Large herbivores in sagebrush steppe ecosystems: livestock and wild ungulates influence structure and function

Manier, Daniel J.; Hobbs, N. Thompson

doi:10.1007/s00442-007-0689-z

Cited by 58 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Large herbivores such as mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) have profound impacts on ecosystem structure and function (Hobbs 1996, Manier & Hobbs 2007Fornara & Du Toit 2008;Beschta & Ripple 2009;Goheen et al 2010;Allred et al 2011;Gass & Binkley 2011;Nkwabi et al 2011;Bai et al 2012), and understanding the ways in which their behaviour, individual performance and population dynamics are likely to change under future climate scenarios is crucial for effective management of ecosystems. The condition of ungulates in winter is an important determinant of future fitness because of its impact on individual body condition at the start of the breeding season (Forchhammer et al 2001;Steinheim et al 2002;Solberg et al 2007;Rodriguez-Hidalgo et al 2010;Taillon et al 2012;Hurley et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

et al. 2015

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Article (refereed) -postprintSearle, Kate R.; Rice, Mindy B.; Anderson, Charles R.; Bishop, Chad; Hobbs, N.T. 2015. Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore. Oecologia, 179 (2). 377-391. 10.1007/s00442-015-3348-9 Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. AbstractUnderstanding how spatial and temporal heterogeneity influence ecological processes forms a central challenge in ecology. Individual responses to heterogeneity shape population dynamics, therefore understanding these responses is central to sustainable population management. Emerging evidence has shown that herbivores track heterogeneity in nutritional quality of vegetation by responding to phenological differences in plants. We quantified the benefits mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) accrue from accessing habitats with asynchronous plant phenology in northwest Colorado over three years. Our analysis examined both the direct physiological and indirect environmental effects of weather and vegetation phenology on mule deer winter body condition. We identified several important effects of annual weather patterns and topographical variables on vegetation phenology in the home ranges of mule deer. Crucially, temporal patterns of vegetation phenology were linked with differences in body condition, with deer tending to show poorer body condition in areas with less asynchronous vegetation green-up and later vegetation onset. The direct physiological effect of previous winter precipitation on mule deer body condition was much less important than the indirect effect mediated by vegetation phenology. Additionally, the influence of vegetation phenology on body fat was much stronger than that of overall vegetation productivity. In summary, changing annual weather patterns, particularly in relation to seasonal precipitation, have the potential to alter body condition of this important ungulate species during the critical winter period. This finding highlights the importance of maintaining large contiguous areas of spatially and temporally variable resources to allow animals to compensate behaviourally for changing climate-driven resource patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

et al. 2015

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“…Herbivores can have a strong selective pressure on species composition and abundance in shrublands (Manier and Hobbs 2007), particularly after disturbance when regenerating plants are easily accessible and provide high levels of nutrition. Obligate seeder species that depend exclusively on their seed bank for regeneration are particularly vulnerable to seed predators, while obligate sprouting species can be heavily influenced by vegetative browsers (O'Neil and Parker 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chaparral shrub recovery after fuel reduction: a comparison of prescribed fire and mastication techniques

2010

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Fuel management techniques are commonly used in shrublands to reduce wildfire risk. However, more information about the ecological effects of these treatments is needed by managers and ecologists. In an effort to address this need, we performed a replicated (4 replicates per treatment) 48-ha experiment in northern California chaparral dominated by Adenostoma fasciculatum to determine the effects of two fuel reduction types (prescribed fire and mastication) and three different seasons of treatment (fall, winter, and spring) on shrub cover, height, and seedling density. Exclosures (2.5 m 2 each) were also used to assess herbivory effects. By the third posttreatment year, prescribed fire treatments had higher shrub cover (71 ± 2%) than mastication (43 ± 4%). There was no treatment effect on shrub height, species richness, or composition. Seedling density was initially higher in prescribed fire treatments (31 ± 4 seedlings m -2 ) than mastication (3 ± 0 seedlings m -2 ); however, prescribed fire treatments experienced substantial mortality, especially spring burning, resulting in lower densities 3 years after treatments (18 ± 0 seedlings m -2 after fall and winter fire compared to 2 ± 0 seedlings m -2 after spring fire). A. fasciculatum remained the dominant shrub species after the treatments, and Ceanothus cuneatus recruitment was higher in fall burning. Deer herbivory only affected shrub height, especially in masticated units, resulting in heights of 55 ± 2 cm in unexclosed areas compared to 66 ± 4 cm inside exclosures by the third post-treatment year. Overall, our findings suggest that fuel treatments play an important role in shrubland community dynamics, at least in the short-term, with implications for re-treatment frequency, community structure, and wildlife habitat.

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“…Heavy herbivory has been tied to reductions in the structural diversity of forest and understory strata [59,93,94], as well as replacement of native plant communities by less diverse communities dominated by introduced plant species [60,95,96]. If a large component of the herbivory is occurring in select areas of the park such as grasslands, then there may be an assumption that the entire park is being heavily grazed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Economic Carrying Capacity for an Ungulate Guild in Western Canada

Kuzyk¹,

Cool²,

Bork³

et al. 2009

TOCONSBJ

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Elk Island National Park in western Canada provides an ideal case study for an economic carrying capacity estimate because it supports high density of four species of ungulates (11/km 2 ), lacks large predators, and is enclosed by a 2.1-meter mesh fence. This high density of ungulates has created persistent management challenges by altering vegetation structure and community composition. Using linear programming, we explored optimal allocation of forage resources for bison (Bison bison bison), moose (Alces andersoni), wapiti (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) and deer (Odocoileus virginianus and O. hemionus) to maximize ungulate biomass and numbers, when constrained by use of the major forage classes and minimum viable populations (MVP) of those ungulate species that do not cross the boundary fence (bison and wapiti). Maximum numbers of animals were achieved by a stocking combination dominated by deer and bison, whereas maximum biomass was attained when bison and moose were abundant but deer were absent. Wapiti remained at MVP during all solutions. Optimal solutions consistent with current ungulate densities were associated with 7 to 11% forage removal. This is less than normally assumed for sustainable forage use, and may reflect the need to account for other biotic and abiotic losses to forage in carrying capacity models for which ungulate densities can be constrained by availability of a preferred forage class (e.g., grass) as well as forage quality. This research extends the conventional animal-unit concept to multispecies systems and provides templates based on forage biomass allocation for resource managers facing similar problems of joint stocking in different environments.

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Large herbivores in sagebrush steppe ecosystems: livestock and wild ungulates influence structure and function

Cited by 58 publications

References 52 publications

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

Chaparral shrub recovery after fuel reduction: a comparison of prescribed fire and mastication techniques

Estimating Economic Carrying Capacity for an Ungulate Guild in Western Canada

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