Defaunation

Defaunation is a process of local or global extinction of large vertebrates due to anthropogenic processes, such as hunting or forest fragmentation. It is particularly important in tropical rain forests where most of the biodiversity is found.

The term was first proposed by Dirzo and Miranda (1991)[1]. These Mexican scientists compared the herbivores by vertebrates and insects in two areas in México and found that one area that lacks large mammals, did not have any herbivores in their plant community. Herbivores are important to maintain the diversity of the forest by controlling the abundance of dominant species.

Since then, a plethora of new studies have been found that the lack of large mammals may cause serious cascading effects on ecosystems.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Defaunation, like deforestation, threatens global biodiversity: Interview with Rodolfo Dirzo