(ORDO NEWS) — In order to save our planet, people need to take better care of the environment.
Conserving endangered African elephant populations is critical not only for the animals themselves, but also for the world‘s climate, a new study has found.
To maintain an acceptable climate on the planet, a person must preserve its biodiversity
The rainforests of Central and West Africa, which are the second largest on Earth, could lose 6 to 9% of their ability to sequester atmospheric carbon if elephant communities are wiped out.
This could lead to accelerated warming of the planet.
Forest elephants play a critical role in the carbon cycle by “thinning” the rainforest canopy by eating fast-growing taller trees that sequester less carbon.
This creates more space and allows sunlight to reach the slow growing trees, which capture more carbon from the environment.
How scientists figured it out
Scientists from St. Louis University in the US used data from previous studies and new information collected in the field.
The team analyzed nearly 200,000 forest elephant dietary records in Africa, covering more than 800 individual plant species.
Elephants’ preference for trees with lower carbon densities seems to be due to their nutritional value rather than availability: they are more palatable to animals and easier to digest.
In terms of fruit, elephants prefer trees with higher carbon densities, which have larger, sweeter fruits.
This means that the elephants also help spread the seeds of these “eco-friendly” trees. Some plant species cannot even survive without the help of these animals.
It is believed that there are currently fewer than 500,000 African elephants in the wild, down from 3-5 million over the last century.
This sharp decline is attributed to the hunt for ivory. Habitat loss and human-elephant conflict further reduce the population.
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