Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods
Grassland ecosystems supporting wildlife and livestock populations have undergone significant transformation in the last millennium. Climate, herbivory, fire, and people are identified as important drivers of ecosystems dynamics; however, grassland resilience has been rarely explored in landscapes w...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abdf87 |
| _version_ | 1797747817547038720 |
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| author | Abraham N Dabengwa Lindsey Gillson William J Bond |
| author_facet | Abraham N Dabengwa Lindsey Gillson William J Bond |
| author_sort | Abraham N Dabengwa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Grassland ecosystems supporting wildlife and livestock populations have undergone significant transformation in the last millennium. Climate, herbivory, fire, and people are identified as important drivers of ecosystems dynamics; however, grassland resilience has been rarely explored in landscapes with mixed grazing histories. Here we analyse ecosystems states from a South African mountain valley grassland in the last 1250 years using palaeoenvironmental proxies. Our results suggest that a tallgrass phase maintained by climate, people and fire replaced a shortgrass phase driven by indigenous herbivores after ca. 690 cal BP. Furthermore, the tallgrass phase had unpalatable grasses and disturbed soil. We suggest these ecological changes were linked to climate change and arrival of pastoralists in the region. Therefore, our results indicate that human activities may undermine resilience of grasslands and that reversing some changes may be difficult. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c4cc97544ef847f4b18ceec1389c73ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-c4cc97544ef847f4b18ceec1389c73ee2023-08-09T14:54:50ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0116505500210.1088/1748-9326/abdf87Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methodsAbraham N Dabengwa0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1568-5482Lindsey Gillson1William J Bond2Plant Conservation Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa; School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg , 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South AfricaPlant Conservation Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South AfricaPlant Conservation Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South AfricaGrassland ecosystems supporting wildlife and livestock populations have undergone significant transformation in the last millennium. Climate, herbivory, fire, and people are identified as important drivers of ecosystems dynamics; however, grassland resilience has been rarely explored in landscapes with mixed grazing histories. Here we analyse ecosystems states from a South African mountain valley grassland in the last 1250 years using palaeoenvironmental proxies. Our results suggest that a tallgrass phase maintained by climate, people and fire replaced a shortgrass phase driven by indigenous herbivores after ca. 690 cal BP. Furthermore, the tallgrass phase had unpalatable grasses and disturbed soil. We suggest these ecological changes were linked to climate change and arrival of pastoralists in the region. Therefore, our results indicate that human activities may undermine resilience of grasslands and that reversing some changes may be difficult.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abdf87alternate stable statesdegradationgrasslandfireherbivoryresilience |
| spellingShingle | Abraham N Dabengwa Lindsey Gillson William J Bond Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods Environmental Research Letters alternate stable states degradation grassland fire herbivory resilience |
| title | Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods |
| title_full | Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods |
| title_fullStr | Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods |
| title_short | Resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in South Africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods |
| title_sort | resilience modes of an ancient mountain valley grassland in south africa indicated by palaeoenvironmental methods |
| topic | alternate stable states degradation grassland fire herbivory resilience |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abdf87 |
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