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Experimental evidence that ptarmigan regulate willow bud production to their own advantage

  • Plant-microbe-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

In some ecosystems, vertebrate herbivores increase the nutritional quality and biomass of their food source through repeated grazing, thereby manipulating their environment to support higher densities of animals. We tested whether ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus and L. muta) are capable of regulating the nutritional quality, abundance, and availability of feltleaf willow (Salix alaxensis) buds using a simulated browsing experiment and a feeding preference study with wild birds. Simulated ptarmigan browsing resulted in smaller buds, but greater numbers of buds per shoot. Furthermore, browsing altered the morphology of willow branches such that buds were at higher densities and closer to snow level compared to unbrowsed controls. Browsing increased the number of willows with accessible buds (buds within 50 cm of snow level) from 55 to 89 %, and increased total accessible bud biomass from 113 ± 30 to 129 ± 50 mg/ramet. Browsing did not affect bud nitrogen or carbon concentration and slightly reduced protein precipitation capacity (tannins) in buds the following winter, indicating that ptarmigan browsing does not induce a defensive response in this species. When branches of broomed (previously browsed) and unbroomed willows were placed in the snow at equal heights, ptarmigan showed no preference for either type; however, they obtained more buds from broomed willows. Increased accessibility and density of willow buds caused by browsing has the potential to increase habitat carrying capacity, thereby supporting higher densities of ptarmigan.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Stephen Sparrow and Darlene Massiak at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) School of Natural Resources for maintaining willow exclosures and facilitating the browsing simulation experiment. We thank the Calvin J. Lensink Foundation, the Arctic Institute of North America, and the UAF Graduate School for funding. Lola Oliver, Bruce Davitt, and Betty Blatner analyzed samples, and Knut Kielland and Perry Barboza provided valuable advice and help with sample preparation. Sophie Gilbert helped with the willow measurements. We would also like to thank Mark Lindberg, Joel Schmutz, Christa Mulder, and anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript.

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  1. The Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 902 N. Koyukuk Dr., Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Katie S. Christie & R. W. Ruess

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  1. Katie S. Christie
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Correspondence to Katie S. Christie.

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Communicated by Colin Mark Orians.

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Christie, K.S., Ruess, R.W. Experimental evidence that ptarmigan regulate willow bud production to their own advantage. Oecologia 178, 773–781 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3265-y

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