What happens if Earth loses its last remaining large animals?
October 13, 2022
Are elephants important? How about rhinos? Or lions? What happens if Earth loses its last remaining large animals? U.S. National Science Foundation-supported research by biologist Felisa Smith at the University of New Mexico shows the profound impacts of losing large-bodied mammals, or megafauna, in ecosystems.
Smith and her team reported the results in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists looked to the past to gain clues about the future of large mammals, which are declining at an alarming rate.
"Humans are having drastic effects on large mammals, both directly, such as hunting, and indirectly through land use and climate change," said Sam Scheiner, a program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology. "This study shows that these effects can have profound impacts on ecosystems."
The current conservation status of large-bodied mammals "is dire," Smith said. "Their decline has serious consequences because they have unique ecological roles.
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