Seaduck engineers in the Arctic Archipelago: nesting eiders deliver marine nutrients and transform the chemistry of island soils, plants, and ponds

• Published in: Oecologia
• Main Authors: Clyde, N., Hargan, K. E., Forbes, M. R., Iverson, S. A., Blais, J. M., Smol, J. P., Bump, J. K., Gilchrist, H. G.
• Other Authors: W. Garfield Weston Foundation, Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Carleton University, Pew Charitable Trusts, Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Nunavut General Monitoring Plan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Nunavut; Canada; Hudson; Hudson Strait; Arctic Island; Eider Islands; Arctic Archipelago; Common Eider; Somateria mollissima; Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04889-9; https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00442-021-04889-9.pdf; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-021-04889-9/fulltext.html

Abstract Seabirds are thought to provide ecological services such as the movement of nutrients between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, which may be especially critical to productivity and diversity in nutrient-poor environments. Most Arctic ecosystems are unaffected by local human impacts and are naturally nutrient poor and especially sensitive to warming. Here, we assessed the effects of nesting common eider ducks ( Somateria mollissima ) on soil, vegetation, and pond sediments on island archipelagoes in Hudson Strait between Nunavut and Québec, Canada. Soil, moss, and pond sediments were significantly higher in nitrogen on islands with large numbers of nesting eiders compared to sites with no nesting birds. The highest concentrations of nitrogen in soils and moss occurred at the margins of ponds on eider islands, which correspond to the areas of highest eider use. δ 15 N and δ 34 S values in soils, moss, and sediments indicated substantial marine-derived organic matter inputs at the higher nutrient sites. We propose that by foraging on coastal marine benthic invertebrates and returning to islands to nest, eider ducks bio-transport and concentrate marine-derived nutrients to their colony islands, fertilizing Arctic island ecosystems in the process. As common eiders nest on thousands of low to mid-latitude islands throughout the circumpolar Arctic, these nutrient inputs likely dramatically affect biota and ecosystem functioning throughout the tundra biome.