Forbs in Viking lands: The effect of disturbing dominant graminoids on recruitment in tundra grasslands

Grasslands, by definition, are dominated by graminoids.  Nevertheless, forbs also make up a substantial part of vascular plant diversity in grasslands and are important resources of mammalian herbivores. However, forb recruitment is constrained by successful dominant graminoids, limiting access to safe sites for germination. Disturbances created by herbivores can reduce graminoid dominance and favor forb recruitment. Here we hypothesize that intense disturbance, such as that caused by megaherbivores, promotes safe sites for forbs in such graminoid-dominated grasslands, whereas disturbance by today’s herbivores, such as small rodents, may not be sufficiently intense. We selected a total of 80 plots with either of four successful graminoid species in tundra grasslands of the Varanger Peninsula, Norway. The graminoid species were silicon-poor or rich, and of either mat- or bunch growth form. Plots were further selected in both rodent disturbed and undisturbed areas. We manually remove..., This study was conducted in riparian grasslands along tributaries of the Bergebyelva river, Varanger Peninsula, Norway (70.30o N, 29.02o E). 
The main treatment was manual disturbance of dominant graminoids that made up most of the vascular plant abundance in grassland vegetation plots. Both aboveground and belowground plant parts were removed, and in doing so most other vascular plants present in the plots were also disturbed. To test the extents to which small rodent disturbance, dominant graminoid growth form and dominant graminoid silica content affected the outcome of this manual disturbance, we established a nested study design in two riparian valleys (Torvhaugdalen, 70.31o N, 29.08o E and Bearalveaijohka 70.29o N, 28.96o E) in July 2023. In both valleys, we identified substantial populations of the four dominant graminoids: the silica-rich bunch graminoid Deschampsia cespitosa, the silica-poor bunch graminoid Carex nigra, the silica-rich mat graminoid Calamagrostis spp. and ..., , # Data from: Forbs in Viking lands: The effect of disturbing dominant graminoids on recruitment in tundra grasslands

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.jh9w0vtn8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jh9w0vtn8)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data used in \"Forbs in Viking lands: The effect of disturbing dominant graminoids on recruitment in tundra grasslands\".

### Files and variables

#### File: Forb_recruitment_data_Celis_et_al_2024.csv

##### Variables

* Valley: Locations of plots \"TO\" is Torvhaugdalen and \"BE\" is Bearalveaijohka
* Graminiod_form: Graminoid form 'Mat' and 'Bunch'
* Silica_content: Silica content 'silica-poor' and 'silica-rich'
* Dominant_graminoid: Species of dominant graminoid
* Disturbance_treatment: Disturbance treatment 'Non-rodent', 'Non-rodent + Manual', 'Rodent', 'Rodent + Manual'
* replicate: Replicate identifier
* Dominant_graminoid_cover_2023: Percent cover of dominant graminoid
* Forb_cover_2023: Percent cover of all forbs
* Herbivore_disturbance_2023:...,