Document: LAU-3-42-12

Contrasting effects of mammalian herbivore guilds on plant community structure.

BEEBEE, M.D.* 1,2 and L.R.FOX 1

University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA 1
Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 USA 2

Abstract:
We assessed the impacts of vertebrate herbivores on a mature, maritime chaparral community, excluding small (rodents), medium (rabbits), and large (deer) mammals from experimental plots. Rodents had greater negative impacts on herbs than did deer and rabbits, and did so consistently even in years with very different rainfall patterns and basal amounts of biomass. Rodent feeding also altered plant community composition through preferential feeding on grasses: grasses, in particular, benefited from rodent exclusion, with a doubling in average biomass; forb biomass was not changed. Rabbits caused no significant changed in the biomass of either forbs or grasses. However, while deer had an immediate negative impact on herbaceous biomass, they enhanced plant biomass over longer time scales.

Keywords: Herbivory, Chaparral, Biomass, Mammals, Deer, Rabbits, Rodents

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This abstract is being presented at: 2:15 PM in session:
Oral Session #17: Mammalian Herbivory.