The cascading impacts of livestock grazing in upland ecosystems: A 10-year experiment

69Citations
Citations of this article
165Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

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 foodwebs in upland ecosystems respond to long-term livestock grazing pressure, with consequences for management.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Evans, D. M., Villar, N., Littlewood, N. A., Pakeman, R. J., Evans, S. A., Dennis, P., … Redpath, S. M. (2015). The cascading impacts of livestock grazing in upland ecosystems: A 10-year experiment. Ecosphere, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00316.1

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free