{"title":"Rewilding giant tortoises engineers plant communities at local to landscape scales","authors":"Washington Tapia Aguilera, James P. Gibbs","doi":"10.1111/conl.12968","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Trophic rewilding is increasingly being used to promote megafauna reintroductions to island ecosystems, yet ecosystem response to population restoration once megafauna reintroduction occurs remains understudied. In this study of a population of Galapagos giant tortoises reintroduced to an arid island, tortoise exclosures monitored over an 8-year-long period revealed that, in response to the presence of tortoises, herbaceous plant cover and numbers of regenerating woody plants decreased, whereas extent of grass cover increased. Vegetation mapping over a 15-year-long period across the island indicated a threshold density of 1–2 tortoises per hectare halted incursion of woody plants and triggered a shift in this savannah-type ecosystem toward more grasses. Restoration of this giant tortoise population has shaped plant communities at both local and landscape scales with cascading effects on many components of biodiversity on the island.</p>","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":"16 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/conl.12968","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Conservation Letters","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12968","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Trophic rewilding is increasingly being used to promote megafauna reintroductions to island ecosystems, yet ecosystem response to population restoration once megafauna reintroduction occurs remains understudied. In this study of a population of Galapagos giant tortoises reintroduced to an arid island, tortoise exclosures monitored over an 8-year-long period revealed that, in response to the presence of tortoises, herbaceous plant cover and numbers of regenerating woody plants decreased, whereas extent of grass cover increased. Vegetation mapping over a 15-year-long period across the island indicated a threshold density of 1–2 tortoises per hectare halted incursion of woody plants and triggered a shift in this savannah-type ecosystem toward more grasses. Restoration of this giant tortoise population has shaped plant communities at both local and landscape scales with cascading effects on many components of biodiversity on the island.
期刊介绍：
Conservation Letters is a reputable scientific journal that is devoted to the publication of both empirical and theoretical research that has important implications for the conservation of biological diversity. The journal warmly invites submissions from various disciplines within the biological and social sciences, with a particular interest in interdisciplinary work. The primary aim is to advance both pragmatic conservation objectives and scientific knowledge. Manuscripts are subject to a rapid communication schedule, therefore they should address current and relevant topics. Research articles should effectively communicate the significance of their findings in relation to conservation policy and practice.
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