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Bjerke JW, Magnussen K, Bright RM, Navrud S, Erlandsson R, Finne EA, Tømmervik H. Synergies and trade-offs between provisioning and climate-regulating ecosystem services in reindeer herding ecosystems. Sci Total Environ 2024; 927:171914. [PMID: 38554956 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) pastoralism utilizes vast boreo-arctic taiga and tundra as grazing land. Highly fluctuating population sizes pose major challenges to the economy and livelihood of indigenous herder communities. In this study we investigated the effect of population fluctuations on core provisioning and regulating ecosystem services in two Sámi reindeer herding districts with contrasting fluctuation trends. We compared 50-year long time series on herd size, meat production, forage productivity, carbon footprint, and CO2-equivalence metrics for surface albedo change based on the radiative forcing concept. Our results show, for both districts, that the economic benefits from the provisioning services were higher than the costs from the regulating services. Still, there were major contrasts; the district with moderate and stable reindeer density gained nearly the double on provisioning services per unit area. The costs from increasing heat absorption due to reduction in surface albedo caused by replacement of high-reflective lichens with low-reflective woody plants, was 10.5 times higher per unit area in the district with large fluctuations. Overall, the net economic benefits per unit area were 237 % higher in the district with stable reindeer density. These results demonstrate that it is possible to minimize trade-offs between economic benefits from reindeer herding locally and global economic costs in terms of climate-regulating services by minimizing fluctuations in herds that are managed at sustainable densities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jarle W Bjerke
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), FRAM - High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Tromsø, Norway.
| | | | - Ryan M Bright
- Department of Forests and Climate, Division of Forestry and Forest Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
| | - Ståle Navrud
- School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås, Norway
| | - Rasmus Erlandsson
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), FRAM - High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Eirik A Finne
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), FRAM - High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Hans Tømmervik
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), FRAM - High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Tromsø, Norway
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Ossanna LQR, Guglielmo J, Miller M, Davis R, Gornish ES. Dryland rock detention structures increase herbaceous vegetation cover and stabilize shrub cover over 10 years but do not directly affect soil fertility. Sci Total Environ 2024; 917:170194. [PMID: 38280600 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 01/29/2024]
Abstract
Rock detention structures (RDS) such as check dams, gabions, and one rock dams are commonly used to mitigate erosion impacts in dryland ephemeral stream channels. RDS increase local water infiltration and floodplain connectivity, reduce sediment transport, and enhance vegetation growth and establishment. In addition to increasing overall vegetation cover, RDS may also buffer against a cycle of vegetation growth and collapse during years of extremely variable precipitation, helping to maintain stable cover. Although widely employed by land managers, success as reported in scientific literature varies, especially with regard to RDS effects on vegetation and soil fertility. We present the results of a 10-year field experiment in southeastern Arizona, USA, designed in collaboration with local land practitioners to measure local in-channel effects of RDS. Over 10 years, cover of herbaceous vegetation (forbs and grasses) doubled from 11 % to 22 % in channels treated with RDS, but did not significantly increase in untreated control channels. Shrub cover in treated channels was significantly less variable than in control channels over time. We analyzed the complex relationships between RDS, vegetation cover, and soil fertility using structural equation modeling (SEM), which represented conditions of the tenth year alone. SEM revealed that RDS did not directly affect soil fertility, as measured by total soil nitrogen, total soil carbon, soil organic matter, microbial richness, and potential nutrient cycling capacity. Notably, SEM did not yield the same trends as temporal monitoring, possibly because our structural equation models could not capture change over time. This discrepancy highlights the need for long-term, frequent monitoring of aboveground and belowground conditions to evaluate treatment success on a management scale. Overall, installing rock detention structures in ephemeral channels in arid and semiarid regions is a low-cost, feasible way to increase channel sediment aggradation, forb, and grass cover; stabilize shrub cover; and combat dryland degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lia Q R Ossanna
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, 1064 E Lowell St, University of Arizona, Tucson 85719, AZ, USA.
| | - Julia Guglielmo
- Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, 14990 S Sasabe Road, Tucson 85736, AZ, USA
| | - Mary Miller
- Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, 14990 S Sasabe Road, Tucson 85736, AZ, USA
| | | | - Elise S Gornish
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, 1064 E Lowell St, University of Arizona, Tucson 85719, AZ, USA.
