Humanity’s diverse predatory niche and its ecological consequences

Darimont, Chris T.; Cooke, Rob ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0601-8888; Bourbonnais, Mathieu L.; Bryan, Heather M.; Carlson, Stephanie M.; Estes, James A.; Galetti, Mauro; Levi, Taal; MacLean, Jessica L.; McKechnie, Iain; Paquet, Paul C.; Worm, Boris. 2023 Humanity’s diverse predatory niche and its ecological consequences. Communications Biology, 6 (1), 609. 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04940-w

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04940-w

Abstract/Summary

Although humans have long been predators with enduring nutritive and cultural relationships with their prey, seldom have conservation ecologists considered the divergent predatory behavior of contemporary, industrialized humans. Recognizing that the number, strength and diversity of predator-prey relationships can profoundly influence biodiversity, here we analyze humanity’s modern day predatory interactions with vertebrates and estimate their ecological consequences. Analysing IUCN ‘use and trade’ data for ~47,000 species, we show that fishers, hunters and other animal collectors prey on more than a third (~15,000 species) of Earth’s vertebrates. Assessed over equivalent ranges, humans exploit up to 300 times more species than comparable non-human predators. Exploitation for the pet trade, medicine, and other uses now affects almost as many species as those targeted for food consumption, and almost 40% of exploited species are threatened by human use. Trait space analyses show that birds and mammals threatened by exploitation occupy a disproportionally large and unique region of ecological trait space, now at risk of loss. These patterns suggest far more species are subject to human-imposed ecological (e.g., landscapes of fear) and evolutionary (e.g., harvest selection) processes than previously considered. Moreover, continued overexploitation will likely bear profound consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem function.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04940-w
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	2399-3642
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	behavioural ecology, conservation biology
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Related URLs:	Dataset Other
Date made live:	09 Nov 2023 09:19 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535737

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04940-w

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

2399-3642

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

behavioural ecology, conservation biology