title: Trophic downgrading of planet Earth.
abstract: Until recently, large apex consumers were ubiquitous across the globe and had been for millions of years. The loss of these animals may be humankind's most pervasive influence on nature. Although such losses are widely viewed as an ethical and aesthetic problem, recent research reveals extensive cascading effects of their disappearance in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems worldwide. This empirical work supports long-standing theory about the role of top-down forcing in ecosystems but also highlights the unanticipated impacts of trophic cascades on processes as diverse as the dynamics of disease, wildfire, carbon sequestration, invasive species, and biogeochemical cycles. These findings emphasize the urgent need for interdisciplinary research to forecast the effects of trophic downgrading on process, function, and resilience in global ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA. jestes@ucsc.edu
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Estes
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Terborgh
authors.forename: Justin S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Brashares
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Power
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Timothy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Essington
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Jeremy B C
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Marquis
authors.forename: Lauri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oksanen
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oksanen
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Paine
authors.forename: Ellen K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Pikitch
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ripple
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sandin
authors.forename: Marten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheffer
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Schoener
authors.forename: Jonathan B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Shurin
authors.forename: Anthony R E
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Soulé
authors.forename: Risto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Wardle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D020387:Food Chain; D006801:Humans; D058865:Introduced Species; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011235:Predatory Behavior