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Boulanger-Lapointe N, Ágústsdóttir K, Barrio IC, Defourneaux M, Finnsdóttir R, Jónsdóttir IS, Marteinsdóttir B, Mitchell C, Möller M, Nielsen ÓK, Sigfússon AÞ, Þórisson SG, Huettmann F. Herbivore species coexistence in changing rangeland ecosystems: First high resolution national open-source and open-access ensemble models for Iceland. Sci Total Environ 2022; 845:157140. [PMID: 35803416 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Rangeland ecosystems are changing worldwide with the abandonment of extensive pastoralism practices and greater interest for species coexistence. However, the lack of compiled data on current changes in the abundance and distribution of herbivores challenges rangeland management decisions. Here we gathered and made available for the first time the most extensive set of occurrence data for rangeland herbivores in Iceland in an Open Access framework for transparent and repeatable science-based decisions. We mapped fine scale species distribution overlap to identify areas at risk for wildlife-livestock conflict and overgrazing. Nationwide and long term (1861-2021) occurrence data from 8 independent datasets were used alongside 11 predictor raster layers ("Big Data") to data mine and map the distribution of the domestic sheep (Ovis aries), feral reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus), pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus), and rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta islandorum) over the country during the summer. Using algorithms of Maxent in R, RandomForest, TreeNet (stochastic gradient boosting) and MARS (Splines) in Minitab-SPM 8.3, we computed 1 km pixel predictions from machine learning-based ensemble models. Our high-resolution models were tested with alternative datasets, and Area Under the Curve (AUC) values that indicated good (reindeer: 0.8817 and rock ptarmigan: 0.8844) to high model accuracy (sheep: 0.9708 and pink-footed goose: 0.9143). Whenever possible, source data and models are made available online and described with ISO-compliant metadata. Our results illustrate that sheep and pink-footed geese have the greatest overlap in distribution with potential implication for wildlife-livestock conflicts and continued ecosystem degradation even under diminishing livestock abundance at higher elevation. These nationwide models and data are a global asset and a first step in making available the best data for science-based sustainable decision-making about national herbivores affecting species coexistence and environmental management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noémie Boulanger-Lapointe
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 7 Sturlugötu, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | | | - Isabel C Barrio
- Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Agricultural University of Iceland, 22 Árleyni, 112 Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Mathilde Defourneaux
- Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Agricultural University of Iceland, 22 Árleyni, 112 Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Rán Finnsdóttir
- Soil Conservation Service of Iceland, Gunnarsholti, 851 Hella, Iceland
| | | | | | - Carl Mitchell
- The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucester GL2 7BT, United Kingdom
| | - Marteinn Möller
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 7 Sturlugötu, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Ólafur Karl Nielsen
- Icelandic Institute of Natural History, 6-8 Urriðaholtsstræti, 210 Garðabær, Iceland
| | | | | | - Falk Huettmann
- EWHALE lab- Institute of Arctic Biology, Biology & Wildlife Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), 2140 Koyukuk Dr, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
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Kelly Hoffman J, Kyle GT, Treadwell ML, Patrick Bixler R, Kreuter UP. A Process-Oriented Model of Decision-Making toward Landscape-Scale Prescribed Fire Implementation in the Southern Great Plains, USA. Environ Manage 2021; 68:802-813. [PMID: 34545419 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-021-01538-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In this investigation, we developed a model of the psychological drivers of landowners' decisions to implement prescribed fire on their properties. The Southern Great Plains in the USA evolved with fire and prescribed fire is an important management tool aimed at maintaining and enhancing ecological and economic resilience in the region. The conceptualized model is reflective of a decision-making paradigm that considers decision making to be a process inclusive of a variety of factors and their inter-relationships to arrive at judgments on whether or not to utilize prescribed fire. The approach considered a spectrum of inputs, obstacles, and their associations to capture the complexity of decision making that is often lost when modeling single factors in dynamic social-ecological settings. Further, we considered the decision to use prescribed fire as a multifactor process that incorporates not only individual barriers to fire implementation but inter-barrier associations and other inputs (e.g., sociodemographic variables). Path analysis revealed five statistically significant relationships within the hypothesized model. For prescribed fire decision making, women tended to be more analytical whereas men were more inclined to rely on heuristics. Additionally, those who indicated owning their property for non-consumptive recreation-related reasons were also more inclined to rely upon heuristics. Texans reported more experience with prescribed fire as did respondents who indicated owning property for livestock product. Alternately, those owning their property for an investment and non-consumptive recreation opportunities reported less experience with prescribed fire. Last, ownership for crop and livestock production was positively associated with past wildfire experience. Findings have implications for three issue areas: (1) the provision of an evolved conceptualization through which prescribed fire implementation decisions can be examined, (2) enhancing the approach of prescribed fire outreach to a changing landowner population, and (3) improving the content and delivery of prescribed fire education efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Kelly Hoffman
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Gerard T Kyle
- Department of Rangeland, Wildlife & Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
| | - Morgan L Treadwell
- Department of Rangeland, Wildlife & Fisheries Management, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University, San Angelo, TX, 76901, USA
| | - R Patrick Bixler
- Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Urs P Kreuter
- Department of Ecology & Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 778473, USA
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Hasselerharm CD, Yanco E, McManus JS, Smuts BH, Ramp D. Wildlife-friendly farming recouples grazing regimes to stimulate recovery in semi-arid rangelands. Sci Total Environ 2021; 788:147602. [PMID: 34029808 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
While rangeland ecosystems are globally important for livestock production, they also support diverse wildlife assemblages and are crucial for biodiversity conservation. As rangelands around the world have become increasingly degraded and fragmented, rethinking farming practice in these landscapes is vital for achieving conservation goals, rangeland recovery, and food security. An example is reinstating livestock shepherding, which aims to recouple grazing regimes to vegetation conditioned to semi-arid climates and improve productivity by reducing overgrazing and rewiring past ecological functions. Tracking the large-scale ecosystem responses to shifts in land management in such sparsely vegetated environments have so far proven elusive. Therefore, our goal was to develop a remote tracking method capable of detecting vegetation changes and environmental responses on rangeland farms engaging in contrasting farming practices in South Africa: wildlife friendly farming (WFF) implementing livestock shepherding with wildlife protection, or rotational grazing livestock farming with wildlife removal. To do so, we ground-truthed Sentinel-2 satellite imagery using drone imagery and machine learning methods to trace historical vegetation change on four farms over a four-year period. First, we successfully classified land cover maps cover using drone footage and modelled vegetation cover using satellite vegetation indices, achieving 93.4% accuracy (к = 0.901) and an r-squared of 0.862 (RMSE = 0.058) respectively. We then used this model to compare the WFF farm to three neighbouring rotational grazing farms, finding that satellite-derived vegetation productivity was greater and responded more strongly to rainfall events on the WFF farm. Furthermore, vegetation cover and grass cover, patch size, and aggregation were greater on the WFF farm when classified using drone data. Overall, we found that remotely assessing regional environmental benefits from contrasting farming practices in rangeland ecosystems could aid further adoption of wildlife-friendly practices and help to assess the generality of this case study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris D Hasselerharm
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, NSW, Australia.
| | - Esty Yanco
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, NSW, Australia.
| | - Jeannine S McManus
- Research Department, Landmark Foundation, Riversdale, South Africa; Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Cape Town 7535, South Africa.
| | - Bool H Smuts
- Research Department, Landmark Foundation, Riversdale, South Africa; Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Cape Town 7535, South Africa.
| | - Daniel Ramp
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, NSW, Australia.
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Ehlers Smith YC, Maseko MST, Sosibo M, Dlamini PV, Thobeka Gumede S, Ngcobo SP, Tsoananyane L, Zungu MM, Ehlers Smith DA, Downs CT. Indigenous knowledge of South African bird and rangeland ecology is effective for informing conservation science. J Environ Manage 2021; 284:112041. [PMID: 33540193 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
South Africa's communal rangelands constitute ~25% of the country's land cover and are largely managed for livestock grazing. These habitats play an important role in rural livelihoods and cultural practices. Using semi-structured interviews, we documented indigenous local ecological knowledge (LEK) held by rural dwellers linked to natural resource utilisation, environmental health and cultural keystone indicator species (CKIS) in the grassland communities of southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Our main objective was to examine the ability for LEK to inform conservation management. We found that people who were heavily reliant on natural resources attained a higher LEK score, indicating a greater breadth of ecological knowledge, which in turn shaped their perceptions of environmental change. Community members confirmed the presence of conservation concern species within this area, highlighting the limitations of only using citizen science databases for conservation management, as their observations within these databases are biased towards major road routes and protected or urban areas. LEK can play an important role in identifying habitats crucial to species' persistence and delineating population trends over time. Our surveys highlighted the importance of the Southern Ground-hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri as a CKIS that acts as an early warning system of changing weather, notably rain. However, LEK is context-specific, and some CKIS species such as the Southern Ground-hornbill have wide distribution ranges. Consequently, the cultural associations and implications differ based on local belief systems that are often defined by the language spoken and the community's geographical location. Our study demonstrated the importance of including indigenous LEK in conservation planning for threatened species and habitats and the importance of traditional family values responsible for transferring oral knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yvette C Ehlers Smith
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa; Centre in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban, 3603, South Africa.
