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Pastoralism

Research, Policy and Practice

Figure 1 | Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice

Figure 1

From: Comparing the effects of livestock and native herbivores on plant production and vegetation composition in the Trans-Himalayas

Figure 1

Change in three aspects of vegetation structure: species richness, evenness, and community composition. The change was measured after four years of herbivore exclusion in the Spiti region of northern India using paired grazed and ungrazed plots. Species richness at the beginning of the study (a) is compared with that after four years (b). Likewise, initial community evenness (c) is compared to evenness at the end of the study (d). Differences in species composition between paired plots were much greater after four years, relative to initial differences, measured by indices of relative abundance (Bray-Curtis index (e)) and species occurrence (Sørensen index (f)). Areas used by native herbivores are shown as black symbols, while areas used by livestock are grey. Dashed lines represent equality, and statistical details are in Table 2.

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