Conservation lessons from large-mammal manipulations in East African savannas: the KLEE, UHURU, and GLADE experiments

Authors: GOHEEN, JACOB - University Of Wyoming; Augustine, David; VEBLEN, KARI - Utah State University; KIMUYU, DUNCAN - Mpala Research Centre And Wildlife Foundation; PALMER, TODD - University Of Florida; Porensky, Lauren; PRINGLE, ROBERT - Princeton University; RATNAM, JAYASHREE - The Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; SANKARAN, MAHESH - The Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; CHARLES, GRACE - University Of California, Davis

Submitted to: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/6/2018
Publication Date: 5/18/2018
Citation: Goheen, J., Augustine, D.J., Veblen, K., Kimuyu, D., Palmer, T., Porensky, L.M., Pringle, R., Ratnam, J., Sankaran, M., Charles, G. 2018. Conservation lessons from large-mammal manipulations in East African savannas: the KLEE, UHURU, and GLADE experiments. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13848.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13848

Interpretive Summary: African savannas are well known for the wildlife they support, but they are undergoing large-scale extinctions of large (>5 kg) mammals. For the past 25 years, we have been studying the influence of large wild mammals as well as domestic livestock on the structure and function of savannas located at the Mpala Research Centre in central Kenya. At this site, we have conducted three long-term experiments: 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 different herbivore species, including rodents and large mammals; and (3) complex interactions between multiple trophic levels (plant, herbivores, and predators). We synthesize findings from the past two decades, and highlight six lessons that we believe are relevant 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 re-faunation) remains largely untested.

Technical 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 is fortunate to host 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 idiosyncracies 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 re-faunation) remains largely untested.