Post-fire pickings: Large herbivores alter understory vegetation communities in a coastal eucalypt forest.

ABSTRACT: Fire and herbivores alter vegetation structure and function. Future fire activity is predicted to increase, and quantifying changes in vegetation communities arising from post-fire herbivory is needed to better manage natural environments. We investigated the effects of post-fire herbivory on understory plant communities in a coastal eucalypt forest in southeastern Australia. We quantified herbivore activity, understory plant diversity, and dominant plant morphology following a wildfire in 2017 using two sizes of exclosures. Statistical analysis incorporated the effect of exclusion treatments, time since fire, and the effect of a previous prescribed burn. Exclusion treatments altered herbivore activity, but time since fire did not. Herbivory reduced plant species richness, diversity, and e

SUBMITTER: Chard M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9034452 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature