Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Large herbivores across biomes
- 2 Living in a seasonal environment
- 3 Linking functional responses and foraging behaviour to population dynamics
- 4 Impacts of large herbivores on plant community structure and dynamics
- 5 Long‐term effects of herbivory on plant diversity and functional types in arid ecosystems
- 6 The influence of large herbivores on tree recruitment and forest dynamics
- 7 Large herbivores: missing partners of western European light‐demanding tree and shrub species?
- 8 Frugivory in large mammalian herbivores
- 9 Large herbivores as sources of disturbance in ecosystems
- 10 The roles of large herbivores in ecosystem nutrient cycles
- 11 Large herbivores in heterogeneous grassland ecosystems
- 12 Modelling of large herbivore–vegetation interactions in a landscape context
- 13 Effects of large herbivores on other fauna
- 14 The future role of large carnivores in terrestrial trophic interactions: the northern temperate view
- 15 Restoring the functions of grazed ecosystems
- 16 Themes and future directions in herbivore‐ecosystem interactions and conservation
- Index
- References
5 - Long‐term effects of herbivory on plant diversity and functional types in arid ecosystems
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Large herbivores across biomes
- 2 Living in a seasonal environment
- 3 Linking functional responses and foraging behaviour to population dynamics
- 4 Impacts of large herbivores on plant community structure and dynamics
- 5 Long‐term effects of herbivory on plant diversity and functional types in arid ecosystems
- 6 The influence of large herbivores on tree recruitment and forest dynamics
- 7 Large herbivores: missing partners of western European light‐demanding tree and shrub species?
- 8 Frugivory in large mammalian herbivores
- 9 Large herbivores as sources of disturbance in ecosystems
- 10 The roles of large herbivores in ecosystem nutrient cycles
- 11 Large herbivores in heterogeneous grassland ecosystems
- 12 Modelling of large herbivore–vegetation interactions in a landscape context
- 13 Effects of large herbivores on other fauna
- 14 The future role of large carnivores in terrestrial trophic interactions: the northern temperate view
- 15 Restoring the functions of grazed ecosystems
- 16 Themes and future directions in herbivore‐ecosystem interactions and conservation
- Index
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
There is a widely held belief that abiotic factors outweigh biotic factors in arid ecosystems, and that herbivory by mammals is relatively unimportant in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity maintenance (reviewed by Noy‐Meir 1973). The over‐riding importance of abiotic factors in arid regions is ascribed to the high temporal and spatial variation in rainfall. Indeed, changes in plant species composition in arid and semi‐arid regions of Africa and Asia as a consequence of grazing are positively correlated with mean annual rainfall (Milchunas & Lauenroth 1993, Ward 2004). There is a strong negative correlation between the coefficient of variation in mean annual rainfall among years and median annual rainfall of arid regions (Ward 2001, 2004). Similarly, spatial variation in rainfall is high and is not correlated with distance among stations (Ward 2001, Ward et al. 2000, 2004). This high variability in rainfall results in high spatio‐temporal variability in plant abundance and availability to herbivores. For example, Ward et al. (2000) showed that, in the Negev desert of Israel, only 1% of plant species were present in their permanent plots in all years and approximately half the plant species were found once only in ten years. Spatial variation in forage availability is also enormous (see e.g. Fig. 5.1) and most plants may be restricted to ephemeral water courses (so‐called contracted vegetation) (Whittaker 1975) in some arid regions. Furthermore, geological substrates vary considerably among arid regions, particularly in their nutrient status and distribution, as well as in their water retention capacities.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Large Herbivore Ecology, Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation , pp. 142 - 169Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
References
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