title: Consequences of defaunation for a tropical tree community.
abstract: Hunting affects a considerably greater area of the tropical forest biome than deforestation and logging combined. Often even large remote protected areas are depleted of a substantial proportion of their vertebrate fauna. However, understanding of the long-term ecological consequences of defaunation in tropical forests remains poor. Using tree census data from a large-scale plot monitored over a 15-year period since the approximate onset of intense hunting, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the immediate consequences of defaunation for a tropical tree community. Our data strongly suggest that over-hunting has engendered pervasive changes in tree population spatial structure and dynamics, leading to a consistent decline in local tree diversity over time. However, we do not find any support for suggestions that over-hunting reduces above-ground biomass or biomass accumulation rate in this forest. To maintain critical ecosystem processes in tropical forests increased efforts are required to protect and restore wildlife populations.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, China. rhett_d_harrison@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Rhett D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Sylvester
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Plotkin
authors.forename: Ferry
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Slik
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Detto
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brenes
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Stuart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D001717:Birds; D001893:Borneo; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D008322:Mammals; D011157:Population Dynamics; D058614:Seed Dispersal; D014197:Trees; D014329:Tropical Climate