Effects of forest fragment management on vegetation condition and maintenance of canopy composition in a New Zealand pastoral landscape
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Published source details
Burns B., Floyd C., Smale M. & Arnold G. (2011) Effects of forest fragment management on vegetation condition and maintenance of canopy composition in a New Zealand pastoral landscape. Austral Ecology, 36, 153-166.
Published source details Burns B., Floyd C., Smale M. & Arnold G. (2011) Effects of forest fragment management on vegetation condition and maintenance of canopy composition in a New Zealand pastoral landscape. Austral Ecology, 36, 153-166.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Control rodents Action Link |
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Use wire fences within grazing areas to exclude livestock from specific forest sections Action Link |
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Control rodents
A controlled study in temperate mixed forest in New Zealand (Burns et al. 2011) found that rodent control decreased native plant species richness, but did not affect total plant species richness. The number of native plant species/plot was lower in rodent control plots (33) than untreated plots (38). The numbers of non-native plant species/plot (untreated: 4; rodent control: 3) and total vascular plant species/plot (untreated: 40; rodent control: 37) were similar between treatments. Plants were monitored in 400 m2 plots in each of 14 untreated and 27 rodent control forest fragments. Control was carried out using trap stations, largely for ship rats Rattus rattus and house mice Mus musculus.
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Use wire fences within grazing areas to exclude livestock from specific forest sections
A controlled study in temperate mixed forest in New Zealand (Burns et al. 2011) found that grazing exclusion decreased exotic plant species richness but did not affect total plant species richness. The number of exotic plant species/plot was higher in grazed (6.1) and in plots that were ungrazed for 2-10 years (3.8) than in plots that were ungrazed for 10-20 (0.1) or >20 years (0.4). The numbers of native plant species/plot (34, 35, 37 and 34 for grazed, 2-10, 10-20 and >20 years fenced respectively) and total plant species/plot (40, 38, 37 and 35 for grazed, 2-10, 10-20 and >20 years fenced respectively) were similar among treatments. Plants were monitored in 400 m2 plots in forest fragments: 13 grazed, ten fenced for 2-10 years, nine fenced for 10-20 years and nine fenced >20 years to exclude cattle and sheep grazing.
