Kilheffer Chellby R, Underwood H Brian, Ries Lindsay, Raphael Jordan, Leopold Donald J
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA.
US Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA.
AoB Plants. 2019 Sep 23;11(5):plz059. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plz059. eCollection 2019 Oct.
We documented the impacts of an abundant deer population on dune vegetation recovering from severe storm surge on a barrier island through use of permanent plots and a repeated measures analysis. Three years after landfall of the storm, vegetation cover was dominated by American beachgrass, , though we observed 12 plant species among plots surveyed. We documented significantly greater vegetation cover in fenced than unfenced plots in overwash fans in two consecutive years. The difference in species richness between fenced and unfenced plots was significant, though richness was consistently low (≤4 species per plot) and we did not detect a statistically significant difference between years. Both deer trampling and foraging effects were captured in this study, though separation between these effects was not possible. Because trampling effects are often exacerbated on sandy soils, trampling and foraging effects should be isolated and investigated in future assessments of deer impacts on coastal vegetation. Managing deer to lower abundance may enhance coastal resilience if vegetation is allowed to recover unimpeded by foraging and trampling, though a better understanding of the precise nature of deer impacts on dune vegetation is necessary.
我们通过使用永久性样地和重复测量分析，记录了鹿群数量丰富对一个堰洲岛上从严重风暴潮中恢复的沙丘植被的影响。风暴登陆三年后，植被覆盖以美洲海滩草为主，不过在调查的样地中我们观察到了12种植物。连续两年，我们记录到在越流扇中，围栏样地的植被覆盖显著高于未围栏样地。围栏样地和未围栏样地之间的物种丰富度差异显著，尽管丰富度一直较低（每个样地≤4种），而且我们未检测到年份之间的统计学显著差异。本研究涵盖了鹿的践踏和觅食影响，不过无法区分这些影响。由于践踏影响在沙质土壤上往往会加剧，在未来对鹿对沿海植被影响的评估中，应分离并研究践踏和觅食影响。如果植被能够在不受觅食和践踏阻碍的情况下恢复，管理鹿群以降低其数量可能会增强海岸恢复力，不过有必要更好地了解鹿对沙丘植被影响的确切性质。
