(1)
The enemy release hypothesis posits that introduced species leave behind co-evolved pathogens and predators, thereby gaining an advantage over native competitors. On the other hand, introduced ...plants may encounter biotic resistance from local generalist herbivores such as large mammals.
(2)
We conducted a replicated, manipulative field experiment to compare the effects of large-mammal herbivory on growth and survival of three native and three invasive woody species over 2 years. Non-native
Acer platanoides,
Frangula alnus P. Mill. (=
Rhamnus frangula L.) and
Elaeagnus umbellata were each paired with a likely native competitor of similar life form and shade tolerance. Seedlings were planted with and without large-mammal exclosures, in open and understory environments.
(3)
In the open,
E. umbellata grew taller than its paired native only when exposed to herbivory, but
F. alnus grew taller than its paired native only within exclosures. The effects of exclosure on growth rate did not differ between
A. platanoides and its native congener. In the understory, exposure to browsing reduced height growth rate overall in native species, but not in invasive species.
(4)
Browsing increased understory mortality only in the native shrub
Viburnum dentatum, and did not affect mortality in the open. Within exclosures, there was a general trade-off between open growth and understory survival, but outside of exclosures,
E. umbellata exhibited both greater open growth and greater understory survival than its native competitor.
(5)
Although large-mammal herbivory did not consistently favor non-natives, lack of browsing impact played an important facilitating role for
E. umbellata in particular.
Knapp presents an obituary for Catherine Theimer Nepomnyashchy, an Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Russian Literature at Barnard, who died on Mar 21, 2015. Nepomnyashchy's intellectual energy was a ...force of nature. She was an agent of change in the institutions and programs she served, the scholarly fields she pursued, and no less in the hearts and minds of the many people she knew.
Knapp presents an obituary for Robert L. Belknap, Professor Emeritus of Russian in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Columbia University, who died on Mar 17, 2014. Belknap was a ...magisterial teacher, a guiding intellect and scholar in the field of Russian literature, and a committed educator who devoted energy and vision both to his beloved Columbia University and to humanities and liberal arts education more generally.
This interdisciplinary collection of essays examines Leo Tolstoy's unorthodox and provocative approach to spirituality, as presented in his numerous literary and his philosophico-religious works. The ...collection includes twelve contributions, especially written for this collection, and its contributors are writers, philosophers, literary critics, and experts for Russian literature. Six of the essays examine Tolstoy's literary works, while the other six scrutinize more closely his philosophical views. The two central foci of examinations of the included essays are The Kreutzer Sonata and The Kingdom of God is within You.
