Humans acting as ‘super predators’ in Central African forests: trophic erosion and disruption of predator-prey dynamics

Predator-prey interactions are fundamental to ecosystem dynamics, shaping wildlife communities across space and time while influencing key ecological processes. In Central African forests, where the leopard (Panthera pardus) and the African golden cat (Caracal aurata) are the two largest carnivores, these interactions remain poorly understood—particularly in the face of increasing human pressure on these biodiversity-rich ecosystems. To address these knowledge gaps, we examined trophic structures and predator-prey spatiotemporal dynamics from camera trap data across a human-pressure gradient in three sites in the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Using an integrative approach that combined community diversity analyses, structural equation modeling, and activity overlap estimations, we assessed the integrity of these dynamics and the spatiotemporal factors shaping them. Our findings revealed that in low human-pressure areas, predator-prey interactions were governed by both bottom-up (prey availability) and top-down (predator control) forces, contributing to overall functional diversity. In contrast, our study demonstrated that a human population density of approximately 6.5 inhabitants/km² —combined with high hunting intensity and landscape fragmentation— drove major ecological shifts in trophic structure, positioning humans as ‘super predators’. By exerting top-down pressure across multiple trophic levels simultaneously, this human-driven trophic erosion led to reduced predator diversity, a significant decline in ungulate prey (41% to 89% fewer detections), disrupted spatiotemporal dynamics, and simplification of the system. Small generalist species dominated the species community under the highest human pressure, and were detected up to 23 times more than in low human-pressure areas. These findings highlight the urgency of integrating human impact assessments into ecological theory on trophic cascades and conservation strategies. Sustainable forest management must go beyond the monitoring of species richness and diversity indices, prioritizing the preservation of intact trophic networks across sufficiently large and connected landscapes to maintain ecosystem functionality in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures.