Habitat- and rainfall-dependent biodiversity responses to cattle removal in an arid woodland - Grassland environment

Ecological Applications

Volumn 24, Issue 8, 2014, Pages 2013-2028

  Frank, Anke S K ^a   Wardle, Glenda M ^a   Dickman, Chris R ^a   Greenville, Aaron C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Arid Australia; Desert; Gidgee; Habitat heterogeneity; Habitat patches; Large scale cattle removal; Rangeland; Reptiles; Small mammals; Spinifex grassland

Indexed keywords

ARID REGION; CATTLE; COMMUNITY COMPOSITION; DESERT; ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE; EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE STRATEGY; GRASSLAND; HABITAT STRUCTURE; RAINFALL; WOODLAND;

AUSTRALIA;

BOS; MAMMALIA; REPTILIA; VERTEBRATA;

RAIN;

ANIMAL; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AUSTRALIA; BIODIVERSITY; CLASSIFICATION; ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION; ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; FOREST; GRASSLAND; MAMMAL; PLANT; PROCEDURES; REPTILE;

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; ANIMALS; AUSTRALIA; BIODIVERSITY; CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES; ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION AND REMEDIATION; FORESTS; GRASSLAND; MAMMALS; PLANTS; RAIN; REPTILES;

EID: 84919392323     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19395582     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/13-2244.1     Document Type: Article

References (109)

