Herbivore species and density affect vegetation-structure patchiness in salt marshes

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

Volumn 185, Issue , 2014, Pages 41-47

  Nolte, Stefanie ^a   Esselink, Peter ^a,b   Smit, Christian ^a   Bakker, Jan P ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN   (Netherlands)

^b Ecological Research and Consultancy   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Cattle; Coastal salt marsh; Grassland; Grazing; Horse; Nature management

Indexed keywords

BIODIVERSITY; CATTLE; CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT; ECOLOGICAL MODELING; ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION; GRAZING; HERBIVORY; HETEROGENEITY; HORSE; NUMERICAL MODEL; PATCH SIZE; PATCHINESS; PLANT COMMUNITY; PLANT-HERBIVORE INTERACTION; SALTMARSH; SPATIAL ANALYSIS; VARIOGRAM; VEGETATION STRUCTURE;

EID: 84891101970     PISSN: 01678809     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2013.12.010     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Adam P. Saltmarshes in a time of change. Environmental Conservation 2002, 29:39-61.
2. Adler P., Raff D., Lauenroth W. The effect of grazing on the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation. Oecologia (Berlin) 2001, 128:465-479.
3. Adler P.B., Lauenroth W.K. Livestock exclusion increases the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation in Colorado shortgrass steppe. Applied Vegetation Science 2000, 3:213-222.
4. Alados C., Pueyo Y., Navas D., Cabezudo B., Gonzalez A., Freeman D. Fractal analysis of plant spatial patterns: a monitoring tool for vegetation transition shifts. Biodiversity and Conservation 2005, 14:1453-1468.
5. Andresen H., Bakker J.P., Brongers M., Heydemann B., Irmler U. Long-term changes of salt marsh communities by cattle grazing. Vegetatio 1990, 89:137-148.
6. Arnold G. Influence of the biomass, botanical composition and sward height of annual pastures on foraging behavior by sheep. Journal of Applied Ecology 1987, 24:759-772.
7. Augustine D.J., Frank D.A. Effects of migratory grazers on spatial heterogeneity of soil nitrogen properties in a grassland ecosystem. Ecology 2001, 82:3149-3162.
8. Augustine D.J., McNaughton S.J. Ungulate effects on the functional species composition of plant communities: herbivore selectivity and plant tolerance. Journal of Wildlife Management 1998, 62:1165-1183.
9. Bakker J.P., Bos D., de Vries Y. To graze or not to graze: That is the question. Challenges to the Wadden Sea Area - Proceedings of the 10th International Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium 2003, 67-87. W.J. Wolff, K. Essink & Kellermann, M.A. van Leeuwe (Eds.).
10. Bakker J.P., de Leeuw J., Dijkema K.S., Leendertse P., Prins H.H.T., Rozema J. Salt marshes along the coast of The Netherlands. Hydrobiologia 1993, 265:73-95.
11. Berg G., Esselink P., Groeneweg M., Kiehl K. Micropatterns in Festuca rubra-dominated salt-marsh vegetation induced by sheep grazing. Plant Ecology 1997, 132:1-14.
12. Bhola N., Ogutu J.O., Piepho H., Said M.Y., Reid R.S., Hobbs N.T., Olff H. Comparative changes in density and demography of large herbivores in the masai mara reserve and its surrounding human-dominated pastoral ranches in Kenya. Biodiversity and Conservation 2012, 21:1509-1530.
13. Bos D., Bakker J.P., de Vries Y., van Lieshout S. Long-term vegetation changes in experimentally grazed and ungrazed back-barrier marshes in the Wadden Sea. Applied Vegetation Science 2002, 5:45-54.
14. Crawley M.J. Herbivory - The Dynamics of Animal-Plant Interactions (Studies in Ecology 10) 1983, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.
15. Dale M., Dixon P., Fortin M., Legendre P., Myers D., Rosenberg M. Conceptual and mathematical relationships among methods for spatial analysis. Ecography 2002, 25:558-577.
16. Davy A.J., Brown M.J.H., Mossman H.L., Grant A. Colonization of a newly developing salt marsh: disentangling independent effects of elevation and redox potential on halophytes. Journal of Ecoogy 2011, 99:1350-1357.
17. de Knegt H.J., Groen T.A., van de Vijver C.A.D.M., Prins H.H.T., van Langevelde F. Herbivores as architects of savannas: inducing and modifying spatial vegetation patterning. Oikos 2008, 117:543-554.
18. Diggle P.J., Ribeiro P.J. Model-based Geostatistics 2007, Springer, New York.
19. Dumont B., Rossignol N., Loucougaray G., Carrere P., Chadoeuf J., Fleurance G., Bonis A., Farruggia A., Gaucherand S., Ginane C., Louault F., Marion B., Mesleard F., Yavercovski N. When does grazing generate stable vegetation patterns in temperate pastures?. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 2012, 153:50-56.
20. Duncan P., Foose T., Gordon I., Gakahu C., Lloyd M. Comparative nutrient extraction from forages by grazing bovids and equids - a test of the nutritional model of equid bovid competition and coexistence. Oecologia 1990, 84:411-418.
21. Esselink P., Petersen J., Arens S., Bakker J.P., Bunje J., Dijkema K.S., Hecker N., Hellwig U., Jensen A., Kers B., Körber P., Lammerts E.J., Lüerßen G., Marencic H., Stock M., Veeneklaas R., Vreeken M., Wolters M. Thematic report no. 8 salt marshes. Quality Status Report 2009. Wadden Sea Ecosystem no. 25 2009, 1-54. CWSS, Wilhelmshaven. H. Marencic, J. de Vlas (Eds.).
