Livestock grazing effects on ant communities in the eastern Mojave Desert, USA

Nash, Maliha S.; Bradford, David F.; Franson, Susan E.; Neale, Anne C.; Whitford, Walter G.; Heggem, Daniel T.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2004.03.004

Cited by 29 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For example, intensive grazing associated with agricultural activities has been shown to substantially reduce richness of plants, lichens, and insects (e.g., Orthoptera and Lepidoptera), but not Diptera, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi or bats (Allan et al 2014). Grazing-induced increases in ants of the dominant Dolichorine group could buffer reductions in cryptic, grazing-sensitive species, resulting in no net change in richness (Bromham et al 1999, Seymour and Dean 1999, Nash et al 2004. Moderate grazing may increase plant richness by removing highly competitive species and increasing light availability (Borer et al 2014).…”

Section: Compositional Structural and Functional Responses To Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem structure, function and composition in rangelands are negatively affected by livestock grazing

Eldridge¹,

Poore²,

Ruíz-Colmenero³

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

116

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Abstract.Reports of positive or neutral effects of grazing on plant species richness have prompted calls for livestock grazing to be used as a tool for managing land for conservation. Grazing effects, however, are likely to vary among different response variables, types, and intensity of grazing, and across abiotic conditions. We aimed to examine how grazing affects ecosystem structure, function, and composition. We compiled a database of 7615 records reporting an effect of grazing by sheep and cattle on 278 biotic and abiotic response variables for published studies across Australia. Using these data, we derived three ecosystem measures based on structure, function, and composition, which were compared against six contrasts of grazing pressure, ranging from low to heavy, two different herbivores (sheep, cattle), and across three different climatic zones. Grazing reduced structure (by 35%), function (24%), and composition (10%). Structure and function (but not composition) declined more when grazed by sheep and cattle together than sheep alone. Grazing reduced plant biomass (40%), animal richness (15%), and plant and animal abundance, and plant and litter cover (25%), but had no effect on plant richness nor soil function. The negative effects of grazing on plant biomass, plant cover, and soil function were more pronounced in drier environments. Grazing effects on plant and animal richness and composition were constant, or even declined, with increasing aridity. Our study represents a comprehensive continental assessment of the implications of grazing for managing Australian rangelands. Grazing effects were largely negative, even at very low levels of grazing. Overall, our results suggest that livestock grazing in Australia is unlikely to produce positive outcomes for ecosystem structure, function, and composition or even as a blanket conservation tool unless reduction in specific response variables is an explicit management objective.

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Section: Compositional Structural and Functional Responses To Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem structure, function and composition in rangelands are negatively affected by livestock grazing

Eldridge¹,

Poore²,

Ruíz-Colmenero³

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

116

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“…Moreover, ants play ecological roles in maintaining soil condition and quality, increasing forest productivity and keeping agroecosystems ventilated (Hölldobler and Wilson 1990;de Bruyn 1999;Agosti et al 2000). Ants respond quickly to forest disturbances of various types, e.g., livestock grazing (Nash et al 2004), tree cutting (Zettler et al 2004), fire (Andersen 1991), mining and farming (Majer 1983), and forest management (Maeto and Sato 2004;Arnan et al 2009). Hence, ants have been recognized as good bioindicators for the impacts of various disturbances such as mining, fire, pesticides, and logging (Andrew et al 2000;Maeto and Sato 2004;Kwon et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity decrease of ant (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) after a forest disturbance: different responses among functional guilds

2014

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Background: Disturbance is one of the main causes for determining diversity of natural communities. A 3-year (2003 to 2005) monitoring of ant communities at a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in South Korea revealed a drop of ant diversity due to a forest disturbance which was evidenced by decrease of leaf area index (LAI) associated with the dropping of tree branches. In order to determine the process of the decrease in diversity, we compared the annual change of functional ant guilds, which are composed of forest ground foragers (FGF), forest vegetation foragers (FVF), soil and litter dwellers (SLD), and open-land foragers (OF). Results: Four functional guilds of ants responded differently to the forest disturbance; FGF and SLD decreased, but OF and FVF increased. Species richness decreased, due to the decrease in SLD, and species evenness decreased mainly due to a sudden increase in an OF species, Formica japonica. Based on these findings, a mechanism is proposed for the decrease in ant diversity after the forest disturbance.

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“…Rangeland ant communities are known to be sensitive to grazing (Nash et al 2001(Nash et al , 2004Boulton et al 2005), and in this study they have been shown to be so in the most arid Australian rangelands. Importantly, differences in ant community metrics found along the grazing gradient conformed to the four global patterns described by Hoffmann (2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…P-values are provided in parentheses, with significant of P < 0.05 indicated by *. Bestelmeyer & Wiens 1996Landsberg et al 1999;Hoffmann 2000;Nash et al 2004), as well as for non-catastrophic disturbance in general (Hoffmann & Andersen 2003;Andersen & Majer 2004). Given that species compositional changes clearly indicate that ant communities do respond to disturbance, it appears that total species richness and abundance are poor response variables for disturbance analysis (Hoffmann 2010).…”

Section: Pattern 2 Grazing Induces Species Composition Change But Dmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Distance from water is commonly used as a surrogate of grazing intensity in areas where water limits the free ranging of stock (Ludwig et al 1999;Hoffmann 2000;Nash et al 2004). Grazing pressure declines in roughly radial symmetry with distance from a point water source because stock need to return to the water frequently to drink, thereby creating a negative correlation between distance from water and the time spent grazing at that distance (Lange 1969;Foran 1980;Ludwig et al 1999).…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using ants to manage sustainable grazing: Dynamics of ant faunas along sheep grazing gradients conform to four global patterns

Hoffmann¹,

James

2010

Austral Ecology

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Ants are considered an important faunal group for the functioning of arid rangelands, they have a long history of use for environmental monitoring, and exhibit four global patterns in grazing lands: (i) soil and vegetation type are primary determinants of ant community composition, and have a far greater effect on ant community composition than grazing; (ii) grazing induces species compositional change, but does not necessarily affect species richness or abundance; (iii) a species response to grazing is not necessarily consistent across habitats; and (iv) approximately one-quarter to one-half of species that are common enough for statistical analysis have significant responses to grazing. Here we report the patterns of arid zone ant faunas as they exist after several decades of sheep grazing in southern Australia, and examine the extent to which they conform to the four global patterns. We measured ant faunas along grazing gradients (varying distance to water) in seven paddocks containing two soil and two vegetation types on five pastoral properties.Total site abundance and richness of ants did not differ significantly with distance from water, but the abundance of 10 (34%) of the 29 most common species did differ; three were increasers, three were decreasers, and four had mixed responses dependent on soil/vegetation type. Rare species showed no trend with grazing intensity. The ant fauna of the more structurally complex vegetation types appeared to be the most vulnerable to grazing effects. Multivariate analysis showed soil type was the primary factor influencing ant faunal composition, followed by vegetation structure; however, grazing treatment effects were present. This study fully supports the recently identified global patterns of ant responses to grazing. It also shows that sampling regional ant faunas using widely dispersed traps can detect ant faunal patterns comparable to studies that use smaller-scale grids of traps.

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Livestock grazing effects on ant communities in the eastern Mojave Desert, USA

Cited by 29 publications

References 46 publications

Ecosystem structure, function and composition in rangelands are negatively affected by livestock grazing

Ecosystem structure, function and composition in rangelands are negatively affected by livestock grazing

Diversity decrease of ant (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) after a forest disturbance: different responses among functional guilds

Using ants to manage sustainable grazing: Dynamics of ant faunas along sheep grazing gradients conform to four global patterns

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