When function, not origin, matters. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38301019/)

These scientists wanted to understand how big animals called megaherbivores affect the plants around them. They were interested in both native megaherbivores, which are animals that naturally live in an area, and introduced megaherbivores, which are animals that were brought to a new place by humans.

To find out, the scientists went to different places where these animals lived. They looked at the plants there and counted how many different kinds of plants there were, and how many plants there were in total.

Then, they compared the places where native megaherbivores lived to the places where introduced megaherbivores lived. They wanted to see if there were any differences in the number of plant species and the total number of plants.

After analyzing all the data they collected, the scientists found that both native and introduced megaherbivores had similar effects on plant diversity and abundance. This means that both types of animals had a similar impact on the number of plant species and the total number of plants in an area.

Overall, this study helped the scientists understand how these big animals can change the plants around them. It is important to study this because it helps us learn more about how different animals can affect the environment they live in.

Buckley YM., Torsney A. When function, not origin, matters. Science. 2024 Feb 2;383(6682):478-479. doi: 10.1126/science.adn4126. Epub 2024 Feb 1.