Is livestock grazing compatible with amphibian diversity in the High Mountains of Córdoba, Argentina?

Verga, Ernesto G.; Leynaud, Gerardo C.; Lescano, Julián N.; Bellis, Laura M.

doi:10.1007/s10344-012-0630-6

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…We did not observe any of these effects in our study, likely because the intensity of grazing was low. The impact of grazing on amphibians is known to depend on its timing, intensity and local history, and can vary by species (Burton et al 2009;Verga et al 2012). Our results suggest that low-intensity grazing does not directly harm postmetamorphic anurans or that the potential negative effects are counter-balanced by the habitat-level benefits of grazing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

“…Cattle-grazing of marshes can increase habitat diversity by removing old reed, reducing reed density, creating openings and open water surfaces in reedbeds (Jansen and Healey 2003;Verga et al 2012). Despite these benefits, previous studies reported lower species richness, abundance or diversity of amphibians in cattle-grazed wetlands, due to direct mortality from trampling, increased predation and solar and UV-B radiation in more open habitats, increased desiccation, deterioration of water quality through increased nitrogen levels or eutrophization, or the presence of Ranavirus (Burton et al 2009;Hoverman et al 2012;Jansen and Healey 2003;Schmutzer et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporally variable management by grazing and burning increases marsh diversity and benefits amphibians: A field experiment

Mester

Szalai²,

Mérő³

et al. 2015

Biological Conservation

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Ecosystem management often aims to maintain a diversity of habitats to benefit a large number of species within a landscape. We studied the effects of wetland management by lowintensity cattle-grazing and late-summer burning on marsh vegetation and globally declining anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) in a previously homogeneous reedbed. Burning effectively removed old reed and increased the variability of reed cover and marsh vegetation by the next spring. However, reed grew back strong in areas burned 2 or 3 years before the study, indicating that fire rejuvenates reedbeds. In contrast, cattle-grazing kept reed cover homogeneously low and created open water surfaces. The number of amphibian species and individuals decreased with mean reed cover and old reed density, and increased with variability in reed cover. Correspondingly, amphibian richness and counts were greatest in newly burned areas the next spring. In contrast, a year later, richness and counts were greatest in grazed-only areas, with large decreases in newly burned and control areas. Our results suggest that combined management with grazing and burning can create different habitat patches, some of which will be optimal for amphibians in one year, whereas other patches may become suitable in a subsequent year when successional changes alter previously optimal patches. To maximize optimal habitats, mosaic management should repeat burning once every 2 or 3 years in a rotational manner, and also maintain low-intensity cattle-grazing, which controls reeds and benefits amphibians more sustainably. Our study supports spatiotemporally varied management to facilitate habitat heterogeneity and complexity in dynamic landscapes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporally variable management by grazing and burning increases marsh diversity and benefits amphibians: A field experiment

Mester

Szalai²,

Mérő³

et al. 2015

Biological Conservation

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“…Because rangeland ecosystems tend to be more compatible with wildlife use than other more intensive forms of agriculture, they may be able to contribute to an "off-reserve" system designed to reduce global biodiversity losses (Delaney and Linda 1994, Morrison and Humphrey 2001, Babbitt et al 2009). The results of our literature review and empirical data set support the notion that for at least some amphibian species, particularly ones with an evolutionary history tied to open-canopy habitats, a well-managed rangeland is compatible with maintaining amphibian species richness and may act either as a compliment to protected areas or in special cases serve as a stand-alone reservoir of viable populations (Homyack and Giuliano 2002, Burton et al 2009, Verga et al 2012, Mester et al 2015. In peninsular Florida, the high number of seasonally inundated wetlands Tanner 2000, Baber et al 2002) and intact woodlands present on many ranches provide enough habitat to maintain high amphibian diversity while simultaneously being used for commercial cattle production (Babbitt et al 2006(Babbitt et al , 2009.…”

