in the Backyard. (2006, October 25). ABC News. Retrieved December 15, 2018, from https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2604901&page=1
Loria, K. (2016, March 17). Armed police freed 11 tigers, 3 lions, and 3 bears from captivity — and that was just the beginning. Business Insider. Retrieved December 23, 2018, from https://www.businessinsider.com/armed-police-freed-tigers-lions-and-bears-from-captivity-2016-3
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2016). Captive-bred Wildlife Registration under the U.S. Endangered Species Act(Publication). Arlington, VA: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service International Affairs Division of Management Authority.
Werner, B. (2005). Distribution, abundance and reproductive biology of captive Panthera Tigris populations living within the United States of America assessment. Feline Conservation Federation,49(2), 24-25.
Williamson, D. F., & Henry, L. A. (2008). PAPER TIGERS? The Role of the U.S. Captive Tiger Population in the Trade in Tiger Parts. TRAFFIC North America.
World Wildlife Fund, TRAFFIC North America. (2010). Tigers Among Us [Press release]. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/546/files/original/TigersAmongUS_web.pdf?1364924470
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If passed as written, H.R.1818 would prevent all non-commercial ownership of big cats, and also restrict which USDA-licensed commercial facilities would be allowed to house, transport and breed large felids.
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RACHEL GARNER
Rachel is an educator and animal science writer. With prior professional experience in zookeeping, visitor education, shelter behavior management, and more, she works to translate pertinent field-specific knowledge into comprehensive explanations about current animal related topics.
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0 tigers are kept as “pets” — more than exist in the wild.” Born Free: Ten Fast Facts about Exotic Pets (“Fast Facts”, 2012)
“In American backyards we have at least an estimated 5000-7000 tigers, (...) and these are completely excluding what you think of as a zoo.” - Heather Rally, Peta Foundation (Rally, 2017)
“With an estimated 5,000 tigers, the U.S. captive tiger population is on par with the captive tiger population of China (estimated to be over 5,000) and far exceeds the approximately 3,200 individuals believed to exist in the wild today.” - World Wildlife Fund: Tigers Among Us (World Wildlife Fund, 2010)
“There are 7,000 tigers in [the United States], more than live in the wild in the rest of the world.” - Tigers in America (Nimmo, n.d.)
“There are an estimated 5,000 – 7,000 tigers living in captivity today, with only about 400 of those living in Zoos. “ - Big Cat Alliance: The Big Cat Public Safety Act is Important to You (Heckman, 2018)
“There’s such a patchwork of laws regulating tiger ownership that no one actually knows how many tigers call America home. But the U.S. government and conservation and animal welfare groups estimate that between 5,000 and 10,000 do.” - The Washington Post (Brulliard, 2016)
“10,000 tigers are in private hands in this country right now.” Michelle Thew, Animal Protection Institute quoted in ABC News (ABC News, 2006)
“There are now more tigers in private hands in the U.S. than remain in the wild.” - Carson Barylak, International Fund for Animal Welfare (The Humane Society of the United States, 2017, para.
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yes
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Endangered Species
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Are there more tigers kept as pets than in the wild?
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yes_statement
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there are more "tigers" "kept" as "pets" than in the "wild".. the number of "tigers" "kept" as "pets" exceeds the number of "tigers" in the "wild".
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https://www.bornfreeusa.org/2005/10/20/ten_fast_facts_about_exotic_pets/
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Ten Fast Facts about Exotic “Pets” | Born Free USA
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Ten Fast Facts about Exotic “Pets”
There are millions of wild animals kept as pets in homes across the U.S. These animals face lives of unnatural captivity, which often includes inadequate care, food, and living conditions. Below, read 10 Fast Facts about exotic “pets” and click here to learn more about Born Free USA’s work to keep wildlife in the wild.
Millions of wild animals, including reptiles, large felines, nonhuman primates, and others, are kept in private possession in the U.S. The trade in exotic animals is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry.
Exotic “pets” are wild animals that do not adjust well to a captive environment. They require special care, housing, diet, and maintenance that the average person cannot provide.
It is estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers are kept as “pets” — more than exist in the wild. A tiger can be purchased for as little as $300, or less than the cost of a purebred dog.
Animals enter the exotic “pet” trade from a variety of sources. Some are stolen from their native habitat; some are “surplus” from zoos or menageries; some are sold at auctions or in pet shops; while others come from backyard breeders. The Internet has dramatically increased the ease with which people can find and purchase wild animals for their private possession.
Exotic “pets” purchased as infants are abandoned by their keepers as they age and become impossible to control. Sanctuaries cannot accommodate the large numbers of unwanted “pets.” As a result, the majority of these animals are euthanized, abandoned, or doomed to live in deplorable conditions.
Across the country, privately-held exotic animals held have escaped from their enclosures and have attacked humans and other animals — with sometimes fatal results.
An estimated 90 percent of all reptiles carry and shed salmonella in their feces. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 93,000 salmonella cases caused by exposure to reptiles are reported each year in the United States. As many as 90 percent of all macaque monkeys are infected with herpes B virus, which harmless to monkeys but often fatal in humans.
The American Veterinary Medical Association, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the CDC have all expressed opposition to the possession of certain exotic animals by individuals.
The sale and possession of exotic animals is regulated by a patchwork of federal, state and local laws that generally vary by community and by animal. Eighteen states prohibit possession of at least large cats, wolves, bears, nonhuman primates, and dangerous reptiles. Ten states have a partial ban, prohibiting possession of some exotic animals. Thirteen states require a license or permit to possess exotic animals. Many cities and counties have adopted ordinances that are more stringent than the state law.
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Ten Fast Facts about Exotic “Pets”
There are millions of wild animals kept as pets in homes across the U.S. These animals face lives of unnatural captivity, which often includes inadequate care, food, and living conditions. Below, read 10 Fast Facts about exotic “pets” and click here to learn more about Born Free USA’s work to keep wildlife in the wild.
Millions of wild animals, including reptiles, large felines, nonhuman primates, and others, are kept in private possession in the U.S. The trade in exotic animals is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry.
Exotic “pets” are wild animals that do not adjust well to a captive environment. They require special care, housing, diet, and maintenance that the average person cannot provide.
It is estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers are kept as “pets” — more than exist in the wild. A tiger can be purchased for as little as $300, or less than the cost of a purebred dog.
Animals enter the exotic “pet” trade from a variety of sources. Some are stolen from their native habitat; some are “surplus” from zoos or menageries; some are sold at auctions or in pet shops; while others come from backyard breeders. The Internet has dramatically increased the ease with which people can find and purchase wild animals for their private possession.
Exotic “pets” purchased as infants are abandoned by their keepers as they age and become impossible to control. Sanctuaries cannot accommodate the large numbers of unwanted “pets.” As a result, the majority of these animals are euthanized, abandoned, or doomed to live in deplorable conditions.
Across the country, privately-held exotic animals held have escaped from their enclosures and have attacked humans and other animals — with sometimes fatal results.
An estimated 90 percent of all reptiles carry and shed salmonella in their feces.
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yes
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Endangered Species
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Are there more tigers kept as pets than in the wild?
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yes_statement
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there are more "tigers" "kept" as "pets" than in the "wild".. the number of "tigers" "kept" as "pets" exceeds the number of "tigers" in the "wild".
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https://a-z-animals.com/blog/are-there-more-tigers-in-texas-than-in-the-wild/
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Are There More Tigers in Texas Than in The Wild? - AZ Animals
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Are There More Tigers in Texas Than in The Wild?
WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more.
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The tiger is among the most stunning creatures to ever live, being the largest big cat in the world. It is an apex predator that hunts alone through various terrains all around the planet during the day. Most of us would picture a trip to western Asia or India if we wanted to see a lot of tigers, but only a few people would consider organizing a trip to Texas. However, the latter might be a more efficient use of your time. One of the most frequently repeated statements regarding tigers in the United States is that there are more tigers in Texas than in all of the tiger’s wild populations combined. But is that statement true? Are there really more tigers in Texas than in the wild?
Are There More Tigers in Texas Than in the Wild?
4,087 People Couldn't Ace This Quiz
Think You Can?
In Texas, it is simpler to own a tiger than a dangerous dog. According to estimates, there could be around 2,000-5,000 tigers residing in this southern state of the United States, making Texas home to as many tigers as there are in the wild worldwide, which is estimated to be 5,000. While it may be a surprise to see a large wild cat relaxing in a front yard, Texas boasts a sizable tiger population. However, it is extremely tough to determine the precise number of tigers in Texas. Although owners are required by law to register their tigers with the state, many fail to do so.
With an estimated 5,000 big cats in captivity, the United States leads the world in tiger populations, with 8,000 tigers in captivity worldwide. Big cats are even kept as pets in backyards and houses in many US states where there are no laws prohibiting their keeping.
Although exact numbers are difficult to determine, India has by far the biggest population of wild tigers. As many as 3,346 tigers are thought to reside in India as of 2019, albeit this estimate is subject to change.
Does Texas Allow Tigers as Pets?
Yes, and you can have tigers as pets for a shockingly low price. Tigers born in captivity can cost anywhere between $900 and $2,500. Tiger ownership is at an all-time high because they are less expensive than many common pets and have a high “wow factor” due to their exotic nature.
Texas law mandates that anyone who owns a tiger maintain liability insurance coverage of at least $100,000. The Department of State Health and Human Services must receive a copy of the registration for dangerous animals that owners have registered with local health authorities. It should be noted that zoos with accreditation do not register animals similarly.
Additionally, each tiger must be kept in a cage with at least 300 square feet of area and an 8-foot fence. The standard for surrounding walls will range from a 12- to 16-foot minimum, depending on how the wall is erected. This cage must be covered, but not if that enclosure is more than 1,000 square feet.
Owners of wild animals may need to abide by additional laws and norms set forth by local governments. Keeping pet tigers is prohibited by the City of Houston. However, tigers may be kept as pets in unincorporated Harris County so long as they are maintained at least 1,000 feet away from other residences, schools, and daycare centers.
Why Are Tigers Endangered?
Due to the high demand for tiger bones, skin, and other exotic body parts for use in medicine, poaching is a widespread problem.
There are a few reasons tigers are endangered, with some subspecies being gravely threatened. In fact, the tiger population’s first drop was so severe that current estimates indicate that it has decreased by 95% since the turn of the 20th century. The main causes of the decline’s severity were poaching and habitat deterioration.
Due to the high demand for tiger bones, skin, and other exotic body parts for use in medicine, poaching is a widespread problem. Even though these medications are ineffective, there is still a market for them. For instance, the South China tiger in China was effectively exterminated once the government branded them pests, and widespread slaughter commenced.
The other factor, besides poachers and hunters, is habitat loss. Tigers typically need 4 to 6 square miles of land in the wild to patrol and forage, and they probably won’t survive on anything less than this. Tigers lose their habitat as forest biomes are destroyed to make way for lumber, construction materials, and other resources.
What Will Happen if Tigers Become Extinct?
The tiger is a unique creature essential to an ecosystem’s diversity and health. To preserve the balance between herbivores and the vegetation they consume, a strong animal at the top of the food chain must control the population of wild ungulates.
While de facto conflicts between humans and tigers would end if the feline disappeared, new conflicts would arise, especially with the tiger’s prey, which would be more plentiful due to a lack of predation. Because the tiger can no longer manage it, the population of deer, wild pigs, antelopes, and gaurs will increase substantially if the animal goes extinct. Due to additional animals eating it, the amount of food will decrease. Smaller animals and insects will shift to our crops and farmlands if the vegetation in the rainforest declines. This will be an issue since they will devour all of our food and affect our population.
Technically speaking, the tiger also mitigates climate change by keeping other animals from consuming forests. If trees disappear, we lose a significant source of oxygen.
The Featured Image
For six years, I have worked as a professional writer and editor for books, blogs, and websites, with a particular focus on animals, tech, and finance. When I'm not working, I enjoy playing video games with friends.
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Are There More Tigers in Texas Than in The Wild?
WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more.
Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day.
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The tiger is among the most stunning creatures to ever live, being the largest big cat in the world. It is an apex predator that hunts alone through various terrains all around the planet during the day. Most of us would picture a trip to western Asia or India if we wanted to see a lot of tigers, but only a few people would consider organizing a trip to Texas. However, the latter might be a more efficient use of your time. One of the most frequently repeated statements regarding tigers in the United States is that there are more tigers in Texas than in all of the tiger’s wild populations combined. But is that statement true? Are there really more tigers in Texas than in the wild?
Are There More Tigers in Texas Than in the Wild?
4,087 People Couldn't Ace This Quiz
Think You Can?
In Texas, it is simpler to own a tiger than a dangerous dog. According to estimates, there could be around 2,000-5,000 tigers residing in this southern state of the United States, making Texas home to as many tigers as there are in the wild worldwide, which is estimated to be 5,000. While it may be a surprise to see a large wild cat relaxing in a front yard, Texas boasts a sizable tiger population. However, it is extremely tough to determine the precise number of tigers in Texas. Although owners are required by law to register their tigers with the state, many fail to do so.
With an estimated 5,000 big cats in captivity, the United States leads the world in tiger populations, with 8,000 tigers in captivity worldwide. Big cats are even kept as pets in backyards and houses in many US states where there are no laws prohibiting their keeping.
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yes
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Endangered Species
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Are there more tigers kept as pets than in the wild?
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yes_statement
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there are more "tigers" "kept" as "pets" than in the "wild".. the number of "tigers" "kept" as "pets" exceeds the number of "tigers" in the "wild".
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https://www.bornfreeusa.org/species/tigers/
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Tigers - Facts, Habitat, Endangered Status | Species Spotlight
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Tigers
About
Tigers are exploited and abused in the wild and in captivity. Wild tigers have been brought to the brink of extinction; fewer than 4,000 remain worldwide, and the number may be as low as 3,000. In fact, more tigers live in captivity in the U.S. than exist in the wild globally.
An estimated 5,000-10,000 tigers are kept as “pets” in the U.S. – more than exist in the wild globally.
A tiger can be purchased for as little as $300: less than the cost of a purebred dog.
At the policy level, Born Free works within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to enforce the international trade ban on tiger parts and products, and to ensure that countries which have tigers (as well as those which have a demand for them) take action to secure a future for the species in the wild.
“The many threats faced by tigers today cannot be underestimated, and how we respond to them now is critical to the tiger’s future.”
Will Travers
Three of the nine tiger subspecies have gone extinct in the last 70 years: the Caspian, Javan, and Bali tigers. The South China tiger will most likely be the next subspecies to be declared extinct.
CITES status: Appendix I
Endangered Species Act Status: All six species of tigers are endangered.
Population
Estimated number remaining in the wild: Fewer than 4,000, and as low as 3,000 (as of 2016)
Population decline of tigers:
Early 1900s – 100,000
1940s – 50,000
2010 – 3,500 (1,400 of whom are in India)
Location
Once ranging widely across Asia, from Turkey in the west to the eastern coast of Russia, the past 100 years have seen tigers disappear from southwest and central Asia, from two Indonesian islands (Java and Bali), and from large areas of southeast and eastern Asia: collectively representing a loss in distribution of over 93% of their historic range. Tigers are currently found in 13 Asian countries, occupying a wide variety of habitats, from freezing boreal forests to hot and humid tropical rainforests:
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Tigers
About
Tigers are exploited and abused in the wild and in captivity. Wild tigers have been brought to the brink of extinction; fewer than 4,000 remain worldwide, and the number may be as low as 3,000. In fact, more tigers live in captivity in the U.S. than exist in the wild globally.
An estimated 5,000-10,000 tigers are kept as “pets” in the U.S. – more than exist in the wild globally.
A tiger can be purchased for as little as $300: less than the cost of a purebred dog.
At the policy level, Born Free works within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to enforce the international trade ban on tiger parts and products, and to ensure that countries which have tigers (as well as those which have a demand for them) take action to secure a future for the species in the wild.
“The many threats faced by tigers today cannot be underestimated, and how we respond to them now is critical to the tiger’s future.”
Will Travers
Three of the nine tiger subspecies have gone extinct in the last 70 years: the Caspian, Javan, and Bali tigers. The South China tiger will most likely be the next subspecies to be declared extinct.
CITES status: Appendix I
Endangered Species Act Status: All six species of tigers are endangered.
Population
Estimated number remaining in the wild: Fewer than 4,000, and as low as 3,000 (as of 2016)
Population decline of tigers:
Early 1900s – 100,000
1940s – 50,000
2010 – 3,500 (1,400 of whom are in India)
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yes
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Endangered Species
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Are there more tigers kept as pets than in the wild?
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yes_statement
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there are more "tigers" "kept" as "pets" than in the "wild".. the number of "tigers" "kept" as "pets" exceeds the number of "tigers" in the "wild".
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https://www.rollcall.com/2014/07/29/caging-the-captive-tiger-problem-commentary/
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Caging the Captive Tiger Problem | Commentary - Roll Call
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Caging the Captive Tiger Problem | Commentary
If your neighbor has a tiger in his backyard, he might not have to tell you.
That’s what Terry Thompson’s neighbors discovered on a grim night in October 2011 when, like a nightmarish remake of Jumanji, exotic animals began pouring off of Thompson’s property and barreling down the road in the small town of Zanesville, Ohio. Just before taking his own life, Thompson had set his private menagerie of dangerous, captive wildlife free. Throughout the evening, the local police fielded frightened phone calls until they managed to track down and kill the swarm of fleeing animals — 49 in total, including 18 rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, three mountain lions, a pair of grizzlies, two wolves and a baboon.
More than a tale of animals run amok, this tragedy underscored the broken regulations that have allowed a hidden captive animal problem to take root in America’s backyards. Almost three years after the bloodbath in Zanesville, little has changed, but this Congress has the opportunity to address this problem now.
Dangerous animals, such as big cats, are still being kept as pets in huge numbers. Most Americans would be surprised to learn that there are more captive tigers in the Unites States (roughly 5,000) than there are left in the wild (as few as 3,200 in all of Asia). And a staggeringly small number — less than 6 percent — of those captive big cats reside in zoos and other facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. No one is sure where or how the other 94 percent are kept.
In many jurisdictions, people can legally keep a tiger on their property without reporting it to local officials or neighbors. In some states, it is easier to buy a tiger than it is to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter.
Inadequate oversight makes it extremely difficult to determine how many tigers there are in captivity, where they are, and who owns them — and this lack of information makes it much harder to prevent new tragedies. It also makes it nearly impossible to monitor what happens to tigers after they die or to keep their body parts from being sold on the black market, where they may be used to make exotic illegal goods such as tiger skin rugs and tiger bone wine.
In many states, existing laws governing big cat ownership are poorly enforced, weakened by loopholes, or nonexistent. Because any trade in tiger parts potentially stimulates illegal demand for tiger products, poor regulation of captive tigers in the U.S. may also lead to more poaching of tigers in the wild — and they are already at critically low levels.
However, change is afoot.
On July 16th, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee held a hearing on the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, a bill which would greatly restrict private ownership of big cats in the U.S. and prevent individuals from keeping them as “pets.” The legislation was introduced in the House and Senate by bipartisan cosponsors, including Reps. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., and Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., and Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Bernard Sanders, I-Vt. More than 100 members of Congress have since signed on to co-sponsor this important legislation.
We now need to turn this great momentum into action. Better laws like this governing big cats are an obvious place to start, including a federal ban on individual ownership of tigers and a requirement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that all people and facilities with existing USDA licenses for exhibition or breeding and dealing in tigers report annually on the number of tigers held, births, mortalities, transfers, and sales.
On the heels of Tuesday’s World Tiger Day, we must remain diligent in our efforts to protect this majestic species, and keep Americans safe at the same time.
To do so, U.S. laws need to change. What’s more, by strengthening the rules governing captive tigers and other big cats, we will not only be making our neighborhoods safer, we will also be helping to keep wild tigers safe in their own backyards.
Leigh Henry is senior policy advisor for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
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Zanesville, little has changed, but this Congress has the opportunity to address this problem now.
Dangerous animals, such as big cats, are still being kept as pets in huge numbers. Most Americans would be surprised to learn that there are more captive tigers in the Unites States (roughly 5,000) than there are left in the wild (as few as 3,200 in all of Asia). And a staggeringly small number — less than 6 percent — of those captive big cats reside in zoos and other facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. No one is sure where or how the other 94 percent are kept.
In many jurisdictions, people can legally keep a tiger on their property without reporting it to local officials or neighbors. In some states, it is easier to buy a tiger than it is to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter.
Inadequate oversight makes it extremely difficult to determine how many tigers there are in captivity, where they are, and who owns them — and this lack of information makes it much harder to prevent new tragedies. It also makes it nearly impossible to monitor what happens to tigers after they die or to keep their body parts from being sold on the black market, where they may be used to make exotic illegal goods such as tiger skin rugs and tiger bone wine.
In many states, existing laws governing big cat ownership are poorly enforced, weakened by loopholes, or nonexistent. Because any trade in tiger parts potentially stimulates illegal demand for tiger products, poor regulation of captive tigers in the U.S. may also lead to more poaching of tigers in the wild — and they are already at critically low levels.
However, change is afoot.
On July 16th, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee held a hearing on the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, a bill which would greatly restrict private ownership of big cats in the U.S. and prevent individuals from keeping them as “pets.” The legislation was introduced in the House and Senate by bipartisan cosponsors, including Reps. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif.,
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yes
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Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
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yes_statement
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"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
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https://www.healthline.com/health/best-charcoal-toothpastes
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9 of the Best Charcoal Toothpastes with Fluoride
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Charcoal toothpaste is trending in dental care. If you want to try this trend for yourself, it’s important to choose a charcoal toothpaste that contains beneficial ingredients for dental health.
Activated charcoal in toothpaste may help remove surface stains on your teeth. Charcoal is mildly abrasive and is also able to absorb surface stains to some degree.
There’s no evidence, though, that it has any effect on stains below a tooth’s enamel (intrinsic stains), or that it has a natural whitening effect. While activated charcoal does have some proven benefits, there isn’t enough scientific evidence to include teeth whitening as one of them. Even so, some people enjoy using charcoal toothpastes, and find them beneficial.
Activated charcoal is also referred to as activated carbon. It is not the same as charcoal you use during barbecues. Charcoal becomes activated through a two-step process. First, it is exposed to high heat without oxygen, which creates a charred surface. Then, a chemical or physical process is used to create a porous consistency.
Activated charcoal has a highly porous, large surface area. It is able to attract and absorb certain toxins and organic substances. For that reason, it is used internally to treat some types of accidental poisoning and drug overdoses.
Other uses for activated charcoal include the removal of odors and color contamination. The thinking behind activated charcoal toothpaste is that it can absorb and remove surface stains from teeth.
How is activated charcoal with fluoride different?
Activated charcoal does not contain ingredients that fight cavities or remove plaque. It can’t protect teeth and gums from conditions like gingivitis. For that reason, some activated charcoal toothpastes also contain ingredients, such as fluoride, that are beneficial or oral health.
Coconut oil is also an ingredient. Research from 2017 shows that coconut oil can reduce plaque buildup on teeth. Coconut oil contains lauric acid, which is antimicrobial and may help prevent cavities.
There are hello activated charcoal toothpastes with and without fluoride, which have nearly identical or confusing packaging on some consumer sites. For this list, we chose the version that contains sodium monofluorophosphate, a type of fluoride.
When purchasing, double-check the packaging and ingredients list, so you get the type you prefer.
Pros
no artificial sweeteners or flavors
triclosan-free
users mention it has a great taste, which may help you brush longer
Cons
packaging can be confusing; make sure you get the formula you want, either with or without fluoride
It contains fluoride and is gentle enough for daily use. It uses baking soda to remove surface stains and clean teeth. Calcium helps keep tooth enamel strong. This toothpaste is also good for freshening breath.
It has a dark gray color that rinses well. However, users caution it may stain your toothbrush if you don’t rinse it thoroughly.
It’s important to use charcoal toothpaste correctly so as not to weaken teeth or become susceptible to tooth decay. Ways to do this include alternating charcoal toothpaste with traditional fluoride toothpaste or using charcoal toothpaste only for a brief period.
Many activated charcoal toothpastes contain very little charcoal and don’t use it in their formulas as an active ingredient. This may provide you with the novelty factor of using an unusually colored toothpaste while still offering other beneficial ingredients.
Activated charcoal tooth whitening powders are an alternative option. Some are made solely of charcoal. Others contain ingredients such as bentonite clay or sodium bicarbonate. Tooth whitening powders usually have no flavor. Some users find them messy to use.
There are also activated charcoal toothpaste tablets you can try. These turn into a paste while you chew. Some users find them less messy than powders. Charcoal pills typically don’t contain fluoride. They may contain coconut oil, silica, or other cleansing and foaming agents.
Can children use activated charcoal toothpaste?
Some manufacturers say their toothpaste is safe for children ages 2 and up, while others say 6 and up. Before using any charcoal toothpaste, talk with your child’s dentist. To avoid cavities, you may also wish to steer clear of charcoal toothpastes without fluoride.
Can I use fluoride every day?
Yes. Fluoride toothpaste is safe for adults and children to use on a daily basis. This is especially important if your water supply doesn’t contain fluoride.
Children under 3 should use a very small amount of toothpaste — the size of a grain of rice. When they reach 3 years old, children learn how to spit. Then it’s safe to introduce a pea-sized amount while they brush their teeth.
Can I use activated charcoal toothpaste while pregnant?
Activated charcoal toothpaste is considered safe to use during pregnancy. As with any toothpaste, swallowing isn’t recommended. Check with your doctor to make sure that activated toothpaste is a good choice for you during this time.
How often can I use activated charcoal toothpaste?
Most activated charcoal toothpastes can be used twice daily. Check and follow the manufacturer’s directions on your brand to be sure.
Many toothpaste brands are capitalizing on the charcoal trend. These toothpastes may contain very little charcoal and instead rely on traditional ingredients to whiten teeth and protect against cavities.
Last medically reviewed on July 19, 2022
How we reviewed this article:
Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.
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Charcoal toothpaste is trending in dental care. If you want to try this trend for yourself, it’s important to choose a charcoal toothpaste that contains beneficial ingredients for dental health.
Activated charcoal in toothpaste may help remove surface stains on your teeth. Charcoal is mildly abrasive and is also able to absorb surface stains to some degree.
There’s no evidence, though, that it has any effect on stains below a tooth’s enamel (intrinsic stains), or that it has a natural whitening effect. While activated charcoal does have some proven benefits, there isn’t enough scientific evidence to include teeth whitening as one of them. Even so, some people enjoy using charcoal toothpastes, and find them beneficial.
Activated charcoal is also referred to as activated carbon. It is not the same as charcoal you use during barbecues. Charcoal becomes activated through a two-step process. First, it is exposed to high heat without oxygen, which creates a charred surface. Then, a chemical or physical process is used to create a porous consistency.
Activated charcoal has a highly porous, large surface area. It is able to attract and absorb certain toxins and organic substances. For that reason, it is used internally to treat some types of accidental poisoning and drug overdoses.
Other uses for activated charcoal include the removal of odors and color contamination. The thinking behind activated charcoal toothpaste is that it can absorb and remove surface stains from teeth.
How is activated charcoal with fluoride different?
Activated charcoal does not contain ingredients that fight cavities or remove plaque. It can’t protect teeth and gums from conditions like gingivitis. For that reason, some activated charcoal toothpastes also contain ingredients, such as fluoride, that are beneficial or oral health.
Coconut oil is also an ingredient. Research from 2017 shows that coconut oil can reduce plaque buildup on teeth.
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no
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Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
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yes_statement
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"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
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https://www.hinsdaledental.com/blog/5-toothpaste-ingredients-to-avoid/
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5 Toothpaste Ingredients to Avoid - Hinsdale Dental
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5 Toothpaste Ingredients to Avoid
If you follow standard oral hygiene recommendations, then you are brushing your teeth twice per day with a good quality fluoride-based toothpaste. While many kinds of toothpaste on the market are healthy for your teeth, there are several harmful ingredients in toothpaste that can do more harm than good for your pearly whites.
Protect your teeth by learning which toothpaste ingredients to avoid so that next time you buy toothpaste at the pharmacy, you can choose a tube that promotes dental health rather than causing damage to your teeth.
1. Triclosan
Triclosan is an organic compound that has antibacterial properties. So, it is sometimes included in toothpaste to help prevent gum disease. Although triclosan is FDA-approved, it has been linked to thyroid function disruption and antibiotic resistance.
2. Microbeads
Microbeads used to be found in toothpaste as a mildly abrasive agent to help remove food and debris and whiten teeth. Microbeads are made from insoluble plastics that cannot be digested and often end up in local waterways, adsorbing toxic chemicals and harming marine wildlife.
3. Charcoal
For the past few years, activated charcoal has grown in popularity as a whitening agent for toothpaste. While it may remove some surface stains, charcoal is not a beneficial ingredient to use on your teeth every day. Avoid charcoal toothpastes as they can:
Wear down the enamel on your teeth
Cause tooth sensitivity
Stain or damage artificial teeth
If you are concerned about the color of your teeth, schedule an appointment with your dentist at Hinsdale Dental to discuss professional whitening options.
4. Sodium Bicarbonate (A.K.A. Baking Soda)
Baking soda is an abrasive ingredient that is found in many toothpastes on the market. While a little baking soda can wear away surface stains, the abrasive nature of the compound eventually wears away the enamel on your teeth, which makes them appear yellow and discolored.
The abrasive texture can also irritate the gums. The alkaline chemical makeup can disrupt the delicate pH balance in your mouth. It is best to avoid toothpaste products containing baking soda as the ingredient is not necessary for clean, healthy teeth.
5. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
SLS is a detergent found in many toothpastes. It is used to create the foamy feeling that you associate with cleaning your teeth. Unfortunately, SLS can cause skin irritation, and it aggressively irritates mouth ulcers.
Although SLS doesn’t cause a reaction in everyone, if you notice an increase in mouth ulcers, chapped lips, or skin irritation from your toothpaste, look to see if it contains SLS. If it does, throw it out and find a brand that is SLS-free.
Schedule Your Dental Exam With Hinsdale Dental
Along with your at-home teeth cleaning routine, visiting your dentist every six months for a check-up and professional cleaning is important.
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3. Charcoal
For the past few years, activated charcoal has grown in popularity as a whitening agent for toothpaste. While it may remove some surface stains, charcoal is not a beneficial ingredient to use on your teeth every day. Avoid charcoal toothpastes as they can:
Wear down the enamel on your teeth
Cause tooth sensitivity
Stain or damage artificial teeth
If you are concerned about the color of your teeth, schedule an appointment with your dentist at Hinsdale Dental to discuss professional whitening options.
4. Sodium Bicarbonate (A.K.A. Baking Soda)
Baking soda is an abrasive ingredient that is found in many toothpastes on the market. While a little baking soda can wear away surface stains, the abrasive nature of the compound eventually wears away the enamel on your teeth, which makes them appear yellow and discolored.
The abrasive texture can also irritate the gums. The alkaline chemical makeup can disrupt the delicate pH balance in your mouth. It is best to avoid toothpaste products containing baking soda as the ingredient is not necessary for clean, healthy teeth.
5. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
SLS is a detergent found in many toothpastes. It is used to create the foamy feeling that you associate with cleaning your teeth. Unfortunately, SLS can cause skin irritation, and it aggressively irritates mouth ulcers.
Although SLS doesn’t cause a reaction in everyone, if you notice an increase in mouth ulcers, chapped lips, or skin irritation from your toothpaste, look to see if it contains SLS. If it does, throw it out and find a brand that is SLS-free.
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no
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Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
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yes_statement
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"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
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https://www.anchoragesmiles.com/blog/facts-and-myths-of-charcoal-toothpaste/
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Charcoal Toothpaste Can Do More Harm Than Good | Anchorage, AK
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Facts and Myths of Charcoal Toothpaste
The week after the holidays is for spending time with family, preparing for the New Year, and, of course, trying out our new gadgets. Maybe that means turning up the jam with our new smart speaker, cooking up something fast and delicious with our electronic pressure cooker, or watching the game on our 4k television.
If for you this includes trying out that new charcoal toothpaste, however, than you might want to think twice.
You’ve probably seen the ads on social media claiming charcoal toothpaste is the next big thing in teeth whitening, but the facts are not nearly as clear cut. While it’s true that toothpastes containing activated charcoal have quadrupled, the evidence that charcoal can remove surface stains on teeth only seems to be anecdotal, and in many cases, they seem to be doing more harm than good.
What Makes Toothpaste Effective
For nearly eighty years, fluoride has been proven to be incredibly effective at actively protecting teeth from tooth decay. In many studies, in fact, the fluoride found in toothpaste has proven to be more beneficial than the act of brushing. That’s why if you’ve traveled somewhere and forgotten your toothbrush, simply using your finger to smear toothpaste around your teeth can be beneficial.
Many of the highest-rated toothpastes contain between 1350 to 1500 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride. The problem with the majority of charcoal activated toothpaste is that they contain none.
Charcoal Toothpaste Can Do More Harm Than Good
According to a warning put out by the Oral Health Foundation, charcoal toothpaste can be abrasive, and can quickly wear away enamel and expose teeth to decay. Ironically, it seems, using charcoal toothpaste can actually make it easier for your teeth to stain afterward.
Alternative Teeth Whitening
Yellow or stained teeth can be a constant source of embarrassment, making it difficult to smile, and lowering self-esteem. That said, there are much more effective teeth whitening solutions that are safer, and time-tested.
In-Office Whitening
In-office whitening is one of the most standard treatments for yellow teeth, and can be done in under an hour. Using a chemical process that removes stains from the enamel, this treatment can leave your teeth significantly whiter than before.
At-Home Whitening
At-home whitening systems use custom whitening trays you wear overnight. Although this method will not whiten your teeth right away, it does allow you to maintain that natural looking brightness after in-office whitening.
Porcelain Veneers
Any whitening solution has its limits. Your teeth can only get as white as your natural enamel will allow. Porcelain veneers aren’t bound by that limit. They are a thin layer of advanced ceramic placed over natural teeth to produce the most dramatic cosmetic effects possible. Not only can veneers create the brightest natural smile, they can also correct chips, and gaps in the teeth. Though considered to be a costly solution, when properly cared for, they can last up to 20 years.
If you’re unhappy with the color of your teeth and are looking for a cosmetic dentist in Anchorage, please call (907) 349-0022 today for an appointment at Excellence in Dentistry.
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Facts and Myths of Charcoal Toothpaste
The week after the holidays is for spending time with family, preparing for the New Year, and, of course, trying out our new gadgets. Maybe that means turning up the jam with our new smart speaker, cooking up something fast and delicious with our electronic pressure cooker, or watching the game on our 4k television.
If for you this includes trying out that new charcoal toothpaste, however, than you might want to think twice.
You’ve probably seen the ads on social media claiming charcoal toothpaste is the next big thing in teeth whitening, but the facts are not nearly as clear cut. While it’s true that toothpastes containing activated charcoal have quadrupled, the evidence that charcoal can remove surface stains on teeth only seems to be anecdotal, and in many cases, they seem to be doing more harm than good.
What Makes Toothpaste Effective
For nearly eighty years, fluoride has been proven to be incredibly effective at actively protecting teeth from tooth decay. In many studies, in fact, the fluoride found in toothpaste has proven to be more beneficial than the act of brushing. That’s why if you’ve traveled somewhere and forgotten your toothbrush, simply using your finger to smear toothpaste around your teeth can be beneficial.
Many of the highest-rated toothpastes contain between 1350 to 1500 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride. The problem with the majority of charcoal activated toothpaste is that they contain none.
Charcoal Toothpaste Can Do More Harm Than Good
According to a warning put out by the Oral Health Foundation, charcoal toothpaste can be abrasive, and can quickly wear away enamel and expose teeth to decay. Ironically, it seems, using charcoal toothpaste can actually make it easier for your teeth to stain afterward.
Alternative Teeth Whitening
Yellow or stained teeth can be a constant source of embarrassment, making it difficult to smile, and lowering self-esteem.
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no
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Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
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yes_statement
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"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
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https://www.byte.com/community/resources/article/charcoal-toothpaste/
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Charcoal Toothpaste: Side Effects, Dangers & Myths
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Clinical content featured by Byte is reviewed and fact-checked by a licensed dentist or orthodontist to help ensure clinical accuracy.
We follow strict sourcing guidelines and each page contains a full list of sources for complete transparency.
Table of Contents
What is Activated Charcoal?
Myths About Charcoal Toothpaste
Good & Bad Properties
Making Oral Health Worse
Understand Your Oral Health Routine
References
Charcoal has been popular in products like toothpaste because it may have some antibacterial, antifungal, breath-freshening, and whitening properties. But how does charcoal work to keep your teeth and mouth clean? Can it really whiten your teeth? Can it keep your breath fresh and reduce tooth decay?
The newer term activated charcoal refers to a type of charcoal powder that has an increased surface area, making it better for scrubbing or abrasion. It comes from finer-grained charcoals from coconut shells, coal, bone char, sawdust, or olive pits, so it is porous.
Myths About Charcoal Toothpaste
Products with activated charcoal are proliferating on the shelves of drug stores, cosmetics shops, and natural health stores. Charcoal has some abrasive properties, so it may be a beneficial addition to facial scrubs or toothpastes. Theoretically, adding an exfoliant like charcoal can scrub away layers of dirt, food, plaque, or grease, which may lead to infections.
However, it is important to know that modern products, like toothpaste, which contain activated charcoal, do not have many scientific studies associated with their use.
Medical researchers are just now learning about the potential downsides of these products, which can cause harmful side effects.
Here are some of the most common myths associated with activated charcoal toothpastes.
Charcoal Is Natural
Although charcoal is a common by-product of burning wood in a specific way, the “natural” occurrence of this product does not mean it is healthy. Not all types of charcoal are consumable, and some natural products companies may mislead consumers about the type of charcoal used in their products. They may also advertise that the toothpaste contains charcoal when it contains something else abrasive, like clay.
Charcoal Is Better Than Fluoride
If you are prone to tooth decay, which some people may be because of genetics, diet, or other factors, charcoal toothpaste may not contain enough fluoride, or any fluoride, which will help reduce bacterial or fungal growth in your mouth.
Charcoal Is Vegan
While some types of activated charcoal come from plant-based sources, it is equally common for charcoal to come from bone char, which is a type of fine charcoal made from animal remains.
Charcoal Is Cruelty-Free and Healthy
Many types of charcoal come from remains left over during food processing; however, some charcoal comes from non-digestible sources like wood.
The Good & Bad Properties of Charcoal Toothpaste
Charcoal can be a good addition, like some other types of abrasive products including baking soda, to toothpaste because the fine grains can remove superficial stains and slightly whiten teeth. However, constant use of this abrasive additive can cause problems.
Modern scientific research into the health properties of activated charcoal is very new, so most research is inconclusive. Charcoal has been used for several medical reasons throughout human history, but these anecdotal reports are just now being studied more thoroughly.
One review of studies on charcoal toothpastes, published in 2017, found mixed results regarding the potential benefits and harms associated with these products. Of 118 studies reviewed, 13 were eliminated because they involved brushing directly with sooth or just charcoal rather than a toothpaste with added activated charcoal.
Among the remaining 105 studies, two showed a reduction in tooth decay, but it was not able to show that this was related to the toothpaste. One showed that there was no impact compared to other toothpastes, and three showed negative outcomes, including increased tooth decay, reduction in tooth enamel, and overall worsened oral health.
The review also found that several of the toothpastes that advertised activated charcoal as the main ingredient were misleading. They contained higher quantities of other potentially harmful products, including betel leaves or clay.
You can ask your dentist for recommendations on toothpaste with activated charcoal and then read labels to look for specific products like fluoride that benefit your oral health.
Charcoal Toothpaste Can Make Oral Health Worse
Fine charcoal grains can remain in the mouth and get into fillings or small cracks in the teeth and make decay worse. These grains may also get caught in the gums and cause irritation, sensitivity, and even small cuts or lesions that can allow germs in. This can make tooth decay and overall oral health much worse in the long term. Some people with thin enamel can cause more wear and tear, which can increase the risk of cavities.
And some types of activated charcoal can cause more staining on teeth. Charcoal will also not remove some types of stains, like those from coffee or soy sauce.
Additionally, charcoal is not the most effective short-term whitening option. In a study comparing the effectiveness of charcoal, hydrogen peroxide, microbeads, and blue covarine, hydrogen peroxide and blue covarine were found to be the most immediately effective. Charcoal and microbeads could whiten teeth by scrubbing off some superficial stains, but they did not create the blue-shift effect that led to a perception of whiter teeth.
Understand Your Whole Oral Health Routine
Since there are some oral health risks associated with using charcoal toothpaste, consult your dentist before trying this product. This consultation will help you understand your personal oral health better overall, so you can make good product decisions when buying toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, and toothbrushes. The information can also help you decide whether you should use whitening strips, clear aligners, or other products that have a greater impact on your smile.
If you are concerned about getting brighter, whiter teeth, charcoal can help in the short term, but it is not the best option. Most people have stained or off-white teeth because they drink lots of coffee, tea, or soda; beverages with high levels of acid like sparkling water, juice, or alcohol; or eat lots of foods containing soy sauce or higher levels of sugar or acid.
Dietary changes, along with additions to your oral healthcare routine after eating and drinking, can improve the brightness of your smile for longer than just using activated charcoal toothpaste. Be sure to read the ingredients of activated charcoal toothpastes, and purchase from a reputable company.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to promote understanding of and knowledge about general oral health topics. It is not intended to serve as dental or other professional health advice and is not intended to be used for diagnosis or treatment of any condition or symptom. You should consult a dentist or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.
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The review also found that several of the toothpastes that advertised activated charcoal as the main ingredient were misleading. They contained higher quantities of other potentially harmful products, including betel leaves or clay.
You can ask your dentist for recommendations on toothpaste with activated charcoal and then read labels to look for specific products like fluoride that benefit your oral health.
Charcoal Toothpaste Can Make Oral Health Worse
Fine charcoal grains can remain in the mouth and get into fillings or small cracks in the teeth and make decay worse. These grains may also get caught in the gums and cause irritation, sensitivity, and even small cuts or lesions that can allow germs in. This can make tooth decay and overall oral health much worse in the long term. Some people with thin enamel can cause more wear and tear, which can increase the risk of cavities.
And some types of activated charcoal can cause more staining on teeth. Charcoal will also not remove some types of stains, like those from coffee or soy sauce.
Additionally, charcoal is not the most effective short-term whitening option. In a study comparing the effectiveness of charcoal, hydrogen peroxide, microbeads, and blue covarine, hydrogen peroxide and blue covarine were found to be the most immediately effective. Charcoal and microbeads could whiten teeth by scrubbing off some superficial stains, but they did not create the blue-shift effect that led to a perception of whiter teeth.
Understand Your Whole Oral Health Routine
Since there are some oral health risks associated with using charcoal toothpaste, consult your dentist before trying this product. This consultation will help you understand your personal oral health better overall, so you can make good product decisions when buying toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, and toothbrushes. The information can also help you decide whether you should use whitening strips, clear aligners, or other products that have a greater impact on your smile.
If you are concerned about getting brighter, whiter teeth,
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no
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Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
|
yes_statement
|
"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
|
https://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12903-021-01956-8
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Comparison the effect of charcoal-containing, hydrogen peroxide ...
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Abstract
Background
This study aimed to compare the effects of charcoal-containing, hydrogen peroxide-containing, and abrasive whitening toothpastes on color stability of a resin composite.
Methods
Forty-five specimens were fabricated of spectrum TPH3 composite resin and stored in artificial saliva for 24 h. Baseline color assessment was performed using a spectrophotometer device. Then, the specimens were randomly assigned into 5 experimental groups, namely distilled water (GC), Bencer (GB), colgate optic white (GO), perfect white black (GP) and colgate total whitening (GT) toothpastes. The specimens immersed in coffee solution for 10 min and brushed for 1 min with respective toothpaste and then stored in artificial saliva until the next day. This cycle was repeated for 30 days. After 30 days, the final color assessment was performed using the spectrophotometer. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests.
Conclusion
None of the whitening toothpastes could decrease discoloration caused by the coffee solution to the level below the perceptibility threshold except Colgate Optic White which reduced discoloration within the clinically acceptable perceptibility range.
Background
Resin composites are commonly used in conservative dental restorative procedures due to their good esthetic properties and adequate bond to the tooth structure. Despite their satisfying aesthetic qualities, resin composite restorations are susceptible to discoloration by extrinsic factors, such as plaque accumulation and food and beverage consumption. Discoloration of these restorations might necessitate the replacement of restorations, which cost the patients, and time-consuming [1,2,3]. Thus, tooth whitening treatments, such as home or office bleaching and over the counter products, have been developed and used to manage discoloration [4]. It has been shown that bleaching procedures should not be performed on patients with tooth hypersensitivity, children younger than 18, and pregnant or nursing women [5]. Thus, many patients prefer to choose over the contour methods, including whitening toothpastes due to their reasonable price and easy application [6, 7]. These toothpastes are effective in tooth whitening and apply their effects by different mechanisms and agents, including chemical agents, active charcoal, and abrasive components [8]. It has been claimed that in charcoal-containing toothpastes, deposits on tooth surfaces are absorbed by activated charcoal. By brushing, charcoal and deposits stuck in charcoal irregularities, are brushed away and leave the tooth surface clean [9]. In peroxide-containing toothpastes, the peroxide agent decomposes and releases active oxygen, which reacts with the organic stains and breaks them down into non-colored organic compounds [10]. However, peroxides in toothpastes formulation are less common and challenging because of the formulation aspects [11]. Although different components present in whitening toothpastes, their whitening potentials are primarily applied by their abrasive features [6, 7]. According to the literature, whitening toothpastes effectively remove extrinsic stains. Still, they might act as a double-edged sword and make composite restorations more susceptible to discoloration by increasing the surface roughness and changing the restoration's contour. Thus, the ultimate effect of these toothpastes on the color stability of resin composites is matter of concern.
Some previous studies have investigated the effect of whitening products on the color stability of natural teeth [3, 12]. In a systematic review conducted by Soeteman et al. [13], the authors concluded that using whitening toothpastes has significantly reduced the surface staining of natural teeth compared to conventional toothpastes. Still, the information on the impact of these products on the color stability of resin composites is limited in the literature. According to Demir et al. [14] and Manis et al. [12], whitening toothpastes decreased the composite discoloration after immersion in wine and coffee, respectively. However, no toothpaste could decrease ΔE below the clinical acceptable level.
It has been shown that coffee is consumed by a large population and has a significant potential for staining both teeth and composite restorations due to its high temperature [15] and acidity [16]. Thus, the effect of whitening toothpastes on the discoloration caused by coffee consumption is a matter of concern and requires further evaluation.
The present in vitro study aimed to investigate the effects of four whitening toothpastes with different mechanisms of action, including a toothpaste with high abrasive potential (Colgate Total Whitening), two toothpastes containing active charcoal (Bencer charcoal and Perfect White Black), and a toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide (Colgate Optic White) on the color stability of a resin composite.
Methods
Sample preparation
In the present study, 45 composite samples (Spectrum TPH, Dentsply Sirona Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina, USA) were fabricated in disc form shapes by compacting composite in a stainless steel mold (2 mm of diameter and 7 mm of height). A polyester matrix and glass slab were placed on both sides of the mold to press the composite with a glass slab to smooth the composite surfaces. The samples were cured by a light cure device (Woodpecker LED Curing, Guilin Woodpecker Medical Instrument Co., Guilin, China) with 1000 mW/cm2 of power intensity for 20 s, from each side of the mold. A radiometer (Woodpecker LM-1 Light Meter, Guilin Woodpecker Medical Instrument Co., Guilin, China) was used to calibrate the light cure intensity periodically. Samples were polished using 1200, 2400, and 4000 grit aluminum oxide abrasive disks (Extec, Enfield, CT, USA) and then stored in artificial saliva for 24 h. The samples were divided into five groups (n = 9) randomly and brushed daily for 30 consecutive days using different toothpastes as follows:
Control: No toothpaste, only distilled water
GO: Colgate optic white
GT: Colgate total whitening
GP: Perfect white black
GB: Bencer charcoal
Table 1 summarizes the formulation of the toothpastes and manufacturers used in the present study.
Table 1 Ingredients and manufacturer of toothpastes used in the present study
Surface treatments; immersion in coffee solution and tooth brushing
Before daily brushing, all samples were immersed in 2 ml of coffee solution for 10 min, at room temperature and under constant agitation. The coffee solution was made by mixing coffee powder (NESCAFÉ Red Mug, Nestle Corp., Vevey, Switzerland) with boiling water according to the manufacturer's instruction and cooled to room temperature. Then, toothpaste slurry was made using toothpaste and distilled water in a 3:1 ratio by weight. Each sample was brushed with toothpaste slurry by a customized automatic brushing machine for 1 min at a speed of 120 cycles/min. After brushing, samples were stored in artificial saliva at 37 °C. The composition of artificial saliva was similar to that of Viana et al. study [17]. These procedures were repeated daily for 30 consecutive days. The automatic brushing device simulated a back and forth motion within a 5 mm range. 120 cycles of daily brushing used in this study correspond to the situation that a person brushes three times a day, each with 40 cycles. The toothbrushes (Extra clean, Colgate-Palmolive Co., New York, NY, USA) used in the machine were replaced every four days; according to the study conducted by Gundavarapu et al. [18], it has been suggested that tooth brushes should be renewed every 3–4 months which corresponds to 7200–9600 cycles of tooth brushing. The bristles' hardness of the tooth brushed used in the present was medium.
Color assessment
The color of the samples was assessed at two times:
At the baseline: After sample preparation and 24 h of immersion in artificial saliva, the samples were dried, and baseline L*, a*, and b* values of each sample were measured by a spectrophotometer (Easyshade, VITA Zahnfabrik Co., Badsackingen, Germany).
After surface treatment: After 30 days of daily tooth brushing and immersion in coffee, all samples were ultrasonically cleaned and dried. Subsequently, the spectrophotometer device assessed their colors. Figure 1 summarizes the study methodology.
Each time, the color assessment was performed using a special jig fabricated of putty (Express STD Putty, 3M-ESPE, Minnesota, USA) to ensure the assessment's reproducibility. The overall color change of samples (ΔE) was calculated using the formula below:
Results
The means and standard deviations of Δa, Δb, ΔL, and ΔE values are presented in Table 2. According to ANOVA results, five experimental groups were not significantly different in terms of Δa and ΔE values (P value = 0.19 and P value = 0.28, respectively). However, ΔL and Δb values showed significant differences among the groups (P value = 0.004 and P value = 0.05, respectively). Tukey test was performed for pairwise comparison among the groups for ΔL and Δb values. According to the results of Tukey test, a significant difference was found between GC and GT (P value = 0.007), GB and GT (P value = 0.02), and GP and GT groups (P value = 0.02) in terms of ΔL. For Δb, a significant difference was presented between GP and GT (P value = 0.04).
Discussion
The present study investigated the effects of four kinds of whitening toothpastes with different mechanisms of action, including an abrasive toothpaste (Colgate total whitening), two active charcoal containing toothpaste (Bencer charcoal and Perfect White Black), and a hydrogen peroxide-containing toothpaste (Colgate Optic White) on the color stability of resin composites.
In the present study, we evaluated Δa, Δb, ΔL, and ΔE since many studies have reported that Δb and ΔE parameters have changed dramatically after whitening treatments [19]. The shift in Δb parameter, from yellowness to blueness, is attributed to a whiter color [20, 21].
The spectrophotometer can detect ΔE values even less than 1.5 while the human eye cannot perceive ΔE values less than 3.3. Previous studies have considered different ΔE values as an acceptable threshold in clinical settings [22, 23]. We considered ΔE = 3.3 as a perceptibility threshold in the present study.
A conventional hybrid composite (Spectrum TPH) was used for this study since its physical properties including diametral tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength, and depth of cure are superior or comparable with those of microfill and packable resin composites which make it a reliable and popular choice for clinical application [24].
The coffee solution was used in the staining procedure since coffee is consumed by a large population and has a significant potential for staining both teeth and restorations. Besides, coffee causes resin composite discoloration due to its high temperature [15] and acidity [16]. Moreover, in addition to surface staining, coffee also causes subsurface staining because its polar and delayed-release stains are absorbed by the composite surface [25, 26].
The results of the present study revealed that there was no significant difference among the experimental groups for ΔE and Δa parameters; however, a significant difference was noted among the groups regarding Δb and ΔL parameter.
Our results were inconsistent with those of Bezgin et al. [22]. According to their results, tooth brushing using conventional toothpastes decreased the color change of the samples after 60 consecutive days; all samples showed ΔE less than 3.3. In our study, however, ΔE less than 3.3 was only presented by the GO group. In Bezgin et al. study, Coca, chocolate milk, and juice were used for staining the samples while we used the coffee solutions in the staining procedure. This may account for our different results since coffee causes more prominent discoloration than the beverages Bezgin et al. had used in their study [16].
Furthermore, the toothpastes used in their study were conventional in contrast to the present study, in which whitening toothpastes were used.
Demir et al.[14] Investigated the effect of whitening toothpaste with various mechanisms of action on the color stability of a resin composite following immersion in red wine; according to their results only brushing with Colgate Optic White toothpaste significantly decreased the discoloration caused by wine. These findings are consistent with our results which showed Colgate Optic White could decrease ΔE within the clinical acceptability range (ΔE = 2.9).
On the other hand, Manis et al. [12] concluded that none of the whitening toothpastes used in their study could decrease ΔE within the clinical acceptability range as opposed to the results of the present study. The possible explanation might be due to the different resin composite compositions including particle size and resin matrix composition used in the two studies.
It is worth mentioning that different methodology including different types of composite, toothpastes, the number of brushing cycles, and staining procedure used in the present study, makes it difficult to compare our results with those of other studies.
With regard to ΔE, the lowest value was noted in GO group, followed by GT group, GP group, Control group, and GB group. However, ΔE was not significantly different among these groups.
GO group was the only group with ΔE within the clinical acceptability range (ΔE = 2.9). Colgate Optic white toothpaste contains both chemical (hydrogen peroxide) and abrasive (silica, calcium, and pyrophosphate) agents in its formulation. These abrasive and chemical agents' synergic effect has contributed to more effective removal of surface and subsurface stains caused by coffee. Moreover, peroxide components have probably oxidized the subsurface stains and altered their absorption spectrum in such a way that human eyes could not perceive their color.
The second lowest ΔE was noted in the GT group. Colgate Total whitening toothpaste contains TiO2 pigments. It is possible that the precipitation of TiO2 pigments on the composite surface have covered the yellow stains caused by the coffee solution and have decreased ΔE.
The Control group showed the highest ΔE after the GB group. According to the studies, the high number of tooth brushing cycles leads to degradation of the composite resin, increasing surface roughness, and decreasing surface brightness [27]. Similarly, the tooth brushing cycles might have increased the surface roughness of composite resin in the present study and made it more susceptible to discoloration, but this discoloration has been improved relatively in GO, GT, and GP groups due to the whitening effects of toothpastes. On the other hand, the control group samples were only brushed by distilled water, and the lack of polishing and whitening effects of toothpastes may account for higher ΔE values in this group.
Finally, the highest ΔE was noted in the GB group. Bencer toothpaste contains active charcoal. The efficacy of charcoal-containing toothpastes depends on several factors, including the size, form, and abrasiveness of charcoal particles [28]. Since there was not adequate information about these factors in Bencer toothpaste, we could not explain the exact mechanism which had resulted in higher ΔE values in this group.
Regarding Δb, a significant difference was found between GT and GP groups which showed a shift toward yellowness and blueness, respectively. The GT group showed the highest shift toward yellowness that might be related to the high relative dentin abrasivity (RDA) value of Colgate Total Whitening, which caused a lot of abrasion on the composite surface. As a result, coffee stains were absorbed by the rough surface and caused subsurface staining.
The GP showed a shift toward blueness. It is speculated that the carbon in Perfect White Black toothpaste has absorbed coffee stains and resulted in this shift. The shift toward blueness also occurred in other carbon-containing toothpaste (Bencer); however, its Δb was not significantly different from the other groups.
The most important limitation of the present study is that the laboratory setting used in this study cannot completely simulate the oral environment; in the oral cavity, teeth, restorations, and soft tissues are constantly cleaned by circulating saliva and their exposure time to materials and stains decreases significantly. Besides, the artificial saliva used for storing the samples lacks the enzymes and pellicles presented in saliva. Thus, generalization of the results obtained from this study to clinical settings must be made cautiously. It should be noted that many coffee consumers are cigarette smokers; we did not evaluate the effect of smoking on the color change of the samples in our study.
Conclusions
Within the limitations of the present study, the results revealed after 30 consecutive days, none of the whitening toothpastes could decrease discoloration caused by the coffee solution to the level below the perceptibility threshold except Colgate Optic White. Thus, the use of Colgate Optic White might be beneficial for coffee drinkers who experience discoloration of their composite discoloration. However, further clinical studies are required to confirm these results.
Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Consent for publication
Competing interests
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
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These toothpastes are effective in tooth whitening and apply their effects by different mechanisms and agents, including chemical agents, active charcoal, and abrasive components [8]. It has been claimed that in charcoal-containing toothpastes, deposits on tooth surfaces are absorbed by activated charcoal. By brushing, charcoal and deposits stuck in charcoal irregularities, are brushed away and leave the tooth surface clean [9]. In peroxide-containing toothpastes, the peroxide agent decomposes and releases active oxygen, which reacts with the organic stains and breaks them down into non-colored organic compounds [10]. However, peroxides in toothpastes formulation are less common and challenging because of the formulation aspects [11]. Although different components present in whitening toothpastes, their whitening potentials are primarily applied by their abrasive features [6, 7]. According to the literature, whitening toothpastes effectively remove extrinsic stains. Still, they might act as a double-edged sword and make composite restorations more susceptible to discoloration by increasing the surface roughness and changing the restoration's contour. Thus, the ultimate effect of these toothpastes on the color stability of resin composites is matter of concern.
