{
  "abstract": "Terrestrial megafauna (animals >1,000 kg) have substantial impacts on ecosystems while alive; yet, we know little about the impacts of these ecosystem engineers after they die. Like whale carcasses in the ocean, terrestrial megacarcasses may leave ecological legacies via the nutrient pulses they create on the landscape. Here, we investigated the impact of elephant megacarcasses on savanna ecosystems in Kruger National Park, South Africa. To determine how elephant carcasses affect below- and aboveground biodiversity and ecosystem processes, we collected soil and plant samples from 40 carcass sites (pairing “on carcass” and “off carcass” samples) ranging from 8 d to 7.7 y postmortem. We found that elephant carcasses released enormous pools of nutrients into savanna soils, increasing ammonium by 31×, nitrate by 7×, and phosphorus by 3× on average. These extreme ammonium concentrations were negatively correlated with the biodiversity of bacteria and plants, which were both suppressed at elephant carcass sites. Despite these decreases in biodiversity, ecosystem processes were strongly elevated at elephant carcass sites, with soil microbial respiration elevated for 1 to 2 y and herbivore grazing >3× higher for 7+ y postmortem. These results demonstrate that elephant megacarcasses generate coldspots of biodiversity but hotspots of ecosystem processes, unveiling a cryptic ecological function of megaherbivores that is extreme in both magnitude and duration relative to carcasses of smaller animals. As humans drive terrestrial megafauna toward extinction, we risk losing not only their ecosystem engineering abilities while they are alive but also the ecological legacies their carcasses create after death.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106",
    "Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53233",
    "Department of Zoology, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI 53233",
    "Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa",
    "Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322",
    "Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London NW1 4RY, England, United Kingdom",
    "The Expanded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network, Kimberley 8301, South Africa",
    "Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545",
    "Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106",
    "Scientific Services, South African National Parks, George 6529, South Africa",
    "Sustainability Research Unit & CNRS-NMU International Research Laboratory, REHABS, Nelson Mandela University, George 6529, South Africa",
    "Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa",
    "Scientific Services South African National Parks, Skukuza 1350, South Africa",
    "Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa",
    "Division of Land and Biodiversity, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim 7485, Norway",
    "South African Environmental Observation Network, Ndlovu Node, WITS Rural Campus, Acornhoek 1360, South Africa",
    "School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Courtney G. Reed",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1083-3009"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Nathan P. Lemoine",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8994-7513"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Michelle L. Budny",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1655-8266"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Vincent C. Clarke"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Johan T. du Toit",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0705-7117"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Ryan Helcoski"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Helga Knoetze"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Jane M. Lucas",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3931-1864"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Joshua P. Schimel",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1022-6623"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9,
        10,
        11
      ],
      "name": "Izak P. J. Smit",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7923-2290"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12,
        13
      ],
      "name": "Tercia Strydom",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9077-9446"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        14
      ],
      "name": "Aimee G. Tallian",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7182-7377"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        15,
        16
      ],
      "name": "Dave I. Thompson",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9498-8424"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        8,
        15
      ],
      "name": "Deron E. Burkepile",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0427-0484"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7h9mzm3et542r.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1073/pnas.2605332123",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13715796/",
  "id": "7h9mzm3et542r",
  "issns": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2605332123",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "414"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Biological Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Ecology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2303|Wildlife Ecology and Conservation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221523734",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2605332123",
  "pmcid": "PMC13715796",
  "pmid": "42863090",
  "published": "2026-10-12",
  "publisher": "National Academy of Sciences",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7h9mzm3et542r.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:23:00Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13715796",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2605332123"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "heading:Ecology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Nutrient legacies from elephant megacarcasses create coldspots of biodiversity and hotspots of ecosystem processes",
  "title_text": "Nutrient legacies from elephant megacarcasses create coldspots of biodiversity and hotspots of ecosystem processes",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:23:00Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7h9mzm3et542r",
  "venue": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
  "versions": []
}