Research overview: carcass provisioning and nutrient cycling by big cats

An overview of how the kills of large felids redistribute energy and nutrients through ecosystems. Carcasses and the cats' partly eaten remains create nutrient hotspots that fertilize soils and vegetation, feed scavenger communities and influence local biodiversity. This survey synthesizes work on how puma, lion, leopard and tiger kills function as resource pulses, the spatial pattern of carcass deposition relative to hunting habitat, and the downstream effects on plants, invertebrates and microbes. It connects to the emerging view of big cats as ecosystem engineers whose ecological importance extends beyond regulating prey numbers to structuring the flow of carrion-derived resources. The topic links predation ecology to nutrient dynamics and underscores the broader ecosystem services provided by intact large-carnivore populations.