This is true to some extent for all herbivores\u2014most plants don\u2019t need salt and often contain trace amounts of it\u2014but it\u2019s especially pronounced for megaherbivores. Previous research had suggested that sodium deficiency increases with body size. Using a totally separate methodology, this study reached the same conclusion.<\/p>\n The authors combined their high-resolution maps of plant sodium with databases of animal dung and density measurements. Dung can tell scientists a lot about animals, including whether they\u2019re getting enough salt. They connected areas with salt limitation to lower numbers of larger herbivores.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just about ability to survive, though. Salt limitation explains several interesting behaviors exhibited by wild animals.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Kenya, elephants enter caves to consume the sodium-rich rocks and in the Congo rainforest, they dig for salt in riverbeds,\u201d Abraham said. \u201cGorillas are known to fight for the saltiest foods, while rhinos, wildebeest and zebra often gather at salt pans from the Kalahari Desert to the Maasai Mara.\u201d<\/p>\n This study also offers a new explanation for the \u201cmissing\u201d megaherbivores.<\/p>\n This research raises a number of conservation concerns. Many protected areas are located in low-sodium environments, and humans have created artificial sodium hotspots through various activities like borehole pumping and road salting.<\/p>\n \u201cIf animals can\u2019t get enough sodium in their natural habitats, they may come into conflict with people on their quest to satisfy their salt hunger,\u201d Abraham said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"An](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1Q5A0370-1.jpg\")
\u201cIn Africa, sodium availability varies over a thousandfold in plants,\u201d said Andrew Abraham<\/strong>, lead author of the study, a research associate at City University of New York and NAU alumnus. \u201cThis means that in many areas, wild herbivores simply cannot get enough salt in their diet.\u201d<\/p>\nMapping the missing megaherbivores<\/h3>\n
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\u201cWest Africa is a very productive region, but there aren\u2019t many megaherbivores there,\u201d said Chris Doughty<\/strong>, a professor of ecoinformatics at NAU. \u201cWe think that a lack of sodium, likely combined with other factors such as overhunting and soil infertility, plays an important role in limiting their numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n