Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest
Abstract Fire and herbivores alter vegetation structure and function. Future fire activity is predicted to increase, and quantifying changes in vegetation communities arising from post‐fire herbivory is needed to better manage natural environments. We investigated the effects of post‐fire herbivory...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2022-04-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8828 |
| _version_ | 1828032321603764224 |
|---|---|
| author | Matthew Chard Claire N. Foster David B. Lindenmayer Geoffrey J. Cary Christopher I. MacGregor Wade Blanchard |
| author_facet | Matthew Chard Claire N. Foster David B. Lindenmayer Geoffrey J. Cary Christopher I. MacGregor Wade Blanchard |
| author_sort | Matthew Chard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Fire and herbivores alter vegetation structure and function. Future fire activity is predicted to increase, and quantifying changes in vegetation communities arising from post‐fire herbivory is needed to better manage natural environments. We investigated the effects of post‐fire herbivory on understory plant communities in a coastal eucalypt forest in southeastern Australia. We quantified herbivore activity, understory plant diversity, and dominant plant morphology following a wildfire in 2017 using two sizes of exclosures. Statistical analysis incorporated the effect of exclusion treatments, time since fire, and the effect of a previous prescribed burn. Exclusion treatments altered herbivore activity, but time since fire did not. Herbivory reduced plant species richness, diversity, and evenness and promoted the dominance of the most abundant plants within the understory. Increasing time since fire reduced community diversity and evenness and influenced morphological changes to the dominant understory plant species, increasing size and dead material while decreasing abundance. We found the legacy effects of a previous prescribed burn had no effect on herbivores or vegetation within our study. Foraging by large herbivores resulted in a depauperate vegetation community. As post‐fire herbivory can alter vegetation communities, we postulate that management burning practices may exacerbate herbivore impacts. Future fire management strategies to minimize herbivore‐mediated alterations to understory vegetation could include aggregating management burns into larger fire sizes or linking fire management with herbivore management. Restricting herbivore access following fire (planned or otherwise) can encourage a more diverse and species‐rich understory plant community. Future research should aim to determine how vegetation change from post‐fire herbivory contributes to future fire risk. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:03:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a288adab1ad437cbb63f3f7e97238db |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:03:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a288adab1ad437cbb63f3f7e97238db2023-02-15T09:01:29ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582022-04-01124n/an/a10.1002/ece3.8828Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forestMatthew Chard0Claire N. Foster1David B. Lindenmayer2Geoffrey J. Cary3Christopher I. MacGregor4Wade Blanchard5Fenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaFenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaFenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaFenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaFenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaFenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaAbstract Fire and herbivores alter vegetation structure and function. Future fire activity is predicted to increase, and quantifying changes in vegetation communities arising from post‐fire herbivory is needed to better manage natural environments. We investigated the effects of post‐fire herbivory on understory plant communities in a coastal eucalypt forest in southeastern Australia. We quantified herbivore activity, understory plant diversity, and dominant plant morphology following a wildfire in 2017 using two sizes of exclosures. Statistical analysis incorporated the effect of exclusion treatments, time since fire, and the effect of a previous prescribed burn. Exclusion treatments altered herbivore activity, but time since fire did not. Herbivory reduced plant species richness, diversity, and evenness and promoted the dominance of the most abundant plants within the understory. Increasing time since fire reduced community diversity and evenness and influenced morphological changes to the dominant understory plant species, increasing size and dead material while decreasing abundance. We found the legacy effects of a previous prescribed burn had no effect on herbivores or vegetation within our study. Foraging by large herbivores resulted in a depauperate vegetation community. As post‐fire herbivory can alter vegetation communities, we postulate that management burning practices may exacerbate herbivore impacts. Future fire management strategies to minimize herbivore‐mediated alterations to understory vegetation could include aggregating management burns into larger fire sizes or linking fire management with herbivore management. Restricting herbivore access following fire (planned or otherwise) can encourage a more diverse and species‐rich understory plant community. Future research should aim to determine how vegetation change from post‐fire herbivory contributes to future fire risk.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8828herbivorylarge herbivoremacropodpost‐firevegetation community |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Chard Claire N. Foster David B. Lindenmayer Geoffrey J. Cary Christopher I. MacGregor Wade Blanchard Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest Ecology and Evolution herbivory large herbivore macropod post‐fire vegetation community |
| title | Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest |
| title_full | Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest |
| title_fullStr | Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest |
| title_full_unstemmed | Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest |
| title_short | Post‐fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest |
| title_sort | post fire pickings large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest |
| topic | herbivory large herbivore macropod post‐fire vegetation community |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8828 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matthewchard postfirepickingslargeherbivoresalterunderstoryvegetationcommunitiesinacoastaleucalyptforest AT clairenfoster postfirepickingslargeherbivoresalterunderstoryvegetationcommunitiesinacoastaleucalyptforest AT davidblindenmayer postfirepickingslargeherbivoresalterunderstoryvegetationcommunitiesinacoastaleucalyptforest AT geoffreyjcary postfirepickingslargeherbivoresalterunderstoryvegetationcommunitiesinacoastaleucalyptforest AT christopherimacgregor postfirepickingslargeherbivoresalterunderstoryvegetationcommunitiesinacoastaleucalyptforest AT wadeblanchard postfirepickingslargeherbivoresalterunderstoryvegetationcommunitiesinacoastaleucalyptforest |