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Wadud AI, Bugalho MN, Vaz PG. Meta-analysis of livestock effects on tree regeneration in oak agroforestry systems. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 364:121498. [PMID: 38897091 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 06/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Livestock grazing occupies over a quarter of terrestrial land and is prevalent to agroforestry ecosystems, potentially affecting the survival, growth, and density of trees' early developmental stages, such as seeds, seedlings, and saplings. To address the effects of livestock on tree recruitment in the face of ongoing debates about their impacts, we conducted a 33-year meta-analysis in Quercus-dominated agroforestry systems. Our analysis revealed a consistently negative effect of livestock on oak acorns, seedlings, and saplings. Significantly, livestock body size influenced oak regeneration, with small-sized livestock, notably sheep and goats, having a more pronounced negative impact compared to mixed-size systems, mainly involving cattle and sheep. The effects of small-sized livestock were markedly detrimental on acorn survival and seedling/sapling density, although no studies eligible for meta-analysis examined large livestock impacts on acorns. Overall, mixed-size livestock systems, often involving cattle and sheep, lessen the negative effects. Our findings indicate that the body size and foraging behaviors of livestock should be considered for the ecological sustainability of the tree component in agroforestry systems. While protective measures have long been integral to well-managed agroforestry systems, our results underscore the importance of integrating diverse livestock sizes and applying specific protective strategies, particularly for acorns and saplings, to further refine these practices. Future research should expand to underrepresented regions and livestock types to refine global agroforestry management practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdullah Ibne Wadud
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves" (CEABN-InBIO), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Miguel N Bugalho
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves" (CEABN-InBIO), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Pedro Gonçalves Vaz
- CE3C-Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande C2 Piso 5 Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal.
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Torre I, Puig-Montserrat X, Díaz M. Global change effects on Mediterranean small mammal population dynamics: Demography of Algerian mice (Mus spretus) along land use and climate gradients. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 863:160875. [PMID: 36528104 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Climate and land use change are key global change drivers shaping future species' distributions and abundances. Negative interactions among effects of drivers can reduce the accuracy of models aimed at predicting such distributions. Here we analyse how climate and land use affected population dynamics and demography of the Algerian mouse (Mus spretus), an open-land thermophilic Mediterranean small mammal. Change to a warmer and drier climate would facilitate the expansion of the species, whereas landscape change (forest encroachment following extensive land abandonment) would produce its retreat. We correlated abundance and demography parameters computed from captures obtained in 16 plots during a 10-years period (2008-2017; SEMICE small mammal monitoring) with climate, vegetation and land use change. Climate became warmer and dryer, and afforestation due to encroachment occurred in 81 % of plots. Expected positive effects of climate warming, derived from bioclimatic niche models, were counterbalanced by negative effects of both increasing hydric deficit and changes in vegetation and landscape structure. Abundance showed a slight but significant decline (-5 %). The species' range was more resilient to change, as shown by occupancy analyses, apparently due to strong local effects of vegetation structure on occupancy. This result highlighted that negative population trends would not necessarily produce range retractions. Simultaneously analysing both abundance trends and occupancy patterns may thus allow for deeper understanding and more accurate predictions of expected population trends in response to interacting global change drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignasi Torre
- BiBio Research Group, Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, C/ Francesc Macià 51, E-08402 Granollers, Spain.
| | - Xavier Puig-Montserrat
- BiBio Research Group, Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, C/ Francesc Macià 51, E-08402 Granollers, Spain
| | - Mario Díaz
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change (BGC-MNCN-CSIC), National Museum of Natural Sciences, C/ Serrano 115 Bis, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.
