Combined effects of gap creation and deer exclusion on restoration of belowground systems of secondary woodlands: A field experiment in warm-temperate monsoon Asia

Suzuki, Maki; Ito, Emiko

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2014.06.028

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…4d). These results corroborate research on white-tailed deer and sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) effects on litter biomass in Virginia, USA, and on the Boso Peninsula, Japan, respectively (Bressette, Beck & Beauchamp 2012;Suzuki & Ito 2014). Our findings are also consistent with other studies on Isle Royale, where McInnes et al (1992) found that litter C and N availability was directly correlated with plant biomass.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Moose directly slow plant regeneration but have limited indirect effects on soil stoichiometry and litter decomposition rates in disturbed maritime boreal forests

Ellis

Leroux

2017

Functional Ecology

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Summary Foraging decisions by herbivores are modulated by physiological demands for nutrients and these decisions can influence the biomass, abundance and dynamics of plant species with consequences on key ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling and decomposition. Some studies have found that large browser populations can reduce the abundance of nutrient‐rich preferred species, promoting the dominance of nutrient‐poor non‐preferred species. This can have indirect effects on soil nutrient concentrations, soil microbe community composition and above‐ground invertebrates and birds that depend on nutrient‐rich plant species. However, very little research has compared the impact of biotic and abiotic features on nutrient cycling and decomposition in areas of high moose density. We performed a field study to test the generality of moose effects on forest ecosystems observed in iconic study systems such as Isle Royale. Specifically, we used 10 paired moose exclosure and control plots to test the effects of moose on plant community characteristics, litter fall quantity, soil properties and litter decomposition rates in regenerating disturbed forests in Newfoundland, Canada. We found evidence that moose reduce plant height and plant litter biomass, thereby affecting the quantity of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus available in litter fall with potential indirect effects on soil pH and soil depth. However, we found no evidence that the direct effects of moose lead to indirect effects on soil quality, soil moisture and litter decomposition rates. Disturbance regime and site explained a large portion of the variance in plant community characteristics, litter fall quantity, soil properties and litter decomposition. Our results suggest that while introduced moose in Newfoundland have measurable direct influence on plant regeneration and litter fall biomass, other factors such as disturbance history and climate may be more important predictors of landscape‐scale variation in soil quality and litter decomposition rates. Our study suggests a need for further development of theory to predict the relative contribution of biotic vs. abiotic effects on nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12785/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Moose directly slow plant regeneration but have limited indirect effects on soil stoichiometry and litter decomposition rates in disturbed maritime boreal forests

Ellis

Leroux

2017

Functional Ecology

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“…In contrast, the occurrence probability of aboveground plants was stable along the gradient of canopy openness, regardless of grazing (Table 1). This result is partly supported by a previous finding by Suzuki & Ito 57 , who showed that terrestrial plant species richness is influenced to a greater degree by ungulate grazing versus canopy gap creation in areas of high ungulate density. Even if the occurrence probably in the seed bank under canopy (2020) 10:1802 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58672-6…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Interaction exposure effects of multiple disturbances: plant population resilience to ungulate grazing is reduced by creation of canopy gaps

