Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt
The western Palaearctic tundra is a breeding habitat for large populations of European geese. After their arrival in spring, pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) forage extensively on below-ground plant parts, using a feeding technique called grubbing that has substantial impact on the tundra ve...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2013
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 https://doaj.org/article/0232e6f551714313beff2e6c2bc24110 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0232e6f551714313beff2e6c2bc24110 2023-05-15T13:29:56+02:00 Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt Åshild Ø. Pedersen Ingunn Tombre Jane U. Jepsen Pernille B. Eidesen Eva Fuglei Audun Stien 2013-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 https://doaj.org/article/0232e6f551714313beff2e6c2bc24110 EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/download/19719/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/0800-0395 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 doi:10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 0800-0395 1751-8369 https://doaj.org/article/0232e6f551714313beff2e6c2bc24110 Polar Research, Vol 32, Iss 0, Pp 1-8 (2013) Anser brachyrhynchus grubbing habitat pink-footed goose Svalbard tundra Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 2022-12-31T04:47:12Z The western Palaearctic tundra is a breeding habitat for large populations of European geese. After their arrival in spring, pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) forage extensively on below-ground plant parts, using a feeding technique called grubbing that has substantial impact on the tundra vegetation. Previous studies have shown a high frequency of grubbing in lowland fen vegetation. In the present study, we examined the occurrence of grubbing in other habitat types on Spitsbergen, in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Goose grubbing was surveyed along 19 altitudinal transects, going from the valley bottom to altitudes dominated by scree. Grubbing was more frequent in the wet habitat type at low altitudes compared to the drier habitat type at higher altitudes. For the dry habitat type, a higher frequency of grubbing was found in study plots with a south-east facing exposure where snowmelt is expected to be early. This suggests that pink-footed geese primarily use dry vegetation types for grubbing when they are snow-free in early spring and the availability of snow-free patches of the preferred wet vegetation types in the lowlands is limited. Dry vegetation types have poorer recovery rates from disturbance than wet ones. Sites with early snowmelt and dry vegetation types may therefore be at greater risk of long-term habitat degradation. We conclude that the high growth rate of the Svalbard-breeding pink-footed goose population suggests that increasing impacts of grubbing can be expected and argue that a responsible monitoring of the effects on the tundra ecosystem is crucial. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Archipelago Arctic Pink-footed Goose Polar Research Svalbard Tundra Spitsbergen Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Polar Research 32 1 19719 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Anser brachyrhynchus grubbing habitat pink-footed goose Svalbard tundra Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
Anser brachyrhynchus grubbing habitat pink-footed goose Svalbard tundra Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Åshild Ø. Pedersen Ingunn Tombre Jane U. Jepsen Pernille B. Eidesen Eva Fuglei Audun Stien Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
topic_facet |
Anser brachyrhynchus grubbing habitat pink-footed goose Svalbard tundra Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
The western Palaearctic tundra is a breeding habitat for large populations of European geese. After their arrival in spring, pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) forage extensively on below-ground plant parts, using a feeding technique called grubbing that has substantial impact on the tundra vegetation. Previous studies have shown a high frequency of grubbing in lowland fen vegetation. In the present study, we examined the occurrence of grubbing in other habitat types on Spitsbergen, in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Goose grubbing was surveyed along 19 altitudinal transects, going from the valley bottom to altitudes dominated by scree. Grubbing was more frequent in the wet habitat type at low altitudes compared to the drier habitat type at higher altitudes. For the dry habitat type, a higher frequency of grubbing was found in study plots with a south-east facing exposure where snowmelt is expected to be early. This suggests that pink-footed geese primarily use dry vegetation types for grubbing when they are snow-free in early spring and the availability of snow-free patches of the preferred wet vegetation types in the lowlands is limited. Dry vegetation types have poorer recovery rates from disturbance than wet ones. Sites with early snowmelt and dry vegetation types may therefore be at greater risk of long-term habitat degradation. We conclude that the high growth rate of the Svalbard-breeding pink-footed goose population suggests that increasing impacts of grubbing can be expected and argue that a responsible monitoring of the effects on the tundra ecosystem is crucial. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Åshild Ø. Pedersen Ingunn Tombre Jane U. Jepsen Pernille B. Eidesen Eva Fuglei Audun Stien |
author_facet |
Åshild Ø. Pedersen Ingunn Tombre Jane U. Jepsen Pernille B. Eidesen Eva Fuglei Audun Stien |
author_sort |
Åshild Ø. Pedersen |
title |
Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
title_short |
Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
title_full |
Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
title_fullStr |
Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
title_sort |
spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 https://doaj.org/article/0232e6f551714313beff2e6c2bc24110 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Archipelago Arctic Pink-footed Goose Polar Research Svalbard Tundra Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Archipelago Arctic Pink-footed Goose Polar Research Svalbard Tundra Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 32, Iss 0, Pp 1-8 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/download/19719/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/0800-0395 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 doi:10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 0800-0395 1751-8369 https://doaj.org/article/0232e6f551714313beff2e6c2bc24110 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
19719 |
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1766004355494838272 |