Introduced goats reduce diversity and biomass of herbs in <i>Caatinga</i> dry forest
Tatiane Menezes, Rodrigo Felipe Rodrigues do Carmo, Rainer Wirth, Inara R. Leal, Marcelo Tabarelli, André Laurênio, Felipe P. L. Melo
Abstract
Abstract Herbivores are considered important drivers of vegetation shifts in rangelands worldwide. In the Brazilian Caating a years in 16 paired exclosure versus free‐access plots. Exclosure of goats caused a small but significant increase in the species diversity and above‐ground biomass of herbs that varied strongly with time. Taxonomic dissimilarity between exclosure and free‐access was small and due to the turnover of a few species, however, tended to increase with time. Environmental co‐variables, such as rainfall, forest cover, and grazing pressure were also important and have varying effects on herbaceous communities, adding complexity to the processes of species assembly of Caatinga rangelands. Management of grazed ecosystems must take into account that goats can shift plant species composition and diversity with potential cascading effects on ecosystem functions.