University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Rapid shifts in the chemical composition of aspen forests: an introduced herbivore as an agent of natural selection

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 08:35 authored by Bailey, J, Schweitzer, J, Rehill, BJ, Irschick, DJ, Whitham, TG, Lindroth, RL
The global ecological impacts of introduced and exotic species can be dramatic, leading to losses in biodiversity and ecosystem "meltdown", however, the evolutionary impacts of introduced species are much less understood. Further, very few studies have examined whether mammalian herbivores can act as agents of natural selection for plant traits. We examined the hypothesis that variation in aspen phytochemistry resulted in selective herbivory by Cervus elaphus (elk), an introduced mammalian herbivore. With the experimental removal of a large elk exclosure, elk selectively eliminated 60% of an aspen population previously protected from herbivory resulting in a dramatic shift in the phytochemical composition of the aspen forest. Selection gradients (β) varied from 0.52 to 0.66, well above average relative to other studies of selection. These results indicate that introduced herbivores can have rapid evolutionary consequences even on long lived native species. Because there are fundamental links between phytochemistry, biodiversity and ecosystem processes, the effects of an introduced herbivore are likely to have cascading impacts on the services ecosystems provide. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

History

Publication title

Biological Invasions

Volume

9

Issue

6

Pagination

715-722

ISSN

1387-3547

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Springer Netherlands

Place of publication

Netherlands

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC