“These birds are the most spectacular engineers of any animal because individuals can produce such a monumental change in an ecosystem,” says Jones. “In the rainforest, the organic matter on the humus layer is the engine that drives the nutrition for the forest,” he explains. “Brush turkeys scrape up all of the organic matter from a big circle with a one-hundred-meter radius, all the seeds, all the fruit, everything goes into the mound and is compacted in that one place, so they’re actually manipulating the structure of the forest.” Wherever it’s located, in rainforest or suburban backyard,
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