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 

作者机构：Department of EcologyEnvironment and EvolutionLa Trobe University1 Kingsbury DriveBundooraVictoria 3086Australia Department of EnvironmentLandWater and PlanningArthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research123 Brown StreetHeidelbergVictoria 3084Australia Centre for Integrative EcologySchool of Life and Environmental SciencesDeakin University221 Burwood HighwayBurwoodVictoria 3125Australia Institute for LandWater and SocietySchool of Environmental ScienceCharles Sturt University1 Elizabeth Mitchell DriveAlburyNew South Wales 2640Australia 

出 版 物：《Journal of Plant Ecology》 (植物生态学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2017年第10卷第4期

页      面：601-609页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 071001[理学-植物学] 07[理学] 

基　　金：Full cooperation was provided by Forestry Corporation of New South Wales and the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service 

主　　题：Wog Wog habitat fragmentation experiment Pinus radiata herbivory understorey plants plantation eucalypt 

摘      要：Aims Habitat loss and fragmentation are the leading causes of global biodiversity *** 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 *** 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 *** examined the effects of habitat fragmentation on herbivore activity,and also how both fragmen-tation and mammalian herbivory influence growth of understorey plant *** This study was conducted at the Wog Wog habitat fragmentation experiment,located in south-eastern New South Wales,*** 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 *** Findings We observed species-specific responses to both herbivory and fragmentation,but no additive or interactive effects between these *** show that a reduction in herbivore activity within frag-ments does not correspond with an increase in plant growth,even for the most palatable ***,top-down processes continue to operate across the fragmented *** 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(***)may be more important than top-down effects(***)for the spe-cies under *** 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.