Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat
The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a good example of successful conservation, with rapidly growing numbers in Fennoscandia in recent decades. To the contrary, Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) shows a strong negative trend in breeding numbers, which raises conservation concerns. Previous research s...
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ftluke:oai:jukuri.luke.fi:10024/540882 2023-10-09T21:50:58+02:00 Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat Pöysä, Hannu Elmberg, Johan Gunnarsson, Gunnar Holopainen, Sari Nummi, Petri Sjöberg, Kjell Division of Natural Sciences, Kristianstad University Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Luke / Luonnonvarat ja biotuotanto / Ekosysteemit ja ekologia / Metsä- ja eläinekologia (4100100316) 4100100316 Sekä painettu, että verkkojulkaisu 1-9 false http://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/540882 eng eng Springer Journal of Ornithology doi:10.1007/s10336-017-1520-1 2193-7192 http://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/540882 2193-7206 grazing habitats species colonization grazing pressure habitat change lake-level extinction species interaction waterbird community fi=A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä|sv=A1 Originalartikel i en vetenskaplig tidskrift|en=A1 Journal article (refereed), original research| ftluke https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1520-1 2023-09-12T20:26:27Z The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a good example of successful conservation, with rapidly growing numbers in Fennoscandia in recent decades. To the contrary, Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) shows a strong negative trend in breeding numbers, which raises conservation concerns. Previous research suggests a causal link between recent population trajectories of the two species. Both preferentially breed on wetlands with abundant horsetail (Equisetum spp.), a plant providing food for Whooper Swan and crucial feeding microhabitat for Eurasian Wigeon broods. We here test predictions based on the hypothesis that grazing on Equisetum by Whooper Swan reduces breeding habitat or breeding habitat quality for Eurasian Wigeon. We use data from 60 lakes in which waterfowl were counted in 1990–1991 and 2016, and Equisetum was mapped in 1990–1991 and 2013–2014. Lakes colonized by Whooper Swan typically had more abundant Equisetum vegetation in the past than lakes not colonized. Lake-specific decrease of Equisetum was not associated with colonization by Whooper Swan. The number of lakes occupied by Eurasian Wigeon decreased, but the decrease was not stronger on lakes colonized by Whooper Swan than on those that were not. Contrary to our prediction, current Eurasian Wigeon abundance was positively associated with Whooper Swan abundance. Moreover, Eurasian Wigeon did not decrease more on lakes from which Equisetum disappeared than on lakes in which there was still Equisetum left. This study does not support the idea that Whooper Swan affects Eurasian Wigeon negatively by grazing on Equisetum. 2017 Article in Journal/Newspaper Cygnus cygnus Fennoscandia Whooper Swan Natural Resources Institute Finland: Jukuri Journal of Ornithology 159 2 447 455 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Resources Institute Finland: Jukuri |
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ftluke |
language |
English |
topic |
grazing habitats species colonization grazing pressure habitat change lake-level extinction species interaction waterbird community |
spellingShingle |
grazing habitats species colonization grazing pressure habitat change lake-level extinction species interaction waterbird community Pöysä, Hannu Elmberg, Johan Gunnarsson, Gunnar Holopainen, Sari Nummi, Petri Sjöberg, Kjell Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
topic_facet |
grazing habitats species colonization grazing pressure habitat change lake-level extinction species interaction waterbird community |
description |
The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a good example of successful conservation, with rapidly growing numbers in Fennoscandia in recent decades. To the contrary, Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) shows a strong negative trend in breeding numbers, which raises conservation concerns. Previous research suggests a causal link between recent population trajectories of the two species. Both preferentially breed on wetlands with abundant horsetail (Equisetum spp.), a plant providing food for Whooper Swan and crucial feeding microhabitat for Eurasian Wigeon broods. We here test predictions based on the hypothesis that grazing on Equisetum by Whooper Swan reduces breeding habitat or breeding habitat quality for Eurasian Wigeon. We use data from 60 lakes in which waterfowl were counted in 1990–1991 and 2016, and Equisetum was mapped in 1990–1991 and 2013–2014. Lakes colonized by Whooper Swan typically had more abundant Equisetum vegetation in the past than lakes not colonized. Lake-specific decrease of Equisetum was not associated with colonization by Whooper Swan. The number of lakes occupied by Eurasian Wigeon decreased, but the decrease was not stronger on lakes colonized by Whooper Swan than on those that were not. Contrary to our prediction, current Eurasian Wigeon abundance was positively associated with Whooper Swan abundance. Moreover, Eurasian Wigeon did not decrease more on lakes from which Equisetum disappeared than on lakes in which there was still Equisetum left. This study does not support the idea that Whooper Swan affects Eurasian Wigeon negatively by grazing on Equisetum. 2017 |
author2 |
Division of Natural Sciences, Kristianstad University Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Luke / Luonnonvarat ja biotuotanto / Ekosysteemit ja ekologia / Metsä- ja eläinekologia (4100100316) 4100100316 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pöysä, Hannu Elmberg, Johan Gunnarsson, Gunnar Holopainen, Sari Nummi, Petri Sjöberg, Kjell |
author_facet |
Pöysä, Hannu Elmberg, Johan Gunnarsson, Gunnar Holopainen, Sari Nummi, Petri Sjöberg, Kjell |
author_sort |
Pöysä, Hannu |
title |
Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
title_short |
Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
title_full |
Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
title_fullStr |
Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recovering Whooper Swans do not cause a decline in Eurasian Wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
title_sort |
recovering whooper swans do not cause a decline in eurasian wigeon via their grazing impact on habitat |
publisher |
Springer |
url |
http://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/540882 |
genre |
Cygnus cygnus Fennoscandia Whooper Swan |
genre_facet |
Cygnus cygnus Fennoscandia Whooper Swan |
op_relation |
Journal of Ornithology doi:10.1007/s10336-017-1520-1 2193-7192 http://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/540882 2193-7206 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1520-1 |
container_title |
Journal of Ornithology |
container_volume |
159 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
447 |
op_container_end_page |
455 |
_version_ |
1779314075353743360 |