Unraveling the consequences of the terminal Pleistocene megafauna extinction on mammal community assembly

Smith, Felisa A.; Tomé, Catalina P.; Smith, Emma A. Elliott; Lyons, S. Kathleen; Newsome, Seth D.; Stafford, Thomas W.

doi:10.1111/ecog.01779

Cited by 38 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 85 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Van Valkenburgh et al (69) argue that this abundance may have had an influence on megaherbivore populations through predation of juveniles and young adults, overturning the expectation that megaherbivore populations are not predation-limited. Although stable isotope studies have not generally supported an important role of megaherbivores in megacarnivore diets (70,71), a new study by Smith et al (72) demonstrates significant positive associations between megacarnivores and megaherbivores in Pleistocene Texas, suggesting that these species were interacting through tightly linked predator-prey relationships.…”

Section: Key Impacts Of Megafaunal Lossmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A new study of the Hall's Cave site in Texas (72) shows that megafaunal loss led to a fundamental restructuring of the mammal community, with a shift from large grazers to many small frugivores, granivores, and browsers. Changes in the body size distribution at the site suggest a fundamental change in energy flow and ecological interactions.…”

Section: Key Impacts Of Megafaunal Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

Malhi

Doughty

Galetti

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

418

382

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Large herbivores and carnivores (the megafauna) have been in a state of decline and extinction since the Late Pleistocene, both on land and more recently in the oceans. Much has been written on the timing and causes of these declines, but only recently has scientific attention focused on the consequences of these declines for ecosystem function. Here, we review progress in our understanding of how megafauna affect ecosystem physical and trophic structure, species composition, biogeochemistry, and climate, drawing on special features of PNAS and Ecography that have been published as a result of an international workshop on this topic held in Oxford in 2014. Insights emerging from this work have consequences for our understanding of changes in biosphere function since the Late Pleistocene and of the functioning of contemporary ecosystems, as well as offering a rationale and framework for scientifically informed restoration of megafaunal function where possible and appropriate.For hundreds of millions of years, an abundance of large animals, the megafauna, was a prominent feature of the land and oceans. However, in the last few tens of thousands of years-a blink of an eye on many evolutionary and biogeochemical timescales-something dramatic happened to Earth's ecology; megafauna largely disappeared from vast areas, rendered either actually or functionally extinct (1, 2). Only in small parts of the world do megafauna exist at diversities anything close to their previous state, and, in many of these remaining regions, they are in a state of functional decline through population depletion and range contraction. In the oceans, a similar process has occurred over the last few hundred years: although there has been little absolute extinction, there has been a dramatic decline in the abundance of whales and large fish through overharvesting (3). Both on land and in oceans, declines continue today (4-7).Homo sapiens evolved and dispersed in a world teeming with giant creatures. Our earliest art forms, such as the haunting and mesmerizing Late Pleistocene cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira, show that megafauna had a profound impact on the psyche and spirituality of our ancestors. To humans past and modern, they indicate resources, danger, power, and charisma, but, beyond these impacts, such large animals have profound and distinct effects on the nature and functioning of the ecosystems they inhabit.Martin (8) first posited a major human role in past megafaunal disappearances, and, since then, much has been written on their patterns and causes and the relative importance of human effects, climate change, and other factors (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Only recently has work begun to address the environmental consequences of this dramatic transition from a megafaunal to a nonmegafaunal world on Earth's ecology, as manifested through vegetation cover (16), plant-animal interactions (17), ecosystem structure (16, 18), trophic interactions (7), fire regimes (19), biogeochemical cycling (20), and climate (21,22).In this pap...

show abstract

Section: Key Impacts Of Megafaunal Lossmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Key Impacts Of Megafaunal Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

