Question

Without elephants, some of the grasslands in Africa would eventually become thickets or forests because elephants weed out trees and shrubs. Even though elephants make up a small percentage of the animals living on the grassland, the grassland would eventually cease to exist without them. In this community, elephants are __________.

Answer 1

Answer:

Without elephants, some of the grasslands in Africa would eventually become thickets or forests because elephants weed out trees and shrubs. Even though elephants make up a small percentage of the animals living on the grassland, the grassland would eventually cease to exist without them. In this community, elephants are keystone species.

Elephants are often called “keystone species” because of their unique role in providing vital services to an ecosystem in relation to their abundance.

Explanation:

Elephants play a very important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they live. During the dry season, elephants use their tusks to dig for water. This not only allows the elephants to survive in dry environments and when droughts strike, but also provides water for other animals that share harsh habitats.

Elephants eat some trees and create gaps in the vegetation. These allow new plants to grow and create pathways for other smaller animals to use. They are also agent of seed dispersal of trees and in fact some species of trees rely entirely upon elephants for seed dispersal.

Elephants feed on tree sprouts and shrubs in savannahs. They help keep the plains open and able to support the plains game that inhabit these ecosystems.

Elephants also leave a dung that is full of seeds from the many plants they eat. When this dung is deposited, the seeds are sown and grow into new grasses, bushes and trees, thereby boosting the proliferation organisms in the savannah ecosystem.