Topic:Biodiversity
Biodiversity in relation to horses encompasses the variety of life forms within equine ecosystems and their interactions with the environment. This includes the genetic diversity within horse populations, the range of species that coexist with horses, and the ecological roles horses play in their habitats. Understanding biodiversity helps in assessing the health and sustainability of ecosystems where horses are present, as well as the impact of horses on these environments. Studies in this field examine the genetic variation among horse breeds, the influence of horses on plant and animal communities, and the conservation implications of domesticated and wild horse populations. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the relationships between horses and biodiversity, focusing on ecological dynamics, conservation strategies, and the genetic diversity of equine species.
Green treasures: Investigating the biodiversity potential of equine yards through the presence and quality of landscape features in the Netherlands. At a time of mounting ecological crises and biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need for nature-based solutions. Equestrian properties cover a considerable proportion of the European rural and peri-urban landscape and provide much potential for integrating ecosystem services, such as the inclusion of small landscape features. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and quality of landscape features (LF) to help determine how the equine sector can contribute to the agro-ecological transition. Using a citizen science approach, 87 commercial and 420 private yard owners reported th...
Antibiotic prophylaxis and hospitalization of horses subjected to median laparotomy: gut microbiota trajectories and abundance increase of Escherichia. Horse clinics are hotspots for the accumulation and spread of clinically relevant and zoonotic multidrug-resistant bacteria, including extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing (ESBL) Enterobacterales. Although median laparotomy in cases of acute equine colic is a frequently performed surgical intervention, knowledge about the effects of peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) based on a combination of penicillin and gentamicin on the gut microbiota is limited. Unassigned: We collected fecal samples of horses from a non-hospitalized control group (CG) and from horses receiving either a pre-...
Contrasting seasonal patterns in diet and dung-associated invertebrates of feral cattle and horses in a rewilding area. Trophic rewilding is increasingly applied in restoration efforts, with the aim of reintroducing the ecological functions provided by large-bodied mammals and thereby promote self-regulating, biodiverse ecosystems. However, empirical evidence for the effects of megafauna introductions on the abundance and richness of other organisms such as plants and invertebrates, and the mechanisms involved still need strengthening. In this study, we use environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of dung from co-existing feral cattle and horses to assess the seasonal variation in plant diet and dung-associated a...
Tabanidae (Diptera) captured on horses in Amazon Forest fragments of the state of Rondônia, Brazil. Tabanidae is one of the most diverse families of hematophagous dipterans. Tabanids, in general, are mechanical vectors of some pathogens. Given the vector importance and the lack of knowledge of the tabanid fauna in horses in Amazon Forest fragments of the state of Rondônia, this work aimed to determine the season that the different species of horse flies prefer to carryout hematophagy on horses and verify whether the horse fly community remains the same throughout the year. The sampling areas for tabanid captures were in the municipality of Monte Negro, Western Amazon, Brazil. Four new occur...
Animal board invited review: Grassland-based livestock farming and biodiversity. Grasslands dominate land cover nationally and globally, and their composition, structure and habitat value are strongly influenced by the actions of domestic and wild grazing animals that feed on them. Different pastures are characterised by varying opportunities for selective feeding by livestock; agronomically improved, sown swards generally consist of a limited range of plant species whereas longer-term leys and semi-natural grasslands are characterised by a more diverse mixture of plants. In the case of botanically diverse permanent pastures/grazing lands, the dietary preferences of differ...
Non-native grazers affect physiological and demographic responses of greater sage-grouse. Non-native ungulate grazing has negatively impacted native species across the globe, leading to massive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their pervasiveness, interactions between non-native grazers and native species are not fully understood. We often observe declines in demography or survival of these native species, but lack understanding about the mechanisms underlying these declines. Physiological stress represents one mechanism of (mal)adaptation, but data are sparse. We investigated glucocorticoid levels in a native avian herbivore exposed to different intensities of ...
