Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations

Autores
Renison, Daniel; Rodríguez, Juan Manuel
Año de publicación
2026
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
conjunto de datos
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Livestock exclusion is essential for restoration of mountain forests in central Argentina but may intensify competition between saplings and tussock grasses, whereas leaf-cutting ants may limit regeneration in disturbed landscapes, particularly at warmer elevations. We tested the importance of competition and herbivory in the success of Escallonia cordobensis enrichment plantings at an elevational gradient. In a full-factorial experiment, 750 saplings were planted at three elevations (1300, 1800, and 2300 m a.s.l.), and two mowing treatments were carried out (unmowed and mowed). Sapling survival, height, winter dieback, and ant-pruning were analyzed at 30 months at the three elevations and at 90 months at the two higher elevations. Survival increased with elevation (39.3%, 75.9%, and 77.6% at 30 months; 27.2% and 60.8% at 90 months), with no effects of mowing or elevation × mowing interaction. Sapling height declined with elevation and was slightly greater in unmowed plots at 30 months but not at 90 months, whereas winter dieback showed the opposite pattern. Ant-pruning was concentrated at low and intermediate elevations, affecting 14.6% and 5.3% of the saplings in the first two years, which reduced both survival and growth of the affected saplings. Our results do not support the stress-gradient hypothesis, as slight facilitation by tussocks prevailed across the entire gradient. Instead, livestock exclusion revealed a potential top-down control by leaf-cutting ants at warmer elevations, highlighting the importance of consumer effects on the restoration of neotropical mountain forests.
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Materia
Escallonia cordobensis
Restauración
Bosque
Montañas
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
Repositorio
Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
OAI Identificador
oai:rdu.unc.edu.ar:11086/562814
Acceder
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network_acronym_str RDUUNC
repository_id_str 2572
network_name_str Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)
spelling Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevationsRenison, DanielRodríguez, Juan ManuelEscallonia cordobensisRestauraciónBosqueMontañashttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Livestock exclusion is essential for restoration of mountain forests in central Argentina but may intensify competition between saplings and tussock grasses, whereas leaf-cutting ants may limit regeneration in disturbed landscapes, particularly at warmer elevations. We tested the importance of competition and herbivory in the success of Escallonia cordobensis enrichment plantings at an elevational gradient. In a full-factorial experiment, 750 saplings were planted at three elevations (1300, 1800, and 2300 m a.s.l.), and two mowing treatments were carried out (unmowed and mowed). Sapling survival, height, winter dieback, and ant-pruning were analyzed at 30 months at the three elevations and at 90 months at the two higher elevations. Survival increased with elevation (39.3%, 75.9%, and 77.6% at 30 months; 27.2% and 60.8% at 90 months), with no effects of mowing or elevation × mowing interaction. Sapling height declined with elevation and was slightly greater in unmowed plots at 30 months but not at 90 months, whereas winter dieback showed the opposite pattern. Ant-pruning was concentrated at low and intermediate elevations, affecting 14.6% and 5.3% of the saplings in the first two years, which reduced both survival and growth of the affected saplings. Our results do not support the stress-gradient hypothesis, as slight facilitation by tussocks prevailed across the entire gradient. Instead, livestock exclusion revealed a potential top-down control by leaf-cutting ants at warmer elevations, highlighting the importance of consumer effects on the restoration of neotropical mountain forests.Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1817-6552https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2638-84672026-08-20info:eu-repo/semantics/dataSetinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_ddb1info:ar-repo/semantics/conjuntoDeDatosapplication/octet-streamtext/xmltext/csvRenison, Daniel; Rodriguez, Juan Manuel (2026): Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations.http://hdl.handle.net/11086/562814engARG2017-12-01 / 2025-10-01info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)instname:Universidad Nacional de Córdobainstacron:UNC2026-10-01T10:22:45Zoai:rdu.unc.edu.ar:11086/562814Institucionalhttps://rdu.unc.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://rdu.unc.edu.ar/oai/snrdoca.unc@gmail.comArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:25722026-10-01 10:22:47.605Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC) - Universidad Nacional de Córdobafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
title Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
spellingShingle Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
Renison, Daniel
Escallonia cordobensis
Restauración
Bosque
Montañas
title_short Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
title_full Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
title_fullStr Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
title_full_unstemmed Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
title_sort Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Renison, Daniel
Rodríguez, Juan Manuel
author Renison, Daniel
author_facet Renison, Daniel
Rodríguez, Juan Manuel
author_role author
author2 Rodríguez, Juan Manuel
author2_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1817-6552
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2638-8467
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Escallonia cordobensis
Restauración
Bosque
Montañas
topic Escallonia cordobensis
Restauración
Bosque
Montañas
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Livestock exclusion is essential for restoration of mountain forests in central Argentina but may intensify competition between saplings and tussock grasses, whereas leaf-cutting ants may limit regeneration in disturbed landscapes, particularly at warmer elevations. We tested the importance of competition and herbivory in the success of Escallonia cordobensis enrichment plantings at an elevational gradient. In a full-factorial experiment, 750 saplings were planted at three elevations (1300, 1800, and 2300 m a.s.l.), and two mowing treatments were carried out (unmowed and mowed). Sapling survival, height, winter dieback, and ant-pruning were analyzed at 30 months at the three elevations and at 90 months at the two higher elevations. Survival increased with elevation (39.3%, 75.9%, and 77.6% at 30 months; 27.2% and 60.8% at 90 months), with no effects of mowing or elevation × mowing interaction. Sapling height declined with elevation and was slightly greater in unmowed plots at 30 months but not at 90 months, whereas winter dieback showed the opposite pattern. Ant-pruning was concentrated at low and intermediate elevations, affecting 14.6% and 5.3% of the saplings in the first two years, which reduced both survival and growth of the affected saplings. Our results do not support the stress-gradient hypothesis, as slight facilitation by tussocks prevailed across the entire gradient. Instead, livestock exclusion revealed a potential top-down control by leaf-cutting ants at warmer elevations, highlighting the importance of consumer effects on the restoration of neotropical mountain forests.
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
Fil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.
description Fil: Renison, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026-08-20
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/dataSet
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv Renison, Daniel; Rodriguez, Juan Manuel (2026): Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations.
http://hdl.handle.net/11086/562814
identifier_str_mv Renison, Daniel; Rodriguez, Juan Manuel (2026): Tussock competition does not limit sapling performance of an endemic shrub in mountain forest restoration, but leaf-cutting ants may at lower elevations.
url http://hdl.handle.net/11086/562814
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
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reponame_str Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)
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instname_str Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
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repository.name.fl_str_mv Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC) - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
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