Supplementary raw data files for "Unpacking multi-trophic herbivore-grass-endophyte interactions: feedbacks across different scales in vegetation responses to Soay sheep herbivory". Revised manuscript submitted to The Science of Nature (Naturwissenschaften) on August 26, 2018 1/11 files

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dc.contributor.authorVicari, Mark
dc.contributor.authorPuentes, Adriana
dc.contributor.authorGranath, Gustaf
dc.contributor.authorGeorgeff, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorStrathdee, Fiona
dc.contributor.authorBazely, Dawn
dc.date.accessioned2018-08-26T15:14:18Z
dc.date.available2018-08-26T15:14:18Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractGrazing can induce changes in both plant productivity and nutritional quality, which may subsequently influence herbivore carrying capacity. While research on Soay sheep (Ovis aries L.) dynamics on Hirta Island in the St Kilda archipelago has elucidated the complexity of population drivers, including parasites, the role of herbivore-generated feedbacks as an intrinsic regulating factor remains unclear. The sheep lack large predators, and every 3-9 years undergo population crashes (overcompensatory mortality). We investigated the effects of grazing on (1) sward productivity, and (2) quality (toxicity) of the primary forage species, red fescue (Festuca rubra L.), which is highly infected by an alkaloid-synthesizing fungal endophyte. Grazing had a negative impact on both forage quantity and quality. At higher sheep densities, impacts on sward growth were magnified, resulting in a nonlinear relationship with plant productivity. Simultaneously, endophyte hyphal load (and by inference, toxicity) peaked close to the time of a crash. A greenhouse experiment showed that alkaloid concentration in F. rubra increased in response to artificial defoliation. We conclude that at high sheep densities, grazing-mediated reductions in productivity, together with sustained alkaloid production, are likely to influence sheep dynamics. Future research should consider the interactive effects of forage toxicity, quantity and nutritional content.
dc.description.sponsorshipNSERC Discovery grants to Dawn Bazely 1990-1994 York University grant for University Professor (Bazely) 2018en
dc.identifier.issn1432-1904
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/34945
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada*
dc.rights.journalhttps://www.springer.com/life+sciences/journal/114en_US
dc.rights.publisherhttps://www.springer.com/usen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/*
dc.subjectAboveground net primary production (ANPP)en
dc.subjectEpichloƫ festucaeen
dc.subjectGrazing optimizationen
dc.subjectHerbivore irruptionsen
dc.subjectInducible defencesen
dc.subjectPlant demographyen
dc.titleSupplementary raw data files for "Unpacking multi-trophic herbivore-grass-endophyte interactions: feedbacks across different scales in vegetation responses to Soay sheep herbivory". Revised manuscript submitted to The Science of Nature (Naturwissenschaften) on August 26, 2018 1/11 filesen
dc.title.alternativevicari_etal_metadata.csven_US
dc.typeDataseten

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