Abstract

The responses to herbivory of shoots of the sedge, Carex Xflavicans, were investigated at La Pérouse Bay on the Hudson Bay coast in northern Manitoba. Demographic techniques were used to compare the production and turnover of leaves between plants of swards on which adults and goslings of the Lesser Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens (L.)) fed and plants of swards from which geese were excluded. Within a growing season, release from grazing resulted in decreased production and turnover, and increased lifespans of leaves. The data indicate that plants of this species have the ability to modify patterns of leaf demography in response to the absence or presence of foraging by geese.


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