The response of plant diversity to grazing varies along an elevational gradient

Journal of Ecology

Volumn 101, Issue 5, 2013, Pages 1225-1236

  Speed, James D M ^a   Austrheim, Gunnar ^a   Mysterud, Atle ^b  

^a NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY   (Norway)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OSLO   (Norway)

Author keywords

Beta diversity; Buffering; Climate warming; Determinants of plant community diversity and structure; Herbivory; Homogenization; Land use; Species richness; Stability; Turnover

Indexed keywords

BUFFERING; ELEVATION; FIELD; GRAZING; GRAZING PRESSURE; HERBIVORE; HERBIVORY; LAND USE; PLANT; PLANT COMMUNITY; SHEEP; SPECIES DIVERSITY; SPECIES RICHNESS; TURNOVER; VASCULAR PLANT;

NORWAY;

OVIS ARIES; TRACHEOPHYTA;

EID: 84883274182     PISSN: 00220477     EISSN: 13652745     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12133     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. Anderson, M.J., Crist, T.O., Chase, J.M., Vellend, M., Inouye, B.D., Freestone, A.L. et al. (2011) Navigating the multiple meanings of β diversity: a roadmap for the practicing ecologist. Ecology Letters, 14, 19-28.
2. Augustine, D.J. & McNaughton, S.J. (1998) Ungulate effects on the functional species composition of plant communities: herbivore selectivity and plant tolerance. Journal of Wildlife Management, 62, 1165-1183.
3. Austrheim, G. (2002) Plant diversity patterns in semi-natural grasslands along an elevational gradient in southern Norway. Plant Ecology, 161, 193-205.
4. Austrheim, G. & Eriksson, O. (2001) Plant species diversity and grazing in the Scandinavian mountains - patterns and processes at different spatial scales. Ecography, 24, 683-695.
5. Austrheim, G., Mysterud, A., Pedersen, B., Halvorsen, R., Hassel, K. & Evju, M. (2008) Large scale experimental effects of three levels of sheep densities on an alpine ecosystem. Oikos, 117, 837-846.
6. Bakker, E.S., Ritchie, M.E., Olff, H., Milchunas, D.G. & Knops, J.M.H. (2006) Herbivore impact on grassland plant diversity depends on habitat productivity and herbivore size. Ecology Letters, 9, 780-788.
7. Baselga, A. (2010) Partitioning the turnover and nestedness components of beta diversity. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 19, 134-143.
8. Batllori, E., Blanco-Moreno, J.M., Ninot, J.M., Gutiérrez, E. & Carrillo, E. (2009) Vegetation patterns at the alpine treeline ecotone: the influence of tree cover on abrupt change in species composition of alpine communities. Journal of Vegetation Science, 20, 814-825.
9. Bråthen, K.A., Ims, R.A., Yoccoz, N.G., Fauchald, P., Tveraa, T. & Hausner, V.H. (2007) Induced shift in ecosystem productivity ? Extensive scale effects of abundant large herbivores. Ecosystems, 10, 773-789.
10. Britton, A.J., Beale, C.M., Towers, W. & Hewison, R.L. (2009) Biodiversity gains and losses: evidence for homogenisation of Scottish alpine vegetation. Biological Conservation, 142, 1728-1739.
11. Callaway, R.M., Brooker, R.W., Choler, P., Kikvidze, Z., Lortie, C.J., Michalet, R. et al. (2002) Positive interactions among alpine plants increase with stress. Nature, 417, 844-848.
12. Camarero, J.J., Gutiérrez, E. & Fortin, M.J. (2006) Spatial patterns of plant richness across treeline ecotones in the Pyrenees reveal different locations for richness and tree cover boundaries. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15, 182-191.
13. Chaneton, E.J. & Facelli, J.M. (1991) Disturbance effects on plant community diversity: spatial scales and dominance hierarchies. Vegetatio, 93, 143-155.
14. Collins, S.L., Knapp, A.K., Briggs, J.M., Blair, J.M. & Steinauer, E.M. (1998) Modulation of diversity by grazing and mowing in native tallgrass prairie. Science, 280, 745-747.
