defaunationn.
/ˌdiːfɔːˈneɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌdifɔˈneɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌdifɑˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ 1. The removal of parasitic or symbiotic protozoans or invertebrates from a host organism or a part of its body, spec. the elimination of the ciliate protozoan population in the rumen of a ruminant; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1924 L. R. Cleveland in Biol. Bull. 46 180 Is defaunation (the removal of the protozoan fauna)..in any way responsible for the inability of the termites to maintain themselves on a wood diet?
1956 Biol. Bull. 110 83 These unsuccessful defaunations resulted from physiological as well as morphological distinctions which must exist between the protozoa from widely different species of termites.
1962 Exper. Parasitol. 12 249/2 Their tools and techniques should be forged with an eye on the goal of the eventual helminthic defaunation of man.
1969 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Res. 12 445 Dimetridazole thus appears to be a potentially useful tool for total defaunation of ruminants.
1992 A. G. Williams & G. S. Coleman Rumen Protozoa xi. 359 The improved wool growth after defaunation occurred with both low- and high-protein diets.
2006 J. L. Firkins & Z. Yu in K. Sejrsen et al. Ruminant Physiol. (2008) 39 Defaunation might be more difficult with cattle than sheep.
2. Destruction or loss of (part of) the animal life of a region, habitat, etc.; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1969 Ecology 50 301/2 On no island were ant populations nearly so dense as those before defaunation.
1983 D. Thomson & M. R. Gilligan in T. J. Case & M. L. Cody Island Biogeogr. Sea of Cortéz v. 99 The recolonization of larger Gulf of Mexico patch reefs after natural defaunation by a red tide showed that reef-fish communities developed according to well-defined successional sequences.
1996 Jrnl. Crustacean Biol. 16 77 Summer hypoxia of bottom water causes a seasonal defaunation of the benthic community.
2000 Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pa.) 4 Dec. c6/1 Although deforestation is a long-term concern, in the short term defaunation..is the more critical issue.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1924