DOI: 10.5061/dryad.stqjq2c7q
title: Data from: A wide megafauna gap undermines China’s expanding coastal ecosystem conservation

description: To fulfill sustainable development goals, many countries are expanding
 efforts to conserve ecologically and societally critical coastal
 ecosystems. Although megafauna profoundly impact the functioning of
 ecosystems, they are neglected as a key component in the conservation
 scheme for coastal ecosystems in many geographic contexts. Here, we reveal
 a rich diversity of extant megafauna associated with all major types of
 coastal ecosystems in China, including 218 species of mammals, birds,
 reptiles, cephalopods and fishes across terrestrial and marine
 environments. However, 44% of these species are globally threatened and
 78% have not yet been assessed in China for extinction risk. More
 worrisome, 73% of these megafauna have not been designated as nationally
 protected species, and &lt;10% of their most important habitats are
 protected. Filling this wide “megafauna gap” in China, and globally, would
 be a leading step as humanity strives to thrive with coastal ecosystems.
description: A dataset of extant megafaunal species associated with coastal
 ecosystems in China was compiled (focused on mainland China). Three
 criteria were used to screen species: the species has (i) a maximum body
 mass no less than 10 kg, (ii) habitat association with coastal ecosystems,
 and (iii) geographic ranges encompassing China. Species were screened in
 the following databases: the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver.
 2022-2), FishBase (ver. 2023-2), and SeaLifeBase (ver. 2022-12), including
 all Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, and
 Cephalopoda.  This dataset contains species functional
 traits (including maximum body mass, thermoregulation, feeding mechanism,
 diet, coastal affinity, vertical position, and coastal habitat use),
 extinction risk categories (including Red Lists of IUCN and China), and
 threats to species (IUCN threat classification scheme)  for these
 megafauna. 
description: # Data from: A wide megafauna gap undermines China's expanding
 coastal ecosystem conservation --- We compiled a dataset of extant
 megafaunal species associated with coastal ecosystems in China (we focused
 on mainland China throughout this work). Three criteria were used to
 screen species: the species has (i) a maximum body mass no less than 10
 kg, (ii) habitat association with coastal ecosystems, and (iii) geographic
 ranges encompassing China. We screened species in the following databases:
 the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2022-2), FishBase (ver.
 2023-2), and SeaLifeBase (ver. 2022-12), including all Mammalia, Aves,
 Reptilia, Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, and Cephalopoda. ## Description
 of the data and file structure This dataset includes the functional traits
 of these megafaunal species (found in the "species_dataset"
 sheet), their extinction risk categories (also in the
 "species_dataset" sheet), and information on the threats they
 face (in the "threat_dataset" sheet). The
 "Summary_table_attributes" sheet provides a list of field names
 and descriptions, as well as data types for each dataset. Trait modalities
 were assigned based mainly on the species information provided by IUCN Red
 List, the Amniote life-history database, the PHYLACINE (Phylogenetic Atlas
 of Mammal Macroecology, v1.2), FishBase, SeaLifeBase, and Pimiento et al.
 2020. Maximum body mass: For mammals, reptiles, and birds, we obtained
 data from the Amniote life-history database, PHYLACINE 1.2 (the
 Phylogenetic Atlas of Mammal Macroecology), and the Animal Diversity Web.
 For fishes and other aquatic species, we acquired the maximum published
 weight from FishBase and SeaLifeBase. Thermoregulation: endothermy was
 assigned to all mammals. Mesothermy (or regional endothermy) was assigned
 to: all lamind sharks (family Lamnidae), tunas (Thunnus spp.), billfishes
 (families Xiphiidae and Istiophoridae [Istiophorus spp., Makaira spp. and
 Tetrapturus spp.]), two species of thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus
 and A. vulpinus) and Dermochelys coriacea. Ectothermy was assigned to all
 remaining sea turtles, bony fishes, and sharks and rays, including Mobula
 tarapacana. Feeding mechanism: We assigned a predatory feeding mechanism
 to all organisms that are known to actively hunt or catch prey. This trait
 designation includes bottom and suction feeders that prey upon
 invertebrates and/or benthic fishes. A browsing feeding mechanism was
 assigned to all grazing organisms that feed on plants. A filter-feeding
 mechanism was assigned to all species that consume plankton or krill via
 suspension feeding, bulk, or selective filter-feeding. Diet: We classified
 the diet of each species based on the principal type of food it consumes
 as an adult. Diets were expressed as four broad categories (i.e.,
 plankton, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates), as given in
 Fishbase/Sealifebase, PHYLACINE 1.2, and EltonTraits 1.0. coastal
 affinity: Based on the range of their habitat across different systems, we
 classified megafauna into three types of habitat range: inland-associated,
 primarily coastal, and ocean-associated: inland-associated, primarily
 coastal, and ocean-associated (see main text). Vertical position: This was
 assigned based on the position where they feed (land, benthic [or
 demersal], pelagic, reef-associated, some of these, or all). Coastal
 habitat use: We categorized the specific types of coastal ecosystem where
 organisms utilize (i.e., coastal waters, coral reef, soft sediment, hard
 bottom, seagrass/seaweed, mangrove, salt marsh, some of these, or all).
 Extinction risk categories: We downloaded the categories from IUCN Red
 List (accessed on 20th May 2023) and China's Red List (2023),
 respectively. ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly
 accessible locations of the data: 
 Data
 was derived from the following sources: * C. Pimiento, F. Leprieur, D.
 Silvestro, J. S. Lefcheck, C. Albouy, D. B. Rasher, M. Davis, J.-C.
 Svenning, J. N. Griffin, Functional diversity of marine megafauna in the
 Anthropocene. Sci. Adv. 6, eaay7650 (2020). * S. Faurby, M. Davis, R. .
 Pedersen, S. D. Schowanek, A. Antonelli, J.-C. Svenning, PHYLACINE 1.2:
 The phylogenetic atlas of mammal macroecology. Ecology 99, 2626 (2018). *
 H. Wilman, J. Belmaker, J. Simpson, C. de La Rosa, M. M. Rivadeneira, W.
 Jetz, EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the
 world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95, 2027 (2014). * N. P. Myhrvold,
 E. Baldridge, B. Chan, D. Sivam, D. L. Freeman, S. K. M. Ernest, An
 amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds,
 mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96, 3109 (2015). ## Code/Software NA