Medium and large-sized mammals – think duikers (forest antelopes), porcupines, and wild pigs – play critical roles in African tropical ecosystems, such as dispersing seeds, grazing on vegetation, and predating on other animals.

Yet these species are also prime targets for hunters.

When they’re overexploited, these ecosystems start to change, with larger animals disappearing and smaller species like rodents becoming more dominant.

Several indicators have been proposed to assess these changes, but only a few studies have been dedicated to testing them, so their reliability remains uncertain. Now, a just-published paper is moving the conversation forward by providing concrete evidence—perhaps for the first time—on the shifts in species composition and resilience to hunting pressures.

Read full article