title: Herbivory affects salt marsh succession dynamics by suppressing the recovery of dominant species.
abstract: Disturbance can generate heterogeneous environments and profoundly influence plant diversity by creating patches at different successional stages. Herbivores, in turn, can govern plant succession dynamics by determining the rate of species replacement, ultimately affecting plant community structure. In a south-western Atlantic salt marsh, we experimentally evaluated the role of herbivory in the recovery following disturbance of the plant community and assessed whether herbivory affects the relative importance of sexual and clonal reproduction on these dynamics. Our results show that herbivory strongly affects salt marsh secondary succession by suppressing seedlings and limiting clonal colonization of the dominant marsh grass, allowing subordinate species to dominate disturbed patches. These results demonstrate that herbivores can have an important role in salt marsh community structure and function, and can be a key force during succession dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, CONICET-UNMDP, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina, pdaleo@mdp.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daleo
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canepuccia
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Iribarne
mesh_terms: D027703:Amaranthaceae / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D019607:Brassicaceae / Q000254:growth & development; D060434:Herbivory; D006109:Poaceae / Q000254:growth & development*; D036226:Seedlings / Q000254:growth & development; D053833:Wetlands