Legacy effects of livestock grazing on vegetation of an arid landscape exist more than 30 years after livestock were excluded

Introduction: Globally, livestock grazing is key driver of vegetation degradation in arid rangelands. This degradation tends to be most severe near artificial water points which are focal points for livestock activity. Conservation reserves have been established on former rangelands, however, the timeframes for vegetation recovery following the cessation of livestock grazing are poorly understood. 
Objectives: To assess changes in rangeland vegetation structure and composition following long term herbivore exclusion to inform understanding of the timeframes required for rangeland vegetation recovery. 
Methods: We quantified recovery of vegetation following the removal of livestock in an Australian arid rangeland by comparing vegetation structure and composition inside and outside of herbivore exclosures that had been established for 36 years and were situated along gradients of distance from water. 
Results: Inside of long-term exclosures, vegetation cover was higher and ..., Study location:
This study was undertaken at Fowlers Gap Research Station, NSW, Australia. Data were collected from 20/11/2021 to 3/12/2021 in Chenopod shrubland within four long term sheep paddocks. Each paddock had a single water point and four 20 x 20 m sheep and kangaroo exclosure fences located at increasing distances from the water point. These fences were built for a previous study in 1986.
Ground layer vegetation structure and floristics:
Vegetation was measured inside 16 pairs of 20 x 20m plots that had excluded livestock for 36 years or been continuously exposed to livestock in that time. Height (10 point samples) and growth form cover (100 point samples) were measured at regular points along five random transects within plots. The density of plant species was measured in four sub-plots using nine concentric nested quadrats ranging from 1/6m2 to 16m2.
Landsat seasonal fractional vegetation cover (SFVC):
The seasonal fractional vegetation cover Image series of the study area fr..., , # Legacy effects of livestock grazing on vegetation of an arid landscape exist more than 30 years after livestock were excluded

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jh9w0vtnk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jh9w0vtnk)

## Description of the data and file structure

This data were collected to examine recovery of vegetation inside and outside of herbivore exclosures established 36 years prior that were situated along gradients of distance from water in arid Australia (Fowlers Gap, Nov 2021). We predicted that species richness and the cover, height of vegetation and the abundance of individual species would increase with increasing distance from water outside of exclosures and be greater inside of exclosures. Our criterion for vegetation recovery to have occurred was that the height, density, cover and species richness of vegetation inside of the exclosures would not vary with distance from water and be at similar levels to plots outside of exclosures that were situated distant from water. Our ..., ,