Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27171381›Full record

ArticlePloS one2016

Foliar Nutritional Quality Explains Patchy Browsing Damage Caused by an Invasive Mammal.

Hannah R Windley, Mandy C Barron, E Penelope Holland, Danswell Starrs, Wendy A Ruscoe, William J Foley

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Hannah R WindleyResearch School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
Mandy C BarronLandcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand.
E Penelope HollandLandcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand.
Danswell StarrsResearch School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
Wendy A RuscoeLandcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand.
William J FoleyResearch School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
Australian National University · AUManaaki Whenua – Landcare Research · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduced herbivores frequently inflict significant, yet patchy damage on native ecosystems through selective browsing. However, there are few instances where the underlying cause of this patchy damage has been revealed. We aimed to determine if the nutritional quality of foliage could predict the browsing preferences of an invasive mammalian herbivore, the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), in a temperate forest in New Zealand. We quantified the spatial and temporal variation in four key aspects of the foliar chemistry (total nitrogen, available nitrogen, in vitro dry matter digestibility and tannin effect) of 275 trees representing five native tree species. Simultaneously, we assessed the severity of browsing damage caused by possums on those trees in order to relate selective browsing to foliar nutritional quality. We found significant spatial and temporal variation in nutritional quality among individuals of each tree species examined, as well as among tree species. There was a positive relationship between the available nitrogen concentration of foliage (a measure of in vitro digestible protein) and the severity of damage caused by browsing by possums. This study highlights the importance of nutritional quality, specifically, the foliar available nitrogen concentration of individual trees, in predicting the impact of an invasive mammal. Revealing the underlying cause of patchy browsing by an invasive mammal provides new insights for conservation of native forests and targeted control of invasive herbivores in forest ecosystems.

Indexed as

Introduced SpeciesNutritional Physiological PhenomenaAnimalsEcosystemHerbivoryMammalsModels, TheoreticalNew ZealandPlant LeavesProbabilityTrichosurus

Identifiers

PMID27171381
PMCPMC4865184
OpenAlexW2385041271

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.