Researchers in Kenya found that removing elephants from the landscape causes local extinction of dung beetles and a cascade of ecological harms.

Researchers in Kenya found that removing elephants from the landscape causes local extinction of dung beetles and a cascade of ecological harms.

Ecologists theorize that removing highly connected species from ecological networks will trigger waves of coextinction, but empirical evidence is scant. We show that elephants are central to a general...

Ecologists theorize that removing highly connected species from ecological networks will trigger waves of coextinction, but empirical evidence is scant. We show that elephants are central to a general...

Boast et al. analyze a unique fecal record of the endangered kākāpō parrot to reveal >800 years of changing parasite communities. Parasite losses occur during the species’ decline to near extinction a...

Researchers in Kenya found that removing elephants from the landscape causes local extinction of dung beetles and a cascade of ecological harms.

Ecologists theorize that removing highly connected species from ecological networks will trigger waves of coextinction, but empirical evidence is scant. We show that elephants are central to a general...

As climate change is poised to become the predominant catalyst for imminent species extinctions, its effects propagate throughout intricate networks of ecological communities, precipitating secondary...

Lost companions: a new quill mite species and its possible coextinction with the Carolina parakeet - Volume 151 Issue 5

Le cinéma Le Luxy de la ville d'Ivry-sur-Seine organise sa soirée Une nuit au Luxy en collaboration avec Sorbonne Université autour de la thématique : Les animaux sont-ils intelligents ?

Sometimes, the fate of lots of small things hinge on the fate of a few very big ones. Take the story of the dung beetles and the elephant. For a long time, scientists have warned that the loss of certain “keystone” species can cause outsized disruptions in an ecosystem. At the most extreme, it can wipe out still more species, a phenomenon known as “coextinction.” While this domino effect makes sense in theory, documenting its occurrence in the wild has proven much trickier. Ecosystems are complex and hard to control, defying easy manipulation or observation. But scientists in Kenya appear to have done just that in an ambitious melding of computer modeling, on-the-ground experiments and detailed observations of the landscape. The upshot: Insect diversity can hinge on the health of a single giant herbivore species. And that in turn can influence everything from nutrient cycling to seed dispersal. It’s a lesson how shifts in diversity can fray whole ecosystems. “Our findings underscore the value of conserving elephants, not just for their own sake, but also for the biogeochemical integrity of savannas, the prosperity of pastoral and agro-ecosystems, and the cosurvival of charismatic minifauna,” the scientists wrote in a study published...

For decades, ecologists have theorized that the extinction of one important species could set off a chain reaction of losses throughout an ecosystem. Now, new research offers some of the clearest real...

Ecologists theorize that removing highly connected species from ecological networks will trigger waves of coextinction, but empirical evidence is scant. We show that elephants are central to a general...