Long-term collapse in fruit availability threatens Central African forest megafauna

Fruit decline threatens forest elephants Large mammal herbivores in African tropical forests are major consumers of fruit, and many tree species rely on these consumers for dispersal of their seeds. Bush et al. monitored fruit production over three decades in a protected national park in Gabon, showing an 80% decline across the 73 plant species monitored. At the same time, photographic records of forest elephants over the past decade indicate a substantial decline in body condition in these major herbivores. These results suggest that the capacity of the ecosystem to support the elephant population is decreasing, a worrying prospect in an environment that is still protected from other threats such as hunting and deforestation. Science , this issue p. 1219