Yellow Nutsedge Culm Density, Yellow Nutsedge Tuber Density, and Percent Native Cover in Disturbed and Undisturbed Plots in 1997, 2002, and 2008 on St. Catherine's Island, GAField data was collected in 1997, 2002, and 2008 for two study locations on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia. At each study site in 1997, (North Beach (NB) and McQueen's Inlet (MQ)), a 0.2 ha area was surveyed for hog (Sus scrofa) soil disturbances. These disturbances were designated as ‘disturbed plots’ (Exp). Paired ‘undisturbed plots’ (Ctr) were established adjacent to the 'disturbed plots'. Within these paired plots, we randomly subsampled the following variables using 0.01 m2 quadrats: yellow nutsedge (Cyperys esculentus) culm density, yellow nutsedge tuber density (2002 and 2008 only), and percent live cover of native species. Subsample number varied with size of disturbance, and data were averaged resulting in one value per disturbance. Additional paired plots were added in 2008 to outline new wild hog disturbances.Oldfield_Evans_ExperimentalData.csvYellow Nutsedge Density Category and Hog Disturbance Events in Disturbed and Undisturbed Plots (1997-2009) on McQueens Inlet, St. Catherine's GAYellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) culm density was randomly subsampled at McQueen’s Inlet, St. Catherine's Island, GA. In 1997, a 0.1 ha area was surveyed for hog disturbances. Disturbances were designated as 'disturbed' (Exp) plots and were paired with 'undisturbed' plots. These paired plots were randomly subsampled from 1997-2009 for culm density. Culm density categories were assigned using the following classes (number per 0.1 m2): Class 1: 0-2, Class 2: 3-8, and Class 3: >8. Occurrence of a hog disturbance event in the experimental 'disturbed' plot was also noted. No hog disturbances occurred in control 'undisturbed' plots.CulmDensityTrends.csv

Invasive animals can facilitate the success of invasive plant populations through disturbance. We examined the relationship between the repeated foraging disturbance of an invasive animal and the population maintenance of an invasive plant in a coastal dune ecosystem. We hypothesized that feral wild hog (Sus scrofa) populations repeatedly utilized tubers of the clonal perennial, yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) as a food source and evaluated whether hog activity promoted the long-term maintenance of yellow nutsedge populations on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia, United States. Using generalized linear mixed models, we tested the effect of wild hog disturbance on permanent sites for yellow nutsedge culm density, tuber density, and percent cover of native plant species over a 12-year period. We found that disturbance plots had a higher number of culms and tubers and a lower percentage of native live plant cover than undisturbed control plots. Wild hogs redisturbed the disturbed plots approximately every 5 years. Our research provides demographic evidence that repeated foraging disturbances by an invasive animal promote the long-term population maintenance of an invasive clonal plant. Opportunistic facultative interactions such as we demonstrate in this study are likely to become more commonplace as greater numbers of introduced species are integrated into ecological communities around the world.