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Globally, large mammals are in decline. Biological traits including low population densities and longer generation times make them particularly susceptible. Their losses can have wide-ranging ecological consequences, including dramatic reductions in total heterotrophic energy use. To determine the key drivers of variation in energy use, we calculated daily rates of energy flow across the globe for 241 ecological communities, encompassing 441 large mammal species, using camera trap inventories. These were scaled up from individual metabolic rates and compared with various climate, anthropogenic, geographic, and species richness variables using three analytical methods: model selection, spatial autoregression, and a multiple regression method that completely removes multicollinearity known as least-squares orthogonalization. Community energy use is significantly lower in the Neotropics and Australasia than in the Afrotropics and Eurasia. This pattern mirrors the spatial distribution of megafaunal extinction intensity during the Late Pleistocene. Rates not being greatly reduced in the Nearctic is a notable exception to this pattern, and is likely due to the high abundances of certain species not present in the other highly-impacted realms. There are also strong negative correlations between community per-gram rates of energy flow and species richness, indicating that megafauna persist mainly in more speciose communities. The strong geographic differences that dominate energy use patterns indicate that past mammal extinctions are the ultimate cause of modern energetic variation in large mammal communities. If so, then ongoing losses of large mammals will greatly impact community and ecosystem functioning.

Identifying evidence of human modification of extinct animal remains, such as Pleistocene megafauna, is challenging due to the similarity of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic taphonomic features observed under optical microscopy. Here, we re-investigate a Late Pleistocene ground sloth tooth from northeast Brazil, previously suggested as human-modified based only on optical observation. To characterize the macro- and micro-morphological characteristics of the marks preserved in this tooth and evaluate potential human modification, we used stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) supplemented by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV photoluminescence (UV/PL), synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF), and synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SR-µCT). These methods allowed us to discriminate non-anthropogenic taphonomic features (root and sedimentary damage), anthropogenic marks, and histological features. The latter shows the infiltration of exogenous elements into the dentine from the sediments. Our evidence demonstrates the sequence of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic taphonomic modification of this tooth and supports its initial intentional modification by humans. We highlight the benefits of emerging imaging and spectral imaging techniques to investigate and diagnose human modification in fossil and archaeological records and propose that human modification of tooth tissues should be further considered when studying possibly anthropogenically altered fossil remains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy flow through consumer-resource interactions is largely determined by body size. Allometric relationships govern the dynamics of populations by impacting rates of reproduction as well as alternative sources of mortality, which have differential impacts on smaller to larger organisms. Here we derive and investigate the timescales associated with four alternative sources of mortality for terrestrial mammals: mortality from starvation, mortality associated with aging, mortality from consumption by predators, and mortality introduced by anthropogenic subsidized harvest. The incorporation of these allometric relationships into a minimal consumer-resource model illuminates central constraints that may contribute to the structure of mammalian communities. Our framework reveals that while starvation largely impacts smaller-bodied species, the allometry of senescence is expected to be more difficult to observe. In contrast, external predation and subsidized harvest have greater impacts on the populations of larger-bodied species. Moreover, the inclusion of predation mortality reveals mass thresholds for mammalian herbivores, where dynamic instabilities may limit the feasibility of megafaunal populations. We show how these thresholds vary with alternative predator-prey mass relationships, which are not well understood within terrestrial systems. Finally, we use our framework to predict the harvest pressure required to induce mass-specific extinctions, which closely align with previous estimates of anthropogenic megafaunal exploitation in both paleontological and historical contexts. Together our results underscore the tenuous nature of megafaunal populations and how different sources of mortality may contribute to their ephemeral nature over evolutionary time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nothrotherium maquinense, an extinct sloth species that existed alongside other megafauna during the Pleistocene, has been a subject of intense debate regarding various aspects of its life. This study integrates an examination of specific forearm bone fracture (paleopathology) with forelimb functional indices (paleoecology) in N. maquinense in order to infer its likely mode of locomotion and substrate preferences. Our findings provide compelling evidence suggesting that N. maquinense possessed climbing abilities and likely had a semi-arboreal lifestyle. Additionally, we report the first occurrence of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD) in this species, indicating that this type of arthritic condition was present in this sloth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical and ethnographic sources depict use of portable braced shaft weapons, or pikes, in megafauna hunting and defense during Late Holocene millennia in North and South America, Africa, Eurasia and Southeast Asia. Given the predominance of megafauna in Late Pleistocene North America during the centuries when Clovis points appeared and spread across much of the continent (13,050–12,650 cal BP), braced weapons may have been used in hunting of megaherbivores and defense against megacarnivores. Drawing from historical examples of pike use against lions, jaguars, boars, grizzlies, carabao and warhorses we consider the possibility of a fluted lithic pike. Associated osseous rods have been problematic as Clovis foreshafts due to the bevel angle and the apparent weakness of the splint haft when great strength is needed for deep penetration in megafauna hunting. However our review of Late Holocene pike use in megafauna encounters indicates the sharp tip becomes less important after hide or armor has been pierced because compression is sustained. Thus, foreshaft collapse after hide entry may not limit but rather increase the efficacy of the braced weapon. We conduct preliminary static experiments to model a fluted pike that adjusts during compression such that haft collapse and point detachment (when point jams on impact with bone) preserve the fluted biface, beveled rod and wooden mainshaft tip. In addition to Clovis point attributes and association with osseous rods, potential archaeological correlates of Clovis pike use include the high frequency of Clovis point isolates and concentrations of complete points with unbutchered mammoth remains at sites such as Naco in Arizona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several features in the fruit of some neotropical trees likely evolved in response to the interaction with the mammalian megafauna extinct in the late Pleistocene. However, few studies have assessed the interactions between these plants and mammals in the absence of megafauna. We conducted a camera-trapping study in the Reserve of El Triunfo, Chiapas, Southern Mexico, to record the fauna consuming the fruit of the endemic tree Amphitecna montana which has megafauna traits. We surveyed the abundance and the spatial distribution of trees, saplings, and seedlings in 10 transects totalizing 0.1 ha, analyzed the chemical composition of their fruit, and assessed the impact of seed manipulation on germination success and seedling establishment. We recorded 12 species of medium-large mammals but the most frequent consumers of fruit were squirrels. The relationship among trees, saplings, and seedlings did not indicate the existence of a regeneration limitation. All the plant stages showed a clustered spatial pattern, which is in agreement with squirrels