Authors
Esther Sebastián‐González, Zebensui Morales‐Reyes, Francisco Botella, Lara Naves‐Alegre, Juan M Pérez‐García, Patricia Mateo‐Tomás, Pedro P Olea, Marcos Moleón, Jomar M Barbosa, Fernando Hiraldo, Eneko Arrondo, José A Donázar, Ainara Cortés‐Avizanda, Nuria Selva, Sergio A Lambertucci, Aishwarya Bhattacharjee, Alexis L Brewer, Erin F Abernethy, Kelsey L Turner, James C Beasley, Travis L DeVault, Hannah C Gerke, Olin E Rhodes Jr, Andrés Ordiz, Camilla Wikenros, Barbara Zimmermann, Petter Wabakken, Christopher C Wilmers, Justine A Smith, Corinne J Kendall, Darcy Ogada, Ethan Frehner, Maximilian L Allen, Heiko U Wittmer, James RA Butler, Johan T Du Toit, Antoni Margalida, Pilar Oliva‐Vidal, David Wilson, Klemen Jerina, Miha Krofel, Rich Kostecke, Richard Inger, Esra Per, Yunus Ayhan, Hasan Ulusoy, Doğanay Vural, Akino Inagaki, Shinsuke Koike, Arockianathan Samson, Paula L Perrig, Emma Spencer, Thomas M Newsome, Marco Heurich, José D Anadón, Evan R Buechley, José A Sánchez‐Zapata
Publication date
2020/8
Journal
Ecography
Volume
43
Issue
8
Pages
1143-1155
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Description
The organization of ecological assemblages has important implications for ecosystem functioning, but little is known about how scavenger communities organize at the global scale. Here, we test four hypotheses on the factors affecting the network structure of terrestrial vertebrate scavenger assemblages and its implications on ecosystem functioning. We expect scavenger assemblages to be more nested (i.e. structured): 1) in species‐rich and productive regions, as nestedness has been linked to high competition for carrion resources, and 2) regions with low human impact, because the most efficient carrion consumers that promote nestedness are large vertebrate scavengers, which are especially sensitive to human persecution. 3) We also expect climatic conditions to affect assemblage structure, because some scavenger assemblages have been shown to be more nested in colder months. Finally, 4) we expect …
Scholar articles
E Sebastián‐González, Z Morales‐Reyes, F Botella… - Ecography, 2020