When Large Animals Disappear, Ecosystems are Hit Hard

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By Valerie Ross
Jul 19, 2011 2:01 AMNov 20, 2019 2:32 AM

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The loss of large animals is wreaking havoc on Earth's ecosystems, according to a scientific review published in Science on Friday, causing food chains to fall into disarray, clearing the way for invasive species, and even triggering the transmission of infectious diseases. The decline and disappearance of these large animals, due in large part to human factors such as hunting and habitat loss, has such strong and wide-ranging effects that the review's authors say it may well be "humankind’s most pervasive influence on nature." How the Heck:

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