Initial biomass and biomass change of tundra and forest plants in three herbivore treatments in Norway and Sweden ...
Recent Pan-Arctic shrub expansion has been interpreted as a response to a warmer climate. However, herbivores can also influence the abundance of shrubs in arctic ecosystems. We addressed these alternative explanations by following the changes in plant community composition during the last 10 years...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PANGAEA
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.817661 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.817661 |
| Summary: | Recent Pan-Arctic shrub expansion has been interpreted as a response to a warmer climate. However, herbivores can also influence the abundance of shrubs in arctic ecosystems. We addressed these alternative explanations by following the changes in plant community composition during the last 10 years in permanent plots inside and outside exclosures with different mesh sizes that exclude either only reindeer or all mammalian herbivores including voles and lemmings. The exclosures were replicated at three forest and tundra sites at four different locations along a climatic gradient (oceanic to continental) in northern Fennoscandia. Since the last 10 years have been exceptionally warm, we could study how warming has influenced the vegetation in different grazing treatments. Our results show that the abundance of the dominant shrub, Betula nana, has increased during the last decade, but that the increase was more pronounced when herbivores were excluded. Reindeer have the largest effect on shrubs in tundra, while ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ... |
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