Some previous studies have investigated the effect of whitening products on the color stability of natural teeth [3, 12]. In a systematic review conducted by Soeteman et al. [13], the authors concluded that using whitening toothpastes has significantly reduced the surface staining of natural teeth compared to conventional toothpastes. Still, the information on the impact of these products on the color stability of resin composites is limited in the literature. According to Demir et al. [14] and Manis et al. [12], whitening toothpastes decreased the composite discoloration after immersion in wine and coffee, respectively. However, no toothpaste could decrease ΔE below the clinical acceptable level.
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yes
|
Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
|
yes_statement
|
"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
|
http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2215-34112022000100067
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Determination of the whitening effect of toothpastes on human teeth
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The desire of individuals to have whiter teeth increases the interest in tooth whitening products. Our aim was to in vitro study the whitening effect of hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and active charcoal containing whitening toothpastes on human teeth. A total of 40 extracted human incisor teeth were used in the study. To measure the whitening effect of toothpastes, the teeth were divided into four subgroups and placed in the phantom tooth jaw model. Then, daily brushing was done with an electric toothbrush. The colors of the teeth were measured initially using the spectrophotometer (single point and bleached shade mode) and at the end of 7th, 14th and 28th days. Whitening effectiveness of toothpastes were studied according to CIEDE2000 formula (ÎE00) and shade guide units (SGU). One- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test were used in the statistical analysis of the data. (p<0.05). Activated charcoal containing toothpaste showed the greatest whitening effect at the end of 7th, 14th and 28th days (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the whitening effects of hydrogen peroxide and conventional toothpaste (p>0.05). Blue covarine containing toothpaste had statistically the lowest whitening effect (p<0.05). All toothpastes showed a whitening effect on the teeth after 7 days of use. Activated charcoal containing toothpaste showed more whitening effect after 28 days of use than hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and traditional toothpaste.
Changes in tooth color create a wide variety of cosmetic problems. The desire to have whiter teeth by preventing or cleaning extrinsic stains on teeth has increased the interest in tooth whitening products (1). The success of teeth whitening depends on the type of stain present, which can be categorized as extrinsic staining, internal staining, and internalized discoloration (2). Manufacturers have developed new oral hygiene products to meet the different expectations of individuals and presented them to consumers.
It is known that hydrate silica, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, calcium pyrophosphate or sodium bicarbonate contained in whitening toothpastes can mechanically remove external stains (2,3,4). Toothpastes containing low concentration hydrogen peroxide agents are thought to encourage color change as a result of the interaction of hydrogen peroxide with dentin pigments called chromophores that define the color of the tooth tissue (5,6). Toothpastes containing blue covarine, instead of an abrasive effect, can leave a translucent bluish layer on the tooth surface. As a result of the interaction of this layer with the light coming to the tooth surface, the teeth appear brighter and whiter (7).
Recently, since toothpastes containing activated charcoal have the capacity to adsorb color pigments, it has been stated that they are effective in removing extrinsic tooth stains (8). However, the literature states that the whitening efficiency of charcoal powder and the effect of this product on the enamel surface are not consistent (9,10).
In daily use, it is important that the whitening performance of toothpaste is visibly perceived by individuals. Visual perception under daily conditions reveals the effectiveness of products. As the effectiveness of toothpastes can be measured using instrumental methods with spectrophotometer and colorimeters, (11) they can also be analyzed by visual comparison methods (12). The CIELab, Color difference (ÎEab) is the value used to evaluate color changes and is calculated by special formula using the differences in L*, a*, b* values. The extent of the color difference that can be detected visually by the human eye is stated as PT (perceptibility threshold), and the extent of the color difference that constitutes the acceptability between restorative materials is stated as AT (acceptability threshold) (13,14).
With the clinical spectrophotometer device (Vita Easy Shade V, Germany), measurements can be made in bleached shade mode as well as in the CIELAB color system. If the bleached shade mode is SGU (Shade Guide Units), the measured color is set according to the VITA Bleachedguide 3D-MASTER. This mode contributes to a better understanding of the whitening performance and limitations of whitening products. Data on the numerical and visual whitening efficiency of teeth whitening products are presented in the literature (14).
Studies on the whitening effect of active charcoal-containing whitening toothpastes on teeth are limited. In our study, we aimed to examine the effect of whitening toothpastes (hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and activated charcoal) on time-dependent whitening on teeth in vitro. Our null hypothesis is that whitening toothpastes containing different active ingredients will not exhibit different whitening effectiveness on teeth.
Materials and methods
Preparation of samples
Approval (2020/510) for the study was obtained from the Non-invasive Research Ethics Committee of Gülhane Training and Research Hospital. A total of 40 human incisor teeth extracted within last month previous to the experimental procedures were used in the study. Teeth extracted from patients (40-65 age) due to periodontal disease were kept at +4 oC in artificial saliva (1.491g KCl, 0.015g MgCl2.6H2O, 0.06g CaCl2.2H2O, 0.005g NaF, 0.108g NaH2PO4, 0.124g Na2HPO4 and 1.157g NaCl, pH 7.0) after removing biological residues in the crown and root. Decayed and deformed teeth were not used in the study.
Simulated tooth brushing
Before starting the brushing process, teeth crowns were polished with a polishing paste to standardize all teeth. Then the teeth were kept in artificial saliva for 24 hours at 37 oC and then randomly divided into 4 subgroups and placed in the phantom tooth jaw model (2 incisors for each model) and brushed for 8 seconds every day with an electric toothbrush (Triumph Professional Care, Oral B Braun GmbH, Germany). All tooth surfaces were brushed daily with toothpastes containing active charcoal, hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and Complete Protection (control) with the slurry prepared with distilled water (1:1 ratio) (Table 1). The brushing process was done every day at the same time by a single user, disabling the pressure sensor of the brush. The brushing process was carried out 2 times a day for 2 minutes. In our study, the brushing time of the teeth was determined based on the daily average brushing process for a tooth of 8 seconds. After daily brushing, the samples were rinsed with water for 10 seconds and then kept in artificial saliva solution.
Measurements of the color change of teeth on the phantom model were performed under D65 lighting conditions, using the same spectrophotometer device (Vita Easy Shade V, Germany) in the first day and after 7, 14 and 28 days of brushing. Before the color measurement of the teeth, they were rinsed thoroughly with water for 10 seconds and dried with drying paper. The color measurements were made using the single point measurement mode (L*, a*, b* values) and bleach shade mode of the spectrophotometer. If the bleach shade mode is SGU (Shade Guide Units), the measured color was set according to the VITA Bleachedguide 3D-MASTER (VITA Product Number B361). For this purpose, the whitening index measured after the procedure should be subtracted from the bleach index before treatment. The difference was stated to correspond ÎSGUBG number. Color measurements were made 3 times from the center point of the core surface of each tooth while the teeth were on the phantom model. Color measurements of teeth were obtained from the vestibular surface for three measurements.
The mean value of the measured L *, a * and b * parameters was calculated in the CIEDE2000 formula (ÎE00) to detect color differences (15). Color changes values due to bleaching (ÎE00) are interpreted as not effective (â¤0.8), moderately effective (>0.8, â¤1.8), good efficacy (>1.8, ⤠3.6), very good effectiveness (>3.6, ⤠5.4) and excellent effectiveness (>5.4) (14).
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis of the color change data in the study was performed using the SPSS 22.00 Program (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The color change data of toothpastes on the teeth were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey multiple comparison test (p <0.05).
When we examined the color change of whitening toothpastes on the teeth according to shade guide units (ÎSGUBG), toothpaste containing activated charcoal produced the highest whitening on the 7th, 14th and 28th days, while toothpaste containing blue covarine produced the least whitening (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between hydrogen peroxide containing toothpaste and traditional toothpaste (p>0.05), (Table 3).
All toothpastes had medium whitening effect (according to ÎE00 and ÎSGUBG) after 7 days of use. However, after 28 days, activated charcoal toothpaste showed very good whitening effect, while hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and traditional toothpaste showed good whitening effect (Figure 1).
Table 2Â Examination of the whitening effectiveness of toothpastes on teeth with the CIEDE2000 formula (ÎE00).Â
Figure 1Â Whitening effectiveness of toothpastes on teeth according to the CIEDE2000 formula and VITA Bleach guide (SGU).Â
Discussion
In our study, the effect of whitening toothpastes on the color change of teeth was examined for a period of 28 days. Our null hypothesis was rejected as toothpastes had different whitening effects on teeth.
Traditionally, the tooth whitening method is done with two mechanisms: bleaching or removing the external stain. Although whitening of tooth color is accomplished using hydrogen or carbamide peroxides, peroxide-based bleaching can cause adverse biological reactions. Also, peroxide-based bleach needs to be administered or prescribed by a dentist (16). In recent years, different products have been launched, including toothpastes and mouthwashes, which are readily available in pharmacies and supermarkets, to provide a practical, fast, easy and cost-effective whitening effect. Whitening toothpastes used in daily oral hygiene routine that does not require supervision or indication by a dentist, have gained popularity.
Visual and instrumental methods are preferred to measure the color changes in teeth and materials. The spectrophotometer was used in this study because it provides accuracy, repeatability and objective values (17). In 2001, an updated new formula CIEDE2000 (ÎE00) was introduced and proposed by the CIE (15). CIEDE2000 (ÎE00) formula was preferred in our study as Gómez-Polo et al. (18) indicated in their study that it is more sensitive in measuring color changes than CIELAB (ÎEab) formula.
Perceptibility and acceptability threshold values in color changes indicate whether the difference is acceptable (19). For these reasons, two different methods were used to fully explain the whitening effectiveness. A recent study found the perceptibility and acceptabilityâs values of thresholds of 0.8 and 1.8, respectively, by using CIEDE2000 system. Also whitened index PT value was stated as (ÎSGUBG: 1.4) and AT value as (ÎSGUBG: 3.2) (14).
The effectiveness of toothpastes in cleaning is related to the abraders in them. Abrasive particles help to effectively remove external color pigments and prevent staining (20,21). Despite the abrasives in whitening toothpastes, it is stated that toothbrush/toothpaste should be used together in order for the paste to be effective (22,23). In addition, special abrasives and chemicals can be added to the toothpaste to increase stain removal and speed up the process (24).
The main whitening effect in toothpastes is based on the interaction between abrasive substances and peroxide compounds, surfactants, polyphosphates, and enzymes (25,26,27). The external stain on the tooth surface can be removed through something abrasive in the toothpaste, while the internal stain can be removed through oxidation based on HP (hydrogen peroxide) or CP (carbamide peroxide) products that help alleviate the internal discoloration of the tooth (28). Basically, the whitening process takes place with the conversion of peroxides to free radicals. In order to take advantage of this feature of hydrogen peroxide, it has been added to some whitening toothpastes in low concentrations (28). According to the literature, the discoloration of teeth can be removed effectively with HP and CP (29). In our study, toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide showed a whitening effect on the teeth after 7 days of use.
The whitening effect of toothpastes containing blue covarine instead of abrasive leaves a thin, translucent blue layer on the tooth enamel, changing the perception of yellowish discoloration in the teeth. In the blue spectrum, it creates the visual appearance of whiter and brighter teeth by shifting the network color to white as opposed to yellow. Studies provide conflicting reports on the effectiveness of optical effect pigments in teeth whitening. There are studies stating that this pigment has an effect on color change, (30,31,32) while some other studies show that it has no effect on color change (33,34). In their clinical study, Schlafer et al. (16) stated that toothpaste containing blue covarine did not show the whitening effect on teeth in a single use. In our study, toothpaste containing blue covarine showed less whitening effect than other toothpastes, although it had a whitening effect above the AT value on the teeth after 7 days of use.
The whitening effect of the activated charcoal used in toothpastes is based on its high adsorption capacity of chromophores and color pigments. Activated charcoal is highly porous and has an extremely high surface area (9) and provides effective and gradual cleaning of the tooth structure. Vaz et al. (8) conducted a study on the discoloration of whitening toothpastes on cattle incisors and found that there was no difference between toothpastes containing active coal, microparticles and hydrogen peroxide. Palandi et al. (35) stated that activated charcoal powder does not increase discoloration when combined with normal and whitening toothpastes. In our study, unlike the studies in the literature, the best whitening effect on teeth was seen in toothpaste containing activated charcoal. While bovine incisors were used in the studies in the literature, (8,35) human incisors were used in our study. The nature of the sample (human versus animal teeth) might be related with the difference in the results.
In our study, all whitening toothpastes tested in vitro had a whitening effect on teeth. Although the whitening efficiency of the toothpaste without bleaching particles was less than the toothpaste containing activated charcoal, it was at the same level as the toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide and blue covarine.
Toothpastes containing activated charcoal showed better effectiveness in whitening teeth than toothpastes containing blue covarine and hydrogen peroxide. However, it is stated in the literature that toothpastes containing activated charcoal increase the roughness of the enamel surface (35). In addition, individuals consume different beverages in daily life. For this reason, it is considered that it would be beneficial to conduct clinical research in order to fully understand the effectiveness of the toothpastes containing bleaching on teeth.
Conclusion
All toothpastes showed a whitening effect on the teeth after one week (7 days) of use while activated charcoal containing whitening toothpaste produced the best whitening effect after 28 days. After 28 days of daily use, the active charcoal containing toothpaste showed âvery good effectivenessâ regarding whitening the tooth, while hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and traditional toothpaste showed âgood effectivenessâ.
|
The whitening effect of the activated charcoal used in toothpastes is based on its high adsorption capacity of chromophores and color pigments. Activated charcoal is highly porous and has an extremely high surface area (9) and provides effective and gradual cleaning of the tooth structure. Vaz et al. (8) conducted a study on the discoloration of whitening toothpastes on cattle incisors and found that there was no difference between toothpastes containing active coal, microparticles and hydrogen peroxide. Palandi et al. (35) stated that activated charcoal powder does not increase discoloration when combined with normal and whitening toothpastes. In our study, unlike the studies in the literature, the best whitening effect on teeth was seen in toothpaste containing activated charcoal. While bovine incisors were used in the studies in the literature, (8,35) human incisors were used in our study. The nature of the sample (human versus animal teeth) might be related with the difference in the results.
In our study, all whitening toothpastes tested in vitro had a whitening effect on teeth. Although the whitening efficiency of the toothpaste without bleaching particles was less than the toothpaste containing activated charcoal, it was at the same level as the toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide and blue covarine.
Toothpastes containing activated charcoal showed better effectiveness in whitening teeth than toothpastes containing blue covarine and hydrogen peroxide. However, it is stated in the literature that toothpastes containing activated charcoal increase the roughness of the enamel surface (35). In addition, individuals consume different beverages in daily life. For this reason, it is considered that it would be beneficial to conduct clinical research in order to fully understand the effectiveness of the toothpastes containing bleaching on teeth.
|
yes
|
Stomatology
|
Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
|
yes_statement
|
"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
|
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/4995/499570300008/html/
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Determination of the Whitening Effect of Toothpastes on Human Teeth
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Abstract:
The desire of individuals to have whiter teeth increases the interest in tooth whitening products. Our aim was to in vitro study the whitening effect of hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and active charcoal containing whitening toothpastes on human teeth. A total of 40 extracted human incisor teeth were used in the study. To measure the whitening effect of toothpastes, the teeth were divided into four subgroups and placed in the phantom tooth jaw model. Then, daily brushing was done with an electric toothbrush. The colors of the teeth were measured initially using the spectrophotometer (single point and bleached shade mode) and at the end of 7th, 14th and 28th days. Whitening effectiveness of toothpastes were studied according to CIEDE2000 formula (ΔE00) and shade guide units (SGU). One- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test were used in the statistical analysis of the data. (p<0.05). Activated charcoal containing toothpaste showed the greatest whitening effect at the end of 7th, 14th and 28th days (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the whitening effects of hydrogen peroxide and conventional toothpaste (p>0.05). Blue covarine containing toothpaste had statistically the lowest whitening effect (p<0.05). All toothpastes showed a whitening effect on the teeth after 7 days of use. Activated charcoal containing toothpaste showed more whitening effect after 28 days of use than hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and traditional toothpaste.
Changes in tooth color create a wide variety of cosmetic problems. The desire to have whiter teeth by preventing or cleaning extrinsic stains on teeth has increased the interest in tooth whitening products (1). The success of teeth whitening depends on the type of stain present, which can be categorized as extrinsic staining, internal staining, and internalized discoloration (2). Manufacturers have developed new oral hygiene products to meet the different expectations of individuals and presented them to consumers.
It is known that hydrate silica, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, calcium pyrophosphate or sodium bicarbonate contained in whitening toothpastes can mechanically remove external stains (2,3,4). Toothpastes containing low concentration hydrogen peroxide agents are thought to encourage color change as a result of the interaction of hydrogen peroxide with dentin pigments called chromophores that define the color of the tooth tissue (5,6). Toothpastes containing blue covarine, instead of an abrasive effect, can leave a translucent bluish layer on the tooth surface. As a result of the interaction of this layer with the light coming to the tooth surface, the teeth appear brighter and whiter (7).
Recently, since toothpastes containing activated charcoal have the capacity to adsorb color pigments, it has been stated that they are effective in removing extrinsic tooth stains (8). However, the literature states that the whitening efficiency of charcoal powder and the effect of this product on the enamel surface are not consistent (9,10).
In daily use, it is important that the whitening performance of toothpaste is visibly perceived by individuals. Visual perception under daily conditions reveals the effectiveness of products. As the effectiveness of toothpastes can be measured using instrumental methods with spectrophotometer and colorimeters, (11) they can also be analyzed by visual comparison methods (12). The CIELab, Color difference (ΔEab) is the value used to evaluate color changes and is calculated by special formula using the differences in L*, a*, b* values. The extent of the color difference that can be detected visually by the human eye is stated as PT (perceptibility threshold), and the extent of the color difference that constitutes the acceptability between restorative materials is stated as AT (acceptability threshold) (13,14).
With the clinical spectrophotometer device (Vita Easy Shade V, Germany), measurements can be made in bleached shade mode as well as in the CIELAB color system. If the bleached shade mode is SGU (Shade Guide Units), the measured color is set according to the VITA Bleachedguide 3D-MASTER. This mode contributes to a better understanding of the whitening performance and limitations of whitening products. Data on the numerical and visual whitening efficiency of teeth whitening products are presented in the literature (14).
Studies on the whitening effect of active charcoal-containing whitening toothpastes on teeth are limited. In our study, we aimed to examine the effect of whitening toothpastes (hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and activated charcoal) on time-dependent whitening on teeth in vitro. Our null hypothesis is that whitening toothpastes containing different active ingredients will not exhibit different whitening effectiveness on teeth.
Materials and methods
Preparation of samples
Approval (2020/510) for the study was obtained from the Non-invasive Research Ethics Committee of Gülhane Training and Research Hospital. A total of 40 human incisor teeth extracted within last month previous to the experimental procedures were used in the study. Teeth extracted from patients (40-65 age) due to periodontal disease were kept at +4 oC in artificial saliva (1.491g KCl, 0.015g MgCl2.6H2O, 0.06g CaCl2.2H2O, 0.005g NaF, 0.108g NaH2PO4, 0.124g Na2HPO4 and 1.157g NaCl, pH 7.0) after removing biological residues in the crown and root. Decayed and deformed teeth were not used in the study.
Simulated tooth brushing
Before starting the brushing process, teeth crowns were polished with a polishing paste to standardize all teeth. Then the teeth were kept in artificial saliva for 24 hours at 37 oC and then randomly divided into 4 subgroups and placed in the phantom tooth jaw model (2 incisors for each model) and brushed for 8 seconds every day with an electric toothbrush (Triumph Professional Care, Oral B Braun GmbH, Germany). All tooth surfaces were brushed daily with toothpastes containing active charcoal, hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and Complete Protection (control) with the slurry prepared with distilled water (1:1 ratio) (Table 1). The brushing process was done every day at the same time by a single user, disabling the pressure sensor of the brush. The brushing process was carried out 2 times a day for 2 minutes. In our study, the brushing time of the teeth was determined based on the daily average brushing process for a tooth of 8 seconds. After daily brushing, the samples were rinsed with water for 10 seconds and then kept in artificial saliva solution.
Table 1
Whitening technologies in the evaluated toothpastes.
Color measurements
Measurements of the color change of teeth on the phantom model were performed under D65 lighting conditions, using the same spectrophotometer device (Vita Easy Shade V, Germany) in the first day and after 7, 14 and 28 days of brushing. Before the color measurement of the teeth, they were rinsed thoroughly with water for 10 seconds and dried with drying paper. The color measurements were made using the single point measurement mode (L*, a*, b* values) and bleach shade mode of the spectrophotometer. If the bleach shade mode is SGU (Shade Guide Units), the measured color was set according to the VITA Bleachedguide 3D-MASTER (VITA Product Number B361). For this purpose, the whitening index measured after the procedure should be subtracted from the bleach index before treatment. The difference was stated to correspond ΔSGUBG number. Color measurements were made 3 times from the center point of the core surface of each tooth while the teeth were on the phantom model. Color measurements of teeth were obtained from the vestibular surface for three measurements.
The mean value of the measured L *, a * and b * parameters was calculated in the CIEDE2000 formula (ΔE00) to detect color differences (15). Color changes values due to bleaching (ΔE00) are interpreted as not effective (≤0.8), moderately effective (>0.8, ≤1.8), good efficacy (>1.8, ≤ 3.6), very good effectiveness (>3.6, ≤ 5.4) and excellent effectiveness (>5.4) (14).
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis of the color change data in the study was performed using the SPSS 22.00 Program (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The color change data of toothpastes on the teeth were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey multiple comparison test (p <0.05).
When we examined the color change of whitening toothpastes on the teeth according to shade guide units (ΔSGUBG), toothpaste containing activated charcoal produced the highest whitening on the 7th, 14th and 28th days, while toothpaste containing blue covarine produced the least whitening (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between hydrogen peroxide containing toothpaste and traditional toothpaste (p>0.05), (Table 3).
All toothpastes had medium whitening effect (according to ΔE00 and ΔSGUBG) after 7 days of use. However, after 28 days, activated charcoal toothpaste showed very good whitening effect, while hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and traditional toothpaste showed good whitening effect (Figure 1).
Table 2
Examination of the whitening effectiveness of toothpastes on teeth with the CIEDE2000 formula (ΔE00).
Figure 1 Whitening effectiveness of toothpastes on teeth according to the CIEDE2000 formula and VITA Bleach guide (SGU).
Discussion
In our study, the effect of whitening toothpastes on the color change of teeth was examined for a period of 28 days. Our null hypothesis was rejected as toothpastes had different whitening effects on teeth.
Traditionally, the tooth whitening method is done with two mechanisms: bleaching or removing the external stain. Although whitening of tooth color is accomplished using hydrogen or carbamide peroxides, peroxide-based bleaching can cause adverse biological reactions. Also, peroxide-based bleach needs to be administered or prescribed by a dentist (16). In recent years, different products have been launched, including toothpastes and mouthwashes, which are readily available in pharmacies and supermarkets, to provide a practical, fast, easy and cost-effective whitening effect. Whitening toothpastes used in daily oral hygiene routine that does not require supervision or indication by a dentist, have gained popularity.
Visual and instrumental methods are preferred to measure the color changes in teeth and materials. The spectrophotometer was used in this study because it provides accuracy, repeatability and objective values (17). In 2001, an updated new formula CIEDE2000 (ΔE00) was introduced and proposed by the CIE (15). CIEDE2000 (ΔE00) formula was preferred in our study as Gómez-Polo et al. (18) indicated in their study that it is more sensitive in measuring color changes than CIELAB (ΔEab) formula.
Perceptibility and acceptability threshold values in color changes indicate whether the difference is acceptable (19). For these reasons, two different methods were used to fully explain the whitening effectiveness. A recent study found the perceptibility and acceptability’s values of thresholds of 0.8 and 1.8, respectively, by using CIEDE2000 system. Also whitened index PT value was stated as (ΔSGUBG: 1.4) and AT value as (ΔSGUBG: 3.2) (14).
The effectiveness of toothpastes in cleaning is related to the abraders in them. Abrasive particles help to effectively remove external color pigments and prevent staining (20,21). Despite the abrasives in whitening toothpastes, it is stated that toothbrush/toothpaste should be used together in order for the paste to be effective (22,23). In addition, special abrasives and chemicals can be added to the toothpaste to increase stain removal and speed up the process (24).
The main whitening effect in toothpastes is based on the interaction between abrasive substances and peroxide compounds, surfactants, polyphosphates, and enzymes (25,26,27). The external stain on the tooth surface can be removed through something abrasive in the toothpaste, while the internal stain can be removed through oxidation based on HP (hydrogen peroxide) or CP (carbamide peroxide) products that help alleviate the internal discoloration of the tooth (28). Basically, the whitening process takes place with the conversion of peroxides to free radicals. In order to take advantage of this feature of hydrogen peroxide, it has been added to some whitening toothpastes in low concentrations (28). According to the literature, the discoloration of teeth can be removed effectively with HP and CP (29). In our study, toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide showed a whitening effect on the teeth after 7 days of use.
The whitening effect of toothpastes containing blue covarine instead of abrasive leaves a thin, translucent blue layer on the tooth enamel, changing the perception of yellowish discoloration in the teeth. In the blue spectrum, it creates the visual appearance of whiter and brighter teeth by shifting the network color to white as opposed to yellow. Studies provide conflicting reports on the effectiveness of optical effect pigments in teeth whitening. There are studies stating that this pigment has an effect on color change, (30,31,32) while some other studies show that it has no effect on color change (33,34). In their clinical study, Schlafer et al. (16) stated that toothpaste containing blue covarine did not show the whitening effect on teeth in a single use. In our study, toothpaste containing blue covarine showed less whitening effect than other toothpastes, although it had a whitening effect above the AT value on the teeth after 7 days of use.
The whitening effect of the activated charcoal used in toothpastes is based on its high adsorption capacity of chromophores and color pigments. Activated charcoal is highly porous and has an extremely high surface area (9) and provides effective and gradual cleaning of the tooth structure. Vaz et al. (8) conducted a study on the discoloration of whitening toothpastes on cattle incisors and found that there was no difference between toothpastes containing active coal, microparticles and hydrogen peroxide. Palandi et al. (35) stated that activated charcoal powder does not increase discoloration when combined with normal and whitening toothpastes. In our study, unlike the studies in the literature, the best whitening effect on teeth was seen in toothpaste containing activated charcoal. While bovine incisors were used in the studies in the literature, (8,35) human incisors were used in our study. The nature of the sample (human versus animal teeth) might be related with the difference in the results.
In our study, all whitening toothpastes tested in vitro had a whitening effect on teeth. Although the whitening efficiency of the toothpaste without bleaching particles was less than the toothpaste containing activated charcoal, it was at the same level as the toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide and blue covarine.
Toothpastes containing activated charcoal showed better effectiveness in whitening teeth than toothpastes containing blue covarine and hydrogen peroxide. However, it is stated in the literature that toothpastes containing activated charcoal increase the roughness of the enamel surface (35). In addition, individuals consume different beverages in daily life. For this reason, it is considered that it would be beneficial to conduct clinical research in order to fully understand the effectiveness of the toothpastes containing bleaching on teeth.
Conclusion
All toothpastes showed a whitening effect on the teeth after one week (7 days) of use while activated charcoal containing whitening toothpaste produced the best whitening effect after 28 days. After 28 days of daily use, the active charcoal containing toothpaste showed “very good effectiveness” regarding whitening the tooth, while hydrogen peroxide, blue covarine and traditional toothpaste showed “good effectiveness”.
|
The whitening effect of the activated charcoal used in toothpastes is based on its high adsorption capacity of chromophores and color pigments. Activated charcoal is highly porous and has an extremely high surface area (9) and provides effective and gradual cleaning of the tooth structure. Vaz et al. (8) conducted a study on the discoloration of whitening toothpastes on cattle incisors and found that there was no difference between toothpastes containing active coal, microparticles and hydrogen peroxide. Palandi et al. (35) stated that activated charcoal powder does not increase discoloration when combined with normal and whitening toothpastes. In our study, unlike the studies in the literature, the best whitening effect on teeth was seen in toothpaste containing activated charcoal. While bovine incisors were used in the studies in the literature, (8,35) human incisors were used in our study. The nature of the sample (human versus animal teeth) might be related with the difference in the results.
In our study, all whitening toothpastes tested in vitro had a whitening effect on teeth. Although the whitening efficiency of the toothpaste without bleaching particles was less than the toothpaste containing activated charcoal, it was at the same level as the toothpaste containing hydrogen peroxide and blue covarine.
Toothpastes containing activated charcoal showed better effectiveness in whitening teeth than toothpastes containing blue covarine and hydrogen peroxide. However, it is stated in the literature that toothpastes containing activated charcoal increase the roughness of the enamel surface (35). In addition, individuals consume different beverages in daily life. For this reason, it is considered that it would be beneficial to conduct clinical research in order to fully understand the effectiveness of the toothpastes containing bleaching on teeth.
|
yes
|
Stomatology
|
Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
|
yes_statement
|
"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" help in "whitening" "teeth".
|
https://www.wikihow.com/Use-Activated-Charcoal-for-Teeth-Whitening
|
3 Simple Ways to Use Activated Charcoal for Teeth Whitening
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This article was co-authored by Alina Lane, DDS and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD. Dr. Alina Lane is a Dentist who runs All Smiles Dentistry, a general practice dental office based in New York City. After completing a DDS at the University of Maryland, Dr. Lane completed a year-long clerkship in Implantology at the University of Maryland, where she focused on the advanced restoration of dental implants. She continued her advanced education by completing a General Practice Residency at Woodhull Medical Center, an affiliate of the NYU School of Medicine. She received the Woodhull Medical Center Resident of the Year 2012-2013.
