Plant community response to loss of large herbivores: Comparing consequences in a South African and a North American grassland

Biodiversity and Conservation

Volumn 18, Issue 9, 2009, Pages 2327-2342

  Burns, Catherine E ^a,b   Collins, Scott L ^c   Smith, Melinda D ^a  

^a YALE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MAINE   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO   (United States)

Author keywords

Biodiversity; Community structure; Diversity; Herbivory; Richness; Savanna; Species loss

Indexed keywords

COMMUNITY RESPONSE; GRASSLAND; HERBIVORY; MAMMAL; PLANT COMMUNITY; PLANT-HERBIVORE INTERACTION; SAVANNA; SPECIES DIVERSITY; SPECIES RICHNESS; TROPHIC LEVEL;

AFRICA; SOUTH AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

MAMMALIA;

EID: 70350621644     PISSN: 09603115     EISSN: 15729710     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10531-009-9590-x     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. Anderson TM, Ritchie ME, McNaughton SJ (2007) Rainfall and soils modify plant community response to grazing in Serengeti National Park. Ecology 88:1191-1201. doi:10.1890/06-0399.
2. Augustine DJ, McNaughton SJ (2004) Regulation of shrub dynamics by native browsing ungulates on East African rangeland. J Appl Ecol 41:45-58. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2004.00864.x.
3. Bakker ES, Ritchie ME, Olff H, Milchunas DG, Knops JMH (2006) Herbivore impact on grassland plant diversity depends on habitat productivity and herbivore size. Ecol Lett 9:780-788. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00925.x.
4. Barkley TM (1986) Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
5. Biggs R, Biggs HC, Dunne TT, Govender N, Potgieter ALF (2003) Experimental burn plot trial in the Kruger National Park: history, experimental design and suggestions for data analysis. Koedoe 46:1-15.
6. Bond WJ, Midgley GF, Woodward FI (2003) What controls South African vegetation-climate or fire? S Afr J Bot 69:79-91.
7. Briggs JM, Knapp AK (1995) Interannual variability in primary production in tallgrass prairie: climate, soil moisture, topographic position and fire as determinants of aboveground biomass. Am J Bot 82:1024-1030. doi:10.2307/2446232.
8. Brown BJ, Allen TFH (1989) The importance of scale in evaluating herbivory impacts. Oikos 54:189-195. doi:10.2307/3565265.
9. Clarke KR, Gorley RN (2001) PRIMER v5: user manual/tutorial. PRIMER-E, Plymouth, UK.
10. Collins SL (1987) Interaction of disturbances in tallgrass prairie: a field experiment. Ecology 68:1243-1250. doi:10.2307/1939208.
11. Collins SL, Smith MD (2006) Scale-dependent interaction of fire and grazing on community heterogeneity in tallgrass prairie. Ecology 87:2058-2067. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[2058:SIOFAG]2.0.CO;2.
12. Collins SL, Wallace LL (1990) Fire in North American tallgrass prairies. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.
13. Collins SL, Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Blair JM, Steinauer EM (1998) Modulation of diversity by grazing and mowing in native tallgrass prairie. Science 280:745-747. doi:10.1126/science.280.5364.745.
14. del Pozo A, Ovalle C, Casado MA, Acosta B, de Miguel JM (2006) Effects of grazing intensity in grasslands of the Espinal of central Chile. J Veg Sci 17:791-798. doi:10.1658/1100-9233(2006)17[791:EOGIIG]2.0.CO;2.
15. Dorrough JW, Ash JE, Bruce S, McIntyre S (2007) From plant neighbourhood to landscape scales: how grazing modifies native and exotic plant species richness in grassland. Plant Ecol 191:185-198. doi:10.1007/s11258-006-9236-y.
16. du Toit JT (2003) Large herbivores and savanna heterogeneity. In: du Toit JT, Rogers KH, Biggs HC (eds) The Kruger experience: ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity. Island Press, Washington, pp 292-309.
