Scientists make mind-blowing discovery about llama-like animal's waste product: 'It's interesting to see'

Ecosystems in the high alpines of the Andes Mountains have been springing back to life thanks to the bathroom habits of vicuñas — a close relative of llamas. 

Researchers from the University of Colorado, Boulder, discovered that plants have started to emerge in the otherwise barren landscape of the Peruvian Andes in areas where vicuñas have left enormous piles of poop, which the scientists dubbed communal dung piles. 

In their study published in Scientific Reports, the team revealed that the animals' waste could help plants regenerate much faster — more than 100 years faster than normal, showing how ecosystems are adapting to the changing climate. Glaciers in the Andes have been melting at an alarming rate because of rising global temperatures, leaving newly exposed soils depleted of water and nutrients. 

But thanks to the high alpine heroes, the empty terrain could transform into a green paradise teeming with life much sooner than scientists thought. 

"It's interesting to see how a social behavior of these animals can transfer nutrients to a new ecosystem that is very nutrient poor," Cliff Bueno de Mesquita, the paper's co-first author and a research scientist at CU Boulder, told CU Boulder Today. 

In addition to plant life, scientists also found a surprising diversity of microorganisms in soil samples that contained vicuña poop, along with important nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon. 

"It's really hard for things to live, but that organic matter made it so that temperatures and moisture levels didn't fluctuate nearly as much. The latrines created a different microclimate than the surrounding area," Steven Schmidt, the paper's senior author and biology professor at CU Boulder, said.

The team said the plants that have sprouted from the nutrients in the animal dung have attracted various animals, including rare species that have never been spotted before at such high altitudes and huge carnivores like pumas.

It will likely take centuries for the landscape to fully transition to grasslands, giving high-elevation mammals such as camelids — including alpacas and vicuñas — rodents, and spectacled bears more time to adapt to a rapidly shifting climate. 

In the meantime, glaciers worldwide have been retreating at a record pace, but it's especially noticeable in the Andes. According to Yale Environment 360, Andean glaciers have lost 3 feet of ice yearly since 2000. Reuters reported that Venezuela lost all its glaciers in 2023, becoming the first country in modern times to do so. 

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The melting of glaciers doesn't only impact animals and ecosystems but also communities that depend on them for water supplies and agriculture. Villagers in Pakistan have taken desperate measures to safeguard fresh water, creating a "baby glacier" by bringing ice higher into the mountains to keep it from melting. 

Long-term strategies, such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater management, and even the creation of artificial glaciers, will likely be necessary to address water scarcity. 

As for the Andean glaciers, scientists say more research is needed to understand how big of an impact vicuñas will have on the recovering landscape.

"I think there's going to be a lot of value in continuing to monitor these patches and see how they might expand, how they might connect, and how you go from a patch or multiple patches to an entire meadow," Bueno de Mesquita told Mongabay. "These issues and these ecosystems are really important for biodiversity as well as humans, so they're worth studying."

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