Continuous presence of proto-cereals in Anatolia since 2.3 Ma, and their possible co-evolution with large herbivores and hominins

AbstractCereals are a central resource for the human diet and are traditionally assumed to have evolved from wild grasses at the onset of the Neolithic under the pressure of agriculture. Here we demonstrate that cereals may have a significantly longer and more diverse lineage, based on the study of a 0–2.3 Ma, 601 m long sedimentary core from Lake Acıgöl (South-West Anatolia). Pollen characteristic of cereals is abundant throughout the sedimentary sequence. The presence of large lakes within this arid bioclimatic zone led to the concentration of large herbivore herds, as indicated by the continuous occurrence of coprophilous fungi spores in the record. Our hypothesis is that the effects of overgrazing on soils and herbaceous stratum, during this long period, led to genetic modifications of the Poaceae taxa and to the appearance of proto-cereals. The simultaneous presence of hominins is attested as early as about 1.4 Ma in the lake vicinity, and 1.8 Ma in Georgia and Levant. These ancient hominins probably benefited from the availability of these proto-cereals, rich in nutrients, as well as various other edible plants, opening the way, in this region of the Middle East, to a process of domestication, which reached its full development during the Neolithic.

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Population structure, density and biomass of large herbivores in the tropical forests of Nagarahole, India

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467400006040 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 8 (01) ◽

pp. 21-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 125

Author(s):

K. Ullas Karanth ◽

Melvin E. Sunquist

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Tropical Forests ◽

Primate Species ◽

Line Transect ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Transect Sampling ◽

Structure Density ◽

Density And Biomass ◽

Turn Over

ABSTRACTWe studied the population structure, density and biomass of seven ungulate and two primate species in the tropical forests of Nagarahole, southern India, using line transect sampling and roadside/platform counts, during 1986–87. The estimated ecological densities of large herbivore species in the study area are: 4.2 muntjac km−2, 50.6 chital km−2, 5.5 sambar km−2, 0.8 four-horned antelope km−2, 9.6 gaur km−2, 4.2 wild pig km−2, 3.3 elephant km−2, 23.8 hanuman langur km−2and 0.6 bonnet macaque km−2. Most ungulates have female-biased adult sex ratios. Among common ungulate species, yearlings and young of the year comprise about a third of the population, suggesting relatively high turn-over rates. Three species (muntjac, sambar and four-horned antelope) are solitary, while others form groups. The study area supports a wild herbivore biomass density of 14,744 kg km−2. Among the three habitat types within the study area, biomass is lower in dry deciduous forests when compared with moist deciduous or teak plantation dominant forests. Using our results, we have examined the factors that may contribute towards maintenance of high ungulate biomass in tropical forests.

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Large herbivores suppress liana infestation in an African savanna

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2101676118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (41) ◽

pp. e2101676118

Author(s):

Tyler C. Coverdale ◽

Ryan D. O’Connell ◽

Matthew C. Hutchinson ◽

Amanda Savagian ◽

Tyler R. Kartzinel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stable State ◽

Life Forms ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Alternative Stable State ◽

African Savanna ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Woody Vines ◽

Plant Life Forms ◽

Canopy Area

African savannas are the last stronghold of diverse large-mammal communities, and a major focus of savanna ecology is to understand how these animals affect the relative abundance of trees and grasses. However, savannas support diverse plant life-forms, and human-induced changes in large-herbivore assemblages—declining wildlife populations and their displacement by livestock—may cause unexpected shifts in plant community composition. We investigated how herbivory affects the prevalence of lianas (woody vines) and their impact on trees in an East African savanna. Although scarce (<2% of tree canopy area) and defended by toxic latex, the dominant liana, Cynanchum viminale (Apocynaceae), was eaten by 15 wild large-herbivore species and was consumed in bulk by native browsers during experimental cafeteria trials. In contrast, domesticated ungulates rarely ate lianas. When we experimentally excluded all large herbivores for periods of 8 to 17 y (simulating extirpation), liana abundance increased dramatically, with up to 75% of trees infested. Piecewise exclusion of different-sized herbivores revealed functional complementarity among size classes in suppressing lianas. Liana infestation reduced tree growth and reproduction, but herbivores quickly cleared lianas from trees after the removal of 18-y-old exclosure fences (simulating rewilding). A simple model of liana contagion showed that, without herbivores, the long-term equilibrium could be either endemic (liana–tree coexistence) or an all-liana alternative stable state. We conclude that ongoing declines of wild large-herbivore populations will disrupt the structure and functioning of many African savannas in ways that have received little attention and that may not be mitigated by replacing wildlife with livestock.

