[Animals] Extinction of animals makes it difficult for plants to adapt to global warming

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The loss of species, such as birds and mammals, is impacting the ability of plants to adapt to climate change, according to a recent publication in the scientific journal Science.

“When we lose birds or mammals, we don't lose just these species. We also lose its important ecological function, which is to disperse seeds,” said Evan Fricke of Rice University.

 

“When we lose birds or mammals, we don't lose just these species. We also lose their important ecological function, which is to disperse seeds," Evan Fricke, of Rice University, and one of the authors of the study entitled The effects of defaunation on the ability of plants to follow climate change, told AFP. which is the cover of the most recent volume of the journal Science.

This study is the first to quantify the problem at a global level, and estimates that the ability of plants that need the collaboration of animals to adapt to climate change has already been reduced by 60%. (You may be interested: NASA warns that in 10 years the global warming ceiling will be reached)

Tree species present in regions that have become inhospitable due to global warming can, for example, migrate to other areas where it rains more, but they do so in the form of seeds. Half of the plants depend on animals to eat their fruits and transport them further, a figure that can increase to 90% in tropical forests, while others are left to the wind alone.

 

The Danish researchers used data from thousands of previous studies of animal behavior to build a map of their contribution to seed dispersal. They then compared a map that nullifies the effect of human-caused species extinctions and shrinking ranges. (You can read: In pictures: The little-known opossum found in Guainía)

The results were surprising. Loss in seed dispersal was most pronounced in temperate regions of North and South America, Europe, and Australia, despite losing only a small percentage of mammal and bird species.

And it was less in the tropical regions of South America, Africa or Southeast Asia, but it could accelerate if other species such as elephants become extinct. (It may interest you: A little-known species of opossum is found in Guainía)

 

“If enough seeds are not dispersed to follow the environmental conditions, such as temperature and rainfall, that plants need, they can become trapped in environments where they will have difficulty surviving. This could lead to the loss of plant species, along with the valuable products and services that they guarantee, from food to carbon storage,” the authors note in an article published in The Conversation, where they summarize part of the research of their research.

 

Link: https://www.elespectador.com/ambiente/extincion-de-animales-dificulta-adaptacion-de-plantas-al-calentamiento-global/