The impact of defaunation on nature’s contributions to people in the Pan-Amazon: a scoping synthesis of evidence and research gaps

The Amazon biome faces intensifying threats to its biodiversity, including accelerated deforestation, overexploitation of wildlife, fires, agricultural expansion, mining, and infrastructure construction. Understanding how the scientific literature has evaluated faunal contributions to Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) is important for informing future conservation and research priorities. Through a broad scoping review, we aimed to (1) assess the ecological role and Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) provided by terrestrial and freshwater faunas in the Pan-Amazon; (2) synthesize the current state of knowledge and critically examine how these potential associations have been explored and documented in the literature; and (3) identify any knowledge gaps and areas requiring further research. We analysed the data qualitatively and using descriptive statistics. Our synthesis of 135 studies reveals a research bias toward the interaction between fauna and provisioning services, such as hunting and fishing, while cultural services and the role of invertebrates remain critically underrepresented. Similarly, the role of faunal declines in ecosystem changes remains understudied in the empirical literature. Geographically, studies cluster in Brazil and Peru, leaving gaps across much of the Amazon. The reviewed studies frequently documented biodiversity declines associated with overexploitation, habitat loss, and climate change. This decline is associated with widespread depletion of faunas, which may disrupt ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Defaunation is linked to changes in ecological relationships that can alter ecosystem processes and, consequently, potentially impact human well-being. We urgently need to recognize the critical role of wildlife and build political will to develop targeted policies and funding mechanisms that address faunistic loss in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems alongside forest cover. Wildlife contributions to people are highly threatened globally We review research into the impacts of the biodiversity crisis on benefits provided by fauna in the Amazon The review found that research is biased toward provisioning benefits and regions, amid alarming biodiversity declines Non-economic values and ecological thresholds of collapse were underrepresented Evidence documented signals fragile ecosystem resilience Amazon wildlife collapse demands urgent action to address drivers of faunistic decline