@article{c2fb77b220b944eabbb7b21ff32bdb58,
title = "Trophic rewilding revives biotic resistance to shrub invasion",
abstract = "Trophic rewilding seeks to rehabilitate degraded ecosystems by repopulating them with large animals, thereby re-establishing strong top-down interactions. Yet there are very few tests of whether such initiatives can restore ecosystem structure and functions, and on what timescales. Here we show that war-induced collapse of large-mammal populations in Mozambique{\textquoteright}s Gorongosa National Park exacerbated woody encroachment by the invasive shrub Mimosa pigra—considered one of the world{\textquoteright}s 100 worst invasive species—and that one decade of concerted trophic rewilding restored this invasion to pre-war baseline levels. Mimosa occurrence increased between 1972 and 2015, a period encompassing the near extirpation of large herbivores during the Mozambican Civil War. From 2015 to 2019, mimosa abundance declined as ungulate biomass recovered. DNA metabarcoding revealed that ruminant herbivores fed heavily on mimosa, and experimental exclosures confirmed the causal role of mammalian herbivory in containing shrub encroachment. Our results provide mechanistic evidence that trophic rewilding has rapidly revived a key ecosystem function (biotic resistance to a notorious woody invader), underscoring the potential for restoring ecological health in degraded protected areas.",
author = "Guyton, {Jennifer A.} and Johan Pansu and Hutchinson, {Matthew C.} and Kartzinel, {Tyler R.} and Potter, {Arjun B.} and Coverdale, {Tyler C.} and Daskin, {Joshua H.} and {da Concei{\c c}{\~a}o}, {Ana Gledis} and Peel, {Mike J.S.} and Stalmans, {Marc E.} and Pringle, {Robert M.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Parque Nacional da Gorongosa and the government of Mozambique for permission to conduct this research. We thank the Gorongosa Project for facilitating scientific research, with special thanks to M. Marchington, F. Moniz, A. Dos Santos, T. Massad, and G. Carr. The Gorongosa Project had no role in the conceptualization, design, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or decision to publish. We are indebted to K. Tinley for his pioneering research38 on Gorongosa{\textquoteright}s pre-war ecology. Supplementary Video 1 was produced in collaboration with National Geographic Labs Crittercam. Funding was provided by National Geographic Young Explorers Grant no. 9459-14; the US National Science Foundation (grant no. IOS-1656527 and the Graduate Research Fellowship Program); the Princeton Environmental Institute{\textquoteright}s Grand Challenges programme; the Randall and Mary Hack {\textquoteright}69 Award for Water and the Environment; Princeton University{\textquoteright}s Institutes for African Studies and International and Regional Studies; the Greg Carr Foundation; the Cameron Schrier Foundation; the Sherwood Foundation; and Princeton{\textquoteright}s Innovation Fund for New Ideas in the Natural Sciences. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",
year = "2020",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1038/s41559-019-1068-y",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "4",
pages = "712--724",
journal = "Nature Ecology and Evolution",
issn = "2397-334X",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "5",
}