Research overview: ecosystem engineering via carcasses by big cats

A survey of how the kills of large cats function as a form of ecosystem engineering, structuring scavenger communities, nutrient flow and local biodiversity. Because predators such as pumas, leopards and lions produce frequent, dispersed carcasses, they supply a steady carrion resource that supports diverse vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers, creates soil nutrient hotspots and influences plant growth, extending the cats' ecological role beyond regulating prey numbers. This overview synthesizes work reframing big cats as keystone providers, the spatial and temporal patterns of carrion deposition, and the downstream effects on biodiversity and biogeochemistry. It connects predation ecology to ecosystem function and to the conservation value of intact carnivore populations. The topic highlights an emerging view that the indirect, carcass-mediated effects of cats are a significant and underrecognized ecosystem service.