Section: Rangelands As "Off-reserve" Management Areassupporting

confidence: 60%

Amphibian responses to livestock use of wetlands: new empirical data and a global review

Howell

Mothes

Clements

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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Pastureland currently occupies 26% of Earth's ice-free land surface. As the global human population continues to increase and developing countries consume more proteinrich diets, the amount of land devoted to livestock grazing will only continue to rise. To mitigate the loss of global biodiversity as a consequence of the ever-expanding amount of land converted from native habitat into pastureland for livestock grazing, an understanding of how livestock impact wildlife is critical. While previous reviews have examined the impact of livestock on a wide variety of taxa, there have been no reviews examining how global livestock grazing affects amphibians. We conducted both an empirical study in south-central Florida examining the impact of cattle on amphibian communities and a quantitative literature review of similar studies on five continents. Our empirical study analyzed amphibian community responses to cattle as both a binary (presence/absence) variable, and as a continuous variable based on cow pie density. Across all analyses, we were unable to find any evidence that cattle affected the amphibian community at our study site. The literature review returned 46 papers that met our criteria for inclusion. Of these studies, 15 found positive effects of livestock on amphibians, 21 found neutral/mixed effects, and 10 found negative effects. Our quantitative analysis of these data indicates that amphibian species that historically occurred in closedcanopy habitats are generally negatively affected by livestock presence. In contrast, opencanopy amphibians are likely to experience positive effects from the presence of livestock, and these positive effects are most likely to occur in locations with cooler climates and/or greater precipitation seasonality. Collectively, our empirical work and literature review demonstrate that under the correct conditions well-managed rangelands are able to support diverse assemblages of amphibians. These rangeland ecosystems may play a critical role in protecting future amphibian biodiversity by serving as an "off-reserve" system to supplement the biodiversity conserved within traditional protected areas.

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“…Quantitative documentation of biodiversity is an important aspect of ecology and a popular topic in recent times. Such diverse taxa as birds (Grigera and Pavic 2007), butterflies (Lazzeri et al 2011) and amphibians (Verga et al 2012), have been recently studied in Argentina. However, biodiversity studies of invertebrate groups like arachnids are scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scorpion diversity in two different habitats in the Arid Chaco, Argentina

2014

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Scorpions are one of the most important taxa of predators in terms of density, biomass, and diversity in various areas of the world. In this study, we compared population-and community-level data between a mature and a secondary forest in the Chancaní Reserve (Córdoba, Argentina). Scorpions were collected using pitfall traps (54 nights per site), and their nocturnal activity was observed by means of UV light (26 nights per site) over 7 months. Seven species of scorpions (1964 individuals) were observed in the study area (Bothriuridae and Buthidae). Brachistosternus ferrugineus composed [74 % of all individuals and was numerically dominant in most months. It was the most common species sampled with UV light method in all months (85.73 % in mature and 81.80 % in secondary forest). Timogenes elegans was the most common species sampled with the pitfall traps method in secondary forest (48.58 %). General sex ratio (males:females) for B. ferrugineus was 1:1.24 and for T. elegans was 1:0.53. The Shannon index was not significantly different between sites. Species richness was similar, and the Jaccard index was Cs = 0.86, indicating that both sites share 86 % of the species. Tityus confluens was the only species not shared between sites. Our results indicate that species composition in regenerating forest resembles that of primary forest after c. 15 years, but the relative abundances of these species differ.

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Is livestock grazing compatible with amphibian diversity in the High Mountains of Córdoba, Argentina?

Cited by 19 publications

References 56 publications

Spatiotemporally variable management by grazing and burning increases marsh diversity and benefits amphibians: A field experiment

Spatiotemporally variable management by grazing and burning increases marsh diversity and benefits amphibians: A field experiment

Amphibian responses to livestock use of wetlands: new empirical data and a global review

Scorpion diversity in two different habitats in the Arid Chaco, Argentina

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