Trophic rewilding as a climate change mitigation strategy?

Cromsigt, Joris P. G. M.; Beest, Mariska te; Kerley, Graham I. H.; Landman, Marietjie; Roux, Elizabeth le; Smith, Felisa A.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0440

Cited by 84 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Rewilding interventions may go beyond the above‐mentioned benefits and potentially contribute to human‐induced climate change mitigation strategies (Cromsigt, te Beest, et al., ; Olofsson & Post, ). In the Arctic for instance, thermophilic plants are expected to invade the tundra in a warmer climate and to grow faster and increase in abundance (Elmendorf, Henry, Hollister, Björk, Bjorkman, et al., ; Elmendorf, Henry, Hollister, Björk, Boulanger‐Lapointe, et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental rewilding enhances grassland functional composition and pollinator habitat use

Garrido

Mårell²,

Öckinger

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Semi‐natural grasslands are rich in biodiversity and thus important habitats for conservation, yet they are experiencing rapid declines due to agricultural intensification and abandonment. Promoting a more diverse mammalian herbivore community, including large and megaherbivores, may result in positive cascade effects for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Therefore, reintroducing an ecologically functional substitute of an extinct large herbivore could mitigate current biodiversity declines and foster semi‐natural grassland conservation. To test this hypothesis, we set up a 3‐year rewilding experiment where 12 feral horses were introduced in three 10‐hectare enclosure replicates (four horses per enclosure). We used community‐weighted mean plant functional traits to elucidate plant community changes induced by grazing through time. We also investigated the effects of this experimental treatment on insect pollinated plants and on pollinator habitat use. The grassland community exerted a mixed tolerance/avoidance response to grazing. This resulted in plant functional compositional changes which favoured prostrate plant species with higher specific leaf area, characteristic of ruderal communities. Plant species richness was higher in grazed compared to ungrazed areas. Butterfly and bumblebee habitat use, as well as feeding and resting activities were also higher in grazed areas. Moreover, the number of pollinators increased with plant species richness. Synthesis and applications. This study demonstrates that, to enhance the diversity of a given herbivore community with ecological replacements of extinct wild horses can have significant effects on the functional composition of grasslands. It can also mitigate plant species declines, in particular bee‐dependent plants, and boost pollinator habitat use. Novel management alternatives are urgently needed to reverse the negative effect of land abandonment in European agricultural landscapes. Thus, rewilding interventions with large mammalian herbivores may offset current biodiversity declines by maintaining important functional links between plants and pollinators in grassland ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, Cromsigt, te Beest, et al. () concluded that rewilding should prioritize large non‐ruminant species since they have the greatest potential to address climate change drivers, including wildfire mitigation, while having the lowest methane emissions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental rewilding enhances grassland functional composition and pollinator habitat use

Garrido

Mårell²,

Öckinger

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Bussoni, Alvarez, Cubbage, Ferreira, & Picasso, ; Hoffman & Wiklund, ; Lemaire, Giroud, Bathily, Lecomte, & Corniaux, ). Replacing ruminants (such as bovids) with other herbivores (hind gut fermenters such as horses) can furthermore strongly reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Cromsigt et al, ). This could be especially relevant from a climate change perspective because ruminants are intensively used in livestock farming which contributes currently about 18% to the global warming effect (Steinfeld & Wassenaar, ).…”

Section: The Socio‐cultural and Economic Consequences Of The Analogoumentioning

confidence: 99%

Analogous losses of large animals and trees, socio‐ecological consequences, and an integrative framework for rewilding‐based megabiota restoration

Schweiger

Svenning

2019

People and Nature

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Large‐sized animals (megafauna) and trees (megatrees) are key ecosystem components with high cultural and economic importance going back millennia. Once common, both groups of megabiota have been massively reduced in pre‐historic and historic times, with human‐induced downsizing still ongoing. Key ecosystem services provided by megafauna and megatrees include nutrient and seed transfer, carbon allocation, climate regulation and biodiversity facilitation. Socio‐cultural services include food and timber provisioning and the ‘charisma’ of large‐sized organisms, with its associated high cultural, recreational and nature conservation values for human societies worldwide. Conservation and restoration of megafauna and—trees in a socio‐ecological framework are needed to counteract past and ongoing analogous downsizing of both groups of megabiota and the loss of important ecosystem services in a human‐dominated world. Importantly, synergistic megatree–megafauna restoration promotes self‐regulating biodiverse ecosystems across the full range of land use intensities ranging from current downsized wildlands to highly human‐modified landscapes. We propose an integrative rewilding‐based restoration framework applicable across the whole range of human land use intensity. This includes individual‐based protection, assisted colonisation and facilitation of urban wildlife. Active management of megafauna and ‐trees can be economically beneficial and necessary to minimize human–wildlife conflicts in highly human‐dominated landscapes. Societal acceptance and adaptation to old big trees and wild megafauna are prerequisites for successful megabiota restoration in human‐modified landscapes and elsewhere where human–wildlife conflicts are hard to avoid. The prime goal of such integrative rewilding activities should be a proactive facilitation of the self‐regulation potential of natural and novel ecosystems for which large‐sized trees and animals would be some of the most important components for enhancing biodiversity and societal value in the Anthropocene. Such megabiota restoration needs to be done on a wide scale to restore functional effects on the biosphere. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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“…Large herbivores can interact with climate change in a number of direct and indirect ways [40,41]. In the Arctic, caribou or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) are the only large herbivores.…”

Section: Can Trophic Rewilding Serve As a Climate Change Mitigation Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic rewilding: impact on ecosystems under global change

Bakker

Svenning

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Trophic rewilding as a climate change mitigation strategy?

Cited by 84 publications

References 97 publications

Experimental rewilding enhances grassland functional composition and pollinator habitat use

Experimental rewilding enhances grassland functional composition and pollinator habitat use

Analogous losses of large animals and trees, socio‐ecological consequences, and an integrative framework for rewilding‐based megabiota restoration

Trophic rewilding: impact on ecosystems under global change

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