Disruption of trait-environment relationships in African megafauna occurred in the middle Pleistocene.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian megafauna have been critical to the functioning of Earth's biosphere for millions of years. However, since the Plio-Pleistocene, their biodiversity has declined concurrently with dramatic environmental change and hominin evolution. While these biodiversity declines are well-documented, their implications for the ecological function of megafaunal communities remain uncertain. Here, we adapt ecometric methods to evaluate whether the functional link between communities of herbivorous, eastern African megafauna and their environments (i.e., functional trait-environment relationships) was disrupted as biodiversity losses occurred over the past 7.4 Ma. Herbivore taxonomic and functional diversity began to decline during the Pliocene as open grassland habitats emerged, persisted, and ex

SUBMITTER: Lauer DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10354096 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature