Rewilding with large herbivores: Direct effects and edge effects of grazing refuges on plant and invertebrate communities

Klink, Roel van; Ruifrok, Jasper L.; Smit, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2016.01.050

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…[28][29][30][31]), the development of a heterogeneous vegetation mosaic should be beneficial to the diversity of arthropods. Although direct evidence for this outcome is limited [22], using data from experimental grazing exclosures in the rewilding site Oostvaardersplassen (OVP; The Netherlands) [32], where natural grazing refuges are absent due to the high grazer densities, we can show that mosaics of grazed and ungrazed vegetation are richer in arthropod species than homogeneously grazed vegetation, a pattern that is consistent across spatial scales (figure 1). An aspect of grazing that is specific for rewilding is winter grazing.…”

Section: How Trophic Rewilding Affects Arthropod Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The presence of exclosures as grazing refuges enhances arthropod species richness. We used data from the exclosure study of Van Klink et al [32], but excluding dung-and carrion-feeding species, to assess arthropod species richness across scales. Arthropods were caught in pitfall traps in grazed areas, in the exclosure centres and exclosure edges.…”

Section: Risks and Opportunities Of Rewilding For Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risks and opportunities of trophic rewilding for arthropod communities

Klink

WallisDeVries

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Trophic rewilding is a restoration strategy focusing on the restoration of trophic interactions to promote self-regulating, biodiverse ecosystems. It has been proposed as an alternative to traditional conservation management in abandoned or defaunated areas. Arthropods constitute the most species-rich group of eukaryotic organisms, but are rarely considered in rewilding. Here, we first present an overview of direct and indirect pathways by which large herbivores and predators affect arthropod communities. We then review the published evidence of the impacts of rewilding with large herbivores on arthropods, including grey literature. We find that systematic monitoring is rare and that a comparison with a relevant control treatment is usually lacking. Nevertheless, the available data suggest that when the important process of top-down control of large-herbivore populations is missing, arthropod diversity tends to decrease. To ensure that rewilding is supportive of biodiversity conservation, we propose that if natural processes can only partially be restored, substitutes for missing processes are applied. We also propose that boundaries of acceptable outcomes of rewilding actions should be defined a priori , particularly concerning biodiversity conservation, and that action is taken when these boundaries are transgressed. To evaluate the success of rewilding for biodiversity, monitoring of arthropod communities should be a key instrument. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Trophic rewilding: consequences for ecosystems under global change’.

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Section: How Trophic Rewilding Affects Arthropod Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Risks and Opportunities Of Rewilding For Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risks and opportunities of trophic rewilding for arthropod communities

Klink

WallisDeVries

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…For each carrion site, a matching control site was chosen as the closest site to the carcass where no carrion was present in a 25-m radius, with similar conditions (i.e. presence/absence of dead wood, tree cover, distance from open water, and soil conditions [42]). This was important so that differences in biotic and abiotic conditions would be controlled for.…”

Section: Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewilding with large herbivores: Positive direct and delayed effects of carrion on plant and arthropod communities

Klink

Laar-Wiersma

Vorst³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Carrion of large animals is an extremely nutrient rich, ephemeral resource that is essential for many species, but is scarce in the anthropogenic Western-European landscape due to legislative restrictions. Rewilding, a novel conservation strategy that aims at restoring natural processes with minimal human intervention, is increasing in popularity and could lead to increased carrion availability in the landscape. It is therefore important to understand the effects of carrion on biodiversity. We investigated the direct and delayed (five months) effects of red deer (Cervus elaphus) carcasses on plants and arthropods in the Oostvaardersplassen, the Netherlands, one of the oldest rewilding sites in Europe. Specifically, we tested whether carrion has a positive direct effect on the abundances and diversity of various arthropod functional groups, as well as a delayed effect on the vegetation and arthropods through the increased nutrient availability. During the active decomposition stage in spring, we, not surprisingly, observed higher abundances of carrion associated species (scavengers and their specialized predators) at the carrion sites than at control sites without carrion, but no higher abundances of predators or detritivores. In late summer, after nearcomplete decomposition, plant biomass was five times higher, and nutritional plant quality (C:N ratio) was higher at the carrion sites than at the control sites. Arthropod abundance and diversity were also manifold higher, owing to higher numbers of herbivorous and predatory species. Regression analysis showed that abundances of herbivores and detritivores were positively related to plant biomass, and predator abundances were positively related to abundances of herbivores and detritivores, suggesting bottom-up effects propagating through the food chain. Our results show that even in a naturally nutrient-rich ecosystem like the Oostvaardersplassen, carrion can have strong positive effects on local plant biomass and nutritional quality and arthropod abundances, lasting the whole growing season. We found evidence that these effects were first directly caused by the presence of carrion, and later by the enhanced nutrient availability in the soil. This highlights the importance of the indirect pathways by which carrion can structure arthropod communities.

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“…van Klink et al 2020), which in turn strongly in uence not only rare or endangered plants but also populations of other organisms, e.g. arthropods (van Klink et al 2016;Garrido et al 2019). Although rewilding projects are apparently on increase globally, manipulative experiments in this eld remain scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewilding With Large Herbivores Helped Increase Plant Species Richness in Dry Grasslands.

Dvorský

Mudrák

Doležal

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Rewilding is a form of environmental conservation and ecological restoration that has the potential to enhance biodiversity and create self-sustainable natural environments. The key approach is reintroducing lost keystone animal species, e.g. large herbivores and predators. One of the few places in all Central Europe where such efforts can be seen in practice is located in Milovice, Czech Republic, where European bison, Exmoor pony, and Tauros cattle have been introduced in 2015-2016 to a former military training area, now NATURA 2000 site and National nature monument Milovice-Mlada. The prevailing vegetation type is a forest-steppe with Bromus erectus dominated dry grasslands mixed with deciduous shrubs and trees. After the cessation of military use, the area was mostly left unmanaged during 1989-2010 which led to successional changes and increased dominance of tall grasses, and bush encroachment. We monitored grassland vegetation in 2017–2019 in 30 randomly distributed plots (2×2 m) inside the grazed area and in ungrazed control plots. Natural grazing increased species richness and the cover of forbs, while the proportion of grasses and legumes remained little affected. Grazing promoted small-statured species while ungrazed plots harboured taller ones. Large herbivores thus made the grassland shorter and richer both in overall species and flowering forbs. We can conclude that the introduction of large herbivores has had a beneficial effect on species richness and helped in restoring forest-steppe vegetation of better quality and conservational value.

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Rewilding with large herbivores: Direct effects and edge effects of grazing refuges on plant and invertebrate communities

Cited by 18 publications

References 59 publications

Risks and opportunities of trophic rewilding for arthropod communities

Risks and opportunities of trophic rewilding for arthropod communities

Rewilding with large herbivores: Positive direct and delayed effects of carrion on plant and arthropod communities

Rewilding With Large Herbivores Helped Increase Plant Species Richness in Dry Grasslands.

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