Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh
In coastal marshes on James Bay and southern Hudson Bay, Canada, the grass Festuca rubra L. is heavily used for forage by both Snow (Chen caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus)) and Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis (Linnaeus)). On Akimiski Island, James Bay, this grass occurs in a mosaic of short, hea...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/b06-124 2023-12-17T10:17:48+01:00 Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh O, P. C. Kotanen, P. M. Abraham, K. F. 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b06-124 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/b06-124 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b06-124 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Botany volume 84, issue 11, page 1732-1739 ISSN 0008-4026 Plant Science journal-article 2006 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/b06-124 2023-11-19T13:38:33Z In coastal marshes on James Bay and southern Hudson Bay, Canada, the grass Festuca rubra L. is heavily used for forage by both Snow (Chen caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus)) and Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis (Linnaeus)). On Akimiski Island, James Bay, this grass occurs in a mosaic of short, heavily grazed patches and tall, lightly grazed patches. We investigated whether short plants are primarily a plastic morphological response to grazing by geese. Over two growing seasons, we measured growth of short patches protected from grazing and of tall patches subjected to mowing treatments, with unmanipulated short and tall controls. Protection resulted in rapid conversion from a short growth form to a tall form, similar in height and biomass to plants in tall control plots. Mowed tall plants also rapidly recovered to near tall control values for height and biomass. A single 3 week treatment episode often permitted nearly full recovery to tall form. In some cases, more sustained protection was required, but repeated mowing ultimately may have reduced growth rates. These results indicate that the morphology of individual plants of Festuca rubra plastically recovers from changes in defoliation pressure. Consequently, short patches likely represent grazing lawns maintained by intensive foraging by geese. Article in Journal/Newspaper Akimiski island Branta canadensis Hudson Bay Subarctic James Bay Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Akimiski Island ENVELOPE(-81.275,-81.275,53.008,53.008) Canadian Journal of Botany 84 11 1732 1739 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Plant Science |
spellingShingle |
Plant Science O, P. C. Kotanen, P. M. Abraham, K. F. Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
topic_facet |
Plant Science |
description |
In coastal marshes on James Bay and southern Hudson Bay, Canada, the grass Festuca rubra L. is heavily used for forage by both Snow (Chen caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus)) and Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis (Linnaeus)). On Akimiski Island, James Bay, this grass occurs in a mosaic of short, heavily grazed patches and tall, lightly grazed patches. We investigated whether short plants are primarily a plastic morphological response to grazing by geese. Over two growing seasons, we measured growth of short patches protected from grazing and of tall patches subjected to mowing treatments, with unmanipulated short and tall controls. Protection resulted in rapid conversion from a short growth form to a tall form, similar in height and biomass to plants in tall control plots. Mowed tall plants also rapidly recovered to near tall control values for height and biomass. A single 3 week treatment episode often permitted nearly full recovery to tall form. In some cases, more sustained protection was required, but repeated mowing ultimately may have reduced growth rates. These results indicate that the morphology of individual plants of Festuca rubra plastically recovers from changes in defoliation pressure. Consequently, short patches likely represent grazing lawns maintained by intensive foraging by geese. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
O, P. C. Kotanen, P. M. Abraham, K. F. |
author_facet |
O, P. C. Kotanen, P. M. Abraham, K. F. |
author_sort |
O, P. C. |
title |
Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
title_short |
Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
title_full |
Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
title_fullStr |
Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass Festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
title_sort |
geese and grazing lawns: responses of the grass festuca rubra to defoliation in a subarctic coastal marsh |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b06-124 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/b06-124 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b06-124 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-81.275,-81.275,53.008,53.008) |
geographic |
Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Akimiski Island |
geographic_facet |
Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Akimiski Island |
genre |
Akimiski island Branta canadensis Hudson Bay Subarctic James Bay |
genre_facet |
Akimiski island Branta canadensis Hudson Bay Subarctic James Bay |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Botany volume 84, issue 11, page 1732-1739 ISSN 0008-4026 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/b06-124 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Botany |
container_volume |
84 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
1732 |
op_container_end_page |
1739 |
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1785591254031007744 |