| | - Mfundo S T Maseko
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - Mbalenhle Sosibo
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - Pumla V Dlamini
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - S Thobeka Gumede
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - Samukelesiwe P Ngcobo
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - Lereko Tsoananyane
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - Manqoba M Zungu
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - David A Ehlers Smith
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
| | - Colleen T Downs
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Life Sciences, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.
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Cowie BW, Byrne MJ, Witkowski ETF. Feasible or foolish: Attempting restoration of a Parthenium hysterophorus invaded savanna using perennial grass seed. J Environ Manage 2021; 280:111686. [PMID: 33250211 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 11/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The annual herb Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae), remains one of Southern Africa's most significant invasive weeds, commonly invading savannas, and their rangelands, causing severe losses to agriculture, livestock production and native biodiversity. Previous studies have suggested that perennial grasses may act as useful competitive species, capable of suppressing the growth and invasion of P. hysterophorus. To explore this, a total of 48 plots were established within an invaded savanna, using a randomised block design, and included treatments with and without the clearing of P. hysterophorus, as well as with and without the sowing of native perennial grass seed (Anthephora pubescens, Chloris gayana, Cynodon dactylon, Digitaria eriantha, Eragrostis curvula, Panicum maximum and Themeda triandra). Plots were assessed yearly in terms of P. hysterophorus density and growth as well as grass species composition, basal cover, and biomass over a three-year period. Clearing alone was found to exacerbate invasion, increasing P. hysterophorus density by 40%. Whereas the sowing of grass seed, in both the cleared and uncleared plots, increased the abundance of perennial grass species by 28%, subsequently reducing the size, reproductive output and density of P. hysterophorus over the three years. In addition, these sowing efforts contributed towards partial restoration of the plots, enhancing grass basal cover by ~15% and biomass production by 17%. Overall, this research suggests that sowing of native grass species, with or without clearing, may be a useful supplementary control or restoration tool towards the long-term management of P. hysterophorus invasions in managed savannas and rangelands in Southern Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blair W Cowie
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Marcus J Byrne
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Ed T F Witkowski
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Mietton M, Gunnell Y, Andriamitia J, Crouzet C, Montade V, Jouannic G, Nicoud G, Razafimahefa R. Neotectonics and pastoralism: How they impact flood regimes in Madagascar's highlands. Sci Total Environ 2020; 742:140633. [PMID: 32721744 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 06/27/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Sustainably maintaining the densely populated upland plains of Madagascar as operationally safe spaces for the food security of the nation and the urban growth of its capital city, Antananarivo, hinges critically on avoiding crop and infrastructure destruction by their through-flowing rivers. The flood regime, however, is also a function of two 'slow' variables hitherto undocumented: tectonic subsidence regime, and floodplain sedimentation rate. From a radiocarbon-dated chronostratigraphy and environmental history of the sediment sequences in three of Madagascar's semi-enclosed upland basins (Antananarivo, Ambohibary, and Alaotra), we quantify and compare how the precarious equilibrium between the two variables entails differentials in accommodation space for sediment and floodwater. Results show that all these plains have been wetlands for at least 40,000 years, but that the Antananarivo Basin is the most vulnerable because the imbalance between sedimentation and subsidence is the largest. Although the tectonic regime and the endemic forms of gully erosion that occur in the catchments are beyond human control, we advocate that flood mitigation strategies should focus on the natural grassland savanna, which makes up most of the contributing areas to surface runoff in the watersheds. Pastoralists are persistently left out of rural development programmes, yet the rangelands could benefit from the introduction of multi-purpose grasses and legumes known to withstand high stocking rates on poor soils while combining the benefits of nutritiousness, fire and drought resistance, with good runoff-arrest and topsoil-retainment abilities. Future-proofing Madagascar's upland grainbaskets and population centres thus calls for joined-up action on the sediment cascade, focusing on soil and water sequestration through integrated watershed management rather than on hard-defence engineering against overflowing rivers on the plains, which has been the costly but ineffectual approach since the 17th century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel Mietton
- Department of Geography, Université de Lyon, CNRS UMR Environnement Ville Société, 18, rue Chevreul, F-69362 Lyon, France
| | - Yanni Gunnell
- Department of Geography, Université Lumière Lyon 2, CNRS UMR Environnement Ville Société, 5, Avenue P. Mendès-France, F-69696 Bron, France.
