Less Is More: Lowering Cattle Stocking Rates Enhances Wild Herbivore Habitat Use and Cattle Foraging Efficiency

Over a quarter of the world’s land surface is grazed by cattle and other livestock, which are replacing wild herbivores widely regarded as drivers global biodiversity declines. The effects livestock presence versus absence on well documented. However, environmental context-specific stocking rate production poorly understood, precluding nuanced rangeland management recommendations. To address this, we used long term exclosure experiment in semi-arid savanna ecosystem central Kenya that selectively excludes (at different rates), mesoherbivores, megaherbivores. We investigated individual interactive (zero/moderate/high) megaherbivore (>1,000 kg) accessibility habitat use (measured dung density) two dominant mesoherbivores (50–1,000 kg; zebra Equus quagga eland Taurotragus oryx ) across “wet” “dry” seasons. explore potential tradeoffs or co-benefits between wildlife conservation, tested for megaherbivores (collectively, large herbivores) foraging efficiency both Eland was reduced at moderate high rates dry wet seasons regardless accessibility. observed positive effect moderate, but not high, rates. Cattle (g matter step –1 min lower compared to treatments during season, non-additively season. These results show detrimental mesoherbivore efficiency, while reducing can benefit efficiency. Our findings demonstrate restoration efforts African rangelands involve may represent win-win herbivore conservation performance livestock.