Long-term consequences of goose exclusion on nutrient cycles and plant communities in the High-Arctic

Nishizawa, Keita; Deschamps, Lucas; Maire, Vincent; Bêty, Joël; Lévesque, Esther; Kitagawa, Ryo; Masumoto, Shota; Gosselin, Isabelle; Morneault, Amélie; Rochefort, Line; Gauthier, Gilles; Tanabe, Yukiko; Uchida, Masaki; Mori, Akira

doi:10.1016/j.polar.2020.100631

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Our results are consistent with local-scale manipulative field experiments, which demonstrated that grazing by geese reduced plant litter and thus the amount of organic matter and nutrients in soil 25 – 27 , although they also suggest that terrestrial vegetation affects nutrient deposition in lake sediments. In addition, the onset of spring and vegetation productivity have been found to be closely associated with snow coverage in Arctic ecosystems 54 , as observed across the landscape in our study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Geese affected the nitrogen stored in soil, sediment and vegetation. While their grazing activity may counterbalance the positive effect of N inputs on grass vegetation (the geese’ preferred food source) at high grazing pressure 24 , 27 , such inputs may have net positive effects on the remaining food web components. Indeed, increased moss coverage and N uptake have been shown to be related to geese inputs 29 , 78 , and higher biomass and diversity of phytoplankton and invertebrates have been shown to be related to goose-mediated nutrient enrichment in lakes 76 , while higher N concentrations increase vegetation productivity and its nutritional value for other Arctic herbivores 79 , 80 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our results suggest that this positive effect may increase with expected warming and anticipated snowmelt, which may boost primary productivity where nutrients available to vegetation are rising due to the presence of geese. Undoubtedly, detailed studies taking account of vegetation type 27 , 78 , which was beyond the scope of the present research, will further clarify the local effects of geese-plant interactions in a context of climate change. In addition, future research on nutrient cycling in Arctic lake ecosystems will benefit from the inclusion of other food web components, given that the interactions described in this study do not work in isolation from other species in the food web.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate-related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems

Calizza

Salvatori

Rossi

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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In order to predict the effects of climate change on polar ecosystems, disentangling mechanisms of nutrient transfer in food webs is crucial. We investigated sources of nutrients in tundra lakes, tracing their transfer through the food web and relating the observed patterns to runoff, snow coverage, and the presence of migratory geese in lake catchments. C and N content (elemental and isotopic) of several food web components including Lepidurus arcticus (Notostraca, at the top of the lake food webs) in 18 shallow Arctic lakes was compared. Terrestrial productivity and geese abundance were key biotic factors that interacted with abiotic variables (snow coverage, lake and catchment size) in determining the amount and origin of nutrient inputs, affecting the trophic interactions among aquatic species, food chain length and nutrient flow in Arctic lake food webs. Decreasing snow coverage, increasing abundance and expansion of the geese’s range are expected across the Arctic due to climate warming. By relating nutrient inputs and food web structure to snow coverage, vegetation and geese, this study contributes to our mechanistic understanding of the cascade effects of climate change in tundra ecosystems, and may help predict the response of lakes to changes in nutrient inputs at lower latitudes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate-related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems

Calizza

Salvatori

Rossi

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…Wetlands of Bylot Island are exposed to chronic grazing by geese due to the presence of a large snow goose colony [105]. Goose grazing is known to reduce primary production and change plant composition in this ecosystem [105][106][107]. In our study, goose grazing was suppressed since the start of our experiment, which by itself may have induced some temporal changes in plant biomass and composition in addition to those caused by fertilization and could explain some of the observed temporal changes.…”

Section: Lag In the Response Timementioning

confidence: 74%

N/P Addition Is More Likely Than N Addition Alone to Promote a Transition from Moss-Dominated to Graminoid-Dominated Tundra in the High-Arctic

