Grazing ecosystems cover a major portion of the earth and support a variety of large mammalian herbivores. Human interventions around the world are changing grazing ecosystems where native large mammalian herbivores are being replaced by exotic livestock. Given current trends of global biodiversity decline, understanding the implications of such changes for ecosystem functioning is critical. In this proposal, Trans-Himalaya in Central-Asia (northern India) is identified as a model ecosystem where these effects can be empirically tested. Here, replicated herbivore-exclusion experiments will explore any shifts in vegetation communities and resultant effects on ecosystem processes following the replacement of native herbivores by livestock. This is one of the first attempts to assess the consequences of loss of native herbivores from natural ecosystems. It will provide ecological insights into the functioning of a coupled human-natural system and serve as a model for conserving biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes of 12 central-Asian countries.
