Postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University. Broadly interested in conservation biology, rewilding, megafauna ecology, global change & biodiversity.
Jonas Trepel
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We found that large herbivores increased plant species richness and functional redundancy, mainly by reducing the dominance of a few plant species and allowing more herbaceous plants to coexist. Interestingly, these effects were strong in savannas but largely absent in the thicket.
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Huge thanks to the fantastic co-author team: Liza le Roux,
@cmlmagneville.bsky.social, Anika Oosthuizen, Debbie du Preez, Savannah Reichert, @jcsvenning.bsky.social and Rob Buitenwerf - and to everyone else who helped on the ground and maintained these remarkable exclosures over decades.
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We used six long-term (21-71 years!) exclosure experiments across South African savannas and thicket ecosystems to test how (nearly) intact herbivore communities affect plant communities.
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Hurray - new paper out in Functional Ecology! @funecology.bsky.social @econovoau.bsky.social

Wild large herbivores promote plant diversity and functional redundancy by reducing dominance: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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In our new Letter in @society4conbio.bsky.social, we argue that restoration efforts should be guided by ecological impact and not species’ origin.
Existing frameworks assess non-native species by their impact on native species. Applied universally, they would indicate all herbivores are harmful.
Herbivores also made vegetation more open by reducing vegetation height and density - but these structural changes did not explain impacts on diversity. Instead, reducing dominance seems to be the key mechanism linking herbivores to more diverse and potentially more resilient plant communities.
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