
@article {108394,
	title = {Contrasting Effects of Grazing vs Browsing Herbivores Determine Changes in Soil Fertility in an East African Savanna},
	journal = {ECOSYSTEMS },
	year = {2022},
	month = {03/2022},
	abstract = {<p>We used a long-term herbivore removal experiment where paired exclosure-open treatments were established at the Mpala Research Centre, Laikipia, Kenya, in 1999 to examine changes in soil nitrogen (N) at nutrient-rich glades and adjacent nutrient-poor bushland sites after almost two decades of herbivore removal. Glades in this landscape are created by large inputs of dung and urine from previous long-term corralling of cattle in an otherwise nutrient-poor matrix of woodland (bushland). We predicted (1) a net gain of soil nutrients at bushland sites (that is, inputs of nutrients \&gt; losses) and (2) a net loss of soil nutrients at glade sites (that is, inputs of nutrients \&lt; losses) following herbivore exclusion. As expected, soil N increased (by 28\% after 17 years) with herbivore removal, but remained largely unchanged in the presence of herbivores at low-nutrient bushland sites. However, contrary to our expectations, soil total N in nutrient-rich glades also increased (+ 18\%) when herbivores were removed, but declined when grazed (- 11\%). Although the underlying mechanisms are unclear, we suggest that increased N fixation by Acacia spp., combined with increased canopy cover and associated tree leaf litter, resulted in elevated soil N following browser removal in low-nutrient bushland sites, while grazer-induced increases in the rate of N transformations between organic and mineral forms resulted in a more "open" N cycle (as evidenced by higher N mineralization rates and foliar N), with increased potential for N loss in gaseous forms, in grazed nutrient-rich glade sites. Grazers and browsers thus appear to affect the N cycle and create and reinforce heterogeneity in unique ways.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1007/s10021-022-00748-7},
	author = {Coetsee, C. and Wigley, B. J. and Sankaran, M. and Ratnam, J. and Augustine, D. J.}
}
@article {71096,
	title = {Tree diversity and carbon storage cobenefits in tropical human-dominated landscapes},
	journal = {Conservation Letters},
	year = {2020},
	month = {01/2020},
	abstract = {<p>A lack of spatial congruence between carbon storage and biodiversity in intact forests suggests limited cobenefits of carbon-focused policies for conserving tropical biodiversity. However, whether the same applies in tropical human-dominated landscapes (HDLs) is unclear. In India{\textquoteright}s Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, we found that while HDL forests harbor lower tree diversity and aboveground carbon stocks than relatively intact forests, positive diversity{\textendash}carbon correlations are more prevalent in HDLs. This is because anthropogenic drivers of species loss in HDLs consistently reduce carbon storing biomass volume (lower basal area), and biomass per unit volume (fewer hardwood trees). We further show, using a meta-analysis spanning multiple regions, that these patterns apply to tropical HDLs more generally. Thus, while complementary strategies are needed for securing the irreplaceable biodiversity and carbon values of intact forests, ubiquitous tropical HDLs might hold greater potential for synergizing biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1111/conl.12699},
	author = {Osuri, A. M. and Machado, Siddarth and Ratnam, J. and Sankaran, M. and Ayyappan, N and Muthuramkumar, S and Parthasarathy, N and P{\'e}lissier, R and Ramesh, B R and DeFries, R and Naeem, S}
}
@article {5221,
	title = {Ecosystem monitoring and forest census studies in South Asia (Meeting Report)},
	journal = {Current Science},
	volume = {180},
	year = {2015},
	month = {2015},
	pages = {1779 {\textendash} 1782},
	author = {Marthews, T. R. and Nelaballi, S. and Ratnam, J. and Sankaran, M.}
}
@article {5219,
	title = {Perceptions of priority issues in the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in India},
	journal = {Biological Conservation },
	volume = {187},
	year = {2015},
	month = {2015},
	pages = {201-211},
	author = {Varma, V. and Ratnam, J. and Viswanathan, V. and Osuri, A. M. and Biesmeijer, J. C. and Madhusudan, M. D. and Sankaran, M.}
}
