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Global environmental controls of diversity in large herbivores

Author

Listed:
  • Han Olff

    (Tropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology Group, Wageningen University)

  • Mark E. Ritchie

    (Syracuse University)

  • Herbert H. T. Prins

    (Tropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology Group, Wageningen University)

Abstract

Large mammalian herbivores occupy half of the earth's land surface and are important both ecologically and economically1, but their diversity is threatened by human activities2. We investigated how the diversity of large herbivores changes across gradients of global precipitation and soil fertility. Here we show that more plant-available moisture reduces the nutrient content of plants but increases productivity, whereas more plant-available nutrients increase both of these factors. Because larger herbivore species tolerate lower plant nutrient content but require greater plant abundance, the highest potential herbivore diversity should occur in locations with intermediate moisture and high nutrients. These areas are dry enough to yield high quality plants and support smaller herbivores, but productive enough to support larger herbivores. These predictions fit with observed patterns of body size and diversity for large mammalian herbivores in North America, Africa and Australia, and yield a global map of regions with potentially high herbivore diversity. Thus, gradients of precipitation, temperature and soil fertility might explain the global distribution of large herbivore diversity and help to identify crucial areas for conservation and restoration.

Suggested Citation

  • Han Olff & Mark E. Ritchie & Herbert H. T. Prins, 2002. "Global environmental controls of diversity in large herbivores," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6874), pages 901-904, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:415:y:2002:i:6874:d:10.1038_415901a
    DOI: 10.1038/415901a
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    Cited by:

    1. Pil Birkefeldt Møller Pedersen & Joanna B Olsen & Brody Sandel & Jens-Christian Svenning, 2019. "Wild Steps in a semi-wild setting? Habitat selection and behavior of European bison reintroduced to an enclosure in an anthropogenic landscape," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Fullman, Timothy J. & Bunting, Erin L. & Kiker, Gregory A. & Southworth, Jane, 2017. "Predicting shifts in large herbivore distributions under climate change and management using a spatially-explicit ecosystem model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 352(C), pages 1-18.
    3. Ebrahimi, A. & Milotić, T. & Hoffmann, M., 2010. "A herbivore specific grazing capacity model accounting for spatio-temporal environmental variation: A tool for a more sustainable nature conservation and rangeland management," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(6), pages 900-910.
    4. Christian Kiffner & John Kioko & Cecilia Leweri & Stefan Krause, 2014. "Seasonal Patterns of Mixed Species Groups in Large East African Mammals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Ruifrok, Jasper L. & Janzen, Thijs & Kuijper, Dries P.J. & Rietkerk, Max & Olff, Han & Smit, Christian, 2015. "Cyclical succession in grazed ecosystems: The importance of interactions between different-sized herbivores and different-sized predators," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 31-39.
    6. Timothy J. Fullman & Erin L. Bunting, 2014. "Analyzing Vegetation Change in an Elephant-Impacted Landscape Using the Moving Standard Deviation Index," Land, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, January.

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