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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 15, 2025

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

Published on: March 21, 2025

Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation.

Benoît Pichon¹, Sonia Kéfi^1,2, Isabelle Gounand³

¹ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.

Global Change Biology

|July 14, 2025

Summary

Herbivores significantly alter dryland vegetation patterns, creating larger, clustered patches unlike arid conditions. This research reveals how grazing, driven by herbivore feeding habits and plant traits, impacts ecosystem structure and resilience.

Keywords:

associative protection browsing and grazing drylands facilitation grazing plant size resilience spatial patterns

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Last Updated: Sep 15, 2025

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Published on: March 21, 2025

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Published on: September 12, 2017

Area of Science:

Ecology
Environmental Science
Plant Ecology

Background:

Drylands exhibit a two-phase spatial structure of vegetation and bare soil, influencing ecosystem function.
Global change drivers like aridity affect dryland vegetation patterns, but herbivore impacts, feeding habits, and mediating plant traits remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of herbivores on dryland vegetation spatial structure.
To differentiate herbivore impacts from climatic gradients and understand trait-mediated responses.

Main Methods:

Coupled spatial vegetation pattern analysis of ecosystem images with field data on plant size distribution and life forms.
Analyzed data from 326 plots across 25 countries and six continents.
Utilized model simulations incorporating positive plant interactions.

Main Results:

Herbivore effects on vegetation spatial structure were opposite to aridity effects.
Grazed areas showed vegetation clustered into larger patches, skewing the patch-size distribution.
Effects varied between browsing and grazing herbivores, with grazing reducing plant size, increasing shrub density, and promoting interspecific facilitation.

Conclusions:

Herbivores significantly shape dryland ecosystem-level spatial patterns through species-level mechanisms.
Understanding herbivory's role is crucial for dryland resilience under changing environmental conditions.