Author Archives: Nathan Lyle
Deer Change the Landscape Indirectly
July 6, 2019
Deer alter many facets of the understorey environment, such as light availability, soil compaction and depth of the soil E horizon, which, in turn, appear to mediate variation in plant communities. Those environmental modifications likely compound direct impacts of herbivory … read more
Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged change, indirectly, landscape
Fear of Large Carnivores Causes a Trophic Cascade
July 6, 2019
The fear large carnivores inspire, independent of their direct killing of prey, may itself cause cascading effects down food webs potentially critical for conserving ecosystem function, particularly by affecting large herbivores and mesocarnivores. However, the evidence of this has been … read more
Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged carnivores, cascade, causes, large, trophic
Trophic Cascades in Great Lakes Wolves
July 6, 2019
Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged cascades, great, lakes, trophic, wolves
Large Predators, Deer, And Trophic Cascades In Boreal And Temperate Ecosystems
July 6, 2019
Historically, humans have modified many boreal and temperate ecosystems by decimating native animal populations and often substituting domesticated stock, thereby influencing food webs and simplifying interactions among species. Large predators, especially, have been subject to worldwide persecution. The profound ecological … read more
Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged boreal, cascades, ecosystems, large, predators, temperate, trophic
Wolves Facilitate the Recovery of Browse-Sensitive Understory Herbs in Wisconsin Forests
July 6, 2019
We asked whether wolf re-colonization would facilitate increased growth and reproduction of three browse-sensitive plant species. We hypothesized plant size and the proportion of reproductive individuals would be lowest in areas with no wolves, intermediate where wolves had been present … read more
Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged browse, facilitate, herbs, recovery, sensitive, understory, wolves
Recolonizing Wolves Trigger a Trophic Cascade in Wisconsin
July 5, 2019
We tested the hypothesis that wolves are reducing local browse intensity by white-tailed deer, thus indirectly mitigating the biotic impoverishment of understorey plant communities in northern Wisconsin. To assess the potential for such a top-down trophic cascade response, we developed … read more
Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged cascade, recolonizing, trigger, trophic, wisconsin, wolves
