| Title: |
The cascading impacts of livestock grazing in upland ecosystems: a 10‐year experiment |
| Authors: |
Evans, Darren M.; Villar, Nacho; Littlewood, Nick A.; Pakeman, Robin J.; Evans, Sharon A.; Dennis, Peter; Skartveit, John; Redpath, Steve M. |
| Source: |
Ecosphere ; volume 6, issue 3, page 1-15 ; ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
| Publisher Information: |
Wiley |
| Publication Year: |
2015 |
| Collection: |
Wiley Online Library (Open Access Articles via Crossref) |
| Description: |
Livestock grazing is a major driver of land‐use change, causing significant biodiversity loss globally. Although the short‐term effects of livestock grazing on individual species are well studied, a mechanistic understanding of the long‐term, cascading impacts is lacking. We manipulated livestock densities using a unique, replicated upland experiment over a 10‐year period and found significant effects of grazing treatment on plant and arthropod biomass; the number of Anthus pratensis breeding bird territories; the amplitude of Microtus agrestis population cycles and the activity of a top predator, Vulpes vulpes . Lower plant biomass as a result of higher stocking densities led to cascades across trophic levels, with fewer arthropods and small mammals, the latter affecting predator activity. Breeding bird territories were a function of arthropod abundance and vegetation structure heterogeneity. Our results provide a novel food‐web analysis in a grazing experiment to provide a mechanistic understanding of how food‐webs in upland ecosystems respond to long‐term livestock grazing pressure, with consequences for management. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1890/es14-00316.1 |
| DOI: |
10.1890/ES14-00316.1 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1890/es14-00316.1; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2FES14-00316.1; https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/ES14-00316.1 |
| Rights: |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.363F15EC |
| Database: |
BASE |