Migratory waterfowl species seem to track temporal and spatial pulses of optimal forage availability on their way from temperate wintering to arctic breeding sites. In order to unravel the relative contribution of forage quality and forage biomass to foraging choices in avian herbivores, we experimentally manipulated biomass and quality of main forage plants through fertilisation and grazing exclusion at three sites along the flyway of barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis. Fertilisation increased the nitrogen content of the forage and grazing exclusion increased biomass levels. Manipulated plots were offered to wild geese in a random block experimental design and goose visitation was measured through dropping counts. At all sites there was a trend towards a higher preference of plots with increased quality and average biomass above plots with an average quality and increased biomass. Generally, geese preferred plots with highest standing crop of nitrogen. The numerical response of the geese to forage changes was supported by behavioural observations at the Baltic site. We conclude that for migrating barnacle geese the bottlenecks in the standing crop of nitrogen appear to tie in the limited biomass availability at the Baltic stopover site and the limited nutrient content of food in the Arctic breeding site, restricting the potential nutrient intake on these sites. (C) 2006 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
", "keywords": ["barnacle goose", "0106 biological sciences", "SNOW GEESE", "BRENT GEESE", "KOLOKOLKOVA BAY", "Branta leucopsis", "B-BERNICLA", "15. Life on land", "BARNACLE GEESE", "GOOSE POPULATION", "grazing experiment", "01 natural sciences", "ptant-herbivore interactions", "salt marsh", "FOOD QUALITY", "flyway", "forage quality", "FORAGING BEHAVIOR", "plant biomass", "GEESE BRANTA-LEUCOPSIS", "BODY-SIZE"], "contacts": [{"organization": "R.H. Drent, Julia Stahl, A. J. van der Graaf, G. F. (Ciska) Veen, R.M. Havinga,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2006.07.001"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Basic%20and%20Applied%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.baae.2006.07.001", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.baae.2006.07.001", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.baae.2006.07.001"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1055/s-2001-17730", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-27T16:18:39Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2002-07-26", "title": "The Impact Of Sheep Grazing On Net Nitrogen Mineralization Rate In Two Temperate Salt Marshes", "description": "Abstract: Nitrogen mineralization rate was studied in grazing trials with three different stocking rates (0, 3, 10 sheep ha\uffe2\uff80\uff901) in two man\uffe2\uff80\uff90made salt marshes, viz. a Puccinellia maritima\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated low salt marsh and a high salt marsh dominated by Festuca rubra. Mineralization rates were derived from the amounts of mineral N which accumulated in situ during six\uffe2\uff80\uff90week incubation periods in tubes containing undisturbed soil cores from the upper 10 cm soil layer. The annual rates of net N mineralization were significantly higher in the better drained, high salt marsh (71 \uffe2\uff80\uff90 81 kg ha\uffe2\uff80\uff901 yr\uffe2\uff80\uff901) than in the low salt marsh (39 \uffe2\uff80\uff90 49 kg ha\uffe2\uff80\uff901 yr\uffe2\uff80\uff901). High amounts of belowground litter accumulated in the low salt marsh due to frequent water logging. Both N mineralization and nitrification rate were negatively correlated with soil water content. In the Puccinellia maritima salt marsh, grazing had neither an effect on N mineralization rates during any of the incubation periods nor on annual mineralization rates. In the Festuca rubra salt marsh, N mineralization rates increased earlier during spring at the intensively grazed site than at the moderately grazed and the ungrazed site. N mineralization and nitrification rates were significantly higher at the ungrazed site than at the intensively grazed site during the period of peak net N mineralization from the end of April until mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90June. Although sheep grazing affected the seasonal pattern of N mineralization in the high marsh, grazing did not affect the annual rate of net N mineralization.
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