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

ABSTRACT: 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, a

SUBMITTER: Mahmood T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7894109 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature