Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of pink-footed goose grubbing in the arctic tundra increases with population expansion

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the high-arctic archipelago of Svalbard, the pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) population has increased dramatically over the last decades. The population increase and the corresponding range expansion suggest a substantial increase in the potential for disturbance of the tundra caused by goose herbivory. In this study, we used surveys of pink-footed goose grubbing from two separate years (2007 and 2012) to examine the temporal changes in the prevalence of grubbing in central Spitsbergen. During this time period, the Svalbard-breeding pink-footed goose population had increased from 56,400 to 80,000 individuals. We compared grubbing prevalence between the 2 years, standardising the comparison by using a published model of habitat suitability for grubbing (Speed et al. in Ecosystems 12:349-359, 2009) as a covariate. Habitat suitability was a significant predictor of grubbing prevalence across both years, with higher grubbing probability in habitats predicted to be more suitable for grubbing. The probability of grubbing was on average 4 times higher in 2012 than in 2007. In 2007, all tundra habitats had a probability of <27 % of being grubbed whilst in 2012, there was a probability for being grubbed of more than 34 % in the least suitable habitat and around 59 % in the most suitable habitat. The increase in grubbing prevalence demonstrates a great need for monitoring the expanding pink-footed goose population and its impact on the tundra landscape.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B (2011) lme4: linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. R package version 0.999375-42

  • Bauer S, Gienapp P, Madsen J (2008a) The relevance of environmental conditions for departure decision changes en route in migrating geese. Ecology 89:1953–1960

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer S, Van Dinther M, Hogda KA, Klaassen M, Madsen J (2008b) The consequences of climate-driven stop-over sites changes on migration schedules and fitness of Arctic geese. J Anim Ecol 77:654–660

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bazely DR, Jefferies RL (1997) Trophic interactions in arctic ecosystems and the occurrence of a terrestrial trophic cascade. Ecology of Arctic Environments. Blackwell Science, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2004) Multimodel inference—understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociol Methods Res 33:261–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elvebakk A (1994) A survey of plant associations and alliances from svalbard. J Veg Sci 5:791–802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elvebakk A (2005) A vegetation map of Svalbard on the scale 1: 3.5 mill. Phytocoenologia 35:951–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Førland EJ, Benestad R, Hanssen-Bauer I, Haugen JE, Skaugen TE (2012) Temperature and precipitation development at Svalbard 1900–2100. Adv Meteorol 2012:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox AD, Bergersen L (2005) Lack of competition between barnacle geese Branta leucopsis and pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus during the pre-breeding period in Svalbard. J Avian Biol 36:173–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox AD, Madsen J, Boyd H, Kuijken E, Norriss DW, Tombre IM, Stroud DA (2005) Effects of agricultural change on abundance, fitness components and distribution of two arctic-nesting goose populations. Glob Change Biol 11:881–893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox TA, Francis IS, Bergersen E (2006) Diet and habitat use of Svalbard Pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus during arrival and pre-breeding periods in Adventdalen. Ardea 94:691–699

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox AD, Ebbinge BS, Mitchell C, Heinicke T, Aarvak T, Colhoun K, Clausen P, Dereliev S, Faragó S, Koffijberg K, Kruckenberg H, Loonen MJJE, Madsen J, Mooij J, Musil P, Nilsson L, Phil S, van der Jeugd H (2010) Current estimates of goose population sizes in western Europe, a gap analysis and an assessment of trends. Ornis Svecica 20:115–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Fretwell SD, Lucas HL (1970) On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds. Acta Biotheor 19:16–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handa IT, Harmsen R, Jefferies RL (2002) Patterns of vegetation change and the recovery potential of degraded areas in a coastal marsh system of the Hudson Bay lowlands. J Ecol 90:86–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jefferies RL, Rockwell RF (2002) Foraging geese, vegetation loss and soil degradation in an Arctic salt marsh. Appl Veg Sci 5:7–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jefferies RL, Rockwell RF, Abraham KF (2003) The embarrassment of riches: agricultural food subsidies, high goose numbers, and loss of Arctic wetlands—a continuing saga. Environ Rev 11:193–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen RA, Madsen J, O’Connell M, Wisz MS, Tommervik H, Mehlum F (2008) Prediction of the distribution of Arctic-nesting pink-footed geese under a warmer climate scenario. Glob Change Biol 14:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansen BE, Karlsen SR, Tommervik H (2012) Vegetation mapping of Svalbard utilising Landsat TM/ETM plus data. Polar Rec 48:47–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kery M, Madsen J, Lebreton JD (2006) Survival of Svalbard pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus in relation to winter climate, density and land-use. J Anim Ecol 75:1172–1181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs KM (ed) (2006) Birds and mammals of Svalbard. Polar Handbooks 13. Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen J, Williams JH (2012) International species management plan for the Svalbard population of the Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus. AEWA Technical report Series No. 48, The Aarhus University, Roskilde

