Data from: The unique ecology of human predators

Paradigms of sustainable exploitation focus on population dynamics of prey and yields to humanity but ignore the behavior of humans as predators. We compared patterns of predation by contemporary hunters and fishers with those of other predators that compete over shared prey (terrestrial mammals and marine fishes). Our global survey (2125 estimates of annual finite exploitation rate) revealed that humans kill adult prey, the reproductive capital of populations, at much higher median rates than other predators (up to 14 times higher), with particularly intense exploitation of terrestrial carnivores and fishes. Given this competitive dominance, impacts on predators, and other unique predatory behavior, we suggest that humans function as an unsustainable “super predator,” which—unless additionally constrained by managers—will continue to alter ecological and evolutionary processes globally.可持续资源开发的研究范式多聚焦于猎物种群动态与人类捕获量，却忽略了人类作为捕食者的行为特征。我们将当代猎人与渔民的捕食模式，与共享猎物（陆生哺乳动物与海洋鱼类）的其他捕食者进行了对比分析。本次全球调查涵盖2125项年度有限开发率估算结果，结果显示：人类捕杀作为种群繁殖核心资本的成年猎物的中位速率远高于其他捕食者（最高可达14倍），对陆生食肉动物与鱼类的开发强度尤为突出。鉴于人类所具备的竞争优势、对其他捕食者的负面影响，以及其独特的捕食行为特征，我们认为人类堪称一种不可持续的“超级捕食者”——若不额外受到管理者的规制约束，将持续在全球范围内改变生态与进化进程。