Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment
Herbivory is one of the key drivers shaping plant community dynamics. Herbivores can strongly influence plant productivity directly through defoliation and the return of nutrients in the form of dung and urine, but also indirectly by reducing the abundance of neighbouring plants and inducing changes...
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crwiley:10.1111/oik.06310 2024-09-30T14:31:49+00:00 Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment Barthelemy, Hélène Dorrepaal, Ellen Olofsson, Johan 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/oik.06310 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Foik.06310 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/oik.06310 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/oik.06310 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Oikos volume 128, issue 10, page 1515-1524 ISSN 0030-1299 1600-0706 journal-article 2019 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.06310 2024-09-05T05:03:47Z Herbivory is one of the key drivers shaping plant community dynamics. Herbivores can strongly influence plant productivity directly through defoliation and the return of nutrients in the form of dung and urine, but also indirectly by reducing the abundance of neighbouring plants and inducing changes in soil processes. However, the relative importance of these processes is poorly understood. We, therefore, established a common garden experiment to study plant responses to defoliation, dung addition, moss cover, and the soil legacy of reindeer grazing. We used an arctic tundra grazed by reindeer as our study system, and Festuca ovina , a common grazing‐tolerant grass species as the model species. The soil legacy of reindeer grazing had the strongest effect on plants, and resulted in higher growth in soils originating from previously heavily‐grazed sites. Defoliation also had a strong effect and reduced shoot and root growth and nutrient uptake. Plants did not fully compensate for the tissue lost due to defoliation, even when nutrient availability was high. In contrast, defoliation enhanced plant nitrogen concentrations. Dung addition increased plant production, nitrogen concentrations and nutrient uptake, although the effect was fairly small. Mosses also had a positive effect on aboveground plant production as long as the plants were not defoliated. The presence of a thick moss layer reduced plant growth following defoliation. This study demonstrates that grasses, even though they suffer from defoliation, can tolerate high densities of herbivores when all aspects of herbivores on ecosystems are taken into account. Our results further show that the positive effect of herbivores on plant growth via changes in soil properties is essential for plants to cope with a high grazing pressure. The strong effect of the soil legacy of reindeer grazing reveals that herbivores can have long‐lasting effects on plant productivity and ecosystem functioning after grazing has ceased. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Tundra Wiley Online Library Arctic Oikos 128 10 1515 1524 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Herbivory is one of the key drivers shaping plant community dynamics. Herbivores can strongly influence plant productivity directly through defoliation and the return of nutrients in the form of dung and urine, but also indirectly by reducing the abundance of neighbouring plants and inducing changes in soil processes. However, the relative importance of these processes is poorly understood. We, therefore, established a common garden experiment to study plant responses to defoliation, dung addition, moss cover, and the soil legacy of reindeer grazing. We used an arctic tundra grazed by reindeer as our study system, and Festuca ovina , a common grazing‐tolerant grass species as the model species. The soil legacy of reindeer grazing had the strongest effect on plants, and resulted in higher growth in soils originating from previously heavily‐grazed sites. Defoliation also had a strong effect and reduced shoot and root growth and nutrient uptake. Plants did not fully compensate for the tissue lost due to defoliation, even when nutrient availability was high. In contrast, defoliation enhanced plant nitrogen concentrations. Dung addition increased plant production, nitrogen concentrations and nutrient uptake, although the effect was fairly small. Mosses also had a positive effect on aboveground plant production as long as the plants were not defoliated. The presence of a thick moss layer reduced plant growth following defoliation. This study demonstrates that grasses, even though they suffer from defoliation, can tolerate high densities of herbivores when all aspects of herbivores on ecosystems are taken into account. Our results further show that the positive effect of herbivores on plant growth via changes in soil properties is essential for plants to cope with a high grazing pressure. The strong effect of the soil legacy of reindeer grazing reveals that herbivores can have long‐lasting effects on plant productivity and ecosystem functioning after grazing has ceased. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barthelemy, Hélène Dorrepaal, Ellen Olofsson, Johan |
spellingShingle |
Barthelemy, Hélène Dorrepaal, Ellen Olofsson, Johan Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
author_facet |
Barthelemy, Hélène Dorrepaal, Ellen Olofsson, Johan |
author_sort |
Barthelemy, Hélène |
title |
Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
title_short |
Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
title_full |
Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
title_fullStr |
Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
title_sort |
defoliation of a grass is mediated by the positive effect of dung deposition, moss removal and enhanced soil nutrient contents: results from a reindeer grazing simulation experiment |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/oik.06310 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Foik.06310 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/oik.06310 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/oik.06310 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra |
op_source |
Oikos volume 128, issue 10, page 1515-1524 ISSN 0030-1299 1600-0706 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.06310 |
container_title |
Oikos |
container_volume |
128 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1515 |
op_container_end_page |
1524 |
_version_ |
1811636171909890048 |