大象灭绝的隐藏后果

The absence of African elephants impairs the ecological role of dung beetles Owen T. Lewis1 and Eleanor M. Slade2 A cross habitats, certain species are fundamental to maintaining ecosystem structure and func- tion. The extinction or decline of these keystone species has far-ranging impacts on ecosystems through cascading effects on other species (1). Although their conservation or restoration could facilitate na- ture recovery, keystone species are often only recognized ret- rospectively, when the consequences of their extinction become evident. On page 941 of this issue, Gijsman et al. (2) use data on food webs to show that African elephants have a keystone role in savanna ecosystems through their effects on dung beetles, an insect group with important ecological functions. …