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

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13843  

   Wells, Harry B. M.; Kimuyu, Duncan M.; Odadi, Wilfred O.; Dougill, Andrew J.; Stringer, Lindsay C.; Young, Truman P.; du Toit, ed., Johan (February 2021, Journal of Applied Ecology)

   Abstract Cattle and other livestock graze more than a quarter of the world's terrestrial area and are widely regarded to be drivers of global biodiversity declines. Studies often compare the effects of livestock presence/absence but, to our knowledge, no studies have tested for interactive effects between large wild herbivores and livestock at varying stocking rates on small‐bodied wild vertebrates.We investigated the effects of cattle stocking rates (none/moderate/high) on the diversity of wildlife 0.05–1,000 kg using camera traps at a long‐term exclosure experiment within a semi‐arid savanna ecosystem in central Kenya. In addition, by selectively excluding wild ‘mesoherbivores’ (50–1,000 kg) and ‘megaherbivores’ (>1,000 kg; elephant and giraffe), we tested whether the presence of these two wild herbivore guilds (collectively, ‘larger wild herbivores’) mediates the effect of cattle stocking rate on habitat use and diversity of ‘smaller wildlife’ (mammals ranging between 10 and 70 cm shoulder height and birds).Our results show that cattle enhance alpha diversity of smaller wildlife (with or without larger wild herbivore presence) and of all wildlife 0.05–1,000 kg (with or without megaherbivore presence), by altering vegetation structure. However, for smaller wildlife, this effect is less pronounced in the presence of larger wild herbivores, which also shorten grass. In the absence of cattle, mesoherbivore‐accessible sites showed higher alpha diversity of smaller wildlife than sites excluding mesoherbivores.Smaller wildlife habitat use was increased by high cattle stocking rates and wild mesoherbivores more in the presence of the other.Synthesis and applications. Our findings imply that grazing, whether by livestock or wildlife, can enhance local savanna wildlife diversity. The biodiversity benefits of localised increases in herbivory are likely to be due to shortened grass and associated visibility improvements (for predator avoidance/foraging). This suggests that land managers can increase local biodiversity by shortening grass, with wild or domestic herbivores (or both), at least in patches within a taller grass matrix. 

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

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.825689  

   Wells, Harry B.; Crego, Ramiro D.; Ekadeli, Jackson; Namoni, Mathew; Kimuyu, Duncan M.; Odadi, Wilfred O.; Porensky, Lauren M.; Dougill, Andrew J.; Stringer, Lindsay C.; Young, Truman P. (February 2022, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution)

   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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3. Trait‐based signatures of cloud base height in a tropical cloud forest

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1483  

   Hulshof, Catherine_M; Waring, Bonnie_G; Powers, Jennifer_S; Harrison, Susan_P (June 2020, American Journal of Botany)

   PremiseClouds have profound consequences for ecosystem structure and function. Yet, the direct monitoring of clouds and their effects on biota is challenging especially in remote and topographically complex tropical cloud forests. We argue that known relationships between climate and the taxonomic and functional composition of plant communities may provide a fingerprint of cloud base height, thus providing a rapid and cost‐effective assessment in remote tropical cloud forests. MethodsTo detect cloud base height, we compared species turnover and functional trait values among herbaceous and woody plant communities in an ecosystem dominated by cloud formation. We measured soil and air temperature, soil nutrient concentrations, and extracellular enzyme activity. We hypothesized that woody and herbaceous plants would provide signatures of cloud base height, as evidenced by abrupt shifts in both taxonomic composition and plant function. ResultsWe demonstrated abrupt changes in taxonomic composition and the community‐ weighted mean of a key functional trait, specific leaf area, across elevation for both woody and herbaceous species, consistent with our predictions. However, abrupt taxonomic and functional changes occurred 100 m higher in elevation for herbaceous plants compared to woody ones. Soil temperature abruptly decreased where herbaceous taxonomic and functional turnover was high. Other environmental variables including soil biogeochemistry did not explain the abrupt change observed for woody plant communities. ConclusionsWe provide evidence that a trait‐based approach can be used to estimate cloud base height. We outline how rises in cloud base height and differential environmental requirements between growth forms can be distinguished using this approach. 

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4. Browsing wildlife and heavy grazing indirectly facilitate sapling recruitment in an East African savanna

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2399  

   LaMalfa, Eric M.; Riginos, Corinna; Veblen, Kari E. (July 2021, Ecological Applications)

   Abstract Management of tree cover, either to curb bush encroachment or to mitigate losses of woody cover to over‐browsing, is a major concern in savanna ecosystems. Once established, trees are often “trapped” as saplings, since interactions among disturbance, plant competition, and precipitation delay sapling recruitment into adult size classes. Saplings can be directly suppressed by wildlife browsing and competition from adjacent plants, and indirectly facilitated by grazers, such as cattle, which feed on neighboring grasses. Yet few experimental studies have simultaneously quantified the effects of cattle and wildlife on sapling growth, particularly over long time scales. We used a series of replicated 4‐ha herbivore‐manipulation plots to investigate the net effects of wildlife and moderate cattle grazing onAcacia drepanolobiumsapling growth over 10 years that encompassed extended wet and dry periods. We also simulated more intense cattle grazing using grass removal treatments (0.5‐m radius around saplings), and we quantified the role of intraspecific tree competition using neighborhood tree surveys (trees within a 3‐m radius). Wildlife, which included elephants, had a positive effect on sapling growth. Wildlife also reduced neighbor tree density during the 10‐yr study, which likely caused the positive effect of wildlife on saplings. Although moderate cattle grazing did not affect sapling growth, grass removal treatments simulating heavy grazing increased sapling growth. Both grass removal and neighbor tree effects on saplings were strongest during above‐average rainfall years following drought. This highlights that livestock‐driven reductions in grass cover and catastrophic wildlife damage to trees during droughts present a need, or an opportunity, for targeted management of sapling growth and woody plant cover during ensuing wet periods. 

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5. Context‐dependent effects of shifting large herbivore assemblages on plant structure and diversity

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13871  

   Orr, Devyn A.; Bui, An; Klope, Maggie; McCullough, Ian M.; Lee, Michelle; Motta, Carina; Mayorga, Isabella; Konicek, Kelli; Young, Hillary S. (April 2022, Journal of Ecology)

   Abstract Despite wide recognition of the importance of anthropogenically driven changes in large herbivore communities—including both declines in wildlife and increases in livestock—there remain large gaps in our knowledge about the impacts of these changes on plant communities, particularly when combined with concurrent changes in climate. Considering these prominent forms of global change in tandem enables us to better understand controls on savanna vegetation structure and diversity under real‐world conditions.We conducted a field experiment using complete and semi‐permeable herbivore exclosures to explore the difference in plant communities among sites with wild herbivores only, with cattle in addition to wild herbivores, and with no large herbivores. To understand variation in effects across climatic contexts, the experiment was replicated at three locations along a topoclimatic gradient in California. Critically, this is the first such experiment to compare cattle and wildlife impacts along an environmental gradient within a single controlled experiment.Vegetation structure responded strongly to herbivore treatment regardless of climate. Relative to the isolated effects of wildlife, exclusion of all large herbivores generally increased structural components related to cover and above‐ground biomass while the addition of cattle led to reductions in vegetation cover, litter, shading and standing biomass. Furthermore, wildlife had a consistent neutral or positive effect on plant diversity, while the effect of livestock addition was context dependent. Cattle had a neutral to strongly negative effect at low aridity, but a positive effect at high aridity. These results suggest that (a) herbivore effects can override climate effects on vegetation structure, (b) cattle addition can drive different effects on diversity and (c) herbivore effects on diversity are modulated by climate.Synthesis. Our results illustrate very distinctive shifts in plant communities between two realistic forms of change in ungulate herbivore assemblages—livestock addition and large herbivore losses—particularly for plant diversity responses, and that these responses vary across climatic contexts. This finding has important implications for the management and protection of plant biodiversity given that over a quarter of the Earth's land area is managed for livestock and climate regimes are changing globally. 

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