Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore
Abstract Arctic tundra vegetation is affected by rapid climatic change and fluctuating herbivore population sizes. Broad‐billed geese, after their arrival in spring, feed intensively on belowground rhizomes, thereby disturbing soil, mosses, and vascular plant vegetation. Understanding of how springt...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4729 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4729 |
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crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.4729 2024-06-02T07:55:24+00:00 Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore Eischeid, Isabell Madsen, Jesper Ims, Rolf A. Nolet, Bart A. Pedersen, Åshild Ø. Schreven, Kees H. T. Soininen, Eeva M. Yoccoz, Nigel G. Ravolainen, Virve T. Aarhus Universitet Norsk Polarinstitutt Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4729 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4729 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecosphere volume 14, issue 12 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4729 2024-05-03T12:06:04Z Abstract Arctic tundra vegetation is affected by rapid climatic change and fluctuating herbivore population sizes. Broad‐billed geese, after their arrival in spring, feed intensively on belowground rhizomes, thereby disturbing soil, mosses, and vascular plant vegetation. Understanding of how springtime snowmelt patterns drive goose behavior is thus key to better predict the state of Arctic tundra ecosystems. Here, we analyzed how snowmelt progression affected springtime habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by pink‐footed geese ( Anser brachyrhynchus ) in Svalbard during 2019. Our analysis, based on GPS telemetry data and field observations of geese, plot‐based assessments of signs of vegetation disturbance, and drone and satellite images, covered two spatial scales (fine scale: extent 0.3 km 2 , resolution 5 cm; valley scale: extent 30 km 2 , resolution 10 m). We show that pink‐footed goose habitat selection and signs of vegetation disturbance were correlated during the spring pre‐breeding period; disturbances were most prevalent in the moss tundra vegetation class and areas free from snow early in the season. The results were consistent across the spatial scales and methods (GPS telemetry and field observations). We estimated that 23.4% of moss tundra and 11.2% of dwarf‐shrub heath vegetation in the valley showed signs of disturbance by pink‐footed geese during the study period. This study demonstrates that aerial imagery and telemetry can provide data to detect disturbance hotspots caused by pink‐footed geese. Our study provides empirical evidence to general notions about implications of climate change and snow season changes that include increased variability in precipitation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Climate change Pink-footed Goose Svalbard Tundra Wiley Online Library Arctic Svalbard Ecosphere 14 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Arctic tundra vegetation is affected by rapid climatic change and fluctuating herbivore population sizes. Broad‐billed geese, after their arrival in spring, feed intensively on belowground rhizomes, thereby disturbing soil, mosses, and vascular plant vegetation. Understanding of how springtime snowmelt patterns drive goose behavior is thus key to better predict the state of Arctic tundra ecosystems. Here, we analyzed how snowmelt progression affected springtime habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by pink‐footed geese ( Anser brachyrhynchus ) in Svalbard during 2019. Our analysis, based on GPS telemetry data and field observations of geese, plot‐based assessments of signs of vegetation disturbance, and drone and satellite images, covered two spatial scales (fine scale: extent 0.3 km 2 , resolution 5 cm; valley scale: extent 30 km 2 , resolution 10 m). We show that pink‐footed goose habitat selection and signs of vegetation disturbance were correlated during the spring pre‐breeding period; disturbances were most prevalent in the moss tundra vegetation class and areas free from snow early in the season. The results were consistent across the spatial scales and methods (GPS telemetry and field observations). We estimated that 23.4% of moss tundra and 11.2% of dwarf‐shrub heath vegetation in the valley showed signs of disturbance by pink‐footed geese during the study period. This study demonstrates that aerial imagery and telemetry can provide data to detect disturbance hotspots caused by pink‐footed geese. Our study provides empirical evidence to general notions about implications of climate change and snow season changes that include increased variability in precipitation. |
author2 |
Aarhus Universitet Norsk Polarinstitutt Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eischeid, Isabell Madsen, Jesper Ims, Rolf A. Nolet, Bart A. Pedersen, Åshild Ø. Schreven, Kees H. T. Soininen, Eeva M. Yoccoz, Nigel G. Ravolainen, Virve T. |
spellingShingle |
Eischeid, Isabell Madsen, Jesper Ims, Rolf A. Nolet, Bart A. Pedersen, Åshild Ø. Schreven, Kees H. T. Soininen, Eeva M. Yoccoz, Nigel G. Ravolainen, Virve T. Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore |
author_facet |
Eischeid, Isabell Madsen, Jesper Ims, Rolf A. Nolet, Bart A. Pedersen, Åshild Ø. Schreven, Kees H. T. Soininen, Eeva M. Yoccoz, Nigel G. Ravolainen, Virve T. |
author_sort |
Eischeid, Isabell |
title |
Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore |
title_short |
Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore |
title_full |
Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore |
title_fullStr |
Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore |
title_full_unstemmed |
Snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an Arctic avian herbivore |
title_sort |
snowmelt progression drives habitat selection and vegetation disturbance by an arctic avian herbivore |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4729 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4729 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Climate change Pink-footed Goose Svalbard Tundra |
genre_facet |
Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Climate change Pink-footed Goose Svalbard Tundra |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 14, issue 12 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4729 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
12 |
_version_ |
1800748343377264640 |