Goose in Greenland: Study shows population increases due to warming, but longer term negative effects
Scientists in Greenland have documented significant increases in geese populations since the 1980s due to warming-induced habitat change, but warn that these increases could entail negative longer-term consequences. The study concludes that "between the early 1980s and 2008, climate warming has increased productivity of graminoid vegetation in tundra marshes in East Greenland, thereby allowing for an increase in numbers of moulting geese. However, reduced vegetation cover due to goose grazing may have longer-term negative consequences for the quality of the habitat and its capacity to support geese."
Abstract: Greening of the Arctic due to climate warming may provide herbivores with richer food supplies, resulting in higher herbivore densities. In turn, this may cause changes in vegetation composition and ecosystem function. In 1982–1984, we studied the ecology of non-breeding moulting geese in Jameson Land, low Arctic East Greenland. By then, geese consumed most of the graminoid production in available moss fens, and it appeared that the geese had filled up the available habitat. In 2008, we revisited the area and found that the number of moulting geese and the temperature sum for June–July had tripled, while the above-ground biomass in a moss fen ungrazed by geese had more than doubled. In a goose-grazed fen, the overall plant composition was unchanged, but the frequency of graminoids had decreased and the area with dead vegetation and open spots had increased. We suggest that climate warming has lead to increased productivity, allowing for higher numbers of moulting geese. However, the reduction of vegetation cover by grazing may have longer term negative consequences for the number of geese the habitat can sustain.
Posted by Charles Chester on Friday, September 23, 20113:29PM
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