Deer-mediated expansion of a rare plant species |
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Authors: | Vincent Boulanger Sonia Saïd Philippe Ballon François Ningre Jean-François Picard Jean-Luc Dupouey |
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Institution: | 1.Laboratoire d’Ecologie, EA 1293 ECODIV, UFR Sciences et Techniques,Université de Rouen,Mont-Saint-Aignan,France;2.UMR 1137 écologie et écophysiologie Forestières,INRA – Université Nancy 1 Route d’Amance,Champenoux,France;3.Cemagref, Gestion des Territoires,Nogent-sur-Vernisson,France;4.ONCFS, CNERA Cervidés-sanglier,Birieux,France;5.UMR 1092 Laboratoire d’Etude des Ressources Forêt-Bois,INRA – AgroParisTech ENGREF Route d’Amance,Champenoux,France |
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Abstract: | Numerous plant colonizations have been putatively attributed to deer, based on plant species traits, fur brushing or dung
analyses. But, in woodlands, direct links between the expansion of zoochorous plant species and ungulate presence have seldom
been reported. Based on coupled floristic and browsing surveys, repeated in time, we analysed the causes of the spatio-temporal
progression of the epizoochorous species Cynoglossum germanicum over 30 years in a network covering an 11000 ha forested area in north-eastern France. In this area, deer populations reached
a peak in the 1970s, then were reduced in order to meet forest management requirements. Although initially rare and protected
locally, C. germanicum has displayed an unexpected fast colonization rate during the last few decades but only in the northern part of the forest,
which previously had the highest animal populations. Absent in the initial 1976 survey, C. germanicum occurred in 8% of the plots in 1981, then 46% in 2006. Logistic regression models revealed that the probability of occurrence
of C. germanicum in 2006 increased not only with light indicator values, in accordance with its ecological requirements, but also with past
deer browsing pressure. This result provides direct evidence of long-lasting impacts of deer populations on plant species
distribution. Combining two complementary traits, animal transport and herbivory avoidance, C. germanicum benefited from epizoochorous dispersal and, once established, was protected from deer browsing by the presence of toxic proteins
in its tissues. Due to the triggering role of ungulates, this species switched from the status of rare to that of colonizer
within only a few decades. |
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