There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 72,620 times.
You may have seen activated charcoal touted as the way to get a bright set of pearly whites – and there are a lot of toothpaste and natural health companies jumping on the bandwagon with activated charcoal toothpastes and whitening pastes. The traditional way to use activated charcoal for teeth whitening is to crush a charcoal tablet in water to form a paste you rub or brush on your teeth. Before you take the leap, be aware that the American Dental Association (ADA) warns that activated charcoal may damage the enamel of your teeth if used incorrectly, leading to increased tooth sensitivity.[1]XTrustworthy SourceAmerican Dental AssociationWorld's largest dental professional organization and advocate for proper oral healthGo to source
Consult your dentist for recommendations and advice. Before you start using activated charcoal, schedule an appointment with your dentist. Let them know that you're interested in using activated charcoal to whiten your teeth. They may have products they can recommend.[2]XResearch source
Your dentist can also properly evaluate your oral health and let you know if activated charcoal could possibly harm your teeth or gums.
Try a toothpaste with activated charcoal added first. An activated charcoal toothpaste will be less abrasive than an activated charcoal paste, as well as easier to clean off your teeth. If you've never tried activated charcoal before, you may want to start with a toothpaste first.[3]XResearch source
While activated charcoal may be good at removing surface stains, toothpastes are largely ineffective at whitening your teeth because they don't stay in contact with your teeth long enough. However, if you smoke or drink coffee, your teeth may seem whiter after using an activated charcoal toothpaste.[4]XResearch source
Tip: Many dentists recommend trying an activated charcoal toothpaste first to see how your teeth react. If you notice an increase in sensitivity or bleeding gums, discontinue use and try a gentler whitening method.
Make your own paste with tablets if you have healthy teeth and gums. Making your own activated charcoal paste is typically less expensive than pre-made branded products. Additionally, you avoid other ingredients in pre-made products that may lessen the effectiveness of the activated charcoal.[5]XResearch source
Activated charcoal tablets are available online and at some natural food or health and beauty stores. Activated charcoal is also available in capsule form. You would need to break open the capsule to use the charcoal on your teeth.
Read the information on the package carefully and make sure the tablets you buy are okay to use in your mouth.
Although paste made with tablets is typically more abrasive than branded activated charcoal products, you can control the abrasiveness depending on how finely you crush up the charcoal.
Crush a tablet of activated charcoal into a cup or bowl. Take a single tablet of activated charcoal out of the bottle and drop it into a small cup or bowl. You may want to use the back of a spoon to crush it up a little bit.[6]XResearch source
The finer the consistency of the activated charcoal, the less abrasive your paste will be. Try not to leave any large or jagged pieces of charcoal, as these could damage your teeth or gums.
Variation: If you're using capsules, open up 1 or 2 capsules into the bottom of your cup or bowl. Make sure you don't get any of the capsule casing mixed in with the activated charcoal powder.
Pour about 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of water over the charcoal to form a paste. Once you've sufficiently crushed up the activated charcoal tablet, mix it with water to until it has a consistent paste-like consistency.[7]XResearch source
Adding more water and crushing the charcoal more will make your paste less abrasive. However, you should only add a few drops of water at a time. If the paste becomes too watery, it won't adhere to your teeth.
Apply the paste to your teeth with a soft-bristled toothbrush. Dip a soft toothbrush into the paste and brush it gently on the exposed surfaces of your teeth. Use light pressure to keep from scrubbing too hard – you might damage your teeth's enamel.[8]XResearch source
Be sure to use a different toothbrush than the one you regularly use to brush your teeth – small bits of charcoal will get trapped in the bristles, and the bristles themselves will become stained.
Get a toothbrush with the softest bristles you can find to minimize the abrasiveness. You might try a child's toothbrush, which typically has softer bristles than an adult toothbrush.
Variation: If you're concerned about the abrasiveness of the activated charcoal paste and want to protect your enamel, you might apply it to your teeth with your fingertip instead of a toothbrush.
Leave the paste on your teeth for 3 minutes, then rinse. Once you've covered your teeth in the activated charcoal paste, wait for 3 minutes to allow the charcoal to do its work. Rinse your mouth with cool water repeatedly until you are no longer spitting any charcoal fragments.[9]XResearch source
After rinsing with water, you may want to follow up with a regular mouth rinse so your mouth doesn't taste like charcoal.
When you first start, you may have a hard time leaving the activated charcoal in your mouth for 3 minutes. Start with 1 minute and work your way up.
Brush and floss like normal after using activated charcoal. Using activated charcoal is not the same as brushing and flossing your teeth, and doesn't take the place of regular dental hygiene. Even while using activated charcoal, follow a normal routine of brushing your teeth at least twice a day.[10]XResearch source
Monitor your teeth and gums carefully when you brush your teeth after using activated charcoal. Discontinue your activated charcoal treatments if you notice your gums bleeding, or if your teeth feel rough or more sensitive than usual.
Treat your teeth with activated charcoal at most once every 2 weeks. Activated charcoal is abrasive, and repeated treatments will damage your enamel. Once you lose enamel there's no way to get it back. Using activated charcoal sparingly minimizes cumulative damage.
The primary benefit of activated charcoal is the removal of surface stains from your teeth. Waiting a couple of weeks will allow a buildup of stains so the charcoal doesn't start eating away at your enamel.
Make your own whitening toothpaste with natural ingredients. A mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide may whiten your teeth. Dip your toothbrush in hydrogen peroxide, then dip it in baking soda. Brush your teeth for 2 minutes, then rinse well.[11]XResearch source
While baking soda is less abrasive than activated charcoal, it's still abrasive. Use this treatment no more than 2 or 3 times a week, and don't use it as a substitute for regular brushing and flossing.
Drink water with dark foods and drinks to minimize staining. Coffee, red wine, pomegranates, and other dark foods and drinks are known to stain your teeth. If you drink water while eating or drinking, the water helps to rinse the stains away, keeping your mouth clean.[12]XResearch source
Smoking can also stain your teeth. If you're a smoker, consider cutting back or making a plan to quit if you want a whiter smile. In the meantime, consider using a smoker's toothpaste that is designed to fight tobacco stains.
Eat foods that help keep your teeth clean. The types of food that you eat can help naturally brighten your smile without having to resort to harsh treatments. Fill up on crunchy raw foods that naturally brush the surface of your teeth, such as celery and apples.[13]XResearch source
These foods also help remove bacteria from your mouth and teeth, which can help prevent cavities and gum disease.
Oil pulling is an ancient treatment that may help remove surface stains from your teeth to give you a brighter smile.
There aren't any scientific studies that prove oil pulling is actually beneficial for your oral health or will help whiten your teeth. Although oil pulling isn't abrasive and won't harm the enamel of your teeth, you should still consult your dentist before trying this treatment.
Tip: Oil pulling is generally considered safe to do as often as daily, but start with once a week and work up from there if you see results that you like.
Talk to your dentist about in-office whitening treatments. Whitening treatments at your dentist's office are the only guaranteed way to get a whiter smile. There are a number of different methods available, some of which may even be covered by your dental insurance.[15]XTrustworthy SourceAmerican Dental AssociationWorld's largest dental professional organization and advocate for proper oral healthGo to source
Your dentist will also be able to talk to you about why your teeth are discolored. Some discoloration is genetic, and no whitening treatments will help.
About This Article
This article was co-authored by Alina Lane, DDS and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD. Dr. Alina Lane is a Dentist who runs All Smiles Dentistry, a general practice dental office based in New York City. After completing a DDS at the University of Maryland, Dr. Lane completed a year-long clerkship in Implantology at the University of Maryland, where she focused on the advanced restoration of dental implants. She continued her advanced education by completing a General Practice Residency at Woodhull Medical Center, an affiliate of the NYU School of Medicine. She received the Woodhull Medical Center Resident of the Year 2012-2013. This article has been viewed 72,620 times.
The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment.
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The traditional way to use activated charcoal for teeth whitening is to crush a charcoal tablet in water to form a paste you rub or brush on your teeth. Before you take the leap, be aware that the American Dental Association (ADA) warns that activated charcoal may damage the enamel of your teeth if used incorrectly, leading to increased tooth sensitivity.[1]XTrustworthy SourceAmerican Dental AssociationWorld's largest dental professional organization and advocate for proper oral healthGo to source
Consult your dentist for recommendations and advice. Before you start using activated charcoal, schedule an appointment with your dentist. Let them know that you're interested in using activated charcoal to whiten your teeth. They may have products they can recommend.[2]XResearch source
Your dentist can also properly evaluate your oral health and let you know if activated charcoal could possibly harm your teeth or gums.
Try a toothpaste with activated charcoal added first. An activated charcoal toothpaste will be less abrasive than an activated charcoal paste, as well as easier to clean off your teeth. If you've never tried activated charcoal before, you may want to start with a toothpaste first.[3]XResearch source
While activated charcoal may be good at removing surface stains, toothpastes are largely ineffective at whitening your teeth because they don't stay in contact with your teeth long enough. However, if you smoke or drink coffee, your teeth may seem whiter after using an activated charcoal toothpaste.[4]XResearch source
Tip: Many dentists recommend trying an activated charcoal toothpaste first to see how your teeth react. If you notice an increase in sensitivity or bleeding gums, discontinue use and try a gentler whitening method.
Make your own paste with tablets if you have healthy teeth and gums. Making your own activated charcoal paste is typically less expensive than pre-made branded products. Additionally, you avoid other ingredients in pre-made products that may lessen the effectiveness of the activated charcoal. [
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yes
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Stomatology
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Are toothpastes with charcoal beneficial for teeth whitening?
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no_statement
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"toothpastes" with "charcoal" are not "beneficial" for "teeth" "whitening".. "charcoal" "toothpastes" do not help in "whitening" "teeth".
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https://camillestyles.com/wellness/body/does-charcoal-toothpaste-work/
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Does Charcoal Toothpaste Work? An Expert Explains
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Charcoal Toothpaste Can “Detox” Your Mouth—But Is It Safe?
The oral microbiome may not get as much attention as the skin’s or the gut’s, but it’s equally important to your overall health. As biologic dentist Gerry Curatola says, “Your mouth mirrors what is happening in your body.” And since charcoal has become as buzzy in the toothpaste world as probiotics have for gut health, we sought to answer once and for all: does charcoal toothpaste actually work?
Like the type of charcoal you’ll see in face masks, the activated ingredient is known for its absorbent, detoxifying nature. Many also swear by charcoal’s whitening powers, though its slightly abrasive texture may not be as good for your teeth in the long run—not to mention the state of a porcelain sink.
To get our many questions about the inky teeth trend, we tapped board-certified nurse practitioner and functional medicine expert Taylor Dukes.
Taylor Dukes is a functional medicine provider and board-certified family nurse practitioner whose passion is helping client feel, look and perform their best.
How does charcoal toothpaste promote oral health?
Charcoal toothpaste is made with activated charcoal. Activated charcoal is a form of carbon that’s been heated and processed. This heating process creates “pores” in the carbon. These pores are medically beneficial for absorbing toxins and other harmful substances from the body.
In the case of the oral cavity, charcoal-based toothpastes are effective for detoxifying the mouth and tissues as well as pulling surface stains out of the pores of the teeth.
Is it beneficial to use charcoal toothpaste every day?
You may have heard that it’s not good to brush with charcoal toothpaste daily. Is that true? Well, it depends…
If you’re using a high-quality charcoal toothpaste, you shouldn’t have to worry about contraindications of daily use. If you do find, however, that your gums become more sensitive or irritated, you can alternate your brushing between a high-quality charcoal toothpaste and a high-quality remineralizing toothpaste.
2 of 6
Image by Michelle Nash
How long does it take for charcoal toothpaste to whiten teeth?
While some people will begin to see the whitening effects of charcoal toothpaste in as little as a week, most people begin to see whitening results from charcoal toothpaste within two to three weeks of use.
What are the cons of charcoal toothpaste?
Just like most products on the market, charcoal toothpaste varies vastly in its quality from brand to brand. In particular, charcoal can differ in grade, particle size, and source depending on which brand of charcoal toothpaste you use.
Inferior quality charcoal toothpaste may feel gritty or scratchy. Daily use of one of these lesser-quality charcoal toothpastes can be damaging to the teeth because of how highly abrasive they are. Over time, the abrasiveness may wear down tooth enamel.
For that reason, you’ll want to be sure the charcoal toothpaste you’re purchasing has had third party studies done to verify the safety of daily use of the toothpaste and/or holds USP certifications, making it pure and safe for everyday use.
On another note, charcoal is extremely dark and can easily stain whatever it contacts! You’ll need to rinse out your sink well after brushing with charcoal, and you’ll want to have care that you don’t spill, drip, or splash on clothing—or anything else!
Davids Natural Whitening Charcoal Toothpaste
Dukes’ pick for a high-quality, non-toxic charcoal paste.
$9.95
3 of 6
Image by Michelle Nash
What is the best way to whiten teeth?
First, prevention is the best medicine. When talking about the oral microbiome, I cannot help but point out the benefits of eating a real, whole foods diet. Cutting out sugars and processed foods is perhaps the most impactful step you could possibly take for the health of your teeth and entire mouth.
Next, if you’re a coffee or tea drinker, it’s a good idea to brush immediately following your warm sip. Not only will it clear your oral cavity of the acidic residue left from the beverages, but it’ll keep stains from absorbing and setting in your teeth.
And yes, I do love brushing with a charcoal toothpaste for the purpose of whitening your teeth. But you want to be sure and go with a high-quality, non-toxic charcoal paste such as Davids.
Finally, if you’re looking for a real whitening boost, I recommend non-toxic products such as Lumineux teeth whitening strips versus the conventional ones on the market, which contain toxic chemicals.
Lumineux Teeth Whitening Strips
$44.99
As you can see, the quality and type of toothpaste you purchase are extremely important for your oral health. And your oral health is extremely important for your overall health. So get brushing!
Every product is curated with care by our editors and we’ll always give an honest opinion, whether gifted or purchased ourselves. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
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How does charcoal toothpaste promote oral health?
Charcoal toothpaste is made with activated charcoal. Activated charcoal is a form of carbon that’s been heated and processed. This heating process creates “pores” in the carbon. These pores are medically beneficial for absorbing toxins and other harmful substances from the body.
In the case of the oral cavity, charcoal-based toothpastes are effective for detoxifying the mouth and tissues as well as pulling surface stains out of the pores of the teeth.
Is it beneficial to use charcoal toothpaste every day?
You may have heard that it’s not good to brush with charcoal toothpaste daily. Is that true? Well, it depends…
If you’re using a high-quality charcoal toothpaste, you shouldn’t have to worry about contraindications of daily use. If you do find, however, that your gums become more sensitive or irritated, you can alternate your brushing between a high-quality charcoal toothpaste and a high-quality remineralizing toothpaste.
2 of 6
Image by Michelle Nash
How long does it take for charcoal toothpaste to whiten teeth?
While some people will begin to see the whitening effects of charcoal toothpaste in as little as a week, most people begin to see whitening results from charcoal toothpaste within two to three weeks of use.
What are the cons of charcoal toothpaste?
Just like most products on the market, charcoal toothpaste varies vastly in its quality from brand to brand. In particular, charcoal can differ in grade, particle size, and source depending on which brand of charcoal toothpaste you use.
Inferior quality charcoal toothpaste may feel gritty or scratchy. Daily use of one of these lesser-quality charcoal toothpastes can be damaging to the teeth because of how highly abrasive they are.
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yes
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/can-dogs-be-vegan
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Can Dogs Be Vegan? | Hill's Pet
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Find food that fits your pet’s needs
Find a dog food that fits your pet’s needs
Find a cat food that fits your pet’s needs
Can dogs be vegan? There's a lot of controversy surrounding this question. While some people may claim that their dogs thrive on a meat-free diet, many experts express concern that a vegan meal plan for dogs lacks the nutritional requirements for a truly healthy dog. So, which side is correct?
Can Dogs Be Vegan?
The short answer is that yes, technically speaking, dogs can survive and even do well on a vegan or vegetarian regimen, says Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University. While it's commonly believed that dogs are carnivores like their wolf ancestors, meaning that they must eat meat to survive, this is incorrect. Although they're members of the order Carnivora — which, it should be noted, also includes the giant panda, a species that eats almost exclusively bamboo plants — dogs are actually omnivores. Canine digestive systems are quite capable of digesting and deriving nutrients from fruits and vegetables.
Because of this, and the fact that some dogs are allergic to animal proteins, sometimes veterinarians and licensed pet nutritionists will prescribe specially designed meat-free diets to treat dogs with allergies and other types of health problems. With that said, Tufts University cautions that a dog food plan devoid of animal fats and proteins is potentially dangerous and should never be fed without the supervision of a professional.
Why a Vegan Regimen Is Dangerous for Dogs
Designing a meat-free food for dogs that contains all of the necessary nutrients for them to thrive is extremely difficult, even for licensed veterinary nutritionists, says Tufts. While the canine digestive system can get nutrition from plant matter, it has a much easier time processing animal matter. Fruits and vegetables are great for providing vitamins and antioxidants that can help your dog thrive, but they lack the necessary amounts of fat and protein. Proteins derived from animal products, like collagen, elastin and keratin — all of which are vital for healthy skin, muscles and joints — are difficult, if not impossible, to derive from a vegan diet. The bottom line is that, unless it's done very carefully under the guidance and supervision of a licensed veterinary nutritionist, making your dog vegan could lead to severe health complications and malnutrition.
How to Feed Your Dog If You're Vegan
So, what's a vegan pet parent to do? If your motivations for leading a vegan lifestyle are purely health-related, then it's important to realize that the health benefits that you derive from eating vegan don't extend to your dog. But things can get stickier if you're a vegan for ethical reasons. If you're struggling to strike a balance between feeding your dog a healthy diet and remaining true to your principles, here are some things that might help:
Talk to your vet about your concerns. They may be able to direct you to some quality dog foods that use eggs or dairy in place of meat, while also addressing any questions and concerns you have about what you should feed your pooch.
Consider compromising by feeding your pup a fish-based dog food.
Shop around for high-quality dog foods that use humanely sourced meats as well as ethically sourced fruits and vegetables.
While the short answer to "Can dogs be vegan?" may technically be yes, as you've seen, the more thorough answer is that it's far from ideal and even dangerous in some cases. Although it's admirable to be concerned about the welfare of all animals, when it comes to feeding your four-legged best friend, it's his life and health that should be at the forefront of your concern.
Contributor Bio
Jean Marie Bauhaus
Jean Marie Bauhaus is a pet parent, pet blogger and novelist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she usually writes under the supervision of a lapful of furbabies.
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To make a protein, amino acids are linked together in a long chain. The chain is then bundled into to a three-dimensional structure, like a tangled ball of yarn. Although there are hundreds of different amino acids, only 21 are used in animal proteins.
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Find food that fits your pet’s needs
Find a dog food that fits your pet’s needs
Find a cat food that fits your pet’s needs
Can dogs be vegan? There's a lot of controversy surrounding this question. While some people may claim that their dogs thrive on a meat-free diet, many experts express concern that a vegan meal plan for dogs lacks the nutritional requirements for a truly healthy dog. So, which side is correct?
Can Dogs Be Vegan?
The short answer is that yes, technically speaking, dogs can survive and even do well on a vegan or vegetarian regimen, says Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University. While it's commonly believed that dogs are carnivores like their wolf ancestors, meaning that they must eat meat to survive, this is incorrect. Although they're members of the order Carnivora — which, it should be noted, also includes the giant panda, a species that eats almost exclusively bamboo plants — dogs are actually omnivores. Canine digestive systems are quite capable of digesting and deriving nutrients from fruits and vegetables.
Because of this, and the fact that some dogs are allergic to animal proteins, sometimes veterinarians and licensed pet nutritionists will prescribe specially designed meat-free diets to treat dogs with allergies and other types of health problems. With that said, Tufts University cautions that a dog food plan devoid of animal fats and proteins is potentially dangerous and should never be fed without the supervision of a professional.
Why a Vegan Regimen Is Dangerous for Dogs
Designing a meat-free food for dogs that contains all of the necessary nutrients for them to thrive is extremely difficult, even for licensed veterinary nutritionists, says Tufts. While the canine digestive system can get nutrition from plant matter, it has a much easier time processing animal matter. Fruits and vegetables are great for providing vitamins and antioxidants that can help your dog thrive, but they lack the necessary amounts of fat and protein.
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no
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://plantbasednews.org/opinion/vegan-dogs/
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Could A Vegan Diet Actually Be Better For Dogs Than Meat?
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The day my border collie Levi celebrated his ninth birthday was the day I really started thinking about his age. Of course, most people fear the day their companion animals “go to live on a farm” – you know, permanently. But it’s a thought you force back down for most of your pup’s life.
But when Levi embarked (get it?) upon his ninth year of life, I couldn’t keep it down any longer. I knew he wasn’t in perfect health. He had early arthritis and was being treated for infections in both ears. He had less energy than he used to, and no longer jumped up into the car or onto the bed.
I was doing my best to give him a great and healthy life. But I was aware that a lot of bigger dogs don’t make it past 10-12. And I was eager (or desperate?) to find new ways to increase the likelihood of him living longer.
Nights of research kept leading me back to a concept I’d always doubted and judged: a plant-based diet for dogs. I’m vegan myself, but never considered forcing that onto Levi. Like most pet owners, I only want what’s best for him. But suddenly, I was reading about the health risks of feeding meat to your dog, not the other way around.
I’m not here to convince you to change your dog’s diet to a plant-based one. What I will do though, is share some of the information I found useful when exploring this topic further.
Can dogs be vegan?
Whether dogs can be vegan is a contentious topic. At first glance, it’s easy to mistake dogs for carnivores – the teeth, for starters, are misleading. But domestic dogs are actually omnivores, like humans, chimps, bears, and pigs (to name a few).
An omnivore is an animal that can survive on both plant- and animal-based foods. For this reason, like many other omnivores, dogs can eat an entirely plant-based diet.
Benefits of a plant-based diet for dogs
Adobe Stock Many people report improvements in their dogs’ health after switching them to a plant-based diet.
It didn’t take long to see the improvements in Levi once he transitioned away from commercial meat-based kibble and toward a vegan formula. It’s been more than two years, and he is healthier than he’s ever been. He hasn’t had issues with infections since he was eating meat, and his arthritis symptoms have significantly improved – jumping into cars, onto beds, and all over people. At 11 years old, he gets mistaken for a young dog all the time.
It’s a story that I’ve heard many times, especially on a Facebook group called Vegan Dog Nutrition, which at the time of writing, has more than 17,000 members. Of course, anecdotal evidence isn’t enough. But these testimonies are backed up by research, too.
Research published in 2016 concluded that companion dogs can “thrive” on a meat-free diet. “Such diets have been associated with benefits such as improved coat condition, allergy control, weight control, increased overall health and vitality, arthritis regression, diabetes regression, cataract resolution,” the journal article reads.
It also noted “decreased incidences of cancer, infections, hypothyroidism and ectoparasites (fleas, ticks, lice and mites).”
It clarified that pets on a meat-free diet can still develop health problems. “However, such diseases are also prevalent within the normal domesticated companion animal population,” the research said.
A separate study, from 2009, looked at the diets of highly exercised dogs to determine whether they could remain in good health on a meat-free diet. The experiment involved sprint-racing Siberian huskies and lasted 16 weeks, including 10 weeks of competitive racing. The dogs on a plant-based diet remained in “excellent physical condition.”
‘Tremendous results’
Adobe Stock Plant-based diets can be healthier and more sustainable than meat-based ones.
Dr. Debra Voulgaris, who has a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), has used plant-based diets to help pet patients manage harmful health conditions. “As an ethical veterinarian, I have a responsibility to recommend foods for my patients that are balanced and healthy. As an ethical vegan, I have a responsibility to promote compassion to all animals, not just my patients. V-dog allows me to do both,” she says, referring to a plant-based dog food brand (which you can check out here).
“V-dog has proven to be effective in helping many of my patients manage certain allergies, gastrointestinal issues and other systemic illnesses.”
Dr. Jena Questen, who has her own animal rescue and vet hospital, also advocates for meat-free dog diets. She has stated: “Why do I support a vegan diet for dogs? Because the science is clear: 1) Humans and dogs are both omnivores. 2) A plant based diet is the best diet for health and longevity for humans. And 3) I want my animals to live as long, and healthy, as possible, therefore a plant based diet is what I feed and recommend, with tremendous results!”
Bramble, the 25-year-old vegan dog
You can’t talk about vegan dogs without mentioning the iconic border collie, Bramble. Bramble lived to just over 25 years – the equivalent of 189 in dog years. She even held the Guinness World Record for being the world’s oldest dog at the time.
Bramble’s owner, animal rights activist Anne Heritage, spoke with V-Dog about Bramble and her other pups.
“I’ve had seven dogs – three of them lived to 19 years old, one lived to 20 years old, and then Bramble lived to 25 years old,” she said. All of them were vegan.
“I was really able to enjoy my dogs much longer – we were able to enjoy each other – due to their plant-based diet. I believe you can extend your dog’s years given the right care plan and food,” she said.
“[Bramble] walked over two hours daily. All of this activity really built up her muscles and endurance. Bramble’s vet also said she had the best teeth she’s ever seen. Her teeth were white and strong.” (Interestingly, many vets have said that about Levi’s teeth too, but I can’t say whether that’s due to his diet).
Dangers of feeding dogs meat
Adobe Stock Meat-based dog food can contain harmful bacteria.
Learning about the (many) health implications of meat-based dog food was the catalyst for me to make the change for Levi.
It’s also what motivated some plant-based pet food brands to launch. Take Wild Earth, for instance. The company launched, in part, due to concerns about contaminated dog food.
“Most of the major brands have meat scraps from the ‘4D animals’ —dead, dying, diseased, or disabled—so there could really be anything in there,” CEO and co-founder Ryan Bethencourt told Wall Street Journal. Raw 4-D meat, according to the FDA, “may present a potential health hazard to the animals that consume it and to the people who handle it.”
Bethencourt continued: “We’ve taken an easily accessible vegan product that we can easily scale through biotechnology, not factory farming.”
V-Dog has similar concerns. On its website, it points to data from the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, which shows that in February 2018 alone, 38 pet food products were recalled for contamination, mostly from pentobarbital (a euthanasia drug) and Salmonellacontamination.
Multiple popular dog food brands were among those recalled. These included Ol’ Roy, Skippy, and Gravy Train, which is owned by $14.34 billion manufacturer Smucker’s.
Raw meat risks
Raw meat-based dog food can be even more damaging. A study published in July examined the health risks of raw meat-based dog food by testing samples for the bacteria Enterococci. Enterococci that spreads to the wrong areas of the body can cause serious infections, including abdominal, wound, oral, and urinary tract infections.
Researchers looked at 55 samples from 25 brands (most of which ship worldwide). More than half (54 percent) of samples contained the bacteria. And more than 40 percent were resistant to multiple antibiotics.
The findings posed risks, not just to the dogs consuming it but to humans, too. “The close contact of humans with dogs and the commercialisation of the studied brands in different countries poses an international public health risk,” said study researcher Dr. Ana Freitas.
“European authorities must raise awareness about the potential health risks when feeding raw diets to pets and the manufacture of dog food, including ingredient selection and hygiene practices, must be reviewed.”
Plastic in dog food
Stepping away from bacterial concerns, there are other ways using animals for pet food can be harmful. Former employees in the pet food industry have revealed that plastic ear tags from livestock can be processed along with the meat and ultimately, end up in dogs’ bowls. Spoiled supermarket meat can also be used in batches, sometimes without removing the styrofoam packaging.
Some employees spoke to ABC about the issue. A former rendering plant operations manager revealed: “There would be plastic. Butchers would be getting rid of their material and they don’t care what they’re putting in the bin — plastic, cans, all those sorts of things you would see.”
Environmental impact of dog food
Adobe Stock The meat used to make pet food causes a great deal of environmental damage.
One of the primary reasons I went vegan was due to concerns about the planet. If you’ve read the news lately, you’ll know that the climate crisis is taking its toll all over the world, manifesting as floods, droughts, and wildfires (read more about the climate crisis here).
Of course, a lot of variables are at play. But an undeniable one is diet. The production of meat, dairy, and eggs is a leading driver of deforestation, ocean dead zones, and rising sea levels. Animal products (especially beef) are huge generators of greenhouse gas emissions. And research has shown over and over again that plant-based foods have a lower impact on the planet.
In 2019, researchers from Oxford University analyzed the impact of the food system on the planet. The study was the most comprehensive of its kind to date. Joseph Poore, who led the study, concluded: “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use.”
“It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, since these avenues mostly target greenhouse gas emissions. “Agriculture is a sector that spans all the multitude of environmental problems. Really it is animal products that are responsible for so much of this.”
