Wikipedia

Woody plant encroachment

causes, impact and responses to bush encroachment in different geographical regions

Woody plant encroachment is when bushes, shrubs and woody plants grow more and take over an area where there used to be grass and other plants. It happens mostly in grasslands, savannas and woodlands and can change the area from being open to being closed. The causes of this include things like people using the land too much, not having fires, and climate change. It can be bad for nature and for people who use the land. Some countries try to stop this by doing things like cutting down some of the bushes, using fire and managing the land. Sometimes, this type of land is good for the climate because it can take in carbon. But, it is not always good and more research is needed to understand the effects on the climate.

bush encroachment at Waterberg Namibia
View of bush encroached land at the Waterberg Plateau Park in Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia

It is different from invasive species which are plants that are brought from other places.

Reasons

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Woody encroachment probably started thousands of years ago, when Earth started warming, but it has happened much faster during the last 50 years.[1] There are different possible reasons for woody encroachment, some directly linked to the action of people, others linked to climate change. The reasons for woody encroachment are very different between dry grasslands and wet grasslands.[2] Once the bushes and shrubs have grown and taken over an area, they make it harder for grass to grow. This makes the problem of woody encroachment continue.[3]

Land use

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When people abandon land, that means when they stop using the land for agriculture, bushes often start growing. This happens for example in the Alps in Southern Europe, because more and more people leave their farms and move to cities.[4]

Also when people use land very intensively, bush encroachment can happen. For example when farmers bring many cows to areas where wild animals lived before, these cows eat up most of the grass quickly, but do not touch the bushes. The result is that bushes occupy more and more of the land, while grasses start to disappear.[5] Once woody encroachment has started, it is hard to stop it, even when the number of cows is made less.[6]

Climate Change

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While changes in how people use the land is often seen as the main reason for woody encroachment, some studies suggest that global factors like climate change and rainfall patterns also play a role.[7][8] Climate change can make it easier for bushes and shrubs to grow because of things like more CO2 in the air and changes in temperature and rainfall.[9][10][11][12][13][14] Once the bushes and shrubs are established, they can make it harder for grass to grow and the problem of woody encroachment can continue. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, high latitude tundra and boreal forests are particularly at risk of woody encroachment due to climate change.[15]

Results

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Woody encroachment is a big change for nature in areas where it happens. Often, the encroachment is seen as harmful to nature. It can make the number of different plant species less, it allows less water to go into the ground and animals have less to eat. For that reason woody encroachment is often called a form or land degradation. But this is not always the case, encroachment can also lead to good changes in nature.[16] That is why one must study woody encroachment in each area where it happens, before making conclusions.[17]

How woody encroachment changes nature depends on different things:[18]

  • How people use the land: encroachment can be positive in land that is not used, but is most of the times a big problem in areas where people keep animals like cows that need grass to eat.[17][19]
  • The number of bushes: a medium number of bushes is often good for nature, but a high number can be very bad.[20][21][17]
  • Climate: in areas that are very dry, woody encroachment is more negative than in wetter areas.[22][20]

Many scientists see woody encroachment as a form of land degradation and think it can even lead to the creation of new deserts.[23] Because bushes make nature look more green, the encroachment is sometimes called "green desertification".[24]

Biodiversity

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Woody encroachment can have negative effects on the variety of plants and animals in that area (biodiversity).[25] In Africa, the number of different plants and animals usually decreases when woody encroachment happens. In North America, the number of different plants and animals may increase or decrease depending on the area.[26] In Brazil, one third of the different plant species are lost because of woody encroachment.[27]

 
Cheetah habitat can be made smaller by woody plant encroachment

The following list shows what species are affected by woody encroachment:

  • Grasses: In North America, the number of different types of grass types goes down to half when woody encroachment happens.[28][29] Some types of grasses even go extinct (they disappear and do not grow anymore).[30] The small white lady's slipper is a type of grass that is affected strongly.[31] Large bushes allow grasses to grow, but smaller bushes do not.[32]
  • Mammals: animals that prefer to live in open areas (where there are not many large plants), have to move when woody encroachment happens[33] Animals that hunt struggle to do that where there is a lot of bush.[34] This is the case for cheetah,[35][36][34] white-footed fox[37], and antelopes like the Common tsessebe, Hirola and plains zebra.[38] In Latin America the habitat of the almost extinct Guanaco is threatened by woody encroachment.[39] In some places animals have 80% less food when woody encroachment happens.[40]
  • Birds: birds react differently to woody encroachment. Birds that need bushes can deal with woody encroachment better than those that need open grassland. But also the birds that live in bushes, suffer when the bushes become too dense.[41][42] Examples of birds than do not do well under woody encroachment are the Secretarybird,[43] Grey go-away-bird, Marico sunbird, lesser prairie chicken,[44][45] Greater Sage-Grouse,[46] Archer's lark,[47][48] Northern bobwhite[49] and the Kori bustard.[50] In Namibia, the Cape vultures move to other places when there are more than 2,600 woody plants per hectare.[51] In North America woody encroachment can be bad for many types of birds. They may not have enough space to live and find food, which can make it hard for them to survive. This is a big concern.[52][53]
  • Insects: there are insects that prefer to live in open areas (areas where there are not many plants). These types of insects suffer under woody encroachment[54] Affected species include butterfly[55] and ant.[27]

