Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese
This is the accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer Verlag. In the Hudson-James Bay system, grubbing and grazing by lesser snow geese have resulted in severe devegetation of coastal marshes. These changes likely represent an example of an alternative stable state; however, long-term...
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ftunivtoronto:oai:localhost:1807/73993 2023-05-15T13:07:42+02:00 Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese Kotanen, Peter M. Abraham, Kenneth F. 2013-02-07 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/73993 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x en_ca eng Springer Verlag Kotanen, P.M. & Abraham, K.F. Plant Ecol (2013) 214: 409. doi:10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x http://hdl.handle.net/1807/73993 https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x alternative states Festuca rubra foraging Hudson-James Bay Puccinellia phryganodes Article Post-Print 2013 ftunivtoronto https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x 2020-06-17T12:00:58Z This is the accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer Verlag. In the Hudson-James Bay system, grubbing and grazing by lesser snow geese have resulted in severe devegetation of coastal marshes. These changes likely represent an example of an alternative stable state; however, long-term datasets documenting whether revegetation is occurring are scarce. Here, we report results of a 10-year study investigating changes in the state of a degraded salt marsh system on the north coast of Akimiski Island, Nunavut. Four transects were intensively sampled in 1998 and 2008, two within the dense nesting and brood-rearing area of a snow geese colony, one on the colony edge, and one outside it; all of these sites were also used by broods of Canada geese. Key forage species (Puccinellia phryganodes, Festuca rubra, Carex subspathacea) were less common near the colony centre than elsewhere; biomass of Puccinellia also tended to be lower in more central areas. Forage species often increased in abundance between samplings, but the magnitude of changes was small. In contrast, non-forage species (Salicornia, Spergularia, Glaux) often reached high abundance within the colony centre; some (Salicornia) decreased while others (Spergularia) increased. We argue the degraded state was initiated by foraging damage from an exceptional stopover of 295,000 staging birds in 1972 and that the combined foraging pressure of relatively small numbers of nesting and migrant geese since then, coupled with soil changes, has been sufficient to maintain devegetated areas as a persistent alternative state. Whether or not this state is truly stable, further recovery is likely to be very slow. This is a contribution of the Wildlife Research and Development Section of the OMNR. This research was supported by NSERC (PMK), the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (KFA), the Arctic Goose Joint Venture (Hudson Bay Project), the Mississippi Flyway Council and the Central Flyway Council. Other/Unknown Material Akimiski island Arctic Hudson Bay James Bay Nunavut Puccinellia phryganodes Subarctic James Bay University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space Akimiski Island ENVELOPE(-81.275,-81.275,53.008,53.008) Arctic Canada Hudson Hudson Bay Nunavut Plant Ecology 214 3 409 422 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtoronto |
language |
English |
topic |
alternative states Festuca rubra foraging Hudson-James Bay Puccinellia phryganodes |
spellingShingle |
alternative states Festuca rubra foraging Hudson-James Bay Puccinellia phryganodes Kotanen, Peter M. Abraham, Kenneth F. Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese |
topic_facet |
alternative states Festuca rubra foraging Hudson-James Bay Puccinellia phryganodes |
description |
This is the accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer Verlag. In the Hudson-James Bay system, grubbing and grazing by lesser snow geese have resulted in severe devegetation of coastal marshes. These changes likely represent an example of an alternative stable state; however, long-term datasets documenting whether revegetation is occurring are scarce. Here, we report results of a 10-year study investigating changes in the state of a degraded salt marsh system on the north coast of Akimiski Island, Nunavut. Four transects were intensively sampled in 1998 and 2008, two within the dense nesting and brood-rearing area of a snow geese colony, one on the colony edge, and one outside it; all of these sites were also used by broods of Canada geese. Key forage species (Puccinellia phryganodes, Festuca rubra, Carex subspathacea) were less common near the colony centre than elsewhere; biomass of Puccinellia also tended to be lower in more central areas. Forage species often increased in abundance between samplings, but the magnitude of changes was small. In contrast, non-forage species (Salicornia, Spergularia, Glaux) often reached high abundance within the colony centre; some (Salicornia) decreased while others (Spergularia) increased. We argue the degraded state was initiated by foraging damage from an exceptional stopover of 295,000 staging birds in 1972 and that the combined foraging pressure of relatively small numbers of nesting and migrant geese since then, coupled with soil changes, has been sufficient to maintain devegetated areas as a persistent alternative state. Whether or not this state is truly stable, further recovery is likely to be very slow. This is a contribution of the Wildlife Research and Development Section of the OMNR. This research was supported by NSERC (PMK), the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (KFA), the Arctic Goose Joint Venture (Hudson Bay Project), the Mississippi Flyway Council and the Central Flyway Council. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Kotanen, Peter M. Abraham, Kenneth F. |
author_facet |
Kotanen, Peter M. Abraham, Kenneth F. |
author_sort |
Kotanen, Peter M. |
title |
Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese |
title_short |
Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese |
title_full |
Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese |
title_fullStr |
Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and Canada geese |
title_sort |
decadal changes in vegetation of a subarctic salt marsh used by lesser snow and canada geese |
publisher |
Springer Verlag |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1807/73993 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-81.275,-81.275,53.008,53.008) |
geographic |
Akimiski Island Arctic Canada Hudson Hudson Bay Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Akimiski Island Arctic Canada Hudson Hudson Bay Nunavut |
genre |
Akimiski island Arctic Hudson Bay James Bay Nunavut Puccinellia phryganodes Subarctic James Bay |
genre_facet |
Akimiski island Arctic Hudson Bay James Bay Nunavut Puccinellia phryganodes Subarctic James Bay |
op_relation |
Kotanen, P.M. & Abraham, K.F. Plant Ecol (2013) 214: 409. doi:10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x http://hdl.handle.net/1807/73993 https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0178-x |
container_title |
Plant Ecology |
container_volume |
214 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
409 |
op_container_end_page |
422 |
_version_ |
1766064090413793280 |