RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Strong negative effect of alien herbivores on endemic legumes of the Canary pine forest
A1 Garzón Machado, Víctor
A1 González Mancebo, Juana María
A1 Palomares-Martínez, A.
A1 Acevedo Rodríguez, A.
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
A1 Arco Aguilar, Marcelino José del
A1 Pérez de Paz, Pedro Luis
K1 Herbivory
K1 Endemic plants
K1 Pinus canariensis
K1 National Park
K1 Conservation
K1 Introduced species
K1 plantas endémicas
K1 Parque Nacional
K1 Conservación
K1 especies introducidas
AB We studied the effects of herbivores on populations of four endemic legume species in pine forests in Calderade Taburiente National Park on La Palma, Canary Islands. Seeds of these species were sown in controland herbivore-exclusion plots. Over the subsequent 4-years period, we assessed the effects of herbivoresby counting the number of individual plants that emerged and by following their growth. We assessedgrowth over time using three plant-size categories. For these four species, we conclude that the presenceof herbivores, including barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), goat (Capra hircus) and European rabbit(Oryctolagus cuniculus), exerts a strong negative effect on plant establishment. We suggest that the paucityof understory plant species in the pine forests of the Canary Islands may be strongly correlated withthe presence of introduced herbivores in this region. We propose urgent conservation measures, such aslarge fenced areas, control activities and the most effective measure, eradication.
PB Elsevier BV
YR 2010
FD 2010
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18346
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18346
LA en
NO Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 25-nov-2024