Grazing impact on desert plants and soil seed banks: Implications for seed-eating animals

Pol, Rodrigo G.; Sagario, M. Cecilia; Marone, Luis

doi:10.1016/j.actao.2013.11.009

Cited by 38 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…) and deplete the soil seed bank (Pol et al . ). Additionally, foliar arthropod abundance generally decreases where grass is less structurally diverse (Vickery et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The impact of cattle grazing regimes on tropical savanna bird assemblages

Neilly

Schwarzkopf

2018

Austral Ecology

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Globally, agricultural land use is implicated in the decline of avifauna. In rangelands (areas used for livestock grazing), bird community responses to grazing can be complex, species-specific and scale dependent. A greater understanding of bird responses to grazing will lead to more meaningful management recommendations. We tested the hypothesis that foraging height predicts bird species' responses to grazing, such that species using lower vegetation strata are most likely to respond to the impacts of livestock grazing. We examined the response of a tropical savanna bird community to four grazing strategies at a long-term grazing trial in northern Australia. We predicted that ground-foraging guilds would be more responsive to grazing treatment than foliage-or aerialforaging guilds. We analysed the bird community assemblage using generalised linear mixed models and examined individual species' abundance in relation to microhabitat variables. We found that while ground-foraging guilds were more responsive to grazing treatment, individual species dynamics within a foraging guild could be contradictory. For example, the red-backed fairy-wren decreased in abundance with increased grazing and was positively associated with grass and shrub (Carissa ovata) cover, whereas Australian magpies increased in abundance in the most heavily grazed paddocks. In general, the responses of bird species to grazing were more pronounced in guilds that forage closer to the ground, but whether the responses were positive or negative was driven by bird species ecology. Measures examining the responses of individual species are more useful than assemblage measures (such as richness) to describe the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance such as grazing.

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“…) and deplete the soil seed bank (Pol et al . ). Additionally, foliar arthropod abundance generally decreases where grass is less structurally diverse (Vickery et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The impact of cattle grazing regimes on tropical savanna bird assemblages

Neilly

Schwarzkopf

2018

Austral Ecology

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“…Many studies have been conducted in recent years that attempt to understand the effects of human disturbance on the soil seed bank [25,26]. However, most of these studies focused on the type of disturbance, including land utility [27], grazing [28], and animal eating and footing [29], rather than the intensity. Some studies reported that soil seed density possibly increased [30] or decreased [31] with increasing intensity of human disturbance, but this problem has not yet been fully investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation to the Increasing Intensity of Human Disturbance in a Semi-Arid Region of Northern China

Xiao

Wang

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:To provide more insights into the responses of the soil seed bank and vegetation to human disturbance intensity, we selected four land use types, including: native grassland (no human disturbance), abandoned artificial grassland (light human disturbance), artificial grassland (moderate human disturbance), and farmland (severe human disturbance) in a semi-arid climate of northern China. The species composition and density of the soil seed bank were measured, as well as the species composition and amount of vegetation. The native grassland had a significantly higher soil seed density and species richness than the other land use types. Moreover, the common species both in the soil seed bank and vegetation between the native grassland and other land use types gradually decreased as disturbance intensity increased. The abandoned artificial grassland and artificial grassland still had abundant soil seed banks according to their seed density (≥28.2% of the native grassland) and species richness (≥70.0% of the native grassland) to restore the vegetation. Conversely, it was hard to restore the vegetation on the farmland due to its low soil seed density (10.0% of the native grassland) and species richness (40.0% of the native grassland). In conclusion, human disturbance would generate significant negative effects on the soil seed bank in desertified regions in a semi-arid climate; however, the soil seed bank in land use types with light/moderate disturbance are more adapted to vegetation restoration compared with land use types with severe disturbance in a semi-arid region.

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“…Werner (1998) gave out numerous examples on how he and his colleagues have explained and predicted several ecological patterns in artificial as well as natural settings of northern USA, and to conclude we will contribute an own ecological example on the interplay of observational, experimental, and theoretical approaches. Domestic grazing is the main economic activity in the central Monte desert of Argentina, which affects several components of the flora and fauna (Pol et al 2014). For example, it consistently reduces the production and abundance of grass seeds (and more inconsistently of forb seeds too) in the soil seed bank of that semiarid region.…”

Section: The Synthetic Thesis Of Truth and The Research Program In Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Mario Bunge’s systemic thesis of truth: implications for research practice and the “reproducibility crisis”

Marone¹,

Casenave²,

Solar³

2019

RHV

Self Cite

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There are currently serious concerns that published scientific findings often fail to be reproducible, and that some solutions may be gleaned by attending the several methodological and sociological recommendations that could be found in the literature. However, researchers would also arrive at some answers by considering the advice of the philosophy of science, particularly semantics, about theses on truth related to scientific realism. Sometimes scientists understand the correspondence thesis of truth (CTT) as asserting that the next unique empirical confirmation of a hypothesis suffices to attribute truth to it provisionally. Such empiricist bias is not necessarily at the core of CTT, but Mario Bunge proposed the synthetic thesis of truth (STT), based on CTT, to explicitly avoid the bias. STT requires considering a hypothesis corroborated, both by purely empirical confirmation and external consistency or compatibility with the bulk of existing background knowledge (systemicity). While a capricious understanding of CTT could be rigged to recommend the “one shot game” in hypothesis testing, STT clearly demands the use of multiple approaches, empirical as well as theoretical, and it asserts that a scientific test is effective to the extent to which it is neither purely empirical, nor viewed in isolation. Pattern consistency (empirical control) together with an understanding of causal relations (rational together with empirical control) make confirmed hypotheses robust and more reliable. The militancy of the double mechanism of hypothesis control of STT can help mitigate the reproducibility crisis. Earl Werner’s research program in community ecology is an example of the (implicit) use of STT criteria, which leads to the development of reliable, cross-checked, ecological results, with high predictive capacity.

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Grazing impact on desert plants and soil seed banks: Implications for seed-eating animals

Cited by 38 publications

References 63 publications

The impact of cattle grazing regimes on tropical savanna bird assemblages

The impact of cattle grazing regimes on tropical savanna bird assemblages

Responses of Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation to the Increasing Intensity of Human Disturbance in a Semi-Arid Region of Northern China

Mario Bunge’s systemic thesis of truth: implications for research practice and the “reproducibility crisis”

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