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Indirect Human Influences in Fear Landscapes: Varying Effects of Moonlight on Small Mammal Activity along Man-Made Gradients of Vegetation Structure. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13030681. [PMID: 36983836 PMCID: PMC10053441 DOI: 10.3390/life13030681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Risk of predation is one of the main constraints of small mammal distribution and foraging activity. Aside from numerical effects on population size due to the presence and abundance of predators, indirect cues, such as vegetation structure and moonlight, determine patterns of activity and microhabitat use by small mammals. Indirect cues are expected to interact, as shading provided by vegetation can suppress the effects of changing moonlight. We analyzed the effects of moonlight levels on the activity patterns of three common small mammal species in Mediterranean habitats, and tested whether moonlight effects were modulated by shadowing associated with the development of tall vegetation due to spontaneous afforestation following land abandonment. A. sylvaticus, a strictly nocturnal species, decreased activity under moonlight with no interactive effects of vegetation cover. C. russula showed no activity change with moonlight levels and M. spretus increased activity, although activity in both species was mostly determined by vegetation cover, that favored it. The effects of moonlight on small mammal activity were not homogeneous among species, nor were the interactive effects of man-made gradients of habitat structure, a fact that will produce community changes along vegetation gradients mediated by varying fear landscapes.
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Ungulate presence and predation risks reduce acorn predation by mice in dehesas. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0260419. [PMID: 35969588 PMCID: PMC9377575 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Foraging decisions by rodents are key for the long-term maintenance of oak populations in which avian seed dispersers are absent or inefficient. Decisions are determined by the environmental setting in which acorn-rodent encounters occur. In particular, seed value, competition and predation risks have been found to modify rodent foraging decisions in forest and human-modified habitats. Nonetheless, there is little information about their joint effects on rodent behavior, and hence, local acorn dispersal (or predation). In this work, we manipulate and model the mouse-oak interaction in a Spanish dehesa, an anthropogenic savanna system in which nearby areas can show contrasting levels of ungulate densities and antipredatory cover. First, we conducted a large-scale cafeteria field experiment, where we modified ungulate presence and predation risk, and followed mouse foraging decisions under contrasting levels of moonlight and acorn availability. Then, we estimated the net effects of competition and risk by means of a transition probability model that simulated mouse foraging decisions. Our results show that mice are able to adapt their foraging decisions to the environmental context, affecting initial fates of handled acorns. Under high predation risks mice foraged opportunistically carrying away large and small seeds, whereas under safe conditions large acorns tended to be predated in situ. In addition, in the presence of ungulates lack of antipredatory cover around trees reduced mice activity outside tree canopies, and hence, large acorns had a higher probability of survival. Overall, our results point out that inter-specific interactions preventing efficient foraging by scatter-hoarders can reduce acorn predation. This suggests that the maintenance of the full set of seed consumers as well as top predators in dehesas may be key for promoting local dispersal.
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Mesocarnivore Distribution along Gradients of Anthropogenic Disturbance in Mediterranean Landscapes. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d14020133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Wildfires are important sources of landscape change in Mediterranean environments, creating large patches of low-growth natural habitats (i.e., scrublands) inside protected areas, whereas woodland patches remain mostly near well protected human settlements. Landscape patterns resulting from these gradients influence habitat suitability for mesocarnivores regarding food and shelter. In winter and summer 2019, we sampled 16 independent line-transects with four camera traps each (64 cameras overall), covering the main habitats of the study area (woodlands, scrublands, and crops). Cameras were baited to compensate for the low detectability of target species, and mesocarnivore contacts were analysed by means of GLMMs and occupancy models. Our results showed a positive and stronger association of wild species with woodland habitats, despite the low proportion of habitat available, higher presence of competitors (other mesocarnivores), and potential predators (human pets, i.e., dogs), and low natural prey availability than in scrubland (i.e., small mammals). However, mesocarnivores will find protection against predators and resting sites in forests as well as other food opportunities in crops and urban areas, despite the possible interference with humans and their pets. Potential cascading effects linked to ecological roles of Mediterranean mesocarnivores on the succession of Mediterranean landscapes would imply longer-term effects of human disturbance on landscape trends.
