PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Large herbivores such as elephants, bison and moose contribute to tree diversity

2023-11-03
(Press-News.org)

Using global satellite data, a research team has mapped the tree cover of the world’s protected areas. The study shows that regions with abundant large herbivores in many settings have a more variable tree cover, which is expected to benefit biodiversity overall.

Maintaining species-rich and resilient ecosystems is key to preserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change. Here, megafauna – the part of the animal population in an area that is made up of the largest animals – plays an important role. In a new study published in the scientific journal One Earth, an international research team, of which Lund University is a part, has investigated the intricate interplay between the number of voracious herbivores and the diversity of trees in the world’s protected areas.

“Our findings reveal a fascinating and complex story of how large herbivorous animals shape the world’s natural landscapes. The tree cover in these areas is sparser, but the diversity of the tree cover is much higher than in areas without large herbivores,” says Lanhui Wang, a researcher in physical geography and ecosystem science at Lund University.

“In our global analysis, we find a substantial association between the biomass of large herbivores and varied tree cover in protected areas, notably for browsers and mixed-feeders such as elephants, bison and moose and in non-extreme climates”, explains the study’s senior author, Jens-Christian Svenning, professor at Aarhus University.

Hereby, the study supports that large wild herbivores promote a diverse vegetation structure, creating a rich habitat for many other species. This is due to the animals’ consumption of vegetation as well as physical disturbances. 

According to Lanhui Wang, these new research findings highlight the need to integrate large herbivores into restoration and conservation strategies. Not only for the sake of the animals themselves but also for the vital role they play in shaping landscapes and influencing biodiversity. The researchers argue that this aspect is not sufficiently considered within the framework of sustainable land management and ecosystem restoration.

“At a time when global initiatives are intensely focused on combating climate change and biodiversity loss, our findings highlight the need for a broader and more nuanced discussion about ecosystem management and conservation measures. It is of utmost importance to integrate understanding of the ecological impact of megafauna into this,” says Lanhui Wang.

The UN has declared the 2020s as the decade of ecosystem restoration. In total, 115 countries have agreed to restore up to 100,000 square kilometres of nature in total. To achieve this, more wild-living large herbivores are needed worldwide, says Lanhui Wang.

“I believe that we will need to protect and conserve large herbivores to achieve the UN goals. Megafauna are crucial for tree cover, which in turn promotes carbon sequestration and a diversity of habitats,” says Lanhui Wang.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The kids aren't alright: Saplings reveal how changing climate may undermine forests

The kids arent alright: Saplings reveal how changing climate may undermine forests
2023-11-03
As climate scientist Don Falk was hiking through a forest, the old, green pines stretched overhead. But he had the feeling that something was missing. Then his eyes found it: a seedling, brittle and brown, overlooked because of its lifelessness. Once Falk's eyes found one, the others quickly fell into his awareness. An entire generation of young trees had died. Falk – a professor in the UArizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment, with joint appointments in the Laboratory ...

Novel approach promises significant advance in treating autoimmune brain inflammation

2023-11-03
Researchers at DZNE and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have pioneered a novel treatment for the most common autoimmune encephalitis. By reprogramming white blood cells to target and eliminate disease-causing cells, the approach offers a new level of precision and efficiency. The technique has proven successful in laboratory studies, clinical trials in humans are already being planned. NMDA receptor encephalitis is the most common form of antibody-caused brain disease, in which antibodies suddenly attack the brain, thus turning against the patient’s own body. “In ...

UC Santa Barbara researchers can now visualize osmotic pressure in living tissue

UC Santa Barbara researchers can now visualize osmotic pressure in living tissue
2023-11-03
In order to survive, organisms must control the pressure inside them, from the single-cell level to tissues and organs. Measuring these pressures in living cells and tissues in physiological conditions is a challenge. In research that has its origin at UC Santa Barbara, scientists now at the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL) at the Technical University in Dresden (TU Dresden), Germany, report in the journal Nature Communications a new technique to ‘visualize’ these pressures as organisms develop. These measurements can help understand how cells and tissues ...

A project that could touch all corners of Texas

A project that could touch all corners of Texas
2023-11-03
Texas is a huge state. And with that size comes soil diversity, supply chain delays, climate differences, material and labor costs and many other things to consider when evaluating the budget for a highway project. To account for all of these variables, a University of Texas at Arlington researcher is building a price estimation and visualization tool for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) through a $200,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant. Mohsen Shandashti, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is leading a team to develop that tool, which ...

