Ecosystem structure, function, and composition in rangelands are negatively affected by livestock grazing

Ecological Applications

Volumn 26, Issue 4, 2016, Pages 1273-1283

  Eldridge, David J ^a   Poore, Alistair G B ^a   Ruiz Colmenero, Marta ^a   Letnic, Mike ^a   Soliveres, Santiago ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF BERN   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Ecosystem function; Grazing; Livestock; Plant composition; Plant production; Structural metrics

Indexed keywords

ABUNDANCE; CATTLE; CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT; ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION; ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE; GRAZING PRESSURE; HERBIVORE; LIVESTOCK FARMING; PHYTOMASS; PRIMARY PRODUCTION; RANGELAND; SHEEP; SPECIES RICHNESS;

AUSTRALIA;

ANIMALIA; BOS; OVIS ARIES;

ANIMAL; AUSTRALIA; BIODIVERSITY; BOVINE; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; HERBIVORY; PHYSIOLOGY; SHEEP;

ANIMALS; AUSTRALIA; BIODIVERSITY; CATTLE; CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; HERBIVORY; SHEEP;

EID: 84973488156     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19395582     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/15-1234     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. Allan, E., et al. 2014. Interannual variation in land-use intensity enhances grassland multidiversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111:308-313.
2. Andrew, M. H., and R. T. Lange. 1986. Development of a new piosphere in arid chenopod shrubland grazed by sheep. 2: changes to the vegetation. Australian Journal of Ecology 11:411-424.
3. Bates, D., M. Maechler, B. Bolker, and S. Walker. 2014. lme4: linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.1-7. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4
4. Borer, E. T., et al. 2014. Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation. Nature 508:517-520.
5. Bridle, K. L., and J. B. Kirkpatrick. 1999. Comparative effects of stock and wild vertebrate herbivore grazing on treeless subalpine vegetation, Eastern Central Plateau, Tasmania. Australian Journal of Botany 47:817-834.
6. Bromham, L., M. Cardillo, A. F. Bennett, and M. A. Elgar. 1999. Effects of stock grazing on the ground invertebrate fauna of woodland remnants. Australian Journal of Ecology 24:199-207.
7. Cingolani, A. M., I. Noy-Meir, and S. Díaz. 2005. Grazing effects on rangeland diversity: a synthesis of contemporary models. Ecological Applications 15:757-773.
8. Delgado-Baquerizo, M., et al. 2013. Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands. Nature 502:672-676.
9. Dorrough, J., S. McIntyre, G. Brown, J. Stol, G. Barrett, and A. Brown. 2012. Differential responses of plants, reptiles and birds to grazing management, fertilizer and tree clearing. Austral Ecology 37:569-582.
10. Eldridge, D. J., M. Westoby, and R. J. Stanley. 1990. Population dynamics of the perennial rangeland shrubs Atriplex vesicaria, Maireana astrotricha and M. pyramidata under grazing. Journal of Applied Ecology 27:502-512.
11. Eldridge, D. J., M. A. Bowker, F. T. Maestre, E. Roger, J. F. Reynolds, and W. G. Whitford. 2011. Impacts of shrub encroachment on ecosystem structure and functioning: towards a global synthesis. Ecology Letters 14:709-722.
12. Eldridge, D. J., S. Soliveres, M. A. Bowker, and J. Val. 2013. Grazing dampens the positive effects of shrub encroachment on ecosystem functions in a semi-arid woodland. Journal of Applied Ecology 50:1028-1038.
13. Fensham, R. J., J. L. Silcock, and J. Firn. 2014. Managed livestock grazing is compatible with the maintenance of plant diversity in semidesert grasslands. Ecological Applications 24:503-517.
14. Fleischner, T. L. 1994. Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western North America. Conservation Biology 8:629-644.
15. Gurevitch, J., and L. V. Hedges. 1999. Statistical issues in ecological meta-analyses. Ecology 80:1142-1149.
16. Kimuyu, D. M., R. L. Sensenig, C. Riginos, K. E. Veblen, and T. P. Young. 2014. Native and domestic browsers and grazers reduce fuels, fire temperatures, and acacia ant mortality in an African savanna. Ecological Applications 24:741-749.
17. van Klink, R., F. van der Plas, C. G. E. van Noordwijk, M. F. WallisDeVries, and H. Olff. 2014. Effects of large herbivores on grassland arthropod diversity. Biological Reviews 90:347-366.
18. Landsberg, J., C. D. James, S. R. Morton, W. J. Muller and J. Stol. 2003. Abundance and composition of plant species along grazing gradients in Australian rangelands. Journal of Applied Ecology 40:1008-1024.
19. 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.
20. Letnic, M., and M. S. Crowther. 2013. Patterns in the abundance of kangaroo populations in arid Australia are consistent with the exploitation ecosystems hypothesis. Oikos 122:761-769.
21. Letnic, M., F. Koch, C. Gordon, M. S. Crowther, and C. R. Dickman. 2009. Keystone effects of an alien top-predator stem extinctions of native mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276:3249-3256.
22. Lezama, F., S. Baeza, A. Altesor, A. Cesa, E. J. Chaneton, and J. M. Paruelo. 2014. Variation of grazing-induced vegetation changes across a large-scale productivity gradient. Journal of Vegetation Science 25:8-21.
23. Lunt, I. D., D. J. Eldridge, J. W. Morgan, and G. B. Witt. 2007. 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.
24. Lunt, I. D., A. Jansen, and D. Binns. 2012. Effects of flooding and livestock grazing on exotic annual plants in riverine floodplains. Journal of Applied Ecology 49: 1131-1139.
25. Milchunas, D. G., and W. K. Lauenroth. 1993. Quantitative effects of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments. Ecological Monographs 63:327-366.
26. Milchunas, D. G., O. E. Sala, and W. Lauenroth. 1988. A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure. American Naturalist 132:87-106.
27. Milton, S. J., W. R. J. Dean, M. A. du Plessis, and W. R. Siegfried. 1994. A conceptual model of arid rangeland degradation. BioScience 44:70-76.
28. Møller, A. P., and M. D. Jennions. 2001. Testing and adjusting for publication bias. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16:580-586.
29. Mooney, K. A., D. S. Gruner, N. A. Barber, S. A. Van Baeld, S. M. Philpott, and R. Greenberg. 2010. Interactions among predators and the cascading effects of vertebrate insectivores on arthropod communities and plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107:7335-7340.
30. Nash, M. S., D. F. Bradford, S. E. Franson, A. C. Neale, W. G. Whitford, and D. T. Heggem. 2004. Livestock grazing effects on ant communities in the eastern Mojave Desert, USA. Ecological Indicators 4:199-213.
31. Norbury, G. L., D. C. Norbury, and R. B. Hacker. 1993. Impact of red kangaroos on the pasture layer in the Western Australian arid zone. Rangeland Journal 15:12-23.
32. Noss, R. F. 1990. Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: a hierarchical approach. Conservation Biology 4:355-364.
33. Noy-Meir, I., M. Gutman, and Y. Kaplan. 1989. Responses of Mediterranean grassland plants to grazing and protection. Journal of Ecology 77:290-310.
34. Parker, D. G., and D. L. Oliver. 2006. Plains-wanderer habitat management guide. A photographic guide for visually assessing the grassland structure of plains-wanderer habitat. Second edition. Department of Environment and Conservation, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
35. Piñeiro, J., F. T. Maestre, L. Bartolomé, and A. Valdecantos. 2013. Ecotechnology as a tool for restoring degraded drylands: a meta-analysis of field experiments. Ecological Engineering 61:133-144.
36. Poore, A. G., et al. 2012. Global patterns in the impact of marine herbivores on benthic primary producers. Ecology Letters 15:912-922.
37. Proulx, M., and A. Mazumder. 1998. Reversal of grazing impact on plant species richness in nutrient-poor vs. nutrient-rich ecosystems. Ecology 79:2581-2592.
38. Riginos, C., and J. B. Grace. 2008. Savanna tree density, herbivores, and the herbaceous community: bottom-up vs. top-down effects. Ecology 89:2228-2238.
39. Senft, R. L., M. B. Coughenour, D. W. Bailey, L. R. Rittenhouse, O. E. Sala, and D. M. Swif. 1987. Large herbivore foraging and ecological hierarchies. BioScience 36:789-799.
40. Seymour, C. L., and W. R. J. Dean. 1999. Effects of heavy grazing on invertebrate assemblages in the Succulent Karoo, South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments 43:267-286.
41. Socher, S. A., D. Prati, S. Boch, J. Müller, H. Baumbach, S. Gockel, and M. Fischer. 2013. Interacting effects of fertilization, mowing and grazing on plant species diversity of 1500 grasslands in Germany differ between regions. Basic and Applied Ecology 14:126-136.
42. Squires, V. R. 1980. Chemical and botanical composition of the diets of oesophageally fistulated sheep, cattle and goats in a semi-arid Eucalyptus populnea woodland community. Australian Rangeland Journal 2:94-103.
43. Squires, V. R. 1981. Livestock management in the arid zone. First edition. Inkata Press, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
44. Tongway, D. J. 1995. Monitoring soil productive potential. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 37:303-318.
45. Tummers, B 2006. DataThief III. http://datathief.org
46. United Nations Environment Programme. 1992. World atlas of desertification/UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme. Second edition. Edward Arnold, London, UK.
47. Williams, R. J., C. H. Wahren, R. A. Bradstock, and W. J. Muller. 2006. Does alpine grazing reduce blazing? A landscape test of a widely-held hypothesis. Austral Ecology 31:925-936.
48. Williams, W. J., D. J. Eldridge, and B. M. Alchin. 2008. Grazing and drought reduce cyanobacterial soil crusts in an Australian Acacia woodland. Journal of Arid Environments 72:1064-1075.
49. Williamson, G. J., B. P. Murphy, and D. M. J. S. Bowman. 2014. Cattle grazing does not reduce fire severity in eucalypt forests and woodlands of the Australian Alps. Austral Ecology 39:462-468.