Piecewise Disassembly of a Large-Herbivore Community across a Rainfall Gradient: The UHURU Experiment

PLoS ONE

Volumn 8, Issue 2, 2013, Pages

  Goheen, Jacob R ^a,b   Palmer, Todd M ^b,c   Charles, Grace K ^b   Helgen, Kristofer M ^d   Kinyua, Stephen N ^b,e   Maclean, Janet E ^b,f   Turner, Benjamin L ^g   Young, Hillary S ^b,h   Pringle, Robert M ^b,i  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING   (United States)

^b MPALA RESEARCH CENTRE   (Kenya)

^c UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA   (United States)

^d DEPARTMENT OF PALEOBIOLOGY   (United States)

^e MOI UNIVERSITY   (Kenya)

^f UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

^g SMITHSONIAN TROPICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (Panama)

^h HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

ⁱ PRINCETON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

RAIN;

ACACIA; ANIMAL COMMUNITY; ARTICLE; BODY MASS; ELEPHANT; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR; GRAZING; NONHUMAN; PH MEASUREMENT; PLANT COMMUNITY; PLANT HERBIVORE INTERACTION; POPULATION ABUNDANCE; POPULATION DYNAMICS; SAVANNA; SURFACE SOIL; UNGULATE; VEGETATION; ANIMAL; BIOTA; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENT; FOOD CHAIN; HERBIVORY; KENYA; MAMMAL; PLANT;

ANIMALS; BIOTA; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENT; FOOD CHAIN; HERBIVORY; KENYA; MAMMALS; PLANTS; RAIN;

