Introduced goats reduce diversity and biomass of herbs in Caatinga dry forest

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21649662
AutoresTatiane Menezes (0000-0001-8169-2827, Department of Botany Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Recife, Pernambuco 50670‐901 Brazil), Rodrigo F R Carmo (0000-0002-0926-6740, Department of Botany Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Recife, Pernambuco 50670‐901 Brazil), Rainer Wirth (0000-0001-8042-3123, Plant Ecology and Systematics University of Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern, PO Box 3049, 67663 Germany), Inara R Leal (0000-0002-8125-2191, Department of Botany Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Recife, Pernambuco 50670‐901 Brazil), Marcelo Tabarelli (0000-0001-7573-7216, Department of Botany Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Recife, Pernambuco 50670‐901 Brazil), André Laurênio (Department of Botany Unidade Acadêmica de Serra Talhada, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco Serra Talhada, 56909‐535 Pernambuco Brazil), Felipe P L Melo (0000-0002-1271-3214, Department of Botany Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Recife, Pernambuco 50670‐901 Brazil, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen32
Número1
Páginas79-90
Fecha de publicación2021-01-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLand Degradation and Development (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1085-3278 • E-ISSN: 1099-145X
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ldr.3693
OpenAlexW3034392832
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas50

Herbivores are considered important drivers of vegetation shifts in rangelands worldwide. In the Brazilian Caating a years in 16 paired exclosure versus free‐access plots. Exclosure of goats caused a small but significant increase in the species diversity and above‐ground biomass of herbs that varied strongly with time. Taxonomic dissimilarity between exclosure and free‐access was small and due to the turnover of a few species, however, tended to increase with time. Environmental co‐variables, such as rainfall, forest cover, and grazing pressure were also important and have varying effects on herbaceous communities, adding complexity to the processes of species assembly of Caatinga rangelands. Management of grazed ecosystems must take into account that goats can shift plant species composition and diversity with potential cascading effects on ecosystem functions

Agroforestry · Biology · Ecosystem · Exclosure · Grazing · Herbaceous plant · Herbivore · Rangeland · Species diversity · Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies · Rangeland and Wildlife Management · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Ecology