Feral pig (Sus scrofus) damage to feather palm forest in the Wet Tropics of Australia.

[摘要] 1.A feral pig exclusion experiment was established in lowland rainforest dominated by the feather palm, Archontophoenix alexandrae. Mortality and recruitment of all vascular plants was monitored for 23 months.2.Feral pig activity was highly seasonal in the study area. Activity increased post wet season and early dry season following the draining of standing water. Pigs were associated with the still moist soil and the reliable and abundant supply of A. alexandrae fruit with an annual crop from March to July.3.Monitoring of A. alexandrae individuals showed that survival and establishment of seedlings is highly compromised by the activity of feral pigs.The introduction of exclusion fences saw a significant increase in the survival of palm seedlings compared to that in unfenced plots. The number of species, and total number of non-palm individuals did not differ significantly between fenced and unfenced plots.4.Rooting by pigs was the most visible form of pig activity and resulted in the entire palm forest comprised of a series of ‘pig islands’ where plant establishment was restricted to small elevated areas around larger stems that pigs could not physically access.However, germination and seedling survival was also impacted by the annual consumption of palm fruit and associated grazing damage.5.We recommend controlling feral pigs in feather palm forests to promote germination and establishment of A. alexandrae individuals and allow recruitment of adult palms. Moreover, as an effective means of reducing feral pig numbers across the lowlands of the Wet Tropics, we recommend that control be targeted within areas of feather palm forest in the months of April to June, at the peak of the A. alexandrae fruiting.

[发布日期] 2015-06-30 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)