EID: 84873539571     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19326203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055192     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. Barnosky AD, Matzke N, Tomiya S, Wogan GOU, Swartz B, et al. (2011) Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived? Nature 471: 51-57.
2. Ceballos G, Ehrlich PR, (2002) Mammal population losses and the extinction crisis. Science 296: 904-907.
3. Hughes JB, Daily GC, Ehrlich PR, (1997) Population diversity: its extent and extinction. Science 278: 689-692.
4. Agrawal AA, Ackerly DD, Adler F, Arnold AE, Caceres C, et al. (2007) Filling key gaps in population and community ecology. Front Ecol Environ 5: 145-152.
5. Belyea LR, Lancaster J, (1999) Assembly rules within a contingent ecology. Oikos 86: 402-416.
6. Burkepile DE, Hay ME, (2006) Herbivore vs. nutrient control of marine primary producers: Context-dependent effects. Ecology 87: 3128-3139.
7. Johnson NC, Graham JH, Smith FA, (1997) Functioning of mycorrhizal associations along the mutualism-parasitism continuum. New Phytol 135: 575-586.
8. Lawton JH, (1999) Are there general laws in ecology? Oikos 84: 177-192.
9. McNaughton SJ, (1983) Serengeti grassland ecology: the role of composite environmental factors and contingency in community organization. Ecol Monogr 53: 291-320.
10. Schmitz OJ (2010) Resolving Ecosystem Complexity. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
11. Vaughn KJ, Young TP, (2010) Contingent conclusions: year of initiation influences ecological field experiments, but temporal replication is rare. Restor Ecol 18: 59-64.
12. Kareiva P, Andersen M (1988) Spatial aspects of species interactions: the wedding of models and experiments. In: Hastings A, editor. Community Ecology: Lecture Notes in Biomathematics 77. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 35-50.
13. Wiens JA, (1989) Spatial scaling in ecology. Funct Ecol 3: 385-397.
14. Knapp AK, Beier C, Briske DD, Classen AT, Luo Y, et al. (2008) Consequences of more extreme precipitation regimes for terrestrial ecosystems. BioScience 58: 811-821.
15. Austin AT, Vivanco L, (2006) Plant litter decomposition in a semi-arid ecosystem controlled by photodegradation. Nature 442: 555-558.
16. Fay PA, Kaufman DM, Nippert JB, Carlisle JD, Harper CW, (2008) Changes in grassland ecosystem function due to extreme rainfall events: implications for responses to climate change. Glob Change Biol 14: 1600-1608.
17. Ernest SKM, Brown JH, Parmenter RR, (2000) Rodents, plants, and precipitation: spatial and temporal dynamics of consumers and resources. Oikos 88: 470-482.
18. Previtali M, Lima M, Meserve PL, Kelt DA, Gutierrez JR, (2009) Population dynamics of two sympatric rodents in a variable environment: rainfall, resource availability, and predation. Ecology 90: 1996-2006.
19. Ogutu JO, Owen-Smith N, (2003) ENSO, rainfall and temperature influences on extreme population declines among African savanna ungulates. Ecol Lett 6: 412-419.
20. Sankaran M, Hanan NP, Scholes RJ, Ratnam J, Augustine DJ, et al. (2005) Determinants of woody cover in African savannas. Nature 438: 846-849.
21. Sankaran M, Ratnam J, Hanan N, (2008) Woody cover in African savannas: the role of resources, fire, and herbivory. Glob Ecol Biogeog 17: 236-245.
22. Staver AC, Archibald S, Levin S, (2011) Tree cover in sub-Saharan Africa: rainfall and fire constrain forest and savanna as alternative stable states. Ecology 92: 1063-1072.
23. Staver AC, Archibald S, Levin SA, (2011) The global extent and determinants of savanna and forest as alternative biome states. Science 334: 230-232.
24. Cardillo M, Mace GM, Jones KE, Bielby J, Bininda-Emonds ORP, et al. (2005) Multiple causes of high extinction risk in large mammal species. Science 309: 1239-1241.
25. Davidson AD, Hamilton MJ, Boyer AG, Brown JH, Ceballos G, (2009) Multiple pathways to extinction in mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106: 10702-10705.
26. Brook BW, Bowman DMJS, (2005) One equation fits overkill: why allometry underpins both prehistoric and modern body size-biased extinctions. Popul Ecol 47: 137-141.
27. Augustine DJ, McNaughton SJ, (1998) Ungulate effects on the functional species composition of plant communities: Herbivore selectivity and plant tolerance. J Wildlife Manag 62: 1165-1183.
28. Coughenour MB, (1991) Spatial components of plant-herbivore interactions in pastoral, ranching, and native-ungulate ecosystems. J Range Manag 44: 530-542.
29. Côté SD, Rooney TP, Tremblay JP, Dussault C, Waller DM (2004) Ecological impacts of deer overabundance. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 113-147.
