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Pacifici M, Cristiano A, Lumbierres M, Lucherini M, Mallon D, Meijaard E, Solari S, Tognelli MF, Belant JL, Butynski TM, Cronin D, d'Huart JP, Da Re D, de Jong YA, Dheer A, Fei L, Gallina S, Goodrich JM, Harihar A, Lopez Gonzalez CA, King SRB, Lewison RL, de Melo FR, Napolitano C, Rahman DA, Robinson PT, Robinson T, Rondinini C, Semiadi G, Strier K, Talebi M, Taylor WA, Thiel-Bender C, Ting N, Wiesel I. Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: Unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years. Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:6900-6911. [PMID: 37804212 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/09/2023]
Abstract
The global decline of terrestrial species is largely due to the degradation, loss and fragmentation of their habitats. The conversion of natural ecosystems for cropland, rangeland, forest products and human infrastructure are the primary causes of habitat deterioration. Due to the paucity of data on the past distribution of species and the scarcity of fine-scale habitat conversion maps, however, accurate assessment of the recent effects of habitat degradation, loss and fragmentation on the range of mammals has been near impossible. We aim to assess the proportions of available habitat within the lost and retained parts of mammals' distribution ranges, and to identify the drivers of habitat availability. We produced distribution maps for 475 terrestrial mammals for the range they occupied 50 years ago and compared them to current range maps. We then calculated the differences in the percentage of 'area of habitat' (habitat available to a species within its range) between the lost and retained range areas. Finally, we ran generalized linear mixed models to identify which variables were more influential in determining habitat availability in the lost and retained parts of the distribution ranges. We found that 59% of species had a lower proportion of available habitat in the lost range compared to the retained range, thus hypothesizing that habitat loss could have contributed to range declines. The most important factors negatively affecting habitat availability were the conversion of land to rangeland and high density of livestock. Significant intrinsic traits were those related to reproductive timing and output, habitat breadth and medium body size. Our findings emphasize the importance of implementing conservation strategies to mitigate the impacts caused by human activities on the habitats of mammals, and offer evidence indicating which species have the potential to reoccupy portions of their former range if other threats cease to occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michela Pacifici
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Cristiano
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Maria Lumbierres
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mauro Lucherini
- GECM (Grupo de Ecología comportamental de Mamíferos), INBIOSUR, CONICET-UNS, Dpto. de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, UNS, Bahía Blanca, Argentina
| | | | - Erik Meijaard
- Borneo Futures, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
| | - Sergio Solari
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | | | - Jerrold L Belant
- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Thomas M Butynski
- Eastern Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program, Nanyuki, Kenya
| | - Drew Cronin
- North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Daniele Da Re
- Georges Lemaître Center for Earth and Climate Research, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Yvonne A de Jong
- Eastern Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program, Nanyuki, Kenya
| | - Arjun Dheer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Li Fei
- Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong, China
| | | | | | - Abishek Harihar
- Panthera, New York, New York, USA
- Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, Karnataka, India
| | | | - Sarah R B King
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
- IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group, Arusha, Tanzania
| | | | - Fabiano R de Melo
- Departamento de Engenharia Florestal Avenida Purdue, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Constanza Napolitano
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Concepción, Chile
- Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Puerto Williams, Chile
| | - Dede Aulia Rahman
- Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Kampus IPB Dramaga, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia
- Primate Research Center, Institute of Research and Community Service, Kampus IPB Lodaya, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia
| | | | - Timothy Robinson
- Animal Production and Health Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
| | - Carlo Rondinini
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Gono Semiadi
- Research Centre for Applied Zoology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Cibinong, Indonesia
| | - Karen Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Mauricio Talebi
- Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Programa de Pós Graduação Análise Ambiental Integrada, Campus Diadema, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Ingrid Wiesel
- Brown Hyena Research Project, Luderitz, Namibia
- University of Pretoria, Mammal Research Institute, Hatfield, South Africa
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Parchizadeh J, Schooler SL, Adibi MA, Arias MG, Rezaei S, Belant JL. A review of caracal and jungle cat diets across their geographical ranges during 1842-2021. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10130. [PMID: 37250441 PMCID: PMC10212689 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Co-occurring carnivore species that are phylogenetically related or of similar size, morphology, and ecological needs often reduce competition by partitioning shared resources through temporal, spatial, and dietary niche segregation via behavioral adaptations. Caracals (Caracal caracal) and jungle cats (Felis chaus) co-occur in portions of their geographical ranges and are expected to display resource segregation in these ranges. We compiled scat, stomach content, and prey remains found data from published and unpublished sources to summarize information on the diets of caracals and jungle cats across their geographical ranges during 1842-2021. We obtained 63 sources from 26 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in which caracal diet included 151 species while jungle cat diet included 61 species. We found that caracals and jungle cats did not exhibit dietary niche partitioning and had greater dietary similarities in areas of range overlap. We also found that caracals consumed more diverse prey species including prey with greater average body mass compared to jungle cats. Our results suggest that greater prey diversity in areas of range overlap, caracal predation on wide range of prey, and opportunistic feeding behavior that facilitates consumption of more diverse prey species compared to jungle cats, may facilitate co-occurrence between these two felid species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamshid Parchizadeh
