据介绍，自史前以来，大型哺乳动物草食动物（巨型动物群）经历了灭绝和衰退。引入的巨型动物在一定程度上抵消了这些损失，但与本土巨型动物相比，它们被认为对植物有着不同寻常的负面影响。
通过对221项研究中3995个小区规模的植物丰度和多样性反应的荟萃分析，研究人员没有发现任何证据表明，巨型动物群的影响是由原生性、“入侵性”、“野性”、共同演化史或功能和系统发育新颖性决定的。也没有证据表明引入的巨型动物比本地巨型动物更容易引入植物。相反，研究人员发现了强有力的证据，证明功能特征塑造了巨型动物群的影响，体型较大、大量进食的巨型动物群促进了植物多样性。
总之，这一工作表明，基于特征的生态学比原生概念，更能深入了解巨型动物和植物之间的相互作用。
附：英文原文
Title: Functional traits—not nativeness—shape the effects of large mammalian herbivores on plant communities
Author: Erick J. Lundgren, Juraj Bergman, Jonas Trepel, Elizabeth le Roux, Sophie Monsarrat, Jeppe Aagaard Kristensen, Rasmus stergaard Pedersen, Patricio Pereyra, Melanie Tietje, Jens-Christian Svenning
Issue&Volume: 2024-02-02
Abstract: Large mammalian herbivores (megafauna) have experienced extinctions and declines since prehistory. Introduced megafauna have partly counteracted these losses yet are thought to have unusually negative effects on plants compared with native megafauna. Using a meta-analysis of 3995 plot-scale plant abundance and diversity responses from 221 studies, we found no evidence that megafauna impacts were shaped by nativeness, “invasiveness,” “feralness,” coevolutionary history, or functional and phylogenetic novelty. Nor was there evidence that introduced megafauna facilitate introduced plants more than native megafauna. Instead, we found strong evidence that functional traits shaped megafauna impacts, with larger-bodied and bulk-feeding megafauna promoting plant diversity. Our work suggests that trait-based ecology provides better insight into interactions between megafauna and plants than do concepts of nativeness.
DOI: adh2616
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2616