The use of domestic herbivores for ecosystem management in Mediterranean landscapes

In the Mediterranean basin, the structure and species composition of traditional landscapes have historically been shaped and maintained by human-driven disturbances, such as extensive livestock grazing. The cessation of these activities, which have partially replaced the role of natural disturbances, may lead to vegetation overgrowth and biomass accumulation, with potential adverse impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services. Recently, the use of livestock for ecosystem management, with the purpose of maintaining grazing disturbance and the associated ecosystem processes, has been gaining traction. Nevertheless, there is still limited evidence on the performance of such grazing interventions. This review assesses the state of the art regarding the use of livestock for ecosystem management in Mediterranean landscapes. It examines the association between the regime and duration of grazing interventions and their reported effects on ecosystems. The list of reviewed interventions (68 interventions, retrieved from 47 studies) covered a diverse range of landcover systems (from grasslands to forests), of grazing regimes (characterized by different levels of grazing intensity and livestock species), and of duration of grazing (from short-term, < 5 years to long-term grazing, > 20 years). Wildfire prevention and biomass control, biodiversity and habitat conservation and the regulation of soil quality are the main reasons for the use of grazing interventions. The results of this review suggest that the use of domestic herbivores in ecosystem management can contribute to wildfire prevention and biomass control, with these positive effects fading away in long-term grazing interventions. Goats seem to perform better than cattle for biomass control. The effects on biodiversity and habitat conservation depend on the grazing regime, with intensive grazing showing negative results, while the effects on soil quality are generally negative but require further assessment, due to data limitations.