Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic
To gain better insight into the cascading impact of warming-induced changes in the physical landscape on biodiversity, it is crucial to better understand links between abiotic and ecological processes governing species distribution. Abiotic processes shaping the physical characteristics of the envir...
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Copernicus Publications
2024
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 https://doaj.org/article/1ed13463539441b2ac9b4d71493590b8 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1ed13463539441b2ac9b4d71493590b8 2024-09-15T17:52:37+00:00 Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic M.-Z. Corbeil-Robitaille É. Duchesne D. Fortier C. Kinnard J. Bêty 2024-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 https://doaj.org/article/1ed13463539441b2ac9b4d71493590b8 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/21/3401/2024/bg-21-3401-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/1ed13463539441b2ac9b4d71493590b8 Biogeosciences, Vol 21, Pp 3401-3423 (2024) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 2024-08-05T17:48:52Z To gain better insight into the cascading impact of warming-induced changes in the physical landscape on biodiversity, it is crucial to better understand links between abiotic and ecological processes governing species distribution. Abiotic processes shaping the physical characteristics of the environment could significantly influence predator movements in the landscape and ultimately affect biodiversity through interspecific interactions. In the Arctic tundra, the main terrestrial predator (Arctic fox) avoids patches of wetlands composed of ponds with islets that can act as refuges for prey. Little is known about the geomorphological processes generating islets selected by prey species. Our study aimed to identify (i) the physical characteristics of islets selected by Arctic-nesting birds and (ii) the geomorphological processes generating islets available in the landscape. Over two breeding seasons, we determined the occurrence of nesting birds (cackling goose, glaucous gull, and red-throated loon) on islets ( N =396 ) found over a 165 km 2 area on Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada). Occupied islets were located further away from the shore (10.6 m ± 7.3 SD vs. 7.4 m ± 6.8 SD) and surrounded by deeper water (33.6 cm ± 10.6 SD vs. 28.1 cm ± 11.5 SD) than unoccupied islets. As expected, all three bird species selected islets less accessible to Arctic foxes, with nesting occurrence increasing with distance to shore and water depth around islets. Based on high-resolution satellite imagery and field observations, we found that ice-wedge polygon degradation generated the majority of islets (71 %) found in the landscape. Those islets were on average farther from the shore and surrounded by deeper water than those generated by other processes. As polygon degradation is projected to accelerate in response to warming, new refuges will likely emerge in the Arctic landscape, but current refuges could also disappear. Changes in the rate of polygon degradation may thus affect Arctic tundra biodiversity by altering predator–prey ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fox Bylot Island Glaucous Gull Ice Nunavut permafrost Tundra wedge* Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Biogeosciences 21 14 3401 3423 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 M.-Z. Corbeil-Robitaille É. Duchesne D. Fortier C. Kinnard J. Bêty Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
To gain better insight into the cascading impact of warming-induced changes in the physical landscape on biodiversity, it is crucial to better understand links between abiotic and ecological processes governing species distribution. Abiotic processes shaping the physical characteristics of the environment could significantly influence predator movements in the landscape and ultimately affect biodiversity through interspecific interactions. In the Arctic tundra, the main terrestrial predator (Arctic fox) avoids patches of wetlands composed of ponds with islets that can act as refuges for prey. Little is known about the geomorphological processes generating islets selected by prey species. Our study aimed to identify (i) the physical characteristics of islets selected by Arctic-nesting birds and (ii) the geomorphological processes generating islets available in the landscape. Over two breeding seasons, we determined the occurrence of nesting birds (cackling goose, glaucous gull, and red-throated loon) on islets ( N =396 ) found over a 165 km 2 area on Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada). Occupied islets were located further away from the shore (10.6 m ± 7.3 SD vs. 7.4 m ± 6.8 SD) and surrounded by deeper water (33.6 cm ± 10.6 SD vs. 28.1 cm ± 11.5 SD) than unoccupied islets. As expected, all three bird species selected islets less accessible to Arctic foxes, with nesting occurrence increasing with distance to shore and water depth around islets. Based on high-resolution satellite imagery and field observations, we found that ice-wedge polygon degradation generated the majority of islets (71 %) found in the landscape. Those islets were on average farther from the shore and surrounded by deeper water than those generated by other processes. As polygon degradation is projected to accelerate in response to warming, new refuges will likely emerge in the Arctic landscape, but current refuges could also disappear. Changes in the rate of polygon degradation may thus affect Arctic tundra biodiversity by altering predator–prey ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M.-Z. Corbeil-Robitaille É. Duchesne D. Fortier C. Kinnard J. Bêty |
author_facet |
M.-Z. Corbeil-Robitaille É. Duchesne D. Fortier C. Kinnard J. Bêty |
author_sort |
M.-Z. Corbeil-Robitaille |
title |
Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic |
title_short |
Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic |
title_full |
Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the Arctic |
title_sort |
linking geomorphological processes and wildlife microhabitat selection: nesting birds select refuges generated by permafrost degradation in the arctic |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 https://doaj.org/article/1ed13463539441b2ac9b4d71493590b8 |
genre |
Arctic Fox Bylot Island Glaucous Gull Ice Nunavut permafrost Tundra wedge* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Bylot Island Glaucous Gull Ice Nunavut permafrost Tundra wedge* |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 21, Pp 3401-3423 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/21/3401/2024/bg-21-3401-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/1ed13463539441b2ac9b4d71493590b8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
14 |
container_start_page |
3401 |
op_container_end_page |
3423 |
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1810294665865330688 |