气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Stem size selectivity is stronger than species preferences for beaver, a central place forager

CCPortal

DOI	10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118331
	Stem size selectivity is stronger than species preferences for beaver, a central place forager
	Mahoney M.J.; Stella J.C.
发表日期	2020
ISSN	0378-1127
卷号	475
英文摘要	The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a classic ecosystem engineer, creating and expanding wetlands throughout their vast range. As important as their impacts on aquatic ecosystems, beaver as central place foragers restructure the surrounding forest community by their selective cutting of preferred woody species and size classes. These effects, which have been studied in several regions of North America, are still poorly understood within forests of the northeastern United States, where beaver populations are rebounding following regional extirpation. Here, beaver represent a key disturbance agent in a region where other drivers such as fire and timber cutting have been greatly reduced over the last century. Understanding their specific impacts on forest composition and structure is needed to manage these forests and their multiple ecosystem services. In this context, we assessed beaver foraging preferences throughout New York's Adirondack State Park, a vast northern wooded region, to model their impacts on forest structure and composition. Across 19 sites distributed throughout the Park, beavers preferentially harvested stems < 10 cm diameter, with the 2–5 cm size class most preferred overall. Mixed-effects logistic regression models showed greater probability of harvest for stems closer to the impoundment for all species and taxonomic groups modeled, consistent with central place foraging theory. Broadleaf deciduous tree species were browsed at rates 33% greater than coniferous species, with American beech (Fagus grandifolia) among the most utilized species, contrary to other regions where it is typically avoided. Though stem diameter preferences and spatial gradients of foraging intensity were consistent with those found in other regions, species preferences differed greatly, suggesting that selectivity for a deciduous species expressed on the landscape is primarily a function of the size distribution of its available stems. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.
英文关键词	Adirondack State Park; Beaver; Central place foraging; Community ecology; Ecological disturbance; Ecosystem engineer; Forage selection
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic organisms; Logistic regression; Coniferous species; Ecosystem engineer; Ecosystem services; Forest compositions; Logistic regression models; Selective cutting; Spatial gradients; Species preference; Forestry; aquatic ecosystem; broad-leaved forest; central place foraging; deciduous tree; ecosystem engineering; preference behavior; rodent; stand structure; stem; wetland; Diameter; Ecosystems; Forestry; Forests; Probability; Selective Cutting; Selectivity; Wetlands; Adirondack Park; New York [United States]; United States; Castor canadensis; Castoridae; Fagus grandifolia
来源期刊	Forest Ecology and Management
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/155039
作者单位	Department of Sustainable Resources Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Mahoney M.J.,Stella J.C.. Stem size selectivity is stronger than species preferences for beaver, a central place forager[J],2020,475.
APA	Mahoney M.J.,&Stella J.C..(2020).Stem size selectivity is stronger than species preferences for beaver, a central place forager.Forest Ecology and Management,475.
MLA	Mahoney M.J.,et al."Stem size selectivity is stronger than species preferences for beaver, a central place forager".Forest Ecology and Management 475(2020).