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... > social science subjects > sociology > anthropology > geography/geology > biogeography > animal geographies > overkill hypothesis
... > social science subjects > geography > Earth science > physical geography > biogeography > animal geographies > overkill hypothesis
... > other subjects > natural sciences > Earth science > physical geography > biogeography > animal geographies > overkill hypothesis
... > social science subjects > geography > human geography > social and cultural geography > animal geographies > overkill hypothesis

Preferred term

overkill hypothesis  

Definition

  • As human populations expanded their geographic range across the globe, they brought with them an unparalleled ability to transform native landscapes and directly or indirectly devastate populations of native or indigenous peoples species. According to Paul Martin and other palaeoecologists, this ‘overkill’ may have been responsible for the waves of extinction of native faunas (especially the megafauna) that coincided with the arrival of environmentally significant humans in new lands. [Source: Encyclopedia of Environmental Change; overkill hypothesis]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/overkill_hypothesis

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