Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem
The papers and note of this thesis are not available in Munin: Paper I. Bison M. et al. Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level. Available in Oecologia (2015) 179:835–842 Paper II. Bison M. et. al. Taxonomic and functional niches differentiation between t...
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Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
Language: | English |
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UiT The Arctic University of Norway
2015
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/9137 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/9137 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 DOKTOR-002 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 DOKTOR-002 Bison, Marjorie Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
topic_facet |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 DOKTOR-002 |
description |
The papers and note of this thesis are not available in Munin: Paper I. Bison M. et al. Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level. Available in Oecologia (2015) 179:835–842 Paper II. Bison M. et. al. Taxonomic and functional niches differentiation between two large herbivore species. (Manuscript) Paper III. Bison M. et al. The relative contribution of biomechanical and biochemical traits in plant selection by ungulates over the year. (Manuscript) Paper IV. Ancin Murguzur F.J., Smis A., Bison M. et al. Over the frontiers: a single NIRS calibration for sub-arctic and temperate ecosystems. (Manuscript) Note. Bison M. et al. Comparison between two methods for estimating diet quality in large herbivores: NIRS-derived fecal nitrogen vs dietary nitrogen from ingested plants. (Manuscript) Given the key role of large herbivores on species and functional plant diversity, we aimed at better understanding the relationship between herbivory and plant communities mainly at a fine-scale, in order to reconcile objectives of population management and plant conservation. For this purpose, we used both taxonomic and functional approaches, and studied interactions at the inter- and intra-specific levels. We combined information coming from three databases: (1) diet data from DNA-metabarcoding applied on chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon) faeces from the Bauges Massif, (2) characteristics of plant communities (plant composition, biomass, phenology), (3) plant functional traits. Analyses of intra-specific variability of the three large herbivores allowed us to upscale the niche variation hypothesis (NVH) of Van Valen from the intra- to the inter-specific level, i.e. we observed a positive relationship between the species niche breadth and among-individual variation. Then, based on two chamois subpopulations living in pastures, one living in sympatry with the mouflon and the other living in allopatry, we revealed the absence of negative effects of the introduced mouflon population on native chamois population diet, both for the taxonomic and functional dietary niche. Analyses of diet selection criteria allowed us to highlight differences in choice criteria between chamois and mouflon in some seasons, which helped to partially explain the partial taxonomic and functional niche partitioning of the two species. Furthermore, the proposed scenario of the evolution of diet selection over the year for both species were consistent with ungulate-specific morpho-physiological features. Finally, contrary to the literature where no studies could discriminate the direct and indirect effects of functional traits on diet selection because of correlations, we used path analyses, which allowed us to show that in most cases, biomechanical traits had a direct effect on diet choices, whereas chemical traits had indirect effects. Furthermore, from a methodological point of view, we advised to use nitrogen fecal indices only to study the evolution of species-specific and location-specific population long-term diet quality, but not to compare diet quality between species, nor to study slight fluctuations at the intra-seasonal level. The complementarity of the approaches allowed us to better account for the structuration of herbivore communities, which should help to better assess the actual state and the evolution of relationships among individuals, species and their environment. |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Bison, Marjorie |
author_facet |
Bison, Marjorie |
author_sort |
Bison, Marjorie |
title |
Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
title_short |
Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
title_full |
Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
title_sort |
taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem |
publisher |
UiT The Arctic University of Norway |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/9137 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.422,7.422,62.695,62.695) |
geographic |
Arctic Valen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Valen |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_relation |
Avhandlingen er trykt i Frankrike, og ISBN-nr er ukjent https://hdl.handle.net/10037/9137 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8696 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2015 The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1766350218857545728 |
spelling |
ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/9137 2023-05-15T15:20:00+02:00 Taxonomic and functional approaches of trophic interactions between large herbivores and plant communities in a mountain ecosystem Bison, Marjorie 2015-12-08 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/9137 eng eng UiT The Arctic University of Norway UiT Norges arktiske universitet Avhandlingen er trykt i Frankrike, og ISBN-nr er ukjent https://hdl.handle.net/10037/9137 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8696 openAccess Copyright 2015 The Author(s) VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 DOKTOR-002 Doctoral thesis Doktorgradsavhandling 2015 ftunivtroemsoe 2021-06-25T17:54:30Z The papers and note of this thesis are not available in Munin: Paper I. Bison M. et al. Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level. Available in Oecologia (2015) 179:835–842 Paper II. Bison M. et. al. Taxonomic and functional niches differentiation between two large herbivore species. (Manuscript) Paper III. Bison M. et al. The relative contribution of biomechanical and biochemical traits in plant selection by ungulates over the year. (Manuscript) Paper IV. Ancin Murguzur F.J., Smis A., Bison M. et al. Over the frontiers: a single NIRS calibration for sub-arctic and temperate ecosystems. (Manuscript) Note. Bison M. et al. Comparison between two methods for estimating diet quality in large herbivores: NIRS-derived fecal nitrogen vs dietary nitrogen from ingested plants. (Manuscript) Given the key role of large herbivores on species and functional plant diversity, we aimed at better understanding the relationship between herbivory and plant communities mainly at a fine-scale, in order to reconcile objectives of population management and plant conservation. For this purpose, we used both taxonomic and functional approaches, and studied interactions at the inter- and intra-specific levels. We combined information coming from three databases: (1) diet data from DNA-metabarcoding applied on chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon) faeces from the Bauges Massif, (2) characteristics of plant communities (plant composition, biomass, phenology), (3) plant functional traits. Analyses of intra-specific variability of the three large herbivores allowed us to upscale the niche variation hypothesis (NVH) of Van Valen from the intra- to the inter-specific level, i.e. we observed a positive relationship between the species niche breadth and among-individual variation. Then, based on two chamois subpopulations living in pastures, one living in sympatry with the mouflon and the other living in allopatry, we revealed the absence of negative effects of the introduced mouflon population on native chamois population diet, both for the taxonomic and functional dietary niche. Analyses of diet selection criteria allowed us to highlight differences in choice criteria between chamois and mouflon in some seasons, which helped to partially explain the partial taxonomic and functional niche partitioning of the two species. Furthermore, the proposed scenario of the evolution of diet selection over the year for both species were consistent with ungulate-specific morpho-physiological features. Finally, contrary to the literature where no studies could discriminate the direct and indirect effects of functional traits on diet selection because of correlations, we used path analyses, which allowed us to show that in most cases, biomechanical traits had a direct effect on diet choices, whereas chemical traits had indirect effects. Furthermore, from a methodological point of view, we advised to use nitrogen fecal indices only to study the evolution of species-specific and location-specific population long-term diet quality, but not to compare diet quality between species, nor to study slight fluctuations at the intra-seasonal level. The complementarity of the approaches allowed us to better account for the structuration of herbivore communities, which should help to better assess the actual state and the evolution of relationships among individuals, species and their environment. Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Arctic University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic Valen ENVELOPE(7.422,7.422,62.695,62.695) |