Functional responses of understory vegetation to ungulate exclusion in temperate forest ecosystems—a comparative trait-based approach
Research paper
Key message
An extensive exclosure-control experiment examining functional responses of forest understory vegetation revealed that ungulate exclusion favored plant traits associated with herbivory vulnerability and competitive ability, while ungulate access promoted rather disturbance-indicating communities with more acquisitive, fast-growing characteristics. This functional ecology perspective on plant-herbivore-interactions offers novel insights for both forest management and biodiversity conservation.
Keywords
Wildlife exclosure experiment; Paired plot design; Plant–herbivore interactions; Plant community dynamics; Browsing; Grazing; Understory species composition; Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.); Presence/absence data; Community-weighted mean (CWM)
Publication
Seliger, A., Zäh, J., Heinrichs, S. et al. Functional responses of understory vegetation to ungulate exclusion in temperate forest ecosystems—a comparative trait-based approach. Annals of Forest Science 83, 45 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-026-01364-4
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study will be available from Zenodo Digital Repository after an embargo on July 31, 2027 (Seliger et al. 2026a) at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22109629.
Handling editor
Valentine Lafond