References

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  1. ↑ Archer, Steve; Boutton, Thomas W.; Hibbard, Kathy A. (2001), "Trees in Grasslands", Global Biogeochemical Cycles in the Climate System, Elsevier, pp. 115–137, doi:10.1016/b978-012631260-7/50011-x, ISBN 978-0-12-631260-7, retrieved 10 December 2021
  2. ↑ Devine, Aisling P.; McDonald, Robbie A.; Quaife, Tristan; Maclean, Ilya M. D. (2017). "Determinants of woody encroachment and cover in African savannas". Oecologia. 183 (4): 939–951. Bibcode:2017Oecol.183..939D. doi:10.1007/s00442-017-3807-6. ISSN 0029-8549. PMC 5348564. PMID 28116524.
  3. ↑ Pierce, Nathan A.; Archer, Steven R.; Bestelmeyer, Brandon T.; James, Darren K. (April 2019). "Grass-Shrub Competition in Arid Lands: An Overlooked Driver in Grassland–Shrubland State Transition?". Ecosystems. 22 (3): 619–628. doi:10.1007/s10021-018-0290-9. ISSN 1432-9840. S2CID 254080280.
  4. ↑ Moreira, Francisco; Viedma, Olga; Arianoutsou, Margarita; Curt, Thomas; Koutsias, Nikos; Rigolot, Eric; Barbati, Anna; Corona, Piermaria; Vaz, Pedro; Xanthopoulos, Gavriil; Mouillot, Florent (2011). "Landscape – wildfire interactions in southern Europe: Implications for landscape management". Journal of Environmental Management. 92 (10): 2389–2402. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.028. hdl:10400.5/16228. PMID 21741757. S2CID 37743448.
  5. ↑ Jeltsch, Florian; Milton, Suzanne J.; Dean, W. R. J.; Rooyen, Noel Van (1997). "Analysing Shrub Encroachment in the Southern Kalahari: A Grid-Based Modelling Approach". The Journal of Applied Ecology. 34 (6): 1497. doi:10.2307/2405265. JSTOR 2405265.
  6. ↑ Zinnert, Julie C.; Nippert, Jesse B.; Rudgers, Jennifer A.; Pennings, Steven C.; González, Grizelle; Alber, Merryl; Baer, Sara G.; Blair, John M.; Burd, Adrian; Collins, Scott L.; Craft, Christopher (May 2021). "State changes: insights from the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network". Ecosphere. 12 (5). doi:10.1002/ecs2.3433. ISSN 2150-8925. S2CID 235484735.
  7. ↑ Wigley, Benjamin J.; Bond, William J.; Hoffman, M. Timm (March 2010). "Thicket expansion in a South African savanna under divergent land use: local vs. global drivers?". Global Change Biology. 16 (3): 964–976. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02030.x. S2CID 86028800.
  8. ↑ Wigley, B. J.; Bond, W. J.; Hoffman, M. T. (March 2009). "Bush encroachment under three contrasting land-use practices in a mesic South African savanna". African Journal of Ecology. 47: 62–70. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2008.01051.x.
  9. ↑ Kulmatiski, Andrew; Beard, Karen H. (September 2013). "Woody plant encroachment facilitated by increased precipitation intensity". Nature Climate Change. 3 (9): 833–837. doi:10.1038/nclimate1904. ISSN 1758-678X.
  10. ↑ Holdrege, Martin C.; Kulmatiski, Andrew; Beard, Karen H.; Palmquist, Kyle A. (25 July 2022). "Precipitation Intensification Increases Shrub Dominance in Arid, Not Mesic, Ecosystems". Ecosystems. 26 (3): 568–584. doi:10.1007/s10021-022-00778-1. ISSN 1432-9840. S2CID 251074635.
  11. ↑ Bond, W. J.; Midgley, G. F.; Woodward, F. I. (July 2003). "The importance of low atmospheric CO 2 and fire in promoting the spread of grasslands and savannas: FIRE, LOW CO 2 and TREES". Global Change Biology. 9 (7): 973–982. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00577.x. S2CID 84054899.
  12. ↑ Tabares, Ximena; Zimmermann, Heike; Dietze, Elisabeth; Ratzmann, Gregor; Belz, Lukas; Vieth-Hillebrand, Andrea; Dupont, Lydie; Wilkes, Heinz; Mapani, Benjamin; Herzschuh, Ulrike (January 2020). "Vegetation state changes in the course of shrub encroachment in an African savanna since about 1850 CE and their potential drivers". Ecology and Evolution. 10 (2): 962–979. doi:10.1002/ece3.5955. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 6988543. PMID 32015858.
  13. ↑ Luvuno, Linda; Biggs, Reinette; Stevens, Nicola; Esler, Karen (28 June 2018). "Woody Encroachment as a Social-Ecological Regime Shift". Sustainability. 10 (7): 2221. doi:10.3390/su10072221. ISSN 2071-1050.
  14. ↑ Kumar, Dushyant; Pfeiffer, Mirjam; Gaillard, Camille; Langan, Liam; Scheiter, Simon (2 June 2020). "Climate change and elevated CO<sub>2</sub> favor forest over savanna under different future scenarios in South Asia" (PDF). doi:10.5194/bg-2020-169. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ↑ IPCC, 2018: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press
