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Browser selectivity alters post-fire competition between Erica arborea and E. trimera in the sub-alpine heathlands of Ethiopia

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Abstract

Mammalian herbivores have the potential to alter the competitive relations of woody species, if consumption is unevenly distributed between species. At elevations above 3,500 m in the southern Ethiopian highlands, vegetation is dominated by Erica arborea and E. trimera. Both species can potentially grow into short trees, but are burnt on a rotation of 6–10 years, and regenerate by re-sprouting from belowground lignotubers. The regenerating scrub is heavily browsed by cattle. We set up browsing exclosures at three burnt sites to quantify the impact of browsing over a 3-year period. When protected from browsing, E. trimera had similar or better height growth than E. arborea, but in browsed vegetation, E. arborea instead grew taller. Browsing was more intense on E. trimera in the first years after fire, indicating a difference in palatability between the species. We checked if browse quality differed, by analysing shoot contents of acid detergent fibre (ADF), protein, phenolics and tannins. Contrary to expectations, the preferred E. trimera contained more ADF, less protein and had a higher tannin activity than E. arborea. Although the vegetative growth of E. arborea is favoured relative to E. trimera under high browsing pressure, rapid change in abundance would not be expected, since short-interval fire will repeatedly eradicate any gains in vegetative growth. However, within the typical fire return interval of less than 10 years, E. trimera barely reach a reproductive state, whereas E. arborea flower profusely. Under the current regime of fire and browsing, this may in the long run be more important than differences in height growth, leading to a gradual increase in the proportion of E. arborea.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ayano Abraham and Shebru Marefu for field assistance, Helena Königsson for lab assistance, Sören Holm for statistics support and Christina Skarpe and David Wardle for valuable comments on the manuscript. The study was funded by The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Maria Johansson & Anders Granström

  2. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Tuulikki Rooke

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 30193, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Masresha Fetene

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  1. Maria Johansson
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  2. Tuulikki Rooke
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  3. Masresha Fetene
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Correspondence to Maria Johansson.

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Johansson, M., Rooke, T., Fetene, M. et al. Browser selectivity alters post-fire competition between Erica arborea and E. trimera in the sub-alpine heathlands of Ethiopia. Plant Ecol 207, 149–160 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-009-9661-9

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