30. Diaz S, Lavorel S, McIntyre S, Falczuk V, Casanoves F, et al. (2007) Plant trait responses to grazing- a global synthesis. Glob Change Biol 13: 313-341.
31. Hobbs NT, (1996) Modification of ecosystems by ungulates. J Wildlife Manag 60: 695-713.
32. Milchunas DG, Lauenroth WK, (1993) Quantitative effects of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments. Ecol Monogr 63: 327-366.
33. Augustine DJ, Veblen KE, Goheen JR, Riginos C, Young TP (2011) Pathways for positive cattle-wildlife interactions in semiarid rangelands. In: Georgiadis NJ, editor. Conserving Wildlife in African Landscapes: Kenya's Ewaso Ecosystem. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. 55-71.
34. Pringle RM, Palmer TM, Goheen JR, McCauley DJ, Keesing F (2011) Ecological importance of large herbivores in the Ewaso Ecosystem. In: Georgiadis NJ, editor. Conserving Wildlife in African Landscapes: Kenya's Ewaso Ecosystem. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. 55-71.
35. Hagenah N, Prins HHT, Olff H, (2009) Effects of large herbivores on murid rodents in a South African savanna. J Trop Ecol 25: 483-492.
36. Ims RA, Yoccoz NG, Brathen KA, Fauchald P, Tveraa T, et al. (2007) Can reindeer overabundance cause a trophic cascade? Ecosystems 10: 607-622.
37. Keesing F, (1998) Impacts of ungulates on the demography and diversity of small mammals in central Kenya. Oecologia 116: 381-389.
38. McCauley DJ, Keesing F, Young TP, Allan BF, Pringle RM, (2006) Indirect effects of large herbivores on snakes in an African savanna. Ecology 87: 2657-2663.
39. Palmer TM, Stanton ML, Young TP, Goheen JR, Pringle RM, et al. (2008) Breakdown of an ant-plant mutualism follows the loss of large herbivores from an African savanna. Science 319: 192-195.
40. Pringle RM, Young TP, Rubenstein DI, McCauley DJ, (2007) Herbivore-initiated interaction cascades and their modulation by productivity in an African savanna. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104: 193-197.
41. Pringle RM, (2008) Elephants as agents of habitat creation for small vertebrates at the patch scale. Ecology 89: 26-33.
42. Smit R, Bokdam J, den Ouden J, Olff H, Schot-Opschoor H, et al. (2001) Effects of introduction and exclusion of large herbivores on small rodent communities. Plant Ecol 155: 119-127.
43. Goheen JR, Palmer TM, Keesing F, Riginos C, Young TP, (2010) Large herbivores facilitate savanna tree establishment via diverse and indirect pathways. J Anim Ecol 79: 372-382.
44. Maclean JE, Goheen JR, Doak DF, Palmer TM, Young TP, (2011) Cryptic herbivores mediate the strength and form of ungulate impacts on a long-lived savanna tree. Ecology 92: 1626-1636.
45. Lagendijk G, Page BR, Slotow R, (2012) Short-term effects of single species browsing release by different-sized herbivores on sand forest vegetation community, South Africa. Biotropica 44: 63-72.
46. Young TP, Palmer TM, Gadd ME, (2005) Competition and compensation among cattle, zebras, and elephants in a semi-arid savanna in Laikipia, Kenya. Biol Conserv 122: 351-359.
47. Riginos C, Porensky LM, Veblen KE, Odadi WE, Sensenig RL,et al. (in press) Lessons on the relationship between pastoralism and biodiversity from the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE). Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice.
48. Anderson TM, Ritchie ME, McNaughton SJ, (2007) Rainfall and soils modify plant community response to grazing in Serengeti National Park. Ecology 88: 1191-1201.
49. Frank DA, Depriest T, McLauchlan K, Risch AC, (2011) Topographic and ungulate regulation of soil C turnover in a temperate grassland ecosystem. Global Change Biol 17: 495-504.
50. Osem Y, Perevolotsky A, Kigel J, (2004) Site productivity and plant size explain the response of annual species to grazing exclusion in a Mediterranean semi-arid rangeland. J Ecol 92: 297-309.
51. 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.
52. Chase JM, Leibold MA, Downing AL, Shurin JB, (2000) The effects of productivity, herbivory, and plant species turnover in grassland food webs. Ecology 81: 2485-2497.
53. Olff H, Ritchie ME, (1998) Effects of herbivores on grassland plant diversity. Trends Ecol Evol 13: 261-265.
54. Lortie CJ, Callaway RM, (2006) Re-analysis of meta-analysis: support for the stress-gradient hypothesis. J Ecol 94: 7-16.
55. Whittaker RJ, (2010) Meta-analyses and mega-mistakes: calling time on meta-analysis of the species richness-productivity relationship. Ecology 91: 2522-2533.
56. Gruner DS, Smith JE, Seabloom EW, Sandin SA, Ngai JT, et al. (2008) A cross-system synthesis of consumer and nutrient resource control on producer biomass. Ecol Lett 11: 740-755.
