Productivity and related soil properties mediate the population-level consequences of rodent seed predation on Blanketflower, Gaillardia aristata

1. Plants are frequently attacked by consumers that reduce seed numbers. However, our ability to predict whether seed loss results in parallel changes in future recruitment or plant abundance remains poor. Progress in this area requires simultaneously understanding: 1) how spatial variation in environmental conditions influence recruitment and other demographic rates, and 2) how the magnitude of seed loss varies spatially and relative to seed limitation.
2. We experimentally assessed how post-dispersal seed predation by deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) influenced recruitment of the native perennial forb, Gaillardia aristata, in western Montana (USA) grasslands. To explore whether seed limitation and the population-level consequences of seed predation varied predictably based on environmental conditions, we added seeds to plots where mice had access or were excluded at sites occurring over a strong gradient of soil characteristics and plant community productivity. We also quantified w...