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| Nias as a young baby. His species, the Malayan tapir, actually have a role to play in climate change! (Taken at Port Lympne, December 2014) |
No Monkey Business
What link may a tapir, a gibbon and a polar bear have? The answer is "climate change", as crazy as it sounds. This article by The Guardian (Carrington, 2015) discusses a recent study by the University of East Anglia that shows that the disappearances of large animals, such as tapirs and primates, could have enormous impacts on climate change (and that's where the polar bear, which is famously vulnerable to climate change, comes in).
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| Aramis, a black-and-white ruffed lemur at Howletts (July 2015). The extinction of primates would have devastating consequences on fighting climate change. |
Tapirs are large, forest dwelling, fruit eating ungulates. Most species live in South and Central America, and the highly endangered Malayan tapir is found in South-East Asia. Additionally, the majority of the world's forest-dwelling primates (not just monkeys, but the great apes, gibbons, lemurs, etc.) and some large birds (such as toucans) eat fruit. This simple fact is why they're absolutely essential. The undigested seeds will be passed on through their faeces onto the forest floor, allowing new hardwood trees to be sowed- seed dispersal as its most natural!
So, What's It To Do With Climate Change?
The study, conducted in Brazil, found that where the tapirs and monkeys had disappeared, so had the hardwood trees. Instead, smaller species, such as bats, were dispersing the seeds of smaller softwood trees; these then replaced the hardwood, disturbing the natural mix between the two types of tree. The larger hardwood trees have more capacity to store carbon. Such a dramatic change in the ecosystem led to a 10-15% decrease of carbon storage!
All species of tapir are considered to be threatened with extinction (IUCN, 2015), and another recent study showed that over half of primates face the same fate (Echaves, 2015). Therefore, we face yet another massive problem in combating carbon emissions.
We all know that the fight against climate change is complex. To combat it, we must reduce deforestation and deviate away from our dependence on fossil fuels, among other things. It seems that now, we must also turn our attentions to protect those wonderful rainforest species from extinction!
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| Emba, a Western lowland gorilla at Howletts (July 2015). Keeping great apes from extinction is vital to combat carbon emissions! |
References
Carrington (2015) Loss of monkeys and birds in tropical forests driving carbon emissions Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/18/carbon-emissions-loss-of-monkeys-and-birds-in-tropical-forests Date accessed: 23rd December 2015
Echaves (2015) Over 50 Percent Of The World's Primate Face Extinction Available at: http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/7792/20151126/over-50-world-s-primate-face-extinction.htm Date accessed: 23rd December 2015
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2015) Tapirus bairdii Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21471/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015; Tapirus indicus Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21472/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015; Tapirus pinchaque Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21473/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015; Tapirus terrestris Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21474/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015
Echaves (2015) Over 50 Percent Of The World's Primate Face Extinction Available at: http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/7792/20151126/over-50-world-s-primate-face-extinction.htm Date accessed: 23rd December 2015
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2015) Tapirus bairdii Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21471/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015; Tapirus indicus Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21472/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015; Tapirus pinchaque Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21473/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015; Tapirus terrestris Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21474/0 Date accessed: 23rd December 2015
