Trophic Rewilding Outcomes on Ecosystem Function and Biodiversity in Degraded Rangelands
DOI::
https://doi.org/10.70102/AEJ.2025.17.4.70کلمات کلیدی:
Trophic rewilding, Species diversity, Vegetation cover, Soil quality, ANOVA, Biodiversity, Ecosystem restoration.چکیده
This paper analyzes the impacts of trophic rewilding on rangeland biodiversity and ecology. Rewilding treatments, such as the introduction of herbivores, carnivores, and native plants, were applied in intervention sites, and those without treatment in control sites were compared. After two years (2024-2026), it was noticed that there were significant gains on the species diversity, vegetation cover, and soil quality. The species diversity (Shannon-Weiner Index: 3.5 represents standard error 0.2, vs. 2.8 represents standard error 0.3, p < 0.01) and species richness significantly increased in the intervention sites compared to the control sites. Vegetation cover at intervention sites improved by 40 to 60 % (p<0.05), but at the control sites, there was no improvement. Intervention sites also had higher levels of soil quality (organic carbon and nitrogen 2.3% and 0.18 respectively) compared to the control sites of 1.5 and 0.12 respectively (p < 0.05). The findings indicate that trophic rewilding is an effective intervention that has a beneficial effect on biodiversity and ecosystem functionality, and can be applied as an ecological restoration tool in perturbed landscapes. HSD test by Tukey statistical analysis indicated that variation between intervention and control sites was statistically significant in all the measured variables. The findings indicate that rewilding intervention activities help recover species, vegetation, and soil health and enhance ecosystem resilience. Although the study gives good evidence of the benefits of rewilding, the short period of the study and the variations in the environment need another study, as the long-term effects of the interventions were not clearly seen. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of trophic rewilding in the long term and to take into account a wider spectrum of environmental variables. Keywords: trophic rewilding, species diversity, vegetation cover, soil quality, ANOVA, biodiversity, ecosystem restoration.