Jacqueline Hoppenreijs recently joined the NRRV research group. Here she writes about her previous work and what she intends to do as a PhD student at Karlstad University:

Hej! I’m Jacqueline Hoppenreijs and I recently started my PhD in the NRRV group at Karlstad University. During my MSc, which I did at the Department of Environmental Science at Radboud University in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and the Department of Ecology at SLU Uppsala, I worked on different species groups: plants, birds and insects and wrote two theses. The first one, with fellow student Bas van Lith, explored possibilities for bird population restoration on the Indonesian island of Java, using historical sources on bird population development and land use change over the course of a century. During the second one, I studied the importance of different man-made habitat types for pollinators in Sweden, over the course of a season.

 

Bas and I birdwatching in Rancaekek, by Fachmi Azhar Aji

 

Despite studying quite different time frames and taxa, biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and conservation have been recurring themes. Coming from the overpopulated Netherlands, I find myself very interested in the interface of human society and nature, and more specifically nature restoration, conservation efforts and their ethical aspects.

As a junior researcher at the Department of Animal Ecology & Physiology at Radboud University, I dove a bit deeper in the influence that human actions can have on the natural world. I worked in Rob Leuven’s group to identify the potential risks of invasive (alien) species in horticulture, biological control and food forestry.

As from April 2019, I’m working with Lutz Eckstein and Lovisa Lind. We’re focusing on both fundamental and applied aspects of plant ecology and I’m looking forward to unravel the mechanisms that drive plant dispersal and community composition in boreal riparian zones. Next to that, I’m excited to be part of an active education environment and the passionate group of researchers that forms the NRRV, and can’t wait to meet the rest of Karlstad’s community!

 

Vegetation sampling on Omey Island, by Joop Schaminée

För ungefär en månad sedan uppmärksammade vi en forskningsartikel som handlade om hur grågåsen genom sin spillning är viktig för växters spridning på skärgårdsöar i Östersjön (läs inlägget här). Lutz Eckstein, Professor i NRRV, är medförfattare på artikeln.

Nu har forskningen fått stort mediegenomslag, och uppmärksammats av bland annat Sveriges Radio (lyssna på ett inslag där Lutz berättar om studien), Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, Ny Teknik samt en mängd lokaltidningar (Smålandsposten, Kristianstadsbladet, Bohuslänningen, Enköpingsposten, Borås tidning, Uppsala nya tidning, Katrineholms-Kuriren m.fl.).

Dirk Hattermann, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann, Annette Otte  and Lutz Eckstein recently published the paper “Geese are overlooked dispersal vectors for vascular plants in archipelago environments” in Journal of Vegetation Science.

 

In the abstract, the authors write:

 

“Question

We addressed the importance of gut‐mediated dispersal by Greylag Goose for vascular plants in archipelago environments and asked:

(i) What proportion of the local species pool is dispersed by geese?.

(ii) Which plant traits characterize species dispersed by geese?.

(iii) Which plant communities are likely to benefit from endozoochory by geese?.

 

Location

Three Swedish Baltic archipelagos.

 

Methods

Goose droppings were collected on 45 islands. Plants germinating from the droppings represent the endozoochorous species pool (ESP). On 108 islands, the presence of vascular plants was recorded in each habitat. These species represent the island species pool (ISP). Differences in functional traits between ESP and ISP were expressed as effect sizes and tested using meta‐regressions. Using indicator species analyses and indicator species for managed semi‐natural grasslands, we identified the primary habitats of the ESP.

 

Results

Geese dispersed viable diaspores of 97 plant species, which represents 22% of the ISP. Most ESP species were typical for small islands. Geese dispersed a higher proportion of graminoids and less woody plants, higher proportions of chamaephytes and therophytes and less phanerophytes; annuals and bi‐annuals were significantly overrepresented. One average, seed volume of the ESP was 95 % smaller than that of the ISP. About 51% of all ESP species were dispersed in at least two archipelagos. Geese showed a bias towards species of rocky shore habitats.

 

Conclusion

Geese potentially disperse large amounts of diaspores of many terrestrial island plant species. Through their feeding behaviour, geese select species with certain suites of traits from the regional species pool. Plant dispersal by geese may benefit plants species of rocky shores, but species of formerly managed semi‐natural grasslands may also find refuge sites on epilittoral shores after goose‐mediated dispersal. The relative importance of geese as dispersal vectors may increase under ongoing land‐use changes and cessation of grazing networks.”

 

Access the paper here, or contact any of the authors.