Extinction of large animals accelerates climate change – The Universal

Hunting, trafficking and clearing of forests is leading to the extinction of thousands of species of large animals around the world but do we know what is what happens when these copies disappear?.

A study published today in the journal Science Advances first warns that defaunation or extinction of large animals has serious implications for ecological interactions, impoverishes forests and accelerates climate change .

The study, conducted by Spanish researchers, Colombian and Brazilian Paulista State University (UNESP), together with scientists from England and Finland, It shows that large animals maintain diversity and ecosystem services and, therefore, their disappearance has “unexpected and devastating to the environment” effects.

The first study examines what happens when they disappear -the large fruit bats that eat mostly fruit-, “which are crucial to the reforestation and natural regeneration of forests,” says research professor at the Biological Station of Doñana and coauthor of the study Pedro Jordano.

“And it is because of their diet, these animals such as toucans, tapirs, or large primates eat lots of fruits of plants, large seeds after They 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.

“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 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 loss of interactions that maintain the proper functioning of key ecosystem services such as carbon storage, “says Jordan.

The findings are extrapolated to the entire planet, as more than 90% woody species of trees and shrubs from around the world and 60% of Mediterranean forests depend on frugivorous for conservation, Jordan recalls.

Therefore, the study suggests that reforestation programs and compensation by carbon emissions, so-called programs REED +, taking into account the ‘mutualism’ and contemplate these animals as a fundamental part of the ecosystem.

And so far, the REED + programs have only been in account forest disturbances caused by man, such as logging and the presence of fuegos- regardless of which “are apparently intact forests may be defaunados and therefore can be degraded forests,” says Professor of Ecology Tropical Conservation at the University of East Anglia (UK), Carlos Peres.

The alert and the importance of seeing animals and their function as a fundamental part of the study forest.

“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

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