Lesser snow goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) grazing has been found to increase net annual primary production (NAPP) in arctic salt marshes. Bazely and Jefferies measured the effects of lesser snow goose grazing on Puccinellia phryganodes in a salt marsh on the Hudson Bay, in Manitoba, to determine how grazing affects the growth of this species. Grazing offered some plant advantages, including earlier leaf production following snowmelt, greater production of axillary shoots, and higher shoot survival rates in grazed compared to ungrazed plants. Total plant leaf births did not differ between grazed and ungrazed plants. However, the leaf death rate of grazed plants was higher, 64% of P. phryganodes leaves were partially or completely grazed by lesser snow geese during the grazing season. The authors found that increased NAPP of P. phryganodes, in response to goose grazing, is caused by increased shoot growth and not increased leaf growth.
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