1. Aguiar, M. R., and O. E. Sala. 1999. Patch structure, dynamics and implications for the functioning of arid ecosystems. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14:273-277.
2. Albon, S. D., M. J. Brewer, S. O'Brien, A. J. Nolan, and D. Cope. 2007. Quantifying the grazing impacts associated with different herbivores on rangelands. Journal of Applied Ecology 44:1176-1187.
3. Alkemade, R., R. S. Reid, M. van den Berg, J. de Leeuw, and M. Jeuken. 2012. Assessing the impacts of livestock production on biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 110:20900-20905.
4. Allred, B. W., S. D. Fuhlendorf, F. E. Smeins, and C. A. Taylor. 2012. Herbivore species and grazing intensity regulate community composition and an encroaching woody plant in semi-arid rangeland. Basic and Applied Ecology 13:149-158.
5. Anderson, M. J., R. N. Gorley, and K. R. Clarke. 2008. PERMANOVA+ for PRIMER: guide to software and statistical methods. PRIMER-E, Plymouth, UK.
6. Angassa, A. 2012. Effects of grazing intensity and bush encroachment of herbaceous species and rangeland condition in southern Ethiopia. Land Degradation and Development. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2160
7. Asner, G. P., A. J. Elmore, L. P. Olander, R. E. Martin, and A. T. Harris. 2004. Grazing systems, ecosystem responses, and global change. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 29:261-299.
8. Ayyad, M., S. Ghabbour, and D. Goodall. 1986. Hot deserts of Egypt and the Sudan. Pages 149-202 in M. Evenari, I. Noy-Meir, and D. W. Goodall, editors. Ecosystems of the world, 12B: Hot deserts and arid shrublands. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
9. Bahre, C. J. 1979. Destruction of the natural vegetation of north-central Chile. University of California Publications in Geography 23:1-118.
10. Bailey, D. W., D. D. Kress, D. C. Anderson, D. L. Boss, and E. T. Miller. 2001. Relationship between terrain use and performance of beef cows grazing foothill rangeland. Journal of Animal Science 79:1883-1891.
11. Bakker, E. S., M. E. Ritchie, H. Olff, D. G. Milchunas, and J. M. H. Knops. 2006. Herbivore impact on grassland plant diversity depends on habitat productivity and herbivore size. Ecology Letters 9:780-788.
12. Balmford, A., et al. 2002. Ecology: economic reasons for conserving wild nature. Science 297:950-953.
13. Bermejo Asensio, L. A., and W. K. Lauenroth. 2012. Conservation grazing management: a novel approach to livestock management and biodiversity conservation on the Canary Islands. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 36:744-758.
14. Bock, C. E., Z. F. Jones, and J. H. Bock. 2006. Rodent communities in an exurbanizing southwestern landscape (USA). Conservation Biology 20:1242-1250.
15. Bock, C. E., H. M. Smith, and J. H. Bock. 1990. The effect of livestock grazing upon abundance of the lizard Sceloporus scalaris in southeastern Arizona, USA. Journal of Herpetology 24:445-446.
16. Buckley, R. 1981. Soils and vegetation of central Australian sandridges. 3. Sandridge vegetation of the Simpson Desert. Australian Journal of Ecology 6:405-422.
17. Buckley, R. C. 1982. Soils and vegetation of central Australian sandridges. 4. Soils. Australian Journal of Ecology 7:187-200.
18. Burbidge, A. A., and N. L. McKenzie. 1989. Patterns in the modern decline of Western Australia vertebrate fauna: causes and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 50:143-198.
19. Castellano, M. J., and T. J. Valone. 2006. Effects of livestock removal and perennial grass recovery on the lizards of a desertified arid grassland. Journal of Arid Environments 66:87-95.
20. Cingolani, A. M., I. Noy-Meir, and S. Diaz. 2005. Grazing effects on rangeland diversity: a synthesis of contemporary models. Ecological Applications 15:757-773.
21. Cogger, H. G., E. E. Cameron, R. A. Sadlier, and P. Eggler. 1993. The action plan for Australian reptiles. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia.
22. Cunningham, R. B., and D. B. Lindenmayer. 2005. Modeling count data of rare species: some statistical issues. Ecology 86:1135-1142.
23. Dalldorf, K. N., S. R. Swanson, D. F. Kozlowski, K. M. Schmidt, R. S. Shane, and G. Fernandez. 2012. Influence of livestock grazing strategies on riparian response to wildfire in northern Nevada. Rangeland Ecology and Management 66:34-42.
24. Dickman, C. R. 2003. Distributional ecology of dasyurid marsupials. Pages 318-331 in M. Jones, C. Dickman, and M. Archer, editors. Predators with pouches. The biology of carnivorous marsupials. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
25. Dickman, C. R., A. C. Greenville, B. Tamayo, and G. M. Wardle. 2011. Spatial dynamics of small mammals in central Australian desert habitats: the role of drought refugia. Journal of Mammalogy 92:1193-1209.
26. Dickman, C. R., P. S. Mahon, P. Masters, and D. F. Gibson. 1999. Long-term dynamics of rodent populations in arid Australia: the influence of rainfall. Wildlife Research 26:389-403.
