A comparison of grazed and ungrazed sedge meadows in the Canadian High Arctic ...

• Main Author: Elliott, Tammy Lynn
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Arctic; Carex aquatilis; Eriophorum
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0067257; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0067257

The grazing optimization hypothesis predicts that net primary production (NPP) and nitrogen levels within vegetation will be highest with moderate grazing levels. In the Canadian High Arctic, muskoxen are one of two major herbivores; they prefer to graze in wet sedge meadow plant communities. To test the grazing optimization hypothesis in these plant communities, two studies were initiated in 2007. The first study spanned two years and compared grazed and ungrazed sedge meadows. The grazed meadows had higher belowground biomass in 2007 and graminoid net primary production was larger in 2008. The ungrazed meadows had greater quantities of dead biomass. Nitrogen concentrations in Carex aquatilis ssp. stans and Eriophorum angustifolium ssp. triste and soil ammonium availability were higher at the grazed site. In the second study, we created two experimental grids with clipping and litter removal treatments. Aboveground net primary production, ecosystem respiration, and shoot carbon concentrations decreased due ...