Shinoda

Akasaka

2020

Sci Rep

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The impact of multiple disturbances on populations could be synergistic or antagonistic via disturbance interaction and are considered to be provoked by alternation of the impact of an ecosystem disturbance due to the effect of a preceding disturbance. The impact of a focal disturbance can also change when a preceding disturbance alters the proportion of individuals in a population exposed to these disturbances (i.e., interaction exposure effects), although this effect has not been addressed to date. Herein, we propose and test interaction exposure effects by elucidating disturbance interactions between canopy gap formation and ungulate grazing. Based on a vegetation and seed bank survey conducted on an island in Hokkaido, northern Japan, we examined whether canopy openness changes the impact of ungulate grazing on the occurrence probability of palatable plant species through the facilitation of germination. Species occurrence in the seed bank significantly decreased with increasing canopy openness under the presence of grazing; however, it slightly increased under the absence of grazing, suggesting that gap creation, which facilitates germination, exposes the seed bank to ungulate grazing. Because disturbances of various types often modify the habitat structure, these proposed disturbance interactions are expected to operate within various ecosystems and taxa. An understanding of the impacts of disturbances on ecosystems is indispensable for comprehending the persistence of populations 1-3. Climate change and increasing pressures from human development have increased disturbance frequency; therefore, it is more likely that ecosystems will be exposed to multiple co-occurring disturbances 4,5 that could severely impact these environments 6-8. Therefore, the interacting effects of multiple disturbances on populations should be understood to help predict the fate of ecosystems 4,9. The population impact of multiple disturbances may be larger or smaller than the sum of the impacts of respective individual disturbances 4,10-14. These cumulative or antagonistic impacts have been attributed to two types of interaction effects: interaction chain effects (linked disturbances in the context of Buma et al. 5) and interaction modification effects 4,9. Within the interaction chain effects, the total impact of disturbances on a population is altered by the indirect effects of a supportive disturbance to the strength and/or extent of main disturbances 15-17 (Fig. 1a), e.g., a typical example of an interaction chain effect would be enhanced severity of a forest fire within a severely blown-down forest 16. Within interaction modification effects, indirect effect(s) of supportive disturbance(s) on main disturbances modifies the per capita impact of the main disturbance 18,19 (Fig. 1b). An example of interaction modification effects is that of savanna fires reducing the resistance of tree trunks to hurricanes, as rapid tree growth following fires results in low wood density 18. Although both interaction chain and modification effec...

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“…However, deadwood is important for the conservation of many species, and saproxylic fungi and beetles in particular (Stokland et al, 2012). At the same time, human management aimed at the extirpation of large carnivores (Chapron et al, 2014) together with the strict regulation of culling (Apollonio et al, 2010) has led to an overabundance of cervids, which have thus become significant ecosystem drivers in Europe (Putman, 1992), Asia (Suzuki and Ito, 2014) and North America (Côté et al, 2004). In Europe, roe deer are distributed across most of the continent (Andersen et al, 1998), inhabiting agricultural landscapes as well as forests, where they are often found at high population densities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deadwood retention in forests lowers short-term browsing pressure on silver fir saplings by overabundant deer

Hagge

Müller

Bässler

et al. 2019

Forest Ecology and Management

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Humans have widely extirpated large carnivores and simultaneously promoted overabundance of deer. The intense pressure imposed by these herbivores in forests has led to extremely low rates of natural forest regeneration. In natural old-growth forests, deadwood functions as a key driver of biodiversity and promotes ecosystem functioning, such as water retention and nutrient recycling. An as yet unappreciated function of deadwood is its ability to act as a physical barrier, excluding large herbivores from given patches and thereby reducing browsing pressure.However, this benefit may be minimized by an increase in rodent herbivory in the sheltered patches. In this study, a field experiment was conducted in a total of 384 plots in which tree crowns (0-4) from logging residuals were used as increasingly dense physical barriers to shelter five newly planted saplings of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.). Generalized linear mixed-effects models were applied to determine whether sapling browsing by roe deer and rodents was differentially affected by these barriers. The probability of roe deer browsing decreased from 26% (no crowns) to 2% (4 crowns) while that of rodent browsing increased from 1% to 17%, respectively, as the number of deadwood crowns used in barrier construction increased. In broadleaf stands, browsing by roe deer and rodents was generally higher than in coniferous stands. In forests with high numbers of visitors, browsing by roe deer was reduced, but browsing by rodents was not influenced. The retention of large amounts of deadwood or active deadwood increments may thus provide an effective barrier to roe deer browsing but promote the browsing activity of rodents. The landscape-level heterogeneity of browsing patterns associated with the presence of deadwood suggests that deadwood shelters in homogenized forests may encourage both natural forest regeneration and forest biodiversity, despite an overabundance of roe deer.

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Combined effects of gap creation and deer exclusion on restoration of belowground systems of secondary woodlands: A field experiment in warm-temperate monsoon Asia

Cited by 29 publications

References 43 publications

Moose directly slow plant regeneration but have limited indirect effects on soil stoichiometry and litter decomposition rates in disturbed maritime boreal forests

Moose directly slow plant regeneration but have limited indirect effects on soil stoichiometry and litter decomposition rates in disturbed maritime boreal forests

Interaction exposure effects of multiple disturbances: plant population resilience to ungulate grazing is reduced by creation of canopy gaps

Deadwood retention in forests lowers short-term browsing pressure on silver fir saplings by overabundant deer

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