Herbivores reduce seedling recruitment in alpine plant communities ...

• Main Authors: Opedal, Øystein H., Nystuen, Kristin, Hagen, Dagmar, Holien, Håkon, Sørensen, Mia, Lang, Simone, Lindmo, Sigrid, Strimbeck, G. RIchard, Graae, Bente
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2021
• Subjects: Seedling recruitment; shrub encroachment; Species interactions; Norway; Dovrefjell; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.931zcrjjj; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.931zcrjjj

Through changes in climate and other environmental factors, alpine tundra ecosystems are subject to increased cover of erect shrubs, reduced predictability of rodent dynamics, and changes in wild and domesticated herbivore densities. To predict the dynamics of these ecosystems, we need to understand how these simultaneous changes affect alpine vegetation. In the long term, vegetation dynamics may depend critically on seedling recruitment. To study drivers of alpine plant seedling recruitment, we set up a field experiment where we manipulated the opportunity for plant-plant interactions through vegetation removal and introduction of willow transplants, the occurrence of herbivory through caging of plots, and then sowed 14 species into the plots. We replicated the experiment in three common alpine vegetation types (heath, meadow, and willow shrub) and recorded seedling emergence and survival over five years. Strong effects of vegetation removal and substantial differences in recruitment among dominant ... : Data from a seed sowing experiment conducted at Dovrefjell, Central Norway. Seeds of 14 alpine plant species were sown in a field experiment where we manipulated the opportunity for plant-plant interactions through vegetation removal and introduction of willow transplants, the occurrence of herbivory through caging of plots. We replicated the experiment in three common alpine vegetation types (heath, meadow, and willow shrub) and recorded seedling emergence and survival over five years. Data include seedling records from 2014 to 2018, as well as microenvironmental data for each plot. ...