Ornithogenic vegetation: How significant has the seabird influence been on the Aleutian Island vegetation during the Holocene?

• Published in: Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Olesya Igorevna Smyshlyaeva, Elena Erastovna Severova, Olga Aleksandrovna Krylovich, Evgeniya Andreevna Kuzmicheva, Arkady Borisovich Savinetsky, West Dixie, Virginia Hatfield
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: Aleutian Islands; islands ecosystems; pollen analysis; seabird guano; vegetation dynamics; Ecology; QH540-549.5; Guano; Near Islands; Shemya Island; Aleutian Island; Tundra
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8121; https://doaj.org/article/c4aed5938cc7436ba86628bc8bbdc6a0

Abstract In the Aleutian Islands during the Holocene, terrestrial predators were actually absent; as a result, large seabird colonies thrived along the coasts or across entire islands. Bird guano enriches the soil with nitrogen, which can lead to the formation of highly modified ornithogenic (bird‐f...