{"title":"Woody encroachment: social–ecological impacts and sustainable management","authors":"Jingyi Ding, David J. Eldridge","doi":"10.1111/brv.13104","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n <p>Woody plants are encroaching across terrestrial ecosystems globally, and this has dramatic effects on how these systems function and the livelihoods of producers who rely on the land to support livestock production. Consequently, the removal of woody plants is promoted widely in the belief that it will reinstate former grasslands or open savanna. Despite this popular management approach to encroachment, we still have a relatively poor understanding of the effects of removal on society, and of alternative management practices that could balance the competing needs of pastoral production, biodiversity conservation and cultural values. This information is essential for maintaining both ecological and societal benefits in encroached systems under predicted future climate changes. In this review, we provide a comprehensive synthesis of the social–ecological perspectives of woody encroachment based on recent studies and global meta-analyses by assessing the ecological impacts of encroachment and its effects on sustainable development goals (SDGs) when woody plants are retained and when they are removed. We propose a working definition of woody encroachment based on species- and community-level characteristics; such a definition is needed to evaluate accurately the effects of encroachment. We show that encroachment is a natural process of succession rather than a sign of degradation, with encroachment resulting in an overall 8% increase in ecosystem multifunctionality. Removing woody plants can increase herbaceous plant richness, biomass and cover, but at the expense of biocrust cover. The effectiveness of woody plant removal depends on plant identity, and where, when and how they are removed. Under current management practices, either removal or retention of woody plants can induce trade-offs among ecosystem services, with no management practice maximising all SDGs [e.g. SDG2 (end hunger), SDG13 (climate change), SDG 15 (combat desertification)]. Given that encroachment of woody plants is likely to increase under future predicted hotter and drier climates, alternative management options such as carbon farming and ecotourism could be effective land uses for areas affected by encroachment.</p>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":11.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biological Reviews","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.13104","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Woody plants are encroaching across terrestrial ecosystems globally, and this has dramatic effects on how these systems function and the livelihoods of producers who rely on the land to support livestock production. Consequently, the removal of woody plants is promoted widely in the belief that it will reinstate former grasslands or open savanna. Despite this popular management approach to encroachment, we still have a relatively poor understanding of the effects of removal on society, and of alternative management practices that could balance the competing needs of pastoral production, biodiversity conservation and cultural values. This information is essential for maintaining both ecological and societal benefits in encroached systems under predicted future climate changes. In this review, we provide a comprehensive synthesis of the social–ecological perspectives of woody encroachment based on recent studies and global meta-analyses by assessing the ecological impacts of encroachment and its effects on sustainable development goals (SDGs) when woody plants are retained and when they are removed. We propose a working definition of woody encroachment based on species- and community-level characteristics; such a definition is needed to evaluate accurately the effects of encroachment. We show that encroachment is a natural process of succession rather than a sign of degradation, with encroachment resulting in an overall 8% increase in ecosystem multifunctionality. Removing woody plants can increase herbaceous plant richness, biomass and cover, but at the expense of biocrust cover. The effectiveness of woody plant removal depends on plant identity, and where, when and how they are removed. Under current management practices, either removal or retention of woody plants can induce trade-offs among ecosystem services, with no management practice maximising all SDGs [e.g. SDG2 (end hunger), SDG13 (climate change), SDG 15 (combat desertification)]. Given that encroachment of woody plants is likely to increase under future predicted hotter and drier climates, alternative management options such as carbon farming and ecotourism could be effective land uses for areas affected by encroachment.
期刊介绍:
Biological Reviews is a scientific journal that covers a wide range of topics in the biological sciences. It publishes several review articles per issue, which are aimed at both non-specialist biologists and researchers in the field. The articles are scholarly and include extensive bibliographies. Authors are instructed to be aware of the diverse readership and write their articles accordingly.
The reviews in Biological Reviews serve as comprehensive introductions to specific fields, presenting the current state of the art and highlighting gaps in knowledge. Each article can be up to 20,000 words long and includes an abstract, a thorough introduction, and a statement of conclusions.
The journal focuses on publishing synthetic reviews, which are based on existing literature and address important biological questions. These reviews are interesting to a broad readership and are timely, often related to fast-moving fields or new discoveries. A key aspect of a synthetic review is that it goes beyond simply compiling information and instead analyzes the collected data to create a new theoretical or conceptual framework that can significantly impact the field.
Biological Reviews is abstracted and indexed in various databases, including Abstracts on Hygiene & Communicable Diseases, Academic Search, AgBiotech News & Information, AgBiotechNet, AGRICOLA Database, GeoRef, Global Health, SCOPUS, Weed Abstracts, and Reaction Citation Index, among others.