@article{e0a75981660742169c7f45f74a788e16,
title = "Conservation lessons from large-mammal manipulations in East African savannas: the KLEE, UHURU, and GLADE experiments",
abstract = "African savannas support an iconic fauna, but they are undergoing large-scale population declines and extinctions of large (>5 kg) mammals. Long-term, controlled, replicated experiments that explore the consequences of this defaunation (and its replacement with livestock) are rare. The Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia County, Kenya, hosts three such experiments, spanning two adjacent ecosystems and environmental gradients within them: the Kenya Long-Term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE; since 1995), the Glade Legacies and Defaunation Experiment (GLADE; since 1999), and the Ungulate Herbivory Under Rainfall Uncertainty experiment (UHURU; since 2008). Common themes unifying these experiments are (1) evidence of profound effects of large mammalian herbivores on herbaceous and woody plant communities; (2) competition and compensation across herbivore guilds, including rodents; and (3) trophic cascades and other indirect effects. We synthesize findings from the past two decades to highlight generalities and idiosyncrasies among these experiments, and highlight six lessons that we believe are pertinent for conservation. The removal of large mammalian herbivores has dramatic effects on the ecology of these ecosystems; their ability to rebound from these changes (after possible refaunation) remains unexplored.",
keywords = "Laikipia, competition, extinction, extirpation, fire, herbivore exclusion, mutualism, predation, resilience, trophic cascade, wildlife loss",
author = "Goheen, {Jacob R.} and Augustine, {David J.} and Veblen, {Kari E.} and Kimuyu, {Duncan M.} and Palmer, {Todd M.} and Porensky, {Lauren M.} and Pringle, {Robert Mitchell} and Jayashree Ratnam and Corinna Riginos and Mahesh Sankaran and Ford, {Adam T.} and Hassan, {Abdikadir A.} and Rhiannon Jakopak and Kartzinel, {Tyler R.} and Samson Kurukura and Louthan, {Allison M.} and Odadi, {Wilfred O.} and Otieno, {Tobias O.} and Wambua, {Alois M.} and Young, {Hillary S.} and Young, {Truman P.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Nick Georgiadis, Maggie Kinnaird, Mike Littlewood, Dino Martins, and other staff at the Mpala Research Centre. We thank Gilbert Busienei, Elyse DeFranco, Marissa Dyck, Brandon Hays, Rhi-anna Hohbein, Stephen Kinyua, Simon Lima, and Jackson Lima for assistance with the UHURU experiment. The UHURU experiment was supported by NSF DEB grants 1355122, 1457691, 1547679, and 1556728, an NSERC Research Tools and Instruments grant, and the University of Wyoming. The KLEE research was carried out under Government of Kenya research clearance permit No. NCST/RCD/12B/012/42. We would like to thank Frederick Erii, John Lochikuya, Mathew Namoni, Jackson Ekadeli, Steven Ekale, and Patrick Etelej for their invaluable assistance in the field. The KLEE exclosure plots were built and maintained by grants from the James Smithson Fund of the Smith-sonian Institution (to A.P. Smith), The National Geographic Society (Grants 4691-91 and 9106– 12), The National Science Foundation (LTREB DEB 97-07477, 03-16402, 08-16453, 12-56004, and 12-56034), and the African Elephant Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (98210-0-G563) (to T.P.Y., C.R., and K.E.V.). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.",
year = "2018",
month = oct,
doi = "10.1111/nyas.13848",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "1429",
pages = "31--49",
journal = "Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences",
issn = "0077-8923",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "1",
}