<br />Joseph H. Connell
<br />
<br />move the allelopathic effects also destroy
<br />or drive out the grazing animals (Halligan,
<br />1972; Christiansen, 1973). Either experi-
<br />mental removal of the tops of allelopathic
<br />plants or exclusion of grazing vertebrates
<br />by cages or fences, or both, has been done
<br />in several instances, When vertebrate
<br />grazers alone were excluded, herbs have
<br />sometimes become established in abun-
<br />dance near allelopathic shrubs (Bartholo-
<br />mew, 1970; Halligan, 1972), sometimes
<br />much less abundantly or not at all (Mc-
<br />Pherson and Muller, 1969; Muller and del
<br />Moral, 1971; Chou and Muller, 1972;
<br />Christiansen, 1973). The biggest change
<br />has been reported when both grazing and
<br />aIlelopathy have been experimentally
<br />eliminated together in these studies. The
<br />conclusion from these studies is that both
<br />allelopathic interference between the
<br />plants and grazing by herbivores influence
<br />the community structure of chaparral
<br />vegetation.
<br />Some field experiments testing the inter-
<br />action between grazing and competition
<br />between grasses and forbs have been done
<br />on sheep pastures (Sagar and Harper,
<br />1961; Putwain and Harper, 1970). They
<br />indicate that grazing may reduce compe-
<br />tition, but without knowledge of whether
<br />wild herbivores graze natural vegetation
<br />at the same intensity as these sheep did,
<br />it is difficult to generalize from these re-
<br />sults.
<br />The effect of predators on terrestrial
<br />animals has seldom been estimated from
<br />field experiments under natural condi-
<br />tions. The only controlled field experiment
<br />r know of concerns the effect of wood-
<br />peckers on Englemann spruce beetles
<br />
<br />468
<br />
<br />(Knight, 1958). The birds concentrate
<br />their attacks both in the groves and on the
<br />individual trees where the beetles are
<br />commonest. By using exclusion cages on
<br />250 trees in the Rocky Mountains, Knight
<br />was able to show that the predators caused
<br />proportionately greater mortality where
<br />the prey were denser. Murdoch (] 966) has
<br />shown that carabid beetles will survive
<br />well through the summer only when pro-
<br />tected from predation.
<br />Predators of terrestrial vertebrates do
<br />not seem to be so effective in reducing
<br />their prey, for reasons which will be dis-
<br />cussed later. Predators of ruffed grouse
<br />were removed almost completely in two
<br />different places; nesting losses were re-
<br />duced but the adult populations did not
<br />increase (Edminster, 1939; Crissey and
<br />Darrow, 1949). This supports the sugges-
<br />tion of Levins (Chapter I) that a change
<br />in production of one life stage may not
<br />affect the abundance of another life stage
<br />limited by some other factor. When about
<br />half of the predators of the vole (Microtus
<br />calif amicus) were removed during a peak
<br />in vole numbers, the population declined
<br />to the same degree as it had from a previ-
<br />ous peak (Pearson, 1966). The often-cited
<br />instance of an irruption of the deer popu-
<br />]ation following the reduction in their
<br />predators on the Kaibab plateau of Ari-
<br />zona has been shown to be incorrect by
<br />Caughley (1970). There is one instance in
<br />which predators have been effective in
<br />reducing mammalian populations, i.e.,
<br />wolves and moose on Isle Royale in Lake
<br />Superior. Although no controlled experi-
<br />ments have been done, the evidence
<br />strongly suggests that before the wolves
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />16 Producing Structure in Natural
<br />Communities
<br />
<br />arrived the moose were so dense that their
<br />feeding was injuring the vegetation. This
<br />is not happening now that wolves are
<br />feeding on the moose (Mech, 1966; Jordan
<br />Shelton, and Allen, 1967).
<br />In freshwater. The zooplankton of
<br />open water in lakes without planktivorous
<br />fish usually consists of several species of
<br />relatively large crustaceans, together with
<br />smaller species of various groups. After
<br />planktivorous fish have been introduced
<br />and increased substantially, the larger
<br />species of zooplankton are absent from
<br />the open water and the smaller species are
<br />much commoner. Several studies have
<br />compared the same pond or lake before
<br />and after fish were introduced, and all
<br />have found that the large species dis-
<br />appeared and the smaller species in-
<br />creased, suggesting that the fish selectively
<br />ate the larger zooplankters (Hrabacek et
<br />al., 1961; Brooks and Dodson, 1965;
<br />Macan, 1965; Reif and Tappa, 1966;
<br />Galbraith, 1967; Wells, 1970; Hall,
<br />Cooper and Werner, 1970; Warshaw,
<br />1972). Brooks (1968) has confirmed that
<br />planktivorous fish selectively eat the larger
<br />zooplankton in laboratory experiments, as
<br />have Galbraith (1967) and Green (]967)
<br />by comparing stomach contents with
<br />plankton samples.
<br />Where large aquatic vegetation is
<br />dense, the herbivorous zooplankton is
<br />much more abundant, even though phyto-
<br />plankton productivity is less. A likely rea-
<br />son for this is that fish predation is less
<br />effective in dense vegetation. Hall et 01.
<br />(1970), found that in ponds with dense
<br />vegetation (caused by addition of large
<br />amounts of mineral nutrients) the biomass
<br />
<br />469
<br />
<br />of zooplankton was not reduced signifi-
<br />cantly by fish. But in replicate ponds with
<br />less vegetation, fish reduced the biomass
<br />of zooplankton significantly below that in
<br />control ponds.
<br />Other predators besides fish may
<br />change the biomass and/or relative abun-
<br />dance of zooplankton. In a series of alpine
<br />ponds in Colorado where salamanders
<br />(Ambysloma) were common, the herbivo-
<br />rous zooplankton species were small.
<br />\Vhere salamanders were rarer or absent,
<br />larger herbivores occurred (Dodson, ] 970;
<br />Sprules, 1972). Like fish, salamanders also
<br />tend to select the larger individuals as
<br />prey, judging by stomach contents and
<br />]a bora tory experiments.
<br />Field experiments on invertebrate pred-
<br />ators have been conducted in only one
<br />study, by Hall et 01. (]970). The biomass
<br />of zooplankton was consistently lower in
<br />treatments with increased invertebrate
<br />predation. The predators removed the
<br />larger herbivores first, thereby changing
<br />the species composition of the community
<br />in the same fashion as the vertebrate
<br />predators did.
<br />It is difficult to decide whether fish or
<br />invertebrate predators have a greater
<br />effect on the relative abundance of species
<br />in the zooplankton. The field experiments
<br />of Hall et 0/. (1970) underestimated the
<br />effects of invertebrate predators since a
<br />small predator, Chaoborus, was left be-
<br />hind in the "reduced" treatment. Dodson
<br />(1970) calculated that the predation rate
<br />on Daphnia by the population of preda-
<br />tory midge larvae was about 10 times that
<br />of the salamander population. However,
<br />in the experimental ponds of Hall et a/.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />II
<br />4
<br />:If
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