A natural experiment on the impact of overabundant deer on songbird populations

Allombert, Sylvain; Gaston, Anthony J.; Martin, Jean‐Louis

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.04.001

Cited by 119 publications

(119 citation statements)

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“…For birds the sampling unit was the island and we analyzed trends in the number of bird species, total number of individuals and species diversity per island. Based on the results of Allombert et al (2005b) we only included those bird species that were dependant on the understorey for feeding and/or nesting. …”

Section: Analysis Of Variation In Indices Of Species Density Abundanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Top-down and bottom-up consequences of unchecked ungulate browsing on plant and animal diversity in temperate forests: lessons from a deer introduction

et al. 2009

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Debate on the relative importance of competition for resources and trophic interactions in shaping the biological diversity of living communities remains unsettled after almost a century. Recently, dramatic increases in ungulate populations have provided a useful quasi-experiment on the effects of unrestrained ungulates on forest ecology. The islands of Haida Gwaii (Canada) offer a unique situation to investigate the potential of large herbivores to control temperate forest community structure and diversity. Black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus Merriam, native to adjacent mainland areas of British Columbia, were introduced in 1878 and spread to all but a few islands. Because deer were not native to the archipelago, islands that still lack deer provide a rare instance of temperate forest vegetation and fauna that developed in the absence of large herbivores. The colonisation of different islands at different times, and the absence of significant predation allow us to assess whether and how a large herbivore can exert ''topdown'' control on vegetation and its associated fauna. We studied plant communities in forest interior and shoreline, on seven small islands of varying browse history. Three islands were untouched by deer, deer had been resident for about 15 years on two, and on another two deer had been present for more than 50 years. Without deer, vegetation in the understorey and/or shrub layer was dense or very dense. Structure and composition varied markedly within and between shoreline and interior communities. Without deer, shoreline communities were dominated by species absent from islands with deer. Where deer had been present for less than 20 years most plant species characteristic of shorelines on islands without deer were already absent or scarce, but in the forest interior species richness was less affected and extensive shrub thickets remained. On islands where deer had been present for[50 years vegetation below the browse line was extremely simplified, converging in both forest interior and shoreline towards an open assemblage of a few deer-tolerant species, basically two coniferous trees. This top down effect on the plant community reflected up the food chain so that understorey invertebrate and shrub-dependent songbird communities became simplified. In contrast, species litter arthropods (especially weevils and millipedes) were highest where deer were present for [50 years. Canopy birds were unaffected by deer presence. In the absence of predators, major climatic stress or other means to control the herbivore, deer browsing created greatly simplified plant and animal communities.

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Section: Analysis Of Variation In Indices Of Species Density Abundanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sampling of song birds Allombert et al (2005b) studied bird assemblages of the different islands (no distinction made between shoreline and interior) by two methods: point-counts and spot-mapping. Both methods yielded similar results.…”

Section: Sampling Of Invertebrates and Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down and bottom-up consequences of unchecked ungulate browsing on plant and animal diversity in temperate forests: lessons from a deer introduction

et al. 2009

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“…These indirect effects are wide-ranging, including songbirds (Allombert et al 2005), wildcat populations (Lozano et al 2007), insect populations (Brousseau et al 2013), and even belowground communities (Lessard et al 2012). It is inherently diffi cult to include other organisms in grid-based inventories and therefore ecosystem perspectives have not been suffi ciently recognized in the past.…”

Section: Ecosystem Consequences Of Tree Diversity Losses To Other Orgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ungulate browsing causes species loss in deciduous forests independent of community dynamics and silvicultural management in Central and Southeastern Europe

et al. 2014

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L., Teodosiu M., 2014. Ungulate browsing causes species loss in deciduous forests independent of community dynamics and silvicultural management in Central and Southeastern Europe. Ann. For. Res. 57(2): 267-288, 2014.Abstract. Grid-based inventories of 1,924 deciduous forests plots in Germany and 4,775 in Romania were used to investigate tree species composition as affected by browsing and grazing under different forest management (rotation forestry, selectively cut forest, protected forest). At regional scale, the loss of tree species in the dominant layer was between 52 to 67% in Germany and of 10 to 30% in Romania, with largest effects in protected nature reserves in Germany. At plot level, only 50% (Germany) to 54% (Romania) of canopy species were found in the regeneration layer with a height of 1.5 m. Browsing was influenced by the proportion of Fagus in the regenerating trees in Germany, and by stand density, basal area, and management in both regions. Structural equation modeling explained 11 to 26% of the variance in species loss based on the fresh loss of the terminal bud in the winter prior to the inventory work (one season browsing). Browsing (and grazing in Romania) is shown to be a significant cause of species loss across both countries and all management types. Potential cascading effects on other organisms of deciduous forest ecosystems are discussed. We conclude that the present hunting practices that support overabundant ungulate populations constitute a major threat to the biodiversity of deciduous forests in Germany and Romania and to other places with similar ungulate management, and that changes my only be possible by modernizing the legal framework of hunting.

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“…For resource managers, impacts from ungulates on vegetation are becoming a common management problem [105][106][107][108][109], while options for controlling ungulate populations by slaughter, translocation and reproductive control receive little public and/or government support [110]. Translocation receives the greatest level of public support, but disease concerns have reduced the safety of translocating wildlife [111][112][113][114].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Economic Carrying Capacity for an Ungulate Guild in Western Canada

Kuzyk¹,

Cool²,

Bork³

et al. 2009

TOCONSBJ

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Elk Island National Park in western Canada provides an ideal case study for an economic carrying capacity estimate because it supports high density of four species of ungulates (11/km 2 ), lacks large predators, and is enclosed by a 2.1-meter mesh fence. This high density of ungulates has created persistent management challenges by altering vegetation structure and community composition. Using linear programming, we explored optimal allocation of forage resources for bison (Bison bison bison), moose (Alces andersoni), wapiti (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) and deer (Odocoileus virginianus and O. hemionus) to maximize ungulate biomass and numbers, when constrained by use of the major forage classes and minimum viable populations (MVP) of those ungulate species that do not cross the boundary fence (bison and wapiti). Maximum numbers of animals were achieved by a stocking combination dominated by deer and bison, whereas maximum biomass was attained when bison and moose were abundant but deer were absent. Wapiti remained at MVP during all solutions. Optimal solutions consistent with current ungulate densities were associated with 7 to 11% forage removal. This is less than normally assumed for sustainable forage use, and may reflect the need to account for other biotic and abiotic losses to forage in carrying capacity models for which ungulate densities can be constrained by availability of a preferred forage class (e.g., grass) as well as forage quality. This research extends the conventional animal-unit concept to multispecies systems and provides templates based on forage biomass allocation for resource managers facing similar problems of joint stocking in different environments.

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A natural experiment on the impact of overabundant deer on songbird populations

Cited by 119 publications

References 44 publications

Top-down and bottom-up consequences of unchecked ungulate browsing on plant and animal diversity in temperate forests: lessons from a deer introduction

Top-down and bottom-up consequences of unchecked ungulate browsing on plant and animal diversity in temperate forests: lessons from a deer introduction

Ungulate browsing causes species loss in deciduous forests independent of community dynamics and silvicultural management in Central and Southeastern Europe

Estimating Economic Carrying Capacity for an Ungulate Guild in Western Canada

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