Abstract
Simple SummaryDonkeys and goats are animals adapted to graze in understories, and thus contribute to the prevention of forest fires. In this work, the preferences of donkeys and goats have been determined for five key plant species of the Mediterranean forest, where large forest fires have increased as a result of global change. Using a multiple selection test, it has been observed that both species can complement each other, since donkeys consume more fine fuel, such as Brachypodium retusum, and goats, highly flammable woody species, such as Pinus halepensis. In this way, browsing becomes an ecosystem service, which, in the case of donkeys, can even help prevent their extinction.During the second half of the 20th century, European countries experienced an increase in their forest area due to the global change. Consequently, there has been an increase in large forest fires, mainly in the Mediterranean basin, and this has forced the development of several types of prevention programs. One of them is the control of the understory by livestock. In this sense, browsing with a combination of donkeys and goats could be a good option, as both animals usually feed on forest species. However, little is known about their preferences for the key species of the Mediterranean forest. Using a cafeteria test, the preferences and consumption of both animals have been determined for five typical species of the Mediterranean forest, such as Quercus ilex, Pinus halepensis, Phillyrea latifolia, Rubus ulmifolius, and Brachypodium retusum. Results showed that donkeys and goats could act complementarily in the reduction of the fuel biomass of forests. Donkeys appear to act more on fine fuel, such as B. retusum, and goats on the more pyrophyte species, in this case P. halepensis. In addition, given that donkeys are at severe risk of extinction in Europe, this role of providing ecosystem services could contribute to their conservation. Despite this study only showing that goats and donkeys would consume all five presented plant species and that there are some differences in consumption during a short-term test, it constitutes a useful first step for conservation and fire prevention in the Mediterranean forests.
Highlights
There has been massive depopulation in rural areas due to the intense socio-economical changes since the industrial revolution, as well as the reduction of subsistence and traditional agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry [1]
One of the consequences of this process has been that Europe, North America, and part of Asia experienced an increase in their forest area during the second half of the 20th century [2]
Five plants were offered to animals during the experiment: Quercus ilex, Pinus halepensis, Phillyrea latifolia, Rubus ulmifolius, and Brachypodium retusum
Summary
There has been massive depopulation in rural areas due to the intense socio-economical changes since the industrial revolution, as well as the reduction of subsistence and traditional agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry [1]. Livestock used to graze the undergrowth, even if it was dedicated to logging, looking for the scarce food resources that the forest produces, and contributing to diminishing the fire hazard. Grazing programs in forests from the private and public sectors have currently been implemented in some Mediterranean areas, with the explicit intention of reducing fire risk [5,6,7]. These have shown that grazing management of forest vegetation prevents fires, and preserves or increases ecosystem biodiversity, activates the rural economies (e.g., ecotourism, controlled hunting), and enhances scenic qualities [8,9]. Control of the undergrowth by livestock is considered the most cost-effective treatment, even though it requires certain investments (fences, water supplies, forage supplementation), and occasionally needs to be combined with another method [10,11]
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