Legacy effects of herbivory on treeline dynamics along an elevational gradient.

ABSTRACT: Treelines are expected to expand into alpine ecosystems with global warming, but herbivory may delay this expansion. This study quantifies long-term effects of temporally varying sheep densities on birch recruitment and growth in the treeline ecotone. We examined treeline ecotone successional trajectories and legacy effects in a replicated experimental setup, where enclosures were present for 14 years with three different sheep densities (0, 25, 80 sheep km^-2). Before and after the enclosures were present, the site had an ambient sheep density of 20-25 km^-2. We sampled field data 4 years after enclosure removal and compared these to data sampled 8 and 9 years after enclosure erection. We sampled data on birch browsing pressure, birch distribution across life-stages (r

SUBMITTER: Mienna IM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8956534 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature