How Poop Turns Into Forests？

When I was a child growing up in Brazil， I would play by stepping on cow’s poop barefoot just to feel the warm and soft sensation of the digested organic matter going through my toes. But for my family， animal waste had another level of importance. My grandma would sell the manure and split the money with my mom.

That was my mom’s only income as a housewife， raising her four children， while my father worked in our farm. That’s my grandma. On that very farm， my grandpa had a stroke of genius. Instead of ordinary fences， he carved out some ditches surrounded by trees， creating forest corridors for animals to cross.

It was like Mother Nature's highway system， allowing critters to commute from one leafy paradise to another. My mom never wanted me to rely on animal waste for a living. My grandpa did not know he was increasing the landscape connectivity for animals to cross， but they were both working on nature-based solutions before the term became trendy.

Two aspects of ecosystem restoration： investing in soil fertility and increasing the landscape connectivity. Bringing back the nutrients， bringing back the forests： both with positive consequences for the entire system. I believe a healthy ecosystem should stand behind every plate of food.

So today， as a scientist， my role is to understand how to produce food while we let animals working in ecosystem resilience in a changing world. So I started where those changes are happening， in the tropics， in Brazil， in the Amazonia. And it’s in there， in the wilds of the tropical forests， the tropical South America， that beholds the star of our tale： the lowland tapir.

Those pig-like creatures grace the landscape from the Amazonia to the Pantanal. Aren’t they cute？ When it comes to big animals， they tend to eat a lot of low-energy food like leaves. But tapirs are different. Up to 36 percent of their diet is based on fruit， and they have a very long digestive system. And they love to go for a walk.

So let’s picture that. They go for a walk. They find fruits along the way， they eat them while they process. And they keep walking in degraded areas， and eventually they poop. And when they poop， they help to spread the seeds in the fruits they love to eat. Tapirs are big， tapirs are tough， and tapirs poop ..." a lot.

And how do I know that？ Because at the research station that I work on， at the Southeast Amazonia， among many other things， we wash poop. We walk in the forest looking for their latrines， and latrines are something like a toilet but without the large bowl， just a lot of poop together.

We find them， collect， wash， count and identify as many seeds as possible. In one dung， we find on average 733 seeds belonging to up to 24 different species. We can see hundreds of seedlings emerging from one dung. And they can become trees， big trees. And because large-seeded trees tend to be deep rooted and drought resistant， those seed dispersers are helping to create a tree community that’s resilient and resistant.

But sometimes， as you can see， tapirs poop too many seeds in one place， leading to competition among the seedlings. So other animals come in to help， luckily. Some of those animals ［are］ the dung beetle. Dung beetles help to disperse the seeds throughout the forest. There are two kinds of dung beetles dispersing seeds： rollers and tunnelers.

Rollers roll the poop away from the source and bury it underground， while tunnelers bury the poop right by the source. When they bury the seeds， they revolve around the soil and may make it better for the seeds and ［increase］ the chances of them to grow into plants. These animals’ interactions can really reseed the forests， but we must preserve their habitats to increase their chances of survival.

When people ask me if forests can regrow without our help， I say we always have to help， even if it is just to get out of the way. But another， more active way to help is by leaving forest patches in the landscape. Forest patches are something like VIP lounges for plants and animals， where critters can hop， skip and jump from one leafy hot spot to another.

And when they do that， they act like real gardeners， bringing back the forests. And they need to do that because the future of those forests is at stake. As scientists， we are concerned with deforestation and degradation. Deforestation takes away those forests those animals are helping to plant for thousands of years. Degradation makes those forests less healthy， harboring fewer animals.

I truly believe that those animals are trying to bring back the spring， despite all the efforts to stop them. So let me throw you some questions. How powerful is the tapirs’ poop？ How far can they travel？ How charming do my friends， totally unconcerned with social conventions， need to be in order to revert the tipping point we are possibly about to reach？

My colleagues and I at the Woodwell Climate Research Center and at the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia are trying to answer those questions， but we already know some of the answers. We know that the resilience of those ecosystems is on the diversity of plants and animals living there.

Our future is intertwined with the future of those animals， and it depends on how good a job we do trying to protect them. And people， I’m not afraid to say： our future lies in poop.

Thank you.

我是在巴西长大的，小时候，我会光脚踩牛粪玩，只为感受那些经过消化的有机物质经由脚趾带给我的温暖和柔软。但对我家来说，动物粪便有着另一层重要性。我奶奶会卖牛粪，然后把钱分给我妈妈。

那是我妈妈作为家庭主妇的唯一收入，她抚养着四个孩子，而我爸爸在我们的农场工作。这就是我奶奶。在那个农场，我爷爷有一次灵光一现。他没有建造普通的篱笆，而是在树木周围挖了一些沟，创造了动物穿越的森林走廊。

这就像是大自然的公路系统，让动物从一个绿叶天堂通勤到另一个。我妈妈从不希望我依赖动物粪便谋生。我爷爷并不知道他那么做是在增强动物穿越的景观连接，但他们都在这个术语变成时髦名词前就致力于基于自然的解决方案。

生态系统恢复的两个方面是：投资土壤肥力和增强景观连接。带回养分，带回森林——这两者对整个系统都有积极的影响。我认为，每一盘食物背后都应该有一个健康的生态系统。

所以今天，作为一名科学家，我的职责是了解如何在生产食物的同时，在一个不断变化的世界中让动物发挥生态系统的弹性。因此，我从那些变化正在发生的地方开始，即热带地区，巴西，亚马逊地区。就在那里，在热带雨林的荒野中，南美洲的热带，我们故事的主角出现了：低地貘。

这些长得像猪的动物装点着从亚马逊到潘塔纳尔的风景。它们是不是很可爱？谈到大型动物，它们往往吃很多低能量的食物，比如树叶。但貘不同。它们的饮食最多有36%基于水果，它们的消化道很长。而且，它们喜欢散步。

我们来想象一下吧。它们散着步，一路寻找水果，边吃边处理。然后，它们在退化的区域继续散步，最终会排出粪便。它们排粪时，帮助传播了它们喜欢吃的水果中包含的种子。貘很大，很强壮，而且会排粪……排很多粪。

我是怎么知道的呢？因为在我工作的位于亚马逊东南部的研究站里，除了做其他事，我们还要清洗粪便。我们走进森林寻找它们的厕所，厕所有点像马桶，但没有马桶池，只是一堆粪便。

我们找到粪便，收集、清洗、计数并识别出尽可能多的种子。在一堆粪便中，我们平均能找到733颗属于多达24种不同物种的种子。我们可以看到数百棵幼苗从一堆粪便中生长出来。它们可以长成树，大树。由于大籽树往往根深耐旱，这些种子传播者正帮助创建一个具有弹性和抗旱性的树木群落。

但有时，正如你们看到的，貘在一个地方排出太多的种子，导致幼苗之间的竞争。幸运的是，其他动物会来帮忙。其中就有蜣螂。蜣螂可以帮助将种子散播到整个森林。散播种子的蜣螂有两种：滚球蜣螂和挖洞蜣螂。

滚球蜣螂把粪便从源头滚开并埋在地下，而挖洞蜣螂则直接把粪便埋在源头旁边。当它们埋种子时，会围绕土壤旋转，这可能使土壤对种子更有利，并增加它们长成植物的机会。这些动物之间的相互作用确实可以重新播种树林，但我们必须保护它们的栖息地，以增加它们的生存机会。

当人们问我森林是否可以在没有我们帮助的情况下重新生长时，我说我们总得给予一些帮助，即使只是让开路。但更积极的帮助方式是在景观中保留森林小片区。森林小片区有点像植物和动物的贵宾休息室，在那儿，动物可以从一个绿树成荫的热点跳跃到另一个。

当它们这样做时，它们就像真正的园丁，把森林带了回来。而且它们需要这样做，因为这些森林的未来岌岌可危。作为科学家，我们担心森林砍伐和退化。砍伐夺走了这些动物数千年来帮助种植的森林。退化使这些森林变得不那么健康，容纳的动物越来越少。

我真心相信，这些动物正排除种种阻碍，尽力带回春天。在此我问大家几个问题。貘的粪便有多强大？它们可以走多远？我的那些完全不受社会习俗约束的朋友们需要多有魅力，才能扭转我们可能即将到达的临界点？

我和我在伍德韦尔气候研究中心及亚马逊环境研究所的同事们正努力回答这些问题，但我们已经知道了一些答案。我们知道，这些生态系统的恢复取决于那里生活的植物和动物的多样性。

我们的未来与这些动物的未来交织在一起，它取决于我们在保护那些动物方面做得有多好。各位，我恐怕只能说：我们的未来靠粪便了。

谢谢。