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Assessing Effects of Feral Sheep on Plant Composition and Structure in a Caribbean Tropical Dry Forest
Rachel Granberg1,*, Lori E. Brown1, Jessica L. East1, Alexis L. Garcia1, Alixandra J. Godar1, Maria F. Mejia1, Clint W. Boal2, and Gad Perry1
1Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. 2US Geological Survey, Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. *Corresponding author.
Caribbean Naturalist, No. 33 (2016)
Abstract
Invasive mammalian herbivores impact ecosystems worldwide, often with poorly documented and understood effects. To determine the effect of feral Ovis aries (Sheep) on vegetative structure and composition in the British Virgin Islands, we conducted stratified random vegetation surveys island-wide on Guana Island, and compared vegetation between paired ungulate exclosures and control plots. Our results indicate that plant communities less than 0.5 m in height were significantly altered by Sheep density across the island and by abiotic factors. This was supported by data from experimental exclosures. Island-wide, plants of all height classes were also negatively impacted by Sheep density and select abiotic factors, but this was not supported by exclosure-plot results. Our findings suggest that Sheep herbivory negatively impacts young plants, potentially affecting plant recruitment, forest age structure, and endangered native wildlife species.
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