Large mammals can help climate change mitigation and adaptation

Date:
March 9, 2022
Source:
University of Oxford
Summary:
A new study investigates whether protecting and restoring large
animal wildlife can help to support climate change goals.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
When it comes to helping mitigate the effects of climate change by
absorbing carbon, flora rather than fauna usually comes to mind. A new
study published in Current Biology now explores the role of large wild
animals in restoring ecosystems and battling climate change.


========================================================================== Professor Yadvinder Malhi, Environmental Change Institute at the
University of Oxford, said: 'Conservation efforts usually focus on either
trees and carbon or the broad conservation appeal of large mammals. This
study looked at whether it was possible to align these agendas -- under
what context could protecting and restoring large animal wildlife help us tackle and adapt to climate change.' The researchers highlighted three
key eco-touchpoints where large animals such as elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, whales, bison, and moose had the greatest potential to mitigate climate change: carbon stocks, albedo (the ability of surfaces to reflect
solar radiation (energy from the sun) and fire regimes.

When they graze, large herbivores disperse seeds, clear vegetation and fertilise the soil, which helps build more complex and more resilient ecosystems. These activities can maintain and increase carbon stocks in
the soil, roots and above-ground parts of plants, helping to reduce CO2
in the atmosphere.

When large animals graze and trample vegetation they can change the
habitat from dense shrubs and trees to open mixes of grass and shrubs or
trees, which can also reveal snow-covered ground in polar regions. These
open habitats tend to be paler (with higher albedo) and reflect more
solar radiation into the atmosphere, cooling the Earth's surface, rather
than absorbing it and warming the Earth's surface.



==========================================================================
In 2021, global wildfire CO2 emissions reached a record high. When
wildfires burn, the carbon stored in trees and vegetation is released
into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. Elephants, rhinoceroses, zebras
and other large grazing animals can lessen wildfire risk by browsing on
woody vegetation that could otherwise fuel the fires, trampling paths
and making other gaps in vegetation that act as firebreaks.

The research, commissioned by wildlife charity Tusk, also looked at how protecting and restoring large animal wildlife could support climate
change efforts and found several animal-climate interaction points that
could provide 'win-win' opportunities.

In temperate, tropical and subtropical grassland ecosystems, large animals
can reduce forest and bush fires, increase albedo and help retain carbon
in the vegetation and the soil. Protecting large animal wildlife and
their role in these complex ecosystems supports local biodiversity and ecological resilience.

Dr Tonya Lander, Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford University said: 'Animals can also help with localised adaptation to climate change in
these environments by diversifying vegetation and increasing habitat heterogeneity.

Diversity of species and microhabitats can make the ecosystem as a whole
more able to resist climate change, return to a stable state following a climate- related disturbance, or find a new stable state that functions
within the changed and changing climate.'


==========================================================================
When large herbivores are present in tundra ecosystems, they help to keep
down woody plant encroachment which encourages local flowering plants
and grasses - - and exposes more of the ground to the cold air. That
exposure maintains the permafrost and prevents the carbon in the soil
from getting released into the atmosphere. Programmes that rewild bison
and other animals into the arctic tundra can play important roles in
both conservation and climate change adaptation at a local scale.

In marine ecosystems, whales and other large animals fertilise
phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton is estimated to capture 37 billion tonnes of CO2 each year
and may release particles into the air which can help seed clouds and
reflect sunlight into the atmosphere.

Large terrestrial and marine carnivores also affect these processes
through their influence on herbivore abundance and behaviour.

Professor Malhi concluded: 'The report also highlights where there are
gaps in our knowledge, such as in our understanding of soils and the
deep oceans, where more research may identify new opportunities for both restoring large animal wildlife and tackling climate change.'

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Oxford. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yadvinder Malhi, Tonya Lander, Elizabeth le Roux, Nicola Stevens,
Marc
Macias-Fauria, Lisa Wedding, Ce'cile Girardin, Jeppe AAgaard
Kristensen, Christopher J. Sandom, Tom D. Evans, Jens-Christian
Svenning, Susan Canney. The role of large wild animals in climate
change mitigation and adaptation. Current Biology, 2022; 32 (4):
R181 DOI: 10.1016/ J.CUB.2022.01.041 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220309104526.htm

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