Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments

Here, we aimed to define ecological indicators of environmental change for monitoring the effect of a reintroduced species, the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), over the vegetation of a natural protected area with contrasting habitats. This species was reintroduced 30 years ago in the Sierra de Guada...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Refoyo Román, Pablo Alberto, Peláez, Marta, García Rodríguez, Manuel, López Sánchez, Aída, Perea, Ramón
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/88733
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88733
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:574.3
591.5
599.6(460.27)
Rewilding
Reintroduction
Natural protected areas
Browsing damage
Biocrust
Trampling
Ecología (Biología)
Zoología
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
2401.06 Ecología Animal
id ES_247e1d1b11ec9e2aa60fb3a4d7a496ae
oai_identifier_str oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/88733
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environmentsRefoyo Román, Pablo AlbertoPeláez, MartaGarcía Rodríguez, ManuelLópez Sánchez, AídaPerea, Ramón574.3591.5599.6(460.27)RewildingReintroductionNatural protected areasBrowsing damageBiocrustTramplingEcología (Biología)Zoología2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)2401.06 Ecología AnimalHere, we aimed to define ecological indicators of environmental change for monitoring the effect of a reintroduced species, the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), over the vegetation of a natural protected area with contrasting habitats. This species was reintroduced 30 years ago in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, Spain, and its population has since grown exponentially, reaching high densities in some areas. We tested the suitability of two complementary indicators: browsing damage on woody species and the percentage of moss cover loss on rocky outcrops. For this purpose, we used a mathematical approach to zone the natural protected area according to the historical presence of the species and established five different Iberian ibex pressure classes (Classes I–V). Our results showed a direct link between Iberian ibex pressure and vegetation status. Model predictions suggested 10% moss loss in the areas with low pressure (Class I) but 64% loss in the areas with high pressure (Class III), mostly due to ungulate trampling on rocks. Similarly, browsing damage increased with increasing pressure classes for different woody species. Low palatable plant species such as Pinus spp. showed little change in browsing damage for increasing ungulate pressure whereas more palatable plants (e.g., Erica arborea) showed significantly greater browsing damage variation across pressure classes (i.e., high sensitive to herbivory pressure). Both, moss cover on rocks and widely distributed palatable woody plants proved useful ecological indicators for monitoring ungulate populations in mountainous areas with a diverse array of habitats (e.g., rocky vs. woody). This methodology may help select the most suitable indicators for each type of ecosystem or dominant habitat in ungulate-dominated ecosystems.SpringerUniversidad Complutense de Madrid20222022-01-0120222022-01-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88733reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/887332026-06-02T12:44:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
title Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
spellingShingle Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
Refoyo Román, Pablo Alberto
574.3
591.5
599.6(460.27)
Rewilding
Reintroduction
Natural protected areas
Browsing damage
Biocrust
Trampling
Ecología (Biología)
Zoología
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
2401.06 Ecología Animal
title_short Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
title_full Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
title_fullStr Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
title_full_unstemmed Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
title_sort Moss cover and browsing scores as sustainability indicators of mountain ungulate populations in Mediterranean environments
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Refoyo Román, Pablo Alberto
Peláez, Marta
García Rodríguez, Manuel
López Sánchez, Aída
Perea, Ramón
author Refoyo Román, Pablo Alberto
author_facet Refoyo Román, Pablo Alberto
Peláez, Marta
García Rodríguez, Manuel
López Sánchez, Aída
Perea, Ramón
author_role author
author2 Peláez, Marta
García Rodríguez, Manuel
López Sánchez, Aída
Perea, Ramón
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 574.3
591.5
599.6(460.27)
Rewilding
Reintroduction
Natural protected areas
Browsing damage
Biocrust
Trampling
Ecología (Biología)
Zoología
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
2401.06 Ecología Animal
topic 574.3
591.5
599.6(460.27)
Rewilding
Reintroduction
Natural protected areas
Browsing damage
Biocrust
Trampling
Ecología (Biología)
Zoología
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
2401.06 Ecología Animal
description Here, we aimed to define ecological indicators of environmental change for monitoring the effect of a reintroduced species, the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), over the vegetation of a natural protected area with contrasting habitats. This species was reintroduced 30 years ago in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, Spain, and its population has since grown exponentially, reaching high densities in some areas. We tested the suitability of two complementary indicators: browsing damage on woody species and the percentage of moss cover loss on rocky outcrops. For this purpose, we used a mathematical approach to zone the natural protected area according to the historical presence of the species and established five different Iberian ibex pressure classes (Classes I–V). Our results showed a direct link between Iberian ibex pressure and vegetation status. Model predictions suggested 10% moss loss in the areas with low pressure (Class I) but 64% loss in the areas with high pressure (Class III), mostly due to ungulate trampling on rocks. Similarly, browsing damage increased with increasing pressure classes for different woody species. Low palatable plant species such as Pinus spp. showed little change in browsing damage for increasing ungulate pressure whereas more palatable plants (e.g., Erica arborea) showed significantly greater browsing damage variation across pressure classes (i.e., high sensitive to herbivory pressure). Both, moss cover on rocks and widely distributed palatable woody plants proved useful ecological indicators for monitoring ungulate populations in mountainous areas with a diverse array of habitats (e.g., rocky vs. woody). This methodology may help select the most suitable indicators for each type of ecosystem or dominant habitat in ungulate-dominated ecosystems.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
2022-01-01
2022
2022-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88733
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88733
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Docta Complutense
instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
reponame_str Docta Complutense
collection Docta Complutense
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.301603

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