Over 90% of tree species in the tropics rely on animals to disperse their seeds… Why? Its simple: seeds are more likely survive and germinate if they are moved away from their parents because they avoid being noticed by rodent predators and fungal and bacterial pathogens. Many vertebrate animals disperse seeds, including birds, bats, primates (!!), and elephants, and this can have cascading effects throughout the broader system. Check out this short video, Jumbo Gardeners: How Elephants Effect Weather produced by BBC, in which “….the Nature Conservancy’s lead scientist Dr M Sanjayan, Dr Valerie Kapos of the UN Environment Programme, and tropical field biologist and conservationist Dr Ian Redmond reveal the crucial role that elephants play in keeping these forests strong and resilient, and how elephants are the most important player when it comes to the diversity of tree species in the rainforest...”
Elephants as seed dispersers
