Historical and current distribution ranges and loss of mega-herbivores and carnivores of Asia

PeerJ

article

Tariq Mahmood¹  Tuong Thuy Vu²  Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz²  Faraz Akrim¹  Shaista Andleeb⁶  Muhammad Farooq¹  Abdul Hamid¹  Nadeem Munawar¹  Muhammad Waseem¹  Abid Hussain¹  Hira Fatima¹  Muhammad Raza Khan¹  Sajid Mahmood⁷ 

[1] Department of Wildlife Management, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi;School of Geography, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus;Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia;Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences;Department of Zoology, University of Kotli;School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province;Department of Zoology, Hazara University

关键词: Large herbivore;    Large carnivores;    Mega-defaunation;    Mega-gardners;    Distribution range;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.10738

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Ecosystem functioning is dependent a lot on large mammals, which are, however, vulnerable and facing extinction risks due to human impacts mainly. Megafauna of Asia has been declining for a long, not only in numbers but also in their distribution ranges. In the current study, we collected information on past and current occurrence and distribution records of Asia’s megafauna species. We reconstructed the historical distribution ranges of the six herbivores and four carnivores for comparison with their present ranges, to quantify spatially explicit levels of mega-defaunation. Results revealed that historically the selected megafauna species were more widely distributed than at current. Severe range contraction was observed for the Asiatic lion, three rhino species, Asian elephant, tigers, and tapirs. Defaunation maps generated have revealed the vanishing of megafauna from parts of the East, Southeast, and Southwest Asia, even some protected Areas losing up to eight out of ten megafaunal species. These defaunation maps can help develop future conservation policies, to save the remaining distribution ranges of large mammals.

【 授权许可】

CC BY