Abstract
Increased ungulate browsing alters the composition of plant communities and modifies forest ecosystems worldwide. Ungulates alter their diet following changes in availability of plant species; however, we know little about how browse selection and plant community composition change with different stages of deer establishment. Here, we provide insight into this area of study by combining multiple approaches: comparison of the understory plant community, analysis of records of browsing damage, and DNA barcoding of sika deer feces at 22 sites in forests in northern Japan varying in when deer were first established. The coverage of vegetation and number of plant species were only lower at sites where deer were present for more than 20 years, while the difference in plant coverage among deer establishment years varied among plant species. Deer diet differed across establishment years, but was more affected by the site, thereby indicating that food selection by deer could change over several years after deer establishment. Plant life form and plant architecture explained the difference in plant coverage across establishment years, but large variability was observed in deer diet within the two categories. Integrating these results, we categorized 98 plant taxa into six groups that differed in vulnerability to deer browsing (degree of damage and coverage). The different responses to browsing among plant species inferred from this study could be a first step in predicting the short- and long-term responses of forest plant communities to deer browsing.
Highlights
A recent global conservation issue is the drastic increase in ungulate populations that has caused degradation in forest ecosystems
The number of plant species significantly differed among deer establishment years (χ2= 40.99, P < 0.001, N = 22, d.f. = 3), and it was lower in the 1978-year sites than other sites (Fig. 2A)
The sum of vegetation cover significantly differed among deer establishment years (χ 2 = 48.55, P < 0.001, N = 440, d.f. = 3), and the 1978-year sites were lower than the other sites, and the 2014-year sites were higher than the other sites (Fig. 2C)
Summary
A recent global conservation issue is the drastic increase in ungulate populations that has caused degradation in forest ecosystems. Temporal changes in the plant community in response to browsing have not been fully assessed as most studies are based on a comparison of the vegetation before and after ungulate population control or exclusion by fencing. These studies have shown that the recovery of vegetation often takes decades after a decrease in deer density, or the degradation of forest vegetation may be irreversible (Mysterud, 2006; Tanentzap, Kirby & Goldberg, 2012; Tamura, 2016)
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