27. Dickman, C. R., G. M. Wardle, J. N. Foulkes, and N. de Preu. 2014. Desert complex environments. Pages 379-438 in D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate, and A. Lowe, editors. Biodiversity and environmental change: monitoring, challenges and direction. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
28. Eccard, J. A. A., R. B. Walther, and S. J. Milton. 2000. How livestock grazing affects vegetation structures and small mammal distribution in the semi-arid Karoo. Journal of Arid Environments 46:103-106.
29. Fabricius, C., M. Burger, and P. A. R. Hockey. 2003. Comparing biodiversity between protected areas and adjacent rangeland in xeric succulent thicket, South Africa: arthropods and reptiles. Journal of Applied Ecology 40:392-403.
30. Fensham, R. J. 2010. Vegetation responses to the first 20 years of cattle grazing in an Australian desert. Ecology 91:681-692.
31. Field, A. 2000. Discovering Statistica using SPSS for Windows: advanced techniques for beginners. SAGE, London, UK.
32. Fischer, J., I. Fazey, R. Briese, and D. B. Lindenmayer. 2005. Making the matrix matter: challenges in Australian grazing landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 14:561-578.
33. Fleischner, T. L. 1994. Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western North America. Conservation Biology 8:629-644.
34. Foley, J. A., et al. 2005. Global consequences of land use. Science 309:570-574.
35. Folk, R. L. 1971. Longitudinal dunes of the northwestern edge of the Simpson Desert, Northern Territory, Australia, 1. Geomorphology and grain size relationships. Sedimentology 16:5-54.
36. Frank, A. S. K. 2010. The ecological impacts of cattle grazing within spinifex grasslands and gidgee woodlands in the Simpson Desert, central Australia. Dissertation. University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
37. Frank, A. S. K., C. R. Dickman, and G. M. Wardle. 2012. Habitat use and behaviour of cattle in a heterogeneous desert environment in central Australia. Rangeland Journal 34:319-328.
38. Frank, A. S. K., C. R. Dickman, G. M. Wardle, and A. C. Greenville. 2013. Interactions of grazing history, cattle removal and time since rain drive divergent short-term responses by desert biota. PLoS ONE 8:e68466.
39. Friedel, M. H., A. D. Sparrow, J. E. Kinloch, and D. J. Tongway. 2003. Degradation and recovery processes in and grazing lands of central Australia. Part 2: vegetation. Journal of Arid Environments 55:327-348.
40. Friend, G. R., G. T. Smith, D. S. Mitchell, and C. R. Dickman. 1989. Influence of pitfall and drift fence design on capture rates of small vertebrates in semi-arid habitats of Western-Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 16:1-10.
41. Gaston, K. J. 1994. Rarity. Chapman and Hall, London, UK.
42. Goudie, A. 2002. Great warm deserts of the world: landscapes and evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
43. Greenville, A. C., C. R. Dickman, G. M. Wardle, and M. Letnic. 2009. The fire history of an arid grassland: the influence of antecedent rainfall and ENSO. International Journal of Wildland Fire 18:631-639.
44. Grigg, A. M., E. J. Veneklaas, and H. Lambers. 2008. Water relations and mineral nutrition of closely related woody plant species on desert dunes and interdunes. Australian Journal of Botany 56:27-43.
45. Gutiérrez, J. R., M. Holmgren, R. Manrique, and F. A. Squeo. 2007. Reduced herbivore pressure under rainy ENSO conditions could facilitate dryland reforestation. Journal of Arid Environments 68:322-330.
46. Haythornthwaite, A. S., and C. R. Dickman. 2006. Distribution, abundance, and individual strategies: a multi-scale analysis of dasyurid marsupials in arid central Australia. Ecography 29:285-300.
47. Heske, E. J., and M. Campbell. 1991. Effects of an 11-year livestock exclosure on rodent and ant numbers in the Chihuahuan Desert, southeastern Arizona. Southwestern Naturalist 36:89-93.
48. Hobbs, R. J., and J. A. Harris. 2001. Restoration ecology: repairing the earth's ecosystems in the new millennium. Restoration Ecology 9:239-246.
49. Jones, A. L., and W. S. Longland. 1999. Effects of cattle grazing on salt desert rodent communities. American Midland Naturalist 141:1-11.
50. Keesing, F. 1998. Impacts of ungulates on the demography and diversity of small mammals in central Kenya. Oecologia 116:381-389.
51. Keesing, F., and T. Crawford. 2001. Impacts of density and large mammals on space use by the pouched mouse (Saccostomus mearnsi) in central Kenya. Journal of Tropical Ecology 17:465-472.
52. Keith, D. A., et al. 2013. Scientific foundations for an IUCN Red List of ecosystems. PLoS ONE 8:e62111.
53. King, C. M., R. M. McDonald, R. D. Martin, D. I. MacKenzie, G. W. Tempero, and S. J. Holmes. 2007.Continuous monitoring of predator control operations at landscape scale. Ecological Management and Restoration 8:133-139.
54. Kirkpatrick, J. B., J. B. Marsden-Smedley, and S. W. J. Leonard. 2011. Influence of grazing and vegetation type on post-fire flammability. Journal of Applied Ecology 48:642-649.
55. Kratochwil, A., S. Fock, D. Remy, and A. Schwabe. 2002. Responses of flower phenology and seed production under cattle grazing impact in sandy grasslands. Phytocoenologia 32:531-552.
