Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra
Previous studies have shown that climate warming is causing shrub cover to increase at high latitudes. Increased shrub cover generally lowers surface albedo, which results in higher energy absorption and further warming. In parts of Fennoscandia, herbivory is known to control vegetation height and a...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 https://doaj.org/article/6c3b1a9c015841c4b2d7857153bd267e |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6c3b1a9c015841c4b2d7857153bd267e 2023-09-05T13:11:22+02:00 Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra Mariska te Beest Judith Sitters Cécile B Ménard Johan Olofsson 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 https://doaj.org/article/6c3b1a9c015841c4b2d7857153bd267e EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/6c3b1a9c015841c4b2d7857153bd267e Environmental Research Letters, Vol 11, Iss 12, p 125013 (2016) albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 2023-08-13T00:37:40Z Previous studies have shown that climate warming is causing shrub cover to increase at high latitudes. Increased shrub cover generally lowers surface albedo, which results in higher energy absorption and further warming. In parts of Fennoscandia, herbivory is known to control vegetation height and abundance, and thus preventing this positive feedback. Here, we combine field measurements of albedo, herbivory and vegetation characteristics in four topographically-defined vegetation types of varying shrub height and abundance with land surface modeling (JULES) to investigate if reindeer grazing can influence the energy balance of an arctic tundra. We find that when reindeer reduces shrub height and abundance, summer albedo increases in both Betula nana -dominated heath vegetation and Salix glauca -dominated willow depressions. Model results reveal associated lower net radiation, and latent and sensible heat fluxes in heavily-grazed sites in all shrub-dominated vegetation types. Our results also suggest that the structural shift from graminoid to shrub tundra drives the difference in summer albedo, rather than shifts from dwarf-shrub to tall-shrub tundra. Reindeer has thus a potential cooling effect on climate by increasing summer albedo and decreasing net radiation, which highlights the importance of mammalian herbivores for the earth system beyond their local grazing impacts. However, the strong effects of reindeer on albedo are probably restricted to areas with high reindeer densities, since a dramatic vegetation change is essential. The importance of these processes across the whole range of reindeer densities found in the arctic tundra needs to be further evaluated. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Betula nana Climate change Fennoscandia Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Jules ENVELOPE(140.917,140.917,-66.742,-66.742) Environmental Research Letters 11 12 125013 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Mariska te Beest Judith Sitters Cécile B Ménard Johan Olofsson Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
topic_facet |
albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Previous studies have shown that climate warming is causing shrub cover to increase at high latitudes. Increased shrub cover generally lowers surface albedo, which results in higher energy absorption and further warming. In parts of Fennoscandia, herbivory is known to control vegetation height and abundance, and thus preventing this positive feedback. Here, we combine field measurements of albedo, herbivory and vegetation characteristics in four topographically-defined vegetation types of varying shrub height and abundance with land surface modeling (JULES) to investigate if reindeer grazing can influence the energy balance of an arctic tundra. We find that when reindeer reduces shrub height and abundance, summer albedo increases in both Betula nana -dominated heath vegetation and Salix glauca -dominated willow depressions. Model results reveal associated lower net radiation, and latent and sensible heat fluxes in heavily-grazed sites in all shrub-dominated vegetation types. Our results also suggest that the structural shift from graminoid to shrub tundra drives the difference in summer albedo, rather than shifts from dwarf-shrub to tall-shrub tundra. Reindeer has thus a potential cooling effect on climate by increasing summer albedo and decreasing net radiation, which highlights the importance of mammalian herbivores for the earth system beyond their local grazing impacts. However, the strong effects of reindeer on albedo are probably restricted to areas with high reindeer densities, since a dramatic vegetation change is essential. The importance of these processes across the whole range of reindeer densities found in the arctic tundra needs to be further evaluated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mariska te Beest Judith Sitters Cécile B Ménard Johan Olofsson |
author_facet |
Mariska te Beest Judith Sitters Cécile B Ménard Johan Olofsson |
author_sort |
Mariska te Beest |
title |
Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
title_short |
Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
title_full |
Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
title_fullStr |
Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
title_sort |
reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in arctic tundra |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 https://doaj.org/article/6c3b1a9c015841c4b2d7857153bd267e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.917,140.917,-66.742,-66.742) |
geographic |
Arctic Jules |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Jules |
genre |
albedo Arctic Betula nana Climate change Fennoscandia Tundra |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Betula nana Climate change Fennoscandia Tundra |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 11, Iss 12, p 125013 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/6c3b1a9c015841c4b2d7857153bd267e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
125013 |
_version_ |
1776204701658775552 |