Loss of large land mammals could change landscapes forever

Paleontologists have looked at the environmental changes that occurred in North and South America after large megafauna went extinct over the past 15,000 years, and found long-lasting impacts. Particularly in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, the loss of mammoths and mastodons affected forests and grasslands and changed the small mammal populations. Similar lasting changes could result from the extinction of large land animals today, in particular African elephants.

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