Changes in land-use and climate affect the distribution and diversity of plant and animal species at different spatiotemporal scales. The extent to which species-specific phenotypic plasticity and biotic interactions mediate organismal adaptation to changing environments, however, remains poorly understood. Woody plant expansion is threatening the extent of alpine grasslands worldwide, and evaluating and predicting its effects on herbivores is of crucial importance. Here, we explore the impact of shrubification on the feeding efficiency of Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra p. pyrenaica), as well as on the three most abundant coexisting domestic ungulate species: cattle, sheep and horses. We use observational diet composition from May to October and model different scenarios of vegetation availability where shrubland and woodland proliferate at the expense of grassland. We then predicted if the four ungulate species could efficiently utilize their food landscapes with their current dietary specificities measuring their niche breath in each scenario. We observed that the wild counterpart, due to a higher trophic plasticity, is less disturbed by shrubification compared to livestock, which rely primarily on herbaceous plants and will be affected 3.6 times more. Our results suggest that mixed feeders, such as chamois, could benefit from fallow landscapes, and that mountain farmers are at a growing economic risk worldwide due to changing land-use practices and climate conditions.
1.Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Wildlife Ecol & Hlth Grp WE&H, Dept Med & Cirurgia Anim, Fac Vet, E-08193 Barcelona, Spain 2.Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Serv Ecopatol Fauna Salvatge SEFaS, Dept Med & Cirurgia Anim, Fac Vet, E-08193 Barcelona, Spain 3.Paul Sabatier Univ, Ctr Biodivers Theory & Modelling, Theoret & Expt Ecol Stn, CNRS, Moulis, France 4.Univ Cambridge, Dept Geog, Cambridge, England 5.Swiss Fed Res Inst WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland 6.Global Change Res Ctr CzechGlobe, Brno, Czech Republic 7.Masaryk Univ, Dept Geog, Fac Sci, Brno, Czech Republic 8.Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Grp Recerca Remugants, Dept Ciencia Anim & Dels Aliments, Fac Vet, Barcelona, Spain 9.Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Unitat Bot, Dept Biol Anim Biol Vegetal & Ecol, Bellaterra, Spain 10.CREAF, Cerdanyola Del Valles, Spain 11.Univ Narino, Fac Ciencias Pecuarias, Pasto, Colombia 12.Univ Autonoma Barcelona, CREAF, CSIC, Global Ecol Unit, Bellaterra, Spain 13.CREAF, Edifici Ciencies, Bellaterra Catalunya, Spain 14.Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Unitat Ecol, Dept Biol Anim Biol Vegetal & Ecol, Edifici Ciencies, Bellaterra Catalunya, Spain
Recommended Citation:
Espunyes, Johan,Lurgi, Miguel,Buntgen, Ulf,et al. Different effects of alpine woody plant expansion on domestic and wild ungulates[J]. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2019-01-01,25(5):1808-1819