Oecologia

, Volume 180, Issue 4, pp 1183–1194 | Cite as

Natural and experimental tests of trophic cascades: gray wolves and white-tailed deer in a Great Lakes forest

Community ecology - Original research
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Herbivores can be major drivers of environmental change, altering plant community structure and changing biodiversity through the amount and species of plants consumed. If natural predators can reduce herbivore numbers and/or alter herbivore foraging behavior, then predators may reduce herbivory on sensitive plants, and a trophic cascade will emerge. We have investigated whether gray wolves (Canis lupus) generate such trophic cascades by reducing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herbivory on saplings and rare forbs in a northern mesic forest (Land O’ Lakes, WI). Our investigation used an experimental system of deer exclosures in areas of high and low wolf use that allowed us to examine the role that wolf predation may play in reducing deer herbivory through direct reduction in deer numbers or indirectly through changing deer behavior. We found that in areas of high wolf use, deer were 62 % less dense, visit duration was reduced by 82 %, and percentage of time spent foraging was reduced by 43 %; in addition, the proportion of saplings browsed was nearly sevenfold less. Average maple (Acer spp.) sapling height and forb species richness increased 137 and 117 % in areas of high versus low wolf use, respectively. The results of the exclosure experiments revealed that the negative impacts of deer on sapling growth and forb species richness became negligible in high wolf use areas. We conclude that wolves are likely generating trophic cascades which benefit maples and rare forbs through trait-mediated effects on deer herbivory, not through direct predation kills.

Keywords

Fear Herbivory Indirect effects Predation Top–down effect 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We are thankful for the financial support received from the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center, the American Society of Mammalogists, the Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation, and the University of Notre Dame. We are grateful for the crucial logistical and/or financial support of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and United States Department of Agriculture—Wildlife Services in wolf trapping/monitoring, particularly A. Wydeven, B. Roell, D. Lonsway, M. Haen, and D. Reiter. We also thank J. McLachlan, E. Archie, T. Van Deelen, W. Carson, M. Cramer, E. Kistner, A. Laws, H. Mahon, K. Robertson, D. Lonsway, D. Tamblyn, J. Annoye, W. West, D.A. Flagel, J. Belovsky, M. Chips, J. Lee, K. Hudson, and many others for their advice and/or volunteer help. These studies were performed in and complied with the current laws of the United States.

Author contribution statement

DGF came up with the idea for the study, and the experimental design and further concept extrapolation were developed with GEB and DEB. DGF conducted the majority of fieldwork. DGF and DEB collaborated on telemetry-related work. DGF and GEB analyzed the data and interpreted results, with input from DEB. DGF and GEB wrote the manuscript, with editorial input from DEB.

Supplementary material

442_2015_3515_MOESM1_ESM.docx (26 kb)
Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 26 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • D. G. Flagel
    • 1
  • G. E. Belovsky
    • 2
  • D. E. BeyerJr.
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of Biological Sciences, 089 Galvin Life Sciences Center University of Notre DameNotre DameUSA
  2. 2.Department of Biological Sciences, 094 Galvin Life Sciences CenterUniversity of Notre DameNotre DameUSA
  3. 3.Marquette Customer Service CenterMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesMarquetteUSA

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