He said: “I also think that it is a duty of all of us who love animals and the planet to minimize the suffering of others and reduce the environmental impact that we produce with our food. The food that our dogs and cats consume produces more than 64 million tons of carbon dioxide a year – that’s the equivalent of driving more than 13 million cars.”
Growing numbers of vegan dogs
Adobe Stock A rising number of people are raising their dogs on a meat-free diet.
Vegan dogs are a minority, but a growing one.
In 2019, researchers from U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College conducted a survey to examine what foods people are feeding their pets.
Just under six percent of participants were vegan. More than a quarter (27 percent) were feeding their dogs a plant-based diet, too. Among the rest of the vegan survey respondents, 78 percent were interested in adjusting their pets diet to be plant-based if it met their needs
Lead author Dr. Sarah Dodd commented: “That percentage, 27 percent, might sound like a small number, but when you think of the actual numbers of pets involved, that’s huge, and much higher than we expected.”
All up, 1.6 percent of dogs from the survey were plant-based. A further 10.4 percent of dogs were “intermittently fed vegetarian diets or plant-based foods.”
Moreover, 35 percent of pet owners whose companion animals currently ate meat were interested in switching their pets’ diet to a plant-based one.
“People have been hearing about how vegan diets are linked to lowered risks of cancer and other health benefits in humans. There is also growing concern about the environmental impact of animal agriculture,” Dodd said.
“Previous studies have also shown that pet owners tend to offer the same kind of diets to their dogs and cats that they adopt for themselves. So, while only a small proportion of pet owners are currently feeding plant-based diets to their pets, it is safe to say that interest in the diets is likely to grow.”
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The Author
Jemima Webber
Jemima is the Head of Editorial at Plant Based News. Originally from Newcastle, Australia, she has written extensively about vegan living, animal rights, law, psychology, music, and the environment, and is also passionate about intersectional feminism and LGBTQIA+ issues.
Jemima currently lives in Canada with her senior plant-based dog Levi.
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It also noted “decreased incidences of cancer, infections, hypothyroidism and ectoparasites (fleas, ticks, lice and mites).”
It clarified that pets on a meat-free diet can still develop health problems. “However, such diseases are also prevalent within the normal domesticated companion animal population,” the research said.
A separate study, from 2009, looked at the diets of highly exercised dogs to determine whether they could remain in good health on a meat-free diet. The experiment involved sprint-racing Siberian huskies and lasted 16 weeks, including 10 weeks of competitive racing. The dogs on a plant-based diet remained in “excellent physical condition.”
‘Tremendous results’
Adobe Stock Plant-based diets can be healthier and more sustainable than meat-based ones.
Dr. Debra Voulgaris, who has a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), has used plant-based diets to help pet patients manage harmful health conditions. “As an ethical veterinarian, I have a responsibility to recommend foods for my patients that are balanced and healthy. As an ethical vegan, I have a responsibility to promote compassion to all animals, not just my patients. V-dog allows me to do both,” she says, referring to a plant-based dog food brand (which you can check out here).
“V-dog has proven to be effective in helping many of my patients manage certain allergies, gastrointestinal issues and other systemic illnesses.”
Dr. Jena Questen, who has her own animal rescue and vet hospital, also advocates for meat-free dog diets. She has stated: “Why do I support a vegan diet for dogs? Because the science is clear: 1) Humans and dogs are both omnivores. 2) A plant based diet is the best diet for health and longevity for humans.
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://www.aspca.org/news/why-cant-my-cat-be-vegan
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Why Can't My Cat Be Vegan? | ASPCA
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Why Can't My Cat Be Vegan?
People choose to adopt vegan diets for a myriad of personal reasons, some over animal welfare concerns, and some to improve their overall health. And since living a vegan lifestyle is now easier than ever, some vegans may want to extend that aspect of their lifestyle to their pets. But is a vegan, plant-based diet safe for your pets?
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) says that while it is possible—though challenging—to keep dogs healthy on a plant-based diet, a vegan diet is not appropriate for cats at all.
But, if dogs can do it, why can’t cats?
Well, cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they need to eat meat to survive. There are a number of reasons why cats don't do well on a vegan diet, but it all essentially comes down to this: they aren't adapted to it. Feeding a cat a plant-based diet is a lot like feeding a cow a meat-based diet—their digestive system isn't geared to handle it, and they will not thrive on it.
What specific components make a vegan diet unhealthy for cats?
Taurine: Taurine is an amino acid (the building blocks of protein) essential for cats. Taurine can only be found in animal sources such as meat, milk, etc. It is not found in plant sources. Taurine can be synthesized in humans and dogs, but cats are unable to do this and require a direct source from an animal product. Cats who are fed a vegan diet will often develop a deficiency of taurine because the diet doesn't provide them with this essential amino acid.
Cats with taurine deficiency can develop a heart issue known as dilated cardiomyopathy or DCM. In cats with DCM, the heart muscle becomes very thin and weak, preventing them from pumping blood and supplying oxygen to the body normally. This is a fatal disease if not corrected early on. A lack of adequate taurine can also cause severe eye problems in cats, including blindness.
Protein: Cats require a diet high in protein. Plants simply don't have high enough levels of high-quality, highly digestible protein to meet a cat's dietary requirements.
Carbohydrates: Cats are not good at digesting carbohydrates. They don't get much energy from them, and a carbohydrate-rich diet is not appropriate for cats. They need calorie dense options that meat provides.
The bottom line is that because cats are obligate carnivores, their gastrointestinal tracts and metabolism have adapted to eating meat. They can't digest plant material well, and they require essential nutrients that only meat can provide to them. They aren't adapted to digesting a plant-based diet, and meat absolutely needs to be on the table when you are feeding a cat. However, you can still improve the lives of farm animals and be mindful of animal welfare by seeking out animal food brands bearing meaningful welfare certification labels, which represent more humane and transparent farming practices. Learn more about how to Shop with Your Heart for not only your food, but for your pets' food as well.
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Why Can't My Cat Be Vegan?
People choose to adopt vegan diets for a myriad of personal reasons, some over animal welfare concerns, and some to improve their overall health. And since living a vegan lifestyle is now easier than ever, some vegans may want to extend that aspect of their lifestyle to their pets. But is a vegan, plant-based diet safe for your pets?
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) says that while it is possible—though challenging—to keep dogs healthy on a plant-based diet, a vegan diet is not appropriate for cats at all.
But, if dogs can do it, why can’t cats?
Well, cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they need to eat meat to survive. There are a number of reasons why cats don't do well on a vegan diet, but it all essentially comes down to this: they aren't adapted to it. Feeding a cat a plant-based diet is a lot like feeding a cow a meat-based diet—their digestive system isn't geared to handle it, and they will not thrive on it.
What specific components make a vegan diet unhealthy for cats?
Taurine: Taurine is an amino acid (the building blocks of protein) essential for cats. Taurine can only be found in animal sources such as meat, milk, etc. It is not found in plant sources. Taurine can be synthesized in humans and dogs, but cats are unable to do this and require a direct source from an animal product. Cats who are fed a vegan diet will often develop a deficiency of taurine because the diet doesn't provide them with this essential amino acid.
Cats with taurine deficiency can develop a heart issue known as dilated cardiomyopathy or DCM. In cats with DCM, the heart muscle becomes very thin and weak, preventing them from pumping blood and supplying oxygen to the body normally. This is a fatal disease if not corrected early on.
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://veganoutreach.org/vegan-diets-dogs/
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Vegan Diets for Dogs - Vegan Outreach
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Vegan Diets for Dogs
For both ethical and health reasons, many vegetarians and vegans choose to feed their companion dogs vegetarian or vegan diets. Up to 50 % of commercial pet food brands are comprised of “meat meal” and “byproducts,” which include various body parts (such as beaks, brain, spinal cord tissue, bones, lungs, intestinal tracts) slaughterhouse wastes, 4-D meat (from dead, dying, diseased or disabled animals), supermarket rejects, as well as rendered dogs and cats from animal shelters. Other contaminants which have been found in commercial pet foods include old restaurant grease containing high concentrations of dangerous free radicals and trans fatty acids; PCBs, heavy metals and other toxins, particularly from fish; bacterial, protozoal, fungal, viral, and prion contaminants, along with their associated endotoxins and mycotoxins; hormone and antibiotic residues; and dangerous preservatives. Many speculate that the increase in incidences of cancers, kidney failure, and other degenerative diseases in our companion animals recently may be due to the harmful ingredients in many commercial meat-based pet foods. This has led people to feed alternative diets.
Dogs can be healthy and in fact, thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet, as long as all necessary nutrient requirements are met. Dogs are biologically omnivorous, but can adapt well to a plant-based diet which meets all their nutritional needs. It’s important that the food be digested easily as well as have good palatability. The transition to a plant-based diet should be a gradual change (mixing the 2 foods in different proportions until the new food is given exclusively) to minimize the occurrence of gastrointestinal disturbances (such as diarrhea and sometimes vomiting).
In my clinical practice treating dogs, one of the most common ailments I diagnose and treat in dogs is skin allergies. Recurrent skin allergies (itching, scratching, biting, licking, leading to recurrent inflammation and infection of the skin) are usually due to one of the following (and sometimes a combination of these factors): (1) flea allergy dermatitis (the most commonly diagnosed); (2) food allergy (occurs in about 10-20% of cases); and (3) atopy, which is an allergy to something in the environment, such as house dust mites, pollen, grass, etc. Atopy is relatively uncommon. Most of the time a dog has a food allergy it is to a meat protein such as beef, chicken, or one of the other common meat sources. Vegetarian diets may bring these food allergic dogs relief from their skin allergies. A smaller percentage of dogs are allergic to soy, which may limit choices of commercially available vegetarian diets. In that case, if a caretaker wishes to feed a vegan diet, a homemade diet may be the next best option, but even more care must be taken to insure appropriate nutrient balance and supplements may need to be added to the diet.
Although dry kibble is generally better for dental health, if the dog is predisposed to urinary problems such as urinary crystals, canned (moist) food would be a better choice because the higher water intake helps to dilute out the urine and reduce the incidence of crystal and stone formation. One of the potential but unlikely risks associated with vegetarian diets in dogs is the occurrence of struvite crystals, which are more likely to occur if the urine pH becomes too alkaline. (This problem affects certain breeds of dog more commonly; the affected breeds include shih tzus, miniature schnauzers, bichon frises, miniature poodles, cocker spaniels, and Lhasa apsos.) Adding water to the dry food or encouraging the dog to drink water would be another way to address the issue of urine concentration which is related to crystal formation (the more dilute the urine, the less likely crystals are to form). To avoid any problems associated with urinary alkalinization secondary to the dog being on a vegetarian diet, I recommend that 2-3 weeks after switching the dog from a meat-based to a plant-based diet that he/she be brought to a veterinarian to have a urinalysis performed. This simple test will show what the urine pH is, as well as whether any crystals are present, therefore heading off any problems before they start. If the urine pH is too high (too alkaline) and/or struvite crystals are present, various acidifying agents can be used.
Although diet-related problems are unlikely to occur for dogs on a nutritionally complete and balanced diet, certain dog breeds are predisposed to DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy), a form of heart disease which may be influenced by lack of sufficient intake of taurine and/or carnitine (amino acids which are naturally occurring in flesh foods but can be added to the diet via synthetic supplements which are readily available. Doberman pinschers, boxers, “giant breeds” (Scottish deerhounds, Irish wolfhounds, Great Danes, Saint Bernards, Afghan hounds), and cocker spaniels are the dog breeds predisposed to DCM. The role of carnitine and taurine in the therapy of DCM remains controversial. American cocker spaniels with dilated cardiomyopathy generally respond favorably to taurine supplementation. Those not responding to taurine will often respond to the addition of L-carnitine. This http://www.carnitine-taurine.com/index.htm contains info on ordering supplements of taurine and carnitine for affected dogs. If someone has one of the predisposed breeds, it may be beneficial to supplement with taurine and/or carnitine if not already present in the vegetarian diet, in conjunction with consulting one’s veterinarian.
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Vegan Diets for Dogs
For both ethical and health reasons, many vegetarians and vegans choose to feed their companion dogs vegetarian or vegan diets. Up to 50 % of commercial pet food brands are comprised of “meat meal” and “byproducts,” which include various body parts (such as beaks, brain, spinal cord tissue, bones, lungs, intestinal tracts) slaughterhouse wastes, 4-D meat (from dead, dying, diseased or disabled animals), supermarket rejects, as well as rendered dogs and cats from animal shelters. Other contaminants which have been found in commercial pet foods include old restaurant grease containing high concentrations of dangerous free radicals and trans fatty acids; PCBs, heavy metals and other toxins, particularly from fish; bacterial, protozoal, fungal, viral, and prion contaminants, along with their associated endotoxins and mycotoxins; hormone and antibiotic residues; and dangerous preservatives. Many speculate that the increase in incidences of cancers, kidney failure, and other degenerative diseases in our companion animals recently may be due to the harmful ingredients in many commercial meat-based pet foods. This has led people to feed alternative diets.
Dogs can be healthy and in fact, thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet, as long as all necessary nutrient requirements are met. Dogs are biologically omnivorous, but can adapt well to a plant-based diet which meets all their nutritional needs. It’s important that the food be digested easily as well as have good palatability. The transition to a plant-based diet should be a gradual change (mixing the 2 foods in different proportions until the new food is given exclusively) to minimize the occurrence of gastrointestinal disturbances (such as diarrhea and sometimes vomiting).
In my clinical practice treating dogs, one of the most common ailments I diagnose and treat in dogs is skin allergies.
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://www.inverse.com/science/can-you-feed-dogs-a-vegan-diet
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Can I feed my dog a vegan diet? A new study says it's a good idea
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Can I feed my dog a vegan diet? A new study says it’s a good idea
Planning a healthy, nutritious diet is a challenge for most humans, but it can be even more stressful to figure out what pet owners should feed their dogs.
In recent years, more dog owners have leaned into feeding their pooches plant-based diets, despite the lack of concrete data on whether these vegan diets are actually good for canines. But new research on the health impacts of different dog diets could either put owners’ minds at ease — or ignite a new slew of controversy over canine chow. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.
“This is the first time health outcomes have been studied, in a very large-scale study,” Andrew Knight, lead author on the study and founding director of the University of Winchester’s Center for Animal Welfare, tells Inverse.
What’s new — The researchers compared the health outcomes of conventional, raw meat, and vegan diets, finding that the most “nutritionally sound” diet for dogs, is, in fact, a vegan diet.
Dogs on vegan diets suffered from far fewer health disorders and allergies than pets fed conventional diets. On average, dogs fed vegan diets in the study had half the risk of suffering from health disorders — such as gastrointestinal issues — as pups raised on conventional diets.
“Conventional” diets refer to meat-based products produced by commercial pet food companies. On the whole, “dogs fed conventional diets appeared to fare worse than those fed either of the other two diets,” according to the study.
But to be clear: the researchers aren’t necessarily suggesting people should start making their own plant-based meals for their dogs. Instead, Knight suggests dog owners rely on nutritionally balanced, commercially available vegan dog food from a reputable company. Home-made plant-based diets may not contain the right proportions of nutrients — such as proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins — even if pet owners add nutritional supplements.
“Guardians should always aim to use diets of good quality, from reputable companies, and check that the diet is nutritionally complete,” Knight says.
It’s also important to know that while the raw meat diets performed better on certain health indicators than conventional diets, the researchers still do not recommend raw meat diets at this time due to concerns over pet safety. The American Veterinary Medical Association also does not recommend raw meat diets for pets, though the website states its policy is currently under review.
“A very sizeable body of studies have clearly shown that raw meat diets are associated with significant hazards, notably, pathogens such as bacteria and parasites,” Knight says.
Feeding your dog vegan food may be controversial, but recent research suggests it is not only safe, but perhaps even nutritionally better than conventional meat diets.
How they did it — Some pet owners believe vegan and other plant-based diets are unnatural and may harm pet health, requiring further research to help pet owners make informed decisions when it comes to their dog’s diet. So Knight set out to conduct that research. The recent PLOS ONE study is part of a larger body of research that explores the environmental sustainability and behavior implications of different pet diets.
Knight’s team surveyed more than 2,500 dog guardians about their pets’ diets and health. The researchers looked at three types of dog diets: conventional, raw meat, and vegan. Out of the dog owners surveyed, 54 percent chose conventional diets for their pets, 33 percent fed raw meat, and 13 percent selected vegan diets.
To draw conclusions about the impact of diet on pet health, the scientists analyzed the prevalence of 22 health disorders in the dogs, as well as other indicators of poor health such as the number of veterinary visits or medication use. Common health disorders include gastrointestinal issues, problems with muscles and bones, mobility and dental issues, and cancer.
There are some limitations that could impact the study’s findings. For example, the research was not conducted in a laboratory setting where pets were fed a controlled diet, but instead relied on data from dog owners whose pets were fed normally at home with some snacks, scavenging, and supplements on the side.
“Hence, our results show the outcomes that can be expected, when normal pet guardians feed vegan or meat-based diets to dogs, in normal homes,” Knight says, but adds that their study is a large-scale effort with “a broad range of objective data” that makes it reliable.
Why it matters now — The study’s findings are timely as the vegan pet food industry is booming. Experts estimate the vegan pet food market will grow to $15.65 billion by 2028.
“There is increasing interest in alternatives to conventional meat-based diets, due to concerns about pet health, environmental sustainability, and the welfare of farmed animals used to produce meat-based diets,” Knight says.
Contrary to popular belief, dogs are not carnivores but omnivores by nature, so it’s never been a totally outlandish idea to cut meat out of dog diets. But there’s still little consensus on the topic among pet owners and even many veterinarians. A 2018 publication in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association says that dogs can obtain most essential nutrients from plant sources, but also cites the lack of scientific data on the “benefits of feeding plant-based diets to omnivorous and carnivorous pets.”
“The results — that the healthiest and least hazardous diets for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets — will probably prove very controversial, for the sizeable group of people who erroneously believe that dogs need meat,” Knight says. (Cats, on the other hand, are obligate carnivores.)
Inverse spoke with Chyrle Bonk, a veterinarian at Petkeen.com, to get the opinion of a veterinarian who was not affiliated with the study. Bonk says any pet owner choosing to feed their dog a vegan diet should consult with a qualified veterinary nutritionist before moving forward.
“The main concern for any dog diet is that it is complete and balanced. This goes for commercial dog foods, homemade diets, raw diets, and vegetarian or vegan diets,” Bonk says.
She adds, “Any homemade, raw, or vegan diet is going to take considerable supplementation with vitamins, minerals, etc, so being sure that these are high quality and digestible is a must.”
The researchers recommend purchasing commercially available vegan food from a reliable pet food company, rather than preparing homemade vegan meals. If you decide to prepare vegan food for your pet at home, check with a veterinary nutritionist to make sure your pet is getting the nutrients it needs.
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The Inverse analysis— Pet owners accustomed to feeding their dogs conventional meat-based diets may still be uncertain about taking their pet on the vegan journey with them.
When in doubt, consult your veterinarian and read the label on any commercially-sold pet food closely to make sure your pup is getting all the essential nutrients they need to live their best lives. Healthy vegan diets still need to provide all the necessary nutrients from plant, mineral, and synthetic sources.
“I won’t recommend any diet, vegan or otherwise, to a dog without making sure it is complete and balanced,” Bonk says.
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Can I feed my dog a vegan diet? A new study says it’s a good idea
Planning a healthy, nutritious diet is a challenge for most humans, but it can be even more stressful to figure out what pet owners should feed their dogs.
In recent years, more dog owners have leaned into feeding their pooches plant-based diets, despite the lack of concrete data on whether these vegan diets are actually good for canines. But new research on the health impacts of different dog diets could either put owners’ minds at ease — or ignite a new slew of controversy over canine chow. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.
“This is the first time health outcomes have been studied, in a very large-scale study,” Andrew Knight, lead author on the study and founding director of the University of Winchester’s Center for Animal Welfare, tells Inverse.
What’s new — The researchers compared the health outcomes of conventional, raw meat, and vegan diets, finding that the most “nutritionally sound” diet for dogs, is, in fact, a vegan diet.
Dogs on vegan diets suffered from far fewer health disorders and allergies than pets fed conventional diets. On average, dogs fed vegan diets in the study had half the risk of suffering from health disorders — such as gastrointestinal issues — as pups raised on conventional diets.
“Conventional” diets refer to meat-based products produced by commercial pet food companies. On the whole, “dogs fed conventional diets appeared to fare worse than those fed either of the other two diets,” according to the study.
But to be clear: the researchers aren’t necessarily suggesting people should start making their own plant-based meals for their dogs. Instead, Knight suggests dog owners rely on nutritionally balanced, commercially available vegan dog food from a reputable company. Home-made plant-based diets may not contain the right proportions of nutrients — such as proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins — even if pet owners add nutritional supplements.
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/blog/pawsitively-plant-powered-exploring-vegetarian-and-vegan-diets-for-dogs/
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Pawsitively Plant-Powered: Exploring Vegetarian and Vegan Diets ...
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Our Blog
There’s some confusion out there regarding whether dogs are carnivores or omnivores and if they can really live a well-balanced life on a vegetarian or vegan diet alone. Don’t worry, we’re here to unravel that confusion.
Let’s take a look at how dogs are classified within nature, how they evolved into omnivores, and explore vegetarian and vegan diets of the modern plant-powered pup.
Carnivore Confusion
One source of confusion around people thinking that dogs are carnivores has to do with how dogs are classified within the animal kingdom (see chart).
Put simply: some people confuse the taxonomical term “Carnivora” (a category of animals that dogs fall into) for the ecological term “carnivore.” This confusion tends to lead to the misconception that dogs are carnivores.
To be more specific, in terms of taxonomy (the scientific classification of organisms – animals, plants, humans…etc.), dogs are classified as members of the order Carnivora. Carnivora is a group of many different types of mammals – dogs, wolves, cats, bears, seals, and even the giant panda. Though most animals in this group eat mostly meat, not all do. Some eat both plants and meat, and a few, like giant pandas, mostly eat plants.
The order Carnivora was established in the book Systema Naturae, written by Carl Linneaus – the architect of modern taxonomy. The foundation on which today’s taxonomy was built, Systema Naturae was published in 1758 and has been widely accepted as the gold standard of taxonomy for well over 200 years.
Wolves and Dogs and Plants, Oh my!
Another misconception that leads people to believe dogs are carnivores has to do with wolves. The thought process goes something like: “dogs come from wolves, right? Wolves are carnivores, aren’t they? Then, how can dogs be omnivores?” The simple answer? Evolution.
Gray Wolves, the relatives of today’s domesticated dogs, are classified as carnivores. Research studies have found that wolves’ diets consist primarily of meat with only very small amounts of plant material included. The reason for this is that their digestive systems are optimized for consuming and absorbing nutrients from meat, not plants.
On the other hand, we have domestic dogs; the furry, tail-wagging, meat and veggie-munching friends we all know and love. So, how did we get these furballs who love to mooch our people-food?
As humans settled down and began farming vegetables, fruits, and other plants, the dogs that became human companions began to benefit from eating these harvested food sources provided by humans. Over time, the digestive systems of domesticated dogs evolved to be able to efficiently metabolize starches. This allowed dogs to begin to be able to reap the benefits of the nutrients of farmed, plant-based carbohydrates and proteins.
Dogs and Veggies: Can Dogs Live Solely on Vegetarian and Vegan Diets?
Yes. Healthy, adult dogs (see life stage considerations below) who receive proper balance of essential nutrients from their food can thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Studies of the effects of vegetarian and vegan diets on dogs, ranging fromelite athlete dogs to the happy dog next door (or in your own home), have found the same results. When dogs receive adequate levels of nutrients from their food, and their individual needs are met, they can live healthy lives on vegetarian or vegan diets.
Yes. Healthy, adult dogs who receive proper balance of essential nutrients from their food can thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet.
What to Know before Putting your Dog on a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet
There is much more to vegetarian and vegan diets for dogs than simply feeding your dog common vegetables, grains, and fruits. If you are considering placing your dog on a vegetarian or vegan diet, be sure to first consult your dog’s veterinarian to make certain your furry friend is getting all the necessary nutrients needed to live a happy and healthy life.
What‘s your dog’s life stage?
Consider your dog’s life stage (puppy, adult, senior). While vegetarian and vegan diets can be attractive options to dog owners, those who own puppies should hold off on these veggie diets.
Puppies require relatively high levels of protein and adequate sources of DHA/EPA for brain development. It is difficult to attain the proper levels of these nutrients through a vegetarian or vegan diet alone. This is why many veterinarians do not recommend vegetarian or vegan diets for growing puppies.
Vegetarian and vegan diets are great choices for healthy adult dogs. As these diets tend to be lower in fat and protein, they are good diets to help adult dogs maintain healthy weights.
Nutrients
Just as humans who choose to be vegetarian or vegan need to make certain they are getting adequate nutrients that are often found in meat (e.g. amino acids, Vitamin B12, Zinc…etc.), the same attention needs to be given to dogs and their food. Review your dog’s food ingredients and guaranteed analysis to be certain essential nutrients are provided and properly balanced.
Only consider vegetarian and vegan food recipes that are complete and balanced and meet Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrition requirements. This will assure that the food contains all the essential nutrients (quality plant-based protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and supplementation of any amino acids needed to reach adequate levels) to maintain proper health.
Be sure to first consult your dog’s veterinarian to make certain your furry friend is getting all the necessary nutrients…
Are Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Better than Meat-Based Diets?
The debate continues! Currently, whether a vegetarian or vegan diet is nutritiously better than a diet that includes meat is a matter of perspective and opinion, nutritionally speaking.
There are many studies that have added to this debate. Some researchers argue that dogs should have a diet that includes meat, like the diet of their relatives; gray wolves. Meanwhile, other researchers challenge this opinion based on historical evidence of canines living long lives on entirely vegetarian diets. In any case, additional research still needs to be conducted to say if one diet is conclusively better than the other. Remember, various diets can work well for some dogs but not others – all dogs have their own individual needs.
What we do know is that a vegetarian or vegan diet that provides the proper nutrients is a safe and healthy option for adult dogs.
Food Sensitivities and Food Allergies: How can a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet Help?
If your dog has known food allergies or sensitivities that are triggered by a specific animal protein, a vegetarian or vegan diet could be something worth looking into. Transitioning such a pet from a meat-based diet to a vegetarian or vegan diet with a novel plant protein can be helpful in removing that trigger from your dog’s diet.
Learn more about food sensitivities, food allergies, and how to conduct a food elimination trial here.
A vegetarian or vegan diet with a novel, plant protein can be helpful…
Whether a vegetarian or vegan diet is right for your dog is dependent on many different factors. Remember, every dog has his/her own nutritional needs. Ultimately, your dog’s veterinarian will be able to tell you if a vegetarian or vegan diet is right for your four-legged friend.
If you have questions, click here to connect with our Customer Care team – a team made up entirely of Registered Veterinary Technicians who are ready to help you!
Natural Balance does not have any partnership with the sources cited in this blog.
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Only consider vegetarian and vegan food recipes that are complete and balanced and meet Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrition requirements. This will assure that the food contains all the essential nutrients (quality plant-based protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and supplementation of any amino acids needed to reach adequate levels) to maintain proper health.
Be sure to first consult your dog’s veterinarian to make certain your furry friend is getting all the necessary nutrients…
Are Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Better than Meat-Based Diets?
The debate continues! Currently, whether a vegetarian or vegan diet is nutritiously better than a diet that includes meat is a matter of perspective and opinion, nutritionally speaking.
There are many studies that have added to this debate. Some researchers argue that dogs should have a diet that includes meat, like the diet of their relatives; gray wolves. Meanwhile, other researchers challenge this opinion based on historical evidence of canines living long lives on entirely vegetarian diets. In any case, additional research still needs to be conducted to say if one diet is conclusively better than the other. Remember, various diets can work well for some dogs but not others – all dogs have their own individual needs.
What we do know is that a vegetarian or vegan diet that provides the proper nutrients is a safe and healthy option for adult dogs.
Food Sensitivities and Food Allergies: How can a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet Help?
If your dog has known food allergies or sensitivities that are triggered by a specific animal protein, a vegetarian or vegan diet could be something worth looking into. Transitioning such a pet from a meat-based diet to a vegetarian or vegan diet with a novel plant protein can be helpful in removing that trigger from your dog’s diet.
Learn more about food sensitivities, food allergies, and how to conduct a food elimination trial here.
A vegetarian or vegan diet with a novel, plant protein can be helpful…
Whether a vegetarian or vegan diet is right for your dog is dependent on many different factors.
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://plantbasedtreaty.org/vegan-dogs-lower-their-carbon-pawprint/
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Vegan Dogs Lower Their Carbon Pawprint - Plant Based Treaty
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Blog
Vegan dogs lower their carbon pawprint
If you are vegan and follow a plant-based diet then you know it’s healthier for you, better for our earth, and certainly kinder to animals. But did you know dogs can also eat a plant-based diet? In the same way many parents are raising vegan kids, some are raising their canine fur babies on healthy and cruelty-free plant-based diets. Although calling dogs vegan may not be exactly accurate since pups can’t participate in the ethical side of veganism in the same way humans can. But having a plant-based pooch is becoming more common around the world, especially with new research debunking old myths and now backing up the fact that dogs can thrive on a healthy and balanced plant-based diet. Keep reading to learn how your companion canine can live a healthy and happy life without eating animals.
