Extinction of large animals is accelerating climate change – ElEspectador.com

Hunting, illegal trafficking and forest deforestation is leading to the extinction of thousands of species of large animals worldwide but know what happens when these copies disappear? .

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

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

The study analyzes for the first time what happens when large frugivorous “that are crucial for reforestation and natural regeneration of forests” disappear, EFE explains research professor at the Biological Station of Doñana and coauthor study, Pedro Jordano.

“And is that because of their diet, these animals such as toucans, tapirs, or large primates eat lots of fruit plants, large seeds after defecate or regurgitate back into the forest and in suitable conditions for germination. Ie are responsible for planting the forest “, underlines the researcher.

This does not only favor these animals but also to forests “It is what we call an ecological interaction mutual, ie, which favors both parties.”

The study, conducted in forests of southeastern Brazil (some well preserved and others with little wildlife because deforestation and hunting), has shown that “forest areas without frugívoros have a storage capacity much lower carbon than forests are well preserved , 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 Prof. Mauro Galetti Department of Ecology Universidade Estadual Paulista.

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 that 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,” said Jordanian

The findings are extrapolated to the whole planet

The findings are extrapolated to the whole 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 proposes that reforestation programs and compensation for carbon emissions, so-called programs REED +, will recognize this ‘mutualism’ and contemplate these animals as a fundamental part of the ecosystem.

And it is that so far, REED + programs have only considered forest disturbances caused by humans such as logging and the presence of fuegos- not realizing that “they are apparently intact forests may be defaunados and, therefore, can be degraded forests, “says Professor of Tropical Conservation Ecology at the University of East Anglia (UK), Carlos Peres.

The study warns that considering the importance of animals and their duties as a fundamental part of the woods.

“The actions of REDD should not stay only in restoring vegetation cover , but the processes ecological. More ambitious targets should be set: not only recover the forest but all the functionality of a forest, with all its elements, “Jordanian proposed.