Geese mediate vegetation state changes with parallel effects on N cycling that leave nutritional legacies for offspring

• Published in: Ecosphere
• Main Authors: R. W. Ruess, J. W. McFarland, B. Person, J. S. Sedinger
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2019
• Subjects: alternative stable states; ecosystem transitions; geese; grazing lawns; nitrogen cycling; Pacific Black Brant; Ecology; QH540-549.5; Yukon; Pacific; Brant; Kuskokwim; Pacific Black Brant Ecology; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2850; https://doaj.org/article/3e7c78e0bbb14d35ace75e4859ff678a

Abstract Along the coastal fringe of the Yukon–Kuskokwim River Delta in southwestern Alaska, geese maintain grazing lawns dominated by a rhizomatous sedge that, when ungrazed, transitions to a taller, less palatable growth form that is taxonomically described as a different species. Nutrients recycl...