Signatures of Wild Animal Life in Earth's Landscapes

Abstract Animals shape Earth surface processes and landforms by displacing Earth surface materials and by making them more or less susceptible to geophysical processes. Despite increased recognition of the global significance of animal landscape “signatures”, analysis of their magnitude and generality has not been possible until now. We present a meta‐analysis of zoogeomorphic effect sizes using a comprehensive data set derived from a systematic review of published research. Our analysis provides unequivocal statistical evidence that wild animal agents substantially change geomorphic properties, on average by 136% in freshwaters and 66% in terrestrial ecosystems. Irrespective of ecosystem type, the presence of an animal agent increased substrate porosity and reduced the absolute or relative amount of fine material, properties that influence water and sediment fluxes and potentially landscape resilience. Livestock effect size data were scarce (two taxa), so analysis was focused on 61 wild animal species. While our analysis is the most extensive to‐date, spanning nine taxonomic classes across freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem types, hundreds more animal geomorphic agents are not represented due to a lack of effect size data. In contrast to prevailing hypotheses, we found little evidence of reduced effect sizes in settings with higher potential geophysical energy; instead, relationships with energy context were nuanced and dependent on geomorphic signature. Our findings show that wild animal geomorphic effects are not of low magnitude, nor are they limited to a handful of species, ecosystem types, or energy contexts. These findings challenge orthodox assumptions that geophysical drivers dominate Earth surface processes, and landform and landscape evolution.