Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.

Populations of large wildlife have declined in many landscapes around the world, and have been replaced or displaced by livestock. The consequences of these changes on the transfer of organic matter (OM) and nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems are not well understood. We used behavioura...

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Autores principales:	Jacob O Iteba, Thomas Hein, Gabriel A Singer, Frank O Masese
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e7a74c9e8675476e8e29b40f7b40dca0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e7a74c9e8675476e8e29b40f7b40dca02021-12-02T20:08:26ZLivestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0257076https://doaj.org/article/e7a74c9e8675476e8e29b40f7b40dca02021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257076https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Populations of large wildlife have declined in many landscapes around the world, and have been replaced or displaced by livestock. The consequences of these changes on the transfer of organic matter (OM) and nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems are not well understood. We used behavioural data, excretion and egestion rates and C: N: P stoichiometry of dung and urine of zebu cattle, to develop a metabolism-based estimate of loading rates of OM (dung), C, N and P into the Mara River, Kenya. We also directly measured the deposition of OM and urine by cattle into the river during watering. Per head, zebu cattle excrete and/or egest 25.6 g dry matter (DM, 99.6 g wet mass; metabolism) - 27.7 g DM (direct input) of OM, 16.0-21.8 g C, 5.9-9.6 g N, and 0.3-0.5 g P per day into the river. To replace loading rates OM of an individual hippopotamus by cattle, around 100 individuals will be needed, but much less for different elements. In parts of the investigated sub-catchments loading rates by cattle were equivalent to or higher than that of the hippopotamus. The patterns of increased suspended materials and nutrients as a result of livestock activity fit into historical findings on nutrients concentrations, dissolved organic carbon and other variables in agricultural and livestock areas in the Mara River basin. Changing these patterns of carbon and nutrient transport and cycling are having significant effects on the structure and functioning of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.Jacob O ItebaThomas HeinGabriel A SingerFrank O MasesePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 9, p e0257076 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Jacob O Iteba Thomas Hein Gabriel A Singer Frank O Masese Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.
description	Populations of large wildlife have declined in many landscapes around the world, and have been replaced or displaced by livestock. The consequences of these changes on the transfer of organic matter (OM) and nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems are not well understood. We used behavioural data, excretion and egestion rates and C: N: P stoichiometry of dung and urine of zebu cattle, to develop a metabolism-based estimate of loading rates of OM (dung), C, N and P into the Mara River, Kenya. We also directly measured the deposition of OM and urine by cattle into the river during watering. Per head, zebu cattle excrete and/or egest 25.6 g dry matter (DM, 99.6 g wet mass; metabolism) - 27.7 g DM (direct input) of OM, 16.0-21.8 g C, 5.9-9.6 g N, and 0.3-0.5 g P per day into the river. To replace loading rates OM of an individual hippopotamus by cattle, around 100 individuals will be needed, but much less for different elements. In parts of the investigated sub-catchments loading rates by cattle were equivalent to or higher than that of the hippopotamus. The patterns of increased suspended materials and nutrients as a result of livestock activity fit into historical findings on nutrients concentrations, dissolved organic carbon and other variables in agricultural and livestock areas in the Mara River basin. Changing these patterns of carbon and nutrient transport and cycling are having significant effects on the structure and functioning of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
format	article
author	Jacob O Iteba Thomas Hein Gabriel A Singer Frank O Masese
author_facet	Jacob O Iteba Thomas Hein Gabriel A Singer Frank O Masese
author_sort	Jacob O Iteba
title	Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.
title_short	Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.
title_full	Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.
title_fullStr	Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.
title_full_unstemmed	Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.
title_sort	livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in african savannas.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e7a74c9e8675476e8e29b40f7b40dca0
work_keys_str_mv	AT jacoboiteba livestockasvectorsoforganicmatterandnutrientloadinginaquaticecosystemsinafricansavannas AT thomashein livestockasvectorsoforganicmatterandnutrientloadinginaquaticecosystemsinafricansavannas AT gabrielasinger livestockasvectorsoforganicmatterandnutrientloadinginaquaticecosystemsinafricansavannas AT frankomasese livestockasvectorsoforganicmatterandnutrientloadinginaquaticecosystemsinafricansavannas
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Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.

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