Something Weird Is Happening With This Bright Red Beach

00:06:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mumLO0nres8

Ringkasan

TLDRThe video highlights the Red Beach in Northeast China, renowned for its vibrant red vegetation from the Suaeda salsa plant. This plant is a pioneer species with remarkable abilities to thrive in harsh conditions, including high salinity and pollution. It plays a crucial role in restoring degraded wetlands and improving soil health. However, the Red Beach faces significant threats from agricultural development and climate change, leading to a decline in Suaeda salsa populations. The video emphasizes the need to protect both the plant and its habitat to ensure the health of coastal ecosystems.

Takeaways

  • 🌊 Red Beach is famous for its stunning red vegetation.
  • 🌱 Suaeda salsa is a pioneer species that restores degraded wetlands.
  • 🧪 The plant can tolerate high salinity and remove toxins from the soil.
  • 🍽️ Suaeda salsa is edible, though the green variety is tastier.
  • 📉 Suaeda salsa's habitat has declined by 63% in the last 30 years.
  • 🏞️ The Liao River provides essential nutrients for the plant's growth.
  • ⚠️ Red Beach faces threats from development and climate change.
  • 🔬 Scientists study Suaeda salsa for its salt tolerance genes.
  • 🐦 The area is home to rare wildlife species.
  • 💔 The future of Suaeda salsa and Red Beach is uncertain.

Garis waktu

  • 00:00:00 - 00:06:45

    The video introduces the Red Beach in Northeast China, known for its stunning blood-red vegetation from the Suaeda salsa plant, which attracts over two million visitors annually. This plant, part of the seepweed genus, thrives in salty wetlands and exhibits remarkable adaptations to its environment, including color variations based on habitat conditions. The video highlights the plant's potential benefits for wetland restoration and its role as a pioneer species that can improve soil health and remove harmful substances.

Peta Pikiran

Video Tanya Jawab

  • What is the Red Beach known for?

    The Red Beach is known for its stunning blood-red vegetation from the Suaeda salsa plant.

  • What are the ecological benefits of Suaeda salsa?

    Suaeda salsa can tolerate high salt levels, remove toxins from the soil, sequester carbon, and improve soil health.

  • How does Suaeda salsa respond to different environments?

    In wetter, saltier habitats, Suaeda salsa accumulates more red pigments, while in drier areas, it grows taller and greener.

  • What threats does the Red Beach face?

    The Red Beach faces threats from development for agriculture and aquaculture, as well as climate change.

  • Is Suaeda salsa edible?

    Yes, Suaeda salsa is edible, though the green variety is considered tastier than the red.

  • How has Suaeda salsa been used in restoration projects?

    It has been used to restore degraded wetlands, especially in areas contaminated by oil spills.

  • What is the current status of Suaeda salsa in the Liao River Delta?

    Suaeda salsa is only growing in a small fraction of its potential habitat due to development and climate change.

  • What is the significance of the Liao River for the Red Beach?

    The Liao River provides nutrient-rich sediment that supports the growth of Suaeda salsa at Red Beach.

  • What role do patrons play in supporting educational content like this video?

    Patrons help keep educational content free and accessible, allowing more people to learn.

  • What is the future outlook for Suaeda salsa?

    The future is uncertain due to threats from human activity and climate change.

