Ecological restoration commonly emphasizes reestablishing native plant communities. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that actively restoring plant communities can passively restore structure and function of other community components like wildlife. However, this assumption is rarely tested. We evaluated how plant restoration in grasslands of the northwestern United States affected the structure (composition and relative abundance) of native small mammal communities and the important functional role they play as seed predators. We quantified vegetation, small mammal community structure, small mammal seed predation, and effects of seed predation on native plant recruitment in comparable grasslands that were either native-dominated, planted with introduced forage grasses, or had undergone restoration treatments to suppress introduced grasses and increase native plants with and without supplemental watering. Native plant cover averaged ≥5 times higher at restoration sites relative to introduced grass sites. Small mammals, primarily deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), were least abundant in introduced grass sites and most abundant in water-supplemented restoration treatments, with intermediate levels in native and unwatered restoration sites. Seed offerings and seed sowing experiments indicated that seed predation and its effects on plant recruitment correlated with small mammal abundance, with effects generally weakest in introduced grass and strongest in restoration sites. Our results suggest that active plant restoration can passively restore the structure and function of native small mammal communities. While small mammal seed predation is a desired long-term function, it can also inhibit restoration efforts. We discuss emerging strategies for mitigating seed predation during restoration seeding.

中文翻译：

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主动植物修复是否会被动地恢复原生动物群落的结构和功能？

生态恢复通常强调重建原生植物群落。这种方法隐含的假设是，主动恢复植物群落可以被动地恢复野生动物等其他群落组成部分的结构和功能。然而，这种假设很少得到检验。我们评估了美国西北部草原的植物恢复如何影响本地小型哺乳动物群落的结构（组成和相对丰度）以及它们作为种子捕食者所起的重要功能作用。我们量化了植被、小型哺乳动物群落结构、小型哺乳动物种子捕食以及种子捕食对类似草原上本地植物补充的影响，这些草原要么是原生为主，要么种植了引入的牧草，或经过修复处理以抑制引入的草并增加本地植物，有或没有补充浇水。相对于引入的草场，恢复地点的原生植物覆盖率平均高 5 倍以上。小型哺乳动物，主要是鹿鼠（Peromyscus maniculatus )，在引入的草场地中含量最少，在补水修复处理中含量最高，在原生和未浇水的修复场地中含量居中。种子供应和播种实验表明，种子捕食及其对植物补充的影响与小型哺乳动物的丰度相关，在引入的草中影响通常最弱，在恢复地点的影响最强。我们的研究结果表明，主动植物恢复可以被动地恢复本地小型哺乳动物群落的结构和功能。虽然捕食小型哺乳动物的种子是一种理想的长期功能，但它也可以抑制恢复工作。我们讨论了在恢复播种期间减轻种子捕食的新兴策略。