Grazing strategies of muskoxen ( Ovibos moschatus ) during winter in Angujaartorfiup Nunaa in western Greenland
Terrain and vegetation use by muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) during winter was examined through surveys of fecal pellet groups in western Greenland in 1994. Being virtually free of snow, Kobresia myosuroides steppe and dry and moist shrub heath were used extensively by muskoxen. Use varied among the th...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1997
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z97-135 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z97-135 |
| Summary: | Terrain and vegetation use by muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) during winter was examined through surveys of fecal pellet groups in western Greenland in 1994. Being virtually free of snow, Kobresia myosuroides steppe and dry and moist shrub heath were used extensively by muskoxen. Use varied among the three heath vegetation types in relation to the proportion of shrubs to graminoids, with most use being made of K. myosuroides steppe. Density of fecal pellet groups varied from 300 groups/ha at a graminoid biomass of ca. 30 g/m 2 to > 2500 groups/ha where biomass exceeded 100 g/m 2 . Within K. myosuroides steppe, density of fecal pellet groups was < 500 groups/ha on narrow ridges compared with > 2000 groups/ha on wider steppe formations. Adaptation by muskoxen to grazing steppe-like vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene may explain the extraordinarily rapid growth of the population in this grass steppe landscape in western Greenland. |
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