The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing
Extensive grazing and browsing by domestic and wild herbivores shape the vegetation composition, structure and dynamics of many terrestrial ecosystems. This volume investigates how large herbivores not only influence the structure and distribution of the
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The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing
Ecological Studies, Vol. 195 Analysis and Synthesis
Edited by M.M. Caldwell, Washington, USA G. Heldmaier, Marburg, Germany R.B. Jackson, Durham, USA O.L. Lange, Würzburg, Germany H.A. Mooney, Stanford, USA E.-D. Schulze, Jena, Germany U. Sommer, Kiel, Germany
Ecological Studies Volumes published since 2003 are listed at the end of this book.
I.J. Gordon • H.H.T. Prins Editors
The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing
Iain J. Gordon CSIRO Davies Laboratory PMB PO Aitkenvale Qld 4814 Australia
Herbert H.T. Prins Resource Ecology Group Wageningen University Droevendaalsesteeg 3a 6708 PB Wageningen The Netherlands
Cover illustration: Zebras alerted by a predator in Mana Pools National Park in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe. (Photo Iain J. Gordon)
ISSN 0070-8356 ISBN 978-3-540-72421-6
e-ISBN 978-3-540-72422-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007931594 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permissions for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer is a part of Springer Science+Business Media springer.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Editor: Dr. Dieter Czeschlik, Heidelberg, Germany Desk editor: Dr. Andrea Schlitzberger, Heidelberg, Germany Cover design: WMXDesign GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany Production and typesetting: SPi Publisher Services Printed on acid-free paper SPIN 11382201 31/3180 5 4 3 2 1 0
Foreword
About fifty years ago, when I, as a young comparative anatomist, first looked at a wild ruminant – the European roe deer – the basic thinking concerning the ecology, behaviour, physiology and anatomy of ruminants was based on domesticated grazers, namely sheep and cattle. I could not believe the customary view that the roe deer was nothing more than a mini-cow with a choosy predilection for flowering herbs, tender leaves and shoots. Already my comparison of a red deer stomach with that of a roe deer caused me to bring to mind the different evolutionary traits of cervids as compared with bovids, of which Europe has but a few wild species left. At that time, there was no thought of integrated management of vegetation and herbivores: hunters aimed for higher game densities, foresters considered (and still do) browsers a pest, to be reduced if not eliminated from their planted forests, and advoca
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