57. Ahn PM, Geiger LC (1987) Soils of Laikipia District. Nairobi: Ministry of Agriculture, National Agricultural Laboratories.
58. Soil Survey Staff (1999) Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys. Lincoln, NE: United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
59. Augustine DJ, (2003) Spatial heterogeneity in the herbaceous layer of a semi-arid savanna ecosystem. Plant Ecol 167: 319-332.
60. Augustine DJ, Mcnaughton SJ, (2004) Regulation of shrub dynamics by native browsing ungulates on East African rangeland. J Appl Ecol 41: 45-58.
61. Heady HF (1960) Range Management in East Africa. Nairobi: Government Printer.
62. Pringle RM, (2012) How to be manipulative. American Scientist 100: 30-37.
63. Augustine DJ, (2010) Response of native ungulates to drought in semi-arid Kenyan rangeland. Afr J Ecol 48: 1009-1020.
64. Nagy KA, Girard IA, Brown TK, (1999) Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles, and birds. Ann Rev Nutr 19: 247-277.
65. Stuart C, Stuart T (2000) A field guide to the tracks and signs of Southern and East African Wildlife. Cape Town: Struik Publishers.
66. Grossman RB, Reinsch TG (2002) The solid phase. In: Dane JH and Topp C, editors. Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 4: Physical Methods. Madison, WI: Soil Society of America. 201-293.
67. Gee GW, Orr D (2002) Particle size analysis. In: Dane JH and Topp C, editors. Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 4: Physical Methods. Madison, WI: Soil Society of America. 255-293.
68. Hendershot WH, Lalande H, Duquette M (2008) Ion exchange and exchangeable cations. In: Carter MR and Gregorich E, editors. Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis. Boca Raton, FL: Canadian Society of Soil Science and CRC Press. 173-178.
69. Vågen T, Winowiecki L, Desta LT, Tondoh JE (2010) The land degradation surveillance framework field guide. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
70. McNaughton SJ, Milchunas DG, Frank DA, (1996) How can net primary productivity be measured in grazing ecosystems? Ecology 77: 974-977.
71. Augustine DJ (2002) Large herbivores and process dynamics in a managed savanna ecosystem. Ph.D. Dissertation: Syracuse University, New York.
72. McLaren JR, Turkington R, (2010) Ecosystem properties determined by plant functional group identity. J Ecol 98: 459-469.
73. Blundell M (1982) The Wild Flowers of Kenya. London: Collins.
74. Bogdan AV (1976) A Revised List of Kenya Grasses (with keys for identification). Nairobi: Government Printer.
75. van Oudtshoorn F (2009) Guide to Grasses of Southern Africa. Pretoria: Briza Publications.
76. Dharani N (2006) Field Guide to Acacias of East Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers.
77. Gillett JB, McDonald PG (1970) A Numbered Check-list of Trees, Shrubs and Noteworthy Lianes Indigenous to Kenya. Nairobi: Government Printer.
78. Glass GV, Peckham PD, Sanders JR, (1972) Consequences of failure to meet assumptions underlying fixed effects analyses of variance and covariance. Rev Ed Res 42: 237-288.
79. Schmider E, Ziegler M, Danay E, Beyer L, Buehner M, (2010) Is it really robust? Reinvestigating the robustness of ANOVA against violations of the normal distribution assumption. Methodology 6: 147-151.
80. McNaughton SJ, (1985) Ecology of a grazing ecosystem: the Serengeti. Ecol Monogr 55: 259-294.
81. Soil Survey Division Staff (1993) Soil survey manual. US Department of Agriculture Handbook 18.
82. Haynes RJ, Mokolobate MS, (2001) Amelioration of Al toxicity and P deficiency in acid soils by additions of organic residues: a critical review of the phenomenon and the mechanisms involved. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 59: 47-63.
83. Brady NC, Weil RR (1999) The Nature and Properties of Soils. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Simon & Schuster.
84. du Toit JT, (1990) Feeding-height stratification among African browsing ruminants. Afr J Ecol 28: 55-61.
85. Gagnon M, Chew AE, (2000) Dietary preferences in extant African Bovidae. J Mammal 81: 490-511.
86. Rodgers WA, (1976) Seasonal diet preferences of impala from South East Tanzania. E Afr Wildl J 14: 331-333.
87. Stewart DRM, (1971) Food preferences of an impala herd. J Wildlife Manage 35: 86-93.
88. Augustine DJ, McNaughton SJ, (2004) Regulation of shrub dynamics by native browsing ungulates on East African rangeland. J Appl Ecol 41: 45-58.
89. Bond WJ, (2008) What Limits Trees in C4 Grasslands and Savannas? Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 39: 641-659.