@jasperdoest

A forest elephant reaches for the fruit of a Detarium macrocarpum tree in Lopé National Park. Fruit is the most nutritious part of the elephant’s diet. Trees such as this one, can only germinate after passing through an animals digestive tract. It’s another example that shows how the forest and its inhabitants depend upon each other. Scientists have discovered that this delicate and complex balance is now shifting. They found that trees at Lopé are reproducing less often and that the probability of fruit production has decreased with more than 80% in 30 years. The long-term collapse in fruit availability now threatens the Central African forest megafauna which as it continues is expected to have disproportionate impacts on the functioning and metabolism of the entire ecosystem.