Species-specific plant responses to exclusion of grazers in three Fennoscandian tundra habitats

Abstract

AbstractAn exclosure experiment performed in 1977-1985 in three tundra habitats was re-analyzed to examine species-specific plant responses for dominating species. In the lichen heath, four woody species showed the strongest increases as a response to the grazer exclosure. In the meadow, a tall grass showed the strongest increase in the exclosures, while a creeping woody plant increased in the snowbed exclosures. The species that increased in the exclosures were consistently those which were capable of elevating their foliage above the prevailing foliage height, while semiprostrate and prostrate plants (most notably bryophytes and lichens) suffered heavily from the exclusion of grazers.