Habitat selection by large herbivores in relation to fire at the Bontebok National Park (1974–2009): the effects of management changes

Kraaij, Tineke; Novellie, Peter

doi:10.2989/10220111003703450

Cited by 23 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This is the situation conservation managers' face in developing management strategies for large herbivores within the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site, South Africa . Kraaij and Novellie (2010) recently highlighted the difficulties in reconciling the need for short-interval fires to promote grazing for bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygargus) with the longer-interval fires needed to maintain fynbos plant diversity. In 2004, the fire rotation in Bontebok National Park was prolonged to favour plant diversity, resulting in reduced availability of young veld and a subsequent decline in bontebok densities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving management conflicts: could agricultural land provide the answer for an endangered species in a habitat classified as a World Heritage Site?

et al. 2011

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SUMMARYThe short-interval fires required to promote grazing for large herbivores within the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site are detrimental to plant diversity. At the same time, longer interval fires significantly reduce graze quality. Conservation managers thus face an enormous challenge when the herbivores are also a conservation priority, since the competing conservation objectives are difficult to reconcile. Population growth rates of genetically important populations of endangered Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) are low or declining following management focused on their fynbos habitat. Investigation of spatial and temporal habitat use and the diet of Cape mountain zebra, focusing on the use of land historically converted to agricultural grassland within fynbos in De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa), determined factors limiting populations and facilitated development of management strategies. Zebras selected grassland over other habitat types, despite grassland accounting for only a small proportion of the reserve. Grasses also made up the greatest proportion of diet for zebras throughout the year. Time spent on grasslands increased with grass height and was likely to have been influenced by grass protein levels. It is likely that grazing resources are a limiting factor for zebra, and so options for improving and/or increasing grassland at De Hoop should be considered. Translocation of surplus males to other conservation areas, reductions in other herbivore populations and targeted burns to increase grassland availability all offer short-term solutions. However, the acquisition of agricultural grassland adjacent to reserves is likely to be a viable long-term management strategy for this and other genetically important Cape mountain zebra populations. Low conservation priority habitats, such as farmland, should be considered for other management conflicts, as they have the potential to play a vital role in conservation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving management conflicts: could agricultural land provide the answer for an endangered species in a habitat classified as a World Heritage Site?

et al. 2011

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“…Herbivores should be attracted to recently burned renosterveld due to the higher quality of forage appearing in the more nutrient‐rich, post‐fire areas (Beukes ; Hobbs ; Archibald et al. ; Kraaij & Novellie ). If the burned area in this generally nutrient‐poor environment (Joubert & Stindt ) is small, both browsers and grazers will gather in the post‐fire recovering habitats in such numbers that only the most grazing‐ and trampling‐resistant plant species would survive the intense disturbance, consequently leading to the formation of grazing lawns (Hobbs ; Archibald et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of native large herbivores and fire on the vegetation dynamics in the Cape renosterveld shrublands of South Africa: insights from a six‐yr field experiment

Radloff

Mucina

Snyman³

2014

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question Renosterveld – a vegetation complex within the Fynbos Biome of South Africa – occurs in multiple structural states, including shrublands and various types of grasslands, lawns and herb‐lands. Uncertainty exists over whether the present unpalatable shrubland state might have replaced a historical grassland state. Settled agriculture characterized by fixed burning cycles and overgrazing by livestock has been blamed for this putative change. However, the disappearance of native large herbivores has also been implicated. Understanding the drivers responsible for putative state changes is of importance for conservation of this critically endangered vegetation type. Location Renosterveld shrublands and grasslands of the De Hoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Methods Three structural states of renosterveld (grazing lawn, tussock grassland and shrubland) were subjected to an experiment involving fire (burned/unburned) and herbivory (grazed/ungrazed by native mesoherbivores). Using animal exclosures and experimental burning, we measured the responses of the biomass of major plant functional types over 6 yrs to test whether switches between states occur in order to discern the drivers of these changes. The data were analysed using permutational manova, Fisher's exact contingency tests and NMDS. Results Herbivory (but not fire) had significant effects on lawn and tussock grassland biomass. Palatable shrubs proliferated in tussock grassland protected from herbivory. Unpalatable shrubs invaded burned lawn habitats exposed to herbivory. The vegetation composition of the shrubland state was affected by fire, herbivory and by the interaction between the two. Burned and grazed shrubland reverted to a dense canopy unpalatable state, while shrubland plots protected from grazing became palatable shrubland with a grass understorey. Palatable shrub species increased in the unburned and ungrazed shrubland plots, while the biomass of unpalatable shrubs declined in both the unburned grazed and exclosure plots. Conclusion We found no evidence supporting the hypothesis that the disappearance of native large herbivores led to the conversion of tussock grassland into unpalatable shrubland. Instead, the removal of native browsers caused palatable shrubs to dominate tussock grassland areas. Unpalatable shrubland is retained through a combination of fire and herbivory, but how this state established and persisted historically remains undetermined. Temporary relief from large herbivore grazing after unpalatable shrubland has been burned is recommended if a more open grassland state is the desired target.

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“…Habitat quality and quantity is negatively impacted by modification, groundwater abstraction, erosion, alien invasive species, inappropriate fire management, overstocking and transformation (Penzhorn and Novellie 1991;Winkler and Owen-Smith 1995;Watson and Chadwick 2007;Hurzuk 2009;Kraaij and Novellie 2010;Smith et al 2011;Watson et al 2011;Schutte-Vlok et al 2012;Strauss 2015;Birss et al 2016;).…”

Section: Threat: Habitat Alteration and Fragmentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…identifying spatially explicit priorities and actions for the conservation of Cape mountain zebra) (Penzhorn and Novellie 1991;Winkler and Owen-Smith 1995;Margules and Pressey 2000;Kerley et al 2003;Watson et al 2005;Smith et al 2007;Hurzuk 2009;Ryers et al 2010;Kraaij and Novellie 2010;Watson et al 2011;Smith et al 2011;Hrabar and Kerley 2013;Birss and Schutte-Vlok 2015 pers. comm.…”

Section: B M P-s : C a P E M O U N Ta I N Z E B R A I N S O U T H A Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Habitat suitability studies were conducted for Bontebok NP (Kraaij and Novellie 2010;Watson et al 2011;Strauss 2015), De Hoop NR (Smith et al 2007;Hurzuk 2009;Smith et al 2011), Gamkaberg NR (Watson et al 2005), Mountain Zebra NP (Winkler and Owen-Smith 1995) and Kammanassie NR . All studies showed that Cape mountain zebra prefer habitat with a high grassy component, and that only small portions of these reserves have suitable habitat for the species (Hurzuk 2009;Strauss 2015).…”

Section: B M P-s : C a P E M O U N Ta I N Z E B R A I N S O U T H A Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Adaptive Governance of Cape Mountain Zebra, Can It Work?

Novellie

Birss²,

Cowell

et al. 2017

African Journal of Wildlife Research

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Habitat selection by large herbivores in relation to fire at the Bontebok National Park (1974–2009): the effects of management changes

Cited by 23 publications

References 27 publications

Resolving management conflicts: could agricultural land provide the answer for an endangered species in a habitat classified as a World Heritage Site?

Resolving management conflicts: could agricultural land provide the answer for an endangered species in a habitat classified as a World Heritage Site?

The impact of native large herbivores and fire on the vegetation dynamics in the Cape renosterveld shrublands of South Africa: insights from a six‐yr field experiment

Adaptive Governance of Cape Mountain Zebra, Can It Work?

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