Avifaunal changes as a consequence of large-scale livestock exclusion in the mountains of Central Argentina

Published source details Garcia C., Renison D., Cingolani A.M. & Fernandez-Juricic E. (2008) Avifaunal changes as a consequence of large-scale livestock exclusion in the mountains of Central Argentina. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45, 351-360.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Exclude grazers from semi-natural habitats Action Link

Exclude grazers from semi-natural habitats

A replicated, controlled study from December 2002 to March 2003 in 46 sampling transects (300 m long, 60 m wide, 1.8 ha, 2-40 km apart) across eight vegetation units and two grazing regimes (6 transects/vegetation unit; 3/grazing regime) in woodland, grassland and rocky habitats in the Córdoba Mountains, Argentina (Garcia et al. 2008) found that bird species richness and abundance was significantly lower in livestock-excluded areas. Livestock exclusion reduced bird density and species richness across all vegetation units for all species and for endemic subspecies alone. Similarly, species richness was higher in grazed sites than in livestock-excluded areas for both insect-eating birds (5.0 compared to 3.8) and seed-eating birds (1.8 compared to 1.6 species / 1.8 ha). Community composition was different between vegetation units, but not between grazing regimes. Traditional livestock management stocking rates ranged from 0.4 – 1.5 cattle equivalents / ha. Livestock exclusion areas were without cattle since 1998.