Meta-analysis shows that wild large herbivores shape ecosystem properties and promote spatial heterogeneity

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Trepel, Jonas
Le Roux, Elizabeth
Abraham, Andrew J.
Buitenwerf, Robert
Kamp, Johannes
Kristensen, Jeppe A.
Tietje, Melanie
Lundgren, Erick J.
Svenning, Jens-Christian

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Nature Research

Abstract

Megafauna (animals ≥45 kg) have probably shaped the Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems for millions of years with pronounced impacts on biogeochemistry, vegetation, ecological communities and evolutionary processes. However, a quantitative global synthesis on the generality of megafauna effects on ecosystems is lacking. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of 297 studies and 5,990 individual observations across six continents to determine how wild herbivorous megafauna influence ecosystem structure, ecological processes and spatial heterogeneity, and whether these impacts depend on body size and environmental factors. Despite large variability in megafauna effects, we show that megafauna significantly alter soil nutrient availability, promote open vegetation structure and reduce the abundance of smaller animals. Other responses (14 out of 26), including, for example, soil carbon, were not significantly affected. Further, megafauna significantly increase ecosystem heterogeneity by affecting spatial heterogeneity in vegetation structure and the abundance and diversity of smaller animals. Given that spatial heterogeneity is considered an important driver of biodiversity across taxonomic groups and scales, these results support the hypothesis that megafauna may promote biodiversity at large scales. Megafauna declined precipitously in diversity and abundance since the late Pleistocene, and our results indicate that their restoration would substantially influence Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems.

Description

DATA AVAILABILITY : All data are available on figshare: https://figshare.com/projects/Data_and_scripts_for_manuscript_Worldwide_evidence_that_wild_megafauna_shape_ecosystem_properties_and_promote_spatial_heterogeneity_/180031 ref.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : Supplementary Figs. 1–27 and Tables 1–4.

Keywords

Biodiversity, Conservation biology, Ecosystem ecology, Element cycles, Restoration ecology, SDG-15: Life on land

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG-15:Life on land

Citation

Trepel, J., le Roux, E., Abraham, A.J. et al. Meta-analysis shows that wild large herbivores shape ecosystem properties and promote spatial heterogeneity. Nature Ecology and Evolution 8, 705–716 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02327-6.