Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale
The relative impact of top-down control by herbivores and bottom-up control by environmental conditions on vegetation is a subject of debate in ecology. In this study, we hypothesize that top-down control by goose foraging and bottom-up control by sediment accretion on vegetation composition within...
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2017
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/50055289/Top_down_vs._bottom_up_control_on_vegetation.pdf |
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ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 2024-06-02T08:07:54+00:00 Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale Elschot, Kelly Vermeulen, Anke Vandenbruwaene, Wouter Bakker, Jan P. Bouma, Tjeerd Stahl, Julia Castelijns, Henk Temmerman, Stijn 2017-02-03 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11370/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/50055289/Top_down_vs._bottom_up_control_on_vegetation.pdf eng eng https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Elschot , K , Vermeulen , A , Vandenbruwaene , W , Bakker , J P , Bouma , T , Stahl , J , Castelijns , H & Temmerman , S 2017 , ' Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale ' , PLoS ONE , vol. 12 , no. 2 , e0169960 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 SEA-LEVEL RISE GRASSLAND PLANT DIVERSITY EUROPEAN SALT-MARSH GEESE ANSER ANSER LONG-TERM CHANGES HUDSON-BAY WADDEN SEA COMMUNITY STRUCTURE SPECIES RICHNESS RESOURCE CONTROL article 2017 ftunigroningenpu https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 2024-05-07T19:59:34Z The relative impact of top-down control by herbivores and bottom-up control by environmental conditions on vegetation is a subject of debate in ecology. In this study, we hypothesize that top-down control by goose foraging and bottom-up control by sediment accretion on vegetation composition within an ecosystem can co-occur but operate at different spatial and temporal scales. We used a highly dynamic marsh system with a large population of the Greylag goose (Anser anser) to investigate the potential importance of spatial and temporal scales on these processes. At the local scale, Greylag geese grub for below-ground storage organs of the vegetation, thereby creating bare patches of a few square metres within the marsh vegetation. In our study, such activities by Greylag geese allowed them to exert top-down control by setting back vegetation succession. However, we found that the patches reverted back to the initial vegetation type within 12 years. At large spatial (i.e. several square kilometres) and temporal scales (i.e. decades), high rates of sediment accretion surpassing the rate of local sea-level rise were found to drive long-term vegetation succession and increased cover of several climax vegetation types. In summary, we conclude that the vegetation composition within this tidal marsh was primarily controlled by the bottom-up factor of sediment accretion, which operates at large spatial as well as temporal scales. Top-down control exerted by herbivores was found to be a secondary process and operated at much smaller spatial and temporal scales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hudson Bay University of Groningen research database Hudson Hudson Bay PLOS ONE 12 2 e0169960 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
topic |
SEA-LEVEL RISE GRASSLAND PLANT DIVERSITY EUROPEAN SALT-MARSH GEESE ANSER ANSER LONG-TERM CHANGES HUDSON-BAY WADDEN SEA COMMUNITY STRUCTURE SPECIES RICHNESS RESOURCE CONTROL |
spellingShingle |
SEA-LEVEL RISE GRASSLAND PLANT DIVERSITY EUROPEAN SALT-MARSH GEESE ANSER ANSER LONG-TERM CHANGES HUDSON-BAY WADDEN SEA COMMUNITY STRUCTURE SPECIES RICHNESS RESOURCE CONTROL Elschot, Kelly Vermeulen, Anke Vandenbruwaene, Wouter Bakker, Jan P. Bouma, Tjeerd Stahl, Julia Castelijns, Henk Temmerman, Stijn Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
topic_facet |
SEA-LEVEL RISE GRASSLAND PLANT DIVERSITY EUROPEAN SALT-MARSH GEESE ANSER ANSER LONG-TERM CHANGES HUDSON-BAY WADDEN SEA COMMUNITY STRUCTURE SPECIES RICHNESS RESOURCE CONTROL |
description |
The relative impact of top-down control by herbivores and bottom-up control by environmental conditions on vegetation is a subject of debate in ecology. In this study, we hypothesize that top-down control by goose foraging and bottom-up control by sediment accretion on vegetation composition within an ecosystem can co-occur but operate at different spatial and temporal scales. We used a highly dynamic marsh system with a large population of the Greylag goose (Anser anser) to investigate the potential importance of spatial and temporal scales on these processes. At the local scale, Greylag geese grub for below-ground storage organs of the vegetation, thereby creating bare patches of a few square metres within the marsh vegetation. In our study, such activities by Greylag geese allowed them to exert top-down control by setting back vegetation succession. However, we found that the patches reverted back to the initial vegetation type within 12 years. At large spatial (i.e. several square kilometres) and temporal scales (i.e. decades), high rates of sediment accretion surpassing the rate of local sea-level rise were found to drive long-term vegetation succession and increased cover of several climax vegetation types. In summary, we conclude that the vegetation composition within this tidal marsh was primarily controlled by the bottom-up factor of sediment accretion, which operates at large spatial as well as temporal scales. Top-down control exerted by herbivores was found to be a secondary process and operated at much smaller spatial and temporal scales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elschot, Kelly Vermeulen, Anke Vandenbruwaene, Wouter Bakker, Jan P. Bouma, Tjeerd Stahl, Julia Castelijns, Henk Temmerman, Stijn |
author_facet |
Elschot, Kelly Vermeulen, Anke Vandenbruwaene, Wouter Bakker, Jan P. Bouma, Tjeerd Stahl, Julia Castelijns, Henk Temmerman, Stijn |
author_sort |
Elschot, Kelly |
title |
Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
title_short |
Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
title_full |
Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
title_fullStr |
Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
title_full_unstemmed |
Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
title_sort |
top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11370/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/50055289/Top_down_vs._bottom_up_control_on_vegetation.pdf |
geographic |
Hudson Hudson Bay |
geographic_facet |
Hudson Hudson Bay |
genre |
Hudson Bay |
genre_facet |
Hudson Bay |
op_source |
Elschot , K , Vermeulen , A , Vandenbruwaene , W , Bakker , J P , Bouma , T , Stahl , J , Castelijns , H & Temmerman , S 2017 , ' Top-down vs. bottom-up control on vegetation composition in a tidal marsh depends on scale ' , PLoS ONE , vol. 12 , no. 2 , e0169960 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 |
op_relation |
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/543e27f1-cbd8-47ae-8db6-523039000966 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169960 |
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PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
e0169960 |
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1800753031242842112 |