Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence
Semi-natural open habitats in Europe have been shaped by traditional land use practices such as extensive mowing or livestock grazing. However, socio-economic transformations have led to the abandonment of many grassland and heathland areas and conservation management is now required to maintain the...
Published in: | XXV International Grassland Congress (IGC 2023) |
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ftorgprints:oai:orgprints.org:52482 2024-02-11T10:02:46+01:00 Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence Riesch, F. Raab, C. Tonn, B. Gerber, N. Zetsche, M. Signer, J. Meißner, M. Herzog, S. Balkenhol, N. Isselstein, J. 2023 application/pdf https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/52482/ https://doi.org/10.52202/071171-0417 en eng /id/eprint/52482/1/Riesch-etal-2023-InternatGrasslCongress-p1700-1703.pdf Riesch, F.; Raab, C.; Tonn, B.; Gerber, N.; Zetsche, M.; Signer, J.; Meißner, M.; Herzog, S.; Balkenhol, N. and Isselstein, J. (2023) Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence. In: Proceedings of the XXV International Grassland Congress, 14-19 May 2023, Covington, Kentucky, USA, pp. 1700-1703. https://doi.org/10.52202/071171-0417 Biodiversity and ecosystem services Conference paper, poster, etc. NonPeerReviewed 2023 ftorgprints https://doi.org/10.52202/071171-0417 2024-01-25T00:00:09Z Semi-natural open habitats in Europe have been shaped by traditional land use practices such as extensive mowing or livestock grazing. However, socio-economic transformations have led to the abandonment of many grassland and heathland areas and conservation management is now required to maintain these biodiverse habitats. Grazing by wild red deer (Cervus elaphus) can be a convenient alternative to laborious mechanical management or livestock grazing. Yet it remains unclear if free-ranging ungulates can counteract shrub growth sufficiently to maintain open habitats—especially with natural predators, i.e. wolves (Canis lupus), recolonizing Europe. To assess red deer effects on shrub regrowth after clearance we installed a cohort of open and fenced plots (17 pairs) in 2016, when wolf presence in our study area (Grafenwöhr military training area, DE) was negligible. When wolf presence had become frequent in 2020, we set up a second cohort (41 paired plots). For both cohorts, the vegetation in the shrub and herb layer was significantly higher in fenced than open plots already after one year. Shrub height increased continuously and dead herbaceous biomass accumulated under red deer exclusion. Consequently, wild red deer can slow down shrub succession in open habitats even under increasing predation pressure. Regardless of wolf presence, a wildlife management that enables red deer to forage in open landscapes could thus reduce the required frequency of conservation management interventions. Conference Object Canis lupus Organic Eprints (Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming, DARCOF) XXV International Grassland Congress (IGC 2023) 1700 1703 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Organic Eprints (Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming, DARCOF) |
op_collection_id |
ftorgprints |
language |
English |
topic |
Biodiversity and ecosystem services |
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Biodiversity and ecosystem services Riesch, F. Raab, C. Tonn, B. Gerber, N. Zetsche, M. Signer, J. Meißner, M. Herzog, S. Balkenhol, N. Isselstein, J. Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
topic_facet |
Biodiversity and ecosystem services |
description |
Semi-natural open habitats in Europe have been shaped by traditional land use practices such as extensive mowing or livestock grazing. However, socio-economic transformations have led to the abandonment of many grassland and heathland areas and conservation management is now required to maintain these biodiverse habitats. Grazing by wild red deer (Cervus elaphus) can be a convenient alternative to laborious mechanical management or livestock grazing. Yet it remains unclear if free-ranging ungulates can counteract shrub growth sufficiently to maintain open habitats—especially with natural predators, i.e. wolves (Canis lupus), recolonizing Europe. To assess red deer effects on shrub regrowth after clearance we installed a cohort of open and fenced plots (17 pairs) in 2016, when wolf presence in our study area (Grafenwöhr military training area, DE) was negligible. When wolf presence had become frequent in 2020, we set up a second cohort (41 paired plots). For both cohorts, the vegetation in the shrub and herb layer was significantly higher in fenced than open plots already after one year. Shrub height increased continuously and dead herbaceous biomass accumulated under red deer exclusion. Consequently, wild red deer can slow down shrub succession in open habitats even under increasing predation pressure. Regardless of wolf presence, a wildlife management that enables red deer to forage in open landscapes could thus reduce the required frequency of conservation management interventions. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Riesch, F. Raab, C. Tonn, B. Gerber, N. Zetsche, M. Signer, J. Meißner, M. Herzog, S. Balkenhol, N. Isselstein, J. |
author_facet |
Riesch, F. Raab, C. Tonn, B. Gerber, N. Zetsche, M. Signer, J. Meißner, M. Herzog, S. Balkenhol, N. Isselstein, J. |
author_sort |
Riesch, F. |
title |
Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
title_short |
Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
title_full |
Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
title_fullStr |
Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
title_full_unstemmed |
Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
title_sort |
red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/52482/ https://doi.org/10.52202/071171-0417 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
/id/eprint/52482/1/Riesch-etal-2023-InternatGrasslCongress-p1700-1703.pdf Riesch, F.; Raab, C.; Tonn, B.; Gerber, N.; Zetsche, M.; Signer, J.; Meißner, M.; Herzog, S.; Balkenhol, N. and Isselstein, J. (2023) Red deer browsing decelerates shrub regrowth despite increasing wolf presence. In: Proceedings of the XXV International Grassland Congress, 14-19 May 2023, Covington, Kentucky, USA, pp. 1700-1703. https://doi.org/10.52202/071171-0417 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.52202/071171-0417 |
container_title |
XXV International Grassland Congress (IGC 2023) |
container_start_page |
1700 |
op_container_end_page |
1703 |
_version_ |
1790598828462702592 |