Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone

Questions: Do current models that predict shifting effects of herbivores on plant diversity with varying nutrient conditions apply to stressful systems like salt marshes? Do herbivores affect different components of the diversity as nutrient availability varies? Location: Salt marsh-salty steppe tra...

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Publicado: 2011
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Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti
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spelling paper:paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti2023-06-08T16:08:03Z Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone Competitive exclusion Evenness Nitrogen supply Small mammal herbivore Species richness abundance coastal lagoon dominance fertilizer application herbivory nitrogen nutrient availability nutrient enrichment plant community rodent saltmarsh species diversity species richness steppe transition zone Argentina Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean (Southwest) Buenos Aires [Argentina] Mar Chiquita Lagoon Cavia Cavia aperea Mammalia Rodentia Questions: Do current models that predict shifting effects of herbivores on plant diversity with varying nutrient conditions apply to stressful systems like salt marshes? Do herbivores affect different components of the diversity as nutrient availability varies? Location: Salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone at the SW Atlantic Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (37°44′52″S, 57°26′6″W), Argentina. Methods: We experimentally evaluated the separate and interactive effect of nutrients and rodent (Cavia aperea) herbivory, using exclosures and applying fertilizer (mostly nitrogen), following a factorial design in 50cm × 50cm plots. Results: We found a negative effect of herbivory on diversity in the resource-poor scenario (due to a reduction in species richness), but a positive effect when nutrients were added, by reducing the abundance of the dominant plant (and hence increasing evenness). Conclusions: Our experimental results contribute to the limited factorial evidence evaluating the role of nutrients and herbivory on the diversity of terrestrial plant communities, even in highly stressful environments like salt marsh-salty steppe transition zones. Our results also support the model that predicts negative effects of herbivores on plant diversity in low-nutrient conditions and positive effects in nutrient-enriched scenarios, and also support the mechanism assumed to act in these situations. © 2010 International Association for Vegetation Science. 2011 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Competitive exclusion
Evenness
Nitrogen supply
Small mammal herbivore
Species richness
abundance
coastal lagoon
dominance
fertilizer application
herbivory
nitrogen
nutrient availability
nutrient enrichment
plant community
rodent
saltmarsh
species diversity
species richness
steppe
transition zone
Argentina
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean (Southwest)
Buenos Aires [Argentina]
Mar Chiquita Lagoon
Cavia
Cavia aperea
Mammalia
Rodentia
spellingShingle Competitive exclusion
Evenness
Nitrogen supply
Small mammal herbivore
Species richness
abundance
coastal lagoon
dominance
fertilizer application
herbivory
nitrogen
nutrient availability
nutrient enrichment
plant community
rodent
saltmarsh
species diversity
species richness
steppe
transition zone
Argentina
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean (Southwest)
Buenos Aires [Argentina]
Mar Chiquita Lagoon
Cavia
Cavia aperea
Mammalia
Rodentia
Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
topic_facet Competitive exclusion
Evenness
Nitrogen supply
Small mammal herbivore
Species richness
abundance
coastal lagoon
dominance
fertilizer application
herbivory
nitrogen
nutrient availability
nutrient enrichment
plant community
rodent
saltmarsh
species diversity
species richness
steppe
transition zone
Argentina
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean (Southwest)
Buenos Aires [Argentina]
Mar Chiquita Lagoon
Cavia
Cavia aperea
Mammalia
Rodentia
description Questions: Do current models that predict shifting effects of herbivores on plant diversity with varying nutrient conditions apply to stressful systems like salt marshes? Do herbivores affect different components of the diversity as nutrient availability varies? Location: Salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone at the SW Atlantic Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (37°44′52″S, 57°26′6″W), Argentina. Methods: We experimentally evaluated the separate and interactive effect of nutrients and rodent (Cavia aperea) herbivory, using exclosures and applying fertilizer (mostly nitrogen), following a factorial design in 50cm × 50cm plots. Results: We found a negative effect of herbivory on diversity in the resource-poor scenario (due to a reduction in species richness), but a positive effect when nutrients were added, by reducing the abundance of the dominant plant (and hence increasing evenness). Conclusions: Our experimental results contribute to the limited factorial evidence evaluating the role of nutrients and herbivory on the diversity of terrestrial plant communities, even in highly stressful environments like salt marsh-salty steppe transition zones. Our results also support the model that predicts negative effects of herbivores on plant diversity in low-nutrient conditions and positive effects in nutrient-enriched scenarios, and also support the mechanism assumed to act in these situations. © 2010 International Association for Vegetation Science.
title Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
title_short Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
title_full Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
title_fullStr Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
title_full_unstemmed Joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
title_sort joint control by rodent herbivory and nutrient availability of plant diversity in a salt marsh-salty steppe transition zone
publishDate 2011
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_11009233_v22_n2_p216_Alberti
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