Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring
Biotic interactions play an important role in the structure and dynamics of food-webs and may drive the spatial distribution of species. In the Arctic, spring snow-cover limits the availability of resources at a critical time for resident and migratory herbivores, which could lead to resource compet...
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UiT Norges arktiske universitet
2022
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/29010 2023-06-11T04:03:56+02:00 Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring Grimsby, Anna Caroline 2022-04-19 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/29010 eng eng UiT Norges arktiske universitet UiT The Arctic University of Norway https://hdl.handle.net/10037/29010 Copyright 2022 The Author(s) VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 Arctic herbivores spatiotemporal distribution co-occurrence competition behaviour snow-cover camera-traps Svalbard BIO-3950 Master thesis Mastergradsoppgave 2022 ftunivtroemsoe 2023-04-19T23:05:44Z Biotic interactions play an important role in the structure and dynamics of food-webs and may drive the spatial distribution of species. In the Arctic, spring snow-cover limits the availability of resources at a critical time for resident and migratory herbivores, which could lead to resource competition. This study takes a first step towards understanding the potential for competition between the major Svalbard herbivores; Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), Svalbard rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea), pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) and barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) during spring when resources are limited. The behaviour of co-occurring herbivores was observed with the aim of describing behaviours that could indicate interference competition. Further, camera-trap data was used to quantify the effects of snow-cover extent, vegetation type and presence of potential competitors on the spatiotemporal distributions of reindeer and geese. Reindeer and geese in Svalbard were found to generally forage in the same areas, especially in moss tundra. Observations suggested that reindeer was the behaviourally dominant competitor, but even though geese were regularly disturbed by close encounters with reindeer, no direct interference interactions were observed. Quantitative analyses confirmed that their spatiotemporal distributions were mainly driven by snow-cover extent and vegetation type. While it was clear that reindeer did not avoid geese, the avoidance of reindeer by geese could not be rejected. Chasing of ptarmigans was observed from both reindeer and geese, however the potential for competition between these species is not further assessed in this study due to a low number of ptarmigan observations. Extensive snow-cover seemed to slightly increase the co-occurrence of reindeer and geese, and the effect is expected to be stronger in years of late snowmelt. The shared space use by these species could potentially lead to exploitative competition, however this should be further ... Master Thesis Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis Lagopus muta Lagopus muta hyperborea Pink-footed Goose Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus rock ptarmigan Svalbard svalbard reindeer Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan Tundra University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic Svalbard |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 Arctic herbivores spatiotemporal distribution co-occurrence competition behaviour snow-cover camera-traps Svalbard BIO-3950 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 Arctic herbivores spatiotemporal distribution co-occurrence competition behaviour snow-cover camera-traps Svalbard BIO-3950 Grimsby, Anna Caroline Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring |
topic_facet |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 Arctic herbivores spatiotemporal distribution co-occurrence competition behaviour snow-cover camera-traps Svalbard BIO-3950 |
description |
Biotic interactions play an important role in the structure and dynamics of food-webs and may drive the spatial distribution of species. In the Arctic, spring snow-cover limits the availability of resources at a critical time for resident and migratory herbivores, which could lead to resource competition. This study takes a first step towards understanding the potential for competition between the major Svalbard herbivores; Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), Svalbard rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea), pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) and barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) during spring when resources are limited. The behaviour of co-occurring herbivores was observed with the aim of describing behaviours that could indicate interference competition. Further, camera-trap data was used to quantify the effects of snow-cover extent, vegetation type and presence of potential competitors on the spatiotemporal distributions of reindeer and geese. Reindeer and geese in Svalbard were found to generally forage in the same areas, especially in moss tundra. Observations suggested that reindeer was the behaviourally dominant competitor, but even though geese were regularly disturbed by close encounters with reindeer, no direct interference interactions were observed. Quantitative analyses confirmed that their spatiotemporal distributions were mainly driven by snow-cover extent and vegetation type. While it was clear that reindeer did not avoid geese, the avoidance of reindeer by geese could not be rejected. Chasing of ptarmigans was observed from both reindeer and geese, however the potential for competition between these species is not further assessed in this study due to a low number of ptarmigan observations. Extensive snow-cover seemed to slightly increase the co-occurrence of reindeer and geese, and the effect is expected to be stronger in years of late snowmelt. The shared space use by these species could potentially lead to exploitative competition, however this should be further ... |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Grimsby, Anna Caroline |
author_facet |
Grimsby, Anna Caroline |
author_sort |
Grimsby, Anna Caroline |
title |
Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring |
title_short |
Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring |
title_full |
Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring |
title_fullStr |
Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of Arctic herbivores in spring |
title_sort |
spatiotemporal distribution and co-occurrence of arctic herbivores in spring |
publisher |
UiT Norges arktiske universitet |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/29010 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis Lagopus muta Lagopus muta hyperborea Pink-footed Goose Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus rock ptarmigan Svalbard svalbard reindeer Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan Tundra |
genre_facet |
Anser brachyrhynchus Arctic Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis Lagopus muta Lagopus muta hyperborea Pink-footed Goose Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus rock ptarmigan Svalbard svalbard reindeer Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan Tundra |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/29010 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2022 The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1768384503943790592 |