dc.contributor.author
Irob, Katja
dc.contributor.author
Blaum, Niels
dc.contributor.author
Baldauf, Selina
dc.contributor.author
Kerger, Leon
dc.contributor.author
Strohbach, Ben
dc.contributor.author
Kanduvarisa, Angelina
dc.contributor.author
Lohmann, Dirk
dc.contributor.author
Tietjen, Britta
dc.date.accessioned
2022-03-18T13:06:57Z
dc.date.available
2022-03-18T13:06:57Z
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/34439
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-34157
dc.description.abstract
Changing climatic conditions and unsustainable land use are major threats to savannas worldwide. Historically, many African savannas were used intensively for livestock grazing, which contributed to widespread patterns of bush encroachment across savanna systems. To reverse bush encroachment, it has been proposed to change the cattle-dominated land use to one dominated by comparatively specialized browsers and usually native herbivores. However, the consequences for ecosystem properties and processes remain largely unclear. We used the ecohydrological, spatially explicit model EcoHyD to assess the impacts of two contrasting, herbivore land-use strategies on a Namibian savanna: grazer- versus browser-dominated herbivore communities. We varied the densities of grazers and browsers and determined the resulting composition and diversity of the plant community, total vegetation cover, soil moisture, and water use by plants. Our results showed that plant types that are less palatable to herbivores were best adapted to grazing or browsing animals in all simulated densities. Also, plant types that had a competitive advantage under limited water availability were among the dominant ones irrespective of land-use scenario. Overall, the results were in line with our expectations: under high grazer densities, we found heavy bush encroachment and the loss of the perennial grass matrix. Importantly, regardless of the density of browsers, grass cover and plant functional diversity were significantly higher in browsing scenarios. Browsing herbivores increased grass cover, and the higher total cover in turn improved water uptake by plants overall. We concluded that, in contrast to grazing-dominated land-use strategies, land-use strategies dominated by browsing herbivores, even at high herbivore densities, sustain diverse vegetation communities with high cover of perennial grasses, resulting in lower erosion risk and bolstering ecosystem services.
en
dc.rights.uri
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject
alternative land-use strategies
en
dc.subject.ddc
500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie::577 Ökologie
dc.title
Browsing herbivores improve the state and functioning of savannas
dc.type
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
dc.title.subtitle
A model assessment of alternative land-use strategies
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.articlenumber
e8715
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi
10.1002/ece3.8715
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.journaltitle
Ecology and Evolution
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.number
3
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.volume
12
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8715
refubium.affiliation
Biologie, Chemie, Pharmazie
refubium.funding
DEAL Wiley
refubium.note.author
Die Publikation wurde aus Open Access Publikationsgeldern der Freien Universität Berlin gefördert.
de
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
no
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access