New research reveals how hundreds of species affect Earth’s surface processes, from vast termite mounds visible from space to beavers that produce whole wetlands.
Termites mounds in the bangle bangle range in Western Australia. Image credit: ouderkraal/cc by-sa 3.0.
“This study shows that the role of animals in shaping the Earth’s landscape is far more important than previously recognized,” says Professor Gemma Harvey, a researcher at Queen Mary University in London.
“From beavers that create wetlands to ants that build soil mounds, these diverse natural processes are extremely important, but there is a risk of losing them as biodiversity decreases.”
“From small ants moving through soil to salmon remodeling riverbeds, this study highlights the diversity and scale of animal impacts across all freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.”
“By estimating the collective energy of these natural engineers, this study shows that their topographical contributions are comparable to those of hundreds of thousands of major floods.”
In this study, Professor Harvey and colleagues identified 603 species, genera, or families, including insects, mammals, fish, birds, and reptiles to create landscapes in a surprising way.
Despite covering only 2.4% of the planet’s surface, freshwater habitats take on a third of these astonishing species.
Animals collectively contribute at least 76,000 gigare energy each year to shape the surface of the earth. This is a number that rivals hundreds of thousands of extreme floods.
This estimate is likely to be conservative, especially in tropical and subtropical regions where biodiversity is the highest but research is limited.
“Terrates build a huge network of Brazilian mounds. Some cover thousands of kilometers, but salmon spawning can alter as much sediment as annual floods.” The researcher said.
“Even ants change soil structure and drainage through their small but countless actions.”
Almost 30% of identified species are rare and endemic or threatened, and can cease to cease before a critical topographical process is completely important.
This loss can have great consequences for the ecosystem and the landscapes they support.
“This study provides new insights into biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration,” Professor Harvey said.
“How can rewild and species reintroduction projects, such as the reintroduction of beavers to restore wetlands, help combat environmental challenges such as erosion and flooding by leveraging these natural processes? It shows that.
study It was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Gemma L. Harvey et al. 2025. The global diversity and energy of animals that shape the surface of the earth. pnas 122 (8): E2415104122; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2415104122
Source: www.sci.news
