On Facilitation Between Herbivores: How Brent Geese Profit From Brown Hares

Wal, René van der; Wijnen, Harm van; Wieren, Sip van; Beucher, Olivier; Bos, Desirée L.

doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2000)081[0969:ofbhhb]2.0.co;2

Cited by 76 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In the late 1970s, Brent geese numbers were high in the old marsh. However, geese numbers declined significantly in the following 20 years (Van Der Wal et al, 2000b). This decrease was not related to a decrease in size of the area, as the surface area increased over the years as a result of ongoing vegetation succession.…”

Section: Effects Of Plants On Intermediate-sized Vertebrate Herbivorementioning

confidence: 89%

“…In the young salt marsh, geese numbers only increased. Furthermore, the development of new young marsh led to an eastward movement of geese on this salt marsh (Van Der Wal et al, 2000b). Hence, the reduction of the community with preferred food plants in the western parts was compensated for by an increase in this community in newly developed eastern parts of the salt marsh.…”

Section: Effects Of Plants On Intermediate-sized Vertebrate Herbivorementioning

confidence: 99%

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Bottom-up and top-down interactions in coastal interface systems

Bakker¹,

Nielsen

Alberti

et al. 2015

Trophic Ecology

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BAKKER ET AL. conditions dependent on a rhythm set by the tides. In this chapter, we focus on rocky intertidal and salt marsh ecosystems, which have been extensively studied on many continents. Both rocky shore and salt marsh communities exhibit strong and consistent patterns of intertidal zonation over relatively compressed spatial scales, making them excellent systems for understanding the context-dependency of species interactions. Hard-bottomed rocky intertidal communities are dominated by marine macroalgae and sessile marine invertebrates extending their reach to the furthest edge of the influence of sea spray, while soft-bottomed salt marsh communities are anchored by terrestrial plants with adaptations or tolerance to inundation by salty and brackish waters. Rocky shore communities may be battered by the full force of large ocean waves or gently lapped with seawater on more protected shorelines. In contrast, salt marshes are restricted to quiet waters where sediment accretion by plants is the main mechanism for habitat creation. Both communities may experience very large tidal excursions or only minimal ones, depending on the local dynamics of the tides, with corresponding consequences for the spatial extent of these communities across the shoreline. The steep environmental gradients and distinctive biological zonation patterns that characterize both rocky shore and salt marsh ecosystems (Fig. 7.1) have provided ecologists with accessible and highly tractable ecosystems for investigating the role of bottom-up and top-down factors along environmental gradients.

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Section: Effects Of Plants On Intermediate-sized Vertebrate Herbivorementioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Effects Of Plants On Intermediate-sized Vertebrate Herbivorementioning

confidence: 99%

Bottom-up and top-down interactions in coastal interface systems

Bakker¹,

Nielsen

Alberti

et al. 2015

Trophic Ecology

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“…The SGH then, when applied to herbivores, would predict that positive interactions will prevail in less productive systems. Indeed, some examples of positive interactions among herbivores have been described in low productivity, severe ecosystems such as salt‐marshes (Van der Wal et al 2000, Stahl et al 2006) or deserts (Edelman 2012). However, most references on facilitation among herbivores come from productive ecosystems (Van de Koppel and Prins 1998, Arsenault and Owen‐Smith 2002), and the current view of animal eco logists that competition for resources will dominate in less productive areas (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Extending the stress‐gradient hypothesis – is competition among animals less common in harsh environments?

Barrio

Hik

Bueno

et al. 2012

Oikos

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The role of positive interactions has become widely accepted as a mechanism shaping community dynamics. Most empirical evidence comes from plant communities and sessile marine organisms. However, evidence for the relative role of positive interactions in organizing terrestrial animal communities is more limited, and a general framework that includes positive interactions among animals is lacking. The 'stress gradient hypothesis' (SGH) developed by plant ecologists predicts that the balance between positive and negative interactions will vary along gradients of biotic and abiotic stress, with positive interactions being more important in stressful environments. Paralleling the SGH, stress gradients for terrestrial herbivores could be equated to inverse primary productivity gradients, so we would expect positive interactions to prevail in more stressful, low productivity environments. However, this contradicts the typical view of terrestrial animal ecology that low primary productivity systems will foster intense competition for resources among consumers. Here we use alpine herbivores as a case study to test one of the predictions of the SGH in animal communities, namely the prevalence of positive interactions in low productivity environments. We identify potential mechanisms of facilitation and review the limited number of examples of interspecific interactions among alpine herbivores to assess the role of positive and negative interactions in structuring their communities. A meta-analysis showed no clear trend in the strength and direction of interactions among alpine herbivores. Although studies were biased towards reporting significant negative interactions, we found no evidence of competition dominating in harsh environments. Thus, our results only partially support the SGH, but directly challenge the dominant view among animal ecologists. Clearly, a sound theoretical framework is needed to include competition, positive and neutral interactions as potential mechanisms determining the structure of animal communities under differing environmental conditions, and the stress-gradient hypothesis can provide a solid starting point.

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“…The nutrient-poor conditions of the early stage ( Table 1) and the selective grazing pressure that mature plants experience (Drent and Van der Wal, 1999 [16] ) may increase mortality of mature plants to the point of local extinction. As hares turn to feeding on Atriplex in times of food shortage, grazing-dependent mortality is a winter phenomenon (Van der Wal et al, 2000 [51] ), and was not supported by data from the vegetation period alone (Fig. 3).…”

Section: How Do Flowering and Survival Rates Explain The Different Abmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Impact of Herbivory and Competition on Flowering and Survival during Saltmarsh Succession

Dormann¹,

Bakker²

2000

Plant Biology

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For succession, the establishment and turnover of plants, in terms of generative spreading and renewal, is of crucial importance. Especially the success of seedling establishment into the existing vegetation might be of prime importance for the further development of plant species composition. Flowering, on the other hand, is the necessary first step towards generative output and later seed set. In a chronosequential gradient of a saltmarsh succession, we investigated the performance of transplants of three common species under different conditions: Artemisia maritima, Atriplex portulacoides and Plantago maritima were transplanted as seedlings and mature plants into plots in early‐, mid‐, and late‐successional stages (15, 30 and 40 years) on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog. Natural herbivory (by hares and geese) and neighbourhood competition were excluded in a factorial design. Flowering and survival rates of the three species were generally greatly reduced under natural conditions, compared to competition‐ and herbivory‐free plots. The survival rates of Artemisia maritima and Plantago maritima reflect their position as early‐successional species: early in succession, both show their highest survival and abundance. For late‐dominant Atriplex portulacoides a different explanation has to be invoked for the medium‐high survival and low abundance: probably winter grazing by hares and the importance of a high nitrogen supply rate, rather than flowering and survival, determine its low abundance in the early and mid‐phase of this saltmarsh succession. Some long‐term impacts of herbivores affecting flowering and survival are discussed.

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On Facilitation Between Herbivores: How Brent Geese Profit From Brown Hares

Cited by 76 publications

References 37 publications

Bottom-up and top-down interactions in coastal interface systems

Bottom-up and top-down interactions in coastal interface systems

Extending the stress‐gradient hypothesis – is competition among animals less common in harsh environments?

The Impact of Herbivory and Competition on Flowering and Survival during Saltmarsh Succession

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