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Rewilding

Ecology ◽

10.1093/obo/9780199830060-0211 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Meredith Root-Bernstein

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Large Species ◽

Large Carnivores ◽

Apex Predators ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

True Nature ◽

The Public ◽

Wide Range

Rewilding is an increasingly recognized approach to conservation and restoration, among academics, land managers, and the public. Although a number of different definitions have been proposed for rewilding (see Definitions of Rewilding), most approaches called “rewilding” include ideas about restoring a habitat to a less-anthropogenic state, restoring ecological processes and allowing them to take their own course without managing for a target ecosystem condition and (re)-introducing missing (usually large) species as a way to restore those ecological processes. Conceptualizations of rewilding and actual rewilding projects draw on a wide range of cultural and ecological ideas and practical knowledge, which are detailed in this article. Several organizations now represent rewilding interests to policymakers and the public and set up or facilitate rewilding initiatives in Europe and the Americas. Much of their philosophies, practice, data, and outcomes are not published. The Wildland Research Institute is an influential source of research on wilderness mapping, rewilding, restoration, and policy analysis in Europe. The European Centre for Nature Conservation (ECNC) supports and facilitates the conservation of large herbivore populations and their habitats at large scales in Eurasia through its Large Herbivore Network. Rewilding Europe implements rewilding projects throughout Europe, bringing together financing for large herbivore reintroductions and luxury wilderness tourism. Their European Rewilding Network brings together rewilding-related services and knowledge exchange. Similarly, the True Nature Foundation is a European foundation that works to restore habitats, reintroduce primarily large herbivores, and create sustainable tourism in nature areas. Wild Europe seeks to promote and lobby for the protection of large, “wild” natural areas. Similarly, the European Wilderness Society is an advocacy organization that identifies and promotes the stewardship and protection of large wilderness areas. The Rewilding Foundation is an international organization promoting and working toward the conservation of large areas of habitat and corridors for large carnivores. The Wildlands Network is an American organization that similarly seeks to conserve and connect large habitat areas and reintroduce apex predators. The Rewilding Institute in the United States also promotes protecting large habitats and creating corridors for large carnivores. There are also numerous site-based rewilding projects, which largely preceded the consolidation of rewilding as a concept. Many of these, through their creative rethinking of ecological and paleo-ecological orthodoxy, have influenced the development of rewilding practice and theory.

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Risks and opportunities of trophic rewilding for arthropod communities

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2017.0441 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 373 (1761) ◽

pp. 20170441 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Roel van Klink ◽

Michiel F. WallisDeVries

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

A Priori ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Control Treatment ◽

Arthropod Communities ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Natural Processes ◽

Published Evidence ◽

Eukaryotic Organisms

Trophic rewilding is a restoration strategy focusing on the restoration of trophic interactions to promote self-regulating, biodiverse ecosystems. It has been proposed as an alternative to traditional conservation management in abandoned or defaunated areas. Arthropods constitute the most species-rich group of eukaryotic organisms, but are rarely considered in rewilding. Here, we first present an overview of direct and indirect pathways by which large herbivores and predators affect arthropod communities. We then review the published evidence of the impacts of rewilding with large herbivores on arthropods, including grey literature. We find that systematic monitoring is rare and that a comparison with a relevant control treatment is usually lacking. Nevertheless, the available data suggest that when the important process of top-down control of large-herbivore populations is missing, arthropod diversity tends to decrease. To ensure that rewilding is supportive of biodiversity conservation, we propose that if natural processes can only partially be restored, substitutes for missing processes are applied. We also propose that boundaries of acceptable outcomes of rewilding actions should be defined a priori , particularly concerning biodiversity conservation, and that action is taken when these boundaries are transgressed. To evaluate the success of rewilding for biodiversity, monitoring of arthropod communities should be a key instrument. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Trophic rewilding: consequences for ecosystems under global change’.

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Historical changes in land use influence current habitat preferences of large herbivores

Landscape Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10980-019-00899-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (10) ◽

pp. 2251-2259 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kajetan Perzanowski ◽

Maciej Januszczak ◽

Rafał Łopucki

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Field Research ◽

Study Data ◽

European Bison ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Historical Changes ◽

Effective Factor

Abstract Context Predicting habitat use patterns is a key issue in the management of large herbivore populations. Particularly, indicators providing a model of the spatial distribution of a population in a simple way, without the necessity of laborious field research, are still being sought. Analysis of historical landscape changes can be one of such predictive tools. Objectives We tested the hypothesis that historical changes in land use can be used as an effective factor enabling prediction of spatial distribution. As a case study, data on habitat preferences of European bison Bison bonasus (wisents) were used. Methods Spatial distribution of 17302 records of the presence of wisents, collected over the period of 10 years, was compared using contemporary and historical habitat maps for the Bieszczady Mts. (Poland). The area of approx. 87 thousand ha was selected, where the density of human population decreased over four times, and the percentage of forests increased from over 30% to almost 80% due to land abandonment. Results Wisents were recorded significantly more frequently in parts of the forest that in the past were used for agriculture. We found that identification of parts of the forest overgrowing former cultivated fields makes it possible to predict the spatial distribution of wisent herds with very high probability. Conclusions Information on historical changes in land use can be used as a simple and effective factor enabling prediction of habitat selection by wisents. Such an approach can potentially be useful for similar assessments of other large wild herbivores.

