The consequences of replacing wildlife with livestock in Africa.
The consequences of replacing wildlife with livestock in Africa.
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DOI：
10.1038/s41598-017-17348-4
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发表时间：
2017-12-08
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Bond WJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hempson GP;Archibald S;Bond WJ
本土野生动物物种的灭绝和畜牧业的广泛建立，极大地扭曲了全球大型哺乳动物食草动物群落。生态学理论表明，这些草食形式和强度的变化对一系列生态系统过程产生了实质性影响，但对于大多数生态系统来说，不可能准确地量化这些变化。我们使用撒哈拉以南非洲现有和重建的历史食草动物群落的物种级生物量数据来应对这些挑战。我们的分析显示，在湿润地区，食草动物生物量显著减少，而在干旱地区，生物量大幅增加，功能型周转。在牧草生物量已经过渡到高于或低于减少草类燃料可以扑灭火灾的门槛的广大地区，火灾流行率可能发生了变化。总体而言，草食动物群落功能组成的变化促进了木本植物覆盖度的扩大。食草动物甲烷总排放量增加了一倍多，但横向营养物质扩散能力低于过去水平的5%。对干旱地区食草动物群落的基本生态限制的解除似乎比中原地区的生物质损失对生态系统功能构成更大的威胁，因为在中原地区，火仍然是主要的消耗者。
The extirpation of native wildlife species and widespread establishment of livestock farming has dramatically distorted large mammal herbivore communities across the globe. Ecological theory suggests that these shifts in the form and the intensity of herbivory have had substantial impacts on a range of ecosystem processes, but for most ecosystems it is impossible to quantify these changes accurately. We address these challenges using species-level biomass data from sub-Saharan Africa for both present day and reconstructed historical herbivore communities. Our analyses reveal pronounced herbivore biomass losses in wetter areas and substantial biomass increases and functional type turnover in arid regions. Fire prevalence is likely to have been altered over vast areas where grazer biomass has transitioned to above or below the threshold at which grass fuel reduction can suppress fire. Overall, shifts in the functional composition of herbivore communities promote an expansion of woody cover. Total herbivore methane emissions have more than doubled, but lateral nutrient diffusion capacity is below 5% of past levels. The release of fundamental ecological constraints on herbivore communities in arid regions appears to pose greater threats to ecosystem function than do biomass losses in mesic regions, where fire remains the major consumer.
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2012.0303
发表时间：
2013
期刊：
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
影响因子：
--
作者：
Abernethy KA;Coad L;Taylor G;Lee ME;Maisels F
通讯作者：
Maisels F
影响因子：
5.9
作者：
Asner, Gregory P.;Vaughn, Nicholas;Levick, Shaun
通讯作者：
Levick, Shaun
影响因子：
2.1
作者：
Bunney, Katherine;Bond, William J.;Henley, Michelle
通讯作者：
Henley, Michelle
影响因子：
2.1
作者：
Blake, Stephen;Deem, Sharon Lynn;Walsh, Peter
通讯作者：
Walsh, Peter
影响因子：
5.7
作者：
Buitenwerf, Robert;Swemmer, Anthony M.;Peel, Mike J. S.
通讯作者：
Peel, Mike J. S.