Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd
The Bathurst caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus (Borowski, 1780)) herd declined from ∼349 000 animals in 1996 to ∼8200 in 2018. Climate-driven changes to tundra and boreal vegetation is one hypothesis for the decline. We modelled and mapped annual productivity and phenology across the herd’s r...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2021-0003 2023-12-17T10:22:56+01:00 Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd Dearborn, Katherine D. Danby, Ryan K. Loseto, Lisa 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0003 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0003 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0003 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Arctic Science volume 8, issue 1, page 228-251 ISSN 2368-7460 2368-7460 General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science journal-article 2022 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0003 2023-11-19T13:39:11Z The Bathurst caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus (Borowski, 1780)) herd declined from ∼349 000 animals in 1996 to ∼8200 in 2018. Climate-driven changes to tundra and boreal vegetation is one hypothesis for the decline. We modelled and mapped annual productivity and phenology across the herd’s range using enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data derived from a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time series spanning 2000–2017. Maximum annual EVI, growing season length, and time-integrated EVI increased significantly on 16%, 18%, and 49% of the core annual range, respectively. Trends toward longer growing seasons were driven entirely by earlier spring green-up and, along with time-integrated EVI, were most prevalent in tundra regions. Trends in forested regions were overwhelmingly related to the influence of forest fires, which burned more than half of the range below the forest–tundra ecotone since 1965. These trends suggest that climate-driven changes in production and phenology have occurred in the tundra and forest–tundra portions of the range and could have contributed to the recent herd decline. However, the trends may also be a result of herd decline itself, given the loss of this large herbivore from the landscape. Elucidating cause and effect will require comprehensive analysis of interactions between climatic variables, herd dynamics, and vegetation change, complemented by targeted field investigations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Rangifer tarandus Tundra Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science Dearborn, Katherine D. Danby, Ryan K. Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science |
description |
The Bathurst caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus (Borowski, 1780)) herd declined from ∼349 000 animals in 1996 to ∼8200 in 2018. Climate-driven changes to tundra and boreal vegetation is one hypothesis for the decline. We modelled and mapped annual productivity and phenology across the herd’s range using enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data derived from a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time series spanning 2000–2017. Maximum annual EVI, growing season length, and time-integrated EVI increased significantly on 16%, 18%, and 49% of the core annual range, respectively. Trends toward longer growing seasons were driven entirely by earlier spring green-up and, along with time-integrated EVI, were most prevalent in tundra regions. Trends in forested regions were overwhelmingly related to the influence of forest fires, which burned more than half of the range below the forest–tundra ecotone since 1965. These trends suggest that climate-driven changes in production and phenology have occurred in the tundra and forest–tundra portions of the range and could have contributed to the recent herd decline. However, the trends may also be a result of herd decline itself, given the loss of this large herbivore from the landscape. Elucidating cause and effect will require comprehensive analysis of interactions between climatic variables, herd dynamics, and vegetation change, complemented by targeted field investigations. |
author2 |
Loseto, Lisa |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dearborn, Katherine D. Danby, Ryan K. |
author_facet |
Dearborn, Katherine D. Danby, Ryan K. |
author_sort |
Dearborn, Katherine D. |
title |
Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
title_short |
Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
title_full |
Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
title_fullStr |
Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
title_full_unstemmed |
Remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the Bathurst caribou ( Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
title_sort |
remotely sensed trends in vegetation productivity and phenology during population decline of the bathurst caribou ( rangifer tarandus groenlandicus ) herd |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0003 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0003 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0003 |
genre |
Arctic Rangifer tarandus Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Rangifer tarandus Tundra |
op_source |
Arctic Science volume 8, issue 1, page 228-251 ISSN 2368-7460 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0003 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1785554614888693760 |