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Varied diets, including broadleaved forage, are important for a large herbivore species inhabiting highly modified landscapes

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-58673-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Annika M. Felton ◽

Emma Holmström ◽

Jonas Malmsten ◽

Adam Felton ◽

Joris P. G. M. Cromsigt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Availability ◽

Diet Composition ◽

Nutritional Composition ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Winter Diet ◽

Varied Diet ◽

Survival And Reproduction ◽

Herbivore Species ◽

Free Ranging

AbstractDiet quality is an important determinant of animal survival and reproduction, and can be described as the combination of different food items ingested, and their nutritional composition. For large herbivores, human landscape modifications to vegetation can limit such diet-mixing opportunities. Here we use southern Sweden’s modified landscapes to assess winter diet mixtures (as an indicator of quality) and food availability as drivers of body mass (BM) variation in wild moose (Alces alces). We identify plant species found in the rumen of 323 moose harvested in Oct-Feb, and link variation in average calf BM among populations to diets and food availability. Our results show that variation in calf BM correlates with variation in diet composition, diversity, and food availability. A varied diet relatively rich in broadleaves was associated with higher calf BM than a less variable diet dominated by conifers. A diet high in shrubs and sugar/starch rich agricultural crops was associated with intermediate BM. The proportion of young production forest (0–15 yrs) in the landscape, an indicator of food availability, significantly accounted for variation in calf BM. Our findings emphasize the importance of not only diet composition and forage quantity, but also variability in the diets of large free-ranging herbivores.

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Dietary changes of large herbivores in the Turkana Basin, Kenya from 4 to 1 Ma

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1513075112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 112 (37) ◽

pp. 11467-11472 ◽

Cited By ~ 109

Author(s):

Thure E. Cerling ◽

Samuel A. Andanje ◽

Scott A. Blumenthal ◽

Francis H. Brown ◽

Kendra L. Chritz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fossil Record ◽

Central Africa ◽

Mixed Feeding ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Dietary Changes ◽

Turkana Basin ◽

Faunal Assemblages ◽

The Past ◽

Collection Sites

A large stable isotope dataset from East and Central Africa from ca. 30 regional collection sites that range from forest to grassland shows that most extant East and Central African large herbivore taxa have diets dominated by C4 grazing or C3 browsing. Comparison with the fossil record shows that faunal assemblages from ca. 4.1–2.35 Ma in the Turkana Basin had a greater diversity of C3–C4 mixed feeding taxa than is presently found in modern East and Central African environments. In contrast, the period from 2.35 to 1.0 Ma had more C4-grazing taxa, especially nonruminant C4-grazing taxa, than are found in modern environments in East and Central Africa. Many nonbovid C4 grazers became extinct in Africa, notably the suid Notochoerus, the hipparion equid Eurygnathohippus, the giraffid Sivatherium, and the elephantid Elephas. Other important nonruminant C4-grazing taxa switched to browsing, including suids in the lineage Kolpochoerus-Hylochoerus and the elephant Loxodonta. Many modern herbivore taxa in Africa have diets that differ significantly from their fossil relatives. Elephants and tragelaphin bovids are two groups often used for paleoecological insight, yet their fossil diets were very different from their modern closest relatives; therefore, their taxonomic presence in a fossil assemblage does not indicate they had a similar ecological function in the past as they do at present. Overall, we find ecological assemblages of C3-browsing, C3–C4-mixed feeding, and C4-grazing taxa in the Turkana Basin fossil record that are different from any modern ecosystem in East or Central Africa.

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Combining paleo-data and modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of megafauna extinctions on woody vegetation

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1502545112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 113 (4) ◽

pp. 847-855 ◽

Cited By ~ 127

Author(s):

Elisabeth S. Bakker ◽

Jacquelyn L. Gill ◽

Christopher N. Johnson ◽

Frans W. M. Vera ◽

Christopher J. Sandom ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Landscape Structure ◽

Woody Plants ◽

Large Scale ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

Ecosystem Structure ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

The Impact ◽

Quaternary Extinctions

Until recently in Earth history, very large herbivores (mammoths, ground sloths, diprotodons, and many others) occurred in most of the World’s terrestrial ecosystems, but the majority have gone extinct as part of the late-Quaternary extinctions. How has this large-scale removal of large herbivores affected landscape structure and ecosystem functioning? In this review, we combine paleo-data with information from modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of large herbivores (and their disappearance) on woody species, landscape structure, and ecosystem functions. In modern landscapes characterized by intense herbivory, woody plants can persist by defending themselves or by association with defended species, can persist by growing in places that are physically inaccessible to herbivores, or can persist where high predator activity limits foraging by herbivores. At the landscape scale, different herbivore densities and assemblages may result in dynamic gradients in woody cover. The late-Quaternary extinctions were natural experiments in large-herbivore removal; the paleoecological record shows evidence of widespread changes in community composition and ecosystem structure and function, consistent with modern exclosure experiments. We propose a conceptual framework that describes the impact of large herbivores on woody plant abundance mediated by herbivore diversity and density, predicting that herbivore suppression of woody plants is strongest where herbivore diversity is high. We conclude that the decline of large herbivores induces major alterations in landscape structure and ecosystem functions.

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Drone Surveys Revealed Bottom-Up, And Not Top-Down, Effects On The Marsh Deer Local Abundance

10.21203/rs.3.rs-884511/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ismael Verrastro Brack ◽

Andreas Kindel ◽

Douglas Oliveira Berto ◽

José Luis Passos Cordeiro ◽

Igor Pfeifer Coelho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mixture Models ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Dry Season ◽

Relative Influence ◽

Top Down ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Bottom Up ◽

Vegetation Greenness ◽

Local Abundance

Abstract Context: Spatial variation in large herbivore populations can be highly affected by the availability of resources (bottom-up) but modulated by the presence of predators (top-down). Studying the relative influence of these forces has been a major topic of interest in ecological and conservation research, while it has also been challenging to sample large herbivores. Objective: i) Explore the use of spatiotemporally replicated drone-based counts analysed with N-mixture models to estimate abundance of large herbivores. ii) Evaluate the relative influence of bottom-up (forage and water) and top-down (jaguars) processes on the local abundance of the threatened marsh deer.Methods: We conducted spatiotemporally replicated drone flights in the dry season of Pantanal wetland (Brazil) and imagery was reviewed by either one or two observers. We fitted counts using N-mixture models (for single and double observer protocols) and modelled local abundance in relation to vegetation greenness, distance to water bodies, and jaguar density.Results: We found a positive relationship of marsh deer local abundance with vegetation greenness, a negative relationship with distance to water, but no relation with jaguar density. Individuals were concentrated in the lower and wetter region, even though it is the area expected to be more lethal from jaguar predation.Conclusions: Bottom-up processes are shaping the distribution of marsh deer in the dry season; the benefits of accessing high-quality areas outweigh predation risk from jaguars. Spatiotemporally replicated drone-based counts may serve as an accessible and cost-effective protocol for large herbivores abundance estimation and monitoring while accounting for imperfect detection.

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Herbarium specimens as tools to assess the impact of large herbivores on plant species

Botany ◽

10.1139/cjb-2016-0206 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 95 (2) ◽

pp. 153-162 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Marie-Pierre Beauvais ◽

Stéphanie Pellerin ◽

Jean Dubé ◽

Claude Lavoie

Keyword(s):

Leaf Area ◽

Plant Morphology ◽

Herbarium Specimens ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Large Herbivores ◽

Environmental Pressures ◽

Specimen Collection ◽

Data Source ◽

Rich Data ◽

The Impact

Herbarium specimens can be used to reconstruct spatiotemporal changes in plant morphology caused by environmental pressures. The reliability of herbarium-derived data requires evaluation, because specimen collection is subject to biases. We used herbarium and field data to investigate the impact of large herbivore browsing on the size of a forb. White trillium (Trillium grandiflorum (Michaux) Salisbury) was studied because the impacts of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) browsing on this species are well-known. A total of 692 herbarium specimens collected in Quebec (Canada) were used to evaluate leaf area. Leaf area values of herbarium specimens were compared with those of modern (2013, 2014) specimens collected in sites either with >8 deer per square kilometre or without deer. Flowering individuals in modern sites with deer had a significantly lower leaf area than herbarium specimens and modern specimens collected in sites without deer. The distribution of white trillium individuals in deer sites was also skewed towards plants with a smaller leaf area. Herbarium specimens may offer unique and inexpensive data, compared with methods traditionally used to assess the impacts of herbivores on plants, such as exclosures or clipping experiments. Unfortunately, this rich data source is seriously jeopardized by the downtrend in specimen collecting.

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