
du Toit, J. T. & Cumming, D. H. M. Functional significance of ungulate diversity in African savannas and the ecological implications of the spread of pastoralism. Biodivers. Conserv. 8, 1643–1661 (1999).
Reid, R. Savannas of our Birth: People, Wildlife, and Change in East Africa (Univ. California Press, 2012).
Veblen, K. E., Porensky, L. M., Riginos, C. & Young, T. P. Are cattle surrogate wildlife? Savanna plant community composition explained by total herbivory more than herbivore type. Ecol. Appl. 26, 1610–1623 (2016).
du Toit, J. T., Kock, R. & Deutsch, J. Wild Rangelands: Conserving Wildlife while Maintaining Livestock in Semi-arid Ecosystems (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
Ripple, W. J. et al. Collapse of the world’s largest herbivores. Sci. Adv. 1, e1400103 (2015).
Malhi, Y. et al. Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 838–846 (2016).
Hempson, G. P., Archibald, S. & Bond, W. J. The consequences of replacing wildlife with livestock in Africa. Sci. Rep. 7, 17196 (2017).
Young, T. P. et al. Relationships between cattle and biodiversity in multiuse landscape revealed by Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment. Rangel. Ecol. Manag. 71, 281–291 (2018).
Keesing, F. et al. Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna. Nat. Sustain. 1, 566–573 (2018).
Asner, G. P., Vaughn, N., Smit, I. P. J. & Levick, S. Ecosystem-scale effects of megafauna in African savannas. Ecography 39, 240–252 (2016).
Young, T. P., Palmer, T. M. & Gadd, M. E. Competition and compensation among cattle, zebras, and elephants in a semi-arid savanna in Laikipia, Kenya. Biol. Conserv. 122, 351–359 (2005).
Kimuyu, D. M. et al. Influence of cattle on browsing and grazing wildlife varies with rainfall and presence of megaherbivores. Ecol. Appl. 27, 786–798 (2017).
Augustine, D. J., McNaughton, S. J. & Frank, D. A. Feedbacks between soil nutrients and large herbivores in a managed savanna ecosystem. Ecol. Appl. 13, 1325–1337 (2003).
Le Roux, E., Kerley, G. I. H. & Cromsigt, J. Megaherbivores modify trophic cascades triggered by fear of predation in an African savanna ecosystem. Curr. Biol. 28, 2493–2499.e3 (2018).
Veldhuis, M. P., Gommers, M. I., Olff, H. & Berg, M. P. Spatial redistribution of nutrients by large herbivores and dung beetles in a savanna ecosystem. J. Ecol. 106, 422–433 (2018).
van der Waal, C. et al. Large herbivores may alter vegetation structure of semi-arid savannas through soil nutrient mediation. Oecologia 165, 1095–1107 (2011).
Augustine, D. J. Long-term, livestock-mediated redistribution of nitrogen and phosphorus in an East African savanna. J. Appl. Ecol. 40, 137–149 (2003).
Veblen, K. E. Savanna glade hotspots: plant community development and synergy with large herbivores. J. Arid Environ. 78, 119–127 (2012).
Cech, P. G., Olde Venterink, H. & Edwards, P. J. N and P cycling in Tanzanian humid savanna: influence of herbivores, fire, and N2-fixation. Ecosystems 13, 1079–1096 (2010).
Marshall, F. et al. Ancient herders enriched and restructured African grasslands. Nature 561, 387–390 (2018).
Doughty, C. E. et al. Global nutrient transport in a world of giants. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 868–873 (2016).
Owen-Smith, N. Megaherbivores: The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988).
Kerley, G. et al. in Elephant Management: A Scientific Assessment for South Africa (eds Scholes, R. & Mennell, K.) 146–205 (Witwatersrand Univ. Press, 2008).
Sitters, J., Edwards, P. J. & Olde Venterink, H. Increases of soil C, N, and P pools along an Acacia tree density gradient and their effects on trees and grasses. Ecosystems 16, 347–357 (2013).
Blaser, W. J., Sitters, J., Hart, S. P., Edwards, P. J. & Olde Venterink, H. Facilitative or competitive effects of woody plants on understorey vegetation depend on N-fixation, canopy shape and rainfall. J. Ecol. 101, 1598–1603 (2013).
Young, T., Okello, B., Kinyua, D. & Palmer, T. KLEE: A long-term multi-species herbivore exclusion experiment in Laikipia, Kenya. Afr. J. Range Forage Sci. 14, 94–102 (1997).
Riginos, C. et al. Lessons on the relationship between livestock husbandry and biodiversity from the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE). Pastor. Res. Policy Pract. 2, 10 (2012).
Charles, G. K., Porensky, L. M., Riginos, C., Veblen, K. E. & Young, T. P. Herbivore effects on productivity vary by guild: cattle increase mean productivity while wildlife reduce variability. Ecol. Appl. 27, 143–155 (2017).
Riginos, C., Porensky, L. M., Veblen, K. E. & Young, T. P. Herbivory and drought generate short-term stochasticity and long-term stability in a savanna understory community. Ecol. Appl. 28, 323–335 (2018).
Odadi, W. O., Okeyo-Owuor, J. B. & Young, T. P. Behavioural responses of cattle to shared foraging with wild herbivores in an East African rangeland. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 116, 120–125 (2009).
Kimuyu, D. M., Sensenig, R. L., Riginos, C., Veblen, K. E. & Young, T. P. Native and domestic browsers and grazers reduce fuels, fire temperatures, and acacia ant mortality in an African savanna. Ecol. Appl. 24, 741–749 (2014).
Goheen, J. R. et al. Conservation lessons from large-mammal manipulations in East African savannas: the KLEE, UHURU, and GLADE experiments. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1429, 31–49 (2018).
Fox-Dobbs, K., Doak, D. F., Brody, A. K. & Palmer, T. M. Termites create spatial structure and govern ecosystem function by affecting N2 fixation in an East African savanna. Ecology 91, 1296–1307 (2010).
Ritchie, M. E. & Raina, R. Effects of herbivores on nitrogen fixation by grass endophytes, legume symbionts and free-living soil surface bacteria in the Serengeti. Pedobiologia 59, 233–241 (2016).
Sitters, J., Edwards, P. J., Suter, W. & Olde Venterink, H. O. Acacia tree density strongly affects N and P fluxes in savanna. Biogeochemistry 123, 285–297 (2015).
Kelemu, S. et al. Detecting bacterial endophytes in tropical grasses of the Brachiaria genus and determining their role in improving plant growth. Afr. J. Biotechnol. 10, 965–976 (2011).
Hartnett, D. C., Potgieter, A. F. & Wilson, G. W. T. Fire effects on mycorrhizal symbiosis and root system architecture in southern African savanna grasses. Afr. J. Ecol. 42, 328–337 (2004).
Craine, J. M. et al. Ecological interpretations of nitrogen isotope ratios of terrestrial plants and soils. Plant Soil 396, 1–26 (2015).
Frank, D. A. & Evans, R. D. Effects of native grazers on grassland N cycling in Yellowstone National Park. Ecology 78, 2238–2248 (1997).
Cech, P. G., Kuster, T., Edwards, P. J. & Olde Venterink, H. Effects of herbivory, fire and N2-fixation on nutrient limitation in a humid African savanna. Ecosystems 11, 991–1004 (2008).
McNaughton, S. J., Banyikwa, F. F. & McNaughton, M. M. Promotion of the cycling of diet-enhancing nutrients by African grazers. Science 278, 1798–1800 (1997).
Augustine, D. J. & McNaughton, S. J. Interactive effects of ungulate herbivores, soil fertility, and variable rainfall on ecosystem processes in a semi-arid savanna. Ecosystems 9, 1242–1256 (2006).
Anderson, T. M., Ritchie, M. E. & McNaughton, S. J. Rainfall and soils modify plant community response to grazing in Serengeti National Park. Ecology 88, 1191–1201 (2007).
Holdo, R. M. & Mack, M. C. Functional attributes of savanna soils: contrasting effects of tree canopies and herbivores on bulk density, nutrients and moisture dynamics. J. Ecol. 102, 1171–1182 (2014).
van Langevelde, F. et al. Effects of fire and herbivory on the stability of savanna ecosystems. Ecology 84, 337–350 (2003).
Sankaran, M., Ratnam, J. & Hanan, N. Woody cover in African savannas: the role of resources, fire and herbivory. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 17, 236–245 (2008).
Tobler, M. W., Cochard, R. & Edwards, P. J. The impact of cattle ranching on large-scale vegetation patterns in a coastal savanna in Tanzania. J. Appl. Ecol. 40, 430–444 (2003).
Okigbo, B. N. in Ecology and Management of the World’s Savannas (eds Tothill, J. C. & Mott, J. J.) 95–113 (Australian Academy of Science, 1985).
McClenachan, L., Cooper, A. B. & Dulvy, N. K. Rethinking trade-driven extinction risk in marine and terrestrial megafauna. Curr. Biol. 26, 1640–1646 (2016).
Ahmad, N. in Vertisols and Technologies for their Management (eds Ahmad, N. & Mermut, A.) 1–41 (Elsevier, 1996).
Bergstrom, B. J., Sensenig, R. L., Augustine, D. J. & Young, T. P. Searching for cover: soil enrichment and herbivore exclusion, not fire, enhance African savanna small-mammal abundance. Ecosphere 9, e02519 (2018).
Schleppi, P., Conedera, M., Sedivy, I. & Thimonier, A. Correcting non-linearity and slope effects in the estimation of the leaf area index of forests from hemispherical photographs. Agric. For. Meteorol. 144, 236–242 (2007).
Thimonier, A., Sedivy, I. & Schleppi, P. Estimating leaf area index in different types of mature forest stands in Switzerland: a comparison of methods. Eur. J. For. Res. 129, 543–562 (2010).
R Core Team R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing Version 3.4.3 (2019); https://www.R-project.org/
Pinheiro, J., Bates, D., DebRoy, S., Sarkar, D. & R Core Team. nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package version 3.1-144 (2020); https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme
Lenth, R. V. Least-Squares Means: the package. J. Stat. Softw. 69, 1–33 (2016).
Source: Ecology - nature.com