Grant Rachel A, Conlan Hilary
Department of Animal and Land Sciences, Hartpury College, Hartpury, Gloucester GL19 3BE, UK.
Department of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, East Rd, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2015 Mar 31;5(2):206-13. doi: 10.3390/ani5020206.
Unusual behavior before earthquakes has been reported for millennia but no plausible mechanism has been identified. One possible way in which animals could be affected by pre-earthquake processes is via stress activated positive holes leading to the formation of hydrogen peroxide at the rock water interface. Aquatic and fossorial animals could be irritated by H₂O₂ and move down the concentration gradient. Here, we carry out avoidance tests with hydrogen peroxide in two model organisms; Daphnia pulex and earthworms. Daphnia were found to move away from increasing concentrations of H₂O2 but earthworms appeared unaffected. It is possible that earthworm swarming behavior, reported frequently before earthquakes, is caused by electric field shifts or another unknown mechanism, whereas zooplankton may be affected by increasing levels of H₂O₂.
数千年来，人们一直报告称地震前会出现异常行为，但尚未找到合理的机制。动物可能受到地震前过程影响的一种可能方式是通过应力激活的正空穴，导致在岩石 - 水界面形成过氧化氢。水生动物和穴居动物可能会受到过氧化氢的刺激，并顺着浓度梯度移动。在这里，我们在两种模式生物——水蚤和蚯蚓中进行了过氧化氢回避试验。发现水蚤会远离浓度不断增加的过氧化氢，但蚯蚓似乎未受影响。地震前经常报道的蚯蚓群聚行为，可能是由电场变化或另一种未知机制引起的，而浮游动物可能会受到过氧化氢水平升高的影响。
