RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Suitability of the management of habitat complexity, acorn burial depth, and a chemical repellent for post-fire reforestation of oaks
A1 Leverkus, Alexandro Bitol
A1 Castro, Jorge
A1 Puerta-Piñero, Carolina
A1 Rey Benayas, José María
K1 Acorn removal
K1 Capsaicin
K1 Post-fire management
K1 Rodents
K1 Seed predation
K1 Seed sowing
K1 Medio Ambiente
K1 Environmental science
AB Acorn sowing is a reforestation technique that can potentially render high-quality oak seedlings and high seedling survival, although it is often discarded due to high rates of seed predation. Predator activity can be modified by habitat complexity due to its effects on accessibility and protection for different predators. In this study we analysed how habitat complexity generated by different post-fire management treatments, sowing depth, and capsaicin (a chemical repellent) affect acorn predation by two guilds of post-dispersal predators that differ in size and foraging behaviour. We carried out two acorn predation experiments. In Experiment #1 we buried acorns at two depths (2 and 8 cm) in two post-fire burnt-wood management treatments of different habitat complexity, namely: (1) Salvage Logging (SL), where the burnt trunks were cut and piled and the branches were masticated (lower habitat complexity), and (2) Non-Intervention (NI), with no action after the fire and 100% of the trees naturally fallen by 2009, thus leaving a habitat with lying burnt logs and branches (higher habitat complexity). In Experiment #2 we repeated Experiment #1, with the addition of capsaicin as a mammal repellent treatment. Most acorns were consumed in both years (ca. 90%), mainly by rodents. In Experiment #1 predation by boars accounted for 4.1% of overall predation, and it was about twice as high in SL than in NI, likely due to the physical difficulty for large mammals to forage in an area with a complex structure created by lying logs and branches. In contrast, rodents consumed ca. 1.4 times more acorns in NI than in SL, which led to overall greater predation in NI in both experiments. This was likely due to the protection provided by the branches for the rodent community. Deeper burial reduced predation by small percentages, although in Experiment #1 it had a negligible effect in NI. Capsaicin did not reduce predation, and it reduced seedling emergence to half. This study suggests that habitat complexity created by trunks and branches reduced predation by wild boars, but favoured rodent acorn predation. We conclude that other methods for the protection of individual acorns need to be identified to increase the success of oak reforestation via seeding.
SN 0925-8574
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10017/38531
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10017/38531
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
DS MINDS@UW
RD 19-abr-2024