New research out of the University of Hawaii supports the state’s work to eradicate invasive and prevalent feral pigs, but also shows ways in which watersheds can benefit from the animals.
UH announced the publishing of two studies Friday, both looking at bacteria and invertebrate colonies in soil from Volcanoes National Park and Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve.
One study reported direct benefits to soil bacterial communities when feral pigs were removed from the area of study. The other reported a benefit to having the pigs in the ecosystem, showing earthworms and ground beetles were positively associated with sites rooted by feral pigs.
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