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Megaherbivores provide biotic resistance against alien plant dominance

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1645–1653 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

While human-driven biological invasions are rapidly spreading, finding scalable and effective control methods poses an unresolved challenge. Here, we assess whether megaherbivores—herbivores reaching ≥1,000 kg of body mass—offer a nature-based solution to plant invasions. Invasive plants are generally adapted to maximize vegetative growth. Megaherbivores, with broad dietary tolerances, could remove large biomass of established plants, facilitating new plant growth. We used a massive dataset obtained from 26,838 camera stations and 158,979 vegetation plots to assess the relationships between megaherbivores, native plants and alien plants across India (~121,330 km2). We found a positive relationship between megaherbivore abundance and native plant richness and abundance, and a concomitant reduction in alien plant abundance. This relationship was strongest in protected areas with midproductive ecosystem and high megaherbivore density but it was lost in areas where thicket-forming alien plants predominated (>40% cover). By incorporating the role of ecosystem productivity, plants traits and densities of megaherbivores on megaherbivore–vegetation relationships, our study highlights a function of megaherbivores in controlling alien plant proliferation and facilitating diverse native plants in invaded ecosystems. The study shows great potential for megafauna-based trophic rewilding as a nature-based solution to counteract dominance of plant invasions.

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Fig. 1: Possible relationships between megaherbivores, native plant richness, native plant cover, alien plant richness and alien plant cover.
Fig. 2: Associations between megaherbivores and vegetation parameters and their variation across the productivity gradient.

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Data availability

Data used in the analyses are shared on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8128695). Any further request regarding data should be addressed to Y.V.J. (yvjhala@gmail.com).

Code availability

R scripts to reproduce analyses are shared on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8128695).

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Acknowledgements

We consider this work a contribution to the Danish National Research Foundation Center for Ecological Dynamics in a New Biosphere (ECONOVO) and J-CS’ VILLUM Investigator project ‘Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World’. We thank National Tiger Conservation Authority, India, Wildlife Institute of India, Indian State Forest Departments, frontline forest staff and researchers for coordinating and participating in data collection. This work was supported by VILLUM Investigator project ‘Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World’ funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant no. 16549 to J.-C.S.); Center for Ecological Dynamics in a New Biosphere (ECONOVO), funded by Danish National Research Foundation (grant no. DNRF173 to J.-C.S.); Independent Research Fund Denmark | Natural Sciences project MegaComplexity (grant no. 0135-00225B to J.-C.S.); and National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi, India (Y.V.J. and Q.Q.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) & Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Ninad Avinash Mungi, Elizabeth le Roux & Jens-Christian Svenning

  2. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India

    Ninad Avinash Mungi, Yadvendradev V. Jhala & Qamar Qureshi

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  1. Ninad Avinash Mungi
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Contributions

J.-C.S., Y.V.J., Q.Q. and N.A.M. conceived the work. N.A.M., Y.V.J. and J.-C.S. developed the methodology. N.A.M., J.-C.S. and E.L.R. conducted the investigations. N.A.M. and J.-C.S. prepared the visualizations. J.-C.S., Y.V.J. and Q.Q. acquired funding. N.A.M. and J.-C.S. wrote the original draft. E.L.R., Y.V.J., Q.Q., J.-C.S. and N.A.M. reviewed and edited the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ninad Avinash Mungi.

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Mungi, N.A., Jhala, Y.V., Qureshi, Q. et al. Megaherbivores provide biotic resistance against alien plant dominance. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1645–1653 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02181-y

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