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The bathroom habits of a lesser-known cousin to the llama are helping researchers better understand how ecosystems adapt to climate change.
Vicuñas live high in alpine areas of the Andes in South America. Related to llamas and alpacas, the wild species of camelids are catching attention for the way they poop.
A December study published in Scientific Reports highlights how the animals’ feces impact climate change.
Much like humans, as a group, vicuñas poop in a spot shared by multiple members of the species, known by scientists as latrines.
According to the University of Colorado Boulder study led by Steven Schmidt, researchers discovered that plants growing near the vicuña latrines were found in retreating glaciers high in the Andes.
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UQUIA, JUJUY, ARGENTINA – 2024/03/12: Two vicuñas (Lama vicugna) are seen on a high Argentinian plateau in the Jujuy region. These animals are members of the biological family Camelidae. They live in the high areas of the Andes.
(Apolline Guillerot-Malick/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images)
The study reported that these glaciers are lacking in water and nutrients and consist mostly of rock and gravel.
Schmidt, along with James Madison University animal ecologist Kelsey Reider, worked together to test vicuña latrine soils high in the Andes. The study showed that compared to other soils nearby, the latrine soil contained significantly more moisture and nutrients like organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus.
The university said that latrine soil contained 62% organic matter, compared to deglaciated soil exposed at the same location without latrines, which contained only 1.5% organic matter.
“Camera footage showed that the patches of plants have attracted all kinds of animals, including rare species never before seen at such high elevations and large carnivores like puma,” the university said.
The vicuñas were also reported eating the vegetation growing in their own latrines.
The study said vicuñas dung likely accelerated the timeline for plants to colonize a barren, lifeless habitat by a century. Their poop deposits nutrients and plant seeds from lower elevation onto the deglaciated ground, germinating seeds, attracting other lifeforms, including animals that eat the plants.
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A herd of vicuñas along the road from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon, inside the Vicuña de Aguada Blanca National Reserve. On Saturday, 9 April, 2022, in Chivay, Province of Caylloma, Department of Arequipa, Peru.
(Artur Widak/NurPhoto / Getty Images)
It could take hundreds of years for the deglaciated area to transition into grassland, which might help mitigate the negative impacts that many species preferring colder climates face as their habitats shrink from climate change, Reider said in a news release.
Though the Vicuñas poop will help to some degree, the pace at which species are settling on new ground is a lot slower than the rate glaciers are retreating, the study showed.
To read the study published in the journal Scientific Reports, click here.