being the main seed dispersers. Free seeds were the more successful to germinate and establish as seedlings. Despite the current lack of megafauna in our study area, the A. montana population does not show signs of declining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater megafauna, such as sturgeons, giant catfishes, river dolphins, hippopotami, crocodylians, large turtles, and giant salamanders, have experienced severe population declines and range contractions worldwide. Although there is an increasing number of studies investigating the causes of megafauna losses in fresh waters, little attention has been paid to synthesising the impacts of megafauna on the abiotic environment and other organisms in freshwater ecosystems, and hence the consequences of losing these species. This limited understanding may impede the development of policies and actions for their conservation and restoration. In this review, we synthesise how megafauna shape ecological processes in freshwater ecosystems and discuss their potential for enhancing ecosystem restoration. Through activities such as movement, burrowing, and dam and nest building, megafauna have a profound influence on the extent of water bodies, flow dynamics, and the physical structure of shorelines and substrata, increasing habitat heterogeneity. They enhance nutrient cycling within fresh waters, and cross‐ecosystem flows of material, through foraging and reproduction activities. Freshwater megafauna are highly connected to other freshwater organisms via direct consumption of species at different trophic levels, indirect trophic cascades, and through their influence on habitat structure. The literature documenting the ecological impacts of freshwater megafauna is not evenly distributed among species, regions, and types of ecological impacts, with a lack of quantitative evidence for large fish, crocodylians, and turtles in the Global South and their impacts on nutrient flows and food‐web structure. In addition, population decline, range contraction, and the loss of large individuals have reduced the extent and magnitude of megafaunal impacts in freshwater ecosystems, rendering a posteriori evaluation more difficult. We propose that reinstating freshwater megafauna populations holds the potential for restoring key ecological processes such as disturbances, trophic cascades, and species dispersal, which will, in turn, promote overall biodiversity and enhance nature's contributions to people. Challenges for restoration actions include the shifting baseline syndrome, potential human–megafauna competition for habitats and resources, damage to property, and risk to human life. The current lack of historical baselines for natural distributions and population sizes of freshwater megafauna, their life history, trophic interactions with other freshwater species, and interactions with humans necessitates further investigation. Addressing these knowledge gaps will improve our understanding of the ecological roles of freshwater megafauna and support their full potential for facilitating the development of effective conservation and restoration strategies to achieve the coexistence of humans and megafauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial peopling of South America is a topic of intense archaeological debate. Among the most contentious issues remain the nature of the human-megafauna interaction and the possible role of humans, along with climatic change, in the extinction of several megamammal genera at the end of the Pleistocene. In this study, we present the analysis of fossil remains with cutmarks belonging to a specimen of Neosclerocalyptus (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae), found on the banks of the Reconquista River, northeast of the Pampean region (Argentina), whose AMS 14C dating corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum (21,090–20,811 cal YBP). Paleoenvironmental reconstructions, stratigraphic descriptions, absolute chronological dating of bone materials, and deposits suggest a relatively rapid burial event of the bone assemblage in a semi-dry climate during a wet season. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the cut marks, reconstruction of butchering sequences, and assessments of the possible agents involved in the observed bone surface modifications indicate anthropic activities. Our results provide new elements for discussing the earliest peopling of southern South America and specifically for the interaction between humans and local megafauna in the Pampean region during the Last Glacial Maximum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remoras are a highly specialised group of fishes known to associate with a range of marine megafauna, including elasmobranchs, cetaceans and marine reptiles. Remoras appear to benefit from these interspecific interactions through consumption of host dermal parasites or reduced cost of transport. Shark‐remora associations are widely documented, yet our understanding of the costs and benefits involved in these interactions is poor. Studies frequently make claims about mutualistic, commensalistic or parasitic relationships without providing the necessary quantitative information necessary to make these claims. Here I explain why this approach is problematic, and proceed to examine shark‐remora interactions in a rigorous eco‐evolutionary framework. These interactions cannot be properly classified without considering net evolutionary fitness and context dependence. In reality, shark‐remora interactions are best defined by a multidimensional spectrum of fitness consequences, with net fitness outcomes shifting between mutualism and parasitism (and vice versa) through space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance sampling surveys are extensively used to estimate the abundance of wide-ranging species but are prone to detection biases. This may be particularly acute for strip-transect protocols, which assume perfect detection. We examined this assumption by quantifying the detection probability of a declining seabird (Scopoli's shearwater, Calonectris diomedea), with particular attention to time of day and observation conditions at sea. We found detection probability was negatively affected by sun glare but positively by cloud cover and considerably dropped during mid-day hours due to circadian changes in behaviour (reduced detectability while resting). This result urges for systematically assessing and correcting detection bias when using strip-transect data to derive abundance information. Here, we did so by building a detection-corrected presence-absence ensemble model and combining it with a compilation of colony sizes and locations. A Monte-Carlo simulation ensured uncertainty propagation within and across data sources. The corrected abundance map showed shearwaters were largely prevalent in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia hosting most of the population both at sea and at colonies (45% of the global population; 79% of breeding pairs). This first accurate map is an essential conservation tool, emphasizing the importance of transnational actions for such species, that know no political boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Identifying evidence of human modification of extinct animal remains, such as Pleistocene megafauna, is challenging due to the similarity of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic taphonomic features observed under optical microscopy. Here, we re-investigate a Late Pleistocene ground sloth tooth from northeast Brazil, previously suggested as human-modified based only on optical observation. To characterize the macro- and micro-morphological characteristics of the marks preserved in this tooth and evaluate potential human modification, we used stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) supplemented by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV photoluminescence (UV/PL), synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF), and synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SR-µCT). These methods allowed us to discriminate non-anthropogenic taphonomic features (root and sedimentary damage), anthropogenic marks, and histological features. The latter shows the infiltration of exogenous elements into the dentine from the sediments. Our evidence demonstrates the sequence of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic taphonomic modification of this tooth and supports its initial intentional modification by humans. We highlight the benefits of emerging imaging and spectral imaging techniques to investigate and diagnose human modification in fossil and archaeological records and propose that human modification of tooth tissues should be further considered when studying possibly anthropogenically altered fossil remains.

