Livestock Herbivory Shapes Fire Regimes and Vegetation Structure Across the Global Tropics

Bernardi, Rafael E.; Staal, Arie; Xu, Chi; Scheffer, Marten; Holmgren, Milena

doi:10.1007/s10021-019-00349-x

Cited by 25 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…As this is done prior to livestock introduction, there is a positive correlation between density of animals and fire frequency in the summer, and a negative correlation in winter (Vacchiano et al, 2018). The same occurs in tropical forests and other ecosystems where livestock rearing is a key driver of conversion of forest to grasslands, often by using prescribed fires (Bernardi et al 2019).…”

Section: Effec Ts Of G R a Zing -A Sso Ciated Manag Ement On Wildfire Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of large herbivores on fire regimes and wildfire mitigation

Rouet-Leduc

Pe’er

Moreira

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Section: Effec Ts Of G R a Zing -A Sso Ciated Manag Ement On Wildfire Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of large herbivores on fire regimes and wildfire mitigation

Rouet-Leduc

Pe’er

Moreira

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Livestock browsing, trampling, and soil compaction further contribute to reducing forest cover. Yet, because livestock reduces C4 grass biomass, it may indirectly benefit forest cover by reducing fire risk (Bernardi et al, 2019). In contrast, invasive trees may not necessarily change forest cover, but by excluding native tree species, they alter forest structure and composition (Asner et al, 2008).…”

Section: Interactions With Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feedback in tropical forests of the Anthropocene

Flores

Staal

2022

Global Change Biology

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Forests across the tropics (30°N−30°S) are crucial for the functioning of the Earth system by storing vast amounts of carbon (Bonan, 2008;Mitchard, 2018), for global ecology by harboring much of the planet's terrestrial biodiversity (Barlow et al., 2018), and for humans' livelihoods by providing a range of products and many other ecosystem services (IPBES, 2019;Levis, Flores, et al., 2020).However, tropical forests are under increasing pressure from deforestation, fires, and other global-climate-change-induced disturbances (Edwards et al., 2019;Malhi et al., 2008). Feedback mediates the effects of stochastic perturbations and stressing conditions on the functioning and distributions of tropical forests. Positive feedback amplifies change, whereas negative feedback dampens it (DeAngelis et al., 1986). By amplifying change, positive feedback in particular may propel ecosystems into entirely contrasting regimes (Scheffer, 2009). Visualizing feedback in tropical forests is therefore a key step toward understanding how these ecosystems might respond to global changes. For example, tropical forests have been acting as a net carbon sink, absorbing anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, but they can do that only up until a certain level of CO 2 -induced global climate change, after which they may become a net source, owing to combinations of increased mortality, respiration and fires,

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“…LU, livestock units;prec., precipitation. Dantas et al 2016, Staal et al 2018, Bernardi et al 2019. Future assessments of potential forest expansion into grasslands would entail studying how the interaction with fire under different grazing regimes could affect vegetation structure and ecological functions.…”

Section: Drivers Of Forest Cover Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the probability of finding grasslands, savannas, or forests in any particular place results from the complex interplay of resource conditions, land use, and disturbance regimes. Indeed, across the tropics and subtropics, fire occurrence and herbivory can maintain open grasslands and savannas in regions with enough precipitation to support closed-canopy forests (Hirota et al 2011, Staver et al 2011, Lehmann et al 2014, Dantas et al 2016, Staal et al 2018, Bernardi et al 2019. Forests, savannas, and grasslands provide different types of environmental services and configure cultural views that strongly influence economic activities and social organization (Berkes et al 2000, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forests expand as livestock pressure declines in subtropical South America

Bernardi¹,

Buddeberg²,

Arim³

et al. 2019

E&S

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Forests, savannas, and grasslands are prevalent across the landscapes of South America. Land uses associated with these ecosystems have influenced economies from household to country scales, shaping social-ecological organization across the region since pre-Hispanic societies. Recent studies suggest that tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and forests represent alternative ecosystem states. Transitions between these ecosystem states can be promoted by changes in disturbance regimes and by land uses determined by the organization of societies and their activities. We analyzed how changes in agriculture, fire, and livestock management influenced forest cover over a 45-year span (1966-2011) in the Campos region, an extensive subtropical ecotone between rain forests and grasslands of South America. We found that forests contracted in areas with high crop agriculture, whereas forests increased in those grasslands where livestock densities had been reduced. These patterns were strongly associated with soil and topographic conditions because they broadly determine the potential land productivity and use. Our results show that current land use and disturbance regimes explain the large extent of grasslands across the South American Campos and suggest that changes in land use and disturbance regimes could facilitate or prevent transitions between subtropical forests, savannas, and grasslands altering the provision of ecosystem services linked to them.Ecology and Society 24(2): 19 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss2/art19/ analyzed changes in native forest cover over a 45-year period in Uruguay in relation to fire occurrence, livestock density, agricultural land cover, climate, soils, topography, and road density.

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Livestock Herbivory Shapes Fire Regimes and Vegetation Structure Across the Global Tropics

Cited by 25 publications

References 63 publications

Effects of large herbivores on fire regimes and wildfire mitigation

Effects of large herbivores on fire regimes and wildfire mitigation

Feedback in tropical forests of the Anthropocene

Forests expand as livestock pressure declines in subtropical South America

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