| Autor: |
Silliman BR; Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University , Beaufort, NC , USA., Mozdzer T; Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College , Bryn Mawr, PA , USA., Angelini C; Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA., Brundage JE; Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland , College Park, MD , USA., Esselink P; Community and Conservation Ecology, University of Groningen , Groningen , The Netherlands ; PUCCIMAR Ecological Research and Consultancy , The Netherlands., Bakker JP; Community and Conservation Ecology, University of Groningen , Groningen , The Netherlands., Gedan KB; Department of Biology, University of Maryland , College Park, MD , USA., van de Koppel J; Community and Conservation Ecology, University of Groningen , Groningen , The Netherlands ; Spatial Ecology Department, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) , Yerseke , The Netherlands., Baldwin AH; Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland , College Park, MD , USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
Invasive species threaten biodiversity and incur costs exceeding billions of US$. Eradication efforts, however, are nearly always unsuccessful. Throughout much of North America, land managers have used expensive, and ultimately ineffective, techniques to combat invasive Phragmites australis in marshes. Here, we reveal that Phragmites may potentially be controlled by employing an affordable measure from its native European range: livestock grazing. Experimental field tests demonstrate that rotational goat grazing (where goats have no choice but to graze Phragmites) can reduce Phragmites cover from 100 to 20% and that cows and horses also readily consume this plant. These results, combined with the fact that Europeans have suppressed Phragmites through seasonal livestock grazing for 6,000 years, suggest Phragmites management can shift to include more economical and effective top-down control strategies. More generally, these findings support an emerging paradigm shift in conservation from high-cost eradication to economically sustainable control of dominant invasive species. |
