2026-06-27T10:30:00Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/request
oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/78732023-08-26T11:22:04Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15
Docta Complutense author Moleón, Marcos author Sánchez-Zapata, José A. author Donázar, José A. author Revilla, Eloy author Martín-López, Berta author Gutiérrez Cánovas, Cayetano author Getz, Wayne M. author Morales-Reyes, Zebensui author Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa author Crowder, Larry B. author Galetti, Mauro author González Suárez, Manuela author He, Fengzhi author Jordano, Pedro author Lewison, Rebecca author Naidoo, Robin author Owen-Smith, Norman author Selva, Nuria author Svenning, Jens-Christian author Tella, José L. author Zarfl, Christiane author Jähnig, Sonja C. author Hayward, Matt W. author Faurby, Søren author García García, Nuria author Barnosky, Anthony D. author Tockner, Klement 2023-06-17T08:59:57Z 2023-06-17T08:59:57Z 2020-03-11 0962-8452 10.1098/rspb.2019.2643 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7873 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2643 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. eng Rethinking megafauna journal article URL https://docta.ucm.es/bitstreams/7ecd33b9-211c-427d-9758-043d25dd8591/download File MD5 74ac64c77159c932f93541e4f010a0f6 1229365 application/pdf Rethinking megafauna (1).pdf URL https://docta.ucm.es/bitstreams/aef10f0a-030c-40ef-a377-be74293c25be/download File MD5 9eca596f740605c47284a36284de1605 61743 text/plain Rethinking megafauna (1).pdf.txt