56. Krausman, P. R., D. E. Naugle, M. R. Frisina, R. Northrup, V. C. Bleich, W. M. Block, M. C. Wallace, and J. D. Wright. 2009. Livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and rangeland values. Rangelands 31:15-19.
57. Kutt, A. S., and I. J. Gordon. 2012. Variation in terrestrial mammal abundance on pastoral and conservation land tenures in north-eastern Australian tropical savannas. Animal Conservation 15:416-425.
58. Kutt, A. S., E. P. Vanderduys, and P. O'Reagain. 2012a. Spatial and temporal effects of grazing management and rainfall on the vertebrate fauna of a tropical savanna. Rangeland Journal 34:173-182.
59. Kutt, A. S., E. P. Vanderduys, J. J. Perry, G. C. Perkins, J. E. Kemp, B. L. Bateman, J. Kanowski, and R. Jensen. 2012b. Signals of change in tropical savanna woodland vertebrate fauna 5 years after cessation of livestock grazing. Wildlife Research 39:386-396.
60. Landsberg, J., C. James, and S. Morton. 1997. Assessing the effects of grazing on biodiversity in Australia's rangelands. Australian Biologist 10:153-162.
61. Landsberg, J., C. D. James, S. R. Morton, W. J. Müller, and J. Stol. 2003. Abundance and composition of plant species along grazing gradients in Australian rangelands. Journal of Applied Ecology 40:1008-1024.
62. Launchbaugh, K. L., and L. D. Howery. 2005. Understanding landscape use patterns of livestock as a consequence of foraging behavior. Rangeland Ecology and Management 58:99-108.
63. Lawley, V., L. Parrott, M. Lewis, R. Sinclair, and B. Ostendorf. 2013. Self-organization and complex dynamics of regenerating vegetation in an arid ecosystem: 82 years of recovery after grazing. Journal of Arid Environments 88:156-164.
64. Legge, S., M. S. Kennedy, R. Lloyd, S. A. Murphy, and A. Fisher. 2011. Rapid recovery of mammal fauna in the central Kimberley, northern Australia, following the removal of introduced herbivores. Austral Ecology 36:791-799.
65. Letnic, M. 2004. Cattle grazing in a hummock grassland regenerating after fire: the short-term effects of cattle exclusion on vegetation in south-western Queensland. Rangeland Journal 26:34-48.
66. Letnic, M., and C. R. Dickman. 2006. Boom means bust: interactions between the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), rainfall and the processes threatening mammal species in arid Australia. Biodiversity and Conservation 15:3847-3880.
67. Lindenmayer, D. B., et al. 2012. Value of long-term ecological studies. Austral Ecology 37:745-757.
68. Loarie, S. R., R. J. van Aarde, and S. L. Pimm. 2009. Elephant seasonal vegetation preferences across dry and wet savannas. Biological Conservation 142:3099-3107.
69. Lunt, I. D., D. J. Eldridge, J.W.Morgan, and G. B. Witt. 2007. TURNER REVIEW Number 13. A framework to predict the effects of livestock grazing and grazing exclusion on conservation values in natural ecosystems in Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 55:401-415.
70. McAlpine, C. A., A. Etter, P. M. Fearnside, L. Seabrook, and W. F. Laurance. 2009. Increasing world consumption of beef as a driver of regional and global change: a call for policy action based on evidence from Queensland (Australia), Colombia and Brazil. Global Environmental Change 19:21-33.
71. McGranahan, D. A., D. M. Engle, S. D. Fuhlendorf, S. J. Winter, J. R. Miller, and D. M. Debinski. 2012. Spatial heterogeneity across five rangelands managed with pyricherbivory. Journal of Applied Ecology 49:903-910.
72. McKeon, G. M., O., W. Hall, B. Henry, G. Stone, and I. Watson. 2004. Pasture degradation and recovery in Australia's rangelands: learning from history. Queensland Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy, Indooroopilly, Australia.
73. Miehe, S., J. Kluge, H. Von Wehrden, and V. Retzer. 2010. Long-term degradation of Sahelian rangeland detected by 27 years of field study in Senegal. Journal of Applied Ecology 47:692-700.
74. Milchunas, D. G., O. E. Sala, and W. K. Lauenroth. 1988. A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure. American Naturalist 132:87-87.
75. Milstead, W. B., P. L. Meserve, A. Campanella, M. A. Previtali, D. A. Kelt, and J. R. Gutierrez. 2007. Spatial ecology of small mammals in north-central Chile: role of precipitation and refuges. Journal of Mammalogy 88:1532-1538.
76. Morton, S. R., and C. D. James. 1988. The diversity and abundance of lizards in arid Australia: a new hypothesis. American Naturalist 132:237-256.
77. Moseby, K. E., and J. L. Read. 2001. Factors affecting pitfall capture rates of small ground vertebrates in arid South Australia. II. Optimum pitfall trapping effort. Wildlife Research 28:61-71.
78. Munro, N. T., K. E. Moseby, and J. L. Read. 2009. The effects of browsing by feral and re-introduced native herbivores on seedling survivorship in the Australian rangelands. Rangeland Journal 31:417-426.
79. Nolan, C. 2003. Sand hills and channel country. Diamantina Shire Council, Bedourie, Australia.
80. Noss, R. F. 1994. Editorial: cows and conservation biology. Conservation Biology 8:613-616.
81. Olff, H., and M. E. Ritchie. 1998. Effects of herbivores on grassland plant diversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13:261-265.