Impact of Horse Grazing on Floristic Diversity in Mediterranean Small Standing-Water Ecosystems (SWEs). (SWEs), despite their pivotal ecological role due to their participation in hydrogeological processes and their richness in biodiversity, seem to be often overlooked by the scientific community. In this study, the vascular plant diversity in some representative SWEs, that host a peculiar assemblage of plant and animal species, was investigated in relation to the disturbance effects of a wild horse population. A total of 50 plots, equally distributed in small and large SWEs, were surveyed and a level of disturbance was attributed to each plot. We found greater species richness in small and und...
Mesostigmata diversity by manure type: a reference study and new datasets from southwestern Iran. Manure-inhabiting Mesostigmata mites are important biological control agents of pest flies. However, the biodiversity of this mite community is mainly known from Europe and America, and especially from cattle manure. This study examined the diversity and abundance of Mesostigmata mites associated with various types of manure in an (intensive) agricultural region of the Middle East, i.e., the city Ahvaz and its suburbs, in southwest Iran. Mite samples were extracted from manure of cattle, buffalo, sheep, horse, poultry and quail in 30 livestock and poultry farms. In total, 40 species belonging ...
Equids engineer desert water availability. Megafauna play important roles in the biosphere, yet little is known about how they shape dryland ecosystems. We report on an overlooked form of ecosystem engineering by donkeys and horses. In the deserts of North America, digging of ≤2-meter wells to groundwater by feral equids increased the density of water features, reduced distances between waters, and, at times, provided the only water present. Vertebrate richness and activity were higher at equid wells than at adjacent dry sites, and, by mimicking flood disturbance, equid wells became nurseries for riparian trees. Our results suggest t...
Hooves on the Beach; Horses Disrupt the Sand Matrix and Might Alter Invertebrate Assemblages on Beaches. Beaches are under increasing pressure from a wide range of anthropogenic threats, including human trampling, vehicular crushing, and horse riding/training. The impacts of horses on beaches are unknown. We index the relative abundance, diversity and assemblage composition of beach invertebrates at paired sites with and without horses at nine beaches (locations) across Victoria, Australia. Horses were more common at sites where they were allowed and sites (horse versus no horse) within beaches were well matched, having similar slope, seaweed coverage, human and dog activity-attributes which vari...
Experimental rewilding may restore abandoned wood-pastures if policy allows. Large herbivores play key roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Continuous defaunation processes have produced cascade effects on plant community composition, vegetation structure, and even climate. Wood-pastures were created by traditional management practices that have maintained open structures and biodiversity for millennia. In Europe, despite the broad recognition of their biological importance, such landscapes are declining due to land-use changes. This calls for finding urgent solutions for wood-pasture conservation. To test whether introducing an ecological replacement of an extinct wild ho...
Horses as a Crucial Part of One Health. One Health (OH) is a crucial concept, where the interference between humans, animals and the environment matters. This review article focusses on the role of horses in maintaining the health of humans and the environment. Horses' impact on environmental health includes their influence on soil and the biodiversity of animal and plant species. Nevertheless, the effect of horses is not usually linear and several factors like plant-animal coevolutionary history, climate and animal density play significant roles. The long history of the relationship between horses and humans is shaped by the servic...
Green Assets of Equines in the European Context of the Ecological Transition of Agriculture. Despite the decline of equine populations in the middle of the 20th century, the European horse industry is growing again thanks to economic alternatives found in the diversification of the uses of equines (sports, racing, leisure, etc.). Equines have many environmental advantages, but the fragmentation of the sector and the lack of synthetic knowledge about their environmental impacts do not enable the promotion of these assets and their effective inclusion in management practices and European policies. To highlight the equine environmental impacts, a literature review was carried out to cove...
