MinuteEarth

Thanks to my grandmother for inspiring this story, and to my mother for helping make it. If you like our videos, please consider supporting MinuteEarth on Patreon! - Alex

Bird poop was the gateway fertilizer that turned humanity onto the imported-chemical-based farming system of modern agriculture.

Thanks to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members.

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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Guano: seabird (or bat) poop. From the indigenous Peruvian word “wanu”, meaning “manure that’s good for fertilizer"
Manure: animal poop used as fertilizer (typically cow or pig poop)
Fertilizer: a chemical-containing substance added to soil to provide nutrients to plants
Nitrate mining: digging up the naturally occurring solid form of the element nitrogen (sodium nitrate)
Phosphate mining: digging up the naturally occurring solid form of the element phosphorus
Haber-Bosch process: the major industrial method to take nitrogen gas out of the air and convert it to ammonia
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If you liked this week’s video, you might also like:
Our fertilizer is killing us. Here's a fix: https://grist.org/article/billionaires-and-bacteria-are-racing-to-save-us-from-death-by-fertilizer/
Why bird poop is white: https://www.audubon.org/news/what-makes-bird-poop-white
In 1856 US Congress enabled US citizens to take over unclaimed islands with guano on them: http://americanhistory.si.edu/norie-atlas/guano-islands-act
Guano is in demand again today: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/world/americas/30peru.html
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Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ
And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/

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And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer, Video Director, and Narrator: Alex Reich (@alexhreich)
Video Illustrator: Jesse Agar (@JesseAgarYT)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

Image Credits: Farquhar, W.H. 1884. The Annals of Sandy Spring, Vol. I, Pg. xxix-xxx. Baltimore: Cushings & Bailey. http://bit.ly/2QOWGKr

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References:

Canby, T.Y. 2002. The Annals of Sandy Spring, Vol. VI. Introduction: Pg. 26-27. Sandy Spring Museum.

Cushman, G.T. 2013. Guano and the opening of the Pacific World: A global ecological history. Cambridge University Press.

Cushman, G.T., personal communication, October 2018.

Farquhar, W.H. 1884. The Annals of Sandy Spring, Vol. I, Pg. xxix-xxx. Baltimore: Cushings & Bailey. http://bit.ly/2QOWGKr

Lorimor, J., Powers, W., Sutton, A. 2004. Manure Characteristics. MWPS-18, Section 1. Second Edition. Table 6. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/files/ManureCharacteristicsMWPS-18_1.pdf

Robinson, M.B. April 26, 2007. In Once-Rural Montgomery, a Rich History. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042501342.html

S. Sands & Son. 1875. The American Farmer: Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture and Rural Life. Vol. 4, Issue 12, pg. 417-418. Baltimore. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ul1TAAAAYAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA417

Stabler, H.O. 1950. The Annals of Sandy Spring, Vol. V, Pg. 43. American Publishing Company.

Szpak, P., et al. 2012. Stable isotope biogeochemistry of seabird guano fertilization: results from growth chamber studies with Maize (Zea mays). PloS one, 7(3), e33741. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0033741

Thanks also to the Sandy Spring Museum.

Direct download: The_Bird_Poop_That_Changed_The_World.mp4
Category:general -- posted at: 11:12am EDT

To get your free 30-day trial of CuriosityStream, go to https://curiositystream.com/minute and use the code "minute".

Just like the names of products and companies, animals' names can affect how we feel about them...and changing the name of a species might actually help us save it.

Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members.
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Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd
Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ
And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/

Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6
And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC

And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n
___________________________________________

Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer, Video Director & Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Illustrator: Arcadi Garcia
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

Image Credits: Hong Kong's Golden Beach Dolphin Plaza by Wikimedia user WiNg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HK_Golden_Beach_Dolphin_Plaza.jpg

African Wild Dog by Mathias Appel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mathiasappel/25233930273

Family Dog by Richard Elzey
https://www.flickr.com/photos/elzey/6307525340/

Sloth by Régis Leroy
https://www.flickr.com/photos/regilero/8727491349

Racoon Just Checking the Trash by Julie Corsi
https://www.flickr.com/photos/corsinet/2967516964/

Scorpion by Steve Slater
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wildlife_encounters/11026569913/

Snake by Photo by Jessica Bolser/USFWS
https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmidwest/11193222776/

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References:

Jacquet, J. L. and Pauly, D. (2008) Trade secrets: renaming and mislabeling of seafood. Marine Policy 32: 309-318. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X07000760

Karaffa, P.T., M.M. Draheim, and Parsons, E.C.M. (2012) What’s in a name? Do species’ names impact student support for conservation? Human Dimensions of Wildlife 17: 308-310. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10871209.2012.676708?journalCode=uhdw20

Parsons, E.C.M., personal communication, October 2018.

Rasmussen, G.S.A. (1999) Livestock predation by the painted hunting dog Lycaon pictus in a cattle ranching region of Zimbabwe: a case study. Biological Conservation 88: 133–139. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320798000068?via%3Dihub

Sarasa M., Alasaad S., and Pérez J.M. (2012) Common names of species, the curious case of Capra pyrenaica and the concomitant steps towards the 'wild-to-domestic' transformation of a flagship species and its vernacular names. Biodiversity and Conservation 21:1–12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-011-0172-3

Scott, C. (2015) Otter social science research: An evaluation of the general public’s knowledge of otter species. (Master’s thesis) George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Retrieved from digilib.gmu.edu/ xmlui/handle/1920/10282

Wright, A., Veríssimo, D., Pilfold, K., Parsons, E. C. M., Ventre, K., Cousins, J., et al. (2015). Competitive outreach in the 21st Century: why we need conservation marketing. Ocean & Coastal Management 115: 41–48. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569115001829

Direct download: These_Names_Can_Kill_Animals.mp4
Category:general -- posted at: 11:28am EDT

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