Equivalence in the strength of deer herbivory on above and below ground communities

Single and interactive effects of deer and earthworms on non-native plants

“…Similarly, earthworm depletion of top soil layers (O horizon) may lead to nutrient pulses that benefit B. thunbergii growth. Furthermore, deer and earthworm impacts on soil microbial communities may indirectly alter above-and below-ground trophic interactions (Bardgett et al, 1998;Eisenhauer et al, 2011;Lessard et al, 2012;Dempsey et al, 2013;Kardol et al, 2014). In addition, both deer and earthworms have detrimental effects on native understory plant communities (Côté et al, 2004;Hale et al, 2006), likely reducing competition with palatable plant species and favoring growth of non-palatable B. thunbergii.…”

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

“…Although the influence of ungulates is most pronounced on aboveground biota (e.g., plants, invertebrates, birds), their direct/indirect effects on belowground biota (e.g., microbes and invertebrates) has also been reported (Côté et al, 2004;Hédl et al, 2010;Rooney and Waller, 2003;Wardle, 2002Wardle, , 2006). An overabundance of ungulates has negative effects on the decomposer community (Wallace, 1987;Sørensen et al, 2009;Gass and Binkley, 2011;Niwa et al, 2011), worsens topsoil physics Gass and Binkley, 2011), reduces litter accumulation (Wakahara et al, 2008;Lessard et al, 2012;Heckel et al, 2010), and potentially changes litter decomposition rates (Wardle, 2002). In addition, succession of aboveground vegetation usually homogenizes the forest http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.06.028 0378-1127/Ó 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.…”

Ungulate browsing causes species loss in deciduous forests independent of community dynamics and silvicultural management in Central and Southeastern Europe

“…These indirect effects are wide-ranging, including songbirds (Allombert et al 2005), wildcat populations (Lozano et al 2007), insect populations (Brousseau et al 2013), and even belowground communities (Lessard et al 2012). It is inherently diffi cult to include other organisms in grid-based inventories and therefore ecosystem perspectives have not been suffi ciently recognized in the past.…”

“…Among disturbances, browsing by ungulates has direct effects on the establishment and maintenance of plant species and indirect effects on other organisms (Lessard et al 2012). The consequences of this disturbance regime are closely related to forest ecosystem resilience and thus of particular importance for forest management.…”

“…However, forest managers are not independent in their decisions, as deer management depends on hunters, who lease properties across boarders to reach the legally required minimum hunting area. Present strategies (mainly hunting for trophies; Crişan 1994, Gautschi 2010, and the improved food supply with high yielding crops in agriculture and with feeding of deer in forests in winter caused an increasing deer population globally (Milner et al 2007), which would impact not only tree diversity, but result also in cascading impacts on other animal taxa (Lessard et al 2012, Côté et al 2004.…”