Methods

Percentage vegetation cover had been recorded in 2010 for all the goose nests used in this study. One of the main purposes of the 2011 field work was to select controls for each of the goose nests. The ground cover of vegetation was measured using the line-intercept method and the percentage of the line that species occupied was recorded. This was repeated at each control site along two one-metre lines perpendicular to each other.

Leaf material for nutrient analysis was collected from mountain avens plants at both nest and control sites for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus analysis.

Colourimetric analysis (Flow Injection Analyser) was used for total Kjeldahl nitrogen and total phosphorus. A micro elemental analyser was used for recording total nitrogen and percentage carbon. The palatability of the mountains avens leaves was measured using the carbon to nitrogen ratio (from percentages).

Goose nest (centre) in Mountain avens community, Sassendalen, Svalbard © Malcolm Parsons