22. Esselink P., Zijlstra W., Dijkema K.S., van Diggelen R. The effects of decreased management on plant-species distribution patterns in a salt marsh nature reserve in the Wadden Sea. Biological Conservation 2000, 93:61-76.
23. Esselink P., Fresco L.F., Dijkema K.S. Vegetation change in a man-made salt marsh affected by a reduction in both grazing and drainage. Applied Vegetation Science 2002, 5:17-32.
24. Esselink P., Dijkema K.S., Reents S., Hageman G. Vertical accretion and profile changes in abandoned man-made tidal marshes in the Dollard estuary, The Netherlands. Journal of Coastal Research 1998, 14:570-582.
25. Fortin M., Dale M.R.T. Spatial Analysis - A Guide for Ecologists 2005, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
26. Gordon I. Vegetation community selection by ungulates on the Isle of Rhum. 2. Vegetation community selection. Journal of Applied Ecology 1989, 26:53-64.
27. Hay M.E. Associational plant defenses and the maintenance of species-diversity - turning competitors into accomplices. American Naturalist 1986, 128:617-641.
28. Hiemstra P.H., Pebesma E.J., Twenhofel C.J.W., Heuvelink G.B.M. Real-time automatic interpolation of ambient gamma dose rates from the Dutch radioactivity monitoring network. Computers & Geosciences 2009, 35:1711-1721.
29. Hothorn T., Bretz F., Westfall P. Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biometrical Journal 2008, 50:346-363.
30. Jensen A. The effect of cattle and sheep grazing on salt-marsh vegetation at Skallingen, Denmark. Vegetatio 1985, 60:37-48.
31. Kiehl K., Esselink P., Gettner S., Bakker J. The impact of sheep grazing on net nitrogen mineralization rate in two temperate salt marshes. Plant Biology (Stuttgart) 2001, 3:553-560.
32. Kiehl K., Eischeid I., Gettner S., Walter J. Impact of different sheep grazing intensities on salt marsh vegetation in northern Germany. Journal of Vegetation Science 1996, 7:99-106.
33. Knapp A., Blair J., Briggs J., Collins S., Hartnett D., Johnson L., Towne E. The keystone role of bison in North American tallgrass prairie - bison increase habitat heterogeneity and alter a broad array of plant, community, and ecosystem processes. Bioscience 1999, 49:39-50.
34. McNaughton S. Grazing lawns - animals in herds, plant form, and coevolution. American Naturalist 1984, 124:863-886.
35. McNaughton S. Grazing as an optimization process - grass ungulate relationships in the Serengeti. American Naturalist 1979, 113:691-703.
36. Menard C., Duncan P., Fleurance G., Georges J., Lila M. Comparative foraging and nutrition of horses and cattle in European wetlands. Journal of Applied Ecology 2002, 39:120-133.
37. Metera E., Sakowski T., Sloniewski K., Romanowicz B. Grazing as a tool to maintain biodiversity of grassland - a review. Animal Science Papers and Reports 2010, 28:315-334.
38. Murwira A., Skidmore A. The response of elephants to the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation in a southern African agricultural landscape. Landscape Ecology 2005, 20:217-234.
39. Olofsson J., de Mazancourt C., Crawley M.J. Spatial heterogeneity and plant species richness at different spatial scales under rabbit grazing. Oecologia 2008, 156:825-834.
40. Palmer M.W. Fractal geometry - a tool for describing spatial patterns of plant-communities. Vegetatio 1988, 75:91-102.
41. Pinheiro J., Bates D., DebRoy S., Sarkar D. Nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R Package Version 3 2013, 1-108.
42. Rietkerk M., Dekker S.C., de Ruiter P.C., van d.K. Self-organized patchiness and catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Science 2004, 305:1926-1929.
43. Rossignol N., Chadoeuf J., Carrere P., Dumont B. A hierarchical model for analysing the stability of vegetation patterns created by grazing in temperate pastures. Applied Vegetation Science 2011, 14:189-199.
44. Smit C., Ruifrok J.L. From protege to nurse plant: establishment of thorny shrubs in grazed temperate woodlands. Journal of Vegetation Science 2011, 22:377-386.
45. Smit C., Bakker E.S., Apol M.E.F., Olff H. Effects of cattle and rabbit grazing on clonal expansion of spiny shrubs in wood-pastures. Basic and Applied Ecology 2010, 11:685-692.
46. Stewart K.E.J., Bourn N.A.D., Thomas J.A. An evaluation of three quick methods commonly used to assess sward height in ecology. Journal of Applied Ecology 2001, 38:1148-1154.
47. Vulink J.T., Drost H.J. A causal-analysis of diet composition in free ranging cattle in reed-dominated vegetation. Oecologia 1991, 88.
48. WallisDeVries M.F., Laca E.A., Demment M.W. The importance of scale of patchiness for selectivity in grazing herbivores. Oecologia (Berlin) 1999, 121:355-363.
49. Webster A., Oliver M.A. Geostatistics for Environmental Scientists 2007, Wiley, Chichester. 2nd ed.
50. Zuur A.F., Ieno E.N., Walker N.J., Saveliev A.A., Smith G.M. Mixed Effects Models and Extensions in Ecology with R 2009, Springer Science+Business Media, New York.