Skip to content

Hunting and Habitat Destruction Drive Widespread Functional Declines of Top Predators in a Global Deforestation Hotspot

Published Article

Argentina

Publication date: February 12, 2025

View resource

Using spatially explicit models, we show that hunting and habitat destruction cause drastic declines of jaguars and pumas in the Gran Chaco, weakening ecosystem functions. Large protected areas remain vital, highlighting urgent conservation needs to prevent further trophic downgrading.

Subject Tags

  • Conservation Planning
  • Ecosystem management

Abstract

We assessed how habitat destruction and hunting affect jaguar and puma populations in the 1.1 million km² Gran Chaco using spatially explicit, individual-based models. Simulations revealed severe declines under combined threats—88% for jaguars and 80% for pumas—far exceeding range contractions alone. Hunting emerged as the dominant driver of functional loss, weakening the top predator guild across 67% of the region. Large protected areas acted as population sources but were surrounded by strong sinks, underscoring their critical role in maintaining viability. Our findings highlight the urgent need for expanded protection and connectivity to prevent trophic downgrading and demonstrate the value of mechanistic models for disentangling complex threat dynamics at broad scales.

Citation

Romero‐Muñoz, A., Bleyhl, B., Benítez‐López, A., Camino, M., Decarre, J., Nanni, A.S., Noss, A., Giordano, A.J., Quiroga, V.A., Torres, R. and Thompson, J.J., 2025. Hunting and Habitat Destruction Drive Widespread Functional Declines of Top Predators in a Global Deforestation Hotspot. Diversity and Distributions, 31(2), p.e70003.

https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70003

Media Contacts