Positive indirect effects outweigh negative direct effects of ungulate grazers on population growth of a grassland herb

Herbivores can affect plant population growth both directly through the damage they inflict on a focal species and indirectly by moderating conditions for plant recruitment, nutrient cycling, competition, and other biotic interactions, for example, through trampling, defecation, and grazing on surrounding vegetation. Still, the relative importance of direct vs. indirect effects of herbivores on plant vital rates (establishment, survival, fecundity), size, and population growth rate is poorly known. We quantified direct and indirect effects of ungulate grazers on the population growth rate of the short-lived perennial herb Primula farinosa, using integral projection models based on demographic data collected over 7 years in exclosures and open control plots in nine grassland populations in southern Sweden. Grazers had negative direct effects on P. farinosa population growth rate, but these were, on average, more than balanced by positive indirect effects. As predicted, the strength of th..., This data set includes data from a demographic study conducted from 2010 to 2016 in control plots and exclosures in nine populations of the short-lived perennial herb Primula farinosa in alvar grasslands on the island Öland, southern Sweden. During annual censuses, we recorded the size, survival, reproductive status (vegetative or flower-producing), flower production, and grazing damage to individually marked and mapped plants in 1 m2 squares. For flowering plants escaping grazing, we in addition recorded the total number of fruits produced, and the number of fruits consumed by the seed predator. In addition, we marked and mapped any new recruits. The data have been analyzed with code produced in R. Files with code are deposited with the data set., , # Positive indirect effects outweigh negative direct effects of ungulate grazers on population growth of a grassland herb

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhj48](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhj48)

## Description of the data and file structure

We quantified direct and indirect effects of ungulate grazers on the population growth rate of the short-lived perennial herb *Primula farinosa*, using integral projection models based on demographic data collected over 7 years in exclosures and open control plots in nine grassland populations in southern Sweden.

### Files and variables

#### File: demo.csv

**Description:** This file includes all raw data on which the analyses in the paper are based.

##### Variables

* Running number: Row number in the data set
* pop: Population name. The study was conducted in 9 populations
* treat: Treatment: hagn = exclosure, kontroll = control
* transitions: Transition. Indicates the years considered. 11-12 = 2011-2012, 12-13 = 2012-2013 etc
* Ind...,