Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: Unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years

Michela Pacifici¹, Andrea Cristiano², Maria Lumbierres^{1

3}, Mauro Lucherini⁴, David Mallon⁵, Erik Meijaard⁶, Sergio Solari⁷, Marcelo F Tognelli⁸, Jerrold L Belant⁹, Thomas M Butynski¹⁰, Drew Cronin¹¹, Jean-Pierre d'Huart¹², Daniele Da Re¹³, Yvonne A de Jong¹⁰, Arjun Dheer¹⁴, Li Fei¹⁵, Sonia Gallina¹⁶, John M Goodrich¹⁷, Abishek Harihar^{17

18}, Carlos A Lopez Gonzalez¹⁹, Sarah R B King^{20

21}, Rebecca L Lewison²², Fabiano R de Melo²³, Constanza Napolitano^{24

25

26}, Dede Aulia Rahman^{27

28}, Phillip T Robinson²⁹, Timothy Robinson³⁰, Carlo Rondinini¹, Gono Semiadi³¹, Karen Strier³², Mauricio Talebi³³, William Andrew Taylor³⁴, Christine Thiel-Bender³⁵, Nelson Ting³⁶, Ingrid Wiesel^{37

38}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
² Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³ Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ GECM (Grupo de Ecología comportamental de Mamíferos), INBIOSUR, CONICET-UNS, Dpto. de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, UNS, Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
⁵ IUCN Species Survival Commission, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Borneo Futures, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
⁷ Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
⁸ American Bird Conservancy, The Plains, Virginia, USA.
⁹ SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York, USA.
¹⁰ Eastern Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program, Nanyuki, Kenya.
¹¹ North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, North Carolina, USA.
¹² IUCN-SSC Wild Pigs Specialist Group, Hamme-Mille, Belgium.
¹³ Georges Lemaître Center for Earth and Climate Research, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
¹⁴ Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁵ Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong, China.
¹⁶ Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Mexico.
¹⁷ Panthera, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁸ Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
¹⁹ Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Querétaro, Mexico.
²⁰ Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
²¹ IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group, Arusha, Tanzania.
²² San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.
²³ Departamento de Engenharia Florestal Avenida Purdue, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
²⁴ Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
²⁵ Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Concepción, Chile.
²⁶ Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Puerto Williams, Chile.
²⁷ Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Kampus IPB Dramaga, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.
²⁸ Primate Research Center, Institute of Research and Community Service, Kampus IPB Lodaya, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.
²⁹ IUCN-SSC Hippo Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
³⁰ Animal Production and Health Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
³¹ Research Centre for Applied Zoology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Cibinong, Indonesia.
³² Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
³³ Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Programa de Pós Graduação Análise Ambiental Integrada, Campus Diadema, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil.
³⁴ Endangered Wildlife Trust, Pinelands Office Park, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³⁵ Natur- und Artenschutzmanagement, Bonn, Germany.
³⁶ University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
³⁷ Brown Hyena Research Project, Luderitz, Namibia.
³⁸ University of Pretoria, Mammal Research Institute, Hatfield, South Africa.

PMID: 37804212
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16964

Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: Unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years

Michela Pacifici et al. Glob Chang Biol. 2023 Dec.

. 2023 Dec;29(24):6900-6911.

doi: 10.1111/gcb.16964. Epub 2023 Oct 7.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
² Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³ Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ GECM (Grupo de Ecología comportamental de Mamíferos), INBIOSUR, CONICET-UNS, Dpto. de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, UNS, Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
⁵ IUCN Species Survival Commission, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Borneo Futures, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
⁷ Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
⁸ American Bird Conservancy, The Plains, Virginia, USA.
⁹ SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York, USA.
¹⁰ Eastern Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program, Nanyuki, Kenya.
¹¹ North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, North Carolina, USA.
¹² IUCN-SSC Wild Pigs Specialist Group, Hamme-Mille, Belgium.
¹³ Georges Lemaître Center for Earth and Climate Research, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
¹⁴ Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁵ Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong, China.
¹⁶ Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Mexico.
¹⁷ Panthera, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁸ Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
¹⁹ Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Querétaro, Mexico.
²⁰ Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
²¹ IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group, Arusha, Tanzania.
²² San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.
²³ Departamento de Engenharia Florestal Avenida Purdue, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
²⁴ Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
²⁵ Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Concepción, Chile.
²⁶ Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Puerto Williams, Chile.
²⁷ Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Kampus IPB Dramaga, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.
²⁸ Primate Research Center, Institute of Research and Community Service, Kampus IPB Lodaya, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.
²⁹ IUCN-SSC Hippo Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
³⁰ Animal Production and Health Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
³¹ Research Centre for Applied Zoology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Cibinong, Indonesia.
³² Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
³³ Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Programa de Pós Graduação Análise Ambiental Integrada, Campus Diadema, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil.
³⁴ Endangered Wildlife Trust, Pinelands Office Park, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³⁵ Natur- und Artenschutzmanagement, Bonn, Germany.
³⁶ University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
³⁷ Brown Hyena Research Project, Luderitz, Namibia.
³⁸ University of Pretoria, Mammal Research Institute, Hatfield, South Africa.

PMID: 37804212
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16964

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.

Keywords: area of habitat; cropland; habitat loss; livestock; mammals; pasture; range change.

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References

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Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: Unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years

Affiliations

Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: Unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

REFERENCES

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous