Large Land and Sea Mammals Play Vital Role in Fertilizing Earth: Study - NYC Today

Researchers said that the large land and sea mammals play a vital role in fertilizing the Earth by spreading nutrients in their dung, urine etc. across up rivers and deep inland. But, they added that the extinction of these species starting at the end of the last Ice Age and continuing through today has deprived ecosystems of a vital source of fertilization.

Christopher Doughty, University of Oxford ecologist, said “In the past, abundant large free-ranging animals made nutrients more evenly distributed, thus increasing global fertility”. These large free-ranging mammals transported and recycled nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen to far-flung ecosystems increasing their productivity. The study found that this spreading of nutrients away from concentrated sources to other ecosystems has been decreased by 6% when seen with earlier levels.

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