Abstract
Large mammalian herbivores occupy half of the earth's land surface and are important both ecologically and economically1, but their diversity is threatened by human activities2. We investigated how the diversity of large herbivores changes across gradients of global precipitation and soil fertility. Here we show that more plant-available moisture reduces the nutrient content of plants but increases productivity, whereas more plant-available nutrients increase both of these factors. Because larger herbivore species tolerate lower plant nutrient content but require greater plant abundance, the highest potential herbivore diversity should occur in locations with intermediate moisture and high nutrients. These areas are dry enough to yield high quality plants and support smaller herbivores, but productive enough to support larger herbivores. These predictions fit with observed patterns of body size and diversity for large mammalian herbivores in North America, Africa and Australia, and yield a global map of regions with potentially high herbivore diversity. Thus, gradients of precipitation, temperature and soil fertility might explain the global distribution of large herbivore diversity and help to identify crucial areas for conservation and restoration.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Owen-Smith, N. Megaherbivores. The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1988).
Prins, H. H. T. The pastoral road to extinction: Competition between wildlife and traditional pastoralism in East Africa. Environ. Conserv. 19, 117–123 (1992).
Bell, R. H. V. in Ecology of Tropical Savannas (eds Huntly, B. J. & Walker, B. H.) 193–216 (Springer, Berlin, 1982).
East, R. Rainfall, nutrient status and biomass of large African savannah mammals. Afr. J. Ecol. 22, 245–270 (1984).
McNaughton, S. J., Oesterheld, M., Frank, D. A. & Williams, K. J. Ecosystem-level patterns of primary productivity and herbivory in terrestrial habitats. Nature 341, 142–144 (1989).
Coe, M. in Nitrogen as an Ecological Factor (eds Lee, J. A., McNeill, J. & Rorison, I. H.) 345–368 (Oxford, Blackwell, 1983).
Du Toit, J. T. & Owen-Smith, N. Body size, population metabolism and habitat specialization among large African herbivores. Am. Nat. 133, 736–740 (1989).
Belovsky, G. E. Optimal foraging and community structure: The allometry of herbivore food selection and competition. Evol. Ecol. 11, 641–672 (1997).
Western, D. & Ssemakula, J. The future of savanna ecosystems: ecological islands or faunal enclaves? Afr. J. Ecol. 19, 7–19 (1981).
Huston, M. A. Biological Diversity. The Coexistence of Species on Changing Landscapes (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1994).
Danell, K. L. P. & Niemela, P. Species richness in mammalian herbivores: patterns in the boreal zone. Ecography 19, 404–409 (1996).
Rosenzweig, M. L. Species Diversity in Space and Time (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1995).
Prins, H. H. T. & Olff, H. in Dynamics of Tropical Communities (eds Newbery, D., Prins, H. H. T. & Brown, G.) 449–489 (Blackwell Science, Oxford, 1998).
Walker, B. H. & Langridge, J. L. Predicting savanna vegetation structure on the basis of plant available moisture (PAM) and plant available nutrients (PAN): A case study from Australia. J. Biogeogr. 24, 813–825 (1997).
Breman, H. & De Wit, C. T. Rangeland productivity and exploitation in the Sahel. Science 221, 1341–1347 (1983).
Breman, H. & Krul, J. M. in La Productivité de Pâturages Sahéliens. Une Etude des Sols, des Végétations et de l'Explotation de cette Ressource Naturelle (eds Penning de Vries, F. W. T. & Djiteye, M. A.) 322–345 (Pudoc, Wageningen, 1991).
Milchunas, D. G., Varnamkhasti, A. S., Lauenroth, W. K. & Goetz, H. Forage quality in relation to long-term grazing history, current-year defoliation, and water resource. Oecologia 101, 366–374 (1995).
Jarman, P. J. The social organization of antelope in relation to their ecology. Behaviour 48, 215–267 (1974).
Van Soest, P. J. Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant: Ruminant Metabolism, Nutritional Strategies, the Cellulolytic Fermentation and the Chemistry of Forages and Plant Fibres (O & B Books, Corvallis, 1982).
Belovsky, G. E. Generalist herbivore foraging and its role in competitive interactions. Am. Zool. 26, 51–69 (1986).
Owen-Smith, N. Pleistocene extinctions: The pivotal role of megaherbivores. Paleobiology 13, 351–362 (1987).
Eisenberg, J. F. The Mammalian Radiations. An Analysis of Trends in Evolution, Adaptation, and Behaviour (Athlone, London, 1981).
Huston, M. A. Biological diversity, soils and economics. Science 262, 1676–1680 (1993).
Myers, N., Mittelmeier, R. A., Mittelmeier, C. G., da Fonseca, G. A. B. & Kent, J. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403, 853–858 (2000).
Alcamo, J. et al. Modeling the global society-biosphere-climate system: Part 2. Computed scenarios. Water Air Soil Poll. 76, 37–78 (1994).
Murray, M. G. in Serengeti II. Dynamics, Management and Conservation of an Ecosystem (eds Sinclair, A. R. E. & Arcese, P.) 231–256 (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995).
Kinyamario, J. I. & Macharia, J.-N. M. Aboveground standing crop, protein content and dry matter digestibility of a tropical grassland range in the Nairobi National Park, Kenya. Afr. J. Ecol. 30, 33–41 (1992).
Prins, H. H. T. Ecology and Behaviour of the African Buffalo. Social Inequality and Decision Making (Chapman & Hall, London, 1996).
van Wijngaarden, W. Elephants–Trees–Grass–Grazers, relationships between climate, soils, vegetation and large herbivores in a semi-arid savanna ecosystem (Tsavo, Kenya). (ITC Publication no. 4, Enschede, 1985).
Voeten, M. M. Living with wildlife. Coexistence of wildlife and livestock in an East African savanna ecosystem. Tropical Resource Management Papers no. 29 (Wageningen Univ., Wageningen, 1999).
Acknowledgements
We thank E. S. Bakker, J. P. Bakker, W. J. Bond, F. S. Chapin III, G. E. Belovsky, S. J. McNaughton, D. Milchunas, N. Owen-Smith, F. J. Weissing and D. Tilman for comments; M. A. Huston for soil fertility data; and R. Leemans for temperature and rainfall data. Financial support was provided by the Dutch NWO (WOTRO and ALW), Wageningen University, the NSF, the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Utah State University Ecology Center.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olff, H., Ritchie, M. & Prins, H. Global environmental controls of diversity in large herbivores. Nature 415, 901–904 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415901a
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/415901a
This article is cited by
-
Influence of rangeland protection and seasonal grazing on aboveground vegetation, forage quality and weight gain of small ruminants — a study in Thar Desert, Pakistan
Journal of Mountain Science (2023)
-
Increased summer temperature is associated with reduced calf mass of a circumpolar large mammal through direct thermoregulatory and indirect, food quality, pathways
Oecologia (2023)
-
Effect of local climate anomalies on giraffe survival
Biodiversity and Conservation (2023)
-
Determinants of livestock species ownership at household level: Evidence from rural OR Tambo District Municipality, South Africa
Pastoralism (2022)
-
Seasonal pattern of food habits of large herbivores in riverine alluvial grasslands of Brahmaputra floodplains, Assam
Scientific Reports (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.