Fates of added nitrogen in freshwater arctic wetlands grazed by snow geese: The role of mosses

• • Authors: P. M. Kotanen

    Date: 2002

    Journal: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

    Volume: 34

    Number: 2

    Pages: 219-225

    Summary of Methods: The effects of nitrogen addition from snow goose feces and how the uptake of that nitrogen by mosses affects nitrogen uptake in grasses and sedges were measured in two types of arctic marshes. Mosses form dense mats on the marsh surface preventing leaching of nitrogen from feces into the sedge root zone. Therefore, nitrogen fertilizer labeled with the stable isotope ¹⁵N was either applied to the moss surface or in the soil below the moss mat. In addition, control plots were established by using water instead of nitrogen additions. This was done once, in June 1997, at a freshwater marsh site on Bylot Island (73° 08' N, 80° 00' W) in Hudson Bay and once, in August 1997, at a saltwater marsh site along La Pérouse Bay (58° 04' N, 94° 03' W). Before the study began, an aluminum cylinder was inserted 15 cm into the soil with five cm remaining above the soil surface to prevent nitrogen not associated with the experiment from leaching into the experimental plots. One or two days and then two to four weeks following fertilization, mosses, sedges, and grasses within the cylinder were harvested and analyzed for ¹⁵N and %N.

    Article Summary / Main Points: At both sites, mosses took up the majority of the labeled fertilizer; however, grasses and sedges at both types of marshes also took up labeled fertilizer. There were no differences in ¹⁵N values between the sampling dates, suggesting that plants were taking up similar amounts of N at both times. Moss capture of N from goose feces reduces the amount made available to graminoid in freshwater marshes.

    Vegetation Types: Riparian and Wetlands

    MLRA Ecoregions: Not Applicable

    Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife

    Article Review Type: Refereed

    Article Type: Experimental Research

    Keywords: chen caerulescens caerulescens, lesser snow goose, nutrient cycling, moss, nitrogen limitation, competition

    Annotation: This study could be applicable to other marshes with extensive moss ground cover that have large waterfowl populations. The two types of marshes were not compared directly as saltwater marshes have much less moss cover than freshwater marshes. The use of labeled nitrogen provided novel evidence of nitrogen uptake in arctic marshes.

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