Competing consumers: contrasting the patterns and impacts of fire and mammalian herbivory in Africa.

ABSTRACT: Fire and herbivory are the two consumers of above-ground biomass globally. They have contrasting impacts as they differ in terms of selectivity and temporal occurrence. Here, we integrate continental-scale data on fire and herbivory in Africa to explore (i) how environmental drivers constrain these two consumers and (ii) the degree to which each consumer affects the other. Environments conducive to mammalian herbivory are not necessarily the same as those conducive to fire, although their spheres of influence do overlap-especially in grassy ecosystems which are known for their frequent fires and abundance of large mammalian herbivores. Interactions between fire and herbivory can be competitive, facultative or antagonistic, and we explore this with reference to the potential for alternative

SUBMITTER: Archibald S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4978867 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature