Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment
Investigators have speculated that the climate-driven “greening of the Arctic” may benefit barren-ground caribou populations, but paradoxically many populations have declined in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns about the influence of summer habitat conditions on caribou demographic rat...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:97adef8cafbe482fb69585a92ebc704a 2023-05-15T14:50:14+02:00 Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment Heather E. Johnson Elizabeth A. Lenart David D. Gustine Layne G. Adams Perry S. Barboza 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 https://doaj.org/article/97adef8cafbe482fb69585a92ebc704a EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.899585/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 https://doaj.org/article/97adef8cafbe482fb69585a92ebc704a Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10 (2022) biomass barren-ground caribou digestible nitrogen mosquito harassment Rangifer tarandus reproduction Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 2022-12-30T21:57:57Z Investigators have speculated that the climate-driven “greening of the Arctic” may benefit barren-ground caribou populations, but paradoxically many populations have declined in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns about the influence of summer habitat conditions on caribou demographic rates, and how populations may be impacted in the future. The short Arctic summer provides caribou with important forage resources but is also the time they are exposed to intense harassment by insects, factors which are both being altered by longer, warmer growing seasons. To better understand the effects of summer forage and insect activity on Arctic caribou demographic rates, we investigated the influence of estimated forage biomass, digestible energy (DE), digestible nitrogen (DN), and mosquito activity on the reproductive success and survival of adult females in the Central Arctic Herd on the North Slope of Alaska. We tested the hypotheses that greater early summer DN would increase subsequent reproduction (parturition and late June calving success) while greater biomass and DE would increase adult survival (September–May), and that elevated mosquito activity would reduce both demographic rates. Because the period when abundant forage DN is limited and overlaps with the period of mosquito harassment, we also expected years with low DN and high harassment to synergistically reduce caribou reproductive success. Examining these relationships at the individual-level, using GPS-collared females, and at the population-level, using long-term monitoring data, we generally found support for our expectations. Greater early summer DN was associated with increased subsequent calving success, while greater summer biomass was associated with increased adult survival. Mosquito activity was associated with reductions in adult female parturition, late June calving success, and survival, and in years with low DN, had compounding effects on subsequent late June calving success. Our findings indicate that summer nutrition and mosquito ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic north slope Rangifer tarandus Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
biomass barren-ground caribou digestible nitrogen mosquito harassment Rangifer tarandus reproduction Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
biomass barren-ground caribou digestible nitrogen mosquito harassment Rangifer tarandus reproduction Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Heather E. Johnson Elizabeth A. Lenart David D. Gustine Layne G. Adams Perry S. Barboza Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
topic_facet |
biomass barren-ground caribou digestible nitrogen mosquito harassment Rangifer tarandus reproduction Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Investigators have speculated that the climate-driven “greening of the Arctic” may benefit barren-ground caribou populations, but paradoxically many populations have declined in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns about the influence of summer habitat conditions on caribou demographic rates, and how populations may be impacted in the future. The short Arctic summer provides caribou with important forage resources but is also the time they are exposed to intense harassment by insects, factors which are both being altered by longer, warmer growing seasons. To better understand the effects of summer forage and insect activity on Arctic caribou demographic rates, we investigated the influence of estimated forage biomass, digestible energy (DE), digestible nitrogen (DN), and mosquito activity on the reproductive success and survival of adult females in the Central Arctic Herd on the North Slope of Alaska. We tested the hypotheses that greater early summer DN would increase subsequent reproduction (parturition and late June calving success) while greater biomass and DE would increase adult survival (September–May), and that elevated mosquito activity would reduce both demographic rates. Because the period when abundant forage DN is limited and overlaps with the period of mosquito harassment, we also expected years with low DN and high harassment to synergistically reduce caribou reproductive success. Examining these relationships at the individual-level, using GPS-collared females, and at the population-level, using long-term monitoring data, we generally found support for our expectations. Greater early summer DN was associated with increased subsequent calving success, while greater summer biomass was associated with increased adult survival. Mosquito activity was associated with reductions in adult female parturition, late June calving success, and survival, and in years with low DN, had compounding effects on subsequent late June calving success. Our findings indicate that summer nutrition and mosquito ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heather E. Johnson Elizabeth A. Lenart David D. Gustine Layne G. Adams Perry S. Barboza |
author_facet |
Heather E. Johnson Elizabeth A. Lenart David D. Gustine Layne G. Adams Perry S. Barboza |
author_sort |
Heather E. Johnson |
title |
Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
title_short |
Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
title_full |
Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
title_fullStr |
Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
title_sort |
survival and reproduction in arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 https://doaj.org/article/97adef8cafbe482fb69585a92ebc704a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic north slope Rangifer tarandus Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic north slope Rangifer tarandus Alaska |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.899585/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 https://doaj.org/article/97adef8cafbe482fb69585a92ebc704a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
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1766321275708375040 |