Wild and domestic savanna herbivores increase smaller vertebrate diversity, but less than additively

Wells, Harry B. M.; Kimuyu, Duncan M.; Odadi, Wilfred O.; Dougill, Andrew J.; Stringer, Lindsay C.; Young, Truman P.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13843

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Dung was not distinguished for four pairs of species: two zebra species (plains zebra Equus quagga and Grevy's zebra E. grevyi ) two hare species ( Lepus capensis and L. saxatilis ; Kartzinel et al., 2019), cattle/buffalo ( Bos indicus and Syncerus caffer ) and duiker/steenbok ( Sylvicapra grimmia and Raphicerus campestris ). A camera trapping study in KLEE (Wells, Kimuyu, et al., 2021) indicated that the number of independent detections (images separated by at least 1 hr) per trap night for plains zebra is 81 times that of Grevy's zebra for the treatments analysed in this study. The number of independent detections per trap night for duiker and buffalo were, on average, over three times that of steenbok and cattle respectively (Wells, Kimuyu, et al., 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…A camera trapping study in KLEE (Wells, Kimuyu, et al., 2021) indicated that the number of independent detections (images separated by at least 1 hr) per trap night for plains zebra is 81 times that of Grevy's zebra for the treatments analysed in this study. The number of independent detections per trap night for duiker and buffalo were, on average, over three times that of steenbok and cattle respectively (Wells, Kimuyu, et al., 2021). For species pairs whose dung were not distinguishable, these differences in camera trap detections provide an indication of the contributions of each species to the combined dung of both species.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…Mesoherbivore occurrence responses to megaherbivores varied as a function of mesoherbivore shoulder height. The occurrence probabilities of shorter species were more negatively impacted by megaherbivores (Figure 6a), mirroring the preference by smaller vertebrates for areas with higher tree densities (Atkins et al., 2019; Otieno et al., 2019; Underwood, 1982; Wells, Kimuyu, et al., 2021). This provides further evidence of an indirect effect of elephants on smaller bodied vertebrates via tree density reduction and increased predation risk (Valeix et al., 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

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Experimental evidence that effects of megaherbivores on mesoherbivore space use are influenced by species' traits

Wells

Crego

Opedal

et al. 2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

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Experimental evidence that effects of megaherbivores on mesoherbivore space use are influenced by species' traits

Wells

Crego

Opedal

et al. 2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…However, whether this pattern persists at higher cattle stocking rates, or how the effects of high cattle stocking rates interact with the presence of native herbivore, is unknown. Investigating the effects of increasing cattle stocking rates is important because rangelands in this region, particularly those that are communally managed, are stocked at higher rates than the moderate stocking rates evaluated by Veblen et al (2016) (Crego et al, 2020; Wells, Kimuyu, et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

At high stocking rates, cattle do not functionally replace wild herbivores in shaping understory community composition

Wells

Porensky

Veblen

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Over a quarter of the world's land surface is grazed by cattle and other livestock, which are replacing wild herbivores, potentially impairing ecosystem structure, and functions. Previous research suggests that cattle at moderate stocking rates can functionally replace wild herbivores in shaping understory communities. However, it is uncertain whether this is also true under high stocking rates and the effects of wild herbivore on plant communities are moderate, enhanced, or simply additive to the effects of cattle at high stocking rates.To evaluate the influence of cattle stocking rates on the ability of cattle to functionally replace wild herbivores and test for interactive effects between cattle and wild herbivores in shaping understory vegetation, we assessed herbaceous vegetation in a long-term exclosure experiment in a semi-arid savanna in central Kenya that selectively excludes wild mesoherbivores (50-1000 kg) and megaherbivores (elephant and giraffe). We tested the effects of cattle stocking rate (zero/moderate/high) on herbaceous vegetation (diversity, composition, leafiness). We also tested how those effects depend on the presence of wild mesoherbivores and megaherbivores. We found that herbaceous community composition (primary ordination axis) was better explained by the presence/absence of herbivore types than by total herbivory, suggesting that herbivore identity is a more important determinant of community composition than total herbivory at high cattle stocking rates. The combination of wild mesoherbivores and cattle

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“…The effects of cattle stocking rate and megaherbivores on cattle foraging efficiency were absent or weaker during the wet season (Figure 3). This may be because grass and forb availability is less limited, as evidenced by differences between treatments being smaller due to grazing-induced compensatory plant growth (McNaughton et al, 1983;Charles et al, 2017;Wells et al, 2021b). However, high cattle stocking rates and wild mesoherbivores suppressed cattle foraging efficiency more than additively in the wet season (Figure 3).…”

Section: Cattle Foraging Efficiency Responses To Cattle Stocking Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

Less Is More: Lowering Cattle Stocking Rates Enhances Wild Herbivore Habitat Use and Cattle Foraging Efficiency

et al. 2022

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Over a quarter of the world’s land surface is grazed by cattle and other livestock, which are replacing wild herbivores and widely regarded as drivers of global biodiversity declines. The effects of livestock presence versus absence on wild herbivores are well documented. However, the environmental context-specific effects of cattle stocking rate on biodiversity and livestock production are poorly understood, precluding nuanced rangeland management recommendations. To address this, we used a long term exclosure experiment in a semi-arid savanna ecosystem in central Kenya that selectively excludes cattle (at different stocking rates), wild mesoherbivores, and megaherbivores. We investigated the individual and interactive effects of cattle stocking rate (zero/moderate/high) and megaherbivore (>1,000 kg) accessibility on habitat use (measured as dung density) by two dominant wild mesoherbivores (50–1,000 kg; zebra Equus quagga and eland Taurotragus oryx) across the “wet” and “dry” seasons. To explore potential tradeoffs or co-benefits between cattle production and wildlife conservation, we tested for individual and interactive effects of cattle stocking rate and accessibility by wild mesoherbivores and megaherbivores (collectively, large wild herbivores) on the foraging efficiency of cattle across both seasons. Eland habitat use was reduced by cattle at moderate and high stocking rates across both dry and wet seasons and regardless of megaherbivore accessibility. We observed a positive effect of megaherbivores on zebra habitat use at moderate, but not high, stocking rates. Cattle foraging efficiency (g dry matter step–1 min–1) was lower in the high compared to moderate stocking rate treatments during the dry season, and was non-additively reduced by wild mesoherbivores and high cattle stocking rates during the wet season. These results show that high stocking rates are detrimental to wild mesoherbivore habitat use and cattle foraging efficiency, while reducing to moderate stocking rates can benefit zebra habitat use and cattle foraging efficiency. Our findings demonstrate that ecosystem management and restoration efforts across African rangelands that involve reducing cattle stocking rates may represent a win-win for wild herbivore conservation and individual performance of livestock.

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Wild and domestic savanna herbivores increase smaller vertebrate diversity, but less than additively

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 11 publications

References 60 publications

Experimental evidence that effects of megaherbivores on mesoherbivore space use are influenced by species' traits

Experimental evidence that effects of megaherbivores on mesoherbivore space use are influenced by species' traits

At high stocking rates, cattle do not functionally replace wild herbivores in shaping understory community composition

Less Is More: Lowering Cattle Stocking Rates Enhances Wild Herbivore Habitat Use and Cattle Foraging Efficiency

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