Human Relationships with Domestic and Other Animals: One Health, One Welfare, One Biology. Excessive human population growth, uncontrolled use of natural resources, including deforestation, mining, wasteful systems, biodiversity reduction by agriculture, and damaging climate change affect the existence of all animals, including humans. This discussion is now urgent and people are rethinking their links with the animals we use for clothing, food, work, companionship, entertainment, and research. The concepts of one health, one welfare, and one biology are discussed as a background to driving global change. Nothing should be exploited without considering the ethics of the action and t...
Challenges on the conservation of traditional orchards: Tree damage as an indicator of sustainable grazing. Traditional orchard meadows are among the most valuable cultural and agricultural systems for nature conservation in Europe. They comprise scattered fruit trees over a highly diverse herbaceous layer and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. However, they are strongly endangered due to farmland intensification and abandonment. Livestock grazing is known to promote grassland diversity but it may also cause tree damage through debarking. In this study, we evaluated the effect of different grazers (cattle, horse and sheep) on fruit trees in 42 traditional orchards of the Rhenish uplands (Ge...
Different effects of alpine woody plant expansion on domestic and wild ungulates. Changes in land-use and climate affect the distribution and diversity of plant and animal species at different spatiotemporal scales. The extent to which species-specific phenotypic plasticity and biotic interactions mediate organismal adaptation to changing environments, however, remains poorly understood. Woody plant expansion is threatening the extent of alpine grasslands worldwide, and evaluating and predicting its effects on herbivores is of crucial importance. Here, we explore the impact of shrubification on the feeding efficiency of Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra p. pyrenaica), as well as ...
First attempts for vitrification of immature oocytes in donkey (Equus asinus): Comparison of two vitrification methods. Most wild donkey breeds are severely threatened by poaching for meat, habitat loss, and competition with livestock for food resources. Moreover, due to the mechanization in agriculture and in transport, most domestic donkey breeds are at risk of extinction. Considering the importance of biodiversity and preservation of genetic resources, the creation of genetic banks for endangered donkey breeds is urgently needed. Cryopreservation of immature jennies oocytes would be an efficient tool to allow storage of female genetics. The aim of the present study was to establish conditions for immature do...
Decoupled ecomorphological evolution and diversification in Neogene-Quaternary horses. Evolutionary theory has long proposed a connection between trait evolution and diversification rates. In this work, we used phylogenetic methods to evaluate the relationship of lineage-specific speciation rates and the mode of evolution of body size and tooth morphology in the Neogene and Quaternary radiation of horses (7 living and 131 extinct species). We show that diversification pulses are a recurrent feature of equid evolution but that these pulses are not correlated with rapid bursts in phenotypic evolution. Instead, rapid cladogenesis seems repeatedly associated with extrinsic factors t...
Using Different Grazing Practices for Increasing Plant Biodiversity in the Dykes and Embankments Along the Rhône River (Southern France). Extensive grazing by domestic herbivores is a widespread management practice used since the 80s in many European agro-ecosystems such as semi-natural grasslands to maintain open habitats and to enhance biodiversity. Such grazing systems have principally been tested in cultural ecosystems of high nature value threatened by grazing abandonment. However, there have been few case studies of grazing management in very anthropized ecosystems, such as the new ecosystems created by urban or industrial conversions. In Southern France, the Rhône channeling for navigation and electricity production gene...
Livestock as a potential biological control agent for an invasive wetland plant. Invasive species threaten biodiversity and incur costs exceeding billions of US$. Eradication efforts, however, are nearly always unsuccessful. Throughout much of North America, land managers have used expensive, and ultimately ineffective, techniques to combat invasive Phragmites australis in marshes. Here, we reveal that Phragmites may potentially be controlled by employing an affordable measure from its native European range: livestock grazing. Experimental field tests demonstrate that rotational goat grazing (where goats have no choice but to graze Phragmites) can reduce Phragmites cover f...
