Large mammals and trees in eastern monsoonal China: anthropogenic losses since the Late Pleistocene and restoration prospects in the Anthropocene

• Published in: Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 2023-10, Vol.98 (5), p.1607-1632
• Main Authors: Teng, Shuqing N., Svenning, Jens‐Christian, Xu, Chi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthropocene; Anthropogenic factors; biocultural diversity; Biodiversity; biotic interactions; Carnivores; Climate change; Dispersal; Dispersion; Downsizing; Ecology; Ecosystems; endozoochoric dispersers; Environmental protection; Flowers & plants; Geographical distribution; Health risks; Herbivores; Herbivory; Holocene; Human-environment relationship; human–nature coexistence; Late Quaternary extinctions; Logging; Mammals; Megafauna; National parks; palaeoecology; Plant species; Plants (botany); Pleistocene; Pollen; Public health; Reintroduction; Restoration; Seed dispersal; Threatened species; Trees; Trophic relationships; trophic rewilding; Vegetation; vegetation history; Wildlife
• ISSN: 1464-7931; 1469-185X
• DOI: 10.1111/brv.12968

ABSTRACT Massive human‐induced declines of large‐sized animals and trees (megabiota) from the Late Pleistocene to the Anthropocene have resulted in downsized ecosystems across the globe, in which components and functions have been greatly simplified. In response, active restoration projects of extant large‐sized species or functional substitutes are needed at large scales to promote ecological processes that are important for ecosystem self‐regulation and biodiversity maintenance. Despite the desired global scope of such projects, they have received little attention in East Asia. Here, we synthesise the biogeographical and ecological knowledge of megabiota in ancient and modern China, with relevant data mostly located in eastern monsoonal China (EMC), aiming to assess its potential for restoring functionally intact ecosystems modulated by megabiota. We found that during the Late Pleistocene, 12 mammalian megafaunal (carnivores ≥15 kg and herbivores ≥500 kg) species disappeared from EMC: one carnivore Crocuta ultima (East Asian spotted hyena) and 11 herbivores including six megaherbivores (≥1000 kg). The relative importance of climate change and humans in driving these losses remains debated, despite accumulating evidence in favour of the latter. Later massive depletion of megafauna and large‐sized (45–500 kg) herbivores has been closely associated with agricultural expansion and societal development, especially during the late Holocene. While forests rich in large timber trees (33 taxa in written records) were common in the region 2000–3000 years ago, millennial‐long logging has resulted in considerable range contractions and at least 39 threatened species. The wide distribution of C. ultima, which likely favoured open or semi‐open habitats (like extant spotted hyenas), suggests the existence of mosaic open and closed vegetation in the Late Pleistocene across EMC, in line with a few pollen‐based vegetation reconstructions and potentially, or at least partially, reflecting herbivory by herbivorous megafauna. The widespread loss of megaherbivores may have strongly compromised seed dispersal for both megafruit (fleshy fruits with widths ≥40 mm) and non‐megafruit plant species in EMC, especially in terms of extra‐long‐distance (>10 km) dispersal, which is critical for plant species that rely on effective biotic agents to track rapid climate change. The former occurrence of large mammals and trees have translated into rich material and non‐material heritages pa