title: Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene.
abstract: Large herbivores and carnivores (the megafauna) have been in a state of decline and extinction since the Late Pleistocene, both on land and more recently in the oceans. Much has been written on the timing and causes of these declines, but only recently has scientific attention focused on the consequences of these declines for ecosystem function. Here, we review progress in our understanding of how megafauna affect ecosystem physical and trophic structure, species composition, biogeochemistry, and climate, drawing on special features of PNAS and Ecography that have been published as a result of an international workshop on this topic held in Oxford in 2014. Insights emerging from this work have consequences for our understanding of changes in biosphere function since the Late Pleistocene and of the functioning of contemporary ecosystems, as well as offering a rationale and framework for scientifically informed restoration of megafaunal function where possible and appropriate.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom OX1 3QY; yadvinder.malhi@ouce.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Yadvinder
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Malhi
authors.affiliation: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom OX1 3QY;
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Doughty
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 13506-900 Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil;
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
authors.forename: Felisa A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
authors.forename: Jens-Christian
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Svenning
authors.affiliation: Center for Tropical Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Terborgh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D025041:Animal Migration; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049628:Body Size; D060435:Carnivory; D057231:Climate Change / Q000266:history; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018534:Earth, Planet; D017753:Ecosystem; D056727:Endangered Species; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D060434:Herbivory; D049690:History, Ancient; D006802:Human Activities / Q000266:history; D063426:Human Migration / Q000266:history; D008322:Mammals; D058974:Phylogeography; D006801:Humans
keywords: biogeochemistry; extinctions; rewilding; trophic cascades; vegetation structure
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