Reply To Feeley And Machovina: Trophic Ecology Complements Estimates Of Land Use Change Due To Food Production

Feeley and Machovina assert that even though humans occupy a low trophic level, we have larger ecosystem impacts than any other species because of the sheer volume of food consumed (linked to population size) and the inefficiency of its production (1). The authors argue that large differences in the impact on resource use exist between dietary preferences (e.g., differing proportions of beef, pork, or poultry in a diet), even if human diets are represented by the same trophic level. We are in complete agreement that humans have among the largest ecological impact of any species and that the human trophic level (HTL) (2) does not capture …