| | - Jocelyn Andriamitia
- Department of Geography, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Christian Crouzet
- Department of Geology, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, ISTerre, Chambéry, France
| | - Vincent Montade
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, Cedex, France
| | - Gwenolé Jouannic
- Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS UMR 6249, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon Cedex, France
| | - Gérard Nicoud
- Department of Geology, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, ISTerre, Chambéry, France
| | - Reine Razafimahefa
- Department of Geography, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
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Selemani IS. Indigenous knowledge and rangelands' biodiversity conservation in Tanzania: success and failure. Biodivers Conserv 2020; 29:3863-3876. [PMID: 33052175 PMCID: PMC7544764 DOI: 10.1007/s10531-020-02060-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Tanzania is one of the African countries endowed with diverse rangeland's biological resources hosting 6 out of 25 globally known biodiversity hotspots. Despite, government efforts on biodiversity conservation, the pressures on rangelands' biodiversity utilization are growing in line with increasing human population. With little recognition of contribution of local knowledge in biodiversity conservation, the current paper reviewed the potential of available indigenous knowledge in Tanzania and challenges limiting adoption of this vital knowledge on rangeland's biodiversity conservation. This review established that, the country has rich indigenous knowledge potential for rangeland management and biodiversity conservation. Traditional enclosures and pastoral mobility are among the important indigenous practices used for rehabilitation of degraded rangelands and conservation of fragile ecosystems. The coexistence of local communities with complex ecosystems offers them excellent experiences on rangelands' biodiversity conservation. However, increasingly loss of rangelands' biodiversity in the country is attributed to ignoring the contribution of local communities which are rich in indigenous knowledge and skills on rangelands management. Among of the challenges hindering the adoption and involvement of indigenous knowledge to conservation are; scientific bias toward pastoral communities, loss of local expertise, poor knowledge inheritance systems, poverty, conflicts and emergence of pandemic diseases. For effective and sustainable utilisation of indigenous knowledge, the following are recommended; fully engagement of local communities in conservation process, empowering local communities to reduce poverty and conflicts, mainstreaming the indigenous knowledge to conservation education, emphasising on livelihoods diversification to reduce reliance on biological resources and promoting studies to document existing indigenous knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ismail Saidi Selemani
- Department of Animal, Aquaculture and Range Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), P. O. Box 3004, Morogoro, Tanzania
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10
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Oñatibia GR, Aguiar MR. Grasses and grazers in arid rangelands: Impact of sheep management on forage and non-forage grass populations. J Environ Manage 2019; 235:42-50. [PMID: 30669092 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.01.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2018] [Revised: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Ecological modeling that includes plant population processes as a critical determinant of vegetation dynamics is useful for sustainable rangeland management. However, we know little about how long-term sheep grazing pressure drives the plant community structure through changes in different native grass species at both individual and population levels. In this study, we hypothesized that plant populations perform differently under different grazing management due to their specified preference by livestock animals. We also tested whether grazing-rest management, aimed at increasing long-term rangeland sustainability, improves the plant growth of forage grass species. We evaluated plant density, individual morphology and plant-size distribution of dominant grass populations in permanent exclosures and open fields under moderate and intensive grazing pressures in Patagonian steppes (South America). We also examined the effects of seasonal grazing-rest managements on the growth and tillering (asexual reproduction) of forage species plants, using temporary mobile exclosures. Grazing intensity changed population density and structure according to species. Compared to permanent exclosures, moderate grazing maintained the plant density of palatable species highly preferred by sheep, reduced the standing-dead biomass proportion of individual plants, and promoted the green biomass of tussocks. Conversely, intensive grazing (double stocking rates) decreased the plant density and individual size of species highly preferred by sheep, and increased the plant density of non-preferred species. Grazing-rest enhanced forage grass species growth and reproduction compared with year-round grazing management, especially during the growing season of a wet year. Our studies support that sheep can be managed to control the plant-size distribution of dominant grass species, their population dynamics, and thereby the overall forage availability at the community level. Both moderate grazing and grazing-rest management can improve the forage availability and preserve the dominant native grasses. We suggest applying a plant population dynamics perspective to facilitate sustainable management of global rangelands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gastón R Oñatibia
- IFEVA, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Av. San Martín 4453, Buenos Aires, C1417DSE, Argentina.
