(Table 2) Protein and fibre content of important food plants of barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) in Adventdalen

Goose grazing on arctic tundra vegetation has shown both positive and negative effects on subsequent foraging conditions. To understand the potential of a density-dependent feedback on herbivore population size, the relation between grazing pressure and future foraging conditions is essential. We st...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kuijper, Dries Pieter Jan, Ubels, R, Loonen, Maarten J J E
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2009
Subjects:
Acid detergent fibre
standard deviation
Adventdalen03
Biological sample
BIOS
DATE/TIME
Date/time end
Determined according to Goering and Van Soest (1970)
Habitat
International Polar Year (2007-2008)
IPY
Proteins
Sample amount
Sample type
Species
Spitsbergen
Svalbard
Arctic
Adventdalen
Branta leucopsis
International Polar Year
Polar Biology
Tundra
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.812682
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.812682
Description
Summary:Goose grazing on arctic tundra vegetation has shown both positive and negative effects on subsequent foraging conditions. To understand the potential of a density-dependent feedback on herbivore population size, the relation between grazing pressure and future foraging conditions is essential. We studied the effect of increasing grazing pressure of barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) on Spitsbergen. During the establishment of a breeding colony in the period 1992-2004, the proportion of graminoids decreased in the diet of wild geese, while the percentage of mosses increased. Grazing trials with captive geese in an unexploited area showed a similar shift in diet composition. High-quality food plants were depleted within years and over years. Intake rate declined too and as consequence, metabolisable energy intake rate (MEIR) decreased rapidly with increasing grazing pressure. During three successive years of experimental grazing, MEIR decreased at all levels of grazing pressure and declined below minimal energetic requirements when grazing exceeded natural levels of grazing pressure. This suggests that foraging conditions rapidly decline with increasing grazing pressure in these low-productive habitats. The potential for density-dependent feedbacks on local population increase is discussed.

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