Until recently, the Kara Sea was a stable ecosystem unaffected by alien species invasions. However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) was detected. Studies conducted between 2013 and 2022 in Blagopoluchiya Bay (Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Kara Sea) provided an opportunity to observe the establishment of a population of this species and its influence on benthic communities. Various sampling methods, such as trawl and grab surveys, as well as video observations, were used to study two main seabed habitats, one in the deep inner basin and the other at the sill at the bay's exit. The study revealed significant changes in benthic ecosystems, including declines in integral benthic characteristics such as abundance, biomass, diversity, and shifts in dominant species. The response of megabenthos and macrobenthos varied between habitats, but in general, there was a sharp decline in the abundance of large bivalves and brittle stars. The observed changes were not related to environmental variability but most likely to the abundance and size structure of the snow crab. The taxonomic and size structure of the benthos changed as crab individuals increased in size, and the changes were faster and more pronounced in the area with higher crab abundance. These findings raise concerns about the potential long-term effects of the snow crab invasion on the Kara Sea ecosystem, including reduced biodiversity and changes in food webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social information is predicted to enhance the quality of animals' migratory decisions in dynamic ecosystems, but the relative benefits of social information in the long-range movements of marine megafauna are unknown. In particular, whether and how migrants use nonlocal information gained through social communication at the large spatial scale of oceanic ecosystems remains unclear. Here we test hypotheses about the cues underlying timing of blue whales' breeding migration in the Northeast Pacific via individual-based models parameterized by empirical behavioral data. Comparing emergent patterns from individual-based models to individual and population-level empirical metrics of migration timing, we find that individual whales likely rely on both personal and social sources of information about forage availability in deciding when to depart from their vast and dynamic foraging habitat and initiate breeding migration. Empirical patterns of migratory phenology can only be reproduced by models in which individuals use long-distance social information about conspecifics' behavioral state, which is known to be encoded in the patterning of their widely propagating songs. Further, social communication improves pre-migration seasonal foraging performance by over 60% relative to asocial movement mechanisms. Our results suggest that long-range communication enhances the perceptual ranges of migrating whales beyond that of any individual, resulting in increased foraging performance and more collective migration timing. These findings indicate the value of nonlocal social information in an oceanic migrant and suggest the importance of long-distance acoustic communication in the collective migration of wide-ranging marine megafauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The downsizing of disperser assemblages by selective defaunation is a worldwide phenomenon thought to have important consequences in animal‐dispersed plants. Numerous large‐seeded Neotropical plants currently depend on the last megafaunal survivors, the large tapirs Tapirus spp., and medium‐sized frugivores. The extent to which medium frugivores are functionally equivalent to tapirs remains unresolved. We combined feeding trials, seed dispersal kernel modeling based on seed retention times and animal movement simulation (Levy walks), and germination experiments in a large‐seeded palm to assess the dispersal quality provided by the largest (tapirs) and two medium (foxes and howler monkeys) frugivore species in terms of dispersal distances and gut passage effects on germination. Tapirs retained the seeds in the gut for much longer (mean = 221 hours) than howlers (43 h) and foxes (22 h). Median dispersal distance by tapirs (1252 m) was 14 and 40 times larger than that by foxes (88 m) and howlers (31 m), respectively. The seed dispersal kernel of tapirs showed a 5th percentile value (291 m) larger than the 95th percentiles of foxes (285 m) and howlers (108 m). Manually depulped and gut‐passed seeds germinated in similar proportions, showing, respectively, 3.5 and 2.5–2.9 times higher values than intact fruits. Germination probability and seed viability decreased with retention time in howlers' and tapirs' gut, with howlers showing a steeper negative relationship. Such detrimental effect implies a trade‐off between germination success and dispersal distance. We conclude that tapirs may not play a unique role in germination enhancement but move seeds much further than medium frugivores, thus playing a critical role as long‐distance dispersers of many plants. This study provides important insights on palm–frugivore interactions and the potential consequences for large‐seeded plants of losing the last megafaunal representatives in the Neotropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides new insights onto spatial and temporal trends of seafloor macro-litter in the abyssal seafloor of Sardinian channel, in central western Mediterranean (Italy). Trawl surveys were conducted at depths between 884 and 1528 m, thus focusing on one of the least investigated marine environments. None of the considered sites was litter free, with plastics being numerically dominant (57% of items), followed by metal (11%) and glass (16%). Recorded densities and weight ranged between 49.9 and 499 items km−2 and 1.4 and 1052 kg km−2. In the most contaminated sites, the weight of the litter collected in nets represented up to nine times the biomass of benthic megafauna, and, overall, in 60% of hauls macro-litter mass outweighed the biomass collected. Moreover, we report that megafauna was observed to be more abundant in sites where macro-litter presence was more severe. More studies are needed to elucidate the nature of this correlation, with biota being more abundant in hotspots of accumulation of seafloor macro-litter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museum legacy collections, often derived from large-scale archaeological excavations, can serve as paleoenvironmental archives of Late Pleistocene megafaunal composition and dynamics. Many of these collections, however, contain large quantities of highly fragmented and morphologically indistinct bones that cannot be identified to a specific taxon and are therefore of limited use to paleoenvironmental and archaeological analyses. Here, we explore the potential of Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to identify fossil bone fragments and complement morphological identifications in legacy collections housed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. To undertake this work, we collected fragmented bone specimens of Late Pleistocene megafauna from six archaeological sites in Colorado that are currently housed in the Department of Anthropology, and then performed pilot ZooMS screening. Our analysis successfully retrieved taxonomic information from 80% of the analyzed material, highlighting the potential of future ZooMS studies on museum collections to investigate human-megafaunal interactions in late Pleistocene North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extinction of the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) at the onset of the Holocene remains an enigma, with conflicting evidence regarding its cause and spatiotemporal dynamics. This partly reflects challenges in determining demographic responses of late Quaternary megafauna to climatic and anthropogenic causal drivers with available genetic and paleontological techniques. Here, we show that elucidating mechanisms of ancient extinctions can benefit from a detailed understanding of fine-scale metapopulation dynamics, operating over many millennia. Using an abundant fossil record, ancient DNA, and high-resolution simulation models, we untangle the ecological mechanisms and causal drivers that are likely to have been integral in the decline and later extinction of the woolly rhinoceros. Our 52,000-y reconstruction of distribution-wide metapopulation dynamics supports a pathway to extinction that began long before the Holocene, when the combination of cooling temperatures and low but sustained hunting by humans trapped woolly rhinoceroses in suboptimal habitats along the southern edge of their range. Modeling indicates that this ecological trap intensified after the end of the last ice age, preventing colonization of newly formed suitable habitats, weakening stabilizing metapopulation processes, triggering the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros in the early Holocene. Our findings suggest that fragmentation and resultant metapopulation dynamics should be explicitly considered in explanations of late Quaternary megafauna extinctions, sending a clarion call to the fragility of the remaining large-bodied grazers restricted to disjunct fragments of poor-quality habitat due to anthropogenic environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans are biased in their preferences for animals, and this may impact the composition of zoological collections. We assessed which kinds of animals the public and zoo professionals want to preserve in zoos for the future and analyzed these lists for previously identified biases and agreement across surveyed groups. We also characterized agreement among the surveyed groups on the roles of zoos and the composition of animal collections. We surveyed people who live in the United States, members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and AZA zoo and aquarium directors. There was agreement among surveyed groups on the roles of zoos, though some differences existed. Zoo professionals and the public generally agreed on the emphasis on various categories of animals for zoo collections, though some differences were noted. We found evidence of bias towards mammals, charismatic megafauna, and felids across all surveyed groups. Agreement was high between AZA members and directors and moderate between zoo professionals and the public. These results indicate that these groups are generally in agreement about the roles of zoos, how they should compose their animal collections, and what animal species, in particular, should be kept in zoos for the future, allowing zoos to compose their collections to maximize delivery on their mission goals as well as address the preferences of the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire and herbivory interact to alter ecosystems and carbon cycling. In savannas, herbivores can reduce fire activity by removing grass biomass, but the size of these effects and what regulates them remain uncertain. To examine grazing effects on fuels and fire regimes across African savannas, we combined data from herbivore exclosure experiments with remotely sensed data on fire activity and herbivore density. We show that, broadly across African savannas, grazing herbivores substantially reduce both herbaceous biomass and fire activity. The size of these effects was strongly associated with grazing herbivore densities, and surprisingly, was mostly consistent across different environments. A one‐zebra increase in herbivore biomass density (~100 kg/km2 of metabolic biomass) resulted in a ~53 kg/ha reduction in standing herbaceous biomass and a ~0.43 percentage point reduction in burned area. Our results indicate that fire models can be improved by incorporating grazing effects on grass biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linking the species interactions occurring at the scale of local communities to their potential impact at evolutionary timescales is challenging. Here, we used the high‐resolution fossil record of mammals from the Iberian Peninsula to reconstruct a timeseries of trophic networks spanning more than 20 million years and asked whether predator–prey interactions affected regional extinction patterns. We found that, despite small changes in species richness, trophic networks showed long‐term trends, gradually losing interactions and becoming sparser towards the present. This restructuring of the ecological networks was driven by the loss of medium‐sized herbivores, which reduced prey availability for predators. The decrease in prey availability was associated with predator longevity, such that predators with less available prey had greater extinction risk. These results not only reveal long‐term trends in network structure but suggest that prey species richness in ecological communities may shape large scale patterns of extinction and persistence among predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the relationships between plants and extinct megafauna by examining the characteristics of the vegetation in the central region of Argentina (i.e. Espinal, Monte, and Chaco phytogeographic regions). First, we study the size, shape, quantity, and characteristics of fruits and seeds. We also evaluate the presence of mechanical (spinescence and wood density) and chemical (secondary metabolic compounds) defenses against high rates of herbivory. Complementarily, we assess the importance these plants had for human populations, using archeological, ethnographic, and current data. A high percentage of the analyzed plants met the criteria proposed for fruits and seeds dispersed by megafauna, together with a high frequency of spinescence, high density woods, and secondary metabolites. We propose that these traits cannot be explained by the herbivory pressure of extant fauna in the area, but rather developed in interaction with currently extinct fauna. We suggest that Pleistocene megafaunal extinction had important consequences in the region due to their role as ecosystem engineers and to vegetation's characteristics, which were probably strongly shaped by megafauna activities. Among these consequences, we discuss the loss of certain interactions between these animals and vegetation, such as loss of seed dispersal mechanisms, shrub invasion, and increased susceptibility of vegetation to fire. Other effects for hunter-gatherer groups were the generation of highly regulated mobility patterns and the formation of barriers for the dispersal of prey. Finally, we also discuss the importance of these plants for human populations as food, construction material, medicines and firewood. Likewise, the role of humans as "heirs" of the megafauna in the propagation of tree and shrub species is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Simple Summary: In northern Australia, large native herbivorous mammals (weighing over 1000 kg) disappeared about 46 kya, and they have been replaced in the last 200 years by a range of introduced mammalian herbivores up to 1000 kg in bodyweight. Only one native herbivore has an adult bodyweight approaching 100 kg, and for the past 200 years, the total biomass of introduced domestic and wild vertebrate herbivores has massively exceeded that of native herbivorous species. Following a comprehensive review, we conclude that the current guild of native and introduced mammalian herbivores differentially utilises the landscape ecologically. However, climate- and anthropogenically related changes due to fire, drought, flooding, predation and introduced weeds are likely to have significant impacts on the trajectory of their relative ecological roles and populations. Given their differing ecological and dietary characteristics, against this backdrop, it is unclear what the potential impact of the dispersal of deer species could have in northern Australia. There is a dearth of supporting evidence to inform appropriate sustainable management should deer range expansion occur. We identify suitable research required to fill the identified knowledge gaps. We explored the ecological and historical factors that led to formation of the unique guild of native and introduced mammalian herbivores between 5 and 1000 kg in northern Australia. Following the disappearance of large native herbivores about 46 kya, and until the arrival of Europeans and their livestock, the only herbivorous mammals were mid-sized endemic marsupial macropods, which continued to utilise the same vegetation as their much larger former neighbours. Only one species of contemporary native herbivore has an adult bodyweight approaching 100 kg, and for the past 150–200 years, the total biomass of introduced domestic and wild vertebrate herbivores has massively exceeded that of native herbivorous species. We conclude that the current guild of native and introduced mammalian herbivores differentially utilises the landscape ecologically. However, climate- and anthropogenically related changes due to fire, drought, flooding, predation and introduced weeds are likely to have significant impacts on the trajectory of their relative ecological roles and populations. Given their differing ecological and dietary characteristics, against this backdrop, it is unclear what the potential impact of the dispersal of deer species could have in northern Australia. We hence focus on whether sufficient knowledge exists against which the potential impacts of the range expansion of three deer species can be adequately assessed and have found a dearth of supporting evidence to inform appropriate sustainable management. We identify suitable research required to fill the identified knowledge gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Late Cretaceous of western North America supported diverse dinosaur assemblages, though understanding patterns of dinosaur diversity, evolution, and extinction has been historically limited by unequal geographic and temporal sampling. In particular, the existence and extent of faunal endemism along the eastern coastal plain of Laramidia continues to generate debate, and finer scale regional patterns remain elusive. Here, we report a new centrosaurine ceratopsid, Lokiceratops rangiformis, from the lower portion of the McClelland Ferry Member of the Judith River Formation in the Kennedy Coulee region along the Canada-USA border. Dinosaurs from the same small geographic region, and from nearby, stratigraphically equivalent horizons of the lower Oldman Formation in Canada, reveal unprecedented ceratopsid richness, with four sympatric centrosaurine taxa and one chasmosaurine taxon. Phylogenetic results show that Lokiceratops, together with Albertaceratops and Medusaceratops, was part of a clade restricted to a small portion of northern Laramidia approximately 78 million years ago. This group, Albertaceratopsini, was one of multiple centrosaurine clades to undergo geographically restricted radiations, with Nasutuceratopsini restricted to the south and Centrosaurini and Pachyrostra restricted to the north. High regional endemism in centrosaurs is associated with, and may have been driven by, high speciation rates and diversity, with competition between dinosaurs limiting their geographic range. High speciation rates may in turn have been driven in part by sexual selection or latitudinally uneven climatic and floral gradients. The high endemism seen in centrosaurines and other dinosaurs implies that dinosaur diversity is underestimated and contrasts with the large geographic ranges seen in most extant mammalian megafauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring wild communities of large herbivores is critical for the conservation of biodiverse ecosystems, but environmental changes in the twenty-first century could drastically affect the availability of habitats. We projected future habitat dynamics for 18 wild large herbivores in Europe and the relative future potential patterns of species richness and assemblage mean body weight considering four alternative scenarios of socioeconomic development in human society and greenhouse gas emissions (SSP1–RCP2.6, SSP2–RCP4.5, SSP3–RCP7.0, SSP5–RCP8.5). Under SSP1–RCP2.6, corresponding to a transition towards sustainable development, we found stable habitat suitability for most species and overall stable assemblage mean body weight compared to the present, with an average increase in species richness (in 2100: 3.03 ± 1.55 compared to today′s 2.25 ± 1.31 species/area). The other scenarios are generally unfavourable for the conservation of wild large herbivores, although under the SSP5–RCP8.5 scenario there would be increase in species richness and assemblage mean body weight in some southern regions (e.g. + 62.86 kg mean body weight in Balkans/Greece). Our results suggest that a shift towards a sustainable socioeconomic development would overall provide the best prospect of our maintaining or even increasing the diversity of wild herbivore assemblages in Europe, thereby promoting trophic complexity and the potential to restore functioning and self-regulating ecosystems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most terrestrial large mammals went extinct on different continents at the end of the Pleistocene, between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. Besides the loss in species diversity and the truncation of body mass distributions, those extinctions were even more impactful to interaction diversity. Along with each extinction, dozens of ecological interactions were lost, reorganizing species interaction networks, which attained species-poor configurations with low functional redundancy. Extinctions of most large herbivores impacted energy flow and the rates of nutrient cycling, reconfiguring ecosystem-level networks. Because large mammals have high mobility, their loss also shortened seed-dispersal distance and reduced nutrient diffusivity, disrupting spatial networks. This review examines the recent advances in understanding how different types of ecological networks have been restructured by megafaunal extinctions and how this reorganization affected ecosystem functions. Megafaunal extinctions resulted in the loss of multiple ecological interactions in terrestrial systems. Interaction loss reshaped different types of ecological networks including food webs and spatial networks. The reorganization of ecological networks changed how terrestrial ecosystems are structured and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A free-fall baited camera lander was launched for the first time on the Cosmonaut Sea shelf of East Antarctica at a depth of 694 m during the 38th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) in 2022. We identified 31 unique taxa (23 were invertebrates and eight were fish) belonging to eight phyla from 2403 pictures and 40 videos. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsi) was the most frequently observed fish taxa. Ten species of vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) taxa were observed, accounting for 32% of all species. The maximum number (MaxN) of Natatolana meridionalis individuals per image frame was ten, and they were attracted to the bait. The macrobenthic community type were sessile suspension feeders with associated fauna (SSFA), which was shaped by the muddy substrata with scattered rocks. Rocks served as the best habitats for sessile fauna. The study reveals the megafauna community and their habitat by image survey in the Cosmonaut Sea for the first time. It helped us obtain Antarctic biodiversity baselines and monitoring data for future ecosystem health assessment and better protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The first quantitative video survey of the benthic megafauna was carried out on a transect in the eastern part of the Kara Sea from the slope of the Voronin Trough to the upper shelf in the depth range from 1680 to 70 metres. The data were obtained using the TUV "Videomodule" during the 89th cruise of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in autumn 2022. It was shown that the megabenthos in this area differs significantly from that of the western part of the sea and Blagopoluchiya Bay (Novaya Zemlya). In the eastern part of the Kara Sea, echinoderms dominated, among which ophiuroids were in the first place, whereas in the western part of the sea and the Blagopoluchiya Bay, the key component of the megafauna was the snow crab Chionoecetes opilio. Single adults of Ch. opilio were recorded for the first time at almost all stations in the eastern part of the sea, but, in contrast to the western area, the snow crab has not yet become dominant here and has not influenced the benthic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-bodied animals, such as the Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), may modify prey communities and affect their potential competitors for food resources by consuming large quantities of prey. The Mekong giant catfish is a key representative of freshwater megafauna and is stocked in reservoirs in Thailand for species conservation and fishery stock enhancement. However, their biological interactions with other sympatric animals remain unclear. Here, we aimed to investigate the trophic niche of the Mekong giant catfish in a Thai reservoir by comparing stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N, respectively) and fatty acid (FA) composition with those of five other sympatric fish species. The δ13C value of the Mekong giant catfish was –24.4 ± 1.0‰ (mean ± SD), the second highest among the sympatric fish species, suggesting relatively weak reliance on phytoplankton-based food chains. The δ15N value of the Mekong giant catfish was 10.7 ± 0.4‰, intermediate between those of herbivorous and carnivorous fishes, indicating that it is not a primary consumer. The FA composition of the Mekong giant catfish significantly differed from those of the other fish species and was characterized by a large proportion of long-chain FA, including 22:6n-3, 20:5n-3, and 20:1n-9. The δ13C, δ15N, and FA signatures suggest that the Mekong giant catfish occupy distinct trophic niches in food webs. Our results highlight that it is necessary to monitor the ecological impacts of released Mekong giant catfish on lower-level consumers through their foraging in receiving reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater megafish species, such as sturgeons, salmonids, carps, and catfishes, have a maximum reported weight ≥30 kg. Due to their charisma and economic value, they have been widely introduced outside of their native ranges. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the introduction of freshwater megafish and an assessment of their environmental impacts. Of the 134 extant freshwater megafish species, 46% have been introduced to new environments, and of these, 69% have established self‐sustaining alien populations. These introductions affect 59% of the world's main basins, with the USA and western Europe being particular hotspots of megafish introductions. The common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is the most widely introduced species. Using the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT and EICAT+) frameworks, we assessed the severity and type of negative and positive impacts posed by alien megafish on native species. Alien megafish caused negative impacts through nine different mechanisms, with predation being the most frequently reported mechanism, followed by herbivory and competition. Moreover, 58% of the alien megafish species with sufficient data to evaluate the severity of their impacts caused declining populations of native species, or worse, extirpations of native species populations. The positive environmental impacts of alien megafish were far less frequently documented. They include biotic interactions that benefit native species, and the provision of trophic resources or habitats. Widely introduced or extensively studied species are more likely to have documented severe impacts on native species. There is a clear trade‐off between the economic benefits associated with megafish introductions and the severe adverse impacts they have on native biodiversity. Our study highlights the need for comprehensive risk assessments to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of megafish. More research and long‐term monitoring schemes are required to inform management actions to protect biodiversity, particularly in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An animal's movement is influenced by a plethora of internal and external factors, leading to individual‐ and habitat‐specific movement characteristics. This plasticity is thought to allow individuals to exploit diverse environments efficiently. We tested whether the movement characteristics of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias differ across ontogeny and among habitats along the coast of Central California. In doing so, we elucidate how changes in internal state (physiological changes coinciding with body size) and external environments (differing seascapes and/or diel phases) shape the movement of this globally distributed predator. Twenty‐one white sharks, from small juveniles to large adults, were equipped with motion‐sensitive biologging tags at four contrasting seascapes: two islands, a headland, and an inshore cove. From multisensor biologging data, 20 metrics characterizing movement (i.e., depth use, vertical velocities, activity, turning rates, and bursting events) were derived and subjected to multivariate analyses. Movement characteristics were most different across seascapes, followed by ontogeny and diel phase. Juvenile sharks, which were only encountered at the cove, displayed the most distinct movement characteristics. Sharks at this seascape remained close to the shore traveling over smaller areas, shallower depth ranges, and with lower levels of tail beat frequencies, when corrected for size, than sub‐adult and adult sharks tagged elsewhere. Distinct tortuous daytime versus linear nighttime horizontal movements were recorded from sharks at island seascapes but not from those at the headland or inshore cove. At the offshore islands, the linear nighttime swimming patterns coincided with repeated dives to and from deeper water. The availability of prey and access to deeper water are likely drivers of the differences in movement characteristics described, with varying demographics of pinniped prey found at the subadult and adult aggregation areas and juvenile sharks being piscivorous and their habitat neither adjacent to pinniped haul out areas nor deeper water. This study demonstrates plasticity in the movements of a top predator, which adapts its routine to suit the habitat it forages within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elasmobranch population is declining in the Bay of Bengal of Bangladesh due to large-mesh gill net fishing, locally known as the Lakkha net, which primarily targets Indian threadfin (Leptomelanosoma indicum). This study was the first attempt to identify megafaunal bycatch in Lakkha fishing and assess its vulnerability using Productivity Susceptibility Analysis. A total of 40 elasmobranch bycatch species were identified, with sharks comprising 13 species from three families, while 27 rays belonged to six families, with the majority belonging to the Myliobatiformes order (60 %). Productivity and susceptibility scores were assigned to all identified species, with values ranging from 1.27 to 2.73 and 1.50 to 2.63, respectively. The target Lakkha fish exhibited the highest susceptibility score, followed by several pelagic sharks and eagle rays. Vulnerability assessment revealed that 31.7 % (n = 13) of species were highly vulnerable, while 43.9 % (n = 18) were classified as moderate, and 24.4 % (n = 10) were considered to have low vulnerability. All the high-risk megafauna species (n = 13) are classified as threatened by the global IUCN Red List. Sensitivity analysis highlighted susceptibility as a major contributor to species’ vulnerability. Alterations in susceptibility scores led to significant changes in the vulnerability status of many species. The overall data quality assessment indicated moderate data quality across species, with variability observed between productivity (76 % of species received a poor data quality score) and susceptibility attributes. However, vulnerability of these species can be reduced through adequate gear modification, shorter net deployment periods, adoption of safe discharge techniques, identification of critical habitats, and establishment of marine protected areas within this region. This study provides valuable insights into the species composition and vulnerability of elasmobranchs in the Lakkha gill net fishery, emphasizing the need for conservation measures to mitigate bycatch impacts on threatened species.

La Sociedad Nacional de Pesquería (SNP) creó en 2017 el Programa Salvamares, la primera iniciativa de un gremio pesquero privado a nivel mundial con el objetivo de proteger el ecosistema marino, así como determinar los efectos de la interacción de la flota pesquera con las especies de depredadores superiores y difundir conocimientos. En el presente artículo se describe la experiencia de la implementación de este programa de buenas prácticas en el periodo 2017-2022. El programa, que abarca actualmente 18 empresas pesqueras, se basa en la colecta de datos del ecosistema mediante el empleo de embarcaciones pesqueras industriales de pesca de cerco durante las temporadas de pesca de anchoveta, jurel y caballa, al igual que durante las actividades coordinadas con el Instituto del Mar del Perú (Imarpe) en los cruceros de evaluación de especies pelágicas. La información se registra con una bitácora de pesca, un aplicativo y ecosondas digitales. Sesenta embarcaciones están equipadas con ecosondas digitales SIMRAD modelos ES60, ES70 y ES80, operando con una frecuencia de 120 KHz, con las que se registra información de hasta 300 m de profundidad durante los viajes de pesca. En los seis primeros años del programa, se capacitó a un pescador por embarcación respecto a la manera correcta de registrar datos de depredadores marinos durante la navegación y lances de pescas, hasta alcanzar el 100 % de la flota (228 embarcaciones). Los registros de aves y lobos marinos son los más comunes. Asimismo, hasta 2022 se ha logrado liberar a 9892 individuos de la megafauna marina que interactuaron durante las faenas de pesca. Se ha creado una base de datos del ecosistema denominada PESCADATA-SNP, y se han difundido conocimientos en más de 50 conferencias de sostenibilidad.

Ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) from lake sediments has yielded remarkable insights for the reconstruction of past ecosystems, including suggestions of late survival of extinct species. However, translocation and lateral inflow of DNA in sediments can potentially distort the stratigraphic signal of the DNA. Using three different approaches on two short lake sediment cores of the Yamal peninsula, West Siberia, with ages spanning only the past hundreds of years, we detect DNA and identified mitochondrial genomes of multiple mammoth and woolly rhinoceros individuals-- both species that have been extinct for thousands of years on the mainland. The occurrence of clearly identifiable aeDNA of extinct Pleistocene megafauna (e.g. >400 K reads in one core) throughout these two short subsurface cores, along with specificities of sedimentology and dating, confirm that processes acting on regional scales, such as extensive permafrost thawing, can influence the aeDNA record and should be accounted for in aeDNA paleoecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megafauna are important seed dispersers because they can disperse large quantities of seeds over long distances. In Hokkaido, Japan, the largest terrestrial animal is the brown bear (Ursus arctos) and other megafauna seed dispersers are lacking. Thus, brown bears are expected to have an important function as seed dispersers in Hokkaido. In this study, we, for the first time, evaluated the seed dispersal function of brown bears in Hokkaido using three fleshy-fruited trees and studied: (1) gut passage time (GPT) in feeding experiments, (2) seed dispersal distance using tracking data of wild bears, and (3) the effect of gut passage and pulp removal on germination rate. Most seeds were defecated intact, and less than 6% were broken. The average GPT without pulp was 3 h and 56 min to 6 h and 13 min, depending on the plant and trial. Each plant's average simulated seed dispersal distance was 202–512 m. The dispersal distance of Actinidia arguta seeds with pulp was significantly longer than those without pulp because of their longer GPT. The germination rate of defecated seeds without pulp was 19–51%, depending on the plant, and was significantly higher or not different comparing with that of seeds with pulp. We concluded that brown bears in Hokkaido are effective seed dispersers. In managing brown bears in Hokkaido, such ecological functions should be considered along with conserving the bear population and reducing human–bear conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is one of the important megafaunas in protected areas of the Terai (lowland) region of Nepal. They often encounter humans and their livelihood-supporting activities in the proximity of forest boundary within the protected area. The human-elephant conflict has been one of the major issues in the human settlement close to the protected area, which has caused economic losses and poised a threat to human lives every year. The issue has obstructed sustainable management initiatives within the protected areas. The objective of the study is to analyze the cause of the human-elephant conflict in the Buffer Zone of Bardiya National Park and to assess people's perception of this megafauna. The structured questionnaire survey was done in three municipalities within the Buffer Zone of Bardiya National Park. Besides, key informants' interview was done to supplement the questionnaire survey. The result