Plant
succession on gopher mounds is rapid, achieved through resprouting
of buried plants and lateral growth of plants in adjacent meadow.
Although mound creation does not enhance the diversity of species
that inhabit meadows (i.e. it does not facilitate disturbance-dependent
species), it does have two important ecological effects:
- it
reduces dominance of graminoids that would outcompete forbs in
the absence of disturbance
- it
increases spatial variability in species composition, creating
new patches that support differing, and less predictable, combinations
of species
In
the absence of gophers, meadows that currently support a diverse
array of forbs and graminoids would become increasingly dominated
by a small number of grasses and sedges.
Jones,
C. C., C. B. Halpern, and J. Niederer. 2008. Plant
succession on gopher mounds in western Cascade meadows: consequences
for species diversity and heterogeneity. American Midland
Naturalist 159:275-286.  |
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