Recent research has highlighted several influential roles that humans play in ecosystems, including that of a superpredator, hyperkeystone species, and niche constructor. This work has begun to describe the Eltonian niche of humans, which encompasses humanity's cumulative ecological and evolutionary roles in trophic systems. However, we lack a unifying framework that brings together these strands of research, links them to ecoevolutionary and sociocultural theory, and identifies current research needs. In this article, we present such a framework in hope of facilitating a more holistic approach to operationalizing human roles in trophic systems across an increasingly anthropogenic biosphere. The framework underscores how humans play numerous nuanced roles in trophic systems, from top-down to bottom-up, that entail not only pernicious effects but also benefits for many nonhuman species. Such a nuanced view of the Eltonian niche of humans is important for understanding complex social–ecological system functioning and enacting effective policies and conservation measures.

中文翻译：

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埃尔顿人类生态位的框架

最近的研究强调了人类在生态系统中扮演的几个有影响的角色，包括超级捕食者、超关键物种和生态位构造者。这项工作已经开始描述人类的埃尔顿生态位，其中包括人类在营养系统中累积的生态和进化作用。然而，我们缺乏一个统一的框架来汇集这些研究线索，将它们与生态进化和社会文化理论联系起来，并确定当前的研究需求。在本文中，我们提出了这样一个框架，希望能够促进一种更全面的方法，在日益人为的生物圈的营养系统中发挥人类的作用。该框架强调了人类如何在营养系统中扮演许多微妙的角色，从自上而下到自下而上，这不仅会带来有害影响，还会对许多非人类物种带来好处。这种对埃尔顿人类生态位的细致入微的观点对于理解复杂的社会生态系统功能和制定有效的政策和保护措施非常重要。