Getting better with age: Lessons from the Kenya Kong-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE)

Authors: YOUNG, TRUMAN - University Of California, Davis; RIGINOS, CORINNA - The Nature Conservancy; KIMUYU, DUNCAN - Karatina University; VEBLEN, KARL - Utah State University; Porensky, Lauren; ODADL, WILFRED - Egerton University; SENSENIG, RYAN - University Of Notre Dame

Submitted to: Ecology Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE) was established in 1995 in a semi-arid savanna rangeland in central Kenya. For nearly thirty years, the experiment has examined the effects of livestock, wildlife, and megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes) on their shared environment and on each other. Here, we outline some of the lessons learned and summarize three ways that KLEE exemplifies the value of long-term studies. First, a long timeline has allowed reserachers to identify experimental effects that take a many years to express themselves, such as slow plant community shifts. Second, measurements over multiple drought-rainy cycles facilitated an understanding of the effects of different years, especially multiple droughts, which led to both short-term oscillations and long-term directional change. Third, the long-term experiment unintentionally captured signatures of systemic, anthropogenic changes in the broader landscape, such as increasing elephant densities. Across all aspects of a long-term study such as this one, there is a need to incorporate both consistency and flexibility to ensure deeper understanding.

Technical Abstract: The Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE) was established in 1995 in a semi-arid savanna rangeland on the Laikipia Plateau to examine the separate and combined effects of livestock, wildlife, and megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes) on their shared environment and on each other. The long-term nature of this experiment also allowed us to measure these effects and related questions of stability and resilience in the context of multiple drought-rainy cycles. Here we outline some of the lessons learned over the last 29 years. In particular, we summarize three ways that KLEE exemplifies the value of long-term studies: 1) identifying experimental effects that take a many years to express themselves, 2) quantifying the effects of different years, especially multiple droughts, and 3) capturing time periods long enough to see the signature of systemic, anthropogenic change in the broader landscape. Across all aspects of a long-term study such as this one, there is a need to incorporate both consistency and flexibility to ensure deeper understanding.