shows that 93% of the respondents have been a victim of elephant attacks in the past three years. Last year, on average, each household lost approximately NRs 9690 (USD 1 = NRs 132.72) worth of stored harvest due to the elephant attack. Most of the attack occurs during the season between July to September, followed by the season between October to December. It also indicates that the preference of elephants for crops is the primary cause of elephant attacks/raids in the study area. The second important cause of the elephant attack is insufficient food base which is followed by the expansion of agricultural fields towards the forest. Ninety percent of respondents react to the elephant attack by chasing them (using fire or noise). Fifty-one percent of respondents accept the human-elephant coexistence because of their biological and economic values. However, 40% of them reject the coexistence because of the threat posed by the elephant upon the local people and their livelihood. Human-elephant conflict hinders the management campaign and therefore has to be resolved through collaboration of the protected area, the local people and the administrative stakeholders. It is suggested that more study has to be made to acknowledge the pattern of residing as well as migrating elephants around forest boundaries and adjacent settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing nets (i.e., ghost nets) strongly affect biodiversity in marine ecosystems of numerous localities around the world. Based on videos posted by different people in YouTube™, we accessed the negative effects of these gears in the Mediterranean Sea. We identified 86 species, from 12 groups, in 12 countries within the Mediterranean region (including in the Africa, Europe, and Asia). Of the species entangled in ghost nets, 10 are considered threatened with extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Fishes and macrocrustaceans were the most recorded groups entangled in ghost nets. We also identified algae, other invertebrates (i.e., cnidarians, echinoderms, molluscs, poriferans, tunicates) and vertebrates (i.e., turtles and mammals). The larger number of ghost fishing events were recorded in Italy and Turkey. This is the most complete study showing the negative effects of ghost nets on marine biodiversity worldwide, based on data retrieved from digital media. With the available literature, our data are important to implement measures against ghost fishing nets in the Mediterranean Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Red tide" is the popular name for a harmful algal bloom that occurs frequently in Florida waters and has significant impacts on the environment, the economy, and human and animal health. This paper addresses the limited understanding of public attitudes surrounding red tide and the potential for message framing to increase support for mitigation action. A sample of Florida residents (n = 498) was randomly shown a digital article framed around different red tide impacts (economic loss, human health risks, ecosystem damage, or harm to charismatic species) or a control article not framed around a specific red tide impact. Participants were then queried about their emotional responses, support for red tide mitigation policies, and intentions to change their behavior to mitigate impacts. Participants reported higher levels of negative emotions after viewing the harm to charismatic megafauna framing, indicating that messaging may play a significant role in eliciting environmental emotions. Message frames did not significantly impact other policy attitudes. Results demonstrate barriers to shifting support for mitigation where public support for action is already high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of some ecosystems remains poorly understood. We showed that mesophotic ecosystems (30 to 150 m) are a key habitat for a critically endangered species, with strong evidence that a globally important population of adult hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) almost exclusively foraged at these depths on remote submerged banks. This discovery highlights the need for such areas to be included in conservation planning, for example, as part of the United Nations High Seas Treaty. We equipped nesting turtles with Fastloc-GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite tags at an Indian Ocean breeding area and they all traveled to deep foraging sites (6765 days of tracking data across 22 individuals including 183,921 dive-depth measurements) rather than shallow coral reef sites. Both chart depths and depth data relayed from the tags indicated that turtles foraged at mesophotic depths, the modal dive depths being between 35 and 40 m. We calculate that 55,554 km2 of the western Indian Ocean alone consists of submerged banks between 30 and 60 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the use of coastal and offshore environments expands, there is a need to better understand the exposure of marine megafauna to anthropogenic activities that potentially threaten their populations. Individual satellite telemetry studies are often hampered by small sample sizes, providing limited information on spatiotemporal distributions of migratory animals and their relationships to anthropogenic threats. We addressed this issue by synthesising satellite tracking data from 484 individuals of three taxonomic groups and six species; three marine turtle, two whale and one shark. The spatial overlap between taxa distributions and multiple anthropogenic activities was assessed as a proxy for the cumulative exposure of these taxa to anthropogenic threats (coastal modification, vessel strike, underwater noise, oil spill, bycatch, entanglement, and artificial light) across an area totalling 2,205,740 km2 off north-western Australia. Core exposure areas (top 50% of the distribution) encompassed ecologically important sites for all taxa, such as the Ningaloo and Pilbara regions, migratory routes for whales and sharks in offshore waters beyond Ningaloo Reef, and marine turtle nesting beaches at Barrow Island and Cape Lambert. Although areas of high exposure represented <14% of taxa distributions, we showed that no taxa occurred in the absence of threats and that even areas with existing spatial protections are experiencing high levels of exposure. Importantly, we developed a robust approach for documenting the potential exposure of marine species to a range of human activities at appropriate spatial scales to inform conservation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present new records of the extinct South American proboscidean Notiomastodon platensis from three new fossiliferous sites in the riverbed of Cauca River, in the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. The fossil specimens were found in late Pleistocene deposits and include immature to senile Notiomastodon platensis individuals, comprising abundant dental and post-cranial materials. A review of the geographic distribution of the Notiomastodon platensis records in Colombia suggests that this giant mammal used the inter-Andean valleys as migratory corridors, possibly due to the presence of more suitable environmental conditions (lower temperatures and dry-forest) and energy-saving terrains, avoiding more prominent Andean hills. In addition, the Cauca Valley deposits stand out as having palaeontological significance to the comprehension of the late Pleistocene of the western region of South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large mammalian herbivores (megafauna) have experienced extinctions and declines since prehistory. Introduced megafauna have partly counteracted these losses yet are thought to have unusually negative effects on plants compared with native megafauna. Using a meta-analysis of 3995 plot-scale plant abundance and diversity responses from 221 studies, we found no evidence that megafauna impacts were shaped by nativeness, “invasiveness,” “feralness,” coevolutionary history, or functional and phylogenetic novelty. Nor was there evidence that introduced megafauna facilitate introduced plants more than native megafauna. Instead, we found strong evidence that functional traits shaped megafauna impacts, with larger-bodied and bulk-feeding megafauna promoting plant diversity. Our work suggests that trait-based ecology provides better insight into interactions between megafauna and plants than do concepts of nativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Assessing the distribution and abundance of marine fauna and the ecological status of coastal and pelagic ecosystems is key to biodiversity conservation, but the monitoring of mobile marine species raises multiple logistical and financial challenges. Aims: The project describes the distribution, abundance and taxonomic assemblage of several marine megafauna taxa in three subregions of the western and central South Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and French Polynesia). Methods: Large-scale aerial surveys were conducted using a standardised multi-taxon protocol, to characterise the occurrence and abundance of marine megafauna over 2.5 million km2. Analysing more than 122 000 km of transects, the densities of 22 different taxa were estimated: seven taxonomic groups of marine mammals (Physeteridae, Kogiidae, Ziphiidae, Globicephalinae, Small Delphininae, Large Delphininae, and Dugongidae), a single group for hard-shelled sea turtles, three groups of elasmobranchs (including whale sharks), and 11 groups of seabirds (including Phaethontidae, Hydrobatidae, Fregatidae and Sulidae). Key results: Contrasting patterns of species distribution were found. Marine mammal diversity increases north and west, with a distinct species assemblage in New Caledonia, compared to other subregions. A strong latitudinal gradient was observed across French Polynesia, independent of taxa. Conclusions: This study provides the first comparison of marine species assemblages across the three oceanic subregions and sets a regional baseline for the biogeography of marine megafauna in the region. Implications: The taxonomic and spatial extension of the results opens up new perspectives for the development of local conservation measures, especially for taxa with already documented population declines. This study simultaneously describes the spatial distribution and densities of 22 distinct taxonomic groups of marine mammals, sea turtles, elasmobranchs and seabirds over three large oceanic subregions of the western and central South Pacific Ocean. It demonstrates the value of multi-taxa monitoring applied to aerial surveys of offshore marine megafauna, and provides a baseline for future conservation measures. This article belongs to the Collection Marine Mammals in the Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Golden Trevally, Gnathanodon speciosus , is a large predatory fish with an extremely broad tropical Indo-Pacific distribution that crosses many biogeographical boundaries. Both published information and freely available imagery suggest that small juvenile G. speciosus are often associated with whale sharks, Rhincodon typus ; an association that could explain the unusually widespread distribution of G. speciosus , and suggests a novel nursery relationship. The possibility of such an association has the potential to reshape our understanding of the ecological roles played by long-range migrants such as R. typus and other megafauna, our understanding of the full extent of their conservation value, and how we manage both members of the relationship. The Golden Trevally, Gnathanodon speciosus , is a large predatory fish with an extremely broad tropical Indo-Pacific distribution crossing many biogeographical boundaries. Published information and freely available imagery suggest that small juvenile G. speciosus are often associated with whale sharks, Rhincodon typus ; an association that could explain their unusually wide-spread distribution, and suggests a novel nursery relationship. The occurrence of such an association reshapes our understanding of the ecological roles played by long-range migrants such as R. typus and other megafauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of wild animals and their monitoring over large areas raises many logistical and technical difficulties that hinder the collection of observation data. The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has increased significantly in recent years. QGIS, an open-source GIS software dedicated to the processing of geospatial data, enables the development of dedicated plugins for specific workflows. The open-source PelaSIG plugin has been developed in Python for QGIS 3 to facilitate and standardise the different steps before and after distance sampling surveys. It brings together a set of tools for survey preparation, automatic data checking, visualisation and presentation of survey effort and sightings to provide an adapted workflow. This plugin is currently designed to process dedicated aerial datasets collected with the SAMMOA software during marine megafauna surveys (i.e., marine mammals, seabirds, elasmobranchs, sea turtles, etc.). Here, we first describe the different tools already available, and then, we present an application with the dataset from the aerial survey of the ACCOBAMS Survey Initiative (ASI) conducted in 2018 over the Mediterranean Sea and using a multitarget protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three species of elephant are among the rare survivors of the Pleistocene megafauna now clinging on to their existence. Although they are among the most iconic and best-loved mammal species, all three are now in danger of extinction within this century. The key problem is their relationship with humans, which got off to a bad start in the Palaeolithic. Michael Gross reports. Three species of elephant are among the rare survivors of the Pleistocene megafauna now clinging on to their existence. Although they are among the most iconic and best-loved mammal species, all three are now in danger of extinction. The key problem is their relationship with humans, which got off to a bad start in the Palaeolithic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An estimated three million shipwrecks exist worldwide and are recognized as cultural resources and foci of archaeological investigations. Shipwrecks also support ecological resources by providing underwater habitats that can be colonized by diverse organisms ranging from microbes to megafauna. In the present article, we review the emerging ecological subdiscipline of shipwreck ecology, which aims to understand ecological functions and processes that occur on shipwrecks. We synthesize how shipwrecks create habitat for biota across multiple trophic levels and then describe how fundamental ecological functions and processes, including succession, zonation, connectivity, energy flow, disturbance, and habitat degradation, manifest on shipwrecks. We highlight future directions in shipwreck ecology that are ripe for exploration, placing a particular emphasis on how shipwrecks may serve as experimental networks to address long-standing ecological questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Reconstructing megafauna diversity in the past before anthropogenic impacts is crucial for developing targeted restoration strategies. We estimated the diversity and functional decline of European megafauna in the present compared with the nearest in‐time climate period analogue to the present but prior to the worldwide diffusion of Homo sapiens. Location: Europe. Time Period: Last Interglacial (LIG; ca. 127,000 years ago) to present. Major Taxa Studied: Wild, large (≥10 kg) terrestrial mammals. Methods: We assessed the distribution of 48 European megafauna species during the LIG using hindcasting modelling and fossil records. Then, we estimated the decline in megafauna community diversity and potential trait‐based functional effects from the LIG to the present, accounting for climate differences between the two periods. Results: Species richness and community biomass dropped by 70.8% (±11.7%) and by 94.5% (±9.9%). Functional diversity dropped by 80.3% (±15.3%) for herbivores and by 64.9% (±29.1%) for carnivores, while trait‐informed potential vegetation and meat consumptions dropped by 82.3% (±13.4%) and 60.5% (±26.0%). The loss in megafauna diversity and associated ecological processes were high everywhere, but particularly in western Europe for carnivores and in the East European Plain for herbivores. Potential megafauna richness in the two periods was similar if only climate‐driven differences were considered. Main Conclusions: Severe, size‐biased defaunation has degraded megafauna assemblages and megafauna‐mediated ecological processes across Europe from the LIG to the present. These patterns cannot be explained by climate differences between the two periods, thus were likely driven by prehistoric Homo sapiens. The results suggest that the structure of wild ecosystems of the present strongly deviates from the evolutionary norm, with decreased functional heterogeneity and decreased fluxes of biogeochemical compounds across the trophic networks, highlighting the importance of ambitious policies of megafauna community restoration to support ecosystem functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bycatch is one of the main causes of mortality among marine megafauna around the world. In the coastal waters of southern Brazil, bycatch in gillnet fisheries affects threatened species that use this region as a breeding and feeding area. The identification of hotspot areas of bycatch is necessary to design and prioritize efficient spatial–temporal closures that protect the largest possible number of threatened species of marine megafauna. In this context, the use of a multispecies approach is an important step towards planning effective fisheries management measures. This study has two main objectives: (1) to identify hotspot areas of bycatch in gillnet fisheries for the most threatened marine megafauna species on the continental shelf of Rio Grande do Sul (RS); (2) compare single species and multispecies mapping methods for the identification of these areas. To meet these objectives, data collected by onboard observers during fishing trips in the coastal commercial RS-based gillnet fleet between 2013 and 2015 and between 2018 and 2020 were analyzed. For the identification of the areas, hierarchical Bayesian spatio-temporal models were implemented, using monospecific and multispecific approaches and a weighting system for the conservation status of the species. Both approaches provide similar results, identifying three bycatch hotspots according to the time frame analysed. Based on our findings, we propose these areas as the top candidates for fishing exclusion zones, based on their biodiversity value. The suggested spatio-temporal closures would benefit several endangered species while also contributing to the recovery of fish populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]