| Title: | Trophic rewilding revives biotic resistance to shrub invasion |
| Author(s): | Guyton JA; Pansu J; Hutchinson MC; Kartzinel TR; Potter AB; Coverdale TC; Daskin JH; da Conceicao AG; Peel MJS; Stalmans ME; Pringle RM; |
| Address: | "Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. Station Biologique de Roscoff, UMR 7144 CNRS-Sorbonne Universite, Roscoff, France. CSIRO Ocean & Atmosphere, Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Department of Scientific Services, Parque Nacional da Gorongosa, Sofala, Mozambique. ARC-Animal Production Institute, Rangeland Ecology Group, Nelspruit, South Africa. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. rpringle@princeton.edu. Department of Scientific Services, Parque Nacional da Gorongosa, Sofala, Mozambique. rpringle@princeton.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41559-019-1068-y |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2397-334X (Electronic) 2397-334X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Trophic rewilding seeks to rehabilitate degraded ecosystems by repopulating them with large animals, thereby re-establishing strong top-down interactions. Yet there are very few tests of whether such initiatives can restore ecosystem structure and functions, and on what timescales. Here we show that war-induced collapse of large-mammal populations in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park exacerbated woody encroachment by the invasive shrub Mimosa pigra-considered one of the world's 100 worst invasive species-and that one decade of concerted trophic rewilding restored this invasion to pre-war baseline levels. Mimosa occurrence increased between 1972 and 2015, a period encompassing the near extirpation of large herbivores during the Mozambican Civil War. From 2015 to 2019, mimosa abundance declined as ungulate biomass recovered. DNA metabarcoding revealed that ruminant herbivores fed heavily on mimosa, and experimental exclosures confirmed the causal role of mammalian herbivory in containing shrub encroachment. Our results provide mechanistic evidence that trophic rewilding has rapidly revived a key ecosystem function (biotic resistance to a notorious woody invader), underscoring the potential for restoring ecological health in degraded protected areas" |
| Keywords: | Animals;Animals *Conservation of Natural Resources *Ecosystem Herbivory Introduced Species Mammals; |
| Notes: | "MedlineGuyton, Jennifer A Pansu, Johan Hutchinson, Matthew C Kartzinel, Tyler R Potter, Arjun B Coverdale, Tyler C Daskin, Joshua H da Conceicao, Ana Gledis Peel, Mike J S Stalmans, Marc E Pringle, Robert M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 2020/01/15 Nat Ecol Evol. 2020 May; 4(5):712-724. doi: 10.1038/s41559-019-1068-y. Epub 2020 Jan 13" |
