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Fire modulates the effects of introduced ungulates on plant–insect interactions in a Patagonian temperate forest

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Abstract

Disturbances like biological invasions and fire may affect in unexpected ways plant-animal interactions. In northwestern Patagonia, introduced ungulates (cattle, horses and deers) are widespread and very common occupying more than 50% of forests and shrublands, widely affecting these habitats. In addition, fire play a major role in creating landscape patterns in this region. We evaluated whether fire modify the impacts of introduced ungulates on plant-animal interactions. In a mature forest (unburnt) and in an early post-fire area (burnt) we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyzed the impacts of introduced ungulates on insect herbivory, pollination and pre-dispersal seed predation on Berberis darwinii, one of the most common understory shrub of temperate forests. We found that the effects of cattle on pollination and fruit set depended on the habitat condition (i.e. unburnt or burnt). Introduced ungulates in unburnt forest decreased fruit set through a reduction on pollinator visits. Conversely, introduced ungulates in burnt forest increased pollinator visits and flower production without affecting fruit set. On the other hand, damage patterns (herbivory and fruit/seed predation) were unaffected by cattle in both forests types. Either, low browsing pressure or induction of plant defences may explain our results. This study illustrates how modifications on biotic and abiotic conditions produced by fire may affect in complex ways the effect of introduced ungulates on plant-animal interactions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank to Adriana Ruggiero for path analysis discussions. We thank Juan Karlanian and Melisa Blackhall for field assistance, and Carolina Quintero and Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal for manuscript suggestions. We thank the National Parks Administration of Argentina for allowing us to work in the Nahuel Huapi National Park. This study receives support of the National Science Foundation (NSF 9421881) and “Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 01-07320 BID OC-AR). Y.S., E.R. and A.G.F.B. are researchers for CONICET.

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  1. Laboratorio Ecotono, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA), Universidad Nacional del Comahue-CONICET, Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, 8400, S. C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

    Yamila Sasal, Alejandro Farji-Brener & Estela Raffaele

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  1. Yamila Sasal
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  2. Alejandro Farji-Brener
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  3. Estela Raffaele
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Correspondence to Yamila Sasal.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Fig. 3.

Fig. 3
figure 3

Forest types, A unburnt and B burnt

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Appendix 2

See Fig. 4.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Details of Berberis darwinii: A shrub with flowers in racemes, B flowers, C ripe fruits, and D predated seeds

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Appendix 3

See Fig. 5.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Map showing the study area A Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina. B position of the sampling plots (square unburnt plots and filled square burnt plots)

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Appendix 4

See Table 2.

Table 2 Means ± SE and ANOVA results of plants characteristics of Berberis darwinii in unburnt and burnt forests
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Appendix 5

See Fig. 6.

Fig. 6
figure 6

Six candidate models that relate the nine variables of interest: cattle browsing, plant height, leaves production, flower production, predated fruits, predated seeds, insect herbivory, pollinator visits and fruit set. They were based on theory and experience in the study system

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Appendix 6

See Table 3.

Table 3 Model rankings and goodness of fit for alternative models of the effects of cattle browsing on plant–insect interactions of B. darwinii
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Sasal, Y., Farji-Brener, A. & Raffaele, E. Fire modulates the effects of introduced ungulates on plant–insect interactions in a Patagonian temperate forest. Biol Invasions 19, 2459–2475 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1455-8

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