- Department of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
| | - Sarah L. Schooler
- Department of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
- Global Wildlife Conservation CenterState University of New York College of Environmental Science and ForestrySyracuseNew YorkUSA
| | - Mohammad Ali Adibi
- Department of Habitats and Biodiversity, Faculty of Environment and EnergyIslamic Azad UniversityTehranIran
| | - Mariano G. Arias
- Environmental Biology DepartmentState University of New York College of Environmental Science and ForestrySyracuseNew YorkUSA
| | - Sahar Rezaei
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science EngineeringUniversity of ArkansasLittle RockArkansasUSA
| | - Jerrold L. Belant
- Department of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
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Borrero-Lopez O, Constantino PJ, Bush MB, Lawn BR. On the vital role of enamel prism interfaces and graded properties in human tooth survival. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200498. [PMID: 32842897 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Teeth of omnivores face a formidable evolutionary challenge: how to protect against fracture and abrasive wear caused by the wide variety of foods they process. It is hypothesized that this challenge is met in part by adaptations in enamel microstructure. The low-crowned teeth of humans and some other omnivorous mammals exhibit multiple fissures running longitudinally along the outer enamel walls, yet remain intact. It is proposed that inter-prism weakness and enamel property gradation act together to avert entry of these fissures into vulnerable inner tooth regions and, at the same time, confer wear resistance at the occlusal surface. A simple indentation experiment is employed to quantify crack paths and energetics in human enamel, and an extended-finite-element model to evaluate longitudinal crack growth histories. Consideration is given as to how tooth microstructure may have played a vital role in human evolution, and by extension to other omnivorous mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar Borrero-Lopez
- Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de los Materiales, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
| | - Paul J Constantino
- Department of Biology, Saint Michael's College, Colchester, VT 05439, USA
| | - Mark B Bush
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Brian R Lawn
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
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Pacifici M, Rondinini C, Rhodes JR, Burbidge AA, Cristiano A, Watson JEM, Woinarski JCZ, Di Marco M. Global correlates of range contractions and expansions in terrestrial mammals. Nat Commun 2020; 11:2840. [PMID: 32504033 PMCID: PMC7275054 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16684-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding changes in species distributions is essential to disentangle the mechanisms that drive their responses to anthropogenic habitat modification. Here we analyse the past (1970s) and current (2017) distribution of 204 species of terrestrial non-volant mammals to identify drivers of recent contraction and expansion in their range. We find 106 species lost part of their past range, and 40 of them declined by >50%. The key correlates of this contraction are large body mass, increase in air temperature, loss of natural land, and high human population density. At the same time, 44 species have some expansion in their range, which correlates with small body size, generalist diet, and high reproductive rates. Our findings clearly show that human activity and life history interact to influence range changes in mammals. While the former plays a major role in determining contraction in species’ distribution, the latter is important for both contraction and expansion. Understanding why many species ranges are contracting while others are stable or expanding is important to inform conservation in an increasingly human-modified world. Here, Pacifici and colleagues investigate changes in the ranges of 204 mammals, showing that human factors mostly explain range contractions while life history explains both contraction and expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michela Pacifici
- Global Mammal Assessment programme, Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", Sapienza Università di Roma, Viale dell'Università 32, I-00185, Rome, Italy.
| | - Carlo Rondinini
- Global Mammal Assessment programme, Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", Sapienza Università di Roma, Viale dell'Università 32, I-00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Jonathan R Rhodes
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | | | - Andrea Cristiano
- Global Mammal Assessment programme, Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", Sapienza Università di Roma, Viale dell'Università 32, I-00185, Rome, Italy
| | - James E M Watson
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.,Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, Bronx, New York, NY, USA
| | - John C Z Woinarski
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the National Environment Science Program, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia
| | - Moreno Di Marco
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.,Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, I-00185, Italy.,CSIRO Land and Water, EcoSciences Precinct, 4102, Brisbane, Australia
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