期刊
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
卷 21, 期 1, 页码 274-280出版社
ECOLOGICAL SOC AMER
DOI: 10.1890/09-2394.1
关键词
abundance; broad-headed snake; field experiment; fire suppression; habitat quality; habitat use; Hoplocephalus bungaroides; rock outcrop; southeastern Australia; species richness; vegetation overgrowth
资金
- Australian Reptile Park
- Australian Research Council
- Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Water New South Wales
- Forests New South Wales
- Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Authority
- Zoos Victoria
- Australian Department of Education, Science and Training
- University of Sydney
Humans are rapidly altering natural systems, leading to changes in the distribution and abundance of species. However, so many changes are occurring simultaneously (e. g., climate change, habitat fragmentation) that it is difficult to determine the cause of population fluctuations from correlational studies. We used a manipulative field experiment to determine whether forest canopy cover directly influences reptile assemblages on rock outcrops in southeastern Australia. Our experimental design consisted of three types of rock outcrops: (1) shady sites in which overgrown vegetation was manually removed (n = 25); (2) overgrown controls (n = 30); and (3) sun-exposed controls (n = 20). Following canopy removal, we monitored reptile responses over 30 months. Canopy removal increased reptile species richness, the proportion of shelter sites used by reptiles, and relative abundances of five species that prefer sun-exposed habitats. Our manipulation also decreased the abundances of two shade-tolerant species. Canopy cover thus directly influences this reptile assemblage, with the effects of canopy removal being dependent on each species' habitat preferences (i.e., selection or avoidance of sun-exposed habitat). Our study suggests that increases in canopy cover can cause declines of open-habitat specialists, as previously suggested by correlative studies from a wide range of taxa. Given that reptile colonization of manipulated outcrops occurred rapidly, artificially opening the canopy in ecologically informed ways could help to conserve imperiled species with patchy distributions and low vagility that are threatened by vegetation overgrowth. One such species is Australia's most endangered snake, the broad-headed snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides).
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