Rhinos and elephants act as 'gardeners' of tropical forests
"Megaherbivores act as the 'gardeners' of humid tropical forests: They are vital to forest regeneration and maintain its structure and biodiversity," Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, the lead author of the study, and researcher at the School of Geography of the University of Nottingham in Malaysia explained to SINC.
In these forests in east Asia, the large diversity of plant species means that there is not enough space for all the trees to germinate and grow. As well as the scarce light, seed dispersion is made more complicated by the lack of wind due to the trees that are up to 90 metres high.
Plant life is then limited to seeds dispersed by those animals that eat pulp. They either scatter seeds by dropping their food, regurgitating it or by defecating later on.
In the case of large seeds, "plants need a large animal capable of eating, transporting and defecating the seeds in good conditions," as outlined to SINC by Luis SantamarIa, co-author and researcher at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA) of Spain's CSIC Scientific Research Agency.
Az indiai elefánt az Elephas maximus, mely Ázsia déli és középső részén él. Nagy, szürke, négylábú, növényevő emlős. Az ő bőre is majdnem teljesen szőrtelen