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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
USGS2006

Animal and vegetation patterns in natural and man-made bog pools: implications for restoration

1. Peatlands have suffered great losses following drainage for agriculture, forestry, urbanisation, or peat mining, near inhabited areas. We evaluated the faunal and vegetation patterns after restoration of a peatland formerly mined for peat. We assessed whether bog pools created during restoration are similar to natural bog pools in terms of water chemistry, vegetation structure and composition, as well as amphibian and arthropod occurrence patterns. 2. Both avian species richness and peatland vegetation cover at the site increased following restoration. Within bog pools, however, the vegetation composition differed between natural and man-made pools. The cover of low shrubs, Sphagnum moss, submerged, emergent and floating vegetation in man-made pools was lower than in natural pools, whereas pH was higher than in typical bog pools. Dominant plant species also differed between man-made and natural pools. 3. Amphibian tadpoles, juveniles and adults occurred more often in man-made pools than natural bog pools. Although some arthropods, including Coleoptera bog specialists, readily colonised the pools, their abundance was two to 26 times lower than in natural bog pools. Plant introduction in bog pools, at the stocking densities we applied, had no effect on the occurrence of most groups. 4. We conclude that our restoration efforts were partially successful. Peatland-wide vegetation patterns following restoration mimicked those of natural peatlands, but 4 years were not sufficient for man-made pools to fully emulate the characteristics of natural bog pools.

Freshwater Biology↗
USGS1987

Below-ground herbivory in natural communities: a review emphasizing fossorial animals

Roots, bulbs, corms, and other below-ground organs are almost universally present in communities containing vascular plants. A large and taxonomically diverse group of herbivores uses these below-ground plant parts as its sole or primary source of food. Important within this group are plant-parasitic nematodes and several fossorial taxa that affect plants through their soil-disturbing activities as well as by consuming plant tissue. The fossorial taxa are probably best exemplified by fossorial rodents, which are distributed on all continents except Australia. All other fossorial herbivores are insects. The impact of below-groud herbivory on individual plant fitness will depend upon the extent to which, and under what circumstances, the consumption of plant tissue disrupts one or more of the six functions of below-ground plant parts. Below-ground herbivory is probably more often chronic than acute. Indirect evidence suggests that plants have responded evolutionarily to herbivory by enhancing the functional capacities of below-ground organs, thus developing a degree of tolerance, and by producing compounds that serve as feeding deterrents. Many plant species respond to the removal of root tissues by increasing the growth rate of the remaining roots and initiating new roots. Soil movement and mixing by fossorial rodents infleuce the environment of other below-ground herbivores as well as that of plants and plant propagules. The relationships among the various groups of below-ground herbivores, and between below-ground herbivores and plants, are at best poorly known, yet they appear to have major roles in determining the structure and regulating the functioning of natural communities.

The Quarterly Review of Biology↗