Aston University 3D printing engineer wins Female Innovator of 2023 award

Aston University 3D printing engineer wins Female Innovator of 2023 award
2023-11-03
Renia Gkountiou won the title of Female Innovator for 2023 She was nominated for her role in helping SMEs use and develop 3D printing She is based at the Advanced Prototyping Facility which increases businesses’ awareness of 3D printing opportunities.   An Aston University engineer has been recognised at the 2023 Innovation Awards. Renia Gkountiou who is as an engineer and technician within the University’s Advanced Prototyping Facility project won the title of Female Innovator for 2023. She was nominated by professionals in her field for her role helping small to medium size businesses use ...

Aston University celebrates official opening of new city center HQ and launch of 2030 strategy

Aston University celebrates official opening of new city center HQ and launch of 2030 strategy
2023-11-03
The reception at John Cadbury House brought together more than 70 business leaders and other senior figures from across the city and region The Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, was guest speaker at the event Professor Aleks Subic shared the University’s vision and ambitions for the future. Aston University celebrated the official opening of its new Birmingham city centre headquarters and the launch of its 2030 strategy at a reception at John Cadbury House on Thursday 2 November.  The event, hosted by the University’s Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Aleks Subic, brought together more ...

Mother Nature knows best when it comes to climate solutions, social media users say

Mother Nature knows best when it comes to climate solutions, social media users say
2023-11-03
People feel more positive about planting trees and protecting rainforests as a means of combating climate change than they do about employing technological solutions, according to a new research paper in Global Environmental Change. A survey of more than a million social media posts suggests that people feel more positive about Nature's ability to solve climate change than human technology, according to new research published in the journal Global Environmental Change. Researchers analysing 1.5 million posts on X (formerly Twitter) using the latest artificial intelligence-driven language models found expressions of “disgust” ...

Texas A&M physicists play key role in milestone moment toward development of nuclear clock

Texas A&M physicists play key role in milestone moment toward development of nuclear clock
2023-11-03
An international research team involving Dr. Olga Kocharovskaya , a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, has taken a major step toward development of a new generation of atomic clocks with mind-blowing potential affecting fundamental science and various industries, from nuclear physics to satellite navigation and telecommunications. The team’s work, led by Argonne National Laboratory senior physicist Dr. Yuri Shvyd'ko, for the first time resonantly excited the scandium-45 nuclear isomer with the world's brightest X-ray pulses at the European XFEl (EuXFEL) X-ray ...

Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program

Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program
2023-11-03
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – November 3, 2023 - The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is thrilled to announce the successful renewal of its Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant, titled "Enabling Technologies and New REU Approaches to Engineer Complex Tissues" will continue to offer diverse cohorts of undergraduate students unique research, education, and professional development opportunities in the multidisciplinary field of regenerative medicine (RM) over ...

U of M Medical School research team finds novel drug improves outcomes for patients with rare kidney disorder

2023-11-03
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (11/03/2023) — Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a rare kidney disorder that affects children and adults, and can lead to kidney failure. New findings from a team led by the University of Minnesota Medical School show patients with FSGS who were treated with the medication sparsentan experienced improved kidney function—making it a potential new treatment option for the disorder. The research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests sparsentan may provide kidney protection by significantly reducing excess protein in urine — known as proteinuria, a proven indicator of kidney damage.  “FSGS ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

Montana State geologist’s Antarctic research focuses on accumulations of rare earth elements

Groundbreaking cancer therapy clinical trial with US Department of Energy’s accelerator-produced actinium-225 set to begin this summer

Tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be avoided each year if cholesterol-lowering drugs were used according to guidelines

Leading cancer and metabolic disease expert Michael Karin joins Sanford Burnham Prebys

Low-intensity brain stimulation may restore neuron health in Alzheimer's disease

Four-day school week may not be best for students, review finds

Using music to explore the dynamics of emotions

How the brain supports social processing as people age

Túngara frog tadpoles that grew up in the city developed faster but ended up being smaller

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke

UCLA researchers uncover key mechanism of brain repair in vascular dementia, revealing promising therapeutic target

Why Human empathy still matters in the age of AI

COVID-19 and cognitive change in a community-based cohort

[Press-News.org] Large herbivores such as elephants, bison and moose contribute to tree diversity