Talk:Guano

This is from that 1881 encyclopedia (but somehow I think science has progressed just a bit since 1881... ;-) -- Marj Tiefert

The urine of men and animals living upon flesh contains a large quantity of nitrogen, partly in the form of urea. Human urine is the most powerful manure for all vegetables which contain nitrogen, that of horses and horned cattle contains less of this element, but much more than the solid excrements of these animals. In the face of such facts as these, is it not pitiable to observe how the urine of the stable or cow-shed is often permitted to run off, to sink uselessly into the earth, or to form a pool in the middle of a farm-yard, from which, as it putrefies, the ammonia formed in it rapidly escapes into the atmosphere?

Cultivated plants need more nitrogen than wild ones, being of a higher and more complex organization. The result of forest growth is chiefly the production of carbonaceous woody fibre; of garden or field culture, especially the addition of as much nitrogen as the plant can be made to take up.

I could have sworn I saw something on a nature show or something where some indigenous people eat bat guano, but being a sensible person, I knew that it could not be true.

See the Chinese article on Lin Tse Hsu. It appears to say that he scared tourists by eating a food prepared to give the appearance of guano. This may be where the rumor comes from. (Collin237 - 237wins) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.203.105.214 (talk) 07:13, 10 December 2009 (UTC)Reply

It says "Its, Dawguang Dih ranq ta jieday waygworen, ta biann jyyshyh chwushy tzowlh idaw horngshuuni tsay, waygworen jiann jong horngshuuni mei maw rehchih, biann lhau chii jiow chy, jyr baa waygworen tanqderuauajiaw, Lintzershyu jiannshiaw, woanhweilh mianntz." Perhaps someone could explain this. (Collin237 - 237wins) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 32.178.68.71 (talk) 12:28, 10 December 2009 (UTC)Reply

Unsurprisingly, it renders a person insane. – RVJ (talk) 05:58, 16 November 2011 (UTC)Reply

Some more information on Coca Cola's flirtation with guano during the war would be interesting too.

Ace Ventura's plot was centered around this.

Please merge any relevant content from Phosphate rock island per Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Phosphate rock island. (If there is nothing to merge, just leave it as a redirect.) Thanks. —Quarl ^(talk) 2007-02-25 04:46Z

Apparently near the end of the 19th century, guano was imported all the way from the mountains of Chile to be used as fertilizers in the United Kingdom. Can this be included in the article or not? Can anyone find references for this please? --pizza1512 12:07, 10 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

There is more than 30 years worth of viable phosphate available for extraction. Please see http://www.energybulletin.net/28720.html and especially http://www.apda.pt/apda_resources/APDA.Biblioteca/eureau%5Cposition%20papers%5Cthe%20reuse%20of%20phosphorus.pdf for details. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.112.40.137 (talk) 00:17, 4 December 2007 (UTC)Reply

I noticed the movie Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls has as central topic Guano. I have added it to the See also list. Camilo Sanchez (talk)

While Ace really wanted that dookie, a fictional movie is not vital to one's understanding of the real thing and doesn't warrant a "see also." Rob T Firefly (talk) 18:26, 4 July 2008 (UTC)Reply

Is this photograph REALLY necessary? Not only is it extremely detailed, but someone saw fit to make sure it was HUGE!

This is entirely a good-natured comment... but MAN. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.234.149.2 (talk) 19:03, 3 November 2008 (UTC)Reply

Haha I thought it was really fitting —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.168.120.77 (talk) 19:03, 3 November 2008 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.168.120.77 (talk) Reply

I have a problem with the statement "It is estimated that there is only enough phosphorus from current resources to last about 30 years." I believe that the source is talking specifically about Peru. Besides, I think the source says 10 - 20 years, not 30.

I am not sure what statement should be made from this source as it seems too narrow in scope. WTucker (talk) 05:43, 8 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Really? Only seabirds specifically? If Canada Geese leave large amounts of excrement by a lake, is that guano? if not, what is it called? Kingturtle (talk) 20:49, 10 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

It is written : In this context the United States passed the Guano Islands Act in 1856, giving citizens discovering a source of guano the right to take possession of unclaimed land and entitlement to exclusive rights to the deposits. The guano, however, could only be removed for the use of citizens of the United States.[1] This enabled U.S. citizens to take possession of unoccupied islands containing guano... It ends with a Wiki flag stating that "sources are required", even though it is given via its reference! I don't understand why, some people aren't mature enough to face History? — Preceding unsigned comment added by HawkFest (talk • contribs) 23:21, 25 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

This article claims: "There is no documentary evidence that enslaved Pacific Islanders participated in guano mining." It cites: Méndez, Cecilia (1987). Los trabajadores guaneros del Perú, 1840–1879. Lima: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

The article on Blackbirding, referring to enslavement of Pacific Islanders claims: "From the 1860s, blackbirding ships in the Pacific sought workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru." It cites: H.E. Maude, Slavers in Paradise, Institute of Pacific Studies (1981)

Logically, one of these claims must be false. 97.83.179.39 (talk) 16:38, 5 February 2016 (UTC)Reply

