One of the Few Remaining Giants

One of the Few Remaining Giants

As a mega-herbivore, a plant-eater of more than 2,000 pounds in size, the rhinoceros is a largely visible and incredibly important portion of the African ecosystem. Due to its size alone, the rhinoceros does a brilliant job of clearing small shrubs and trees as it moves through an area. By clearing a plentiful amount of plants with its body, the rhinoceros helps to create new walkways for smaller animals, new habitats for flora to grow, and newly reachable food sources for other grazers. The rhinoceros should receive more credit than just as an ecosystem engineer, as it provides many more ecosystem services than just clearing plants.

The rhino, just like another mega-herbivore, the elephant, is a keystone species within its environment. A keystone species is a single species that is not plentiful in number, but has a large combined effect on the ecosystem. The rhinoceros is also considered an umbrella species because through its conservation, all other species in the ecosystem that it interacts with will benefit. The rhinoceros itself is responsible for greatly increasing the biodiversity of its ecosystem through many methods: its eating habits, digestion, and use of its body in conjunction with the land.

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Between the two species of rhinoceros in Africa, one is a grazer and the other is a browser; the white rhino grazes predominantly on grasses while the black rhino browses mostly on shrubs and small trees. Both of these species maintain plant species numbers and types through selective eating. By choosing to eat specific parts or types of plants, the rhino allow great opportunity for other herbivores to selectively eat the remaining plants. For example, a small antelope that eats fresh shoots of shrubs may not be able to reach the shoots unless the black rhino has previously eaten the ends of the branches. By doing so, the black rhino creates a symbiotic relationship with many other herbivores in the ecosystem that rely on the rhino’s eating habits to help sustain themselves.

Rhinoceros also increase ecosystem diversity through their digestion. Although it is common for herbivores to have more than one stomach, such as a cow and other ruminants, the rhinoceros only has one stomach, therefore it needs to eat continuously throughout the day. With only one stomach, the rhinoceros cannot regurgitate and re-chew cud to gather more nutrients like cows and other ruminants can. Of course by constantly eating, the rhinoceros are also constantly digesting and passing waste. Their waste itself helps to spread many different seeds and plant types, oftentimes transporting new flora many kilometers from where it was ingested. This helps to promote diversity and plant growth in many different regions of the ecosystem. Herbivore waste is also a great promoter of invertebrate life, inviting dung beetles, flies, maggots, and many larvae to live inside the feces. In addition to all of the invertebrates that directly benefit from the rhino feces, the large concentration of invertebrates attracts insectivores to come eat them; this helps to encourage an entire food chain to begin where new rhino poop is located. Last but not least, the dung from a rhinoceros is a fantastic natural fertilizer, ensuring that the plains and forests of Africa get plentiful nutrients restored back into the soil.

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Finally, the rhinoceros aptly use their bodies and horns to help provide important benefits to the ecosystem. Rhinoceros love to roll around in dirt, mud and water—to help cool themselves, repel unwanted insects, and provide a sunscreen of sorts. Oftentimes, the rhinoceros make themselves depressions in the ground to free up water or mud from the surrounding soil. In this ‘wallow’, the rhinoceros roll around in a mixture of dirt and water. By making these wallows in the ground, rhino are providing a new source of water or mud for other animals to use in addition to themselves. Additionally, these depressions can bring valuable minerals from the deeper layers of the soil to the surface—which can benefit both flora and fauna in the region. Rhinoceros are also able to unearth these minerals through rubbing their horns on the ground, or on termite mounds.

Clearly the rhinoceros is very influential in the ecosystem in which they live. They encourage great plant diversity through their selective eating—even increasing reachable food options for other herbivores while doing so. By eating such a large and varied diet, the rhino also provides many benefits to the ecosystem through its waste. The waste becomes host to many invertebrates and the insectivores that eat them, and is also a great way to disperse many seeds. Lastly, the rhino utilizes its large size and its horn to help create new habitats by making wallows or scratching the earth with its horn. Although the rhino may not automatically come to mind as an extremely integral part of the African ecosystem, it actually comprises many different roles in ecosystem maintenance.

Written by intern Erica Taylor

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