The method of conserving herbaceous grassland specialists through silvicultural activities under deer browsing pressure

Iijima, Hayato; Otsu, Chiaki

doi:10.1007/s10531-018-1577-z

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…However, the spread of cultivation during the Yayoi period (3 –1.7 ky BP; Jinam et al, 2021) decreased the dependence on bush meat as a food source. At the same time, fire disturbance increased around Kyoto, which is adjacent to Hyogo (Sasaki and Takahara, 2011) and might have increased the occurrence of herbaceous grasses, the preferred food for sika deer (Iijima and Otsu, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current sika deer effective population size is near to reaching its historically highest level in the Japanese archipelago by release from hunting rather than climate change and top predator extinction

et al. 2023

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Deer species were repeatedly overexploited and protected for their meat and fur and they had strong impacts on ecosystems and human society by damaging crops and planted trees, altering vegetation, deer vehicle collision, and increasing ticks that vector zoonosis. To accomplish appropriate population management, the historical demography and its main driver need to be clarified. In this study, we estimated the historical demography of effective population size ( Ne) of sika deer ( Cervus nippon Temminck) in Hokkaido and Hyogo Prefectures of the Japanese archipelago. We estimated Ne of >100 generations from present (2020) by folded single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) frequency spectra and, within 100 generations from present, by linkage disequilibrium between SNP. In Hokkaido, Ne drastically increased around 3.0 ky BP and decreased around 100–150 years ago with the assumption of their generation length as 4 or 9 years. The Ne decreased by a 10th before the recent bottleneck. In Hyogo, Ne increased around 80 and 1 ky BP and decreased around 100–250 years ago. Ne decreased by a 100th before the recent bottleneck. After these recent bottlenecks, Ne of both regions recovered and the current Ne has nearly reaches the highest level of the last 100 ky BP. Literature survey and paleoclimate indicates that the decrease and increase of Ne of sika deer in Japanese archipelago may be caused by variations in the hunting activity of humans rather than climate change or the top predator extinction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current sika deer effective population size is near to reaching its historically highest level in the Japanese archipelago by release from hunting rather than climate change and top predator extinction

et al. 2023

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“…1) reflects the tolerance of graminoids to deer grazing. The short stature, intercalary meristems, high shoot densities, and capacity for compensatory growth enable graminoids to tolerate herbivory, giving them a competitive advantage over forb species in heavily grazed environments (Rooney, 2009; Iijima & Otsu, 2018). Then, when grazing pressure is removed, forb species can regenerate from underground organs or seeds that are scattered from the surrounding habitat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overgrazing by large herbivore populations exceeding the land-carrying capacity can reduce plant species diversity and the regeneration of tree species (Rooney & Waller, 2003; Côté et al, 2004). Fences that exclude large herbivores (exclosures) can increase the diversity of plant species within the exclosure (Rooney, 2009; Yayneshet, Eik & Moe, 2009), their chances of reproduction (Shelton & Inouye, 1995; Cooper, 2006), their biomass (Bråthen & Oksanen, 2001; Yayneshet, Eik & Moe, 2009), and their heights (Iijima & Otsu, 2018) in some systems in several geographical regions. These previous studies may suggest that plant communities damaged by deer will recover to past compositions following exclosure installation and, as such, exclosures may be essential for the protection and restoration of plant communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant community recovery from intense deer grazing depends on reduction of graminoids and the time after exclosure installation in a semi-natural grassland

Otsu¹,

Iijima

Nagaike³

2019

PeerJ

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Exclosures that exclude large herbivores are effective tools for the protection and restoration of grazed plant communities. However, previous studies have shown that the installation of an exclosure does not ensure plant community recovery. Our study aimed to determine the effects of the domination of unpalatable plants and the timing of exclosure installation on the plant community recovery process in montane grassland overgrazed by sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Japan. In this study we compared plant species composition and their cover with inside and outside exclosures installed at different times. Furthermore, we also compared them with those in 1981, when density of sika deer was very low. We used quadrats inside and outside fenced areas established in 2010 and 2011 to record both the cover and the height of species in each quadrat between 2011 and 2015. Plant cover, with the exception of graminoid species, increased in later years in all treatments. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plots showed significantly differentiated treatment trends. The species composition within the 2010 fenced area gradually shifted to greater similarity with the species composition reported in 1981. The plant community in the 2011 fenced area was slower to recover. Compositions of plant communities outside the fenced areas hardly changed from 2011 to 2015. Chao’s dissimilarity index decreased over time between the plant community surveyed between 2011 and 2015 and the past plant community in 1981 within the exclosures, and was higher in the 2011 fenced area than in the 2010 fenced area. In conclusion, we show that the reduction of graminoids and the time after exclosure installation were important for plant community recovery from deer grazing damage. A delay in exclosure installation of one year could result in a delay in plant community recovery of more than one year.

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“…Many studies on deer browsing have been conducted to assess the impact of animals on forest regeneration, due to the overabundant presence of these ungulates, and some were also performed in order to evaluate the preference of grazers on grasslands (Iijima and Nagaike 2017). Deer population can affect the development of herbaceous vegetation, and this process is controlled by many different factors, such as population density, botanical composition, resistance of plant to animal browsing, but also by deer preference on vegetal species (Iijima and Otsu 2018). Assessment of animal impact is crucial to understand the evolution of vegetation in a grassland, as animal utilisation can produce an indirect effect on botanical composition, as a great occurrence of unpalatable or resistant species to browsing activity can reduce or inhibit the development of other species (Tanentzap et al 2012).…”

Section: Effect Of Recovery On Animal Browsingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Grasslands Improvements for Faunistic Purposes in a Mountain Area of Central Italy

Argenti¹,

Messeri²,

Ponzetta³

2023

J. Ecol. Eng.

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Restoration of grassland habitats useful for wildlife is an intervention often carried out in various marginal environments (such as some mountainous areas) where agriculture and grassland management have undergone deep changes in recent decades. To assess some of these interventions, a study was conducted in an Apennine reserve in Central Italy, where some grassland areas recovered through different techniques were identified, represented by shrub clearing followed by sowing of a forage mixture and shrub clearing alone, which were compared with natural areas on which no interventions were carried out. Several parameters related to the botanical composition and quality of the recovered pastoral resources were analysed. In addition, in three different experimental sites, further in-depth investigations were carried out to assess the actual animal frequentation and the impact of the intake of the wild animals present (mainly red deer) on the occurring vegetation. Results highlighted the importance of recovery interventions in these situations, the success of mechanical treatments (even if represented by clearing shrubs alone), and the real appreciation for the recovered areas by wildlife, whose utilisation on different vegetal species could be assessed, highlighting a diverse feeding behaviour for some taxa, compared to domestic animals.

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The method of conserving herbaceous grassland specialists through silvicultural activities under deer browsing pressure

Cited by 16 publications

References 33 publications

Current sika deer effective population size is near to reaching its historically highest level in the Japanese archipelago by release from hunting rather than climate change and top predator extinction

Current sika deer effective population size is near to reaching its historically highest level in the Japanese archipelago by release from hunting rather than climate change and top predator extinction

Plant community recovery from intense deer grazing depends on reduction of graminoids and the time after exclosure installation in a semi-natural grassland

Assessment of Grasslands Improvements for Faunistic Purposes in a Mountain Area of Central Italy

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