Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire
Herbivory is an important part of most ecosystems and affects the ecosystems’ carbon balance both directly and indirectly. Little is known about herbivory and its impact on the carbon balance in high arctic mire ecosystems. We hypothesized that trampling and grazing by large herbivores influences th...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c30d25f592dc4b7ca977f6d2237889a9 2023-09-05T13:16:46+02:00 Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire Julie Maria Falk Niels Martin Schmidt Torben R Christensen Lena Ström 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 https://doaj.org/article/c30d25f592dc4b7ca977f6d2237889a9 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/c30d25f592dc4b7ca977f6d2237889a9 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 10, Iss 4, p 045001 (2015) wetlands carbon methane grazing herbivory vascular plants Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 2023-08-13T00:37:54Z Herbivory is an important part of most ecosystems and affects the ecosystems’ carbon balance both directly and indirectly. Little is known about herbivory and its impact on the carbon balance in high arctic mire ecosystems. We hypothesized that trampling and grazing by large herbivores influences the vegetation density and composition and thereby also the carbon balance. In 2010, we established fenced exclosures in high arctic Greenland to prevent muskoxen ( Ovibos moschatus ) from grazing. During the growing seasons of 2011 to 2013 we measured CO _2 and CH _4 fluxes in these ungrazed blocks and compared them to blocks subjected to natural grazing. Additionally, we measured depth of the water table and active layer, soil temperature, and in 2011 and 2013 an inventory of the vegetation density and composition were made. In 2013 a significant decrease in total number of vascular plant (33–44%) and Eriophorum scheuchzeri (51–53%) tillers were found in ungrazed plots, the moss-layer and amount of litter had also increased substantially in these plots. This resulted in a significant decrease in net ecosystem uptake of CO _2 (47%) and likewise a decrease in CH _4 emission (44%) in ungrazed plots in 2013. While the future of the muskoxen in a changing arctic is unknown, this experiment points to a potentially large effect of large herbivores on the carbon balance in natural Arctic ecosystems. It thus sheds light on the importance of grazing mammals, and hence adds to our understanding of natural ecosystem greenhouse gas balance in the past and in the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Eriophorum Eriophorum scheuchzeri Greenland ovibos moschatus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Environmental Research Letters 10 4 045001 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
wetlands carbon methane grazing herbivory vascular plants Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
wetlands carbon methane grazing herbivory vascular plants Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Julie Maria Falk Niels Martin Schmidt Torben R Christensen Lena Ström Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
topic_facet |
wetlands carbon methane grazing herbivory vascular plants Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Herbivory is an important part of most ecosystems and affects the ecosystems’ carbon balance both directly and indirectly. Little is known about herbivory and its impact on the carbon balance in high arctic mire ecosystems. We hypothesized that trampling and grazing by large herbivores influences the vegetation density and composition and thereby also the carbon balance. In 2010, we established fenced exclosures in high arctic Greenland to prevent muskoxen ( Ovibos moschatus ) from grazing. During the growing seasons of 2011 to 2013 we measured CO _2 and CH _4 fluxes in these ungrazed blocks and compared them to blocks subjected to natural grazing. Additionally, we measured depth of the water table and active layer, soil temperature, and in 2011 and 2013 an inventory of the vegetation density and composition were made. In 2013 a significant decrease in total number of vascular plant (33–44%) and Eriophorum scheuchzeri (51–53%) tillers were found in ungrazed plots, the moss-layer and amount of litter had also increased substantially in these plots. This resulted in a significant decrease in net ecosystem uptake of CO _2 (47%) and likewise a decrease in CH _4 emission (44%) in ungrazed plots in 2013. While the future of the muskoxen in a changing arctic is unknown, this experiment points to a potentially large effect of large herbivores on the carbon balance in natural Arctic ecosystems. It thus sheds light on the importance of grazing mammals, and hence adds to our understanding of natural ecosystem greenhouse gas balance in the past and in the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Julie Maria Falk Niels Martin Schmidt Torben R Christensen Lena Ström |
author_facet |
Julie Maria Falk Niels Martin Schmidt Torben R Christensen Lena Ström |
author_sort |
Julie Maria Falk |
title |
Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
title_short |
Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
title_full |
Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
title_fullStr |
Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
title_full_unstemmed |
Large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
title_sort |
large herbivore grazing affects the vegetation structure and greenhouse gas balance in a high arctic mire |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 https://doaj.org/article/c30d25f592dc4b7ca977f6d2237889a9 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Eriophorum Eriophorum scheuchzeri Greenland ovibos moschatus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Eriophorum Eriophorum scheuchzeri Greenland ovibos moschatus |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 10, Iss 4, p 045001 (2015) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/c30d25f592dc4b7ca977f6d2237889a9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/4/045001 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
045001 |
_version_ |
1776198237072392192 |