Plant growth in a fragmented forest is a consequence of top-down and bottom-up processes, but not their interaction  

作　　者：Brad J.Farmilo John W.Morgan Dale G.Nimmo 

机构地区：[1]Department of Ecology,Environment and Evolution,La Trobe University,1 Kingsbury Drive,Bundoora,Victoria 3086,Australia [2]Department of Environment,Land,Water and Planning,Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research,123 Brown Street,Heidelberg,Victoria 3084,Australia [3]Centre for Integrative Ecology,School of Life and Environmental Sciences,Deakin University,221 Burwood Highway,Burwood,Victoria 3125,Australia [4]Institute for Land,Water and Society,School of Environmental Science,Charles Sturt University,1 Elizabeth Mitchell Drive,Albury,New South Wales 2640,Australia

出　　处：《Journal of Plant Ecology》2017年第4期601-609,共9页植物生态学报（英文版）

摘　　要：Aims Habitat loss and fragmentation are the leading causes of global biodiversity decline.How fragmentation(leading to edge effects,increased isolation and declining habitat size)interacts with top-down processes like vertebrate herbivory,an important driver of vegetation structure and composition in many ecosystems,is poorly quantified.Interactions between fragmentation and changes in her-bivory may exacerbate their individual influences on plant growth,with implications for management of native plant communities within fragmented landscapes.We examined the effects of habitat fragmentation on herbivore activity,and also how both fragmen-tation and mammalian herbivory influence growth of understorey plant species.Methods This study was conducted at the Wog Wog habitat fragmentation experiment,located in south-eastern New South Wales,Australia.We use herbivore exclusion plots across an experimentally frag-mented landscape to assess the interactive effects of fragmenta-tion and herbivory on the growth of four plant species that vary in growth form and rarity in the landscape.Important Findings We observed species-specific responses to both herbivory and fragmentation,but no additive or interactive effects between these drivers.We show that a reduction in herbivore activity within frag-ments does not correspond with an increase in plant growth,even for the most palatable species.Rather,top-down processes continue to operate across the fragmented landscape.Although changes in habitat conditions within fragments appear to negatively influence both plant growth and mammalian herbivore activity,it is likely that alterations to bottom-up effects(i.e.fragmentation)may be more important than top-down effects(i.e.herbivores)for the spe-cies under investigation.The species-specific response of plants to herbivory or fragmentation may have implications for temporal and spatial population persistence in fragmented landscapes and ulti-mately fragment vegetation structure.

关 键 词：Wog Wog habitat fragmentation experiment Pinus radiata HERBIVORY understorey plants PLANTATION EUCALYPT 

分 类 号：Q94[生物学—植物学]