The first two sentences of the article, "Guano (via Spanish, ultimately from the Quechua wanu) is the excrement of only cave-dwelling bats in general.[1] Most commonly people are mistaken to think that quano is a term used for bird excrement as well," contradict almost all of the text that follows (that is assuming "quano" is a typo, and if it's not it's not a fact that belongs in the lede). The use of the term "guano" in this article is almost exclusively referring to the droppings of birds and hardly mentions bats at all. ☉ nbmatt 02:44, 13 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Guano/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

I'll take on this, er, fascinating and important bat-related topic. Reviewer: Chiswick Chap (talk · contribs) 17:24, 10 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

Astute of you to jump in so quickly and claim this hot topic before someone else could! Enwebb (talk) 17:44, 10 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

• I've mended some harv links and fixed some small typos.
  • thanks
• Perhaps the N, P, K mention in the lead should say that these are the key nutrients for many crop plants.  Y
  • You mean beyond what it already says? ...due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium: nutrients essential for plant growth.
    • That'd be true of many trace elements also; NPK are the key nutrients required in quantity.
• U.S. Supreme Court link needs disambiguation.  Y
  • done
• The maps of Islands claimed by the U.S. need to be captioned with the act and its date.  Y
  • done
• More wikilinking is needed in lead and body, e.g. British Empire, ecology/ecological, royalties, saltpeter. Perhaps Abolition of slavery, too.  Y
  • done
• Several of the historical figures should be introduced with a brief gloss, e.g. 'the explorer and naturalist von Humboldt'. Basically every person should be introduced in some way at first appearance.  Y
  • done
• I think that the redlinked minerals would be best explained with a brief gloss, as after all there's no link to follow for any other explanation. Alternatively you might want to create a list of phosphatic minerals (there's a suggestion I never thought I'd make) with a brief gloss of each one.  Y
  • Went ahead and created stubs for the three redlinked minerals
    • Thanks. Beyond the call of duty, obviously!

• Re the above, why is Phosphorite relegated to See also? Has its production not helped to supplant guano mining?  Y
  • I'll be honest, the see also section is entirely original to before the revamp (I've only removed, not added). All the sources I've seen implicate the Haber-Bosch process as directly responsible for the decline in demand for guano. I have the digital version of Guano and the opening of the Pacific world: a global ecological history and "phosphorite" is not mentioned once in 415 pages. I think leaving it in the see also section is alright, but I'm open to including if I come across sources that say it is important in the decline of guano mining. Enwebb (talk) 15:00, 11 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

• Suggest you say that caliche is a sedimentary rock (and wikilink that).  Y
  • done

• A bestselling guano book, fancy. We'd best have its title, date, and publisher then!  Y

• War of the Pacific needs dates.  Y
  • done

• Could link migratory bats to animal migration.  Y
  • done

• Work conditions - you briefly mention dust inhalation and mechanical hazards from the 19th century; since work continues today, what health and safety precautions are taken? Probably deserves a paragraph or short section.  Y

• Re the above, I see histoplasmosis under See also. Perhaps it deserves inclusion in the H&S paragraph. Other diseases to mention?  Y
  • A whole new section!
    • Thanks, that's much better.

• A photo of cave-roosting bats, preferably in a guano cave?  Y
  • Not seeing any free pics of bats + cave + guano, but I asked some bat researchers
    • OK

• "total volume of Gomantong cave" - this actually means the missing volume of rock, the opposite of what I was supposing when reading, expecting to hear that the guano had filled up the cave. Might be worth minor rewording.  Y

• The photo of Bat Cave mine could be worth using in the U.S. section, in which case the link to that article can be moved into the text, described and cited.  Y
  • Pardon, which section?
    • "Bat guano", between Australia and modern times.
      • done
• Guanine#History might be worth mentioning under Cultural significance, along with the chemist concerned.  Y
  • done
• Recommendations for sustainable guano mining - should attribute these to IUCN and put the date in the text also.  Y
  • done

Ok, that's about it. The article is in very good shape and I've made only minor suggestions for improvements. Chiswick Chap (talk) 18:08, 10 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for the review, Chiswick Chap. I think I've pretty much addressed all your comments thus far. Enwebb (talk) 16:36, 11 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

Many thanks for efficient responses. I think the article is in great shape, and to my eye it's more balanced with the recent changes. I do hope you'll pick an article or two from the Biology GAN list to review (hint - there's a short one of mine there!). Cheers, Chiswick Chap (talk) 16:51, 11 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

Ifk 81.106.178.29 (talk) 21:35, 21 November 2021 (UTC)Reply

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Guano is the accumulated excrement of seabirds and bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium: key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a lesser extent, sought for the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials. The demand for guano in the 19th century spurred the human colonization of remote bird islands in many parts of the world, resulting in some of the first examples of United States colonialism and the expansion of the British Empire. However, the guano-mining process resulted in ecological degradation through the loss of millions of seabirds. This photograph, taken near Île-de-Bréhat in northwestern France, depicts a herring gull (Larus argentatus) excreting waste, which accumulates to form guano. Photograph credit: Nicolas Sanchez Recently featured: Checker shadow illusion Danube Delta Notre-Dame fire Archive More featured pictures

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