  16. ↑ Eldridge, David J.; Soliveres, Santiago (2014). "Are shrubs really a sign of declining ecosystem function? Disentangling the myths and truths of woody encroachment in Australia". Australian Journal of Botany. 62 (7): 594–608. doi:10.1071/BT14137 – via CSIRO.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Eldridge, David J.; Bowker, Matthew A.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Roger, Erin; Reynolds, James F.; Whitford, Walter G. (2011). "Impacts of shrub encroachment on ecosystem structure and functioning: towards a global synthesis". Ecology Letters. 14 (7): 709–722. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01630.x. ISSN 1461-0248. PMC 3563963. PMID 21592276.
  18. ↑ Maestre, Fernando T.; Eldridge, David J.; Soliveres, Santiago; Kéfi, Sonia; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A.; García-Palacios, Pablo; Gaitán, Juan; Gallardo, Antonio; Lázaro, Roberto; Berdugo, Miguel (November 2016). "Structure and Functioning of Dryland Ecosystems in a Changing World". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 47 (1): 215–237. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-121415-032311. ISSN 1543-592X. PMC 5321561. PMID 28239303.
  19. ↑ Eldridge, David J.; Soliveres, Santiago; Bowker, Matthew A.; Val, James (4 June 2013). "Grazing dampens the positive effects of shrub encroachment on ecosystem functions in a semi-arid woodland". Journal of Applied Ecology. 50 (4): 1028–1038. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12105. ISSN 0021-8901.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Soliveres, Santiago; Maestre, Fernando T.; Eldridge, David J.; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Quero, José Luis; Bowker, Matthew A.; Gallardo, Antonio (December 2014). "Plant diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality peak at intermediate levels of woody cover in global drylands: Woody dominance and ecosystem functioning". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 23 (12): 1408–1416. doi:10.1111/geb.12215. PMC 4407977. PMID 25914607.
  21. ↑ Riginos, Corinna; Grace, James B.; Augustine, David J.; Young, Truman P. (November 2009). "Local versus landscape-scale effects of savanna trees on grasses". Journal of Ecology. 97 (6): 1337–1345. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01563.x. ISSN 0022-0477. S2CID 5548695.
  22. ↑ Knapp, Alan K.; Briggs, John M.; Collins, Scott L.; Archer, Steven R.; Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia; Ewers, Brent E.; Peters, Debra P.; Young, Donald R.; Shaver, Gaius R.; Pendall, Elise; Cleary, Meagan B. (2008). "Shrub encroachment in North American grasslands: shifts in growth form dominance rapidly alters control of ecosystem carbon inputs: SHRUB ENCROACHMENT INTO GRASSLANDS ALTERS CARBON INPUTS". Global Change Biology. 14 (3): 615–623. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01512.x. S2CID 85993435.
  23. ↑ Schlesinger, William H.; Reynolds, James F.; Cunningham, Gary L.; Huenneke, Laura F.; Jarrell, Wesley M.; Virginia, Ross A.; Whitford, Walter G. (2 March 1990). "Biological Feedbacks in Global Desertification". Science. 247 (4946): 1043–1048. Bibcode:1990Sci...247.1043S. doi:10.1126/science.247.4946.1043. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17800060. S2CID 33033125.
  24. ↑ Conant, Francis P. (1982). Thorns paired, sharply recurved: Cultural controls and rangeland quality in East Africa. In Spooner, B., and Mann, H. (eds.), Desertification and Development; Dryland Ecology in Social Perspective. Academic Press, London.
  25. ↑ Smit, G. Nico (2005). "Tree thinning as an option to increase herbaceous yield of an encroached semi-arid savanna in South Africa". BMC Ecol. 5: 4. doi:10.1186/1472-6785-5-4. PMC 1164409. PMID 15921528.
