Small herbivores are true victims

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

India’s natural areas are facing extensive threats, with land-use changes leading to fragmented, depleted, and invaded ecosystems.
Two-thirds of these spaces are now grappling with the invasion of alien plants, posing a significant risk to biodiversity.
Herbivores, both wild and domestic, are particularly vulnerable as they rely on these landscapes for survival.
While invasive plants are not a primary food source for herbivores, some large grazers, such as rhinoceroses and Indian bison, have been observed consuming them, especially during dry seasons.
Megaherbivores, with their large size and varied diets, play a crucial role in controlling invasive plants in certain regions, but in drier areas, the invasion creates challenges for native plants.
Smaller and medium-sized herbivores, heavily reliant on vegetation decimated by invasive plants, face the dilemma of starvation or consuming invaders, with potential health issues documented.
Protected areas in India are implementing measures such as managed grasslands and periodic removal of invasive plants to provide temporary havens for herbivores. However, a long-term solution requires large-scale, science-driven restoration of native ecosystems.

Megaherbivores:

Megaherbivores are large herbivores that can exceed 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) in weight. They first appeared 300 million years ago in the early Permian, in the form of synapsids.
They were then replaced by megaherbivorous dinosaurs that went extinct in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
After this period, small mammalian species evolved into large herbivores in the Paleogene.
During the Quaternary Extinction Event,megaherbivores disappeared on most continents on Earth.
Recent megaherbivores include elephants, rhinos, hippos, and giraffes.
There are nine extant species of megaherbivores living in Africa and Asia. The African bush elephant is the largest extant species.
Extant megaherbivores are keystone species in their environment. They defoliate the landscape and spread a greater number of seeds than other frugivores.
Extant megaherbivores, like most large mammals, are K-selected species. They are characterized by their large size, relative immunity to predation, their effect on plant species, and their dietary tolerance.

Source: DTE