Elephants are known as ‘ecological engineers’ and are important in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
They use their tusks to dig for water to survive. During dry seasons, this is important as they not only help themselves but also other smaller species living in the same environment. Elephants’ dung is also full of seeds that can be sown wherever the elephant goes, contributing towards the species diversity. Furthermore, seeds that have been ingested by elephants and passed out were also found to grow better than seeds that were not ingested. Without elephants, species diversity would be endangered and we could see even a greater loss of species or endangerment of other species.
Graph obtained from research studying impact of tree modification by African elephant on herpetofaunal species richness in Tanzania and shows the mean species richness calculated.
Because of their size, elephants can affect woody vegetation. An study by researchers on elephants in Tanzania showed that in areas with higher level of elephants’ damage, there is greater species abundance and richness, in particular in terms of reptiles and amphibians. In areas with high damage, 18 different animal species was found, compared to only 8 in regions where there were no elephants. Henceforth, the loss of elephants can reduce the biodiversity of the ecosystem, which further emphasizes the need to conserve elephants in the wild.