Birds are among Earth's most important nutrient movers
Birds play an outsized, underappreciated role in shaping Earth's chemistry, distributing nutrients across oceans, forests and coral reefs and sustaining life far beyond the nest.
Birds play an outsized, underappreciated role in shaping Earth's chemistry, distributing nutrients across oceans, forests and coral reefs and sustaining life far beyond the nest.
The short version
- Researchers from Cornell and five other institutions reviewed nearly 400 scientific papers to show how birds transport nutrients from land, lake and sea through their waste and bodies.
- This influences everything from soil and water chemistry to plant and animal growth.
- This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies .
What happened
That's because flight allows birds to traverse vast distances and barriers such as oceans and mountains. Birds are also extremely efficient at processing and recycling nutrients.
Why it matters
Their food consumption rates, according to Duvall, are about 30% higher than those of similarly sized mammals.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Phys.org via the links above and below.