Nitrogen transfer between herbivores and their forage species

Herbivores may increase the productivity of forage plants; however, this depends on the return of nutrients from faeces to the forage plants. The aim of this study was to test if nitrogen (N) from faeces is available to forage plants and whether the return of nutrients differs between plant species...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: Sjogersten, Sofie, Kuijper, Dries P. J., van der Wal, Rene, Loonen, Maarten J. J. E., Huiskes, Ad H. L., Woodin, Sarah J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
delta(15)N
Arctic
Forage species
Geese
Herbivory
Moss
Nitrogen
Nutrients
Trophic interactions
Tundra
Vegetation
Faeces
SALT-MARSH
PLANT-GROWTH
SNOW GEESE
ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES
FEEDING ECOLOGY
SOIL-NITROGEN
ARCTIC TUNDRA
BYLOT ISLAND
FECES
CANADA
Bylot Island
Canada
Branta leucopsis
Polar Biology
Spitsbergen
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/fd8d07fb-e3ac-4c88-b015-a78ed2aa4f11
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/fd8d07fb-e3ac-4c88-b015-a78ed2aa4f11
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0809-9
https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/25551720/art_3A10.1007_2Fs00300_010_0809_9_1_.pdf
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Summary:Herbivores may increase the productivity of forage plants; however, this depends on the return of nutrients from faeces to the forage plants. The aim of this study was to test if nitrogen (N) from faeces is available to forage plants and whether the return of nutrients differs between plant species using (15)N natural abundance in faeces and plant tissue. To investigate the effect of grazing on N transfer, we carried out a grazing experiment in wet and mesic tundra on high Arctic Spitsbergen using barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) as the model herbivore. N inputs (from faeces) increased with grazing pressure at both the wet and mesic sites, with the greatest N input from faeces at the wet site. The delta(15)N ratio in plant tissue from grazed plots was enriched in mosses and the dwarf shrub species, reflecting the delta(15)N signature of faeces-derived N, but no such pattern was observed in the dominant grasses. This study demonstrates that the delta(15)N signature of faeces and forage species is a useful tool to explore how grazing impacts on N acquisition. Our findings suggest that plant species which acquire their N close to the soil surface (e.g. mosses) access more of the N from faeces than species with deeper root systems (e.g. grasses) suggesting a transfer of N from the preferred forage species to the mosses and dwarf shrubs, which are less preferred by the geese. In conclusion, the moss layer appears to disrupt the nitrogen return from herbivores to their forage species.

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