African elephants are indeed a keystone species. And in case you are wondering what exactly does a keystone species mean, then let's go straight to that. A keystone species refers to an animal that is majorly responsible for the functionality of an ecosystem. This means whenever this type of animal is absent in an ecosystem, the ecosystem: plants and different animals in it will suffer greatly for it. It is amazing how a lot of animals depend on elephants to survive.
This doesn't mean African elephants are making it their duties to provide for the ecosystem, but due to their activities, the well-being of other animals is guaranteed. Let's throw more light into this. The tearing down of trees by elephants is the reason why many wild grasses show up again, and there are a lot of animals that live majorly by feeding on green plants. It will also interest you to know that there are small animals that feed on elephant's dung, i.e., the seeds inside.
The African elephant isn’t only the largest of animals in the world. It is also an animal that is part of a community and being part of a community such as it is would cause drastic changes in the ecological structure that goes along with the community.
These elephants dwell in large cooperative herds and they dominate the smaller groups in the community.