RT Journal Article
T1 Rethinking megafauna
A1 Moleón, Marcos
A1 Sánchez-Zapata, José A.
A1 Donázar, José A.
A1 Revilla, Eloy
A1 Martín-López, Berta
A1 Gutiérrez Cánovas, Cayetano
A1 Getz, Wayne M.
A1 Morales-Reyes, Zebensui
A1 Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa
A1 Crowder, Larry B.
A1 Galetti, Mauro
A1 González Suárez, Manuela
A1 He, Fengzhi
A1 Jordano, Pedro
A1 Lewison, Rebecca
A1 Naidoo, Robin
A1 Owen-Smith, Norman
A1 Selva, Nuria
A1 Svenning, Jens-Christian
A1 Tella, José L.
A1 Zarfl, Christiane
A1 Jähnig, Sonja C.
A1 Hayward, Matt W.
A1 Faurby, Søren
A1 García García, Nuria
A1 Barnosky, Anthony D.
A1 Tockner, Klement
AB Concern for megafauna is increasing among scientists and non-scientists. Many studies have emphasized that megafauna play prominent ecological roles and provide important ecosystem services to humanity. But, what precisely are ‘megafauna’? Here, we critically assess the concept of megafauna and propose a goal-oriented framework for megafaunal research. First, we review definitions of megafauna and analyse associated terminology in the scientific literature. Second, we conduct a survey among ecologists and palaeontologists to assess the species traits used to identify and define megafauna. Our review indicates that definitions are highly dependent on the study ecosystem and research question, and primarily rely on ad hoc size-related criteria. Our survey suggests that body size is crucial, but not necessarily sufficient, for addressing the different applications of the term megafauna. Thus, after discussing the pros and cons of existing definitions, we propose an additional approach by defining two function-oriented megafaunal concepts: ‘keystone megafauna’ and ‘functional megafauna’, with its variant ‘apex megafauna’. Assessing megafauna from a functional perspective could challenge the perception that there may not be a unifying definition of megafauna that can be applied to all eco-evolutionary narratives. In addition, using functional definitions of megafauna could be especially conducive to cross-disciplinary understanding and cooperation, improvement of conservation policy and practice, and strengthening of public perception. As megafaunal research advances, we encourage scientists to unambiguously define how they use the term ‘megafauna’ and to present the logic underpinning their definition.
PB The Royal Society
SN 0962-8452
YR 2020
FD 2020-03-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7873
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7873
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and  Inland Fisheries
NO Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa
NO Generalitat Valenciana/FEDER
NO Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
NO Conselho Nacional de  Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
NO Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Program
NO National  Science Center in Poland
NO Carlsberg Foundation Semper  Ardens
NO VILLUM Investigator project
NO German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
NO Estación Biológica de Doñana
DS Docta Complutense
RD 26 abr 2025