Positive impacts of livestock and wild ungulate routes on functioning of dryland ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Livestock grazing is often perceived as being detrimental to the quality and functioning of dryland ecosystems. For example, a study in a semiarid Kenyan savanna proposed that cattle form bare spaces throughout the landscape, which indicate ecosystem degradation. Other studies, conducted in north-eastern Spain, where climatic conditions range between semiarid and Mediterranean subhumid, reported that sheep and goat trails have increased the emergence of rill erosion processes. Sometimes, this negative perception is extended to include wild, large ungulate herbivores as well. Here, we challenge this perception by highlighting the generally nonadverse and even ameliorative impacts of moderate animal rate on geoecosystem functioning of hilly drylands. Specifically, trampling routes (also know

SUBMITTER: Stavi I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8525128 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature