An international team led by researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ) and The University of mini传媒 have used predictive population models, coupled with advanced mapping techniques to pinpoint the climate damage wild pigs are causing across five continents.
鲍蚕鈥檚听听said the globe鈥檚 ever-expanding population of feral pigs could be a significant threat to the climate.
鈥淲ild pigs are just like tractors ploughing through fields, turning over soil to find food,鈥 Dr O鈥橞ryan said.
鈥淲hen soils are disturbed from humans ploughing a field or, in this case, from wild animals uprooting, carbon is released into the atmosphere.
鈥淪ince soil contains nearly three times as much carbon than in the atmosphere, even a small fraction of carbon emitted from soil has the potential to accelerate climate change.
鈥淥ur models show a wide range of outcomes, but they indicate that wild pigs are most likely currently uprooting an area of around 36,000 to 124,000 square kilometres, in environments where they鈥檙e not native.
鈥淭his is an enormous amount of land, and this not only affects soil health and carbon emissions, but it also threatens biodiversity and food security that are crucial for sustainable development.鈥
Using existing models on wild pig numbers and locations, the team simulated 10,000 maps of potential global wild pig density.
They then modelled the amount of soil area disturbed from a long-term study of wild pig damage across a range of climatic conditions, vegetation types and elevations spanning lowland grasslands to sub-alpine woodlands.
The researchers then simulated the global carbon emissions from wild pig soil damage based on previous research in the Americas, Europe, and China.
Nicholas Patton, a PhD candidate from The University of mini传媒鈥檚听School of Earth and Environment,听said the research would have ramifications for curbing the effects of climate change into the future.
鈥淚nvasive species are a human caused problem, so we need to acknowledge and take responsibility for their environmental and ecological implications,鈥 Nicholas said.
鈥淚f invasive pigs are allowed to expand into areas with abundant soil carbon, there may be an even greater risk of greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
鈥淏ecause wild pigs are prolific and cause widespread damage, they鈥檙e both costly and challenging to manage.
鈥淲ild pig control will definitely require cooperation and collaboration across multiple jurisdictions, and our work is but one piece of the pule, helping managers better understand their impacts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that more work still needs to be done, but in the interim, we should continue to protect and monitor ecosystems and their soil which are susceptible to invasive species via loss of carbon.鈥
The research has been published in听Global Change Biology听(顿翱滨:听).
