Although humans have long been predators with enduring nutritive and cultural relationships with their prey, seldom have conservation ecologists considered the divergent predatory behavior of contemporary, industrialized humans. Recognizing that the number, strength and diversity of predator-prey relationships can profoundly influence biodiversity, here we analyze humanity’s modern day predatory interactions with vertebrates and estimate their ecological consequences. Analysing IUCN ‘use and trade’ data for ~47,000 species, we show that fishers, hunters and other animal collectors prey on more than a third (~15,000 species) of Earth’s vertebrates. Assessed over equivalent ranges, humans exploit up to 300 times more species than comparable non-human predators.
Les scientifiques notent: "Compte tenu des effets négatifs potentiellement synergiques de l'utilisation des terres et du changement climatique sur la biodiversité, nos résultats suggèrent que les efforts de conservation et de restauration devraient être prioritaires à l'échelle mondiale en tant que solutions climatiques naturelles nécessaires. » DOI: 10.1126/science.adn3441