| Elephants and rhinos spread seeds. The progressive disappearance of seed-dispersing animals like elephants and rhinoceroses puts the structural integrity and biodiversity of the tropical forest of South-East Asia at risk. With the help of Spanish researchers, an international team of experts has confirmed that not even herbivores like tapirs can replace them."Megaherbivores act as the'gardeners'of humid tropical forests: They are vital to forest regeneration and maintain its structure and biodiversity", as was explained to SINC by Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, the lead author of the study that was published in the'Biotropica'journal and researcher at the School of Geography of the University of Nottingham in Malaysia. In these forests in East Asia, the large diversity of plant species... |