(Table 1) Carbon pools in different vegetation components in grazed and ungrazed plots near Ny-Ålesund, Spitzbergen ...

• Main Authors: Sjögersten, Sofie, van der Wal, René, Loonen, Maarten J J E, Woodin, Sarah J
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2011
• Subjects: Area/locality; DATE/TIME; Treatment; Biomass as carbon per area; Biomass as carbon, standard deviation; International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Branta leucopsis; International Polar Year; IPY; Ny Ålesund; Ny-Ålesund; Spitzbergen; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.837086; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.837086

The carbon (C) sink strength of arctic tundra is under pressure from increasing populations of arctic breeding geese. In this study we examined how CO2 and CH4 fluxes, plant biomass and soil C responded to the removal of vertebrate herbivores in a high arctic wet moss meadow that has been intensively used by barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) for ca. 20 years. We used 4 and 9 years old grazing exclosures to investigate the potential for recovery of ecosystem function during the growing season (July 2007). The results show greater above- and below-ground vascular plant biomass within the grazing exclosures with graminoid biomass being most responsive to the removal of herbivory whilst moss biomass remained unchanged. The changes in biomass switched the system from net emission to net uptake of CO2 (0.47 and -0.77 µmol/m**2/s in grazed and exclosure plots, respectively) during the growing season and doubled the C storage in live biomass. In contrast, the treatment had no impact on the CH4 fluxes, the total ... : Based on C pool data collected at peak biomass in the end of July 2007. Data shown are for grazed (by barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis)) and exclosure plots. Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...