15. DeGabriel, J.L., Albon, S.D., Fielding, D.A., Riach, D.J., Westaway, S. & Irvine, R.J. (2011) The presence of sheep leads to increases in plant diversity and reductions in the impact of deer on heather. Journal of Applied Ecology, 48, 1269-1277.
16. Evans, D.M., Redpath, S.M., Elston, D.A., Evans, S.A., Mitchell, R.J. & Dennis, P. (2006) To graze or not to graze? Sheep, voles, forestry and nature conservation in the British uplands. Journal of Applied Ecology, 43, 499-505.
17. Evju, M., Austrheim, G., Halvorsen, R. & Mysterud, A. (2009) Grazing responses in herbs in relation to herbivore selectivity and plant traits in an alpine ecosystem. Oecologia, 161, 77-85.
18. Fischer, S.F., Poschlod, P. & Beinlich, B. (1996) Experimental studies on the dispersal of plants and animals on sheep in calcareous grasslands. Journal of Applied Ecology, 33, 1206-1222.
19. Frank, D.A. (1998) Ungulate regulation of ecosystem processes in Yellowstone National Park: direct and feedback effects. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 26, 410-418.
20. Frank, D.A. & Groffman, P.M. (1998) Ungulate vs. landscape control of soil C and N processes in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park. Ecology, 79, 2229-2241.
21. Gibson, C.W.D. & Brown, V.K. (1991) The effects of grazing on local colonisation and extinction during early succession. Journal of Vegetation Science, 2, 291-300.
22. Grytnes, J.A. (2003) Species-richness patterns of vascular plants along seven altitudinal transects in Norway. Ecography, 26, 291-300.
23. Hofgaard, A. (1997) Inter-relationships between treeline position, species diversity, land use and climate change in the central Scandes Mountains of Norway. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, 6, 419-429.
24. Hofgaard, A. & Wilmann, B. (2002) Plant distribution pattern across the forest-tundra ecotone: the importance of treeline position. Ecoscience, 9, 375-385.
25. Huston, M.A. (1994) Biological Diversity: The Coexistence of Species. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
26. Körner, C. (2007) The use of 'altitude' in ecological research. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 22, 569-574.
27. Körner, C. & Paulsen, J. (2004) A world-wide study of high altitude treeline temperatures. Journal of Biogeography, 31, 713-732.
28. Krahulec, F., Skálová, H., Herben, T., Hadincová, V., Wildová, R. & Pecháčková, S. (2001) Vegetation changes following sheep grazing in abandoned mountain meadows. Applied Vegetation Science, 4, 97-102.
29. Lid, J. & Lid, D.T. (2005) Norsk Flora. Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo.
30. Loe, L.E., Mysterud, A., Stien, A., Steen, H., Evans, D.M. & Austrheim, G. (2007) Positive short-term effects of sheep grazing on the alpine avifauna. Biology Letters, 3, 109-111.
31. McCain, C.M. & Grytnes, J.-A. (2010) Elevational Gradients in Species Richness. Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences (ELS). John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.
32. Milchunas, D., Sala, O. & Lauenroth, W.K. (1988) A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure. American Naturalist, 132, 87-106.
33. Mobæk, R., Mysterud, A., Loe, L.E., Holand, O. & Austrheim, G. (2009) Density dependent and temporal variability in habitat selection by a large herbivore; an experimental approach. Oikos, 118, 209-218.
34. Mobæk, R., Mysterud, A., Loe, L.E., Holand, Ø. & Austrheim, G. (2012) Experimental evidence for density dependent activity pattern of a large herbivore in an alpine ecosystem. Oikos, 121, 1364-1369.
35. Moen, A. (1999) National Atlas of Norway: Vegetation. Norwegian Mapping Authority, Hønefoss, Norway.
36. Mysterud, A., Iversen, C. & Austrheim, G. (2007) Effects of density, season and weather on use of an altitudinal gradient by sheep. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 108, 104-113.
