Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology awarded $339,560 to the University of California, Davis under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to support years 31-35 of the Kenya Long-Term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE), a controlled experimental study examining ecosystem resilience in savanna rangelands. The award, effective May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2031, funds research that evaluates the separate and combined effects of livestock, wildlife, fire, and drought on rangeland ecosystem stability and the coexistence dynamics between domesticated cattle and wild megafauna (elephants and giraffes) and mesoherbivores. The research utilizes semi-permeable barriers to create six replicated treatment conditions and employs molecular techniques and remote sensing technology to assess the impacts of herbivory, drought, and fertilization on rangeland vegetation and ecosystem function.

This long-term research initiative generates critical baseline data and scientific knowledge to inform conservation, management, and restoration practices for rangelands globally, with particular relevance to U.S. rangeland ecosystems undergoing megafauna reintroduction efforts. The project strengthens the scientific enterprise through career development of early-career researchers and graduate students, provides stakeholder outreach, and advances understanding of how defaunation and multiple environmental stressors interact to affect ecosystem resilience—a gap in experimental research that this longitudinal study is uniquely positioned to address.