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Nutrient availability for tundra vegetation could change drastically due to increasing temperatures and frequency of nitrogen deposition in the Arctic. Few studies have simultaneously examined the response of plant communities to these two pressures over a long period. This study aims to assess which driver between increasing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability through global warming and increasing N availability alone via N deposition is more likely to transform arctic wetland vegetation and whether there is a time lag in this response. An annual fertilization experiment simulating these nutrient inputs was conducted for 17 years in the Canadian High-Arctic to assess the impact on aboveground net primary productivity, floristic composition, and plant nutrient concentration. While the primary productivity of mosses remains unchanged by fertilization after 17 years, productivity of graminoids was increased slightly by N addition (36% increase at the highest dose). In contrast, the primary productivity of graminoids increased strongly with N/P addition (over 227% increase). We noted no difference in graminoid productivity between the 2nd and 5th year of the experiment, but we observed a 203% increase between the 5th and 17th year in the N/P addition treatments. We also noted a 49% decrease in the total moss cover and an 155% increase in the total graminoid cover between the 2nd and 17th year of N/P addition. These results indicate that the impact of warming through increased N/P availability was greater than those of N deposition alone (N addition) and promoted the transition from a moss-dominated tundra to a graminoid-dominated tundra. However, this transition was subject to a time lag of up to 17 years, suggesting that increased productivity of graminoids resulted from a release of nutrients via the decomposition of lower parts of the moss mat.

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“…We did not investigate potential differences in nitrogen content (i.e., an index of nutrition) of grazed versus ungrazed swards, but this has been confirmed for goose-maintained grazing lawns in many northern regions (Cargill & Jefferies, 1984b;Gauthier et al, 1995;Person et al, 1998), including this ecosystem (Slattery, 2000), nor did we assess nutritional content indexed by carbon to nitrogen ratios (e.g., Person et al, 1998). Intuitively, however, carbon is known to be lower in grazed patches through reduction of dead or senescing tissues (Gauthier et al, 2004;Nishizawa et al, 2021; this study), thereby increasing the proportion of nitrogen in aboveground vegetation available for grazing. Broadly speaking, we conclude that vegetation in lowland habitats north of the large nesting colony at Karrak Lake resemble functional grazing lawns maintained by light geese elsewhere.…”

Section: State Of Grazing Lawns North Of Karrak Lakementioning

confidence: 96%

Reduction in biomass of freshwater arctic vegetation by foraging and nesting hyperabundant herbivores shows recovery

Kellett

Alisauskas

2022

Ecosphere

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Arctic‐nesting geese are specialist herbivores of grasses and sedges (collectively, graminoids). Under moderate grazing pressure, these migratory herbivores can create and maintain arctic grazing lawns with high nutritional content and low aboveground biomass. Nutrient and energy subsidies from southern agricultural landscapes during winter have improved survival among populations of Ross's (Anser rossii) and lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens), leading to marked population growth. Resulting goose hyperabundance has raised conservation concern for resilience of arctic ecosystems to withstand cumulative and intense pressures of herbivory and nest construction. We used both design‐based (experimental herbivore exclosures) and model‐based methods to investigate changes to plant community structure in direct response to foraging and nesting by these species within the Queen Maud Gulf (Ahiak) Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Nunavut, Canada. Annual nest construction and foraging by up to ~1.3 million geese at a large colony at Karrak Lake markedly reduced aboveground biomass of forage (graminoids) and non‐forage (foliose and fruticose lichens) vegetation, with spatial variation in reduction associated with intensity of use by geese. Within vast brood‐rearing regions, foraging reduced above‐ and belowground plant biomass of lowland plant communities by 61% and 29%, respectively, between 1994 (when herbivore exclosures were established) and 2017. In addition to landscape diversity associated with abiotic properties created by geomorphic processes, long‐term herbivory by geese further increased spatial heterogeneity in vegetation at the landscape scale. Although foraging geese nearly completely depleted aboveground plant biomass in some parts of their brood‐rearing areas, belowground biomass was largely conserved, and thus, plant communities had strong potential for aboveground regeneration. We propose that the effects of high‐density nesting and foraging by Ross's and lesser snow geese in the central Canadian Arctic, while extensive, are ephemeral and prone to reversion following cessation of grazing and nesting pressure, such as that afforded by shifts in herbivore distribution or local population decline.

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Long-term consequences of goose exclusion on nutrient cycles and plant communities in the High-Arctic

Cited by 6 publications

References 60 publications

Climate-related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems

Climate-related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems

N/P Addition Is More Likely Than N Addition Alone to Promote a Transition from Moss-Dominated to Graminoid-Dominated Tundra in the High-Arctic

Reduction in biomass of freshwater arctic vegetation by foraging and nesting hyperabundant herbivores shows recovery

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