82. Orshan, G. 1986. The deserts of the Middle East. Pages 1-28 in M. Evenari, I. Noy-Meir, and D. W. Goodall, editors. Ecosystems of the world, 12B: Hot deserts and arid shrublands. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
83. Owens, M. K., K. L. Launchbaugh, and J. W. Holloway. 1991. Pasture characteristics affecting spatial distribution of utilization by cattle in mixed brush communities. Journal of Range Management 44:118-123.
84. Papanastasis, V. P. 2009. Restoration of degraded grazing lands through grazing management: can it work? Restoration Ecology 17:441-445.
85. Parsons, A. J., and A. D. Abrahams. 2009. Geomorphology of desert environments. Springer, New York, New York, USA.
86. Pianka, E. R. 1986. Ecology and natural history of desert lizards: analyses of the ecological niche and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
87. Purdie, R. 1984. Land systems of the Simpson Desert region. CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources, Melbourne, Australia.
88. Purdie, R. 1990. Vegetation. Pages 49-93 in P. R. Wilson, R. Purdie, and C. R. Ahern, editors. Western arid region land use study: Part VI. Division of Land Utilisation, Brisbane, Australia.
89. Quinn, G. P., and M. J. Keough. 2002. Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
90. R Development Core Team. 2009. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
91. Read, J. L. 1999. The initial response of a chenopod shrubland plant and invertebrate community to two pulses of intensive cattle grazing. Rangeland Journal 21:169-193.
92. Read, J. L., and R. Cunningham. 2010. Relative impacts of cattle grazing and feral animals on an Australian arid zone reptile and small mammal assemblage. Austral Ecology 35:314-324.
93. Rosi, M. I., S. Puig, M. I. Cona, F. Videla, E. Mendez, and V. G. Roig. 2009. Diet of a fossorial rodent (Octodontidae), above-ground food availability, and changes related to cattle grazing in the Central Monte (Argentina). Journal of Arid Environments 73:273-279.
94. Sayre, N. 2009. Bad abstractions: response to Sullivan. Conservation Biology 23:1050.
95. Sayre, N. F., R. R. J. McAllister, B. T. Bestelmeyer, M. Moritz, and M. D. Turner. 2013. Earth Stewardship of rangelands: coping with ecological, economic, and political marginality. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11:348-354.
96. Seymour, C. L., S. J. Milton, G. S. Joseph, W. R. J. Dean, T. Ditlhobolo, and G. S. Cumming. 2010. Twenty years of rest returns grazing potential, but not palatable plant diversity, to Karoo rangeland, South Africa. Journal of Applied Ecology 47:859-867.
97. Smith, G. T., G. W. Arnold, S. Sarre, M. Abensperg-Traun, and D. E. Steven. 1996. The effect of habitat fragmentation and livestock grazing on animal communities in remnants of gimlet Eucalyptus salubris woodland in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. II. Lizards. Journal of Applied Ecology 33:1302-1310.
98. Stohlgren, T. J., G. W. Chong, M. A. Kalkhan, and L. D. Schell. 1997. Multiscale sampling of plant diversity: effects of minimum mapping size. Ecological Applications 7:1064-1074.
99. Suding, K. N., and R. J. Hobbs. 2009. Threshold models in restoration and conservation: a developing framework. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24:271-279.
100. Sullivan, B. K. 2009. The greening of public lands grazing in the southwestern USA. Conservation Biology 23:1047-1049.
101. Tongway, D. J., and J. A. Ludwig. 1996. Rehabilitation of semiarid landscapes in Australia. 1. Restoring productive soil patches. Restoration Ecology 4:388-397.
102. Twidale, C. R. 1972. Evolution of sand dunes in the Simpson Desert, Central Australia. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 56:77-109.
103. Valone, T. J., M. Meyer, J. H. Brown, and R. M. Chew. 2002. Timescale of perennial grass recovery in desertified arid grasslands following livestock removal. Conservation Biology 16:995-1002.
104. Valone, T. J., and P. Sauter. 2005. Effects of long-term cattle exclosure on vegetation and rodents at a desertified arid grassland site. Journal of Arid Environments 61:161-170.
105. Vesk, P. A., and M. Westoby. 2001. Predicting plant species' responses to grazing. Journal of Applied Ecology 38:897-909.
106. Wahren, C. H. A., W. A. Papst, and R. J. Williams. 1994. Long-term vegetation change in relation to cattle grazing in subalpine grassland and heathland on the Bogong high plains: an analysis of vegetation records from 1945 to 1994. Australian Journal of Botany 42:607-639.
107. Wallgren, M., C. Skarpe, R. Bergstrom, K. Danell, A. Bergstrom, T. Jakobsson, K. Karlsson, and T. Strand. 2009. Influence of land use on the abundance of wildlife and livestock in the Kalahari, Botswana. Journal of Arid Environments 73:314-321.
108. Wesuls, D., M. Pellowski, S. Suchrow, J. Oldeland, F. Jansen, and J. Dengler. 2013. The grazing fingerprint: modelling species responses and trait patterns along grazing gradients in semi-arid Namibian rangelands. Ecological Indicators 27:61-70.
109. Wilson, P. R., R. Purdie, and C. R. Ahern, editors. 1990. Western arid region land use study. Division of Land Utilisation, Brisbane, Australia.