Scientists kept large herbivores out of a Kenyan savanna for 18 years; after elephants and giraffes returned, tree cover fell to earlier levels |
For 18 years, researchers kept large herbivores out of fenced plots in a Kenyan savanna to study what happened to the trees in their absence. During that period, tree cover increased rapidly, trees became taller, and tree numbers rose. The fences were removed in 2017, allowing elephants, giraffes and other large herbivores to return to…