Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-26-2025
Journal / Book Title
Plant and Soil
Abstract
Background and Aims
The bidirectional relationship between plants and their soils can be disrupted by the influence of ungulate grazers. Indeed, herbivores affect plant productivity and above-ground community structure, and plants affect soil health and below-ground community structure. However, the effects of herbivory can be subtle and challenging to address experimentally, even in the case of relatively large ungulate grazers. We attempt to resolve this paradox and experimentally test effects of ungulate grazers in two case studies on the Spanish Iberian Peninsula.
Methods
At the two locations, we experimentally enclosed red deer (Cervus elaphus) at high and hyper densities for one year. We then compared, relative to non-ungulate controls, soil abiotic properties and biotic properties like bacterial and fungal community composition using DNA sequencing, to determine ungulate effects on soils.
Results
The results reveal that ungulates and their grazing had subtle effects on soil properties. Specifically, the presence of ungulates was tied to changes in bulk density and some chemical properties, but the only effects on bacterial or fungal community composition were tied to habitat. Differences in habitat use by the ungulates corresponded with increased bulk density and shifts in microbial community composition of the soil.
Conclusions
We conclude that over short experimental time periods, like one year, the effects of ungulate grazing may not be revealed. In fact, differences in plant community structure that are tied to abiotic soil properties may drive ungulate use of the land and moderate soil responses to the presence of ungulates.
DOI
10.1007/s11104-025-08105-y
Montclair State University Digital Commons Citation
Krumins, Jennifer Adams; Chien, Shih-Chieh; Perea, Ramon; Ferron, Emmanuel Antonio Serrano; Ruiz, Elena Baraza; and The INCREMENTO Consortium, "Habitat determines the effects of wild ungulate grazing on soils: case studies from the Iberian Peninsula" (2025). Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 506.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/biology-facpubs/506
Rights
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Published Citation
Krumins, J.A., Chien, SC., Perea, R. et al. Habitat determines the effects of wild ungulate grazing on soils: case studies from the Iberian Peninsula. Plant Soil (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-08105-y