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首页> 外文期刊>The Rangeland Journal >Grass height is the determinant of sheep grazing effects on small mammals in a savanna ecosystem
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Grass height is the determinant of sheep grazing effects on small mammals in a savanna ecosystem

机译：草高是绵羊对稀树草原生态系统中小型哺乳动物放牧影响的决定因素

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Small mammals play an important role in many ecosystems; hence, the factors that influence their community structure are of interest. Ungulate grazing is one such factor, and this study focussed on the effect of sheep (Ovis aries) grazing in a savanna ecosystem on small-mammal community structure. In a landscape-scale assessment, small-mammal community structure was compared at three different levels of grazing on a sheep farm in the Sub-Escarpment Savanna of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. In total, 97 small-mammal individuals across seven species were trapped. Of these individuals, 81.4% were trapped on the no-grazing control, whereas 15.5% and 3.1% were trapped on the medium- and high-grazing treatments, respectively. The results showed that the only significant differences in abundance, diversity, evenness, and richness of small mammals among grazing treatments were those mediated by the effect of grazing on grass height. It is proposed that the reduction in grass height associated with grazing is the primary mechanism by which sheep adversely affect small mammals in this ecosystem. This could be explained by the increased exposure of small mammals to predators after grazing of grass by sheep, and food competition between sheep and small mammals. The data also suggest that small mammals may persist in small and isolated patches of suitable habitat (long grass) within heavily grazed pastures subjected to rotational grazing. In the broader context of community ecology, this study sheds light on cryptic and dynamic interactions between two quite different grazing guilds. Experimental work of this kind may help to determine the role of introduced sheep in biodiversity loss of small mammals across the globe.
机译：小型哺乳动物在许多生态系统中都起着重要作用。因此，影响其社区结构的因素很有趣。无节制放牧就是这样的一个因素，本研究集中在稀树草原生态系统中放牧绵羊（Ovis aries）对小哺乳动物群落结构的影响。在景观规模评估中，比较了南非东开普省次悬崖热带稀树草原的一个绵羊农场在三个不同放牧水平下的小哺乳动物群落结构。总共捕获了七个物种的97个小哺乳动物个体。在这些个体中，有81.4％的人被困在非放牧的对照上，而分别有15.5％和3.1％的人被困在中度和高放牧的处理中。结果表明，放牧处理之间小型哺乳动物的丰度，多样性，均匀性和丰富性的唯一显着差异是放牧对草高的影响。有人提出，与放牧有关的草高降低是绵羊对该生态系统中的小型哺乳动物产生不利影响的主要机制。这可以解释为绵羊放牧草后小型哺乳动物与捕食者的接触增加，以及绵羊与小型哺乳动物之间的食物竞争。数据还表明，小型哺乳动物可能会在经过轮牧的重度放牧的草场中，在适宜的栖息地（长草）的较小且孤立的小片中生存。在更广泛的社区生态学背景下，这项研究揭示了两个完全不同的放牧行会之间的神秘和动态的相互作用。此类实验工作可能有助于确定引入的绵羊在全球小型哺乳动物生物多样性丧失中的作用。

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