Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2009
INTRODUCTION
Here we will describe and discuss the effects of large herbivores on animal community composition, diversity and abundance, using examples from different taxonomic and functional groups in different habitats. The main focus is the effect of wild ungulates in natural or semi‐natural habitats, but when relevant we will also cover the effects of domestic grazers in agricultural systems. Less attention will be given to the effects of large herbivores on groups which recently have been reviewed (e.g. birds) (McShea & Rappole 1997, Van Wieren 1998, Fuller 2001), less studied groups (e.g. reptiles and aquatic communities) (but see e.g. Strand & Merritt 1999) and on the consequences following the transfer of forests into grasslands by large herbivores (e.g. Van Wieren 1998, see also Chapter 7).
Our focus will be on ecological processes affecting animal communities, e.g. impacts of competition for food with other herbivores, and indirect impacts via changes in habitat structure on seemingly unrelated taxa. The possible differences between introduced and native wild herbivores as well as between wild and domestic grazers will be discussed; parasitism and the role of dung will only briefly be mentioned. By impacts, or effects, we mean observed changes in animal community composition, or abundance in response to changes in presence, density or species composition of large herbivores. The last part of the chapter summarizes the observed impacts on other biota, and discusses some theoretical and practical issues associated with the effects of large herbivores on other animals.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.