An ecoregion‐based approach to restoring the world's intact large mammal assemblages

Abstract

Assemblages of large mammal species play a disproportionate role in the structure and composition of natural habitats. Loss of these assemblages destabilizes natural systems, while their recovery can restore ecological integrity. Here we take an ecoregion‐based approach to identify landscapes that retain their historically present large mammal assemblages, and map ecoregions where reintroduction of 1–3 species could restore intact assemblages. Intact mammal assemblages occur across more than one‐third of the 730 terrestrial ecoregions where large mammals were historically present, and 22% of these ecoregions retain complete assemblages across > 20% of the ecoregion area. Twenty species, if reintroduced or allowed to recolonize through improved connectivity, can increase the area of the world containing intact large mammal assemblages by 54% (11 116 000 km2). Each of these species have at least two large, intact habitat areas (> 10 000 km2) in a given ecoregion. Timely integration of recovery efforts for large mammals strengthens area‐based targets being considered under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Response: Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?

“…We also showed in our paper that in many of these intact habitats there are opportunities to restore species that undoubtedly have important functional roles. A recent analysis, using similar data to ours, likewise argues that we should be considering the reintroduction of mammals to regain integrity and ecological function (Vynne et al, 2022). Large mammals are frequently the first to disappear and their successful reintroduction not only requires the effective removal of relevant threats, but also supports the re-establishment of associated ecological processes.…”

Supporting the restoration of complex ecosystems requires long‐term and multi‐scale perspectives

“…Looking into the past allows for better understanding of long-term ecological dynamics, biodiversity and ecosystem potentials and the ecological and evolutionary legacies of past human impact. It offers scope for overcoming shifting baseline syndrome effects to inform on opportunities for reversing range collapse and erosion of biotic communities through proactive, science-based restoration programs (Vynne et al 2022).…”

“…Restoration has global implications, and large-scale macroecological studies are helpful to contextualize and prioritize restoration actions (Strassburg et al 2020). Vynne et al (2022) take an ecoregion-based approach to identify landscapes that can retain large-mammal assemblages similar to those present five hundred years ago (1500 AD). They also identify priority ecological regions where historically intact large mammal communities could be restored through focusing restoration efforts on a reduced number of extirpated species.…”

“…Papers in this special issue cover from local‐scale studies (Mittelman et al 2021, Zhang et al 2021) to continental (Segar et al 2021, Quintero‐Uribe et al 2022) and global (Monsarrat and Svenning 2021, Storch et al 2021, Vynne et al 2022), highlighting a growing interest for restoration research from a broad range of spatial perspectives.…”

Collapse of terrestrial mammal food webs since the Late Pleistocene

“…Recovering food web complexity could be achieved with natural recolonization ( 37 ) and reintroduction ( 38 , 39 ) of native mammals to their historic ranges, or with non-native functional analogs where necessary and appropriate ( 33 , 39 ). Critical roles played by species affected by range contractions and recognized as endangered further underscore the need for their conservation to sustain food webs, as well as the strong potential for the restoration of food webs in the Anthropocene through recovery of these species to their historic ranges ( 40 ).…”