Data from: Vertebrate community composition and diversity declines along a defaunation gradient radiating from rural villages in Gabon

Anthropocene defaunation is the global phenomenon of human-induced animal biodiversity loss. Understanding the patterns and process of defaunation is critical to predict outcomes for wildlife populations and cascading consequences for ecosystem function and human welfare. We investigated a defaunation gradient in northeastern Gabon by establishing 24 transects at varying distances (2–30 km) to rural villages and surveying the abundance and composition of vertebrate communities. Distance from village was positively correlated with observations of hunting (shotgun shells, campfires, hunters), making it a good proxy for hunting pressure. Species diversity declined significantly with proximity to village, with mammal richness increasing by roughly 1.5 species every 10 km travelled away from a village. Compared to forest far from villages, the wildlife community near villages consisted of higher abundances of large birds and rodents and lower abundances of large mammals like monkeys and ungulates. Distance to nearest village emerged as a key driver of the relative abundance of five of the six taxonomic guilds, indicating that the top–down force of hunting strongly influences large vertebrate community composition and structure. Several measures of vegetation structure also explained animal abundance, but these varied across taxonomic guilds. Forest elephants were the exception: no measured variable or combination of variables explained variation in elephant abundances. Synthesis and applications. Hunting is concentrated within 10 km around villages, creating a hunting halo characterized by heavily altered animal communities composed of relatively small-bodied species. Although the strongest anthropogenic effects are relatively distance-limited, the linear increase in species richness shown here even at distances 30 km from villages suggests that hunting may have altered vertebrate abundances across the entire landscape. Central African forests store >25% of the carbon in tropical forests and are home to 3000 endemic species, but roughly 53% of the region lies within the village hunting halo. Resource management strategies should take into account this hunting-induced spatial variation in animal communities. Near villages, resource management should focus on sustainable community-led hunting programs that provide long-term supplies of wild meat to rural people. Resource management far from villages should focus on law enforcement and promoting industry practices that maintain remote tracts of land to preserve ecosystem services like carbon storage and biodiversity.人类世动物群衰退（Anthropocene defaunation）是指由人类活动引发的全球动物生物多样性丧失现象。阐明该类动物群衰退的模式与过程，对于预测野生动物种群的存续结局，以及生态系统功能与人类福祉所产生的连锁效应，均具有关键意义。 本研究在加蓬东北部设置了24条样带（transects），各条样带与乡村的距离介于2至30千米不等，以此构建动物群衰退梯度，并对脊椎动物群落（vertebrate communities）的丰度与组成展开调查。样点与村落的距离与狩猎痕迹（含霰弹枪弹壳（shotgun shells）、营火、狩猎者）的观测结果呈正相关，因此该距离可作为狩猎压力的有效替代指标。 物种多样性随距村落的距离越近而显著下降，每向远离村落的方向行进10千米，哺乳动物丰富度（mammal richness）便会提升约1.5个物种。相较于远离村落的森林区域，村落周边的野生动物群落中，大型鸟类与啮齿类的丰度更高，而猴类、有蹄类等大型哺乳动物的丰度更低。 距最近村落的距离成为六大分类类群（taxonomic guilds）中五类相对丰度的关键驱动因素，这表明狩猎这一自上而下的调控力，会显著影响大型脊椎动物群落的组成与结构。部分植被结构指标同样可以解释动物丰度的变化，但这类解释力因类群而异。森林象（forest elephants）是个例外：无论采用单一测量变量或是多变量组合，均无法解释其丰度的变异。 综合与应用。狩猎活动集中于村落周边10千米范围内，由此形成了以小型体型物种为主、群落结构被严重改变的"狩猎光环（hunting halo）"。尽管人类活动的最强影响存在一定的距离限制，但本研究观测到的物种丰富度随距村落距离增加而线性提升的现象——即便在距村落30千米的区域亦存在——这表明狩猎活动或已对整个景观尺度下的脊椎动物丰度产生了改变。中非森林储存了热带森林碳储量的25%以上，同时孕育了3000种特有物种，但该区域约53%的范围均处于"狩猎光环（hunting halo）"覆盖范围之内。资源管理策略应充分考量狩猎所引发的动物群落空间异质性。在村落周边区域，资源管理应聚焦于可持续的社区主导型狩猎项目，为乡村居民提供长期的野生肉类供应。而在远离村落的区域，资源管理则应侧重执法监管，并推广能够保护偏远土地的产业实践，以维护碳储存、生物多样性保护等生态系统服务功能。