Malhi

Doughty

Galetti

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

418

382

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several null model approaches have been proposed to discriminate among multiple possible mechanisms of cooccurrence, including the use of constrained models to account for distributional or environmental differences (Peres-Neto et al 2001, Sanderson 2004, Ovaskainen et al 2010, and post hoc analyses incorporating the characteristics of sites (Sfenthourakis et al 2006, Blois et al 2014 or species (Sfenthourakis et al 2006, Collins et al 2011, Smith et al 2016. Logical hypothesistesting frameworks using site or species information are especially promising for distinguishing among causal mechanisms of co-occurrence (Sfenthourakis et al 2006, Blois et al 2014, D'Amen et al 2017), but a repeatable and generalizable framework based on species traits has yet to be developed (but see Smith et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A trait‐based framework for discerning drivers of species co‐occurrence across heterogeneous landscapes

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Null model analysis of species co‐occurrence patterns has long been used to gain insight into community assembly but is often limited to identifying non‐random patterns without providing clarity about underlying ecological mechanisms. This challenge is especially apparent when sampling units are spread across a heterogeneous landscape or along an environmental gradient because multiple mechanisms can produce similar co‐occurrence patterns. We developed a trait‐based approach for discriminating between environmental filtering and biotic interactions as the probable driver of co‐occurrence patterns across environmentally heterogeneous sites. We demonstrate our framework by analyzing the co‐occurrence of small mammals over elevation in three independent mountain ranges in the Great Basin of the western United States. Our sampling design accounts for landscape scale environmental variability and within‐site habitat heterogeneity. We identified 52 non‐random species pairs, of which 36 were aggregated and 16 were segregated. For each pair, we determined which mechanism was the likely ecological explanation using a hypothesis‐testing framework based on functional trait similarity. Expectations of biotic interactions were based on similarity of diet and body size whereas habitat affinity and geographic range were used for environmental filtering. Only four pairs were consistent with expectations under biotic interactions, including pairs for which competitive exclusion has previously been documented. In addition to analyzing individual pairs, we used binomial tests of observed versus expected totals of intra‐ and inter‐guild pairs to determine assemblage‐wide deviations from random community structure. Signatures of environmental filtering were consistent across mountain ranges and scales. Despite differences in species composition and significant pairs among data sets, our approach revealed consistent mechanistic conclusions, emphasizing the value of trait‐based methods to co‐occurrence and community assembly.

show abstract

“…Due to their large size, these organisms cause physical disturbance and disperse large seeds and nutrients great distances (Ripple et al 2015). The considerable loss of this functionality at the end of the Pleistocene had dramatic effects on plant community structure, fire regimes, nutrient and mineral cycling across landscapes, and community assembly (Gill et al 2009, Ripple and Van Valkenburgh 2010, Smith et al 2015, Bakker et al 2016a, Doughty et al 2016a, b, c, Malhi et al 2016. Modern declines have similar consequences for terrestrial ecosystems and community dynamics (Ripple et al 2015) and have led to broad international calls for immediate action to conserve the world's remaining mammalian megafauna (Ripple et al 2016(Ripple et al , 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduced megafauna are rewilding the Anthropocene

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

23Large herbivorous mammals, already greatly reduced by the late-Pleistocene extinctions, 24 continue to be threatened with decline. However, many herbivorous megafauna (body 25 mass ≥ 100 kg) have populations outside their native ranges. We evaluate the 26 distribution, diversity and threat status of introduced terrestrial megafauna worldwide and 27 their contribution towards lost Pleistocene species richness. Of 76 megafauna species, 22 28 (~29%) have introduced populations; of these ten (45%) are threatened or extinct in their 29 native ranges. Introductions have increased megafauna species richness by between 10% 30 (Africa) and 100% (Australia). Furthermore, between 15% (Asia) and 67% (Australia) of 31 extinct species richness, from the late Pleistocene to today, have been numerically 32 replaced by introduced megafauna. Much remains unknown about the ecology of 33 introduced herbivores, but evidence suggests that these populations are rewilding modern 34 ecosystems. We propose that attitudes towards introduced megafauna should allow for 35 broader research and management goals.

show abstract

Unraveling the consequences of the terminal Pleistocene megafauna extinction on mammal community assembly

Cited by 38 publications

References 85 publications

Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

A trait‐based framework for discerning drivers of species co‐occurrence across heterogeneous landscapes

Introduced megafauna are rewilding the Anthropocene

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About