Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland
Despite the abundance of migratory geese as herbivores in the Arctic, and ongoing changes in their populations and distributions, little is known about their role in seed dispersal. Climate change requires Arctic plants to adjust their distributions, and avian vectors may have an important role to p...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2018
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:02f304afd45a4b7f8695d6532e47c099 2023-05-15T14:41:56+02:00 Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland Andy J. Green Ádám Lovas-Kiss Rachel A. Stroud Niall Tierney Anthony D. Fox 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 https://doaj.org/article/02f304afd45a4b7f8695d6532e47c099 EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 https://doaj.org/article/02f304afd45a4b7f8695d6532e47c099 Polar Research, Vol 37, Iss 1 (2018) Branta canadensis Carex Empetrum endozoochory faeces seed dispersal Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 2022-12-31T08:12:59Z Despite the abundance of migratory geese as herbivores in the Arctic, and ongoing changes in their populations and distributions, little is known about their role in seed dispersal. Climate change requires Arctic plants to adjust their distributions, and avian vectors may have an important role to play. We present the first study of endozoochory (internal transport) of Arctic plants by Canada geese. In central west Greenland, we collected 50 faecal samples, from which we extracted 2943 intact seeds from six species and four families, all but one of which (a non-native species) are extremely common and widespread in this part of Greenland. The majority (95%) of seeds were from Empetrum nigrum, but Carex nardina (3%) and Vaccinium uliginosum (2%) were also abundant. One seed of the non-native Persicaria lapathifolia was recorded. These results suggest migratory geese are likely to be vital vectors of Arctic plants. Although the sample size was small, there were indications that non-breeding geese may disperse more seeds than breeding geese, which stay closer to lakes to reduce the risk of predation, rarely accessing dwarf-scrub heath where non-breeders ingested seeds. Future research should address such possible links between reproductive status and seed dispersal in waterbirds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Branta canadensis Climate change Empetrum nigrum Greenland Polar Research Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada Greenland Polar Research 37 1 1508268 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Branta canadensis Carex Empetrum endozoochory faeces seed dispersal Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
Branta canadensis Carex Empetrum endozoochory faeces seed dispersal Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Andy J. Green Ádám Lovas-Kiss Rachel A. Stroud Niall Tierney Anthony D. Fox Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland |
topic_facet |
Branta canadensis Carex Empetrum endozoochory faeces seed dispersal Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Despite the abundance of migratory geese as herbivores in the Arctic, and ongoing changes in their populations and distributions, little is known about their role in seed dispersal. Climate change requires Arctic plants to adjust their distributions, and avian vectors may have an important role to play. We present the first study of endozoochory (internal transport) of Arctic plants by Canada geese. In central west Greenland, we collected 50 faecal samples, from which we extracted 2943 intact seeds from six species and four families, all but one of which (a non-native species) are extremely common and widespread in this part of Greenland. The majority (95%) of seeds were from Empetrum nigrum, but Carex nardina (3%) and Vaccinium uliginosum (2%) were also abundant. One seed of the non-native Persicaria lapathifolia was recorded. These results suggest migratory geese are likely to be vital vectors of Arctic plants. Although the sample size was small, there were indications that non-breeding geese may disperse more seeds than breeding geese, which stay closer to lakes to reduce the risk of predation, rarely accessing dwarf-scrub heath where non-breeders ingested seeds. Future research should address such possible links between reproductive status and seed dispersal in waterbirds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andy J. Green Ádám Lovas-Kiss Rachel A. Stroud Niall Tierney Anthony D. Fox |
author_facet |
Andy J. Green Ádám Lovas-Kiss Rachel A. Stroud Niall Tierney Anthony D. Fox |
author_sort |
Andy J. Green |
title |
Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland |
title_short |
Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland |
title_full |
Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plant dispersal by Canada geese in Arctic Greenland |
title_sort |
plant dispersal by canada geese in arctic greenland |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 https://doaj.org/article/02f304afd45a4b7f8695d6532e47c099 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Branta canadensis Climate change Empetrum nigrum Greenland Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Arctic Branta canadensis Climate change Empetrum nigrum Greenland Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 37, Iss 1 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 https://doaj.org/article/02f304afd45a4b7f8695d6532e47c099 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1508268 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
37 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1508268 |
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1766313631028346880 |