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How Tapirs and Toucans
Are Saving Us From Climate Change
Kavitha Yarlagadda
©
Copyright 2018 by Kavitha Yarlagadda
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The
rapidly increasing Climate change and global warming is posing a
great risk to the very existence of human life. Climate Change is
one phenomenon which we cannot dare to ignore as it is growing in a
rapid manner which is evident in the many natural disasters
worldwide. The impact of climate change is seen in the increased
frequency of droughts, depletion of soil moisture and increased
transpiration, faster melting of ice glaciers, the growing increase
in heat waves and risk of fires, increased air pollution, changes in
green cover and reduction in plant life due to high temperatures.
Acidification of sea water poses a threat to Coral Reefs, an alarming
rise in sea levels causes coastal flooding, loss of wetlands,
deforestation and increased cyclones.
| The
steady decline in our natural resources and even the rapid
declination of animal population are resulting in the acceleration of
climate change. The reduction in animal population gradually reduces
the capability of carbon storing by forests which would increase the
chances of global warming. According to research about 40% of the
world’s carbon dioxide is stored by forests, but due to
increasing urbanization and deforestation carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere is causing global warming. Animal population plays a
crucial role in preventing climate change by stopping carbon from
reaching the atmosphere, but though climate change has been a hot
topic, the focus on saving the animal population to slow down climate
change has not been given much prominence. |
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The reduction in
carbon emissions should be the most urgent step towards addressing
climate change. Carbon which is stored in the eco system and tropical
forests can reduce the carbon in the atmosphere which results in
climate change to a great extent, to save these huge reservoirs of
carbon, it is very important to not only save the tropical forests,
but also to see that large animals with large seed dispersal capacity
are protected. The presence of large animals like primates, Toucans
and Tapirs may actually slow down the process of climate change,
these fruit eating animals disperse the seeds of large trees which
have a high density of wood and are therefore more effective in
capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it. These
are the only animals which can carry large seeds of large trees with
dense wood and therefore have a higher capacity of storing carbon.
Most of the smaller frugivores like birds, bats and marsupials only
disperse the seeds of smaller trees, which result in increasing the
number of these small trees which do not have the capacity to store
more carbon dioxide.
When large animals
ingest the seeds of large trees, the seeds are intact when they pass
through the animal’s digestive tract, and these seeds are
further planted into the soil through the stools of these animals,
resulting in increase in the number of trees. For example mountain
climbing bears which are known to climb uphill in search of cooler
climate, are known to protect cherry trees, by vertical seed
dispersal of cherry trees. This shows that large animals play an
important role in seed dispersal which helps in increasing the number
of large density and carbon rich trees thereby increasing the green
cover of forests resulting in lesser carbon in the atmosphere and
more carbon absorption by these large trees.
Many
animal species like polar bear, Arctic fox, American bullfrog, white
fronted lemur and, spectacled eider are becoming extinct due to the
effects of climate change. Climate change has become a threat to many
species of birds, the effects of which if not controlled will see to
most of the endangered species becoming extinct. It is of utmost
priority to save and protect our endangered animals in order to
reduce the effects of Climate Change. The rapid increase in
temperatures even in places which were earlier cool shows the impact
of Climate Change, this would not have happened if sufficient green
cover was maintained, the rapid felling of trees is also a major
reason for Climate Change, this is more with the people living in
urban areas compared to the people living in rural areas where they
have more greenery and natural resources.
 | Trees play an
important role in protecting our climate, hence its necessary that we
save trees as well as animals which play a crucial role in feeding
fruits off these trees and spreading the seeds in a an extensive area
which helps in creating more trees which absorb all the carbon in the
atmosphere and saving the climate from polluting. Studies show that
the Atlantic forest which used to be the largest forest in South
Africa, only second to the Amazon forest has reduced 12 % of its
original size due to deforestation. The main reason for the trees to
disappear has been found to be due to the decline in crucial seed
dispersing animals like Tapirs, Toucans and large primates, which
primarily feed on fruits of the large trees, which further lead to
the decrease in carbon storing capacity and emission of greenhouse
gases, the main reason for shrinking of the Atlantic. |
Hardwood trees which
are slowly disappearing produce large fruit which are mostly eaten by
large animals; these trees have the capacity to store more carbon
thereby reducing the carbon in the atmosphere. When such fruit eating
animals disappear, such trees slowly decrease as they find it hard to
thrive, and are replaced by other smaller tree species which store
less carbon. For the forests to thrive we need more large fruit
eating animals in our forests, and when forests are filled with lush
green large hardwood trees which are great storehouses of carbon,
there will be lower greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which further
reduces climate change. Animal droppings of large animals like
Tapirs, Toucans and large primates play an important role in saving
our forests and allowing larger hardwood trees to survive by the
process of seed dispersal wherein trees grow from the dispersed
droppings.
Saving
these large animals should be given utmost importance by wildlife
officials and environmentalists in order to slow down climate change.
With the effects of climate change increasing rapidly, and statistics
showing that the coming years could be even hotter, increasing the
forest green cover and conserving the endangered animals should be
the foremost agenda.
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