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Threatened woody flora as an ecological indicator of large herbivore introductions

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Abstract

Rewilding and translocations of large herbivores for conservation purposes have increased in recent times, with numerous introductions inside and outside their native range. This study aims to analyze the use of threatened plant taxa as a possible ecological indicator of large herbivore introductions. We examined the effects of a threatened large ungulate, the Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), on both endangered and vulnerable woody taxa after its introduction in 1970. Contrary to our hypothesis, the herbivore impact on threatened woody species was higher than that found on widespread woody plants. The results reveal that 35.7% of the threatened species showed the highest possible level of herbivore damage in contrast to 6.5% for the widespread species. Threatened species were preferred over common plants, probably due to their greater palatability. Overall plant cover, including neighboring species, was also an important factor determining browsing damage and, thus, habitats with low ground cover should be particularly considered in conservation plans. Herbivore damage on common taxa should be taken with caution since they could mask unsustainable herbivore densities for threatened woody taxa or protected habitats. The use of threatened woody taxa through the studied ecological indicators (herbivore damage, plant preferences, habitat use and regeneration success) represented a useful tool to assess the sustainability of large herbivores introductions and to establish a priority conservation ranking for threatened plant species. These findings highlight the deleterious effects of overabundant ungulate populations regardless its origin (exotic or native) and the need of monitoring threatened woody taxa to better estimate the suitability and sustainability of large herbivore introductions.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff of Sierra Espuña Natural Park for giving us permission and support to conduct this study. The Natural Park rangers (Evaristo Barranco, Miguel Cánovas, Francisco Torá, Francisco Esteban and Juan A. Moreno), its Conservation Director, Andrés Muñoz Corbalán, and Felix Carrillo Candel helped with fieldwork and data collection. Ramón Perea was supported with a Marie Curie Fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF-627450).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Sistemas y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Mario Velamazán, Alfonso San Miguel, Rafael Escribano & Ramón Perea

  2. Department of Biology, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Ramón Perea

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  1. Mario Velamazán
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  2. Alfonso San Miguel
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  3. Rafael Escribano
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  4. Ramón Perea
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Correspondence to Ramón Perea.

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Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Invasive species.

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Velamazán, M., San Miguel, A., Escribano, R. et al. Threatened woody flora as an ecological indicator of large herbivore introductions. Biodivers Conserv 26, 917–930 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1279-3

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