Megafauna diversity and functional declines in Europe from the Last Interglacial to the present

Marco Davoli*, Sophie Monsarrat, Rasmus Østergaard Pedersen, Paolo Scussolini, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, Signe Normand, Jens Christian Svenning

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Aim: Reconstructing megafauna diversity in the past before anthropogenic impacts is crucial for developing targeted restoration strategies. We estimated the diversity and functional decline of European megafauna in the present compared with the nearest in-time climate period analogue to the present but prior to the worldwide diffusion of Homo sapiens. Location: Europe. Time Period: Last Interglacial (LIG; ca. 127,000 years ago) to present. Major Taxa Studied: Wild, large (≥10 kg) terrestrial mammals. Methods: We assessed the distribution of 48 European megafauna species during the LIG using hindcasting modelling and fossil records. Then, we estimated the decline in megafauna community diversity and potential trait-based functional effects from the LIG to the present, accounting for climate differences between the two periods. Results: Species richness and community biomass dropped by 70.8% (±11.7%) and by 94.5% (±9.9%). Functional diversity dropped by 80.3% (±15.3%) for herbivores and by 64.9% (±29.1%) for carnivores, while trait-informed potential vegetation and meat consumptions dropped by 82.3% (±13.4%) and 60.5% (±26.0%). The loss in megafauna diversity and associated ecological processes were high everywhere, but particularly in western Europe for carnivores and in the East European Plain for herbivores. Potential megafauna richness in the two periods was similar if only climate-driven differences were considered. Main Conclusions: Severe, size-biased defaunation has degraded megafauna assemblages and megafauna-mediated ecological processes across Europe from the LIG to the present. These patterns cannot be explained by climate differences between the two periods, thus were likely driven by prehistoric Homo sapiens. The results suggest that the structure of wild ecosystems of the present strongly deviates from the evolutionary norm, with decreased functional heterogeneity and decreased fluxes of biogeochemical compounds across the trophic networks, highlighting the importance of ambitious policies of megafauna community restoration to support ecosystem functioning.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)34-47
Number of pages14
JournalGlobal Ecology and Biogeography
Volume33
Issue number1
Early online date17 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Global Ecology and Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Funding

We thank Emilio Berti and Scott Jarvie for useful early discussions on the study. We also thank Erick Lundgren for his assistance with the analysis of functional diversity and Dereck Corcoran for assistance in processing palaeoclimate data. Furthermore, we thank the anonymous reviewers and Editor Jacquelyn Gill for their careful reading of our manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions. The work was supported by the project TERRANOVA, the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 813904. The output reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. J.C.S. and R.P. considers this work a contribution to Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), funded by Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173) and his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549) and his Independent Research Fund Denmark | Natural Sciences project MegaComplexity (grant 0135-00225B). D.N.K. acknowledges funding from: The WSL internal grant exCHELSA, and ClimEx, and the 2019–2020 BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivClim ERA-Net COFUND programme, with the funding organizations Swiss National Science Foundation SNF (project: FeedBaCks, 193907). We thank Emilio Berti and Scott Jarvie for useful early discussions on the study. We also thank Erick Lundgren for his assistance with the analysis of functional diversity and Dereck Corcoran for assistance in processing palaeoclimate data. Furthermore, we thank the anonymous reviewers and Editor Jacquelyn Gill for their careful reading of our manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions. The work was supported by the project TERRANOVA, the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement no. 813904. The output reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. J.C.S. and R.P. considers this work a contribution to Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), funded by Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173) and his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549) and his Independent Research Fund Denmark | Natural Sciences project MegaComplexity (grant 0135‐00225B). D.N.K. acknowledges funding from: The WSL internal grant exCHELSA, and ClimEx, and the 2019–2020 BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivClim ERA‐Net COFUND programme, with the funding organizations Swiss National Science Foundation SNF (project: FeedBaCks, 193907).

FundersFunder number
ClimEx
Natural Sciences project MegaComplexity0135‐00225B
Villum Fonden16549
European Commission
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung193907
Danmarks GrundforskningsfondDNRF173
Horizon 2020813904

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