The hunting, illegal trade and deforestation of forests is leading to the extinction of thousands of species of large animals around the world, but do we know what happens when these copies disappear?
A study published in the journal Science Advances warns for the first time defaunation or extinction of large animals has serious implications for ecological interactions, depleted forests and accelerates climate change.
The work done by Spanish researchers, Colombian and Brazilian Paulista State University (UNESP), together with scientists from England and Finland, shows that large animals maintain diversity and ecosystem services and, therefore, their disappearance has “unexpected and devastating effects to the environment. ”
Read: South African Court authorizes trade in rhino horn
The first study examines what happens when large -the frugívoros that feed mainly fruit- disappear, “that are crucial for the reforestation and natural regeneration of forests, “he told Efe the research professor at the Biological Station of Doñana and study co-author Pedro Jordano.
” And it is because of their diet, they like animals toucans, tapirs, or large primates eat lots of fruits of plants, large seeds after defecate or regurgitate back into the forest and in suitable conditions for germination. That is, they are responsible for planting the forest, “says the researcher.
This does not only favor these animals but also to forests,” is what we call an ecological interaction mutual, ie, that favors both parties. “
The study, conducted in forests of southeastern Brazil (some well preserved and others with little wildlife due to deforestation and hunting), has shown that” forest areas who have frugívoros have a storage capacity much lower than that of the well-preserved forests which are carbon, and therefore its potential to counteract the effects of climate change is much smaller, “says Jordan.
Read Approves global agreement on climate change
“The trees that have large seeds are large trees with dense wood, which store more carbon,” says Mauro Galetti Professor Department of Ecology UNESP.
The work is important because it shows that the loss of these animals represents a loss of ecological interactions that are crucial to the environment and generate a chain reaction.
“Not only do we face the loss of charismatic animals, we face the loss of interactions that maintain the proper functioning of key ecosystem services such as carbon storage,” says Jordan.
The conclusions of study are extrapolated to the entire planet, as more than 90 percent of the woody species of trees and shrubs from around the world and 60 percent of Mediterranean forests depend on frugivorous for conservation, Jordan recalls.
Therefore, the study suggests that reforestation programs and compensation for carbon emissions, so-called programs REED +, taking into account the mutuality and contemplate these animals as a fundamental part of the ecosystem.
And it is that so far, the REED + programs have only considered forest disturbances caused by man, such as logging and the presence of fuegos- without realizing that “forests are apparently intact and can be defaunados therefore, can be degraded forests, “says the professor of Tropical Conservation Ecology at the University of East Anglia (UK), Carlos Peres.
The study on alert and the importance of considering animals and their functions as a fundamental part of the woods.
“The actions of REDD should not stay only in restoring vegetation cover, but ecological processes. More ambitious targets should be set: not only recover the forest but all the functionality of a forest, with all its elements, “proposes Jordanian
.
No comments:
Post a Comment