| | - Martín R Aguiar
- IFEVA, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Av. San Martín 4453, Buenos Aires, C1417DSE, Argentina
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Miehe G, Schleuss PM, Seeber E, Babel W, Biermann T, Braendle M, Chen F, Coners H, Foken T, Gerken T, Graf HF, Guggenberger G, Hafner S, Holzapfel M, Ingrisch J, Kuzyakov Y, Lai Z, Lehnert L, Leuschner C, Li X, Liu J, Liu S, Ma Y, Miehe S, Mosbrugger V, Noltie HJ, Schmidt J, Spielvogel S, Unteregelsbacher S, Wang Y, Willinghöfer S, Xu X, Yang Y, Zhang S, Opgenoorth L, Wesche K. The Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem of the Tibetan highlands - Origin, functioning and degradation of the world's largest pastoral alpine ecosystem: Kobresia pastures of Tibet. Sci Total Environ 2019; 648:754-771. [PMID: 30134213 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Revised: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
With 450,000 km2Kobresia (syn. Carex) pygmaea dominated pastures in the eastern Tibetan highlands are the world's largest pastoral alpine ecosystem forming a durable turf cover at 3000-6000 m a.s.l. Kobresia's resilience and competitiveness is based on dwarf habit, predominantly below-ground allocation of photo assimilates, mixture of seed production and clonal growth, and high genetic diversity. Kobresia growth is co-limited by livestock-mediated nutrient withdrawal and, in the drier parts of the plateau, low rainfall during the short and cold growing season. Overstocking has caused pasture degradation and soil deterioration over most parts of the Tibetan highlands and is the basis for this man-made ecosystem. Natural autocyclic processes of turf destruction and soil erosion are initiated through polygonal turf cover cracking, and accelerated by soil-dwelling endemic small mammals in the absence of predators. The major consequences of vegetation cover deterioration include the release of large amounts of C, earlier diurnal formation of clouds, and decreased surface temperatures. These effects decrease the recovery potential of Kobresia pastures and make them more vulnerable to anthropogenic pressure and climate change. Traditional migratory rangeland management was sustainable over millennia, and possibly still offers the best strategy to conserve and possibly increase C stocks in the Kobresia turf.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Miehe
- Philipps-University of Marburg, Faculty of Geography, Marburg, Germany
| | | | - Elke Seeber
- University of Greifswald, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Babel
- University of Bayreuth, Micrometeorology Group, Bayreuth, Germany; University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Tobias Biermann
- Lund University, Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund, Sweden
| | - Martin Braendle
- Philipps-University of Marburg, Department of Ecology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Fahu Chen
- Lanzhou University, MOE Key Laboratory of West China's Environmental System, School of Earth and Environment Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Heinz Coners
- University of Göttingen, Department of Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Foken
- University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Tobias Gerken
- Montana State University, Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Hans-F Graf
- University of Cambridge, Department of Geography, Centre for Atmospheric Science, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Georg Guggenberger
- Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute for Soil Science, Hannover, Germany
| | - Silke Hafner
- University of Göttingen, Department of Soil Sciences of Temperate Ecosystems, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Maika Holzapfel
- Senckenberg Museum Görlitz, Department of Botany, Görlitz, Germany
| | - Johannes Ingrisch
- University of Innsbruck, Institute of Ecology Research, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Yakov Kuzyakov
- University of Göttingen, Department of Soil Sciences of Temperate Ecosystems, Göttingen, Germany; Senckenberg Museum Görlitz, Department of Botany, Görlitz, Germany; University of Göttingen, Department of Agricultural Soil Science, Göttingen, Germany; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia
| | - Zhongping Lai
- China University of Geosciences, State Key Lab of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Lukas Lehnert
- Philipps-University of Marburg, Faculty of Geography, Marburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Leuschner
- University of Göttingen, Department of Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Xiaogang Li
- Lanzhou University, State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem, College of Life Science, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jianquan Liu
- Lanzhou University, State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem, College of Life Science, Lanzhou, China
| | - Shibin Liu
