Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony
We examined the role of trophic interactions in structuring a high arctic tundra community characterized by a large breeding colony of greater snow geese ( Chen caerulescens atlantica ). According to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis of <cross-ref type="bib" refid="I1540-7063-0...
Published in: | Integrative and Comparative Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Oxford University Press
2004
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/44/2/119 https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
id |
fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:icbiol:44/2/119 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:icbiol:44/2/119 2023-05-15T13:19:52+02:00 Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Giroux, Jean-François Rochefort, Line 2004-04-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/44/2/119 https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 en eng Oxford University Press http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/44/2/119 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 Copyright (C) 2004, The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Regular Article TEXT 2004 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 2007-06-24T02:28:03Z We examined the role of trophic interactions in structuring a high arctic tundra community characterized by a large breeding colony of greater snow geese ( Chen caerulescens atlantica ). According to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis of <cross-ref type="bib" refid="I1540-7063-044-02-0119-OKSANEN3">Oksanen et al. (1981)</cross-ref>, food chains are controlled by top-down interactions. However, because the arctic primary productivity is low, herbivore populations are too small to support functional predator populations and these communities should thus be dominated by the plant/ herbivore trophic-level interaction. Since 1990, we have been monitoring annual abundance and productivity of geese, the impact of goose grazing, predator abundance (mostly arctic foxes, Alopex lagopus ) and the abundance of lemmings, the other significant herbivore in this community, on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Goose grazing consistently removed a significant proportion of the standing crop (∼40%) in tundra wetlands every year. Grazing changed plant community composition and reduced the production of grasses and sedges to a low-level equilibrium compared to the situation where the presence of geese had been removed. Lemming cyclic fluctuations were strong and affected fox reproduction. Fox predation on goose eggs was severe and generated marked annual variation in goose productivity. Predation intensity on geese was closely related to the lemming cycle, a consequence of an indirect interaction between lemming and geese via shared predators. We conclude that, contrary to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis, both the plant/herbivore and predator/prey interactions are significant in this arctic community. Text Alopex lagopus Arctic Bylot Island Canada Goose Nunavut Tundra HighWire Press (Stanford University) Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut Integrative and Comparative Biology 44 2 119 129 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
op_collection_id |
fthighwire |
language |
English |
topic |
Regular Article |
spellingShingle |
Regular Article Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Giroux, Jean-François Rochefort, Line Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony |
topic_facet |
Regular Article |
description |
We examined the role of trophic interactions in structuring a high arctic tundra community characterized by a large breeding colony of greater snow geese ( Chen caerulescens atlantica ). According to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis of <cross-ref type="bib" refid="I1540-7063-044-02-0119-OKSANEN3">Oksanen et al. (1981)</cross-ref>, food chains are controlled by top-down interactions. However, because the arctic primary productivity is low, herbivore populations are too small to support functional predator populations and these communities should thus be dominated by the plant/ herbivore trophic-level interaction. Since 1990, we have been monitoring annual abundance and productivity of geese, the impact of goose grazing, predator abundance (mostly arctic foxes, Alopex lagopus ) and the abundance of lemmings, the other significant herbivore in this community, on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Goose grazing consistently removed a significant proportion of the standing crop (∼40%) in tundra wetlands every year. Grazing changed plant community composition and reduced the production of grasses and sedges to a low-level equilibrium compared to the situation where the presence of geese had been removed. Lemming cyclic fluctuations were strong and affected fox reproduction. Fox predation on goose eggs was severe and generated marked annual variation in goose productivity. Predation intensity on geese was closely related to the lemming cycle, a consequence of an indirect interaction between lemming and geese via shared predators. We conclude that, contrary to the exploitation ecosystem hypothesis, both the plant/herbivore and predator/prey interactions are significant in this arctic community. |
format |
Text |
author |
Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Giroux, Jean-François Rochefort, Line |
author_facet |
Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Giroux, Jean-François Rochefort, Line |
author_sort |
Gauthier, Gilles |
title |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony |
title_short |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony |
title_full |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony |
title_fullStr |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trophic Interactions in a High Arctic Snow Goose Colony |
title_sort |
trophic interactions in a high arctic snow goose colony |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/44/2/119 https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut |
genre |
Alopex lagopus Arctic Bylot Island Canada Goose Nunavut Tundra |
genre_facet |
Alopex lagopus Arctic Bylot Island Canada Goose Nunavut Tundra |
op_relation |
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/44/2/119 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2004, The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.119 |
container_title |
Integrative and Comparative Biology |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
119 |
op_container_end_page |
129 |
_version_ |
1766349954826108928 |