GORILLAS: EXCELLENT ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS

Mountain gorilla. Credit: International Gorilla Conservation Programme.

We have to learn a lot from our cousins the gorillas. They feed on plants and as they travel around in the forest they disperse the seeds. Wherever they deposit their droppings they are actually planting trees. Thus they act as gardeners and maintain the forest diversity. Gorillas are ecosystem engineers.

                          LET´S US PROTECT THE GORILLAS!

                                

If you want to put a price tag to the gorillas´ ecological services, just remember that it costs on the average 450 euros each recently planted tree.

                                                 References

Poulsen JR, Clark CJ & Smith TB (2001). Seed dispersal by a diurnal primate community in the Dja Reserve, Cameroon.  J Trop. Ecol. 17: 787-808.