  26. ↑ Stanton, Richard A.; Boone, Wesley W.; Soto-Shoender, Jose; Fletcher, Robert J.; Blaum, Niels; McCleery, Robert A. (2018). "Shrub encroachment and vertebrate diversity: a global meta-analysis". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 27 (3): 368–379. doi:10.1111/geb.12675.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Abreu, Rodolfo C.; Hoffmann, William A.; Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.; Pilon, Natashi A.; Rossatto, Davi R.; Durigan, Giselda (2017). "The biodiversity cost of carbon sequestration in tropical savanna". Science Advances. 3: e1701284 (8): e1701284. Bibcode:2017SciA....3E1284A. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701284. PMC 5576881. PMID 28875172.
  28. ↑ Mogashoa, R.; Dlamini, P.; Gxasheka, M. (2020). "Grass species richness decreases along a woody plant encroachment gradient in a semi-arid savanna grassland, South Africa". Landscape Ecol. 36 (2): 617–636. doi:10.1007/s10980-020-01150-1. S2CID 228882177.
  29. ↑ Ratajczak, Zak; Nippert, Jesse B.; Collins, Scott L. (2012). "Woody encroachment decreases diversity across North American grasslands and savannas". Ecology. 93 (4): 697–703. doi:10.1890/11-1199.1. PMID 22690619.
  30. ↑ Zhang, Zhenchao; Liu, Yi-Fan; Cui, Zeng; Huang, Ze; Liu, Yu; Leite, Pedro A. M.; Zhao, Jingxue; Wu, Gao-Lin (3 May 2022). "Shrub encroachment impaired the structure and functioning of alpine meadow communities on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau". Land Degradation & Development. 33 (14): 2454–2463. doi:10.1002/ldr.4323. ISSN 1085-3278. S2CID 251372205.
  31. ↑ Bleho, Barbara I.; Borkowsky, Christie L.; Grantham, Melissa A.; Hamel, Cary D. (2021). "A 20 y Analysis of Weather and Management Effects on a Small White Lady's-slipper (Cypripedium candidum) Population in Manitoba". The American Midland Naturalist. 185 (1): 32–48. doi:10.1674/0003-0031-185.1.32.
  32. ↑ She, W.; Bai, Y.; Zhang, Y. (2021). "Nitrogen-enhanced herbaceous competition threatens woody species persistence in a desert ecosystem". Plant Soil. 460 (1–2): 333–345. doi:10.1007/s11104-020-04810-y. S2CID 231590340.
  33. ↑ Smit, Izak P. J.; Prins, Herbert H. T. (17 September 2015). Crowther, Mathew S. (ed.). "Predicting the Effects of Woody Encroachment on Mammal Communities, Grazing Biomass and Fire Frequency in African Savannas". PLOS ONE. 10 (9): e0137857. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1037857S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137857. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4574768. PMID 26379249.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Atkinson, Holly; Cristescu, Bogdan; Marker, Laurie; Rooney, Nicola (15 September 2022). "Bush Encroachment and Large Carnivore Predation Success in African Landscapes: A Review". Earth. 3 (3): 1010–1026. doi:10.3390/earth3030058. ISSN 2673-4834.
  35. ↑ Nghikembua, Matti T.; Marker, Laurie L.; Brewer, Bruce; Mehtätalo, Lauri; Appiah, Mark; Pappinen, Ari (1 October 2020). "Response of wildlife to bush thinning on the north central freehold farmlands of Namibia". Forest Ecology and Management. 473: 118330. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118330. S2CID 224961400.
  36. ↑ Atkinson, Holly; Cristescu, Bogdan; Marker, Laurie; Rooney, Nicola J. (2022). "Habitat thresholds for successful predation under landscape change". Landscape Ecology. 37 (11): 2847–2860. doi:10.1007/s10980-022-01512-x. ISSN 0921-2973. S2CID 252155630.
  37. ↑ Misher, Chetan; Vanak, Abi Tamim (15 March 2021). "Occupancy and diet of the Indian desert fox Vulpes vulpes pusilla in a Prosopis juliflora invaded semi-arid grassland". Wildlife Biology. 2021 (1). doi:10.2981/wlb.00781. ISSN 0909-6396. S2CID 233685264.
  38. ↑ Chen, Anping; Reperant, Leslie; Fischhoff, Ilya R.; Rubenstein, Daniel I. (2021). "Increased vigilance of plains zebras (Equus quagga) in response to more bush coverage in a Kenyan savanna". Climate Change Ecology. 1: 100001. doi:10.1016/j.ecochg.2021.100001. ISSN 2666-9005. S2CID 233936552.
  39. ↑ Cuellar-Soto, Erika; Johnson, Paul J.; Macdonald, David W.; Barrett, Glyn A.; Segundo, Jorge (30 September 2020). "Woody plant encroachment drives habitat loss for a relict population of a large mammalian herbivore in South America". Therya. 11 (3): 484–494. doi:10.12933/therya-20-1071. S2CID 224951614.
  40. ↑ Meik, Jesse M.; Jeo, Richard M.; Mendelson, Joseph R.; Jenks, Kate E. (2002). "Effects of bush encroachment on an assemblage of diurnal lizard species in central Namibia". Biological Conservation. 106 (1): 29–36. doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(01)00226-9. ISSN 0006-3207.
