Title |
Collapse of the world’s largest herbivores
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Published in |
Science Advances, May 2015
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DOI | 10.1126/sciadv.1400103 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
William J. Ripple, Thomas M. Newsome, Christopher Wolf, Rodolfo Dirzo, Kristoffer T. Everatt, Mauro Galetti, Matt W. Hayward, Graham I. H. Kerley, Taal Levi, Peter A. Lindsey, David W. Macdonald, Yadvinder Malhi, Luke E. Painter, Christopher J. Sandom, John Terborgh, Blaire Van Valkenburgh |
Abstract |
Large wild herbivores are crucial to ecosystems and human societies. We highlight the 74 largest terrestrial herbivore species on Earth (body mass ≥100 kg), the threats they face, their important and often overlooked ecosystem effects, and the conservation efforts needed to save them and their predators from extinction. Large herbivores are generally facing dramatic population declines and range contractions, such that ~60% are threatened with extinction. Nearly all threatened species are in developing countries, where major threats include hunting, land-use change, and resource depression by livestock. Loss of large herbivores can have cascading effects on other species including large carnivores, scavengers, mesoherbivores, small mammals, and ecological processes involving vegetation, hydrology, nutrient cycling, and fire regimes. The rate of large herbivore decline suggests that ever-larger swaths of the world will soon lack many of the vital ecological services these animals provide, resulting in enormous ecological and social costs. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 27 | 10% |
United States | 24 | 9% |
Spain | 11 | 4% |
Canada | 8 | 3% |
Australia | 5 | 2% |
Germany | 4 | 2% |
Brazil | 3 | 1% |
India | 2 | <1% |
France | 2 | <1% |
Other | 19 | 7% |
Unknown | 154 | 59% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 243 | 94% |
Scientists | 8 | 3% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 4 | 2% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 4 | 2% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 15 | <1% |
Brazil | 13 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 9 | <1% |
South Africa | 4 | <1% |
Italy | 3 | <1% |
Portugal | 2 | <1% |
Denmark | 2 | <1% |
Spain | 2 | <1% |
Australia | 1 | <1% |
Other | 12 | <1% |
Unknown | 1512 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 247 | 16% |
Researcher | 245 | 16% |
Student > Master | 245 | 16% |
Student > Bachelor | 202 | 13% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 72 | 5% |
Other | 243 | 15% |
Unknown | 321 | 20% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 597 | 38% |
Environmental Science | 413 | 26% |
Earth and Planetary Sciences | 45 | 3% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 31 | 2% |
Social Sciences | 16 | 1% |
Other | 92 | 6% |
Unknown | 381 | 24% |