Bottom‐up versus top‐down control of tree regeneration in the Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland

Kuijper, Dries P. J.; Cromsigt, Joris P. G. M.; Jędrzejewska, Bogumiła; Miścicki, Stanisław; Churski, Marcin; Jędrzejewski, Włodzimierz; Kweczlich, Iwona

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2010.01656.x

Cited by 140 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(103 reference statements)

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“…In addition to field layer within stands, field layer and shrub layer within forests surrounding targeted stands were negatively related to damage level on a landscape scale. These results support the hypothesis that availability of alternative forage is a key factor that must be considered when evaluating effects of deer browsing on commercial plants and native vegetation (Reimoser and Gossow 1996, Kuijper et al 2010, Garrido et al 2014. Our results also comply with studies requesting that landscape composition and land use practices should be given higher priority in the study of damage caused by deer (Kuijper 2011, Putman et al 2011a.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Managing landscapes for multiple objectives: alternative forage can reduce the conflict between deer and forestry

Jarnemo¹,

Minderman²,

Zidar³

et al. 2014

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Deer (Cervidae) cause considerable damage to forest plantations, crops, and protected habitats.The most common response to this damage is to implement strategies to lower population densities. However, lowering deer density may not always be desirable from hunting, recreational, or conservation perspectives. Therefore, knowledge is needed about additional factors beyond deer density that affect damage levels, and management actions that consider competing management goals. We studied the relationships between levels of bark-stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) on Norway spruce (Picea abies) and (1) relative deer density indices (pellet group count and deer harvest data), (2) availability of alternative natural forage (cover of forage species) and (3) proportion forest in the landscape, both at a forest stand scale and at a landscape scale. Extensive variation in damage level was evident between the six study areas. On a stand scale, the proportion of spruce damaged was positively related to pellet group density, indicating the importance of local deer usage of stands. In addition, available alternative forage in the field layer within spruce stands and proportion forest surrounding stands was negatively related to damage level. On the landscape scale, damage level was negatively related to availability of forage in the field and shrub layers and proportion forest, but was not related to any of the relative deer density indices. Increasing alternative forage may thus decrease damage and thereby reduce conflicts. Additionally, the proportion of forest in the landscape affects damage levels and should thus be considered in landscape planning and when forecasting damage risk. The relationship between local deer usage of stands and damage level suggests that future studies should try to separate the effects of local deer usage and deer density.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Managing landscapes for multiple objectives: alternative forage can reduce the conflict between deer and forestry

Jarnemo¹,

Minderman²,

Zidar³

et al. 2014

Ecosphere

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“…Modern large herbivore communities reach their highest densities and diversities at sites of high soil fertility, due to high food quantity and quality (99,100). Plant traits confirm this pattern because woody species in fertile areas defend themselves heavily with thorns or tolerate herbivory through rapid growth, indicating adaptations to high browsing pressure (35,47,101,102). Similarly, during the Last Interglacial, open vegetation was found in European lowlands whereas less fertile uplands were more wooded, suggesting a larger herbivore impact in fertile habitats (Table 1) (82).…”

Section: Under What Conditions Would Pleistocene Large Herbivore Assementioning

confidence: 52%

Combining paleo-data and modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of megafauna extinctions on woody vegetation

Bakker

Gill

Johnson

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

312

299

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Until recently in Earth history, very large herbivores (mammoths, ground sloths, diprotodons, and many others) occurred in most of the World's terrestrial ecosystems, but the majority have gone extinct as part of the late-Quaternary extinctions. How has this large-scale removal of large herbivores affected landscape structure and ecosystem functioning? In this review, we combine paleo-data with information from modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of large herbivores (and their disappearance) on woody species, landscape structure, and ecosystem functions. In modern landscapes characterized by intense herbivory, woody plants can persist by defending themselves or by association with defended species, can persist by growing in places that are physically inaccessible to herbivores, or can persist where high predator activity limits foraging by herbivores. At the landscape scale, different herbivore densities and assemblages may result in dynamic gradients in woody cover. The late-Quaternary extinctions were natural experiments in large-herbivore removal; the paleoecological record shows evidence of widespread changes in community composition and ecosystem structure and function, consistent with modern exclosure experiments. We propose a conceptual framework that describes the impact of large herbivores on woody plant abundance mediated by herbivore diversity and density, predicting that herbivore suppression of woody plants is strongest where herbivore diversity is high. We conclude that the decline of large herbivores induces major alterations in landscape structure and ecosystem functions.browsers | ecosystem functions | herbivore diversity | landscape structure | megaherbivore During the late Quaternary, megafaunas were drastically reduced in most regions (1, 2), representing the start of an ongoing trophic downgrading that has resulted in the loss of entire functional guilds and relaxation of top-down control in today's ecosystems (3). A high proportion of the large herbivores that have survived into the Anthropocene (4) are now drastically reduced in range and abundance, rendering them functionally extinct, or have been replaced by livestock in much of their historic ranges (5-8). How has this loss of wild-living large herbivores affected landscape structure and ecosystem functioning?Contemporary large herbivores have strong effects on the abundance of woody species, plant diversity, nutrient cycling, and other biota (9). Most likely, the ecological effects of preextinction herbivores were as large, possibly much more so given the great size and diversity of the lost large herbivore assemblages (10, 11). We hypothesize that Pleistocene herbivore assemblages, including large and megaherbivore browsers, would have greatly reduced woody plant abundance and altered species composition and landscape structure, if present at sufficient densities. We review the impact of large herbivores (≥45 kg in body weight) on woody vegetation, with a focus on megaherbivores (≥1,000 kg), and combine information from ...

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“…The maintenance of sustainable wild, native ungulate populations is thus an important mechanism in both the conservation and restoration of forest ecosystems. However, many interacting factors affect forest composition besides browsing, and successful germination, survival and growth of seedlings are also influenced by seed predation, competition within and between tree species and weather conditions (Kuijper et al 2010;Nopp-Mayr et al 2012, Cailleret et al 2014, Leonardsson et al 2015. Effective and scientifically sound management of well-integrated ungulate-forest ecosystems should be based on inferences from welldesigned research and monitoring.…”

Section: The Role Of Ungulates In Forest Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

et al. 2017

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Wildlife management systems face growing challenges to cope with increasingly complex interactions between wildlife populations, the environment and human activities. In this position statement, we address the most important issues characterising current ungulate conservation and management in Europe. We present some key points arising from ecological research that may be critical for a reassessment of ungulate management in the future.

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Bottom‐up versus top‐down control of tree regeneration in the Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland

Cited by 140 publications

References 74 publications

Managing landscapes for multiple objectives: alternative forage can reduce the conflict between deer and forestry

Managing landscapes for multiple objectives: alternative forage can reduce the conflict between deer and forestry

Combining paleo-data and modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of megafauna extinctions on woody vegetation

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

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