Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snowmelt

Polar research

Jane U Jepsen¹  Ingunn Tombre¹  Audun Stien¹  Eva Fuglei²  Åshild Ø Pedersen³  Pernille B Eidesen⁴ 

[1] Arctic Ecology DepartmentNorwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway;Norwegian Polar InstituteFram Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway;Norwegian Polar InstituteFram Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, NorwayCorrespondence;University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, NO-9171 Longyearbyen, Norway

关键词: Anser brachyrhynchus;    grubbing;    habitat;    pink-footed goose;    Svalbard;    tundra;   

DOI  :  10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

来源: Co-Action Publishing

【 摘 要 】

The western Palaearctic tundra is a breeding habitat for large populations of European geese. After their arrival in spring, pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) forage extensively on below-ground plant parts, using a feeding technique called grubbing that has substantial impact on the tundra vegetation. Previous studies have shown a high frequency of grubbing in lowland fen vegetation. In the present study, we examined the occurrence of grubbing in other habitat types on Spitsbergen, in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Goose grubbing was surveyed along 19 altitudinal transects, going from the valley bottom to altitudes dominated by scree. Grubbing was more frequent in the wet habitat type at low altitudes compared to the drier habitat type at higher altitudes. For the dry habitat type, a higher frequency of grubbing was found in study plots with a south-east facing exposure where snowmelt is expected to be early. This suggests that pink-footed geese primarily use dry vegetation types for grubbing ...

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC