Deblauwe Vincent, Luskin Matthew Scott, Assola Serge Désiré, Hardy Olivier J, Jansen Simon, Loubières Céline, Mempong Gaston Guy, Ntsihe Jean Mathurin, Oum Ndjock Gilbert, Onguene Kwecheu Eric Rostand, Powell Luke L, Sonké Bonaventure, Smith Thomas B
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sci Adv. 2025 Aug 29;11(35):eady4392. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ady4392. Epub 2025 Aug 27.
Critically endangered African forest elephants preferentially eat fruits and disperse seeds of carbon-dense trees, including the highly valued and threatened African ebony. The illegal ivory trade has led to severe declines in elephant populations, but the long-term impacts on tree species are poorly understood. Using a comprehensive dataset including age-class, spatial, genetic, and experimental data, across a hunting pressure gradient, we show how paired declines in elephant and ebony populations are linked by a previously unrecognized mutualism in which elephant dung protects ebony seeds against seed predators. Disruption of this mutualism by poaching exacerbates seed predation by herbivores and was associated with a 68% reduction in small sapling recruitment. This threat to the survival of a valuable and iconic tree species raises concerns about the far-reaching consequences of forest elephant extermination.
极度濒危的非洲森林象优先食用果实，并传播碳密集型树木的种子，其中包括极具价值且受到威胁的非洲乌木。非法象牙贸易导致大象数量急剧下降，但对树木物种的长期影响却知之甚少。我们利用一个综合数据集，包括年龄分级、空间、遗传和实验数据，跨越狩猎压力梯度，展示了大象和乌木数量的成对下降是如何通过一种先前未被认识到的共生关系联系起来的，在这种共生关系中，大象粪便保护乌木种子免受种子捕食者的侵害。偷猎对这种共生关系的破坏加剧了食草动物对种子的捕食，并与小树苗招募数量减少68%有关。对一种珍贵且标志性的树种生存的这种威胁引发了人们对森林象灭绝的深远后果的担忧。