Patch-scale effects of equine disturbance on arthropod assemblages and vegetation structure in subalpine wetlands. Assessments of vertebrate disturbance to plant and animal assemblages often contrast grazed versus ungrazed meadows or other larger areas of usage, and this approach can be powerful. Random sampling of such habitats carries the potential, however, for smaller, more intensely affected patches to be missed and for other responses that are only revealed at smaller scales to also escape detection. We instead sampled arthropod assemblages and vegetation structure at the patch scale (400-900 m(2) patches) within subalpine wet meadows of Yosemite National Park (USA), with the goal of determining if t...
Body mass evolution and diversification within horses (family Equidae). Horses (family Equidae) are a classic example of adaptive radiation, exhibiting a nearly 60-fold increase in maximum body mass and a peak taxonomic diversity of nearly 100 species across four continents. Such patterns are commonly attributed to niche competition, in which increased taxonomic diversity drives increased size disparity. However, neutral processes, such as macroevolutionary 'diffusion', can produce similar increases in disparity without increased diversity. Using a comprehensive database of Equidae species size estimates and a common mathematical framework, we measure the contribu...
The interacting effects of ungulate hoofprints and predatory native ants on metamorph cane toads in tropical Australia. Many invasive species exploit the disturbed habitats created by human activities. Understanding the effects of habitat disturbance on invasion success, and how disturbance interacts with other factors (such as biotic resistance to the invaders from the native fauna) may suggest new ways to reduce invader viability. In tropical Australia, commercial livestock production can facilitate invasion by the cane toad (Rhinella marina), because hoofprints left by cattle and horses around waterbody margins provide distinctive (cool, moist) microhabitats; nevertheless the same microhabitat can inhibit th...
Species’ life-history traits explain interspecific variation in reservoir competence: a possible mechanism underlying the dilution effect. Hosts species for multi-host pathogens show considerable variation in the species' reservoir competence, which is usually used to measure species' potential to maintain and transmit these pathogens. Although accumulating research has proposed a trade-off between life-history strategies and immune defences, only a few studies extended this to host species' reservoir competence. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach, we studied the relationships between some species' life-history traits and reservoir competence in three emerging infectious vector-borne disease systems, namely Lyme disease, W...
Composition of milk from minor dairy animals and buffalo breeds: a biodiversity perspective. A comprehensive review is presented of the nutrient composition for buffalo, mare, and dromedary camel milks at the level of breed, and species-level data for yak, mithun, musk ox, donkey, Bactrian camel, llama, alpaca, reindeer and moose milks. Average values of nutrients were calculated and compared. Interspecies values (g 100 g⁻¹) were 0.7-16.1 for total fat, 1.6-10.5 for protein, 2.6-6.6 for lactose, and 67.9-90.8 for water. Reindeer and moose milks had the highest fat and protein concentrations and the lowest lactose contents. Mare and donkey milks had the lowest protein and fat conten...
Alogomyces tanneri gen. et sp. nov., a chytrid in Lobulomycetales from horse manure. The order Lobulomycetales contains chytrids from soil, freshwater and marine habitats; environmental DNA sampling has indicated that representatives of this order might be found in deep ocean localities. We describe Alogomyces tanneri as the first lobulomycetalean chytrid isolated from horse manure; A. tanneri is also the first species in the order to possess a rumposome in its zoospore. This species widens the range of habitats, ultrastructural variation and thallus morphology for Lobulomycetales.
Pinus halepensis invasion in mountain pampean grassland: effects of feral horses grazing on seedling establishment. We evaluated the mechanisms that determine the increasing abundance of Pinus halepensis in mountain pampean grasslands in Argentina that is associated with the continuous presence of feral horses. We hypothesized that direct and indirect effects of feral horse grazing on grassland may affect the establishment of P. halepensis. We conducted a field experiment to evaluate this hypothesis, studying the response of seedling emergence, survival and growth to herbaceous vegetation defoliation and soil disturbance in sites with contrasting grazing histories. We also evaluated the composition and stru...