Plant, Soil, and Greenhouse Gas Response to Goose Grazing in the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta, Alaska, 2022-2023

This dataset includes plant, soil, and greenhouse gas data collected during a manipulative field experiment emulating goose herbivory in tidal wetlands of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) River Delta, Alaska. Tidal wetlands of the YK Delta are important brood rearing habitat for many species of migratory geese. Some species of geese (Branta bernicla nigra and Branta Hutchinsii) feed extensively on a species of sedge (Carex subspathaceae) in wetland meadows. In this experiment, we applied three treatments in a fully factorial design to identify aspects of goose herbivory that impact greenhouse gas fluxes, plant properties, and soil properties in previously ungrazed C. subspathaceae meadows. The three applied treatments were: 1) grazing (i.e. biomass removal), 2) trampling, and 3) feces deposition. Treatment combinations were replicated across six experimental blocks. We also collected data from reference grazed and ungrazed C. subspathaceae meadows.