Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores
Abstract Grazing lawns, patches of grazing‐tolerant plants with high nutrient value, provide important habitat for herbivores, and changes in abundance can impact herbivore populations. Grazing lawns are maintained in quality and quantity by repeated grazing and are a result of a positive feedback s...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6214ab62c7d84e19bccf5e7f825b9abb 2023-05-15T14:31:11+02:00 Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores Brian D. Uher‐Koch Joel A. Schmutz Heather M. Wilson R. Michael Anthony Thomas L. Day Thomas F. Fondell Brian T. Person James S. Sedinger 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767 https://doaj.org/article/6214ab62c7d84e19bccf5e7f825b9abb EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.2767 https://doaj.org/article/6214ab62c7d84e19bccf5e7f825b9abb Ecosphere, Vol 10, Iss 6, Pp n/a-n/a (2019) Arctic fox black brant Branta bernicla nigricans Carex geese grazing lawn Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767 2022-12-30T20:48:24Z Abstract Grazing lawns, patches of grazing‐tolerant plants with high nutrient value, provide important habitat for herbivores, and changes in abundance can impact herbivore populations. Grazing lawns are maintained in quality and quantity by repeated grazing and are a result of a positive feedback since the availability of grazing lawn can increase herbivore populations and increased herbivore populations can result in an increase in grazing lawn extent. We sampled aerial imagery from a long‐term dataset (>20 yr) at an internationally important breeding area for avian herbivores to model changes in grazing lawn abundance over time and identify the possible factors impacting those changes, including numbers of breeding birds, their primary predator, and spring phenology. Our data suggest that avian herbivores and their predators likely exert strong impacts on plant communities and may drive vegetation abundance. Decreases in the number of herbivore nests in our study coincided with an almost complete lack of grazing lawn in the mid‐2000s. Any factors dictating the amount of grazing lawn available for avian herbivores could strongly influence breeding success and the maximum size of these populations. Our results demonstrate the importance of studying complex interactions among predators, herbivores, and plants, and population moderation by both bottom‐up and top‐down processes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fox Arctic Branta bernicla Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Brant ENVELOPE(7.105,7.105,62.917,62.917) Ecosphere 10 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic fox black brant Branta bernicla nigricans Carex geese grazing lawn Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic fox black brant Branta bernicla nigricans Carex geese grazing lawn Ecology QH540-549.5 Brian D. Uher‐Koch Joel A. Schmutz Heather M. Wilson R. Michael Anthony Thomas L. Day Thomas F. Fondell Brian T. Person James S. Sedinger Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
topic_facet |
Arctic fox black brant Branta bernicla nigricans Carex geese grazing lawn Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Grazing lawns, patches of grazing‐tolerant plants with high nutrient value, provide important habitat for herbivores, and changes in abundance can impact herbivore populations. Grazing lawns are maintained in quality and quantity by repeated grazing and are a result of a positive feedback since the availability of grazing lawn can increase herbivore populations and increased herbivore populations can result in an increase in grazing lawn extent. We sampled aerial imagery from a long‐term dataset (>20 yr) at an internationally important breeding area for avian herbivores to model changes in grazing lawn abundance over time and identify the possible factors impacting those changes, including numbers of breeding birds, their primary predator, and spring phenology. Our data suggest that avian herbivores and their predators likely exert strong impacts on plant communities and may drive vegetation abundance. Decreases in the number of herbivore nests in our study coincided with an almost complete lack of grazing lawn in the mid‐2000s. Any factors dictating the amount of grazing lawn available for avian herbivores could strongly influence breeding success and the maximum size of these populations. Our results demonstrate the importance of studying complex interactions among predators, herbivores, and plants, and population moderation by both bottom‐up and top‐down processes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brian D. Uher‐Koch Joel A. Schmutz Heather M. Wilson R. Michael Anthony Thomas L. Day Thomas F. Fondell Brian T. Person James S. Sedinger |
author_facet |
Brian D. Uher‐Koch Joel A. Schmutz Heather M. Wilson R. Michael Anthony Thomas L. Day Thomas F. Fondell Brian T. Person James S. Sedinger |
author_sort |
Brian D. Uher‐Koch |
title |
Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
title_short |
Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
title_full |
Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
title_fullStr |
Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
title_sort |
ecosystem‐scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767 https://doaj.org/article/6214ab62c7d84e19bccf5e7f825b9abb |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.105,7.105,62.917,62.917) |
geographic |
Arctic Brant |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Brant |
genre |
Arctic Fox Arctic Branta bernicla |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Arctic Branta bernicla |
op_source |
Ecosphere, Vol 10, Iss 6, Pp n/a-n/a (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.2767 https://doaj.org/article/6214ab62c7d84e19bccf5e7f825b9abb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
_version_ |
1766304881086300160 |