using shrubs as nurse-plants to facilitate growth and reduce browsing from large herbivores
Jensen, Anna Monrad
(2011).
Effects of facilitation and competition on oak seedlings.
Diss. (sammanfattning/summary)
Alnarp :
Sveriges lantbruksuniv.,
Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae, 1652-6880
; 2011:58
ISBN 978-91-576-7602-3
[Doctoral thesis]
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Abstract
Plant–plant interactions have been indicated as a potential means to facilitate oak seedling establishment and reduce herbivory when restoring oak forests. The aim of this thesis was to investigate mechanisms and outcomes of competitive and indirectly facilitative interactions between oak (Quercus robur and Q. petraea) seedlings and neighboring plants, primarily shrubs. The associational resistance of planted oak seedlings to larger herbivores provided by naturally occurring shrubs was tested in ten temperate broadleaved forests across southern Sweden. The results showed that shrubs reduced ungulate browsing frequency and intensity by concealing the oak seedlings and by sharing enemies (i.e. ungulate herbivores) with surrounding and more preferred shrub species, thus providing numeric dilution and associational plant refuges. The occurrence of naturally regenerated oak seedlings, five years after a conservation-oriented thinning, was negatively influenced by the presence of tall ground vegetation and positively influenced by high soil moisture. For oak seedlings planted in an open field, shrubs indirectly facilitated biomass accumulation by reducing competition from herbaceous vegetation. However, shrubs became net competitors three years after planting. The oak seedling response, in terms of biomass accumulation, transpiration and photosynthesis, to competition from shrubs was proportional to resource availability. Aboveground competition for light had a greater effect on oak seedling growth than belowground competition. Nevertheless, oak seedlings were able to produce a second shoot flush, over-topping the shrub canopy. This periodic flushing enabled light-acclimation in a stratified light environment. In conclusion, management of shrubs has the potential to reduce browsing and herbaceous competitors during oak regeneration, particularly during the first years after planting. Although shrubs alone may not replace fences as an effective means of reducing browsing on oaks, they provide a complement to improve the growth of seedlings during the early stages of establishment.
Authors/Creators: | Jensen, Anna Monrad | ||||||||||||
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Title: | Effects of facilitation and competition on oak seedlings | ||||||||||||
Subtitle: | using shrubs as nurse-plants to facilitate growth and reduce browsing from large herbivores | ||||||||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae | ||||||||||||
Year of publishing : | 2011 | ||||||||||||
Number: | 2011:58 | ||||||||||||
Number of Pages: | 42 | ||||||||||||
Papers/manuscripts: |
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Place of Publication: | Alnarp | ||||||||||||
Publisher: | Institutionen för sydsvensk skogsvetenskap, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet | ||||||||||||
ISBN for printed version: | 978-91-576-7602-3 | ||||||||||||
ISSN: | 1652-6880 | ||||||||||||
Language: | English | ||||||||||||
Publication Type: | Doctoral thesis | ||||||||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||||||||
Agris subject categories.: | F Plant production > F40 Plant ecology F Plant production > F62 Plant physiology - Growth and development K Forestry > K10 Forestry production P Natural resources > P01 Nature conservation and land resources | ||||||||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Botany (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Ecology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Biological Systematics (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Developmental Biology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Forest Science | ||||||||||||
Agrovoc terms: | quercus robur, quercus petraea, seedlings, reforestation, browsing damage, light, gas exchange, translocation, phenology, plant competition | ||||||||||||
Keywords: | Pedunculate oak, Deciduous forest, Forest restoration, Neighboring effect, Vertical light gradient, Sap-flow, Gas exchange, Developmental plasticity, Phenology, Leaf morphology | ||||||||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-104 | ||||||||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-104 | ||||||||||||
ID Code: | 8142 | ||||||||||||
Department: | (S) > Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre | ||||||||||||
External funders: | FORMAS | ||||||||||||
Deposited By: | MSc Anna M. Jensen | ||||||||||||
Deposited On: | 19 May 2011 12:06 | ||||||||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2014 10:46 |
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