Researchers discover elephant extinction could have major impact on atmospheric carbon levels. In findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Saint Louis University researchers and colleagues report that elephants play a key role in creating forests that store mo
According to recent research, elephants play a crucial role in the development of forests that store large amounts of carbon and preserving the biodiversity of forests in Africa. If elephants, which are already facing critical endangerment, were to become extinct, the African rainforest, the second largest on earth, would lose between 6-9% of its ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming.
Within the forest, some trees have light wood while others make heavy wood . Low carbon density trees grow quickly, rising above other plants and trees to get to the sunlight. Meanwhile, high carbon density trees grow slowly, need less sunlight, and are able to grow in shade. Elephants and other megaherbivores affect the abundance of these trees by feeding more heavily on the low carbon density trees, which are more palatable and nutritious than the high carbon density.
“Elephants are the gardeners of the forest,” Blake said. “They plant the forest with high carbon density trees and they get rid of the ‘weeds,’ which are the low carbon density trees. They do a tremendous amount of work maintaining the diversity of the forest.” With this knowledge, Berzaghi is now looking ahead to the future to determine how other animals in the rainforests affect its biodiversity and if they have the same impact as elephants.
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