  41. ↑ Andersen, Erik M.; Steidl, Robert J. (2019). "Woody plant encroachment restructures bird communities in semiarid grasslands". Biological Conservation. 240: 108276. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108276. S2CID 209587435.
  42. ↑ Baker, Kate K. (2003). A synthesis of the effect of woody vegetation on grassland nesting birds. Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science 82:233–236.
  43. ↑ Hofmeyr, Sally D.; Symes, Craig T.; Underhill, Leslie G. (2014). "Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius Population Trends and Ecology: Insights from South African Citizen Science Data". PLOS ONE. 9(5) e96772 (5): e96772. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...996772H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096772. PMC 4016007. PMID 24816839.
  44. ↑ Lautenbach, Jens M.; Plumb, Reid T.; Robinson, Samantha G.; Hagen, Christian A.; Haukos, David A.; Pitman, James C. (2017). "Lesser Prairie-Chicken Avoidance of Trees in a Grassland Landscape". Rangeland Ecology & Management. 70: 78–86. doi:10.1016/j.rama.2016.07.008.
  45. ↑ "Endangered Species Act listing proposed for lesser prairie-chicken". www.agri-pulse.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  46. ↑ "Cutting Trees Gives Sage-Grouse Populations a Boost, Scientists Find". Audubon. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  47. ↑ Mahamued, B.; Donald, P.; Collar, N.; Marsden, S.; Ndang'Ang'A, P.; Wondafrash, M.; Lloyd, H. (2021). "Rangeland loss and population decline of the critically endangered Liben Lark Heteromirafra archeri in southern Ethiopia" (PDF). Bird Conservation International. 1–14: 64–77. doi:10.1017/S0959270920000696. S2CID 234250627.
  48. ↑ Spottiswoode, C. N.; Wondafrash, Mengistu; Gabremichael, M. N.; Abebe, Yilma Dellelegn; Mwangi, Mike Anthony Kiragu; Collar, N. J.; Dolman, Paul M. (2009). "Rangeland degradation is poised to cause Africa's first recorded avian extinction". Animal Conservation. 12 (3): 249–257. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00246.x. S2CID 85924528.
  49. ↑ Murray, Darrel B.; Muir, James P.; Miller, Michael S.; Erxleben, Devin R.; Mote, Kevin D. (2021). "Effective Management Practices for Increasing Native Plant Diversity on Mesquite Savanna-Texas Wintergrass-Dominated Rangelands". Rangeland Ecology & Management. 75: 161–169. doi:10.1016/j.rama.2021.01.001. S2CID 232105321.
  50. ↑ Sirami, Clelia; Monadjem, Ara (2012). "Changes in bird communities in Swaziland savannas between 1998 and 2008 owing to shrub encroachment". Diversity and Distributions. 18 (4): 390–400. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00810.x.
  51. ↑ Schultz, Philippa (2007). Does bush encroachment impact foraging success of the critically endangered Namibian population of the Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres? MSc. Thesis, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
  52. ↑ Austin, Jane E.; Buhl, Deborah A. (2021). "Breeding Bird Occurrence Across a Gradient of Graminoid- to Shrub-Dominated Fens and Fire Histories". The American Midland Naturalist. 185 (1): 77–109. doi:10.1674/0003-0031-185.1.77.
  53. ↑ Rosenberg, Kenneth V.; Dokter, Adriaan M.; Blancher, Peter J.; Sauer, John R.; Smith, Adam C.; Smith, Paul A.; Stanton, Jessica C.; Panjabi, Arvind; Helft, Laura; Parr, Michael; Marra, Peter P. (4 October 2019). "Decline of the North American avifauna". Science. 366 (6461): 120–124. Bibcode:2019Sci...366..120R. doi:10.1126/science.aaw1313. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 31604313. S2CID 203719982.
  54. ↑ Marquart, A; Sikwane, Ob; Kellner, K (25 April 2022). "The diversity of epigeal insects after the application of the brush packing restoration method following bush-encroachment control in South Africa". African Journal of Range & Forage Science. 40 (3): 310–315. doi:10.2989/10220119.2022.2052962. ISSN 1022-0119. S2CID 262087707.
  55. ↑ Ubach, Andreu; Páramo, F.; Gutiérrez, Cèsar; Stefanescu, Constanti (2020). "Vegetation encroachment drives changes in the composition of butterfly assemblages and species loss in Mediterranean ecosystems". Insect Conservation and Diversity. 13 (2): 151–161. doi:10.1111/icad.12397. S2CID 213753973.
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