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Rethinking megafauna


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Title:
Rethinking megafauna
Authors:
Moleón, Marcos  
Sánchez Zapata, José Antonio  
Donázar, José Antonio  
Revilla, Eloy  
Martín-López, Berta
Gutiérrez-Cánovas, Cayetano
Getz, Wayne M.
Morales-Reyes, Zebensui  
Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa
Crowder, Larry B.
Galetti, Mauro
Gonzalez Suarez, Manuela  
He, Fengzhi  
Jordano, Pedro  
Lewison, Rebecca L.  
Naidoo, Robin  
Owen-Smith, Norman
Selva, Nuria  
Svenning, Jens-Christian  
Tella, José L.
Zarfl, Christiane  
Jähnig, Sonja C.  
Hayward, Matt W.  
Faurby, Søren  
García, Nuria
Barnosky, Anthony  
Tockner, Klement  
Editor:
The Royal Society
Department:
Departamentos de la UMH::Biología Aplicada
Issue Date:
2020-03-04
URI:
https://hdl.handle.net/11000/33894
Abstract:
Concern for megafauna is increasing among scientists and non-scientists. Many studies have emphasized that megafauna play prominent ecological roles and provide important ecosystem services to humanity. But, what precisely are ‘megafauna’? Here, we critically assess the concept of megafauna and propose a goal-oriented framework for megafaunal research. First, we review definitions of megafauna and analyse associated terminology in the scientific literature. Second, we conduct a survey among ecologists and palaeontologists to assess the species traits used to identify and define megafauna. Our review indicates that definitions are highly dependent on the study ecosystem and research question, and primarily rely on ad hoc size-related criteria. Our survey suggests that body size is crucial, but not necessarily sufficient, for addressing the different applications of the term megafauna. Thus, after discussing the pros and cons of existing definitions, we propose an additional approach by defining two function-oriented megafaunal concepts: ‘keystone megafauna’ and ‘functional megafauna’, with its variant ‘apex megafauna’. Assessing megafauna from a functional perspective could challenge the perception that there may not be a unifying definition of megafauna that can be applied to all eco-evolutionary narratives. In addition, using functional definitions of megafauna could be especially conducive to cross-disciplinary understanding and cooperation, improvement of conservation policy and practice, and strengthening of public perception. As megafaunal research advances, we encourage scientists to unambiguously define how they use the term ‘megafauna’ and to present the logic underpinning their definition.
Knowledge area:
CDU: Ciencias puras y naturales: Biología
Type of document:
application/pdf
Access rights:
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2643
Appears in Collections:
Artículos Biología Aplicada



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