If apes go extinct, so could entire forests
Bonobos eat a lot of fruit, and fruit contains seeds.
Those seeds travel through a bonobo’s digestive system
while bonobo itself travels around the forest. A few hours
later, the seeds end up being deposited far from where the
fruits were plucked. And that is where the new trees come
from.
According to a paper recently published, if the
bonobos disappeared, the plants would also likely go
extinct, for many trees and plants species in Congo rely
almost exclusively on bonobos for seed dispersal.
The bonobo has two major functions here. First of all,
many seeds will not germinate well unless they have been
“handled” by another species. Stomach acids and intestinal
processes make the seed more able to absorb water and
later sprout.
Secondly, many seeds will not succeed if they remain
too close to their parental trees. The seeds that fell to the
ground near their parents did not survive because they
were choked off by the nearby plants. The bonobos eat
about 3,5 hours every day and travel a mean of 1.2
kilometers from meal sites before defecating.
(Adaptado de http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown
/if-apes-go-extinct-so-could-entire-forests/.)
Qual é a explicação para o título?
If apes go extinct, so could entire forests
Bonobos eat a lot of fruit, and fruit contains seeds. Those seeds travel through a bonobo’s digestive system while bonobo itself travels around the forest. A few hours later, the seeds end up being deposited far from where the fruits were plucked. And that is where the new trees come from.
According to a paper recently published, if the bonobos disappeared, the plants would also likely go extinct, for many trees and plants species in Congo rely almost exclusively on bonobos for seed dispersal.
The bonobo has two major functions here. First of all, many seeds will not germinate well unless they have been “handled” by another species. Stomach acids and intestinal processes make the seed more able to absorb water and later sprout.
Secondly, many seeds will not succeed if they remain too close to their parental trees. The seeds that fell to the ground near their parents did not survive because they were choked off by the nearby plants. The bonobos eat about 3,5 hours every day and travel a mean of 1.2 kilometers from meal sites before defecating.
(Adaptado de http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown /if-apes-go-extinct-so-could-entire-forests/.)
Qual é a explicação para o título?
Gabarito comentado
Qual a explicação para o título?
"Bonobos comem um monte de frutas e frutas contém sementes. Essas sementes viajam através do sistema digestivo de um bonobo enquanto o própria bonobo viaja ao redor da floresta.
Algumas horas mais tarde, as sementes acabam sendo depositadas muito longe de onde os frutos foram arrancados. E é de lá que as novas árvores vêm. De acordo com um jornal publicado recentemente, se os bonobos desaparecessem, as plantas também provavelmente se tornariam extintas, porque muitas árvores e espécies de plantas no Congo dependem quase que exclusivamente de bonobos para a dispersão de sementes."
