Less Is More: Lowering Cattle Stocking Rates Enhances Wild Herbivore Habitat Use and Cattle Foraging Efficiency

Abstract

Over a quarter of the world’s land surface is grazed by cattle and other livestock, which are replacing wild herbivores and widely regarded as drivers of global biodiversity declines. The effects of livestock presence versus absence on wild herbivores are well documented. However, the environmental context-specific effects of cattle stocking rate on biodiversity and livestock production are poorly understood, precluding nuanced rangeland management recommendations. To address this, we used a long term exclosure experiment in a semi-arid savanna ecosystem in central Kenya that selectively excludes cattle (at different stocking rates), wild mesoherbivores, and megaherbivores. We investigated the individual and interactive effects of cattle stocking rate (zero/moderate/high) and megaherbivore (>1,000 kg) accessibility on habitat use (measured as dung density) by two dominant wild mesoherbivores (50–1,000 kg; zebra Equus quagga and eland Taurotragus oryx) across the “wet” and “dry” seasons. To explore potential tradeoffs or co-benefits between cattle production and wildlife conservation, we tested for individual and interactive effects of cattle stocking rate and accessibility by wild mesoherbivores and megaherbivores (collectively, large wild herbivores) on the foraging efficiency of cattle across both seasons. Eland habitat use was reduced by cattle at moderate and high stocking rates across both dry and wet seasons and regardless of megaherbivore accessibility. We observed a positive effect of megaherbivores on zebra habitat use at moderate, but not high, stocking rates. Cattle foraging efficiency (g dry matter step–1 min–1) was lower in the high compared to moderate stocking rate treatments during the dry season, and was non-additively reduced by wild mesoherbivores and high cattle stocking rates during the wet season. These results show that high stocking rates are detrimental to wild mesoherbivore habitat use and cattle foraging efficiency, while reducing to moderate stocking rates can benefit zebra habitat use and cattle foraging efficiency. Our findings demonstrate that ecosystem management and restoration efforts across African rangelands that involve reducing cattle stocking rates may represent a win-win for wild herbivore conservation and individual performance of livestock.

Increasing Anthropogenic Disturbance Restricts Wildebeest Movement Across East African Grazing Systems

“…Further research on water availability and livestock density may benefit from a specific focus. For example, wildebeest cannot survive without water for more than 2-3 days (Talbot and Talbot, 1963) and domestic livestock compete with wild herbivores for grazing resources (Schieltz and Rubenstein, 2016;Kimuyu et al, 2017;Crego et al, 2020;Connolly et al, 2021;Wells et al, 2022). However, data were not available at an appropriate spatio-temporal resolution to be included in this study.…”

Wild herbivores enhance resistance to invasion by exotic cacti in an African savanna

“…In central Kenya, it has been suggested that Opuntia have expanded as a consequence of overgrazing by livestock, which creates microsites suitable for establishment (Strum et al, 2015). However, our findings suggest the hypothesis that indirect facilitation of Opuntia by livestock may be mediated more by the suppression of wild herbivores that tends to accompany livestock production (Crego et al, 2020; Wells, Crego, Ekadeli, et al, 2022) than by the reduction of competition with native understory plants. It may be that cactus establishment is hampered by competition with understory vegetation in herbivore exclosures during the early stages of invasion (as observed in a related species, O. fragilis ; Burger & Louda, 1994), but that this effect is later overshadowed by herbivore‐induced suppression (Levine et al, 2004).…”

Grazing Cattle, Sheep, and Goats Are Important Parts of a Sustainable Agricultural Future

“…The overstocking of pasture with cattle in these areas is detrimental to wild herbivores. However, lower stocking rates with cattle may represent a win–win for wild herbivore conversation and the individual performance of livestock [ 85 ]. Further research and innovation from local ranchers are required to develop sustainable grazing that can co-exist with wildlife.…”