Effects of Herbivores on Seed Banks of Grass and Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2004)

Authors

Terri Koontz

Date

2011

Abstract

Grazers and granivores have the potential to affect seed banks. Several studies have examined the impact of these herbivores on the aboveground vegetation, but few have looked at how they influence the seed bank. I asked whether both grazers and granivores alter the seed bank at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Long-term experimental plots were installed in 1996 to exclude grazers and granivores from a grassland and shrubland. Soil samples were collected from these plots and seeds were germinated in a greenhouse. The grassland had significantly more species in its seed bank than the shrubland. Also, the seed bank composition differed significantly between the two sites. However, the number of species in the seed bank did not vary among herbivore treatments nor did total seed numbers vary among treatments at the grassland. At the shrubland, in contrast, plots that excluded both herbivores had fewer total seeds than control plots and plots where only grazers were excluded. Therefore, although herbivores play some role in the shrubland, herbivores do not reduce seed numbers at either site. Thus, seed bank size is not controlled by the consumption of seeds from these herbivores, but by some other factor (e.g. disturbance or abiotic events).

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/1928/30008

Other Identifier

SEV209

Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Identifier

knb-lter-sev.209.118417

Document Type

Dataset

Comments

This dataset was originally published on the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Data Portal, https://portal.lternet.edu, and potentially via other repositories or portals as described. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source data package is doi:10.6073/pasta/f907a28c8f3e52a7514c197925d0039a, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f907a28c8f3e52a7514c197925d0039a. Metadata and files included in this record mirror as closely as possible the source data and documentation, with the provenance metadata and quality report generated by the LTER portal reproduced here as '*-provenance.xml' and *-report.html' files, respectively.

Rights

Data Policies: This dataset is released to the public and may be freely downloaded. Please keep the designated Contact person informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation or collaboration with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset must include proper acknowledgement of the Sevilleta LTER. Datasets must be cited as in the example provided. A copy of any publications using these data must be supplied to the Sevilleta LTER Information Manager. By downloading any data you implicitly acknowledge the LTER Data Policy (http://www.lternet.edu/data/netpolicy.html).

Publisher

SEV LTER, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM , 87131

Source

http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f907a28c8f3e52a7514c197925d0039a

Temporal coverage

2004-03-01 - 2004-10-01

Spatial coverage

Location: Five Points Black Grama is on the transition between Chihuahuan Desert Scrub and Desert Grassland habitat. The site is subject to intensive research activity, including assessments of net primary productivity, phenology, and pollinator diversity, amongst other projects. It is the site of the unburned black grama (GU) component of the Burn NPP study. On August 4, 2009, a lightning-initiated fire began on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. By August 5, 2009, the fire had reached the Five Points Black Grama site. Portions of this site were burned, but not the entirety. See individual projects for further information on the effects of the burn. Vegetation: The Five Points Black Grama site is ecotonal in nature, bordering Chihuahuan Desert Scrub at its southern extent and Plains-Mesa Grassland at its northern, more mesic boundary. Characteristically, the dominant grass is black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda).

DOI

doi:10.6073/pasta/f907a28c8f3e52a7514c197925d0039a

Permanent URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f907a28c8f3e52a7514c197925d0039a

Recommended Citation

Koontz, Terri (2011): Effects of Herbivores on Seed Banks of Grass and Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2004). Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f907a28c8f3e52a7514c197925d0039a