Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities
Abstract Herbivores shape vegetation by suppressing certain plant species while benefitting others. By thus modifying plant species functional composition, herbivores affect carbon cycling, albedo, vegetation structure and species' interactions. These effects have been suggested to be able to c...
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crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.3887 2024-06-02T08:15:28+00:00 Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities Vuorinen, Katariina E. M. Austrheim, Gunnar Mysterud, Atle Gya, Ragnhild Vandvik, Vigdis Grytnes, John‐Arvid Speed, James D. M. Norges Forskningsråd Universitetet i Bergen 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3887 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3887 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3887 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3887 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Ecosphere volume 12, issue 12 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3887 2024-05-03T11:30:20Z Abstract Herbivores shape vegetation by suppressing certain plant species while benefitting others. By thus modifying plant species functional composition, herbivores affect carbon cycling, albedo, vegetation structure and species' interactions. These effects have been suggested to be able to counteract the effects of increasing temperatures on vegetation in alpine environments. Managing the dominant large ungulates in these ecosystems could thus provide a tool to mitigate climate change effects. However, it is possible that legacy effects of past grazing will dampen ungulate impacts on vegetation. We shed a light on this topic by investigating the short‐ and long‐term effects of varying sheep densities on the plant trait composition in the Norwegian alpine tundra with centuries‐long of intensive grazing history. In the first part of our study, we quantified the effects of sheep on the plant community functional trait composition at different elevations and under moderate and low productivity in. We combined data from two long‐term (14 and 19 yr) sheep fence experiments and showed that differences in sheep densities did not affect plant trait composition, irrespective of productivity. However, in the second part of our study, we showed that the plant trait composition in mainland (that has been grazed for centuries) differed from vegetation on islands which have been herbivore‐free. Taken together, these results suggest that sheep have an effect on the alpine plant communities on historical time scales covering centuries, but that the resulting sheep grazing resistant/tolerant communities may not respond to shorter‐term (14 and 19 yr) changes in sheep densities, that is, at temporal scales relevant for ecosystem management. Furthermore, we showed that the plant trait composition at the site with low productivity had gone through a temporal trait change independent of sheep treatment, potentially due to increased temperatures and precipitation, suggesting that sheep may not be able to counteract climatic impacts ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 12 12 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Herbivores shape vegetation by suppressing certain plant species while benefitting others. By thus modifying plant species functional composition, herbivores affect carbon cycling, albedo, vegetation structure and species' interactions. These effects have been suggested to be able to counteract the effects of increasing temperatures on vegetation in alpine environments. Managing the dominant large ungulates in these ecosystems could thus provide a tool to mitigate climate change effects. However, it is possible that legacy effects of past grazing will dampen ungulate impacts on vegetation. We shed a light on this topic by investigating the short‐ and long‐term effects of varying sheep densities on the plant trait composition in the Norwegian alpine tundra with centuries‐long of intensive grazing history. In the first part of our study, we quantified the effects of sheep on the plant community functional trait composition at different elevations and under moderate and low productivity in. We combined data from two long‐term (14 and 19 yr) sheep fence experiments and showed that differences in sheep densities did not affect plant trait composition, irrespective of productivity. However, in the second part of our study, we showed that the plant trait composition in mainland (that has been grazed for centuries) differed from vegetation on islands which have been herbivore‐free. Taken together, these results suggest that sheep have an effect on the alpine plant communities on historical time scales covering centuries, but that the resulting sheep grazing resistant/tolerant communities may not respond to shorter‐term (14 and 19 yr) changes in sheep densities, that is, at temporal scales relevant for ecosystem management. Furthermore, we showed that the plant trait composition at the site with low productivity had gone through a temporal trait change independent of sheep treatment, potentially due to increased temperatures and precipitation, suggesting that sheep may not be able to counteract climatic impacts ... |
author2 |
Norges Forskningsråd Universitetet i Bergen |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vuorinen, Katariina E. M. Austrheim, Gunnar Mysterud, Atle Gya, Ragnhild Vandvik, Vigdis Grytnes, John‐Arvid Speed, James D. M. |
spellingShingle |
Vuorinen, Katariina E. M. Austrheim, Gunnar Mysterud, Atle Gya, Ragnhild Vandvik, Vigdis Grytnes, John‐Arvid Speed, James D. M. Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
author_facet |
Vuorinen, Katariina E. M. Austrheim, Gunnar Mysterud, Atle Gya, Ragnhild Vandvik, Vigdis Grytnes, John‐Arvid Speed, James D. M. |
author_sort |
Vuorinen, Katariina E. M. |
title |
Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
title_short |
Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
title_full |
Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
title_fullStr |
Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
title_sort |
functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3887 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3887 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3887 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3887 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 12, issue 12 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3887 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
12 |
_version_ |
1800739650982117376 |