Functional Roles of the World's Recovered Predators

Abstract

Terrestrial predator populations have declined globally due to anthropogenic pressures with cascading consequences throughout ecosystems. As a result, recent efforts have sought to restore predator populations both passively (via habitat conservation and connectivity) and actively (via conservation translocations and reintroductions). Predator recovery efforts often cite restoration of ecological responses as a central goal, yet few studies monitor and report ecological outcomes of predator restoration. We conducted a comprehensive global meta-analysis of ecological responses to predator recovery, specifically investigating drivers of the magnitude of responses and, crucially, their alignment with local conservation objectives. Our analysis revealed that recovered predators overall elicit strong responses from the wildlife community, with most responses aligning with local conservation management preferences. Recovery effort techniques and biological community characteristics influenced the strength of community response and alignment with conservation goals. Although our results suggest that predator recovery is largely beneficial to ecosystem function, clarifying the goals of predator restoration will be essential for successful evaluation of ecological restoration and development of coexistence strategies.