Functional traits-not nativeness-shape the effects of large mammalian herbivores on plant communities. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38301018/)

These scientists wanted to understand how big plant-eating animals, called megafauna, affect plants. They looked at many different studies to gather information about how plants are affected by megafauna. They found that there is no difference in the impact on plants between megafauna that are native or introduced to an area. This means that whether the megafauna originally lived in that place or were brought there by humans, they have similar effects on plants.

The scientists also found that the impact on plants is not related to how long the megafauna have been in an area, or how different they are from the native animals. They discovered that the size and eating habits of the megafauna are more important in determining how they affect plants. Megafauna that are bigger and eat a lot of plants actually help to increase the variety of plants in an area.

This study shows that it is more useful to look at the traits, or characteristics, of the megafauna to understand how they interact with plants, rather than just considering where they come from.

Lundgren EJ., Bergman J., Trepel J., le Roux E., Monsarrat S., Kristensen JA., Pedersen RO., Pereyra P., Tietje M., Svenning JC. Functional traits-not nativeness-shape the effects of large mammalian herbivores on plant communities. Science. 2024 Feb 2;383(6682):531-537. doi: 10.1126/science.adh2616. Epub 2024 Feb 1.