Defaunation and species introductions alter long-term functional trait diversity in insular reptiles.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity loss poses a major threat to ecosystem function, which has already been severely impacted by global late-Quaternary defaunation. The loss of mammalian megafauna from many insular systems has rendered reptiles into key modulators of many ecosystem services, such as seed dispersal and pollination. How late-Quaternary extinction events impacted reptile functional diversity remains unclear but can provide critical guidance on traits that render reptiles vulnerable to extinction, as well as anthropogenic, environmental, and evolutionary histories that may promote stability and resilience. This study reconstructs the trajectory of functional diversity change in the Caribbean reptile fauna, a speciose biota distributed over a diverse set of islands with heterogeneous histories of hum

SUBMITTER: Kemp ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9963987 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature