Fowler and Rausher studied the effects of simulated grazing and interspecific competition on Texas dutchman's pipevine (Aristolochia reticulata), in a greenhouse setting, to determine if a model could be used to describe the effects of these two disturbances on the target plant. The results indicated that the effects of competition and grazing on the target plant fit an additive model, in which there were no interactions and therefore varying the level of one did not influence the effects of the other. Competition of the target plant with two species, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and southern dewberry (Rubus trivialis), was not additive but fit a special model which assumed that all three species were equally competing for one limiting resource. However, the competitive ability of little bluestem was reduced when exposed to simulated herbivory, suggesting that selective cattle grazing of this grass would change the model and alter the previously equal competitive relationship among these three species in a way that would benefit the other plants in the community.
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