Management of feral animals can be complicated by conflicting economic, social, cultural and political values of stakeholders. To visually demonstrate the ecological impacts of feral ungulates, natural resource managers often construct exclusion fences; however, lessons are not often widely shared in the scientific literature and Indigenous insights are rarely recorded. Here, we report on long-term (7–11 years) feral buffalo and pig exclusion fences that were constructed by the Yirralka Rangers in ephemeral coastal wetlands of the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, northern Australia. Elevation transects across fence boundaries suggested that feral ungulates may be eroding floodplains and therefore reducing elevation. Comparisons of intermittent photos and contemporary inside–outside fence floristic assessments suggested that feral ungulates have an obvious and significant effect on vegetation cover and composition which may also inhibit natural soil accretion. Interviews with senior Indigenous knowledge holders revealed that feral ungulate culling was broadly supported due to impacts on cultural and spiritual values. Synthesis of the results suggested that feral ungulates are having substantial impacts on the cultural use, flora and soil stabilisation of coastal wetlands. Further research on soil erosion and accretion in places with and without ungulates will elucidate the effects of ungulates on potential sea-level rise resilience of coastal wetlands. This paper highlights the benefits of cross-cultural and collaborative multi-disciplinary research such as producing holistic outcomes relevant to stakeholders that can inform management decisions.

中文翻译：

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旧围栏地块的教训：野生有蹄类动物的生态文化影响和澳大利亚北部沿海洪泛平原海平面上升恢复能力的潜在下降

由于利益相关者之间相互冲突的经济、社会、文化和政治价值观，野生动物的管理可能会变得复杂。为了直观地展示野生有蹄类动物的生态影响，自然资源管理人员经常建造隔离围栏；然而，科学文献中通常没有广泛分享经验教训，也很少记录土著见解。在这里，我们报告了由 Yirralka Rangers 在澳大利亚北部 Laynhapuy 土著保护区的短暂沿海湿地建造的长期（7-11 年）野生水牛和猪隔离围栏。跨越围栏边界的高程横断面表明，野生有蹄类动物可能正在侵蚀泛滥平原，从而降低了高程。间歇性照片和当代围栏内外植物区系评估的比较表明，野生有蹄类动物对植被覆盖和组成有明显而显着的影响，这也可能会抑制自然土壤增生。与资深土著知识持有者的访谈显示，由于对文化和精神价值观的影响，野生有蹄类动物的扑杀得到了广泛支持。结果的综合表明，野生有蹄类动物对沿海湿地的文化利用、植物群和土壤稳定产生了重大影响。对有和没有有蹄类动物的地方土壤侵蚀和增生的进一步研究将阐明有蹄类动物对沿海湿地潜在海平面上升恢复力的影响。