Exclusion of large herbivores affects understorey shrub vegetation more than herb vegetation across 147 forest sites in three German regions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many studies have analysed the effect of browsing by large herbivores on tree species but far fewer studies have studied their effect on understorey shrubs and herbs. Moreover, while many studies have shown that forest features and management intensity strongly influence understorey vegetation, the influence of such variation on the effect of large-herbivore exclusion is not known.

This study

In this study, we analysed changes of species richness, Shannon diversity, evenness and cover of understorey herbs and shrubs after excluding large herbivores for seven years on 147 forest sites, differing in management intensity and forest features, in three regions of Germany (Schwäbische Alb, Hainich-Dün, Schorfheide-Chorin). Further, we studied how the effect of large-her

SUBMITTER: Schafer D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6619654 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature