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| DOI: | 10.1111/1365-2745.12322 |
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| Web URL(s): | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12322/full
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Access conditions: Item is within a limited-access website
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12322/pdf
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Requires: PDF Reader
Access conditions: Item is within a limited-access website |
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| Publication Type:
| Refereed |
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| Author(s): | Veldhuis, Michiel P.;
Howison, Ruth A.;
Fokkema, Rienk W.;
Tielens, Elske;
Olff, Han |
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| Author Affiliation: | Veldhuis, Howison, and Olff: Community and Conservation Ecology Group; Fokkema: Animal Ecology Group, Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Tielens: Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD |
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| Title: | A novel mechanism for grazing lawn formation: Large herbivore-induced modification of the plant-soil water balance |
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| Source: | Journal of Ecology. Vol. 102, No. 6, November 2014, p. 1506-1517. |
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| Publishing Information: | Oxford, England, United Kingdom: Blackwell Scientific Publications |
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| # of Pages: | 12 |
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| Related Web URL: | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12322/abstract
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Notes: Abstract only |
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| Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Compaction; Defoliation; Grazing lawns; Herbivores; Nutrient management; Soil management; Soil water balance; Water management
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| Abstract/Contents: | "1. Large herbivores play a key role in creating spatial heterogeneity through the formation of grazing lawns. Recent research suggests that the currently accepted nutrient-based theory on the formation of these grazing lawns cannot universally explain their formation in all ecosystems where they are found. 2. We developed and investigated an alternative hypothesis on grazing lawn formation and maintenance based on herbivore effects on the plant-soil water balance. We propose that large herbivores change the soil water balance in grazing lawns through defoliation and soil compaction, causing a shift in vegetation composition towards a drought-tolerant plant community. 3. Investigating this idea in a tropical savanna, we indeed found profound differences in grazing lawn soil properties and water balance. In particular, defoliation increased soil temperatures and potential evaporation rates while soil compaction increased bulk density and decreased water infiltration rates, especially on fine-textured soils. Soil moisture was therefore generally much lower in grazing lawns than in adjacent bunch grass areas. 4. Furthermore, we found that grazing lawn species show drought-tolerant traits, with higher leaf sodium levels, suggesting evolutionary adaptation to these herbivore-induced dry conditions. However, leaf water potentials did not differ between grazing lawn and bunch grass species. 5. Synthesis. This study shows that large herbivores might form grazing lawns through previously underestimated effects on water balance. Thus, future studies on large herbivore effects on vegetation should increasingly focus on additional pathways of soil compaction and defoliation. While nutrient-based processes driving grazing lawn formation may operate during the wet season in savannas, we suggest that water balance-based processes are additionally important during the dry season." |
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| Language: | English |
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| References: | 85 |
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| Note: | Summary appears as abstract
Figures
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| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete):
Veldhuis, M. P., R. A. Howison, R. W. Fokkema, E. Tielens, and H. Olff. 2014. A novel mechanism for grazing lawn formation: Large herbivore-induced modification of the plant-soil water balance. J. Ecol. 102(6):p. 1506-1517. |
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| DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12322 |
| Web URL(s):
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12322/full
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Access conditions: Item is within a limited-access website
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12322/pdf
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Requires: PDF Reader
Access conditions: Item is within a limited-access website |
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MSU catalog number: b2218287 |
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