In hopes of finding out what this means for the planet, scientists turned to the forests. Field measurements were collected in the Congo Basin which compared the number and size of trees between different forests\u2014some affected by elephants and some in which elephants had been eradicated. Their findings were recently published in <\/a>Nature Geoscience<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe data confirmed that though fewer trees are present in areas inhabited by elephants, the forests contain larger trees and higher abundances of hardwood species (trees with higher carbon content),\u201d Doughty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because\nforest elephants affect long-term forest processes (greater than 50 years), their\nimpact on the environment is difficult to observe in field experiments. With\nthe help of a computer model that simulates the long-term effect of elephants\non forests, the team was able to see how the number of elephants impact the different\ntypes of trees present, and how these mammals affect forest structure, biomass\nand potential for carbon storage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur simulations suggest that if elephant loss continues unabated, central African forests may release the equivalent of multiple years of fossil fuel CO2<\/sub> emissions from most countries, thus potentially accelerating climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTheir loss could have a drastic impact both locally and on global climate.\u201d<\/p>Berzaghi<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Without\nforest elephants to mitigate overgrowth, forests will become crowded with\nsmall, soft-wood trees with nowhere to grow. These small trees mean lower\ncarbon content, provoking a significant loss of carbon storage in biomass. As a\nresult, central African forests could lose up to three billion tons of carbon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs\nthe largest land mammal on the planet is systematically wiped out, so are its\nmyriad roles in forest function,\u201d Doughty said. \u201cFor instance, fewer elephants\nwould reduce seed and nutrient distribution as well as forest carbon content,\nwhich could impact global climate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ngood news, according to the researchers, is that forest elephants aren\u2019t gone\nyet. By protecting this species and allowing their populations to recover, this\ntrend in carbon loss can be stopped and reversed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cForest elephants are the gardeners and guardians of biodiversity in the Congo Basin,\u201d said Stephen Blake, assistant professor of ecology at St. Louis University and one of the paper\u2019s authors. \u201cProtecting and expanding the remaining populations of forest elephants in Africa will not only save forests but also help fight climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur\nstudy shows that even at high population densities, forest elephants continue\nto improve the carbon storage potential of central African forests,\u201d Berzaghi said.\n\u201cThis species not only thins the forest but disperses seeds widely, assisting\nthe germination of more than 100 tree species, which provide food and habitat\nfor primates, birds and insects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carly Banks | NAU Communications![\"\"](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/matt-miur-1024x620.jpg\")
Photo credit: Matt Muir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/philippe-chassot-770x1024.jpg\")
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(928) 523-5582 | carly.banks@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"