Winter supplementary feeding influences forest soil seed banks and vegetation

Abstract

Question To what extent does winter supplementary feeding influence vegetation and soil seed banks in forest ecosystems? Location Białowieża Primaeval Forest, NE Poland. Methods Several dozen feeding stations, each composed of one to several haystacks, are used in Białowieża Forest for supplementary winter feeding of European bison (Bison bonasus). We checked the species composition and availability of seeds in hay in 15 haystacks of the eight oldest feeding stations, which could be a potential source of seeds. Vegetation and soil seed bank were sampled on the overlapping 10 m × 10 m plots distributed along 500‐m long transects running south and north of the studied feeding stations. Seed content in the soil samples was studied by the seedling emergence method in an unheated greenhouse. Results We revealed high dissimilarity of species composition of the hayseed, soil seed bank and standing vegetation. The dissimilarity between soil seed banks and standing vegetation increased with the distance from the haystack. The species richness of the standing vegetation was not affected by distance to the haystack, while seed bank species richness showed a significant negative correlation with distance. The mean weighted ecological indicator values of pH, light and soil fertility were negatively correlated with the distance from the haystack for the seed bank and the standing vegetation. The percentage of damaged bushes and juvenile trees was positively correlated with their density and decreased with the distance from the haystack. Conclusions We revealed distinct but local (25–50 m off the haystack) effect of supplementary feeding on the vegetation and soil seed banks of forest ecosystems. Taking into account the ecosystem approach to nature conservation, the winter feeding in forest ecosystems should be concentrated in few places to avoid the expansion of non‐native plant species in forest ecosystems. To prevent potential plant invasions, the origin of the hay used as supplementary winter fodder should be carefully selected, with a preference for local origin and making of hay of native plant species in the forest's meadows or in its surroundings.

Red‐deer dung increases species diversity but does not influence species composition of open grasslands

“…We used farm dung to control for effects of nutrient addition; it contained several orders of magnitude fewer seeds than the field dung (Appendix S2). It is also likely that the farm dung contained larger amounts of nutrients, due to intensive supplementary feeding (Jaroszewicz et al., 2017). Thus, our results indicate that the increase in species number in plots treated with dung is caused by the additional input of nutrients, rather than dispersal (Jaroszewicz et al., 2017), with phosphorus a likely driver (Riesch et al., 2022).…”

Does artificial feeding affect large carnivore behaviours? The case study of brown bears in a hunted and tourist exploited subpopulation

“…Actually, human-provided food has the potential to alter the overall dietary quality and hormonal patterns linked to seasonal nutritional requirements (Sergiel et al, 2020). Artificial feeding in forest ecosystems also has the potential to favour the expansion of non-native plant species (Jaroszewicz et al, 2017). Together with health effects, there is also a wide variety of negative impacts on wildlife that can occur as a result of artificial feeding for touristic purposes, e.g.…”