- University of Göttingen, Department of Soil Sciences of Temperate Ecosystems, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Yaoming Ma
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Beijing, China
| | - Sabine Miehe
- Philipps-University of Marburg, Faculty of Geography, Marburg, Germany
| | - Volker Mosbrugger
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Henry J Noltie
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Joachim Schmidt
- University of Rostock, Institute of Biosciences, General and Systematic Zoology, Rostock, Germany
| | | | - Sebastian Unteregelsbacher
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
| | - Yun Wang
- Senckenberg Museum Görlitz, Department of Botany, Görlitz, Germany
| | - Sandra Willinghöfer
- University of Göttingen, Department of Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Xingliang Xu
- University of Göttingen, Department of Soil Sciences of Temperate Ecosystems, Göttingen, Germany; Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yongping Yang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Beijing, China
| | - Shuren Zhang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Beijing, China
| | - Lars Opgenoorth
- Philipps-University of Marburg, Department of Ecology, Marburg, Germany.
| | - Karsten Wesche
- Senckenberg Museum Görlitz, Department of Botany, Görlitz, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany; International Institute Zittau, Technische Universität Dresden, Markt 23, 02763 Zittau, Germany
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Ibáñez J, Martínez-Valderrama J. Global effectiveness of group decision-making strategies in coping with forage and price variabilities in commercial rangelands: A modelling assessment. J Environ Manage 2018; 217:531-541. [PMID: 29631242 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.03.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This paper presents a modelling study that evaluated the global effectiveness of a range of group decision-making strategies for commercial farming areas in rangelands affected by temporal variations in forage production. The assessment utilised an integrated system dynamics model (86 equations) to examine the broad and long-term group decision outcomes. This model considers aspects usually neglected in related studies, such as the dynamics of the main local prices, the dynamics of the number of active farmers, the supplementary feeding of livestock, and certain behavioural traits of farmers and traders. The assessment procedure was based on an analysis of the outcomes of the model under 330,000 simulation scenarios. The results indicated that only if all the farmers in an area are either opportunistic or conservative that is, are either responsive or unresponsive to expected profits, the exploitation of the grazing resources were optimal in some senses. A widespread opportunism proved optimal only from an economic viewpoint. However, it is very unlikely that most of the farmers would agree to be opportunistic in practice. By contrast, a widespread conservatism, which in principle is perfectly feasible, proved optimal from economic, social, and ecological perspectives. Notably, it was found that the presence of a relatively small number of opportunistic farmers would suffice to considerably reduce the economic results of widespread conservatism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Ibáñez
- Departamento de Economía Agraria, Estadística y Gestión de Empresas, ETSIAAB, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Jaime Martínez-Valderrama
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería 04120, Spain.
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Abstract
Rangeland researchers are increasingly interested in understanding working rangelands as integrated social-ecological systems and in investigating the contexts of human decision-making processes that support system resilience. U.S. public lands ranchers are key partners in rangeland conservation, but the role of women in building system resilience has not yet been explored. We conducted life-history interviews with 19 ranching women in the Southwestern United States. We analyzed the resulting transcripts by identifying contradictions between women's material practices and traditional discourses in the ranching livelihood that illustrated women's efforts to maintain both a way of life and a living during social and ecological change. These gendered practices of cultural resilience included self-sacrifice during difficult financial times, engagement with non-rancher networks, and efforts to transfer cultural and technical knowledge. We argue that the key part ranchers play in rangeland conservation cannot be fully understood without a consideration of gendered practices of cultural resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailey Wilmer
- Colorado State University, Campus Mail 1472, Fort Collins, CO 59043-1472 USA
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