The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island
We examine the interactions between herbivores, plants and climatic factors in arctic wetlands using, as a case study, results of our research on grazing by snow geese on Bylot Island. During the summer, geese are the most important herbivore on the island and consume a high proportion of the annual...
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ftuninewbrunojs:oai:ojs.journals.lib.unb.ca:article/3923 2023-05-15T15:01:53+02:00 The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island Gauthier, Gilles Rochefort, Line Reed, Austin 1996-12-12 application/pdf https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3923 eng eng Geological Association of Canada https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3923/4437 https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3923 Copyright (c) 2015 Geoscience Canada Geoscience Canada; Volume 23, Number 4 (1996) 1911-4850 0315-0941 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1996 ftuninewbrunojs 2022-07-11T11:47:57Z We examine the interactions between herbivores, plants and climatic factors in arctic wetlands using, as a case study, results of our research on grazing by snow geese on Bylot Island. During the summer, geese are the most important herbivore on the island and consume a high proportion of the annual graminoid production (grasses and sedges). Herbivores can sometimes enhance plant production by increasing the turnover rate of nitrogen, a nutrient which commonly limits growth of arctic plants. However, we found no evidence of positive feedback of grazing on plant growth and, on the contrary, chronic goose grazing tended to decrease production of these ecosystems in the long term. Geese need large quantities of high-quality plants to breed successfully, and negative effects on goose reproduction as a result of lack of food were detected. Herbivore populations are also influenced by climatic factors, either directly or indirectly through effects on plant growth. It is likely that tundra plant-herbivore systems will be strongly affected by future climatic changes. Résumé Nous examinons les interactions entre les herbivores, les plantes et les facteurs climatiques dans les terres humides arctiques en utilisant nos recherches sur le broutement par les oies des neiges à l'île Bylot comme étude de cas. Durant l'été, les oies sont les herbivores les plus importants de l'île et elles consomment une forte proportion de la production annuelle de graminoides. Les herbivores peuvent parfois stimuler la production végétale en augmentant le taux de recyclage de l'azote, un nutriment qui limite fréquemment la croissance des plantes arctiques. Cependant, nous n'avons pas trouvé d'évidence de rétroaction positive du broutement sur la croissance des plantes et, au contraire, le broutement chronique par les oies semblait diminuer la production de ces écosystèmes. Les oies ont besoin d'une grande quantité de plantes de haute qualité pour se reproduire avec succès, et des effets dépendants de la densité sur leur succès reproducteur ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctique* Bylot Island Tundra University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals Arctic Bylot Island |
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Open Polar |
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University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals |
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ftuninewbrunojs |
language |
English |
description |
We examine the interactions between herbivores, plants and climatic factors in arctic wetlands using, as a case study, results of our research on grazing by snow geese on Bylot Island. During the summer, geese are the most important herbivore on the island and consume a high proportion of the annual graminoid production (grasses and sedges). Herbivores can sometimes enhance plant production by increasing the turnover rate of nitrogen, a nutrient which commonly limits growth of arctic plants. However, we found no evidence of positive feedback of grazing on plant growth and, on the contrary, chronic goose grazing tended to decrease production of these ecosystems in the long term. Geese need large quantities of high-quality plants to breed successfully, and negative effects on goose reproduction as a result of lack of food were detected. Herbivore populations are also influenced by climatic factors, either directly or indirectly through effects on plant growth. It is likely that tundra plant-herbivore systems will be strongly affected by future climatic changes. Résumé Nous examinons les interactions entre les herbivores, les plantes et les facteurs climatiques dans les terres humides arctiques en utilisant nos recherches sur le broutement par les oies des neiges à l'île Bylot comme étude de cas. Durant l'été, les oies sont les herbivores les plus importants de l'île et elles consomment une forte proportion de la production annuelle de graminoides. Les herbivores peuvent parfois stimuler la production végétale en augmentant le taux de recyclage de l'azote, un nutriment qui limite fréquemment la croissance des plantes arctiques. Cependant, nous n'avons pas trouvé d'évidence de rétroaction positive du broutement sur la croissance des plantes et, au contraire, le broutement chronique par les oies semblait diminuer la production de ces écosystèmes. Les oies ont besoin d'une grande quantité de plantes de haute qualité pour se reproduire avec succès, et des effets dépendants de la densité sur leur succès reproducteur ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gauthier, Gilles Rochefort, Line Reed, Austin |
spellingShingle |
Gauthier, Gilles Rochefort, Line Reed, Austin The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island |
author_facet |
Gauthier, Gilles Rochefort, Line Reed, Austin |
author_sort |
Gauthier, Gilles |
title |
The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island |
title_short |
The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island |
title_full |
The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island |
title_fullStr |
The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Exploitation of Wetland Ecosystems by Herbivores on Bylot Island |
title_sort |
exploitation of wetland ecosystems by herbivores on bylot island |
publisher |
Geological Association of Canada |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3923 |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island |
genre |
Arctic Arctique* Bylot Island Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctique* Bylot Island Tundra |
op_source |
Geoscience Canada; Volume 23, Number 4 (1996) 1911-4850 0315-0941 |
op_relation |
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3923/4437 https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3923 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Geoscience Canada |
_version_ |
1766333883234648064 |