Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1
We examined the role of trophic interactions in structuring a high arctic tundra community characterized by a large breeding colony of greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica). According to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis of Oksanen et al. (1981), food chains are controlled by top-down...
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The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
2004
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ftbioone:10.1093/icb/44.2.119 2024-06-02T07:54:52+00:00 Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 Gilles Gauthier Joël Bêty Jean-François Giroux Line Rochefort Gilles Gauthier Joël Bêty Jean-François Giroux Line Rochefort world 2004-04-01 text/HTML https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 en eng The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology doi:10.1093/icb/44.2.119 All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 Text 2004 ftbioone https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 2024-05-07T00:53:50Z We examined the role of trophic interactions in structuring a high arctic tundra community characterized by a large breeding colony of greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica). According to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis of Oksanen et al. (1981), food chains are controlled by top-down interactions. However, because the arctic primary productivity is low, herbivore populations are too small to support functional predator populations and these communities should thus be dominated by the plant/ herbivore trophic-level interaction. Since 1990, we have been monitoring annual abundance and productivity of geese, the impact of goose grazing, predator abundance (mostly arctic foxes, Alopex lagopus) and the abundance of lemmings, the other significant herbivore in this community, on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Goose grazing consistently removed a significant proportion of the standing crop (∼40%) in tundra wetlands every year. Grazing changed plant community composition and reduced the production of grasses and sedges to a low-level equilibrium compared to the situation where the presence of geese had been removed. Lemming cyclic fluctuations were strong and affected fox reproduction. Fox predation on goose eggs was severe and generated marked annual variation in goose productivity. Predation intensity on geese was closely related to the lemming cycle, a consequence of an indirect interaction between lemming and geese via shared predators. We conclude that, contrary to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis, both the plant/herbivore and predator/prey interactions are significant in this arctic community. Text Alopex lagopus Arctic Bylot Island Canada Goose Nunavut Tundra BioOne Online Journals Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut Integrative and Comparative Biology 44 2 119 129 |
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ftbioone |
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English |
description |
We examined the role of trophic interactions in structuring a high arctic tundra community characterized by a large breeding colony of greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica). According to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis of Oksanen et al. (1981), food chains are controlled by top-down interactions. However, because the arctic primary productivity is low, herbivore populations are too small to support functional predator populations and these communities should thus be dominated by the plant/ herbivore trophic-level interaction. Since 1990, we have been monitoring annual abundance and productivity of geese, the impact of goose grazing, predator abundance (mostly arctic foxes, Alopex lagopus) and the abundance of lemmings, the other significant herbivore in this community, on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Goose grazing consistently removed a significant proportion of the standing crop (∼40%) in tundra wetlands every year. Grazing changed plant community composition and reduced the production of grasses and sedges to a low-level equilibrium compared to the situation where the presence of geese had been removed. Lemming cyclic fluctuations were strong and affected fox reproduction. Fox predation on goose eggs was severe and generated marked annual variation in goose productivity. Predation intensity on geese was closely related to the lemming cycle, a consequence of an indirect interaction between lemming and geese via shared predators. We conclude that, contrary to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis, both the plant/herbivore and predator/prey interactions are significant in this arctic community. |
author2 |
Gilles Gauthier Joël Bêty Jean-François Giroux Line Rochefort |
format |
Text |
author |
Gilles Gauthier Joël Bêty Jean-François Giroux Line Rochefort |
spellingShingle |
Gilles Gauthier Joël Bêty Jean-François Giroux Line Rochefort Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 |
author_facet |
Gilles Gauthier Joël Bêty Jean-François Giroux Line Rochefort |
author_sort |
Gilles Gauthier |
title |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 |
title_short |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 |
title_full |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 |
title_fullStr |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony1 |
title_sort |
trophic interactions in a high arctic snow goose colony1 |
publisher |
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
op_coverage |
world |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut |
genre |
Alopex lagopus Arctic Bylot Island Canada Goose Nunavut Tundra |
genre_facet |
Alopex lagopus Arctic Bylot Island Canada Goose Nunavut Tundra |
op_source |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
container_title |
Integrative and Comparative Biology |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
119 |
op_container_end_page |
129 |
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1800744060500049920 |