Data from: Consumer control as a common driver of coastal vegetation worldwide ...

• Main Authors: He, Qiang, Silliman, Brian R.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fc07k; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.fc07k

Rapid, global anthropogenic alteration of food webs in ecosystems necessitates a better understanding of how consumers regulate natural communities. We provide a global synthesis of consumer control of vegetation in coastal wetlands, where the domineering role of physical factors such as nutrient and salinity, rather than consumers, has been emphasized for decades. Using a dataset of 1748 measures of consumer effects reported in 443 experiments/observations on all continents except the Antarctica, we examine the generality of consumer control in salt marshes and mangroves globally. Our analyses show that salt marsh herbivores, including insects, snails, crabs, waterfowl, small mammals, and livestock, generally and often strongly suppress plant survival, aboveground biomass, and height, while their effects on plant density, belowground biomass, reproduction, and cover are more variable. These effects occur in forbs, grasses, and shrubs, and in both seedlings and adult plants. Herbivores additionally affect ... : Dataset 1 Coastal wetland consumer effect synthesis AllThis dataset contains the data from all consumer effect studies included in the analysisDataset 2 Coastal wetland consumer effect synthesis Competition subsetThis dataset contains data collected from studies that examined the effects of consumers on plant competitionDataset 3 Coastal wetland consumer effect synthesis Environmental factor subsetThis dataset contains data collected from studies that crossed consumer treatments with environmental factors ...