  • Madsen J, Cracknell G, Fox AD (eds) (1999) Goose populations of the Western palearctic. A review of status and distribution, vol 48. Wetlands International Publication. Wetlands International, Wageningen and the National Environmental Research Institute, Rønde

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen J, Tamstorf M, Klaassen M, Eide N, Glahder C, Riget F, Nyegaard H, Cottaar F (2007) Effects of snow cover on the timing and success of reproduction in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus. Polar Biol 30:1363–1372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milakovic B, Jefferies RL (2003) The effects of goose herbivory and loss of vegetation on ground beetle and spider assemblages in an Arctic supratidal marsh. Ecoscience 10:57–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Mobæk R, Mysterud A, Loe LE, Holand O, Austrheim G (2009) Density dependent and temporal variability in habitat selection by a large herbivore; an experimental approach. Oikos 118:209–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa S, Schielzeth H (2012) A general and simple method for obtaining R 2 from generalized linear mixed-effects models. Method Ecol Evol 4:133–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen ÅØ, Tombre I, Jepsen JU, Eidesen PB, Fuglei E, Stien A (2013) Spatial patterns of goose grubbing suggest elevated grubbing in dry habitats linked to early snow melt. Polar Res. doi:10.3402/polar.v32i0.19719

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockwell RF, Witte CR, Jefferies RL, Weatherhead PJ (2003) Response of nesting savannah sparrows to 25 years of habitat change in a snow goose colony. Ecoscience 10:33–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Sjögersten S, van der Wal R, Woodin SJ (2008) Habitat type determines herbivory controls over CO2 fluxes in a warmer arctic. Ecology 89:2103–2116

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sjögersten S, van der Wal R, Woodin SJ (2012) Impacts of grazing and climate warming on C pools and decomposition rates in arctic environments. Ecosystems 15:349–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speed JDM, Woodin SJ, Tommervik H, Tamstorf MP, van der Wal R (2009) Predicting habitat utilization and extent of ecosystem disturbance by an increasing herbivore population. Ecosystems 12:349–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speed JDM, Cooper EJ, Jonsdóttir IS, van der Wal R, Woodin SJ (2010a) Plant community properties predict vegetation resilience to herbivore disturbance in the Arctic. J Ecol 98:1002–1013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speed JDM, Woodin SJ, Tommervik H, van der Wal R (2010b) Extrapolating herbivore-induced carbon loss across an arctic landscape. Polar Biol 33:789–797

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2012) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria http://www.R-project.org/ Accessed 24 Oct 2012

  • Tombre IM, Madsen J, Clausen P, Prop J, Hanssen F (2012) GOOSEMAP; Site-specific information for geese occurring on Svalbard. http://goosemap.nina.no/. Accessed 6 Dec 2012

  • Van der Wal R, Sjögersten S, Woodin SJ, Cooper EJ, Jonsdóttir IS, Kuijper DPJ, Fox AD, Huiskes A (2007) Spring feeding by pink-footed geese reduces carbon stocks and sink strength in arctic tundra ecosystems. Glob Change Biol 13:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisz M, Dendoncker N, Madsen J, Rounsevell M, Jespersen M, Kuijken E, Courtens W, Verscheure C, Cottaar F (2008) Modelling pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) wintering distributions for the year 2050: potential effects of land-use change in Europe. Divers Distrib 14:721–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by FRAM—High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment (Fram Centre), the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, the Norwegian Polar Institute, the University Centre in Svalbard and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NER/S/A/2005/13880). We thank Pernille B. Eidesen, Eva Fuglei, Jane Jepsen, Jesper Madsen and Audun Stien for valuable discussions of study design and data sampling and Oddveig Øien Ørvoll and Bernt Bye for graphical assistance. Constructive comments from Jouke Prop, Sofie Sjögersten and an anonymous reviewer substantially improved the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, NO-9296, Tromsö, Norway

    Åshild Ø. Pedersen

  2. Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway

    James D. M. Speed

  3. Arctic Ecology Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, NO-9296, Tromsö, Norway

    Ingunn M. Tombre

Authors
  1. Åshild Ø. Pedersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James D. M. Speed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ingunn M. Tombre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Åshild Ø. Pedersen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pedersen, Å.Ø., Speed, J.D.M. & Tombre, I.M. Prevalence of pink-footed goose grubbing in the arctic tundra increases with population expansion. Polar Biol 36, 1569–1575 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1374-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1374-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation