Effects of mammal defaunation on natural ecosystem services and human well being throughout the entire Neotropical realm

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Bogoni, Juliano André, Peres, Carlos A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765 and Ferraz, Katia M. P. M. B. (2020) Effects of mammal defaunation on natural ecosystem services and human well being throughout the entire Neotropical realm. Ecosystem Services, 45. ISSN 2212-0416

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Abstract

Mammals embody the apex of ecosystems processes, and their majestic diversity is overwhelmingly threatened in the Neotropical realm. Mammal population declines erode not only several levels of biological diversity, but may also impoverish critical ecosystem services (ES). Based on 2,427 putative baseline mammal assemblages derived from IUCN ranges polygons, we sought to understand, for the first time, the effects of mammal defaunation on natural ecosystem services throughout the entire Neotropical realm. At the assemblage-level, we simulated both stochastic and deterministic regimes of mammal defaunation, examining both diversity indices and classic metrics of ecological networks (e.g. modularity and nestedness). Our results show that ES losses are induced by declines in both taxonomic and functional diversity. Given any defaunation regime, Neotropical provinces undergo levels of ES erosion typically reaching less than a third of all potential network links. Geographic patterns of lost ecosystem services—resulting from simulated and real-world mammal extinctions—indicate that this will detrimentally affect human livelihoods across all major Neotropical provinces. We conclude that the ongoing defaunation process will promote irreversible failures of several mammal-mediated ecosystem processes at varying timescales.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: biodiversity crisis,defaunation,diseases,ecosystem services,mammals,tropical forest,global and planetary change,geography, planning and development,ecology,agricultural and biological sciences (miscellaneous),nature and landscape conservation,management, monitoring, policy and law ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2306
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 12 Nov 2020 01:08
Last Modified: 09 Oct 2024 13:36
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/77645
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101173

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