✘ Myth:Plant-based diets for dogs are unhealthy and commercial meat diets are the best option
✔ Fact: Dogs can live long healthy lives without eating animals and can get all their protein from plant-based food
Mishel with her favourite plant-based dog food
This topic is often a heated argument on social media and can lead to some confusing and incorrect information being shared. It’s a myth that dogs cannot be healthy without eating animal meat. The fact is dogs can get all their nutrients from plant foods and this is now backed up by the largest study of its kind out of the UK. Last year The Guardian published an article about a study lead by Professor Andrew Knight which consisted of a peer- reviewed analysis of 2,500 pets and concluded that “vegan dogs visit the vet less often and require fewer medications.”
The study was published in the journal Plos One and researched vegan versus meat-based dog foods and included conventional meat, raw meat, and vegan pet food.
“Our study is by far the largest study published to date,” said Prof Andrew Knight, at the University of Winchester, UK, and who led the study. “It revealed that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets.” – The Guardian
The Plos One study concluded; “…when considering health outcomes in conjunction with dietary hazards, the pooled evidence to date from our study, and others in this field, indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, among conventional, raw meat and vegan diets, are nutritionally sound vegan diets. Regardless of ingredients used, diets should always be formulated to be nutritionally complete and balanced, without which adverse health effects may eventually be expected to occur.” – Plos One
The Guardian summed up the results.
“Among the findings were that 17% of dogs on conventional diets had four or more visits to the vet over the course of a year, compared with 9% for those on vegan diets and 8% for those on raw meat diets. The percentage of dogs reported to have suffered from health disorders was 49% for the conventional diet, 43% for the raw meat diet and 36% for the vegan diet.” – The Guardian
✘ Myth:Dogs are carnivores so it’s unnatural to feed them a plant-based diet
✔ Fact: Dogs are classified as Order Carnivora, but this includes huge diversity and eating meat is not a characteristic of this order
Senior dogs thriving on a plant-based diet
It’s a common debate if dogs are carnivores or omnivores, but there’s a problem with calling them carnivores. Other animals falling under the Order Carnivora include bears, raccoons, and giant pandas. Pandas are mainly herbivores and eat primarily bamboo shoots to stay healthy. There is plenty of documentation to prove dogs are in fact omnivores and can thrive on a plant-based diet. Even major commercial pet food companies state dogs are omnivorous when you examine their “anatomy, behaviour and feeding preferences.”
On the website Plant-Powered Dog, founded by vegan Canine Nutritionist Diana Laverdure-Dunetz, MS, the debate of dogs being omnivores or carnivores is addressed and she examines a few of the traits that separate dogs from true carnivores.
✘ Myth:It’s hard to find nutritional vegan dog food
Just like it used to be challenging to find plant-based alternatives for humans such as cheese, ice cream, yogurt, milk, burgers, fish, and eggs, now you can walk into any grocery store and the shelves are overflowing with vegan alternatives to these items. Similarly, as it becomes more common for dogs to eat plant-based and new pawrents are switching their doggies’ diets, it’s also become more accessible to find healthy well balanced vegan dog food.
But what do you feed a vegan dog?
Toronto Cow Save co-founder and organizer, Louise Jorgensen, has been feeding her four senior canine family members a plant-based diet since she adopted them many years ago.
“Their meals generally consist of a mixture of whole foods including vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, and home-made stews, with plant-based kibble. Some of their favourite treats are apple slices with peanut butter, air fried tofu, dehydrated sweet potato, mango, oat-based yogurt, and raw carrots which are great for healthy teeth, gums, and anal glands. Not only do they love their food, but they go absolutely crazy for it!”
Jorgensen continues, “they have had almost none of the health issues that most dogs this age experience.”
Plant-based dog, Mr Bean
Animal Save Movement’s Executive Director, Anita Krajnc, has adopted several canine companions over the years, including the famous Mr. Bean that attended Pig Save Vigils and brought comfort and joy to activists in attendance bearing witness to pigs. Mr. Bean, as well as her two current rescue dogs, Daisy and Mishel, eat organic vegan wheat free dog food from Vecado.
Vecado sells many vegan pet food brands such as Benova, loved by Mishel and Daisy.
Other brands making innovative vegan dog food include V-Dog, run by compassionate ethical vegans; Wild Earth that created vet-developed cruelty-free recipes; and Halo Pets makes a vegan line for dogs called Garden of Vegan. Bright Planet Pet has created healthy vegan dog treats that help save the earth.
By eating a plant-based diet your pooch lowers their carbon pawprint by helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, rainforest destruction, and the mass extinction of wildlife that happens in the animal agriculture industry.
Disclaimer: When switching your pet’s diet it’s important to do it gradually by replacing a portion of their current food with new food for approximately 10 days or as directed by a veterinarian. Always monitor them closely to ensure the new food agrees with them and be on the lookout for any health issues. It’s important to consult your veterinarian if you have any concerns or questions about their diet.
Miriam Porteris an award-winning writer who writes about veganism, social justice issues, and eco-travel. Miriam currently lives in Toronto with her son Noah and many rescued furry friends. She is a passionate animal rights activist and speaks up for those whose voices cannot be heard.
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One study concluded; “…when considering health outcomes in conjunction with dietary hazards, the pooled evidence to date from our study, and others in this field, indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, among conventional, raw meat and vegan diets, are nutritionally sound vegan diets. Regardless of ingredients used, diets should always be formulated to be nutritionally complete and balanced, without which adverse health effects may eventually be expected to occur.” – Plos One
The Guardian summed up the results.
“Among the findings were that 17% of dogs on conventional diets had four or more visits to the vet over the course of a year, compared with 9% for those on vegan diets and 8% for those on raw meat diets. The percentage of dogs reported to have suffered from health disorders was 49% for the conventional diet, 43% for the raw meat diet and 36% for the vegan diet.” – The Guardian
✘ Myth:Dogs are carnivores so it’s unnatural to feed them a plant-based diet
✔ Fact: Dogs are classified as Order Carnivora, but this includes huge diversity and eating meat is not a characteristic of this order
Senior dogs thriving on a plant-based diet
It’s a common debate if dogs are carnivores or omnivores, but there’s a problem with calling them carnivores. Other animals falling under the Order Carnivora include bears, raccoons, and giant pandas. Pandas are mainly herbivores and eat primarily bamboo shoots to stay healthy. There is plenty of documentation to prove dogs are in fact omnivores and can thrive on a plant-based diet. Even major commercial pet food companies state dogs are omnivorous when you examine their “anatomy, behaviour and feeding preferences.”
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://v-dog.com/blogs/v-dog-blog/the-science-on-vegan-diets-for-dogs
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The Science on Vegan Diets for Dogs – V-dog
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The Science on Vegan Diets for Dogs
The Science on Vegan Diets for Dogs
Thinking about switching your dog to a vegan diet? Choosing your pup's diet can be a big deal, and it's important to research what's best for their overall health and happiness. That's why we're taking a look at the top vegan dog studies to break down what they did, how they did it, and what the results mean for your pup.
Recent Discoveries and Study - 2023
Review the most recent discussion of the newest study presenting evidence of the health benefits of feeding your dog a plant-based diet (particularly using v-dog kind kibble). Visit the discussion here on our YouTube channel.
The results: Researcher Erik Axelsson and his colleagues at Uppsala University in Sweden discovered that dogs have anywhere from four to 30 copies of a gene, AMY2B, that allows them to digest starchy (plant-based) foods. Wolves typically only have two copies. The duplication of this gene in dogs dates back at least 5,000 to 7,000 years, according to paleontological data. These findings indicate that dogs adapted to relatively starch-rich diets early in their domestication.
The results: In their 1999 study, Murray and his colleagues looked at the digestibility of corn, barley, potato, rice, sorghum, and wheat in dogs. They found that the digestibility for all was greater than 99%. A subsequent study by Carciofi discovered similar results for rice, corn, sorghum, cassava, brewer's rice, peas, and lentils. The study confirmed starch digestibility to be greater than 98%. In 2017, Cargo-Froom compared digestibility of minerals in dogs on meat-based diets versus dogs on plant-based diets. Their results concluded that digestibility of endogenous minerals is similar or greater in dogs fed diets that are largely vegetable based.
The results: In 2009, Brown studied sprint-racing huskies fed a nutritionally complete meatless diet over a period of 16 weeks, including 10 weeks of competitive racing. Blood tests found that red blood cell counts and hemoglobin values were within the normal range throughout the study, and the consulting veterinarian determined all participating dogs to be in excellent physical condition. In a 2014 study, researcher Semp of Vienna Veterinary University hypothesized that dogs fed a complete vegan diet would exhibit iron and B12 deficiencies, but instead found that there were no significant deviations from dogs fed a conventional meat-based diet. She concluded that plant-based diets, if nutritionally complete, can assure a healthy lifestyle in dogs.
Are vegan diets appropriate for sensitive and allergy-prone dogs?
The results: Muelleranalyzed food allergies (including hypersensitivities and food intolerances) in a population of 297 dogs and discovered that the most frequently reported food allergens were beef (34%), dairy (17%), chicken (15%), wheat (13%), and lamb (5%). These findings indicate that the majority of the top food allergens for dogs are animal-based, and that plant-based diets may provide relief for dogs with food allergies and sensitivities.
Can dogs thrive on vegan diets?
The results: Veterinarian Dr. Andrew Knight analyzed four previous studies that assessed the nutritional soundness of plant-based diets for dogs. Based on his own data as well as the growing body of population studies and case reports surrounding this topic, he concluded that dogs can thrive on vegetarian diets, given that they are nutritionally complete and balanced, and may even experience a range of health benefits.
If you'd like to be notified about future vegan dog studies, please email us at support@v-dog.com.
V-dog is a San Francisco-based dog food company that makesanimal products without animal products. Since 2005, thousands of dogs of all shapes and sizes have been thriving on our complete and balanced food.Check out their stories here! Our kibble meetsAAFCO standards and is free of byproducts, fillers, and common allergens. Learn more about what we do atv-dog.com.
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16 weeks, including 10 weeks of competitive racing. Blood tests found that red blood cell counts and hemoglobin values were within the normal range throughout the study, and the consulting veterinarian determined all participating dogs to be in excellent physical condition. In a 2014 study, researcher Semp of Vienna Veterinary University hypothesized that dogs fed a complete vegan diet would exhibit iron and B12 deficiencies, but instead found that there were no significant deviations from dogs fed a conventional meat-based diet. She concluded that plant-based diets, if nutritionally complete, can assure a healthy lifestyle in dogs.
Are vegan diets appropriate for sensitive and allergy-prone dogs?
The results: Muelleranalyzed food allergies (including hypersensitivities and food intolerances) in a population of 297 dogs and discovered that the most frequently reported food allergens were beef (34%), dairy (17%), chicken (15%), wheat (13%), and lamb (5%). These findings indicate that the majority of the top food allergens for dogs are animal-based, and that plant-based diets may provide relief for dogs with food allergies and sensitivities.
Can dogs thrive on vegan diets?
The results: Veterinarian Dr. Andrew Knight analyzed four previous studies that assessed the nutritional soundness of plant-based diets for dogs. Based on his own data as well as the growing body of population studies and case reports surrounding this topic, he concluded that dogs can thrive on vegetarian diets, given that they are nutritionally complete and balanced, and may even experience a range of health benefits.
If you'd like to be notified about future vegan dog studies, please email us at support@v-dog.com.
V-dog is a San Francisco-based dog food company that makesanimal products without animal products. Since 2005, thousands of dogs of all shapes and sizes have been thriving on our complete and balanced food. Check out their stories here! Our kibble meetsAAFCO standards and is free of byproducts, fillers, and common allergens.
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yes
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://bitchnewyork.com/blogs/where-dog-run-meets-runway/vegan-dog-food-pros-and-cons
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Vegan Dogs! - Can Dogs be Vegan? Is vegan dog food healthy ...
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Is vegan dog food healthy? We look at the pros and cons
The switch to veganism is a healthy, humane choice. A plant-based diet lowers the risks of obesity, heart disease, and other such ailments. Aside from health motivations, many are switching to vegan diets for ethical reasons. For example, to reduce animal suffering. As another example, to curb the environmental effects of meat production.
BitchNewYork caters to people who love their pets and want to give them the best. Love for animals often translates into a love for the planet.
If vegan diets are so beneficial for humans, does it work the same for dogs? Is vegan dog food healthy? This article looks at the pros and cons of switching to a vegan dog food diet.
Difference between plant based and vegan diets
A plant-based diet involves eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Typically, these diets also restrict the consumption of animal products and processed foods. On a plant-based diet, some people don’t eat any animal products, while others eat a limited amount.
On the other hand, the point of a vegan diet is to avoid animal exploitation completely. For example, wines are traditionally filtered using animal products (such as fish bladder proteins). Because animals are involved, traditionally made wine is off-limits for vegans.
In summary, a plant-based diet restricts the consumption of meat. A vegan diet eliminates all animal products.
That doesn't mean vegan diets are healthier. For example, people could subsist on chips and soda and still qualify as vegan.
Why people go vegan
Typical western diets are high in saturated fats, salt, and sugar, while low in fiber. This diet increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. For example, in China, growing affluence has led to a shift from a plant-based diet to one high in animal products. The result has been a noticeable spike in chronic diseases among Chinese.
Meat consumption is also an issue for animals. In 2010, 66 billion animals were slaughtered for food. Most of these animals were reared on factory farms in artificial systems using invasive husbandry procedures. Such practices are at the core of animal welfare concerns and the rise of veganism.
This doesn’t even take into account the environmental impacts of animal agriculture. Climate change is perhaps the biggest environmental issue of our time. Factory farms are a massive contributor to global warming.
Thus came the rise of veganism. A 2010 study estimated that there were 1.5 billion vegetarians globally. 75 million were vegetarians by choice, while the rest were vegetarian by necessity.
Can dogs go vegan?
People who switch to a vegan or plant-based diet might do so for health, or to support the environment. So are plant-based or vegan diets good for dogs? Technically, dogs can transform certain amino acids into the nutrients they need.
This ability came through evolution. Dogs belong to the order of Carnivora. Their ancestors throughout history subsisted mainly on prey animals. Thus they evolved to facilitate the capture, consumption, and digestion of animal flesh. Part of this evolution included tooth crowns for cutting into flesh (rather than grinding plant matter like herbivores).
However, around 33,000 years ago, dogs were domesticated from wolves. Then, they became dependent on humans for food scraps. They adapted to a more varied diet that included plant-based foods.
That’s why, when compared to carnivorous wolves, domestic dogs are able to metabolize carbohydrates and subsist on lower protein diets.
This explains how and why vegan diets are technically fine for dogs. However, it’s important to provide diets that are palatable, bioavailable and nutritionally complete.
Vegans, by definition, strive to eliminate the use of animal products in every aspect of their lives, but our dogs rely on us for everything. So what should we vegans feed the dogs and other animal companions in our care?
As it turns out, dogs are not strict carnivores, and in fact, many scientists agree that they would be more accurately classified as omnivores. Regardless of the science, testimonies abound discussing the ethical and nutritional benefit of a vegan diet for your dog. They can and do thrive on a properly-developed vegan regimen, but the question remains; how do vegans feed their dogs? One of the ways vegans do this is by feeding their dogs a ready-made vegan dog food. It’s also possible to prepare a whole foods vegetable diet for them that includes all the veggies dogs love like carrots, lentils, and rice.
Can vegans feed their puppies vegan puppy food?
Wondering how you can possibly find vegan dog food for puppies? Puppies begin to eat solid or semi-solid foods at around five to six weeks old. If you already have a vegan or vegetarian dog food brand that you like, turning it into puppy food is easy. Just soak the kibble in some warm water and puree if necessary. Incorporating small amounts of healthy fats like coconut or flax oil can help smooth out the mixture and create a puppy-approved texture. Be sure to talk to your vet about adding necessary supplements to your puppy’s diet.
Problems with vegan dog food diets
While vegan dog foods are technically fine for dogs, it also depends on the nutritional suitability of those foods. A study by Kanakubo et al. (2015) raised important questions about the nutritional viability of vegan dog food diets.
The researchers looked at 24 vegetarian diets for dogs and cats sold in America. The crude protein and amino acid concentrations were compared with AAFCO Nutrient Profiles. All but one of the tested foods met minimum crude protein concentrations. However, six of the 24 diets failed to meet the minimum amino acid standards.
A follow-up study by Knight and Leitsberger (2016) contacted all companies by email, asking them to supply evidence of their nutritional claims. Five companies did not respond. None could provide independent lab verification about the nutritional value of their products.
One company (Wysong) actually admitted their product was not nutritionally complete. “Wysong does not advocate the singular feeding of VeganTM to carnivores such as dogs. … It is designed for intermittent feeding or as a base to add different meats for sensitivities and allergies”.
They added that the concept of a single, nutritionally complete diet was impossible. Rather, they encouraged pet owners to rotate dog foods to ensure a nutritionally sound diet.
Benefits and risks of raw dog food diets
At the other end of the vegan dog food extreme is the raw dog food diet. The main components in this diet include raw meat, bones, fruit, vegetables, raw eggs, and some dairy.
Raw diets have been fed to racing greyhounds and huskies for years. The idea entered the mainstream in 1993 when Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst introduced the BARF diet: Bones and Raw Food.
The concept behind this diet is that dogs will thrive on a similar diet to what their ancestors ate before they became domesticated.
Potential benefits of raw dog food diets include cleaner teeth, shinier coats, and increased energy levels. The main risk is that raw dog meat contains potentially harmful pathogens that can harm both dogs and humans. A 2006 study tested 20 commercially available raw meat diets and found that 7.1% contained salmonella.
Interestingly, just as vegan dog foods need supplements to provide balanced nutrition, so do raw meat diets. These FDA guidelines suggest that manufacturers must address the nutritional deficiencies in raw meat diets. Specifically, these diets lack the calcium and phosphorous that dogs need.
Benefits of meat-based diets for dogs
The previous sections show the pros and cons of both vegan and raw dog food diets. Both provide benefits and drawbacks.
In the case of vegan dog food, dogs are not true omnivores. They can get nutrients from plants. However, their livers have a limited ability to metabolize plant compounds. This means that they can technically adapt to vegan diets - as long as those diets are supplemented with the nutrients they would normally get from meat.
Further, dogs need amino acids, vitamins, and minerals in different amounts than humans. Providing these from a plant-based diet can be complicated and time-consuming.
Regarding preferences, a study was done on street dogs in India. It found that dogs clearly prefer the taste and smell of meat-based foods. However, newly weaned puppies have no such bias. Rather, they learn to prefer meat-based foods based on the food choices of their mother.
In other words, if raised on vegan foods from a young age, puppies should have no problems adapting. However, if attempting to convert an older dog, they might resist.
Then again, there is no denying that dogs are optimized for eating meat. For example, cows have broad, flat teeth that are ideal for grinding down plant matter. Conversely, dogs have narrow pointy teeth that are ideal for cutting into meat.
In sum, meat-based diets are closest to a dog's natural ancestral diets. However, modern meat-based pet foods often have less protein and fat and more carbohydrates. Thus, even when feeding name-brand meat-based kibble, extra supplementation is the safest course of action.
Health of Vegetarian Companion Animals
How can we assess the nutritional adequacy of vegan dog food brands? The best method of doing so is feeding trials.
These monitor the health of animals fed exclusively on test diets, over an extended period. While definitive studies don’t yet exist, several examples exist online by pet owners, such as this one. These studies suggest that both dogs and cats can thrive on nutritionally-balanced vegetarian diets. Noted benefits include:
Less parasites (fleas, ticks, mites)
Diminished food intolerance reactions
Improved skin and coat
Reduced obesity
Improved vitality
However, these are anecdotal reports. From a scientific perspective, they are useful mainly as a basis for future research efforts. To achieve scientific standards of proof, randomized controlled trials are required. Then, a systematic review of multiple trials would provide the most reliable evidence.
One problem with this is that raising dogs on test diets in a lab setting for an extended time can raise ethical concerns. This is the main reason why such studies are lacking, even though they could provide the highest standards of scientific evidence on this topic.
That said, the number of informal feeding trials is increasing around the world as people test vegan dog food diets. For example, a study by Brown et al. (2009) was conducted on racing Siberian Huskies, companion animals placed under severe physical demands. During races, these dogs haul heavy sleds through the snow at high speed for 30 miles.
In the study, the researchers worked with 12 dogs. Six were fed commercial dog food, while the rest were fed a meat-free food. The commercial food contained 43% poultry meal, replaced by maize gluten and soybean meal in the vegetarian diet. The dogs were fed for 16 weeks, during which time they competed in 10 weeks of races.
Blood samples were collected throughout the study along with veterinary health checks. All dogs in both test groups were assessed to be in excellent physical condition.
What to Look for in a Vegan Dog Food
When shopping for vegan dog food, here are some things you should look out for:
High amounts of plant protein: vegan puppy food should have at least 22% protein, while the minimum for adult dog food is 18%. The best sources of plant protein are peas and legumes.
Safeguarding the Health of your Pets
Vegan dog food diets can help reduce the hazards caused by meat-based diets. However, unless they are balanced and nutritionally complete, there is the risk of malnutrition.
To get started, it’s a good idea to slowly transition to a vegetarian diet. Making an abrupt change can cause digestive issues. Thus, get started by mixing around 10% vegetarian food to your dog’s diet. Increase by another 10% every 2-3 days.
Also, it’s a good idea to take your dog for a vet checkup a few weeks after making the transition. Ask for a urinalysis. Dogs that switch to vegan diets are at risk of developing bladder stones.
Most vulnerable to stones are purebred miniature schnauzers, Shih Tzus, miniature poodles and cocker spaniels. Even if bladder stones aren’t found, the urinalysis could also show that your dog’s urine pH level is out of balance. If that happens, your veterinarian can prescribe supplements to bring the pH back into a healthy range.
In addition to the above steps, dog owners should also reach out to pet food companies to ask for evidence about the nutritional viability of their products. If enough consumers did so, it would pressure companies to beef up their quality control standards. This could increase consumer confidence and also boost the quality of companion animal diets.
In the current landscape, definitive proof in the viability of vegan dog food is debatable. Thus, pet owners should consider providing their dogs a varied diet, by combining brands or switching to different brands every few months.
Gradual changes are key. This allows enough time for digestive enzymes to adapt, which can minimize adverse reactions like flatulence and diarrhea.
Vegan dog food FAQs
Below are some of the most common questions people have about vegan dog food diets.
Why should I switch my dog to a vegan diet?
First, there is the ethical motivation. Veganism reduces the need for animals to be bred, confined and slaughtered for their meat. With less demand for meat comes a reduction in the need for land, water, and other resources.
Second there are medical benefits. Many studies show that veganism helps to reverse the spread of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic health issues.
Can dogs live without meat?
Dogs need more protein than humans, which is hard to sustain without meat. Dogs also require essential fatty acids that are abundant in meat proteins. On vegan diets, you need to provide these as supplements if meat is removed from the diet. The right balance of different plant-based sources of protein (e.g., beans, corn, soy, and whole grains) can still provide the needed amino acids.
Dogs suffering malnourishment from a meat-free diet will become lethargic and increasingly disinterested in food.
If you want to try a vegetarian diet but are worried about the risks, consider going meat-free while adding eggs. Eggs have the greatest biological value (ability to supply essential amino acids) of all protein sources typically used in dog food.
Will dogs accept meat-free foods?
At first, your dog may be hesitant. The way around this is to gradually add increasing portions of vegan food into your dog’s normal diet. Start by adding 10% vegan food, monitor your pet, then continue adding 10% increments until your dog gets used to the change.
Do vegan diets help dogs with allergies?
The most common food allergens for dogs include chicken, beef, pork, wheat, corn, and dairy products. If your dog is allergic to an animal protein, you can try switching to a different animal protein like venison. If problems persist, switching to a vegan diet is a sound choice.
What do veterinarians think about vegan dog food?
Dr. Lorelei Wakefield notes that dogs in India have been vegetarian for hundreds of years without suffering systemic illnesses. Conversely, modern dogs fed on commercial, meat-based diets often suffer from obesity and food allergies. These issues can be remedied by switching to a vegan diet.
Dogs are not wolves, they stopped being wolves a long time ago. This is something that dog food company's wish you didn't realize. The pet dog’s natural diet is actually what we eat. There is plenty of protein in a plant-based diet. There is protein in romaine lettuce, beans, lentils, quinoa, almost every single plant we eat has some amount of protein. And our kidneys don't need to be processing huge amounts of protein, anyway. For some dogs with a certain high metabolism, or that do a tremendous amount of work burning calories (like hunting dogs), they might need to have their weight monitored closely on a plant based diet. However, in my experience, most dogs thrive on a plant based diet.
According to Dr. Richard Pitcairn, standard dog diets are packed with animal products which contain high levels of toxins. This causes a host of chronic issues. However, when switched to a nutritionally balanced plant-based diet, many drastically improve.
Dr. Andrew Knighthas found that the benefits of Vegan diets is if they are formulated to be nutritionally sound, then the animal is going to get all the nutrition it needs, without being exposed to all the potentially harmful additives.
Dogs are omnivores and can thrive on a nutritionally complete plant-based diet. They have nutrient requirements, not ingredient requirements, so those requirements can be met from plant, mineral and synthetic sources.
Plant-based diets carry many benefits for dogs suffering from allergies to meat protein, particularly beef and chicken. In my fourteen years of practice, I have seen many dog patients of mine improve coat health and overall vitality on vegan diets.
Modern dogs, whose DNA began to diverge from their wolf ancestors about 40,000 years ago, can survive and thrive off of a plant-based diet.
As omnivores, there are plenty of plant and fungi-based sources that provide all of the proteins, nutrients and amino acids that dogs require to live a healthy life.
So absolutely yes, a plant-based diet for dogs can 100% be healthy, as long as the nutrients are clean and purposeful. Another point to note, that most people do not think about, is that meat is a source of fat, so heavy meat-based diets also often contribute to canine obesity.
What Do Dog Food Companies think about Vegan Dog Food?
It takes a lot of nutritional knowledge to compose your own vegan dog meal.
Meat-based ingredients like beef, chicken and even fish are usually the ingredients that make kibble expensive. Vegan dog food only contains plant-based ingredients and is therefore often cheaper than meat-based kibble.
We recommend against a vegetarian/vegan diet for pups (up to one year). Pups are growing fast and need (animal-based) proteins to maintain their growth.
Vegan dog food does not offer this category of young dogs enough building blocks. The pup will be fully grown after a year, which is when you can start making a gradual transition to vegetarian/vegan food.
The difference between animal-based proteins and plant-based proteins is that plant-based proteins result in more waste leaving the body again. This means that a vegan meal may cause a dog to poo more than a meat-based meal.
Whether people feed their dogs animal or plant-based diet is entirely up to them, as long as the dog thrives. However, we know that there are mountains of leftover meat and meat byproducts which can only be utilized as food for companion animals.
Einstein Pets original vegetarian formula functional treats are highly nutritious and delicious in every bite- treating with a purpose! These are treats that can do your dog some good, like support dental and coat health, digestion, and improve joint function. We took whole-food raw ingredients and added plant-based Chia Seed (Omega 3 & fatty acids) to every batch (Prebiotics) and ground Whole Grain Oat to support healthy digestion, the result is a great natural way to supplement, while you’re giving treats.
Insects are produced with far less ressources than traditional protein source we know today.
Production of insect use 17x less water than beef, emits 100x less co2 than beef and uses only a fraction of the land areal to produced the same amount of protein.
All products are made with carefully selected natural ingredients combined with high quality protein from Insects, makes a nutritional balanced diet for you pets without leaving a huge pawprint on the climate.
Health, sustainability and ethics are some of the areas to take in coinsideration when choosing your pets food. Domesticated cows are causing mass environmental damage as well as damage to the health of people.
Conclusion
Some pet owners transition to vegan dog food to support their pet's health. Others do so to help the environment. That's because cutting meat consumption reduces pollution while reducing animal suffering.
As this article explains, pet owners should proceed with caution with whatever type of dog food they choose. Many studies have raised issues with vegan, raw, and traditional dog food diets.
No matter what feeding choice you decide, make sure to check labeling claims. It's also a good idea to contact manufacturers to verify their claims.
Once you decide on a feeding routine, monitor your pet. Pay attention to their body weight, demeanor, and energy levels.
Finally, six months after switching to a new diet, schedule a vet examination. If your dog gets a clean bill of health, stick to your feeding plan. If there are issues, adjust as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions about Vegan Dog Food Diets
1. Is vegan dog food safe?
Yes, vegan and plant-based dog food is safe for dogs. Switching to a plant-based diet is not only an ethical choice, but it is a healthy one for both humans and many animals. Contrary to what many people may believe, a plant-based diet does not pose nutritional problems if done properly, and a variety of healthy, unprocessed, plant-based foods are included. In fact, an animal meat-free diet can reduce one’s risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and even reverse many of these illnesses. Both humans and non-human animals survive and thrive on a vegan or plant-based diet.
