Soil response to canopy position and feral pig disturbance beneath Quercus agrifolia on Santa Cruz Island, California

Moody, Aaron; Jones, Julia A.

doi:10.1016/s0929-1393(00)00053-6

Cited by 35 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…In spite of significant soil disturbance-up to 33% of the area rooted every winter-boar rooting in our system reduced only soil compaction. Our findings, while surprising, are consistent with previous studies that showed idiosyncratic effects of rooting on soil properties and processes (Singer et al 1984, Groot Bruinderink and Hazebroek 1996, Moody and Jones 2000, Cushman et al 2004, Mohr et al 2005, Tierney and Cushman 2006, Siemann et al 2009). Two mechanisms might explain the absence of response of soil properties to rooting disturbance: soil resilience and the temporal scale.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Disparate responses of above‐ and belowground properties to soil disturbance by an invasive mammal

2014

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Abstract. Introduced mammalian herbivores can negatively affect ecosystem structure and function if they introduce a novel disturbance to an ecosystem. For example, belowground foraging herbivores that bioturbate the soil, may alter process rates and community composition in ecosystems that lack native belowground mammalian foragers. Wild boar (Sus scrofa) disturb the soil system and plant community via their rooting behavior in their native range. Given their size and the numbers in their populations, this disturbance can be significant in forested ecosystems. Recently, wild boar were introduced to Patagonian forests lacking native mammalian herbivores that forage belowground. To explore how introduced wild boar might alter forested ecosystems, we conducted a large-scale wild boar exclusion experiment in three different forest types (Austroducedrus chilensis forest, Nothofagus dombeyi forest, and shrublands). Wild boar presence altered plant composition and structure, reducing plant biomass 3.8-fold and decreasing both grass and herb cover relative to areas where wild boar were excluded. Decomposition rates and soil compaction also declined by 5% in areas where boar had access; however, rooting had no effect on soil nutrient stocks and cycling. Interestingly, there were no differences in wild boar impacts on different forest types. We found that after 3-years of exclusion, belowground foraging by wild boar had a larger impact on plant community structure and biomass than it did on soil nutrient processes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Disparate responses of above‐ and belowground properties to soil disturbance by an invasive mammal

2014

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“…In a fouryear experiment, Cushman et al (2004) found no evidence for an effect of pig disturbances on ammonium and nitrate pools and mineralization rates at our Salt Point study site. Similarly, Moody and Jones (2000) found no correlation between pig disturbances and changes in soil pH, moisture, nitrogen pools and total carbon for oak savannas on Santa Cruz Island, off the coast of southern California. In contrast, Kotanen (1997a) found that simulated disturbances in a coastal grassland in northern California had greater ammonium levels than undisturbed areas, although there was no effect for nitrate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Fewer studies have explored the influence of pig disturbances on soil characteristics, and results have been quite variable. For example, Singer (1984) found that pig disturbances in montane forests of the southeastern U.S. were associated with elevated nitrate levels, whereas Moody and Jones (2000) and Cushman et al (2004) found no such effects in grasslands and oak woodlands in California.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Changes in Native and Exotic Vegetation and Soil Characteristics following Disturbances by Feral Pigs in a California Grassland

Tierney

Cushman

2006

Biol Invasions

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Invasive species that increase prevailing disturbance regimes can profoundly alter the composition and structure of ecosystems they invade. Using both comparative and manipulative approaches, we investigated how native and exotic vegetation and soil characteristics at a coastal grassland site in northern California changed through time following disturbances by feral pigs (Sus scrofa). We quantified these successional changes by comparing pig disturbances of varying ages (2, 14, 26+, and 60+ months) during the spring and early summer of 2001. Our results indicate that species richness of native plants increased slowly but steadily through time following disturbances, whereas richness of exotic species rebounded much more rapidly. Percent cover of native perennial grasses also increased steadily through time after pig disturbance, whereas the cover of exotic perennial grasses, annual grasses and forbs initially increased rapidly after disturbance and then remained the same or subsided slightly with time. The cover of native forbs and bulbs either increased weakly through time following disturbance or did not change substantially. Pools of ammonium and nitrate in the soil did not change greatly through time following pig disturbance. Net mineralization rates for ammonium and nitrate also varied little with age since disturbance, although we did find that nitrate mineralization was greater at intermediate ages in one study. Neither organic matter content or particle size varied significantly with disturbance age. In summary, we have shown that native and exotic plants from different functional groups vary greatly in how they recovered from pig disturbances. Exotic taxa were generally able to rapidly colonize and persist in pig disturbances, whereas native taxa usually exhibited a slow but steady rebounding following pig disturbance. Given our results, and those of others from nearby sites, we suggest that the health of coastal grasslands may be enhanced substantially by eliminating or greatly reducing the size of feral pig populations.

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“…Several studies have investigated soil C and nutrient availability and/or mineralization on grubbed and non-grubbed soil. They have found positive (Singer et al 1984), neutral (Groot Bruinderink andHazebroek 1996;Moody and Jones 2000;Cushman et al 2004;Mohr et al 2005;Tierney and Cushman 2006) or negative (Mohr and Topp 2001) eVects of wild boar grubbing in oak/oak-beech forests and grassland ecosystems as well as positive eVects of grizzly bear digging on NH 4 + -N and NO 3 ¡ -N availability in subalpine meadows (TardiV and Stanford 1998). Two of the studies listed above also provided data on microbial biomass (Mohr and Topp 2001;Mohr et al 2005) showing lower values for grubbed compared to nongrubbed loamy soils of dry oak forests located in the western part of Germany.…”

Section: Grubbing Evects On Soil Co 2 Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grubbing involves breaking through the vegetation and typically mixes the top 15-70 cm of the litter and mineral soil (Imeson 1977;Genov 1981;Kotanen 1995). Consequently, wild boars, like other bioturbators, strongly aVect soil physical, chemical and biological properties (review in Gabet et al 2003;Singer et al 1984;Lacki and Lancia 1986;Groot Bruinderink and Hazebroek 1996;Moody and Jones 2000;Sierra 2001;Mohr et al 2005), and have the potential to exert a considerable impact on the amount of CO 2 released from the soil.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Grubbing by wild boars (Sus scrofa L.) and its impact on hardwood forest soil carbon dioxide emissions in Switzerland

et al. 2010

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Interest in soil C storage and release has increased in recent years. In addition to factors such as climate/land-use change, vertebrate animals can have a considerable impact on soil CO(2) emissions. To date, most research has considered herbivores, while the impact of omnivorous animals has rarely been investigated. Our goal was to determine how European wild boars (Sus scrofa L.), large omnivores that consume soil-inhabiting animals and belowground plant parts by grubbing in the soil, affect soil C dynamics. We measured soil respiration (CO(2)), temperature, and moisture on paired grubbed and non-grubbed plots in six hardwood forest stands for a 3-year period and sampled fine root and microbial biomass at the beginning and after 2 years of the study. We also measured the percentage of freshly disturbed forest soil within the larger surroundings of each stand and used this information together with hunting statistics and forest cover data to model the total amount of CO(2) released from Swiss forest soils due to grubbing during 1 year. Soil CO(2) emissions were significantly higher on grubbed compared to non-grubbed plots during the study. On average 23.1% more CO(2) was released from these plots, which we associated with potential alterations in CO(2) diffusion rates, incorporation of litter into the mineral soil and higher fine root/microbial biomass. Thus, wild boars considerably increased the small-scale heterogeneity of soil properties. Roughly 1% of Switzerland's surface area is similar to our sites (boar density/forest cover). Given the range of forest soil disturbance of 27-54% at our sites, the geographic information system model predicted that boar grubbing would lead to the release of an additional 49,731.10-98,454.74 t CO(2) year(-1). These values are relatively small compared to total soil emissions estimated for Swiss hardwood forests and suggest that boars will have little effect on large-scale emissions unless their numbers increase and their range expands dramatically.

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Soil response to canopy position and feral pig disturbance beneath Quercus agrifolia on Santa Cruz Island, California

Cited by 35 publications

References 27 publications

Disparate responses of above‐ and belowground properties to soil disturbance by an invasive mammal

Disparate responses of above‐ and belowground properties to soil disturbance by an invasive mammal

Temporal Changes in Native and Exotic Vegetation and Soil Characteristics following Disturbances by Feral Pigs in a California Grassland

Grubbing by wild boars (Sus scrofa L.) and its impact on hardwood forest soil carbon dioxide emissions in Switzerland

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