期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2020
卷号：117
期号：7
页码：3370-3371
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1920565117
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Weihmann’s (1) comment on our recent paper (2) presents a misunderstanding of the principles of large herbivore ecology and the African fossil record. We welcome this opportunity to correct certain misunderstandings, focusing here on the two most important issues. Our previous work shows that the richness of megaherbivores (>1,000 kg) in eastern African fossil assemblages declined over the last ∼4.5 My (2, 3). Drawing from the abundant research documenting the effects of megaherbivores on vegetation structure, fire regimes, and nutrient cycling, among other processes (4⇓⇓–7), we argue that the exceptional richness of megaherbivores in the past implies that ancient ecosystems functioned unlike … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed.
