The Implications of Red Deer Grazing to Ground Vegetation and Invertebrate Communities of Scottish Native Pinewoods

Baines, David; Sage, Rufus B.; Baines, M.

doi:10.2307/2404167

Cited by 132 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Such ingestion of insects by grazers is known as incidental omnivory (Bonal and Munoz 2007;Gómez and Gómez-Megías 2002;Polis et al 1989). For butterflies our study seems to be the first direct proof of such incidental omnivory, although it has previously been suggested to be a major cause of butterfly declines at grazed sites (Baines et al 1994). …”

Section: Effects Of High Intensity Grazingmentioning

confidence: 53%

Impact of grazing management on hibernating caterpillars of the butterfly Melitaea cinxia in calcareous grasslands

Noordwijk

Flierman²,

Remke

et al. 2012

J Insect Conserv

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Semi-natural grasslands are increasingly grazed by large herbivores for nature conservation purposes. For many insects such grazing is essential for the conservation of their habitat, but at the same time, populations decrease at high grazing intensity. We hypothesised that grazing management may cause increased butterfly mortality, especially for life-stages with low mobility, such as hibernating caterpillars. To test this, we measured the effect of sheep grazing on overwinter larval survival. We used the Glanville fritillary (Melitaea cinxia), which has gregarious caterpillars hibernating in silk nests, as a model species. Caterpillar nests were monitored throughout the hibernating period in calcareous grassland reserves with low and high intensity sheep grazing and in an ungrazed control treatment. After grazing, 64 % of the nests at the high intensity grazing treatment were damaged or missing, compared to 8 and 12 % at the ungrazed and low intensity grazing treatment, respectively. Nest volume and caterpillar survival were 50 % lower at the high intensity grazing treatment compared to both ungrazed and low intensity grazing treatments. Nest damage and increased mortality were mainly caused by incidental ingestion of the caterpillars by the sheep. It is likely that grazing similarly affects other invertebrates, depending on their location within the vegetation and their ability to actively avoid herbivores. This implies that the impact of grazing strongly depends on the timing of this management in relation to the phenology of the species. A greater focus on immature and inactive life-stages in conservation policy in general and particularly in action plans for endangered species is required to effectively preserve invertebrate diversity.

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Section: Effects Of High Intensity Grazingmentioning

confidence: 53%

Impact of grazing management on hibernating caterpillars of the butterfly Melitaea cinxia in calcareous grasslands

Noordwijk

Flierman²,

Remke

et al. 2012

J Insect Conserv

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show abstract

“…Baines et al (1994) reported that grazing by red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Scotland reduced caterpillar density in heathlands by reducing density of plants also preferred by caterpillars and pointed to possible implications for heathland birds. However, ours is the first study to show that ungulate effects on caterpillars mediated by changes in vegetation persist long after ungulate herbivory on those species ceases.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indirect impacts on food chains or other aspects of the ecosystem are not as well studied as direct impacts of deer browsing on vegetation (Rooney and Waller 2002, Côte et al 2004, Wardle and Bardgett 2004 but these effects are likely to be widespread and pervasive Waller 2002, Ripple et al 2010). Results from studies on effects of ungulates on insects and their predators have varied and so far few of these has specifically addressed long-term effects of deer-induced changes in vegetation composition (Côte et al 2004, but see Baines et al 1994). While negative effects of deer browsing on birds, especially species that utilize ground and shrub layers, are well documented (deCalesta 1994, McShea and Rappole 2000, Stockton et al 2005, we are aware of no study that has investigated the long-term impacts of browsing-induced changes in vegetation composition on canopy structure or on higher trophic levels in areas established under different known levels of ungulate browsing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy of top-down herbivore pressure ricochets back up multiple trophic levels in forest canopies over 30 years

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Removal of top-down control on herbivores can result in a trophic cascade where herbivore pressure on plants results in changes in plant communities. These altered plant communities are hypothesized to exert bottom-up control on subsequent herbivory via changes in plant quality or productivity. But it remains untested whether top-down perturbation causes long term changes in plants that ricochet back up the new food chain that depends on them. In a large-scale, 30-yr controlled field experiment, we show that 10 yr of top-down control of an ungulate herbivore (white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus) created contrasting forest tree communities exerting bottom-up effects that ricochet back up 3 trophic levels 20-30 yr later. Higher ungulate densities during stand initiation caused significant reductions in tree species diversity, canopy foliage density, canopy insect density, and bird density in young (ca. 30 yr old) forests. Because recruitment of trees from seedlings to the canopy occurs over a relatively brief period (ca. 10 yr), with membership in the canopy lasting an order of magnitude longer, our results show that even short-term perturbations in ungulate density may cause centuries-long disruptions to forest ecosystem structure and function. In documenting this five-step trophic ricochet, we unite key concepts of trophic theory with the extensive literature on effects of ungulate overabundance. As predators decline and ungulate herbivores increase worldwide, similar impacts may result that persist long after herbivore density becomes effectively managed.

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“…Information from surveys pertaining to the Scottish pinewoods predating this one tends to have been collected in a unrepeatable fashion or has not been as fully comprehensive in terms of the range of data collected (Smith, 1900;McVean and Ratcliffe, 1962;Steven and Carlisle, 1959). Subsequent surveys relating to the pinewoods have been on a smaller, localised scale, focused on specific sites (Mchaffie et al, 2002;Wilson and Puri, 2001;Vickers and Palmer, 2000) and are often focused on one particular aspect of the ecosystem, such as a particular species (often not restricted to the pinewood habitat) (Wilkinson et al, 2002;Summers and Buckland, 2011), forest structure (Mason et al, 2007;Summers et al, 1997) or regeneration (Scott et al, 2000;Baines et al, 1994;Palmer and Truscott, 2003). Some studies solely focus on areal extent (Roberts et al, 1992;Cameron et al, 2000).…”

Section: The Survey In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological survey of the native pinewoods of Scotland 1971

Wood

Bunce

2016

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. In 1971, a comprehensive ecological survey of the native pinewoods of Scotland was carried out by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. The survey was initiated as a consequence of growing concern about the status of the pinewood resource. Since the twentieth century, this unique habitat is widely recognised, not only by ecologists for its inherent biodiversity but also by the general public for its cultural and amenity value. The survey, utilising demonstrably repeatable methods, collected information on ground flora, soils, forest structure and also general site information from the major 27 sites of the 35 sites identified as truly native pinewoods in Scotland. The results from the survey prompted the organisation of an international symposium in 1975, which set the conservation agenda for the old Caledonian pinewoods. The data collected during the 1971 survey are now publicly available via the following DOI: doi:10/7xb ("Habitat, vegetation, tree and soil data from Native Pinewoods in Scotland, 1971"). Although the data are now 44 years old, the repeatable methods will allow for a resurvey to take place, in order to assess changes in the vegetation, habitats and tree composition in a statistically robust manner.

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The Implications of Red Deer Grazing to Ground Vegetation and Invertebrate Communities of Scottish Native Pinewoods

Cited by 132 publications

References 8 publications

Impact of grazing management on hibernating caterpillars of the butterfly Melitaea cinxia in calcareous grasslands

Impact of grazing management on hibernating caterpillars of the butterfly Melitaea cinxia in calcareous grasslands

Legacy of top-down herbivore pressure ricochets back up multiple trophic levels in forest canopies over 30 years

Ecological survey of the native pinewoods of Scotland 1971

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