2. Do vegan dogs live longer?
A meat-free, plant-based diet can be very healthy for dogs. For example, many natural and plant-based ingredients can help reduce inflammation and risk of disease and therefore, are very ideal for senior dogs. Switching to a balanced diet consisting only of plant-derived ingredients can help them live to their full life expectancy.
3. Can dogs survive without meat?
Dogs can live and thrive on a meat-free diet. Protein, calcium, fiber, and all the other essential nutrients can be obtained from plant-based sources. On the other hand, cats are obligate carnivores as they require the amino acid taurine, which is only found in animal flesh.
4. Do dogs need meat in their diets?
Dogs do not need meat in their diets in order to meet all of their nutritional requirements. Like humans, dogs can still obtain every essential nutrient from plant-based sources, like all nutrients, including protein, originally come from plants in varying amounts.
5. What is the best vegan dog food?
There are many brands of vegan and plant-based dog food. In order to select the best one, do some research on the various brands, and read the ingredients to make sure all components of the food are healthy and from a good source.
6. Why raw diet is bad for dogs?
If a canine is fed primarily raw meat, they could be at risk for several nutrient deficiencies, such as calcium, phosphorous, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. These healthful compounds are all primarily found in plant-based sources, so feeding a canine plant foods instead would be much healthier for them.
7. Is raw dog food really better?
There are several reasons why raw dog food is not better. Potentially harmful and dangerous health risks come along with eating raw meat, even for dogs. In the wild, dogs would never eat animals such as cows, fish, or drink cow’s milk, therefore this is not their natural diet. There are also negative effects on the environment, as animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of environmental degradation and climate change.
8. Is raw feeding safe for dogs?
As an animal’s fatty tissue can contain high amounts of toxins, and the species at the top of the food chain eat the highest amounts of these, feeding raw meat to canines could be unsafe. The World Health Organization has classified red meat and processed meats as probably carcinogenic to humans, and they should therefore not be fed to canines either.
9. Can a dog get sick from eating raw meat?
Feeding raw meat to a dog can be dangerous. As raw meat hasn't been cooked to remove bacteria that potentially exist, salmonella, campylobacter, and e.coli can be present. Just like in humans, these bad bacterias can be harmful to health. Pathogens and parasites could also potentially be present in raw meat.
10. Is it safe for dogs to eat vegan?
Yes, dogs can survive and thrive on a plant-based diet, just like humans. This is due to the extensive nutritional profile found in plant foods, including antioxidants and phytochemicals that promote health and fight disease. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's oldest living dog ate a vegan diet.
Reviews (15 comments)
One month and 10 days after giving him a vegan diet, he doesn’t need to take insulin anymore
Diabetes is gone
Vish On March 09, 2020
Lyla, our 3 yr old golden girl has been feeding on V-dog kibbles since 2 months of age. She has always been very active Last week we were totally devastated when we found out that she developed DCM. She had some cough which the vet treated as kennel cough, while being treated she had two brief few second episodes of fainting, we got her checked at UC Davis.The Echo shows significantly impaired left ventricular function. The cardiologists seem to think it is caused by the diet, that is the only kind of Dilated Cardiomyopathy which may be reversible. FDA is looking at several diets and association to DCM. She is our life, we pray she gets over this and be normal again
Istvan Kovats On January 01, 2020
Wow, what an insightful article! Thank you!
Personally, I’ve heard a lot of stories, from friends and relatives that their dogs are on vegan diet and how good it is, but never really believed in it, as I thought meat is essential for them. It seems like (seeing the expert reviews and insights you guys gathered) it’s not!
Very eye opening! I will try out the vegan diet with my dogs, and let you know what I think.
Ross On January 01, 2020
Awesome article! My dog Bob is going to try a plant-based diet from tomorrow. Did anyone else try to switch their dog to a vegan diet after reading this article?
Adelle On January 01, 2020
I wasn’t totally sure if plant-based diets were okay for dogs, but after reading the science and medical opinion from vets in this article, I’m happy to hear that they are! Now to research more about transitioning the pups to a plant-based diet!!
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MY WISHLIST
Every product has a unique size chart which can be found in the description of each product. Make sure to measure your pet based on the size chart available for each product. By referring to the size chart shown, it will help ensure the perfect fit.
Below is a guide to help you measure your dog. If you require assistance, please CONTACT US. We are happy to help!
To determine the proper size for your dog, measure your dog's neck, chest, and back with a soft tape measure following the instructions below.
If you don't have a soft tape measure handy, but you do have a printer, CLICK HERE!When all else fails, use a string or ribbon to wrap around the dog and then lay flat next to a rigid tape measure or ruler.
When measuring your dog, the pet must be standing in a normal position. Laying down or sitting will result in inaccurate measurements.
1. Neck circumference is measured at the base of the neck where the collar sits. Pull the tape snug but not tight.
2. Back length is measured from the base of your pet's neck where the collar sits to the base of the tail.
3. Chest girth is measured at the widest part of the pet's chest just behind the front legs. Measure around the entire chest.
*For clothing, accurate chest measurements are critical, especially in breeds who have a much deeper chest. Please go one size larger for dogs with very thick fur or if the chest measurements fall between sizes.
4. Paws are measured by standing your pet on a sheet of paper and tracing all four paws including fur and nails. Measure the width and length of the largest paw print to determine your dog's shoe size. Alternatively, some shoes will have a printable size chart.
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Richard Pitcairn, standard dog diets are packed with animal products which contain high levels of toxins. This causes a host of chronic issues. However, when switched to a nutritionally balanced plant-based diet, many drastically improve.
Dr. Andrew Knighthas found that the benefits of Vegan diets is if they are formulated to be nutritionally sound, then the animal is going to get all the nutrition it needs, without being exposed to all the potentially harmful additives.
Dogs are omnivores and can thrive on a nutritionally complete plant-based diet. They have nutrient requirements, not ingredient requirements, so those requirements can be met from plant, mineral and synthetic sources.
Plant-based diets carry many benefits for dogs suffering from allergies to meat protein, particularly beef and chicken. In my fourteen years of practice, I have seen many dog patients of mine improve coat health and overall vitality on vegan diets.
Modern dogs, whose DNA began to diverge from their wolf ancestors about 40,000 years ago, can survive and thrive off of a plant-based diet.
As omnivores, there are plenty of plant and fungi-based sources that provide all of the proteins, nutrients and amino acids that dogs require to live a healthy life.
So absolutely yes, a plant-based diet for dogs can 100% be healthy, as long as the nutrients are clean and purposeful. Another point to note, that most people do not think about, is that meat is a source of fat, so heavy meat-based diets also often contribute to canine obesity.
What Do Dog Food Companies think about Vegan Dog Food?
It takes a lot of nutritional knowledge to compose your own vegan dog meal.
Meat-based ingredients like beef, chicken and even fish are usually the ingredients that make kibble expensive. Vegan dog food only contains plant-based ingredients and is therefore often cheaper than meat-based kibble.
We recommend against a vegetarian/vegan diet for pups (up to one year).
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yes
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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yes_statement
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"vegan" "diets" can be "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" can thrive on a "vegan" "diet".
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https://www.mypawco.com/myths-and-truths-about-a-vegan-diet-for-dogs/
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Myths and Truths About a Vegan Diet for Dogs – PawCo
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2023 is finally here! And with the new year comes new excitement, new energy, and new motivation to make positive changes, both in your own body and mind and in the world as a whole. You may be looking forward to reading more, getting better at recycling, or joining a gym. No matter the changes you’re focusing on making, we’re rooting for you!
Making changes to your eating routine or adopting a healthier diet is a popular resolution. Do you want to snack less? Consume more vegetables? Up your water intake? Perhaps you’re thinking about going vegan? Switching to a plant-based diet reduces both your carbon footprint and animal farming, which makes it a fantastic way to feel better in your own body and help the world feel better at the same time.
If you plan to make the switch, you may wonder if your dog could join you on this journey. After all, we want our canine companions to feel their best, so why not include them when making positive, healthy changes? However, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding a vegan diet for dogs, which may have you hesitant. Please allow us to calm your worries and clear some things up!
Myth:Dogs are carnivores and need meat to survive.
Truth: Dogs are omnivores and don’t need meat.
It’s a common misconception, and many dog owners still insist on feeding their pets a meat-based diet. For a long time, dogs were thought to be carnivores, as they evolved from wild wolves. However, modern dogs are domesticated and have coevolved with humans to be able to handle a more well-rounded diet. According to a 2013 study, dogs today are genetically different from their wolf ancestors, and their bowels are well-equipped to handle carbohydrates and plant starches nowadays.
Myth: Dogs need meat to stay healthy.
Truth: Dogs can thrive on a plant-based diet.
A study by Dr. Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, and Founding Director of the University of Winchester Centre for Animal Welfare, showed that a vegan diet could help maintain or even improve your dog’s health! In the study, the health of dogs fed a plant-based diet was compared to that of meat-eating dogs. Vegan dogs needed to visit the vet less frequently and suffered from fewer health issues than those consuming meat. Dr. Knight concluded that “the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets.”
Myth: Dogs won’t get all the necessary nutrients from plants.
Truth: A varied and carefully planned vegan diet provides all the necessary nutrients.
As long as dogs get all the vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids they need, it doesn’t matter if the source is plant-based or meat-based. According to the authors of an article titled Plant-based diets for dogs, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association: “Dogs have dietary requirements for energy and essential nutrients, but they do not have a recognized requirement for animal-derived ingredients per se. In accordance with the current understanding of pet nutrition, any diet that meets or exceeds the minimum nutrient requirements of a dog for a specific life stage would be considered nutritionally sufficient for that animal, regardless of ingredients.”
Myth: Vegan dogs have a shorter lifespan than meat-eating dogs.
Truth: A plant-based diet may help your dog live longer.
A recent study performed by scientists at the University of Guelph and published in the journal Research in Veterinary Science suggests that a vegan diet may actually extend your dog’s expected lifespan by up to 18 months! The study, which was conducted by collecting questionnaires from 1,400 North American dog owners, concluded that the mean lifespan of vegan dogs was 14.1 years, while the mean for dogs who consumed meat was 12.6 years.
Myth: Dogs only like meat-based food.
Truth: Plant-based food can be just as tasty!
Contrary to popular belief, many dogs enjoy the taste of vegetables. Pumpkin and broccoli are two examples of flavors that are often well-received! A study by Dr. Andrew Knight showed that vegan pet food is generally at least as palatable to dogs as traditional, meat-based meals. The study states, “There was no consistent evidence of a difference between vegan diets and either the conventional or raw meat diets.”
In preparing for the launch of our plant-based products, PawCo performed a two-day taste test with 20 dogs. The dogs ate 99% of the food on day one and 100% on day two! This is important because if dogs try something they don’t like, they likely won’t give it another go. In our case, they did come back for more, indicating they enjoyed the meals.
PawCo is the new generation of dog food developed by our team of food scientists and animal nutritionists. Our meals are complete and balanced and contain all the nutrients your dog needs to stay healthy and happy! Check out our delicious and nutritious vegan meals and the world’s first plant-based meat meals for dogs HERE!
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In the study, the health of dogs fed a plant-based diet was compared to that of meat-eating dogs. Vegan dogs needed to visit the vet less frequently and suffered from fewer health issues than those consuming meat. Dr. Knight concluded that “the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets.”
Myth: Dogs won’t get all the necessary nutrients from plants.
Truth: A varied and carefully planned vegan diet provides all the necessary nutrients.
As long as dogs get all the vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids they need, it doesn’t matter if the source is plant-based or meat-based. According to the authors of an article titled Plant-based diets for dogs, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association: “Dogs have dietary requirements for energy and essential nutrients, but they do not have a recognized requirement for animal-derived ingredients per se. In accordance with the current understanding of pet nutrition, any diet that meets or exceeds the minimum nutrient requirements of a dog for a specific life stage would be considered nutritionally sufficient for that animal, regardless of ingredients.”
Myth: Vegan dogs have a shorter lifespan than meat-eating dogs.
Truth: A plant-based diet may help your dog live longer.
A recent study performed by scientists at the University of Guelph and published in the journal Research in Veterinary Science suggests that a vegan diet may actually extend your dog’s expected lifespan by up to 18 months! The study, which was conducted by collecting questionnaires from 1,400 North American dog owners, concluded that the mean lifespan of vegan dogs was 14.1 years, while the mean for dogs who consumed meat was 12.6 years.
Myth: Dogs only like meat-based food.
Truth: Plant-based food can be just as tasty!
Contrary to popular belief, many dogs enjoy the taste of vegetables.
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yes
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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no_statement
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"vegan" "diets" are not "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" should not be fed a "vegan" "diet" for optimal health.
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https://www.smalldoorvet.com/learning-center/nutrition/vegetarian-vegan-diets-cats-dogs/
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Are Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Safe for Cats & Dogs? | Small Door ...
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Are Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Safe for Cats & Dogs?
Between 5-10% of the US population follow either a vegetarian or vegan diet, for a range of health-related, ideological or religious reasons. It’s understandable that some vegetarians and vegans may feel uncomfortable feeding animal products to their pets, as it goes against their personal beliefs. However, it’s important to be aware of the risks these diets present for cats and dogs, and their potential to not meet your pet’s nutritional needs.
What are the Risks of Vegetarian and Vegan Diets for Cats & Dogs?
Pets do not process nutrients in exactly the same way that humans do. Whilst humans are able to get all of the nutrients required to live healthily from plant-based sources, our pets cannot.
For example, taurine is an amino acid essential for our health and heart function. Humans can either get taurine directly from the protein sources we eat, or we can produce it ourselves from other amino acids. Cats, however, cannot make their own taurine; they can only get it from their diet. The best sources of taurine are animal proteins, including fish, meat and eggs. While small amounts of taurine may be found in other, non-animal sources, they generally don’t provide enough taurine on their own.
Over time, taurine deficiency in our pets can lead to a dangerous condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy (where the heart becomes enlarged and isn’t able to pump as effectively), which can even be fatal. Lack of taurine can also lead to growth, eyesight and reproductive issues.
Another example is vitamin D. While humans can make vitamin D in their skin when they’re exposed to the sunshine, both cats and dogs cannot. They must get vitamin D from their diet, and benefit most from vitamin D3, which is found predominantly in animal sources.
Vitamin D helps to regulate calcium levels in the body, and deficiency can lead to weakened bones, poor muscle activity, heart disease and a number of other dangerous conditions.
Besides taurine and vitamin D deficiencies, the other main risks of feeding a vegetarian or vegan diet include:
Inadequate total protein intake
Imbalance of certain amino acids or essential fatty acids
Deficiency in other vitamins and minerals that are optimally obtained from meat or other animal products
Over time, deficiency in any essential nutrient can lead to all sorts of health issues and will generally result in a decrease in your pet’s quality of life.
While humans can get all of the nutrients required to live healthily from plant-based sources, our pets cannot.
Can I Feed My Dog a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet?
Taking all of the above information into account, it is possible to feed dogs a vegetarian or vegan diet, however, they require careful consideration. It’s much more difficult to ensure your dog gets all of the nutrients they require from solely plant-based sources, so owners must be extremely diligent in selecting a dog food that’s safe.
We strongly recommend choosing a dog food that has a statement from the AAFCO (the Association of American Feed Control Officials). This statement is an indicator of nutritional adequacy – it means your pet’s diet is balanced and complete.
Two good vegetarian options that are AAFCO approved include Royal Canin Vegetarian and Purina ProPlan HA Vegetarian. At Small Door, we recommend these options over other commercial vegetarian dog foods because they undergo rigorous quality control and have been scientifically tested to ensure they provide the required nutrient mix, whilst certain other brands provide a lower amino acid composition than is required.
If you’re looking to feed your dog a home-made vegetarian or vegan diet, we strongly recommend that you consult a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to help design a diet suitable for your pet that includes all of the nutrients they need to thrive. They will more than likely require nutritional supplements in addition to their homemade food, and the nutritionist can help to provide precise ingredient lists and supplement dosage information to help keep them healthy. Your primary veterinarian can organize a referral consultation for this either in-person or via telehealth, depending on the nutritionist.
It’s also worth noting that for some dogs, especially those that have certain underlying health conditions, a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle simply may not suit them. Puppies should also not be fed a vegetarian or vegan diet, as animal-based sources of protein provide them with the best nutrient mix required for their rapid growth.
Always talk things through with your veterinarian before moving your dog onto a vegetarian or vegan diet, and bear in mind that they may require more frequent wellness exams and blood work (at least twice a year), to keep an eye on their overall health and nutrient levels.
Can I Feed My Cat a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet?
Cats cannot be fed a vegetarian or vegan diet. They are obligate carnivores, which means they simply cannot get the nutrients they need (like taurine) from plants, and so they must eat meat or fish and not too many carbohydrates.
We strongly recommend that you do not try to eliminate animal products from your cat’s diet. The best diet for your cat is one that contains animal products, has more protein than fat (a protein content of at least 45% is ideal) and a carbohydrate content of less than 10%. Home-cooked dietsneed to be very carefully considered, and planned with the guidance of your veterinarian. Again, purchasing cat food with an AAFCO statement is your best option to ensure they’re getting all of the nutrients they need.
A Note on Non-Meat-Based Prescription Diets
Very rarely, pets may suffer from allergies or other health conditions that require them to eat a prescription diet formulated from non-meat protein sources (including things like eggs or soy).
However, it’s important to note that these types of diets are not necessarily suitable for healthy dogs. Prescription diets are only prescribed by veterinarians to treat a specific health concern, and they are always administered under extremely close supervision of the pet’s health, and often in conjunction with medications and/or supplements to ensure that the pet is still getting all of the nutrients they need. It can be very risky to feed prescription pet food to a pet who does not medically require it, and so we strongly recommend against it.
Speak to your Veterinarian for Further Advice
If you’re considering feeding your dog a vegetarian or vegan diet, we recommend booking a consultation with your veterinarian to get their advice on how to best satisfy your pet’s nutritional requirements.
At Small Door, we offer nutritional consultations where we can answer any questions you have about your pet’s nutrition, and work together with you to find a diet that works for both you and your pet.
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-person or via telehealth, depending on the nutritionist.
It’s also worth noting that for some dogs, especially those that have certain underlying health conditions, a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle simply may not suit them. Puppies should also not be fed a vegetarian or vegan diet, as animal-based sources of protein provide them with the best nutrient mix required for their rapid growth.
Always talk things through with your veterinarian before moving your dog onto a vegetarian or vegan diet, and bear in mind that they may require more frequent wellness exams and blood work (at least twice a year), to keep an eye on their overall health and nutrient levels.
Can I Feed My Cat a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet?
Cats cannot be fed a vegetarian or vegan diet. They are obligate carnivores, which means they simply cannot get the nutrients they need (like taurine) from plants, and so they must eat meat or fish and not too many carbohydrates.
We strongly recommend that you do not try to eliminate animal products from your cat’s diet. The best diet for your cat is one that contains animal products, has more protein than fat (a protein content of at least 45% is ideal) and a carbohydrate content of less than 10%. Home-cooked dietsneed to be very carefully considered, and planned with the guidance of your veterinarian. Again, purchasing cat food with an AAFCO statement is your best option to ensure they’re getting all of the nutrients they need.
A Note on Non-Meat-Based Prescription Diets
Very rarely, pets may suffer from allergies or other health conditions that require them to eat a prescription diet formulated from non-meat protein sources (including things like eggs or soy).
However, it’s important to note that these types of diets are not necessarily suitable for healthy dogs.
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no
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Veterinary Science
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Are vegan diets healthy for dogs?
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no_statement
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"vegan" "diets" are not "healthy" for "dogs".. "dogs" should not be fed a "vegan" "diet" for optimal health.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9860667/
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The Impact of Vegan Diets on Indicators of Health in Dogs and Cats ...
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Associated Data
Abstract
Simple Summary
There has been controversy within the scientific literature, and in the popular press and online media, around the safety of feeding vegan diets to dogs and cats. With an increase in adherence to meat-free diets in the human population, many guardians may be considering providing these diets to their companion animals. Concerns arise due to dog and cat gut physiology which has adapted to a complete meat-based diet (cats) or largely meat-based diet (dogs). Particular concerns have been raised around deficiencies in certain amino acids such as taurine, and vitamins such as B12 (cobalamin) and B9 (folate). To date, there has been no formal assimilation of the scientific evidence on this topic, with a focus on actual health impacts of diets, as opposed to nutritional composition. In this review, we conducted a formal assessment of the evidence in the form of a systematic review. We found that there has been limited scientific study on the impact of vegan diets on cat and dog health. In addition, the studies that have been conducted tended to employ small sample sizes, with study designs which are considered less reliable in evidence-based practice. Whilst there have been several survey studies with larger sample sizes, these types of studies can be subject to selection bias based on the disposition of the respondents towards alternative diets, or since answers may relate to subjective concepts such as body condition. However, there is little evidence of adverse effects arising in dogs and cats on vegan diets. In addition, some of the evidence on adverse health impacts is contradicted in other studies. Additionally, there is some evidence of benefits, particularly arising from guardians’ perceptions of the diets. Given the lack of large population-based studies, a cautious approach is recommended. If guardians wish to implement a vegan diet, it is recommended that commercial foods are used.
Abstract
There has been an increase in vegetarianism and veganism in human populations. This trend also appears to be occurring in companion animals, with guardians preferring to feed their animals in accordance with their own dietary values and choices. However, there has been controversy amongst vets and online commentators about the safety of feeding vegan diets to carnivorous species, such as cats and dogs. In spite of this controversy, to date there has been no systematic evaluation of the evidence on this topic. A systematic search of Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science was performed, identifying 16 studies on the impact of vegan diets on cat and dog health. Studies were appraised for quality using established critical appraisal tools or reporting guidelines. There was considerable heterogeneity in the outcomes measured, and study designs employed, with few studies evaluating key outcomes of interest. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was utilized for assessment of certainty in the evidence, with the evidence for most outcomes being assessed as low or very low. Whilst the quality and amount of evidence needs to be considered in formulating recommendations, there was no overwhelming evidence of adverse effects arising from use of these diets and there was some evidence of benefits. It is, however, recommended that future high-quality studies, with standardized outcome measures and large sample sizes, be conducted. At the current time, if guardians wish to feed their companion animals vegan diets, a cautious approach should be taken using commercially produced diets which have been formulated considering the nutritional needs of the target species.
1. Introduction
In recent decades, the bond between humans and pets has led to an increased concern for pet health and welfare [1,2,3,4]. At the same time, veganism and vegetarianism has grown as an ethical and sustainable food choice. For example, according to a Vegan Society survey, the number of vegans in Britain increased fourfold between 2014 and 2019 [5].
This dietary regimen has been adopted not only by humans but also by their companion animals. However, the domestic cat (Felis catus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris) belong to the order Carnivora, where cats are strict obligate carnivores [6] and dogs can be classified as facultative carnivores, both with anatomical and physiological characteristics that make them flesh-eating animals [7,8]. For example, their dentition is well-suited to crushing, cutting, grinding, and slicing meat [9], while their incisors, canines, premolars, molars, and carnassials are designed to hold their prey or pieces of meat [7]. They are also characterized by shorter, less complex digestive tracts with a lower capacity [10], since, unlike herbivores, their digestive processes do not require them to ferment food [11]. While dogs can eat plant-based foods, their anatomy preserves carnivorous traits of tearing muscle, crunching bones, and digesting meat more readily than plants [9]. In cats, all essential amino acids–especially taurine and arginine–need to be provided in the diet, and this is generally acquired through meat and animal-based products such as bone or viscera [12].
The dominant proteins in plant-based pet foods have historically been soy, corn protein, and wheat protein (gluten). Recently, additional plant proteins have become available for use, including pea protein, potato protein, and rice protein. Based on trends in human nutrition, this may expand further to include others such as hemp, oat, and bean proteins [13]. In contrast to animal tissues, plant cells are rich in carbohydrates (e.g., cellulose) that carnivores have difficulty digesting [11]. Proteins from cereal grains or soy contain lower amounts of essential amino acids. These include sulfur amino acids and the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosohexaenoic acid. Typically, they do not contain all essential vitamins, e.g., retinol (vitamin A) and cobalamin (vitamin B12) [12]. Additionally, plants may contain toxic compounds that only the gastrointestinal tract of herbivores can detoxify [11].
To date, there is still controversy over whether vegan and vegetarian diets can be recommended for dogs and cats [14]. However, most studies focus on the analytical composition rather than a clinical approach. According to the U.S. National Research Council’s (NRC) recommendations on nutrient requirements for dogs and cats [15,16], potentially problematic elements in vegan/vegetarian diets for dogs and cats could be: (1) insufficient protein; (2) unbalanced fats; and (3) nutrient insufficiencies [17]. For example, it has been shown that exercising dogs that consume unbalanced plant protein diets can develop anemia and a marked decrease in red blood cell hemoglobin levels but will return to health if the diet with vegetable protein is balanced properly [18]. Contrarily, meat-free diets for dogs and cats have been shown to be beneficial in treating certain diseases; for example, some urinary tract ailments [19] and cases of allergies caused by food proteins [20].
Given the controversy around the health-related aspects of feeding vegetarian diets to dogs and cats, this systematic review summarizes the available studies and findings regarding cat and dog health when fed vegan options. To date, there has been no systematic review of this topic using established methods of evidence synthesis. Knight and Leitsberger [15] performed a comprehensive narrative review on this topic using some elements found in systematic reviews. This previous review also evaluated studies on nutritional adequacy and should be referred to for this information. The current review updates this review and builds on the animal health-related aspects of studies.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Eligibility Criteria
Inclusive criteria were as follows: (P—population) studies that included dogs (Canis familiaris) or cats (Felis catus) in a domestic setting (construed broadly to include working dogs, as well as companion and laboratory animals). Studies evaluating animals of any breed, age or sex were eligible for inclusion; (I—intervention) studies where the animals had been fed a vegetarian or vegan diet (the latter containing no animal products—see definition below); (C—comparator) studies were included that compared the animals being fed meat-free diets, with those animals fed any kind of standard meat-based diets, or those studies without any parallel control group for comparison, e.g., within subjects comparison (pre-post diet change) or case-series design; (O—outcomes) outcomes had to be an animal-based measure that was related to animal health, physiology, or welfare. This could be a proxy report by the animal carer, in addition to those measures that could be measured directly upon animal examination; (S—study design) experimental and quasi-experimental study designs including randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, and before-and-after studies were eligible for inclusion. Observational studies and case studies were also eligible for inclusion with critique related to study design being provided below in the results and discussion. This study is reported in accordance with PRISMA guidance [21].
2.2. Search Strategy
The search strategy aimed to locate published studies written in English and Spanish (the languages spoken by the authors). An initial limited search of Medline via Pubmed was undertaken to identify articles on the topic and any MeSH terms. The text words contained in the titles, abstracts, and index terms were used to develop a full search strategy for Medline. The search strategy was then adapted for the Scopus and Web of Science (including CAB Abstracts) databases. Key concepts were: “cat”, “dog”, “meat-free diet”, “vegan” “vegetarian”, “plant-based” and “health”. Grey literature, such as theses, sourced through these databases were eligible for inclusion. Reference lists of all studies selected for critical appraisal were screened for additional studies. The three databases were searched in October 2022 using the advanced search strategy derived (see Appendix A). There were no date restrictions on study selection, provided the studies were accessible through the three listed databases.
2.3. Study Selection
Following the search, all identified citations were collated and uploaded into Covidence (Veritas Health Innovation, Melbourne, Australia), and duplicates were removed. Titles and abstracts were screened by two reviewers (A.W. and A.O.) for assessment against the inclusion criteria for the review. Full text screening was similarly performed by two independent reviewers.
Any failures of consensus that arose between the reviewers at each stage of the study selection process were resolved though discussion, with a third reviewer (I.S.) being consulted if an extra opinion was required.
2.4. Assessment of Methodological Quality
Eligible studies were critically appraised for methodological quality using standard reporting guidelines/critical appraisal tools: a modified version of the SYRCLE risk of bias [22] assessment for randomized control studies, the STROBE-Vet statement for observational study designs (version adapted for veterinary studies) [23], and the JBI critical appraisal checklists for case reports (not veterinary specific) [24]. Survey studies were not critically appraised, since there are no published guidelines for doing this in studies of a veterinary nature which typically use animal guardians as respondents. This assessment was performed by two independent reviewers (A.W. and A.O.) using the quality assessment template created for these criteria in Covidence. Any disagreements that arose were resolved through discussion. All articles, regardless of the results of their methodological quality, underwent data extraction and synthesis. Consideration of the methodological quality of individual studies is discussed in the narrative synthesis.
2.5. Data Extraction
Data were extracted from included studies by three independent reviewers (A.W., A.O., and I.S.) with each study being extracted by two reviewers using a modified version of the Covidence 2.0 extraction template. Extracted data included specific details about the populations sampled, the study design, diets considered, and the outcomes relevant to health measured with the time-course of assessment relative to diet introduction. Any disagreements that arose were resolved through discussion.