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Godó L, Valkó O, Borza S, Deák B. A global review on the role of small rodents and lagomorphs (clade Glires) in seed dispersal and plant establishment. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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Yadok BG, Pech R, Chapman H. Perception of predation risk by African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys sp. nov) is higher in forest-edge microhabitats. Behav Processes 2019; 168:103953. [PMID: 31493493 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Revised: 08/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
How rodents perceive predation risk may alter their seed foraging behaviour and therefore potentially influence the recruitment of tree species. In this study we used two methods to investigate the effect of predation risk on habitat use by the African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys sp. nov) in Ngel Nyaki forest reserve, Nigeria. The first method was 'giving up density' (GUD), an index of perceived risk of predation at an artificial food patch, and the second was the 'spool-and-line' approach, whereby unravelling spools attached to rodent bodies are used to trace their tracks. For our GUD experiment, we chose four major sites in the forest; two representative of core habitat and two at the forest edge. Additionally, three characteristic microsites were used in the GUD experiment: dense understory, open understory and near-burrows. We hypothesised that GUDs would be lower on every succeeding observation day as rats learn to use the food patches, higher GUDs would be observed in the forest edges and open microsites, and rats would show preference for the microhabitats with least exposure to potential predators. In support of our first hypothesis, we found that GUDs were highest on the first experimental nights of every session. We also found that GUDs in the forest edges were higher than GUDs in the forest core. Lower GUDs were observed close to the rat burrows and in dense understory microsites, even though these differences were not statistically significant. Tracking of rat movements using the spool-and-line method overall revealed an even use across microhabitats, with a weak preference for those with logs, dense understory or exposed ground. Overall, our results suggest that vegetation density on a microhabitat scale has little or no effect on the perception of predation risk by African giant pouched rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biplang G Yadok
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, PB 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand; Nigerian Montane Forest Project, Yelwa village, Taraba State, Nigeria.
| | - Roger Pech
- Landcare Research, Lincoln, P. O. Box 69040, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Hazel Chapman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, PB 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand; Nigerian Montane Forest Project, Yelwa village, Taraba State, Nigeria
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Hernández M, Navarro-Castilla Á, Piñeiro A, Barja I. Wood mice aggressiveness and flight response to human handling: Effect of individual and environmental factors. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ana Piñeiro
- Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria; Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida; Universidad Andres Bello; Santiago de Chile Chile
| | - Isabel Barja
- Departamento de Biología; Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Madrid Spain
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Pesendorfer MB, Koenig WD. Does aggression avoidance drive oak tree attendance by corvid scatter-hoarders? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2498-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Navarro-Castilla Á, Barja I, Díaz M. Foraging, feeding, and physiological stress responses of wild wood mice to increased illumination and common genet cues. Curr Zool 2017; 64:409-417. [PMID: 30108622 PMCID: PMC6084594 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In nature, animals are exposed to a broad range of threats imposed by predators, which may strongly influence the ecology of prey species directly or indirectly by affecting their behavior via fear of predation. Here, we studied wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus behavioral and physiological responses to simulated predation risk. Risk avoidance was analyzed by live trapping with control traps and traps treated with feces of common genet Genetta genetta (direct cue of risk) under new moon nights and following by simulated full moon conditions (indirect cue). The time devoted to foraging behavior and capture time were analyzed by video recording mice activity around traps. Food intake was calculated based on the amount of bait remaining in each trap. Fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs) were measured by enzyme-immunoassay as indicators of physiological stress responses. Fewer wood mice were captured during full moon, yet only non-breeding adult males clearly avoided common genet odor. Mice were captured sooner at night during the simulated full moon conditions and later in predator-treated traps. Foraging activity was lower when individuals faced predator’s feces, but neither food intake nor FCM levels were affected by predation risk cues. Direct and indirect cues of predation risk selectively affected wood mice behavior, although behavioral responses seem to be modulated by different costs–benefit balances related to the individual’s perception of risk. The lack of physiological responses to predation risk cues suggests that wood mice did not perceive them as reliable stressors or the response was too small or transient to be measured by FCM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Álvaro Navarro-Castilla
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Darwin 2, Campus Universitario de Cantolanco, Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Barja
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Darwin 2, Campus Universitario de Cantolanco, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mario Díaz
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
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