TY - JOUR

T1 - Geochemical landscapes as drivers of wildlife reproductive success

T2 - Insights from a high-Arctic ecosystem

AU - van Beest, Floris M.

AU - Schmidt, Niels Martin

AU - Stewart, Lærke

AU - Hansen, Lars H.

AU - Michelsen, Anders

AU - Mosbacher, Jesper B.

AU - Gilbert, Hugo

AU - Le Roux, Gaël

AU - Hansson, Sophia V.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The bioavailability of essential and non-essential elements in vegetation is expected to influence the performance of free-ranging terrestrial herbivores. However, attempts to relate the use of geochemical landscapes by animal populations directly to reproductive output are currently lacking. Here we measured concentrations of 14 essential and non-essential elements in soil and vegetation samples collected in the Zackenberg valley, northeast Greenland, and linked these to environmental conditions to spatially predict and map geochemical landscapes. We then used long-term (1996–2021) survey data of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) to quantify annual variation in the relative use of essential and non-essential elements in vegetated sites and their relationship to calf recruitment the following year. Results showed that the relative use of the geochemical landscape by muskoxen varied substantially between years and differed among elements. Selection for vegetated sites with higher levels of the essential elements N, Cu, Se, and Mo was positively linked to annual calf recruitment. In contrast, selection for vegetated sites with higher concentrations of the non-essential elements As and Pb was negatively correlated to annual calf recruitment. Based on the concentrations measured in our study, we found no apparent associations between annual calf recruitment and levels of C, Mn, Co, Zn, Cd, Ba, Hg, and C:N ratio in the vegetation. We conclude that the spatial distribution and access to essential and non-essential elements are important drivers of reproductive output in muskoxen, which may also apply to other wildlife populations. The value of geochemical landscapes to assess habitat-performance relationships is likely to increase under future environmental change.

AB - The bioavailability of essential and non-essential elements in vegetation is expected to influence the performance of free-ranging terrestrial herbivores. However, attempts to relate the use of geochemical landscapes by animal populations directly to reproductive output are currently lacking. Here we measured concentrations of 14 essential and non-essential elements in soil and vegetation samples collected in the Zackenberg valley, northeast Greenland, and linked these to environmental conditions to spatially predict and map geochemical landscapes. We then used long-term (1996–2021) survey data of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) to quantify annual variation in the relative use of essential and non-essential elements in vegetated sites and their relationship to calf recruitment the following year. Results showed that the relative use of the geochemical landscape by muskoxen varied substantially between years and differed among elements. Selection for vegetated sites with higher levels of the essential elements N, Cu, Se, and Mo was positively linked to annual calf recruitment. In contrast, selection for vegetated sites with higher concentrations of the non-essential elements As and Pb was negatively correlated to annual calf recruitment. Based on the concentrations measured in our study, we found no apparent associations between annual calf recruitment and levels of C, Mn, Co, Zn, Cd, Ba, Hg, and C:N ratio in the vegetation. We conclude that the spatial distribution and access to essential and non-essential elements are important drivers of reproductive output in muskoxen, which may also apply to other wildlife populations. The value of geochemical landscapes to assess habitat-performance relationships is likely to increase under future environmental change.

KW - Arctic

KW - Ecogeochemistry

KW - Herbivores

KW - Plant quality

KW - Zoogeochemistry

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166567

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166567

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37633375

AN - SCOPUS:85168804126

VL - 903

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

M1 - 166567

ER -