2.6. Data Synthesis
Data were synthesized based on two subgroups: (1) species (dogs and cat studies) (2) direct assessment of measure of health versus guardian report, i.e., proxy measure. Within these subgroups, studies were categorized based on similarity in the nature of the outcomes measured. Due to the heterogenous nature of the studies, as well the limited number, it was decided by the review team that a meta-analysis was not appropriate for any data included in this review. There were generally few studies within the relevant subgroups and there was often a lack of a control group to compute the effect size. Clinical heterogeneity existed between studies in terms of the outcomes measured and the time since the introduction of the diet. As a result, the data are presented narratively in the form of tables and text.
2.7. Terminology
Within the veterinary literature, various terms have been used for plant-based diets and these are sometimes used without definition. This includes the terms vegan, vegetarian, meat-free and plant-based. Vegan diets are generally thought to refer to a complete absence of animal-based products in the diet (e.g., no egg or milk products), whilst vegetarian diets are normally considered to mean an absence of meat in the diet. For consistency, we have preferred to use the terminology “vegan diet” in this review to mean a complete absence of animal-based products but have reported the terminology used by authors of included studies in presenting our results. It is possible that these authors have not applied the terminology in the same way we have.
2.8. Assessing Certainty in the Findings
The approach of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) for grading the certainty of evidence was followed and a Summary of Findings (SoF) for each species was created using the GRADEPro GDT software (McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada) [25].
3. Results
3.1. Description of Studies
Results of the search and screening process are presented in the PRISMA flowchart in Figure 1. Following the removal of duplicates and screening, 16 studies remained for inclusion. No additional studies were sourced outside the database search. The date of publication of these articles ranged from 1992 to 2022, with more publications investigating this topic in recent years (Figure 2). The majority of publications focused on dogs (11 out of 16), with six publications studying cats (one study [26] included dogs and cats). Study designs were varied with included studies consisting of a case report (n = 1), randomized control trials/experimental studies (n = 9), observational studies (n = 3), and survey studies of guardians (n = 9). Of the included studies, 13 directly measured health outcomes in the animals, whilst 8 gathered guardian reports on health outcomes or perceptions of health (two studies [27,28] performed both types of assessment). Refer to Table 1 and Table 2 for the characteristics of the included studies.
Bar chart illustrating number and years of publication for studies involving dogs and cats fed vegan diets.
3.2. Feline Studies
Out of the six studies that considered cats, only four examined health outcomes directly via clinical examination or laboratory analyses of tissue samples (Table 1). Four studies used guardian proxy reports of health. For ease of reporting, the outcomes have been grouped based on their broad category. Meta-analysis was considered if more than one study presented the same outcome data. However, meta-analyses of these data were not possible due to (1) differences or lack of a comparison group, e.g., a meat-based diet comparator or (2) no presentation of a measure of central tendency or dispersion to input into the model.
3.2.1. Hematology/Biochemistry
Only three studies [27,29,30] have carried out hematological and/or biochemical analysis of blood in cats that were fed vegetarian diets, and it is worth noting that sample sizes were low. Cats on a high-protein vegetarian diet exhibited hypokalemia which accompanied recurrent polymyopathy [29]. There was also increased creatinine kinase activity, likely reflecting the muscle damage caused by the myopathy, and reduced urinary potassium concentrations. Potassium supplementation prevented development of this myopathy, strongly suggesting a link between the potassium and myopathy. Although, interestingly, spontaneous recoveries of myopathy in the non-supplemented groups were not consistently associated with increases in plasma potassium. Whilst urea levels were slightly above the laboratory reference range, there was no change in levels in either supplemented or non-supplemented animals across the time-course of the 6-week dietary treatment. Biochemical findings in other studies have generally been unremarkable [27] with normal serum iron, total protein and albumin [30].
A macrocytic, non-regenerative anemia was observed in both felines that were presented in the case study of Fantinati et al., 2021 [30]. Otherwise, hematology was generally unremarkable.
3.2.2. Amino Acids/Specific Biomarkers
Leon et al., 1992 [29] showed that plasma taurine concentrations decreased by approximately 87% after only 2 weeks on a vegetarian diet (from 122 μmol/L to 16μmol/L). By the end of the 6-week study, there was no detectable taurine in plasma. Taurine concentrations were not different between the potassium-supplemented and non-supplemented groups, with both groups showing this substantial drop in taurine. Glutamate also increased in both groups but appeared to stabilize after 2 weeks of diet feeding [29]. Conversely, in the two cats described in the case report of Fantinati et al., 2021 [30], despite a 5-month duration of feeding of a vegan diet, taurine and cobalamin were within reference ranges. These findings were largely corroborated by the study of Wakefield et al., 2006 [28], where 17 cats on long-term vegetarian diets were blood sampled. Out of the 17 cats, blood taurine was within reference range for all except three, for whom taurine fell below the reference range, although not critically so. Similarly, cobalamin has also been shown to mostly fall within reference range [27,28]. It is, however, worth noting that in Semp 2014 [27], most of these animals were on commercially available supplements.
Serum folate was shown to decrease substantially in the two cats described in the Fantinati et al., 2021 case study [30], the correction of which improved clinical signs. Folate was decreased in approximately 50% of cats (n = 8) and was significantly so in some cats (approximately half of the reference range values), in another study [27]. Folate was not measured in the Wakefield et al., 2006 study [28].
3.2.3. Clinical Findings
In cats fed vegetarian diets that were supplemented with potassium, a myopathy was seen within 2 weeks of the dietary change [29]. This was characterized by ventroflexion of the head and the neck. The cats also showed lateral head resting, a stiff gait, muscular weakness, unsteadiness, and the occasional tremor of the head and pinnae. Erythrocyte transketolase activity was assessed to determine whether thiamine deficiency was contributing to the clinical myopathy, independent of potassium status. Differences in this enzyme across the time-course of the study were non-significant, suggesting thiamine deficiency was not a causative factor in the development of the clinical signs. Thiamine was also found to be within the reference range in Fantinati et al., 2021 [30]. No abnormalities were detected on auscultation or ophthalmoscopic examination [29]. Weight loss and poor coat condition have also been observed in cats fed vegetarian diets [29,30]. However, most cats in another study had a normal coat condition and no obviously diet-related clinical abnormalities picked up by clinical examination [27]. Clinical signs of lethargy with altered mentation, dysorexia, and muscle wasting, along with gut signs of bloating and increased borborygmi have also been observed [30]. Yet, the defecation of cats on vegan diets has been shown to be unremarkable [27].
3.2.4. Guardian-Reported Health Effects
Guardians generally believed that the transition to a meat-free diet had been positive. These studies are valuable, as large sample sizes of respondents (animals) are generally employed. Some guardians did notice an increase in stool volume but noted no issues with consistency [27]. When considering other aspects, coat condition was shinier [27], there was an improved scent of their animals (particularly relating to breath odor) [27], there was a tendency to be at the ideal body condition score rather than being obese [28,31]. Lifespan was also not considered to be influenced by diet [31]. Palatability, which can influence an animal’s mental health was reported by guardians to not be an issue with vegan diets [26].
Dodd et al. (2021) [31] collected dietary information for 1026 cats, of whom 187 were fed vegan diets. The latter were more frequently reported by guardians to be in very good health. They had more ideal body condition scores and were less likely to suffer from gastrointestinal and hepatic disorders than cats that were fed meat. No health disorders were found to be more likely in cats that were fed vegan diets. The reported differences were statistically significant.
3.3. Canine Studies
Twelve studies examined outcomes in dogs that were fed vegan diets, with nine studies measuring outcomes directly in the animals (Table 2). Four studies used guardian proxy reports of health. Findings from the studies evaluating outcomes in dogs have been grouped based on animal or guardian-based measures and are reported in Table 3 and Table 4, showing the direction of effect for the indicators assessed. As for the feline studies, meta-analyses were considered if more than one study presented the same outcome data. Unfortunately, this was not possible for any of the outcome measures due to the lack of a comparator group within studies that may have contributed data.
3.3.1. Hematology/Biochemistry
Five studies performed hematological and biochemical profiles in dogs to assess essential amino acids, vitamin, mineral, and folic acid levels when compared to a meat-based diet, or after changing to a vegan alternative. Brown et al., 2009 reported an increase in erythrocyte count, hemoglobin, and packed cell volume, although these stayed within reference ranges without signs of anemia or health disorders [32]. Higher hemoglobin values were also reported in 28 dogs by Cavanaugh et al., 2021 [33]. In this same study, one dog had alanine aminotransferase, and two dogs had alkaline phosphatase levels above reference values. Serum total protein and albumin were all within the reference range in another study [27].
3.3.2. Amino Acids/Specific Biomarkers
Cavanaugh et al., 2021 [33] assessed essential amino acids and taurine levels after 12 weeks on a commercial extruded plant-based diet with pea protein as the main protein source, with the finding of lower (but within or above reference range) leucine, methylhistidine-3, and serine. For this reason, the authors concluded that a plant-based diet can provide the necessary elements to dogs. Similarly, although choline and betaine, two precursors of trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), decreased in sixteen mixed-breed dogs, it did not influence the health of animals [33].
In Kiemer’s 2020 study, blood sampling showed that only two animals that were fed vegan diets out of 20 had any deficiencies [37]. This related to folic acid but was considered to be a response associated with giardiasis. Contrarily, 11 animals fed meat-based food had decreases in some parameters. Parameters where there were significant differences between meat and vegan groups were iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid, although it is worth noting that, whilst statistically different, these elements did not move outside of reference ranges. Values within normal reference ranges were also described for serum folic acid (71% of 17 dogs), vitamin B12 concentration (an average of 340.09 pg/mL), iron (within reference values in 90% of dogs), and L-carnitine in 57% of dogs on vegan diets in another study [27].
3.3.3. Clinical Findings
Dogs fed vegan diets were shown to be in ideal body condition, with normal behavior and skin/coat condition [37]. Similarly, no muscle loss or poor haircoat was detected in a further 28 dogs in the study by Cavanaugh et al., 2021 [33], with no echocardiographic differences between animals receiving vegan and conventional diets [33].
Whilst vegetarian diets may increase the nitrogen content excreted in feces, this is not significant when compared to the traditional diet [36]. The glycemic index of the vegan diet was also no different to that of other starch diets [38], and with this type of diet, gastric-emptying was higher than in traditional diets (0.0123 kSB2,/min vs. 0.0010 kSB2,/min) [39].
A change that has been reported in studies where dogs received a vegan diet is the increase in urinary pH. In a study with 19 dogs, one animal had urinary pH above the normal range (pH 5–7); however, no clinical signs were associated with the alkalinity [27]. Cavanaugh et al., 2021 similarly reported that after 12 weeks of a commercial plant-based diet, urine pH was higher (p = 0.022), considered to arise from the lack of protein of animal origin [33].
3.3.4. Guardian Perception
In general, guardians perceive vegan diets as a beneficial alternative for dogs with a positive impact on their health [37]. This is reflected in 57% of guardians reporting an ideal body condition score, as well as longevity, fewer health disorders, and very good health in their dogs on vegan diets [40]. Based on guardian-reported health status, Knight et al., 2022 [41] suggest that, when compared to meat and raw meat diets, vegan options are the healthiest and least hazardous choices for companion dogs, making dogs less likely to need veterinary visits more than once per year, and leading to less medication use than other animals [41]. In another study from the same group [26], palatability was the main assessed parameter. Palatability can be associated with mental health, maintenance of weight, and therefore the promotion of welfare, rendering this outcome valid as a health finding. This study showed no difference in food intake, i.e., change in palatability with a vegan diet compared to meat-based diets [26]. This aspect is also an important consideration when owners are deciding whether to transition their animals onto new diets.
Dodd et al. (2022) [40] collected dietary information from 1189 dog guardians, including 357 implementing solely vegan diets, who fed these diets for 3 years on average. Vegan dogs were reportedly more likely to experience very good health, and less likely to suffer ocular, gastrointestinal and hepatic disorders. No health disorders were more likely, and longevity of previously owned dogs was reportedly 1.5 years greater, when fed purely vegan diets. These reported differences were statistically significant.
Knight et al. (2022) [41] studied 2536 dogs fed vegan or meat-based diets for at least one year. Included were guardian opinions of health—which are not always reliable—as well as a range of more objective data, such as prevalence of medication usage. Seven general health indicators were examined, along with the prevalence of 22 of the most common canine health disorders. The researchers concluded that the healthiest and least hazardous diets for dogs were nutritionally sound vegan diets. Some differences were statistically significant.
3.4. Risk of Bias of Included Studies
A summary of the methodological quality assessment for the included articles is provided below, split by study type for those studies that used quantitative methods. Survey studies were not appraised, given the lack of established critical appraisal tool for this type of research within veterinary medicine. It is worth noting that the tools used for the observational and case study designs are strictly reporting guidelines rather than checks for risk of bias and are presented as a general indication of quality but do not necessarily predict internal validity of the study.
3.4.1. Randomized Control Trials
Nine studies were assessed as randomized control trials (Figure 3 and Figure 4). Crossover studies and studies where the authors categorized them as non-randomized studies were also assessed as RCTs, since it was deemed that randomization could occur, or at least there were methods to reduce the risk of selection bias. An unclear rating was assigned when criteria were not applicable for that study or when there was a lack of reporting; for example, on randomization. A high risk was assigned where there was reporting on a criterion and the methods used were considered to introduce a risk of bias; for example, if randomization was not performed by a method that would achieve true randomization. Overall, the studies were generally evaluated as being at an unclear risk of bias. There was a consistent lack of reporting on any methods to achieve randomization, allocation concealment, or blinding at the performance or outcome levels. There was generally a low risk of bias for attrition and selective reporting. The latter is, however, hard to assess when protocols are not pre-registered. Hence a conversative approach was taken, considering that so long as the outcomes discussed in the methods had been reported, the risk of bias was low. Where an unclear result arose for the category of ‘other risk of bias’, this generally related to funding by a pet food company with no discussion of how any potential conflicts of interest were minimized.
Risk of bias summary: review authors’ judgements about each risk of bias item for each included study [17,29,33,34,35,36,37,38,39].
3.4.2. Observational Studies
Two studies were assessed as observational studies using reporting guidelines (Figure 5 and Figure 6). Reporting was generally good. The main issues of lack of reporting (illustrated in red) arose around determination and reporting of how a sample size was arrived at, and discussions around transparency, including the role of funders, and whether ethics committee approvals were obtained.
Reporting guidelines summary: review authors’ judgements about reporting on each criterion for each included study [27,28].
3.4.3. Case Studies
Only one case study was included in the review [30]. This was appraised using case study reporting guidelines, and this study was rated as having a low risk of bias, i.e., reported all the criteria assessed (Figure 7 and Figure 8).
Reporting guidelines summary: review authors’ judgements about reporting on each criterion for each included study.
3.5. GRADE Certainty Assessment and Results
The evidence presented across the main parameters of interest, and those parameters where there were the most investigations, was assessed using the GRADE approach. Results are presented by species in Figure 9 and Figure 10. The certainty in the evidence was graded as low or very low for all outcome parameters, with the exception of bodyweight/condition in dogs, where certainty in the evidence was graded as moderate. Evidence was often downgraded based on the risk of bias as described previously, with the predominance of observational study designs. There was occasionally inconsistency in the direction of effect of outcomes across studies. Imprecision was generally regarded as not serious. The studies were also considered to be direct, having been conducted in the species of interest, in a clinical scenario. Publication bias has not been formally assessed and was rated as undetected. Publication bias may not be a factor for this topic since the subject is generally of interest, and there is little existing or key literature that may conflict with newer understandings.
4. Discussion
The finding of this study suggests, on the face of it, that there is very little evidence of major adverse effects resulting from the feeding of vegan diets in dogs or cats. The majority of the animal-based parameters were within normal reference ranges and when there were deviations from normal reference ranges, there were rarely clinical signs reported alongside the finding. In addition, whilst the broad literature in this area commonly makes reference to concerns around nutrient deficiencies, such as that of taurine, folate, and cobalamin, there were a limited number of studies that measured these outcomes (generally, only two studies for key outcomes), with limited evidence of these deficiencies arising (with some of the alterations likely being attributable to confounding; for example, as a result of secondary disease, e.g., giardiasis in a dog). These conclusions should, however, be interpreted cautiously, given the breadth and quality of the evidence presented as described below.
4.1. Evidence Considerations
To date, only sixteen studies have looked at actual health-related outcomes in dogs and cats fed vegan diets, as opposed to performing nutrient evaluations of diets. However, the majority of these studies utilized small sample sizes (ranging from 2–34 animals) for the direct investigation of outcomes. Whilst survey studies evaluating guardian-reported outcomes generally encompassed larger numbers of animals, these are subject to inherent biases due to participant selection, as well as the reliability of lay people making judgements around somewhat subjective concepts, such as health and body condition. Whilst 9 out of 13 of the studies that directly measured outcomes in the animals employed study designs which sit high within the evidence hierarchy, such as randomized controlled trials or experimental studies, the limited sample sizes and challenges inherent in crossover designs, such as choosing suitable washout periods, does limit certainty in the findings of these studies.
It is also worth noting in relation to the studies that measured animal health directly that, with the exception of two studies [27,28], the dietary intervention was often short being in the order of weeks to months generally, rather than years. On short periods such as these there may not have been time for deficiencies to develop or for clinical signs to become apparent.
The risk of bias assessment performed on the experimental trials suggests, at best, an unclear risk of bias across the studies. There were some particular aspects of poor performance (or reporting), especially around randomization and blinding. This has been reported previously in animal studies [42], where researchers have probably not taken on board some of these important facets of experimental design and reporting to the extent that human clinical researchers have [43,44]. This remains a major concern impeding reproducibility, and where internal validity of the study is impacted, also leads to wastage of animal and financial resources [42].
It was not possible to perform meta-analytic techniques on the data as described previously. There was also considerable heterogeneity in the outcomes measured. Taken together, this limits the ability to make conclusions and recommendations for practice since statistical assimilation of data does increase the value of the evidence synthesis. This evidence base points to the need for future research to employ larger sample sizes and to perform, as a priority, direct animal-based studies to generate firm conclusions around the suitability, or otherwise, of vegan diets in dogs and cats.
4.2. Guardian Perceptions
A change to vegan diets for both guardians and their animals is generally driven by increased guardian concerns about health, welfare of production animals, and environmental sustainability [17]. A small proportion of guardians may make a dietary change due to their animal not accepting traditional diets [27]. Whilst surveys of guardians who adopt this nutritional lifestyle for themselves may be subject to an inherent selection bias due to their strong ethical convictions, it is clear that guardians generally perceive these diets as beneficial. Guardians believed that it was easier to maintain their animals at an ideal body condition score, and there was a general perception of animals having fewer health disorders, and less need for veterinary visits. For example, guardians in Dodd et al.’s study (2021) [31] reported that 52% of cats did not have health disorders, and their analysis found that cats fed a vegan diet, compared to animals consuming a meat-based one, had less prevalence of dental (21 vs. 131, respectively), gastrointestinal and hepatic (3 vs. 90), and ocular diseases (4 vs. 39). A similar outcome was observed in dogs in another study by the same authors, where the decision to provide a vegan option to the dogs resulted in a reduced prevalence of several disorders such as cardiac, dermatopathies, and renal issues [40]. Another key benefit was less odor from their animals. The only negative effect reported, which seemed to be considered only a minor inconvenience by guardians, was an increase in stool volume. This increase was not accompanied by any change in stool consistency.
It is perhaps unusual, given the rise of veganism in society [5], that more largescale studies on the health consequences of these diets in companion animals have not been conducted, since it is assumed that there would be a similar increase in the use of these feeding regimes for pets. There is a dearth of primary data on the proportion of pet guardians that feed vegan diets. Dodd et al., 2019 [45] derived figures of 1.6% of dogs and 0.7% of cats in a global online survey, with guardians being predominantly vegan themselves. There does, however, appear to be an increasing commercial need with three times as many vegetarian pet foods being launched in the UK in 2014, compared with the previous three years [46]. There is also evidence of interest in converting pets to a vegan diet with 35% of surveyed guardians who did not feed their pets a vegan diet expressing interest should certain conditions be met [45]. Knight et al.’s (2022) [41] study surveyed 1370 respondents who used a conventional meat formulation as their dog’s normal diet, and 830 who used a raw meat formulation. These combined 2200 respondents were asked whether they would realistically choose alternative diets if such diets offered their desired attributes. The alternatives offered for consideration were vegetarian and vegan diets, as well as those based on laboratory grown meat, insects, fungi, and algae. Of 2181 who answered this question, 44% (955) confirmed they would realistically choose such alternative diets. Barriers to converting to vegan diets included a need for further information on nutritional adequacy, and a requirement for veterinary approval, and greater availability of commercial diets [45]. It is not clear where the veterinary profession stands on the feeding of vegan foods to dogs and cats, with veterinary professional associations appearing to be silent on the issue, deferring to individual veterinary advice (see e.g., [47]). The situation likely reflects the myriad of viewpoints held by individuals within society, but it is quite possible that the advice of veterinarians is a significant barrier to diet conversion. This advice may also be based on outdated education or lack of understanding of the evidence available.
4.3. Cats Versus Dogs
Due to the carnivorous physiology of dogs and cats, there are concerns that various mineral, vitamin, and amino acid deficiencies may arise if they are fed plant- based diets. Concerns have particularly been raised around sulfur amino acids, methionine, L-carnitine, cysteine, phosphorus, calcium, vitamins D and B12, omega-3 fatty acids, taurine, and arachidonic acid [48].
There has been particular concern around the ability to feed cats vegan diets, since they are regarded as obligate carnivores which require certain nutrients in their diet (based on their inability to manufacture these themselves). Figure 11 depicts some of these essential nutrients and the health issues that have been discussed to arise in their absence. This review provides limited evidence for adverse health impacts arising in cats fed vegan diets, although this needs to be considered in light of the small number of studies performed and often limited sample sizes. Major concerns were only noted around deficiencies in taurine and folate, and these were not seen across all cats sampled, suggesting local factors may have been at play, such as that created by dietary variations. It is, however, also worth noting that in a number of the feline studies, cats were supplemented, e.g., [31] and it may be that this supplementation avoided any adverse consequences. The issue of supplementation is important and we did not review the suitability of supplements specifically in this review. Perhaps a take-home message is that use of commercially prepared vegan pet foods appear to be safe for use in cats and dogs but further research is needed.
Potential adverse effects of nutritional deficits in vegan diets for domestic cats based on principles of nutritional physiology. Amino acid deficits are often reported in the analytical composition of vegan diets. Taurine, an amino acid required for correct cardiac and visual functioning, is essential to prevent retinal degeneration of DCM. Other deficiencies, such as arginine, vitamin D, vitamin A, or thiamine, can cause hepatic encephalopathy, secondary nutritional hyperparathyroidism, blindness, or polyneuropathies, respectively. DCM: dilated cardiomyopathy.
This field is attracting more attention by researchers, as well as the pet food industry, with new studies regularly being published. In fact, a recent study was sourced after the formal searches for this review. Davies (2022) [49] evaluated the health perception of 100 guardians providing extruded vegan food to dogs. The findings were overtly positive with the food being palatable and leading to no adverse changes in appetite or body weight. Health improvements were also reported by the guardians in the following areas: activity level (28%), fecal consistency (38.5%), antisocial smelling flatus (73.1%), coat glossiness (49.0%), itching (60.6%), skin redness (44.4%), and even in behavioral traits such as aggression (25.0%) and coprophagia (42.9%). It is hoped that, within the next few years, recommendations on this topic may be able to be made with a greater degree of certainty, given this research interest.
5. Conclusions
This review has found that there is no convincing evidence of major impacts of vegan diets on dog or cat health. There is, however, a limited number of studies investigating this question and those studies available often use small sample sizes or short feeding durations. There was also evidence of benefits for animals arising as a result of feeding them vegan diets. Much of these data were acquired from guardians via survey-type studies, but these can be subject to selection biases, as well as subjectivity around the outcomes. However, these beneficial findings were relatively consistent across several studies and should, therefore, not be disregarded.
There is an urgent need for large-scale population-based studies to further investigate this question, with a particular focus on assessing the dietary aspects cited to be of particular concern, e.g., taurine and folate. For guardians wishing to feed their pets vegan diets at the current time, based on the available evidence it is recommended that commercially produced vegan diets are used since these are less likely to lead to nutrient imbalances.
Appendix A
Medline via PubMed Search Strategy (conducted on 11 October 2022)
“dogs”[MeSH Terms] OR “dogs”[All Fields] OR (“cats”[MeSH Terms] OR “cats”[All Fields]) OR (“canine s”[All Fields] OR “dogs”[MeSH Terms] OR “dogs”[All Fields] OR “canine”[All Fields] OR “canines”[All Fields]) OR “Canis”[All Fields] OR (“cats”[MeSH Terms] OR “cats”[All Fields] OR “felines”[All Fields] OR “felidae”[MeSH Terms] OR “felidae”[All Fields] OR “feline”[All Fields]) OR (“felis”[MeSH Terms] OR “felis”[All Fields]) OR “dogs”[MeSH Terms] OR “cats”[MeSH Terms]) AND (“diet, vegan”[MeSH Terms] OR (“diet”[All Fields] AND “Vegan”[All Fields]) OR “vegan diet”[All Fields] OR “veganism”[All Fields] OR “vegans”[MeSH Terms] OR “vegans”[All Fields] OR “Vegan”[All Fields] OR (“diet, vegetarian”[MeSH Terms] OR (“diet”[All Fields] AND “vegetarian”[All Fields]) OR “vegetarian diet”[All Fields] OR (“plant”[All Fields] AND “based”[All Fields] AND “diet”[All Fields]) OR “plant based diet”[All Fields]) OR (“diet, vegetarian”[MeSH Terms] OR (“diet”[All Fields] AND “vegetarian”[All Fields]) OR “vegetarian diet”[All Fields] OR “vegetarianism”[All Fields] OR “vegetarians”[MeSH Terms] OR “vegetarians”[All Fields] OR “vegetarian”[All Fields]) OR (“meat free”[All Fields] AND (“diet”[MeSH Terms] OR “diet”[All Fields])) OR “diet, vegan/veterinary”[MeSH Terms]) AND (“Animal Nutrition Sciences”[MeSH Terms] OR (“deficiences”[All Fields] OR “deficiencies”[All Fields] OR “deficiency”[MeSH Subheading] OR “deficiency”[All Fields] OR “deficient”[All Fields] OR “deficients”[All Fields]) OR (“health”[MeSH Terms] OR “health”[All Fields] OR “health s”[All Fields] OR “healthful”[All Fields] OR “healthfulness”[All Fields] OR “healths”[All Fields]) OR (“disease”[MeSH Terms] OR “disease”[All Fields] OR “diseases”[All Fields] OR “disease s”[All Fields] OR “diseased”[All Fields]) OR “Nutritional Status”[MeSH Terms] OR “deficiency”[MeSH Subheading])
Scopus Search Strategy (conducted on 11 October 2022)
(TITLE-ABS-KEY (vegan OR plant-based AND diet OR vegetarian OR meat-free AND diet) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (dogs OR cats OR canis OR felis OR canine OR feline) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (health OR deficiency OR disease OR disorder))
Web of Science Search Strategy (conducted on 11 October 2022)
2: (ALL = (health OR deficiency OR disease OR disorder)) AND ALL = (dogs OR cats OR canis OR felis OR canine OR feline) AND = (vegan OR “plant-based diet” OR vegetarian OR “meat-free diet “)
Funding Statement
This research received no external funding. ALW was supported by a Barbara Kidman Fellowship from the University of Adelaide, which provided general research support.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, D.M.-R. and A.L.W.; methodology, D.M.-R., A.L.W., A.D.-O. and I.S.; investigation, A.L.W., A.D.-O. and I.S.; data curation, A.L.W., A.D.-O. and I.S.; writing—original draft preparation, D.M.-R., A.L.W. and A.D.-O.; writing—review and editing, D.M.-R., A.L.W., A.D.-O. and I.S.; supervision, D.M.-R. and A.L.W.; project administration, D.M.-R. and A.L.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
All data are reported within the text.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
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Clinical Findings
Dogs fed vegan diets were shown to be in ideal body condition, with normal behavior and skin/coat condition [37]. Similarly, no muscle loss or poor haircoat was detected in a further 28 dogs in the study by Cavanaugh et al., 2021 [33], with no echocardiographic differences between animals receiving vegan and conventional diets [33].
Whilst vegetarian diets may increase the nitrogen content excreted in feces, this is not significant when compared to the traditional diet [36]. The glycemic index of the vegan diet was also no different to that of other starch diets [38], and with this type of diet, gastric-emptying was higher than in traditional diets (0.0123 kSB2,/min vs. 0.0010 kSB2,/min) [39].
A change that has been reported in studies where dogs received a vegan diet is the increase in urinary pH. In a study with 19 dogs, one animal had urinary pH above the normal range (pH 5–7); however, no clinical signs were associated with the alkalinity [27]. Cavanaugh et al., 2021 similarly reported that after 12 weeks of a commercial plant-based diet, urine pH was higher (p = 0.022), considered to arise from the lack of protein of animal origin [33].
3.3.4. Guardian Perception
In general, guardians perceive vegan diets as a beneficial alternative for dogs with a positive impact on their health [37]. This is reflected in 57% of guardians reporting an ideal body condition score, as well as longevity, fewer health disorders, and very good health in their dogs on vegan diets [40].
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yes
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