Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X1, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa. School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, 2050, South Africa.
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, 2050, South Africa.
Science. 2015 Nov 27;350(6264):1056-61. doi: 10.1126/science.aac7978.
Megafaunal extinctions and a lack of suitable remote sensing technology impede our understanding of both the ecological legacy and current impacts of large mammal herbivores in the Earth system. To address this, we reconstructed the form and intensity of herbivory pressure across sub-Saharan Africa ~1000 years ago. Specifically, we modeled and mapped species-level biomass for 92 large mammal herbivores using census data, species distributions, and environmental covariates. Trait-based classifications of these species into herbivore functional types, and analyses of their biomass surfaces, reveal four ecologically distinct continental-scale herbivory regimes, characterized by internally similar forms and intensities of herbivory pressure. Associations between herbivory regimes, fire prevalence, soil nutrient status, and rainfall provide important insights into African ecology and pave the way for integrating herbivores into global-scale studies.
巨型动物灭绝和缺乏合适的遥感技术阻碍了我们对大型食草动物在地球系统中的生态遗产和当前影响的理解。为了解决这个问题，我们重建了大约 1000 年前撒哈拉以南非洲的食草压力的形式和强度。具体来说，我们使用普查数据、物种分布和环境协变量，对 92 种大型食草动物的物种水平生物量进行了建模和制图。根据这些物种的特征，将它们分为食草动物功能类型，并对它们的生物量表面进行分析，揭示了四个在大陆尺度上具有明显生态差异的食草压力区系，其特点是内部相似的食草压力形式和强度。食草压力区系与火灾发生率、土壤养分状况和降雨量之间的关系为非洲生态学提供了重要的见解，并为将食草动物纳入全球尺度的研究铺平了道路。
