Plio-Pleistocene African megaherbivore losses associated with community biomass restructuring

Bibi, Faysal; Cantalapiedra, Juan L.

doi:10.1126/science.add8366

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 160 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…However, a mounting body of evidence suggests that the disappearance of numerous large herbivores, likely preceded by declines in population density, can be explained by an interplay of natural and anthropogenic variables. These include shifts in climate, alterations in the environment, species interactions, and the expansion of human populations [ 60 – 62 ]. Hence, we argue that the observed decline in the population of S. c. caffer started from the latter stages of the Pleistocene could similarly be attributed to these phenomena.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide diversity, population structure and signatures of inbreeding in the African buffalo in Mozambique

Colangelo,

Di Civita,

Bento

et al. 2024

BMC Ecol Evo

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The African buffalo, Syncerus caffer, is a key species in African ecosystems. Like other large herbivores, it plays a fundamental role in its habitat acting as an ecosystem engineer. Over the last few centuries, African buffalo populations have declined because of range contraction and demographic decline caused by direct or indirect human activities. In Mozambique, historically home to large buffalo herds, the combined effect of colonialism and subsequent civil wars has created a critical situation that urgently needs to be addressed. In this study, we focused on the analysis of genetic diversity of Syncerus caffer caffer populations from six areas of Mozambique. Using genome-wide SNPs obtained from ddRAD sequencing, we examined the population structure across the country, estimated gene flow between areas under conservation management, including national reserves, and assessed the inbreeding coefficients. Our results indicate that all studied populations of Syncerus caffer caffer are genetically depauperate, with a high level of inbreeding. Moreover, buffaloes in Mozambique present a significant population differentiation between southern and central areas. We found an unexpected genotype in the Gorongosa National Park, where buffaloes experienced a dramatic population size reduction, that shares a common ancestry with southern populations of Catuane and Namaacha. This could suggest the past occurrence of a connection between southern and central Mozambique and that the observed population structuring could reflect recent events of anthropogenic origin. All the populations analysed showed high levels of homozygosity, likely due to extensive inbreeding over the last few decades, which could have increased the frequency of recessive deleterious alleles. Improving the resilience of Syncerus caffer caffer in Mozambique is essential for preserving the ecosystem integrity. The most viable approach appears to be facilitating translocations and re-establishing connectivity between isolated herds. However, our results also highlight the importance of assessing intraspecific genetic diversity when considering interventions aimed at enhancing population viability such as selecting suitable source populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide diversity, population structure and signatures of inbreeding in the African buffalo in Mozambique

Colangelo,

Di Civita,

Bento

et al. 2024

BMC Ecol Evo

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Hominin turnover at Laetoli is associated with vegetation change: Multiproxy evidence from the large herbivore community

Fillion,

Harrison

2024

Journal of Human Evolution

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The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene

Svenning,

Lemoine,

Bergman

et al. 2024

Camb. prisms Extinction

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Across the last ~50,000 years (the late Quaternary) terrestrial vertebrate faunas have experienced severe losses of large species (megafauna), with most extinctions occurring in the Late Pleistocene and Early to Middle Holocene. Debate on the causes has been ongoing for over 200 years, intensifying from the 1960s onward. Here, we outline criteria that any causal hypothesis needs to account for. Importantly, this extinction event is unique relative to other Cenozoic (the last 66 million years) extinctions in its strong size bias. For example, only 11 out of 57 species of megaherbivores (body mass ≥1,000 kg) survived to the present. In addition to mammalian megafauna, certain other groups also experienced substantial extinctions, mainly large non-mammalian vertebrates and smaller but megafauna-associated taxa. Further, extinction severity and dates varied among continents, but severely affected all biomes, from the Arctic to the tropics. We synthesise the evidence for and against climatic or modern human (Homo sapiens) causation, the only existing tenable hypotheses. Our review shows that there is little support for any major influence of climate, neither in global extinction patterns nor in fine-scale spatiotemporal and mechanistic evidence. Conversely, there is strong and increasing support for human pressures as the key driver of these extinctions, with emerging evidence for an initial onset linked to pre-sapiens hominins prior to the Late Pleistocene. Subsequently, we synthesize the evidence for ecosystem consequences of megafauna extinctions and discuss the implications for conservation and restoration. A broad range of evidence indicates that the megafauna extinctions have elicited profound changes to ecosystem structure and functioning. The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions thereby represent an early, large-scale human-driven environmental transformation, constituting a progenitor of the Anthropocene, where humans are now a major player in planetary functioning. Finally, we conclude that megafauna restoration via trophic rewilding can be expected to have positive effects on biodiversity across varied Anthropocene settings.

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Plio-Pleistocene African megaherbivore losses associated with community biomass restructuring

Cited by 5 publications

References 160 publications

Genome-wide diversity, population structure and signatures of inbreeding in the African buffalo in Mozambique

Genome-wide diversity, population structure and signatures of inbreeding in the African buffalo in Mozambique

Hominin turnover at Laetoli is associated with vegetation change: Multiproxy evidence from the large herbivore community

The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene

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