Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate
Abstract Arctic ecosystems are changing dramatically with warmer and wetter conditions resulting in complex interactions between herbivores and their forage. We investigated how Svalbard reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus ) modify their late winter diets in response to long‐term trends and i...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16420 |
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crwiley:10.1111/gcb.16420 2024-06-02T08:01:52+00:00 Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate Hiltunen, Tamara A. Stien, Audun Väisänen, Maria Ropstad, Erik Aspi, Jouni O. Welker, Jeffery M. National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Macaulay Development Trust Norges Forskningsråd 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16420 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Global Change Biology volume 28, issue 23, page 7009-7022 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16420 2024-05-03T12:05:44Z Abstract Arctic ecosystems are changing dramatically with warmer and wetter conditions resulting in complex interactions between herbivores and their forage. We investigated how Svalbard reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus ) modify their late winter diets in response to long‐term trends and interannual variation in forage availability and accessibility. By reconstructing their diets and foraging niches over a 17‐year period (1995–2012) using serum δ 13 C and δ 15 N values, we found strong support for a temporal increase in the proportions of graminoids in the diets with a concurrent decline in the contributions of mosses. This dietary shift corresponds with graminoid abundance increases in the region and was associated with increases in population density, warmer summer temperatures and more frequent rain‐on‐snow (ROS) in winter. In addition, the variance in isotopic niche positions, breadths, and overlaps also supported a temporal shift in the foraging niche and a dietary response to extreme ROS events. Our long‐term study highlights the mechanisms by which winter and summer climate changes cascade through vegetation shifts and herbivore population dynamics to alter the foraging niche of Svalbard reindeer. Although it has been anticipated that climate changes in the Svalbard region of the Arctic would be detrimental to this unique ungulate, our study suggests that environmental change is in a phase where conditions are improving for this subspecies at the northernmost edge of the Rangifer distribution. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer Wiley Online Library Arctic Svalbard Global Change Biology 28 23 7009 7022 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Arctic ecosystems are changing dramatically with warmer and wetter conditions resulting in complex interactions between herbivores and their forage. We investigated how Svalbard reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus ) modify their late winter diets in response to long‐term trends and interannual variation in forage availability and accessibility. By reconstructing their diets and foraging niches over a 17‐year period (1995–2012) using serum δ 13 C and δ 15 N values, we found strong support for a temporal increase in the proportions of graminoids in the diets with a concurrent decline in the contributions of mosses. This dietary shift corresponds with graminoid abundance increases in the region and was associated with increases in population density, warmer summer temperatures and more frequent rain‐on‐snow (ROS) in winter. In addition, the variance in isotopic niche positions, breadths, and overlaps also supported a temporal shift in the foraging niche and a dietary response to extreme ROS events. Our long‐term study highlights the mechanisms by which winter and summer climate changes cascade through vegetation shifts and herbivore population dynamics to alter the foraging niche of Svalbard reindeer. Although it has been anticipated that climate changes in the Svalbard region of the Arctic would be detrimental to this unique ungulate, our study suggests that environmental change is in a phase where conditions are improving for this subspecies at the northernmost edge of the Rangifer distribution. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Macaulay Development Trust Norges Forskningsråd |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hiltunen, Tamara A. Stien, Audun Väisänen, Maria Ropstad, Erik Aspi, Jouni O. Welker, Jeffery M. |
spellingShingle |
Hiltunen, Tamara A. Stien, Audun Väisänen, Maria Ropstad, Erik Aspi, Jouni O. Welker, Jeffery M. Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
author_facet |
Hiltunen, Tamara A. Stien, Audun Väisänen, Maria Ropstad, Erik Aspi, Jouni O. Welker, Jeffery M. |
author_sort |
Hiltunen, Tamara A. |
title |
Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
title_short |
Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
title_full |
Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
title_fullStr |
Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Svalbard reindeer winter diets: Long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
title_sort |
svalbard reindeer winter diets: long‐term dietary shifts to graminoids in response to a changing climate |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16420 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16420 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
genre_facet |
Arctic Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
op_source |
Global Change Biology volume 28, issue 23, page 7009-7022 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16420 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
7009 |
op_container_end_page |
7022 |
_version_ |
1800746354067111936 |