Did you know that some of our best allies in fighting climate change are animals? From echidnas digging in Australian forests to whales fertilizing the ocean, these creatures play surprising and crucial roles in capturing and storing carbon. Let’s explore how these unsung heroes help keep our planet healthy.
Echidnas Expert Excavators
Walking through an Australian eucalypt forest, you’ll see pits and mounds everywhere. That’s the handiwork of echidnas, also known as spiny anteaters. These little guys dig for ants and termites. In doing so, they end up tossing a lot of soil around—up to 8 tons per year for one individual echidna!
By digging these holes, the echidna ends up trapping carbon in the soil, keeping it out of the air. Then algae, plants, and some bacteria come along and suck up the carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis!
Marvelous Microbes
But that’s not all echidnas do! While digging, they bring organic matter like leaves and dead insects into contact with soil microbes. These microbes break down the matter into compost, releasing nutrients into the soil. This rich soil is then the perfect foundation for seeds to sprout and for all plants to thrive. Without these pits, the carbon would be released into the air, heating our planet even more.
Forest Elephants Picky Eating Habits
In Africa, forest elephants are like giant, gentle gardeners. They are also very picky eaters, snacking on the fast-growing trees that are high in protein while ignoring the slow-growing trees that contain more bitter tannins. So if elephants take out all the small trees and as a result reduce the number of trees in the forest, how do they help combat climate change?
Well, these elephants not only leave the slow-growing trees that ultimately grow to be larger, but they also give these trees more space, water, and light to thrive. And it is these massive trees that end up sucking up and storing more carbon dioxide.
Nature’s Gardeners
But while forest elephants prefer the taste of fast-growing plants, they prefer the fruits from slower-growing plants due to their larger size. So when elephants eat the fruit—seeds and all—they end up planting the seeds across the forest after they poop them out. This spreads these slow-growing, high-carbon trees around the forest, acting as nature’s gardener!
Whale Fertilizer
Elephants aren’t nature’s only gardeners. Whales play an essential role in fertilizing the ocean. Near the surface of the ocean, there is an abundance of very special organisms called phytoplankton where they soak up the sunlight and carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. However, in this upper layer, there aren’t many nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron, which are essential to phytoplankton growth. That’s where whales come in!
Sperm Whales as Nutrient Collectors
After sperm whales dive deep to find food, they have to come up to the surface to breath. When they do this, they poop out big clouds of nutrients which then fertilize the upper layer of the ocean, providing essential nutrients. This waste fuels the growth of phytoplankton at the surface, helping them capture more carbon.
Diatoms Sinking Carbon
While most of the carbon taken up by phytoplankton later gets recycled back into the air, some of it sinks down to the ocean floor, keeping it trapped and out of the atmosphere. This occurs with the help of diatoms, a special type of phytoplankton that builds a glass shell out of silica. When there is an algal bloom and the diatoms run out of silica to keep growing, they fall to the ocean floor with their heavy glass shells pulling them down, taking the carbon in their bodies with them.
The Role of Salps
Another way that carbon is buried in the ocean is with the help of salps—jelly-like creatures that feed on phytoplankton. Taking the carbon from the phytoplankton, the salps then produce carbon-rich poop pellets that sink down to the ocean floor in a matter of days. It’s a fast and efficient way to lock carbon away from the atmosphere.
Whale Falls
The whales are finished fighting climate change just yet—they keep fighting even past their last breath. When a whale dies, its massive body sinks to the ocean floor, taking with it a huge amount of carbon. This process, known as a whale fall, creates a carbon storage site deep underwater. It’s a final act of climate heroism from these majestic creatures.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
One of the beautiful things about these quiet climate heroes is that they don’t do it alone. Each animal works together with the rest of their ecosystem to help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, doing their small part for protecting the Earth. We can all learn something from these animals—we all have our part to play in combating climate change, and we have to do it together. Only then can we make a difference!
How Can We Protect These Climate Heroes?
If these animals are to keep doing their incredible work, we have to make sure they are protected. Whales are under threat from ships and fishing gear, forest elephants are struggling due to a loss of habitat and poaching, and while echidnas themselves are doing alright, other digging mammals face threats from feral predators. It is our job to ensure these animals are safeguarded from these threats.
Conclusion
Animals may not solve climate change on their own, but they play a big part in maintaining healthy ecosystems. By supporting these ecosystems, creatures like echidnas, elephants, and whales help capture and store carbon, aiding in the fight against global warming. It’s up to us to protect these incredible animals and their habitats so they can continue their vital work.
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