37. Nogués-Bravo, D., Araújo, M., Romdal, T. & Rahbek, C. (2008) Scale effects and human impact on the elevational species richness gradients. Nature, 453, 216-219.
38. Odland, A. & Birks, H. (1999) The altitudinal gradient of vascular plant richness in Aurland, western Norway. Ecography, 22, 548-566.
39. Olff, H. & Ritchie, M.E. (1998) Effects of herbivores on grassland plant diversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 13, 261-265.
40. Olofsson, J. (2006) Short- and long-term effects of changes in reindeer grazing pressure on tundra heath vegetation. Journal of Ecology, 94, 431-440.
41. Pauli, H., Gottfried, M., Dullinger, S., Abdaladze, O., Akhalkatsi, M., Alonso, J.L.B. et al. (2012) Recent plant diversity changes on Europe's mountain summits. Science, 336, 353-355.
42. Peper, J., Jansen, F., Pietzsch, D. & Manthey, M. (2011) Patterns of plant species turnover along grazing gradients. Journal of Vegetation Science, 22, 457-466.
43. Post, E. & Pedersen, C. (2008) Opposing plant community responses to warming with and without herbivores. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 12353-12358.
44. Proulx, M. & Mazumder, A. (1998) Reversal of grazing impact on plant species richness in nutrient-poor vs. nutrient-rich ecosystems. Ecology, 79, 2581-2592.
45. R Development Core Team (2012) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
46. Rahbek, C. (1995) The elevational gradient of species richness: a uniform pattern? Ecography, 18, 200-205.
47. Ravolainen, V., Yoccoz, N., Bråthen, K., Ims, R., Iversen, M. & González, V. (2010) Additive partitioning of diversity reveals no scale-dependent impacts of large ungulates on the structure of tundra plant communities. Ecosystems, 13, 157-170.
48. Rekdal, Y. (2001) Vegetation and forage at Minnestølen. NIJOS-Dokument, 23, 1-21.
49. Rooney, T.P. (2009) High white-tailed deer densities benefit graminoids and contribute to biotic homogenization of forest ground-layer vegetation. Plant Ecology, 202, 103-111.
50. Ross, L.C., Woodin, S.J., Hester, A.J., Thompson, D. & Birks, H.J.B. (2012) Biotic homogenization of upland vegetation: patterns and drivers at multiple spatial scales over five decades. Journal of Vegetation Science, 23, 755-770.
51. Sanders, N.J. & Rahbek, C. (2012) The patterns and causes of elevational diversity gradients. Ecography, 35, 1-3.
52. Senft, R.L., Coughenour, M.B., Bailey, D.W., Rittenhouse, L.R., Sala, O.E. & Swift, D.M. (1987) Large herbivore foraging and ecological hierarchies. BioScience, 37, 789-799.
53. Speed, J.D.M., Austrheim, G., Hester, A.J. & Mysterud, A. (2010a) Experimental evidence for herbivore limitation of the treeline. Ecology, 91, 3414-3420.
54. Speed, J.D.M., Cooper, E.J., Jonsdottir, I.S., Van der Wal, R. & Woodin, S.J. (2010b) Plant community properties predict vegetation resilience to herbivore disturbance in the Arctic. Journal of Ecology, 98, 1002-1013.
55. Speed, J.D.M., Austrheim, G., Hester, A.J. & Mysterud, A. (2011) Browsing interacts with climate to determine tree-ring increment. Functional Ecology, 25, 1018-1023.
56. Speed, J.D.M., Austrheim, G., Hester, A.J. & Mysterud, A. (2012) Elevational advance of alpine plant communities is buffered by herbivory. Journal of Vegetation Science, 23, 617-625.
57. Stohlgren, T.J., Schell, L.D. & Vanden Heuvel, B. (1999) How grazing and soil quality affect native and exotic plant diversity in Rocky Mountain grasslands. Ecological Applications, 9, 45-64.
58. Tuomisto, H. (2010a) A diversity of beta diversities: straightening up a concept gone awry. Part 1. Defining beta diversity as a function of alpha and gamma diversity. Ecography, 33, 2-22.
59. Tuomisto, H. (2010b) A diversity of beta diversities: straightening up a concept gone awry. Part 2. Quantifying beta diversity and related phenomena. Ecography, 33, 23-45.
60. Whittaker, R.H. (1972) Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon, 21, 213-251.