Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition?
In this study we accumulate evidence that brown hare competes with brent goose for food resources in a temperate salt marsh. We show that both species overlap in habitat use and share food plants. The two herbivores mainly used the common habitat at different times of the day, with hares active in t...
Published in: | Oecologia |
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Language: | English |
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1998
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 |
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ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 2024-06-02T08:04:36+00:00 Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? van der Wal, R. Kunst, P. Drent, R. 1998 https://hdl.handle.net/11370/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 eng eng https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess van der Wal , R , Kunst , P & Drent , R 1998 , ' Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system : Evidence for food competition? ' , Oecologia , vol. 117 , no. 1-2 , pp. 227-234 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 brent goose hare food competition direct interference salt marsh INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION FIELD EXPERIMENTS BODY RESERVES GEESE MECHANISMS BERNICLA article 1998 ftunigroningenpu https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 2024-05-07T18:08:31Z In this study we accumulate evidence that brown hare competes with brent goose for food resources in a temperate salt marsh. We show that both species overlap in habitat use and share food plants. The two herbivores mainly used the common habitat at different times of the day, with hares active in the dark and geese during the daylight. During the morning and evening, however, the habitat was exploited simultaneously. Food availability was manipulated by excluding brent geese on both small-scale (30 m(2)) and large-scale (0.96 ha) plots, while hares had free access everywhere. Exclusion of brent geese enhanced the level of utilisation by hares in both Festuca and Puccinellia dominated marshes, which are among the most intensively grazed parts of the salt marsh. The increase in hare grazing pressure following goose exclusion was stronger, when the adjacent control plots had attracted more goose visitation. When geese were excluded, the decrease in Festuca consumption by geese was completely matched by increased hare grazing, while for Puccinellia only part of the 'surplus' was harvested. Enhanced levels of hare utilisation were not due to geese interfering directly with hare, nor due to hares avoiding goose droppings. Considering the interaction from the other perspective, hares were observed to disturb geese effectively in every spring. This might have reduced exploitation by geese of the shared resources. On the basis of our experimental results, we conclude that in this saltmarsh system competition for food with brent geese plays a role in the habitat use of hares, and that hares can reduce goose exploitation of shared habitats. Article in Journal/Newspaper brent geese Brent goose University of Groningen research database Oecologia 117 1-2 227 234 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
topic |
brent goose hare food competition direct interference salt marsh INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION FIELD EXPERIMENTS BODY RESERVES GEESE MECHANISMS BERNICLA |
spellingShingle |
brent goose hare food competition direct interference salt marsh INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION FIELD EXPERIMENTS BODY RESERVES GEESE MECHANISMS BERNICLA van der Wal, R. Kunst, P. Drent, R. Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? |
topic_facet |
brent goose hare food competition direct interference salt marsh INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION FIELD EXPERIMENTS BODY RESERVES GEESE MECHANISMS BERNICLA |
description |
In this study we accumulate evidence that brown hare competes with brent goose for food resources in a temperate salt marsh. We show that both species overlap in habitat use and share food plants. The two herbivores mainly used the common habitat at different times of the day, with hares active in the dark and geese during the daylight. During the morning and evening, however, the habitat was exploited simultaneously. Food availability was manipulated by excluding brent geese on both small-scale (30 m(2)) and large-scale (0.96 ha) plots, while hares had free access everywhere. Exclusion of brent geese enhanced the level of utilisation by hares in both Festuca and Puccinellia dominated marshes, which are among the most intensively grazed parts of the salt marsh. The increase in hare grazing pressure following goose exclusion was stronger, when the adjacent control plots had attracted more goose visitation. When geese were excluded, the decrease in Festuca consumption by geese was completely matched by increased hare grazing, while for Puccinellia only part of the 'surplus' was harvested. Enhanced levels of hare utilisation were not due to geese interfering directly with hare, nor due to hares avoiding goose droppings. Considering the interaction from the other perspective, hares were observed to disturb geese effectively in every spring. This might have reduced exploitation by geese of the shared resources. On the basis of our experimental results, we conclude that in this saltmarsh system competition for food with brent geese plays a role in the habitat use of hares, and that hares can reduce goose exploitation of shared habitats. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van der Wal, R. Kunst, P. Drent, R. |
author_facet |
van der Wal, R. Kunst, P. Drent, R. |
author_sort |
van der Wal, R. |
title |
Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? |
title_short |
Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? |
title_full |
Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? |
title_fullStr |
Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:Evidence for food competition? |
title_sort |
interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system:evidence for food competition? |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11370/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 |
genre |
brent geese Brent goose |
genre_facet |
brent geese Brent goose |
op_source |
van der Wal , R , Kunst , P & Drent , R 1998 , ' Interactions between hare and brent goose in a salt marsh system : Evidence for food competition? ' , Oecologia , vol. 117 , no. 1-2 , pp. 227-234 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 |
op_relation |
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/0de19055-319f-4b14-a332-ad65803aeb73 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050652 |
container_title |
Oecologia |
container_volume |
117 |
container_issue |
1-2 |
container_start_page |
227 |
op_container_end_page |
234 |
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1800749242756628480 |