Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages

Amir，Zachary1; Moore，Jonathan H.2,3; Negret，Pablo Jose4; Luskin，Matthew Scott1,5

2022-10-21

10.1126/sciadv.abq2307

Science Advances   Impact Factor & Quartile

2375-2548

The “trophic downgrading of planet Earth” refers to the systematic decline of the world’s largest vertebrates. However, our understanding of why megafauna extinction risk varies through time and the importance of site- or species-specific factors remain unclear. Here, we unravel the unexpected variability in remaining terrestrial megafauna assemblages across 10 Southeast Asian tropical forests. Consistent with global trends, every landscape experienced Holocene and/or Anthropocene megafauna extirpations, and the four most disturbed landscapes experienced 2.5 times more extirpations than the six least disturbed landscapes. However, there were no consistent size- or guild-related trends, no two tropical forests had identical assemblages, and the abundance of four species showed positive relationships with forest degradation and humans. Our results suggest that the region’s megafauna assemblages are the product of a convoluted geoclimatic legacy interacting with modern disturbances and that some megafauna may persist in degraded tropical forests near settlements with sufficient poaching controls.

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

WOS:000880308800005

2-s2.0-85140346684

Scopus

1.School of Biological Sciences,The University of Queensland,St. Lucia,Australia
2.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
3.School of Environmental Sciences,University of East Anglia,Norwich,United Kingdom
4.School of Earth and Environmental Sciences,The University of Queensland,St. Lucia,Australia
5.Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science,The University of Queensland,St. Lucia,Australia

Amir，Zachary,Moore，Jonathan H.,Negret，Pablo Jose,et al. Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages[J]. Science Advances,2022,8(42).

Amir，Zachary,Moore，Jonathan H.,Negret，Pablo Jose,&Luskin，Matthew Scott.(2022).Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages.Science Advances,8(42).

Amir，Zachary,et al."Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages".Science Advances 8.42(2022).