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Gulir Otomatis:
  • 00:00:00
    On the coast of Northeast China
  • 00:00:01
    is a place that looks like  something out of a movie:
  • 00:00:04
    a marsh carpeted in stunning,  blood-red vegetation.
  • 00:00:08
    This is China’s famous Red Beach,
  • 00:00:11
    a tourist destination that attracts
  • 00:00:12
    more than two million visitors every year.
  • 00:00:15
    The amazing color comes from  ruby-hued plants called Suaeda salsa—
  • 00:00:19
    and it isn’t just their color that’s impressive.
  • 00:00:22
    This plant has superpowers that could  benefit wetlands around the world.
  • 00:00:26
    [intro]
  • 00:00:30
    Suaeda salsa is part of a genus  of plants called the seepweeds.
  • 00:00:34
    It also doesn’t have a common name  in English that we could find,
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    so we’re going to call it the salsa plant for fun.
  • 00:00:40
    It’s red and green, it checks out.
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    There are over 100 different  seepweed species around the world,
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    and they’re usually found in  salty or alkaline wetlands.
  • 00:00:50
    The salsa plant in particular is native to  eastern and central Europe and southern Siberia
  • 00:00:55
    as well as China—but it doesn’t have  the same incredible color everywhere.
  • 00:01:00
    Plants that grow above the high tide,
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    where conditions are dryer,  are tall, fluffy, and green.
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    Lower down, in wetter, saltier,  habitat, they’re shorter,
  • 00:01:10
    with fleshy red-violet leaves.
  • 00:01:12
    Scientists who’ve looked into this have found  that plants in the two different environments
  • 00:01:16
    react to their surroundings
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    by ramping the expression of  certain proteins up or down as
  • 00:01:22
    a response to the stress caused  by excess salt and waterlogging.
  • 00:01:25
    One result is that the plants in the wetter,
  • 00:01:27
    saltier habitat accumulate more  red pigments in their leaves,
  • 00:01:32
    which is what gives them their fabulous color.
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    And at the Red Beach, freshwater,  saltwater, nutrient-rich sediment
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    delivered by the Liao River,
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    and climate have come together
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    in a unique way to support a vibrant  carpet of these scarlet plants.
  • 00:01:46
    But the salsa plant is interesting  for way more than just its color.
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    For one thing, it’s edible—
  • 00:01:51
    although the green kind is apparently  way tastier than the famous red kind.
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    The leaves are typically a “famine  food,” only eaten as a last resort,
  • 00:02:00
    but its seeds are full of healthy oils,
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    and scientists think it has untapped  potential as a food plant in areas
  • 00:02:06
    where other crops are tough to grow.
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    It’s also the focus of intense study as  a tool for restoring degraded wetlands,
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    especially in China.
  • 00:02:14
    Our salsa plant is a pioneer species,
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    meaning it’s one of the first plants  to colonize a newly created habitat—
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    or to recolonize habitat that’s been disturbed.
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    It can quickly establish itself  in harsh, salty coastal marshes
  • 00:02:28
    due to its high salt tolerance—
  • 00:02:30
    and as it grows, it can actually remove  harmful levels of salts from the soil.
  • 00:02:34
    This is an extra-big deal because  sea level rise due to climate change
  • 00:02:39
    means that coastal wetlands around  the world are getting saltier.
  • 00:02:42
    Molecular biologists are even studying the genes  that make the salsa plant so salt-tolerant,
  • 00:02:48
    hoping to someday use them to  make other species more resilient.
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    And the salsa plant’s ability  to thrive in tough conditions
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    doesn’t stop with salt.
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    It can also tolerate the presence of  toxic heavy metals like copper and lead,
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    and remove those from the soil as well.
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    The list of good stuff that this  wonder plant can do goes on and on.
  • 00:03:07
    It sequesters carbon, locking  it away out of the atmosphere…
  • 00:03:11
    it improves the diversity and function  of the soil microbe community…
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    Basically, the salsa plant can take a  barren, salty, polluted coastal habitat
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    and begin its transformation into  a thriving wetland ecosystem.
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    And folks in China are doing this:
  • 00:03:25
    Multiple restoration projects have  successfully established the salsa plant
  • 00:03:29
    in areas contaminated by oil spills  or disturbed by human activity.
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    At first, all you would see in a restoration  area is barren sediment and sand,
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    interspersed with tiny red plants.
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    The plants grow slowly at first,  especially in contaminated soil,
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    and they take a few years to really get going.
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    But over time, they boost the health  of the environment they’re in.
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    And as the salsa plants grow,  filling in those bare areas, birds
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    and other wildlife begin to return as well,
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    until the site is filled with the  sights and sounds of a thriving wetland.
  • 00:04:03
    But here’s the twist: Red Beach itself,
  • 00:04:06
    the salsa plant’s most famous  stronghold, is under threat.
  • 00:04:10
    But before we get into all that , let’s take a quick break.
  • 00:04:14
    Thanks to our Presidents of Science f
  • 00:04:16
    or making this SciShow video possible!
  • 00:04:18
    These incredible patrons help us keep  the stuff you’re watching right now
  • 00:04:22
    totally free so that anyone can learn from them,
  • 00:04:24
    because education is a human right.
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    We make these videos to cultivate curiosity
  • 00:04:28
    and build knowledge in more people,
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    more ways, and more places.
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    And the Presidents of Science  keep that vision alive through
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    generous donations at patreon.com/SciShow.
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    To join McLaren Stanley, Charlie Stanley, and  TJ Steyn in supporting all that good stuff,
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    you can become a patron for $2 per month
  • 00:04:46
    or as much as you want to responsibly give.
  • 00:04:49
    But our biggest ask of you is  to just keep watching SciShow.
  • 00:04:53
    Red Beach is part of a  state-protected nature preserve.
  • 00:04:56
    It even includes a wooden jetty so that  tourists can take in the spectacular color
  • 00:05:01
    without trampling the plants.
  • 00:05:03
    It’s home to hundreds of  wildlife species, including rare,
  • 00:05:06
    vulnerable birds like the red-crowned crane,  white-naped crane, and black-faced spoonbill.
  • 00:05:12
    But the Liao River Delta,  where Red Beach is located,
  • 00:05:15
    is threatened by development for  rice paddies and aquaculture.
  • 00:05:18
    It’s also the location of one of  the largest oilfields in China.
  • 00:05:22
    All of this is affecting the salsa  plant’s ability to flourish in the region.
  • 00:05:26
    Studies have found that Suaeda salsa is  only growing in a small fraction of the area
  • 00:05:31
    that could theoretically support it,
  • 00:05:33
    in part because of the conversion of  wetland habitat for things like fish farms.
  • 00:05:37
    It hasn’t always been this way,
  • 00:05:39
    but as development has advanced,
  • 00:05:41
    the area inhabited by Suaeda salsa has  declined by 63% in the last thirty years
  • 00:05:47
    It may be vulnerable to climate change, too.
  • 00:05:51
    After an exceptionally hot, dry summer  in 2018 hit the Liao River Delta region,
  • 00:05:57
    the plants’ aboveground  biomass—their leaves and stems—
  • 00:06:01
    appeared to recover quickly,  but their root systems did not.
  • 00:06:04
    Instead, their roots continued  to shrink for at least two years,
  • 00:06:08
    suggesting that these plants may  have a hard time fully bouncing back
  • 00:06:12
    as extreme weather events become more frequent.
  • 00:06:15
    So the future is uncertain.
  • 00:06:17
    Turns out even a super-plant isn’t  immune to all of the ways humans
  • 00:06:21
    can mess up the natural world.
  • 00:06:22
    And while the salsa plant may have the power  to save and restore coastal wetland habitat
  • 00:06:28
    across wide swaths of Eurasia and beyond,
  • 00:06:31
    we may need to save it first.
  • 00:06:34
    [ outro ]
Tags
  • Red Beach
  • Suaeda salsa
  • wetlands
  • ecology
  • climate change
  • restoration
  • biodiversity
  • coastal habitats
  • environmental threats
  • education