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The consequences of replacing wildlife with livestock in Africa.

ABSTRACT: The extirpation of native wildlife species and widespread establishment of livestock farming has dramatically distorted large mammal herbivore communities across the globe. Ecological theory suggests that these shifts in the form and the intensity of herbivory have had substantial impacts on a range of ecosystem processes, but for most ecosystems it is impossible to quantify these changes accurately. We address these challenges using species-level biomass data from sub-Saharan Africa for both present day and reconstructed historical herbivore communities. Our analyses reveal pronounced herbivore biomass losses in wetter areas and substantial biomass increases and functional type turnover in arid regions. Fire prevalence is likely to have been altered over vast areas where grazer biomass has transitioned to above or below the threshold at which grass fuel reduction can suppress fire. Overall, shifts in the functional composition of herbivore communities promote an expansion of woody cover. Total herbivore methane emissions have more than doubled, but lateral nutrient diffusion capacity is below 5% of past levels. The release of fundamental ecological constraints on herbivore communities in arid regions appears to pose greater threats to ecosystem function than do biomass losses in mesic regions, where fire remains the major consumer.

SUBMITTER: Hempson GP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5722938 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundAfrican tick bite fever (ATBF) caused by Rickettsia africae and transmitted by Amblyomma spp. ticks is one of the zoonotic tick-borne fevers from the spotted fever group (SFG) of rickettsiae, which is an emerging global health concern. There is paucity of information regarding the occurrence and awareness of the disease in endemic rural livestock farming communities living in livestock-wildlife interface areas in South Africa.MethodsThe purpose of the study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices on ticks and ATBF infection from a community living in livestock-wildlife interface areas in South Africa. A focus group discussion (FGD) was carried out followed by verbal administration of a standardized semi-structured questionnaire a month later to 38 rural livestock farmers (23 from Caquba area and 15 from Lucingweni area where A. hebraeum was absent). An FGD was conducted in Caquba (situated at the livestock-wildlife interface where Amblyomma hebraeum was prevalent on cattle and infected with Rickettsia africae) in the O.R. Tambo district of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.ResultsResults from the FGD and questionnaire survey showed that participants from the two rural communities were not aware of ATBF and were not aware that ticks are vectors of the disease. Respondents from Caquba reported of having frequent exposure to tick bites (91.3%, 21/23) specifically from the anthropophilic A. hebrauem which they were able to identify as Qwelagqibe in IsiXhosa (their vernacular). Thirteen out of 15 (86.7%) of respondents from Lucingweni reported that they had never been bitten by ticks, which corresponded with the absence of A. hebraeum from their locality as evidenced from results of a concurrent study on prevalence of ticks on livestock in the area. Both communities confirmed to being "very concerned" of tick bites and we presume this was more related to the localized wounds from the bites than to the diseases transmitted by the ticks.ConclusionsWe recommend future studies encompassing seroprevalence of ATBF in Caquba and other communities at risk in South Africa including establishing surveillance systems to monitor the seasonal infection rates in ticks, cattle and humans.

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The consequences of replacing wildlife with livestock in Africa.

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