<I>Ovis aries</I>

Sheep introduced to Campbell Island in 1895 for farming reached numbers of over 8000 in 1916 then declined to 1000 by 1961 (exponential growth rate r = -0.05 p.a.). Numbers increased to around 3000 from 1961 to 1969 (r = 0.14 p.a.). The island was divided into halves by a fence in 1970, and all sheep north of it were killed. The southern population continued to grow from 1970 to 1984 (r = 0.053 p.a.). The southern half of the island was cleared of sheep in 1984 except for about 800 fenced off on a peninsula.

Leaf functional traits have been proposed as general indicators of plant palatability to ungulate herbivores, identifying which species are likely to be most at risk from ungulates, and how ungulate grazing may change ecosystem processes. However, few studies have tested whether leaf trait–palatability relationships are consistent across different ungulate species.