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Global biogeographical regions reveal a signal of past human impacts

View ORCID ProfileMarta Rueda, View ORCID ProfileManuela González-Suárez, View ORCID ProfileEloy Revilla
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/586313
Marta Rueda
1Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
2Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Seville, Spain
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  • For correspondence: mruedag@us.es
Manuela González-Suárez
3Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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Eloy Revilla
2Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Seville, Spain
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Abstract

Ecologists have long documented that the world’s biota is spatially organized in regions with boundaries shaped by processes acting on geological and evolutionary timescales. Although growing evidence suggests that human impact has been key in how biodiversity is currently assembled, its role as a driver of the geographical organization of biodiversity remains unclear. Here, we quantify the relative importance of human land use during the Late Holocene to predict the current assemblage of terrestrial mammals in biogeographical regions across the Earth. Results show that human land use 2,000 years ago has left an imprint on the taxonomic differentiation of some of the largest biogeographical realms, whereas land use at present stands out as a driver of the taxonomic differences between medium-sized subregions, i.e., within and among continents. Our findings highlight the far-reaching effect that past anthropogenic actions have had on the organization of biodiversity globally and warn us about future impacts.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted January 13, 2021.
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Global biogeographical regions reveal a signal of past human impacts
Marta Rueda, Manuela González-Suárez, Eloy Revilla
bioRxiv 586313; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/586313
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Global biogeographical regions reveal a signal of past human impacts
Marta Rueda, Manuela González-Suárez, Eloy Revilla
bioRxiv 586313; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/586313

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