17. du Toit JT, Cumming DHM (1999) Functional significance of ungulate diversity in African savannas and the ecological implications of the spread of pastoralism. Biodivers Conserv 8:1643-1661.
18. du Toit JT, Rogers KH, Biggs HC (2003) The Kruger experience, ecology and management of Savanna heterogeneity. Island Press, Washington.
19. Duffy JE (2002) Biodiversity and ecosystem function: the consumer connection. Oikos 99:201-219. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.990201.x.
20. Eckhardt HC, van Wilgen BW, Biggs HC (2000) Trends in woody vegetation cover in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, between 1940 and 1998. Afr J Ecol 38:108-115.
21. Enslin BW, Potgieter ALF, Biggs HC, Biggs R (2000) Long term effects of fire frequency and season on the woody vegetation dynamics of the Sclerocarya birrea/Acacia nigrescens savanna of the Kruger National Park. Koedoe 43:27-37.
22. Frank DA (2005) The interactive effects of grazing ungulates and aboveground production on grassland diversity. Oecologia 143:629-634.
23. Frank DA, McNaughton SJ, Tracy BF (1998) The ecology of the Earth's grazing ecosystems. Bioscience 48:513-521.
24. Fuhlendorf SD, Harrell WC, Engle DM, Hamilton RG, Davis CA, Leslie DM (2006) Should heterogeneity be the basis for conservation? Grassland bird response to fire and grazing. Ecol Appl 16:1706-1716.
25. Govender N, Trollope WSW, van Wilgen BW (2006) The effect of fire season, fire frequency, rainfall and management on fire intensity in savanna vegetation in South Africa. J Appl Ecol 43:748-758.
26. Harrison S, Inouye BD, Safford HD (2003) Ecological heterogeneity in the effects of grazing and fire on grassland diversity. Conserv Biol 17:837-845.
27. Hartnett DC, Hickman KR, Walter LEF (1996) Effects of bison grazing, fire and topography on floristic diversity in tallgrass prairie. J Range Manag 49:413-420.
28. Heisler JL, Briggs JM, Knapp AK (2003) Long-term patterns of shrub expansion in a C-4-dominated grassland: fire frequency and the dynamics of shrub cover and abundance. Am J Bot 90:423-428.
29. Hickman KR, Hartnett DC, Cochran RC, Owensby CE (2004) Grazing management effects on plant species diversity in tallgrass prairie. J Range Manag 57:58-65.
30. Hobbs NT (1996) Modification of ecosystems by ungulates. J Wildl Manage 60:695-713.
31. Hooper DU, Chapin FS, Ewel JJ, Hector A, Inchausti P, Lavorel S, Lawton JH, Lodge DM, Loreau M, Naeem S, Schmid B, Setala H, Symstad AJ, Vandermeer J, Wardle DA (2005) Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge. Ecol Monogr 75:3-35.
32. Jacobs SM, Naiman RJ (2008) Large African herbivores decrease herbaceous plant biomass while increasing plant species richness in a semi-arid savanna toposequence. J Arid Environ 72:891-903.
33. Jacobs BF, Kingston JD, Jacobs LL (1999) The origin of grass-dominated ecosystems. Ann Mo Bot Gard 86:590-643.
34. Joern A (2005) Disturbance by fire frequency and bison grazing modulate grasshopper assemblages in tallgrass prairie. Ecology 86:861-873.
35. Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Hartnett DC, Collins SL (1998) Grassland dynamics: long-term ecological research in tallgrass prairie. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.
36. Knapp AK, Blair JM, Briggs JM, Collins SL, Hartnett DC, Johnson LC, Towne EG (1999) The keystone role of bison in North American tallgrass prairie. Bioscience 49:39-50.
37. Knapp AK, Smith MD, Collins SL, Zambatis N, Peel M, Emery S, Wojdak J, Horner-Devine MC, Biggs H, Kruger J, Andelman SJ (2004) Generality in ecology: testing North American grassland rules in South African savannas. Front Ecol Environ 2:483-491.
38. 4 savanna grasslands. Oecologia 149:456-464.
39. Loreau M, Naeem S, Inchasti P (2002) Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: synthesis and perspectives. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
40. Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
41. Martens JC, Danckwerts JE, Zacharias PJK (1996) Species responses to grazing in the Smaldeel area of the Eastern Cape. Afr J Range Forage Sci 13:29-36.
42. Martin PS (1984) Prehistoric overkill: the global model. In: Martin PS, Klein RG (eds) Quaternary extinctions: a prehistoric revolution. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, pp 354-403.
43. Milchunas DG, Lauenroth WK (1993) Quantitative effects of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments. Ecol Monogr 63:327-366.
44. Milchunas DG, Sala OE, Lauenroth WK (1988) A generalized-model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure. Am Nat 132:87-106.
45. Noy-Meir I (1995) Interactive effects of fire and grazing on structure and diversity of Mediterranean grasslands. J Veg Sci 6:701-710.
46. Olff H, Ritchie ME (1998) Effects of herbivores on grassland plant diversity. Trends Ecol Evol 13:261-265.
47. Palmer TM, Stanton ML, Young TP, Goheen JR, Pringle RM, Karban R (2008) Breakdown of an ant-plant mutualism follows the loss of large herbivores from an African Savanna. Science 319:192-195.
48. Pimm SL, Russell GJ, Gittleman JL, Brooks TM (1995) The future of biodiversity. Science 269:347-350.
49. Proulx M, Mazumder A (1998) Reversal of grazing impact on plant species richness in nutrient-poor vs nutrient-rich ecosystems. Ecology 79:2581-2592.
50. Pykala J (2003) Effects of restoration with cattle grazing on plant species composition and richness of semi-natural grasslands. Biodivers Conserv 12:2211-2226.
51. Ransom MD, Rice CW, Todd TC, Wehmueller WA (1998) Soils and soil biota. In: Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Hartnett DC, Collins SL (eds) Grassland dynamics: long-term ecological research in tallgrass prairie. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 48-66.
52. Scholes RJ, Bond WJ, Eckhardt HC (2003a) Vegetation dynamics in the Kruger ecosystem. In: du Toit JT, Rogers KH, HC Biggs (eds) The Kruger experience: ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity. Island Press, Washington, pp 242-262.
53. Scholes MC, Scholes RJ, Otter LB, Woghiren AJ (2003b) Biogeochemistry: the cycling of elements. In: du Toit JT, Rogers KH, Biggs HC (eds) The Kruger experience: ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity. Island Press, Washington, pp 130-148.
54. Snyman HA (2000) Quantification of the soil-water balance under different veld condition classes in a semi-arid climate. Afr J Range Forage Sci 16:108-117.
55. Snyman HA (2002) Short-term response of rangeland botanical composition and productivity to fertilization (N and P) in a semi-arid climate of South Africa. J Arid Environ 50:167-183.
56. Stohlgren TJ, Schell LD, Vanden Heuvel B (1999) How grazing and soil quality affect native and exotic plant diversity in rocky mountain grasslands. Ecol Appl 9:45-64.
57. Tilman D, Reich PB, Knops J, Wedin D, Mielke T, Lehman C (2001) Diversity and productivity in a long-term grassland experiment. Science 294:843-845.
58. Trager MD, Wilson GWT, Hartnett DC (2004) Concurrent effects of fire regime, grazing and bison wallowing on tallgrass prairie vegetation. Am Midl Nat 152:237-247.
59. Trollope WSW, Potgieter ALF, Zambatis N (1989) Assessing veld condition in the Kruger National Park using key grass species. Koedoe 32:67-93.
60. van Oudtshoorn F (1999) Guide to grasses of southern Africa. Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa.
61. Venter FJ, Scholes RJ, Eckhardt HC (2003) The abiotic template and its associated vegetation pattern. In: du Toit JT, Rogers KH, Biggs HC (eds) The Kruger experience: ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity. Island Press, Washington, pp 83-129.
62. WallisDeVries MF, Bakker JP, van Wieren SE (1998) Grazing and conservation management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.