Snow can limit access to food during winter for resident Arctic herbivores, forcing them to aggregate in the few patches with limited snow. This study used molecular analysis and stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen of fecal samples of Arctic hare, rock ptarmigan and muskox in High Arctic Greenland to assess their diet overlap, and if this overlap increased as winter progressed. The results show that despite foraging in the same areas and generally feeding on the same plant taxa, the quantitative dietary overlap between these three herbivores was limited. This may be attributable to species-specific consumption rates of plant taxa.
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Reference: Schmidt, N.M., Mosbacher, J.B., Vesterinen, E.J., Roslin, T., Michelsen, A. (2018) Limited dietary overlap amongst resident Arctic herbivores in winter: complementary insights from complementary methods. Oecologia 187:689–699.
Picture: Fecal pellet (photo: Lawrence Hislop, Norwegian Polar Institute)