The large mean body size of mammalian herbivores explains the productivity paradox during the Last Glacial Maximum.

ABSTRACT: Large herbivores are a major agent in ecosystems, influencing vegetation structure, and carbon and nutrient flows. During the last glacial period, a mammoth steppe ecosystem prevailed in the unglaciated northern lands, supporting a high diversity and density of megafaunal herbivores. The apparent discrepancy between abundant megafauna and the expected low vegetation productivity under a generally harsher climate with a lower CO₂ concentration, termed the productivity paradox, requires large-scale quantitative analysis using process-based ecosystem models. However, most of the current global dynamic vegetation models (DGVMs) lack explicit representation of large herbivores. Here we incorporated a grazing module in a DGVM based on physiological and demographic equations for wild l

SUBMITTER: Zhu D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5868731 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature