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Grazing effects on species richness depends on scale: a 5-year study in Tenerife pastures (Canary Islands)

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Abstract

The effect of herbivores on species richness is important for the conservation of protected areas under grazing management but research findings on this are far from consistent. The main objective of this study is to analyze how the cessation of grazing by goats affects the diversity parameters at different scales over a 5-year period. The study was conducted in the Teno Rural Park in the northwest corner of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The studied areas have been grazed by livestock since the beginning of the 16th century and currently are used by local farmers, mainly for extensive goat production. In these areas we selected four blocks and in each block four 100 m2 plots were established, two excluded from grazing (located in 12 × 12 m2 exclosures) and two control plots. The analyses showed an accumulation of species in the control plots significantly higher than in exclosure plots at small scales. Power function parameters such as c and z only showed differences in function for the sampling year and not for the treatment. Although the results showed an increase in species richness due to grazing, this is very small. However, negative effects in native species richness are not detected, so we suggest the promotion of goat grazing as a way to maintain land use, cultural values, and species richness in these pastures.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the University of La Laguna (through the ULL-Research Support Program) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project CGL2006-06471 and FPU scholarship for Silvia Fernández Lugo) for their financial support. The authors also thank the fine staff of the Teno Rural Park, Concejalía de Cultura y Medio Ambiente del Ayuntamiento de Buenavista and Cabildo de Tenerife for the use of their facilities and support of the project. We are grateful to the students of the Ecology Department (University of La Laguna) for their help in the fieldwork. We thank Keith McDougall and Alessandro Chiarucci for their comments and edition of this manuscript. We thank Heather Adams for the support of translating this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, 38206, Spain

    S. Fernández-Lugo, L. de Nascimento & J. R. Arévalo

  2. Departamento de Nutrición Animal, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, 25315, Mexico

    M. Mellado

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  1. S. Fernández-Lugo
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  2. L. de Nascimento
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  3. M. Mellado
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  4. J. R. Arévalo
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Correspondence to J. R. Arévalo.

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Fernández-Lugo, S., de Nascimento, L., Mellado, M. et al. Grazing effects on species richness depends on scale: a 5-year study in Tenerife pastures (Canary Islands). Plant Ecol 212, 423–432 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-010-9834-6

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