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> > It is argued that the giant herbivores such as mammoths maintained these open grasslands by keeping encroaching forests at bay, and as a result helped cool
by Ensorceled 5y ago
> > It is argued that the giant herbivores such as mammoths maintained these open grasslands by keeping encroaching forests at bay, and as a result helped cool the planet.
> That seems like pure nonsense and perhaps a way to market their goofy experiment to gullible journalists.
The effect of mammoths can be true AND it can be "a way to market their goofy experiment to gullible journalists". We've seen significant changes caused by the near extinction of the American Bison for instance.
- rozab 5y agoIndividual statements here may be true on some level (e.g. 'large mammals maintain grassland', 'steppe climates sequester carbon'), but that doesn't make the broad conclusions true. We can't just rewild the Great Steppe, we grow our food there now! Anyways, ecosystems are complex. Here in Scotland we have a proliferation of deer, which no longer have any predators except cars and posh men with guns. No new trees with them around. They are also destroying peatlands, which I imagine are a much better carbon sink than grassland. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/29/huge-rise-in-scotlands-deer-cull-needed-to-protect-land-says-report https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/29/huge-ris...