Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale
1. Large herbivores influence plant community structure and ecosystem processes in many ecosystems. In large parts of the Arctic, reindeer (or caribou) are the only large herbivores present. Recent studies show that reindeer have the potential to mitigate recent warming-induced shrub encroachment in...
Published in: | Journal of Ecology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
2019
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Online Access: | http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 |
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ftjyvaeskylaenun:oai:jyx.jyu.fi:123456789/65957 2024-02-04T09:56:45+01:00 Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale Sundqvist, Maja K. Moen, Jon Björk, Robert G. Vowles, Tage Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit Parsons, Malcolm A. Olofsson, Johan 2019 application/pdf 2724-2736 fulltext http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 eng eng Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Journal of Ecology 0022-0477 6 107 10.1111/1365-2745.13201 Sundqvist, M. K., Moen, J., Björk, R. G., Vowles, T., Kytöviita, M.-M., Parsons, M. A., & Olofsson, J. (2019). Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale. Journal of Ecology , 107 (6), 2724-2736. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13201 CONVID_30617494 TUTKAID_81395 URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 In Copyright © 2019 The Authors. openAccess http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en plant-herbivore interactions large mammalian herbivores grazing climate change soil nutrients forest plant community composition tundra kasvinsyöjät poro ekosysteemit (ekologia) laiduntaminen kasvillisuus arktinen alue ilmastonmuutokset article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1 acceptedVersion A1 2019 ftjyvaeskylaenun 2024-01-11T00:03:45Z 1. Large herbivores influence plant community structure and ecosystem processes in many ecosystems. In large parts of the Arctic, reindeer (or caribou) are the only large herbivores present. Recent studies show that reindeer have the potential to mitigate recent warming-induced shrub encroachment in the Arctic and the associated greening of high-latitude ecosystems. This will potentially have large scale consequences for ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling. 2. To date, information on variation in the interactions between reindeer and plants across Arctic landscapes has been scarce. We utilized a network of experimental sites across a latitudinal gradient in the Scandinavian mountains where reindeer have been excluded from 59 study plots for at least 15 years. We used this study system to test the effect of long-term exclusion of reindeer on the abundance of major plant functional groups, the greenness indexes Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), soil mineral nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), and species richness, and to determine whether the effect of reindeer exclusion is dependent on reindeer density, productivity, soil fertility or climate. 3. We found that NDVI and LAI, lichen and deciduous shrub abundances were largely reduced while soil mineral N was enhanced by reindeer. The direction and amplitude of other plant functional group responses to reindeer exclusion differed between forest and tundra as well as shrub- and herbaceous-dominated vegetation. Higher reindeer densities were related to decreased plant species richness in low -productive sites and to increased species richness in productive sites. 4. The relative reduction in LAI and associated absolute reductions of deciduous shrubs in response to reindeer were positively related to reindeer density, while the relative reduction in NDVI was not. Further, relative reductions in LAI and NDVI in response to reindeer were unrelated to climate and soil fertility. 5. Synthesis. Our results provide long-term ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Arktinen alue Climate change Tundra JYX - Jyväskylä University Digital Archive Arctic Journal of Ecology 107 6 2724 2736 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
JYX - Jyväskylä University Digital Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftjyvaeskylaenun |
language |
English |
topic |
plant-herbivore interactions large mammalian herbivores grazing climate change soil nutrients forest plant community composition tundra kasvinsyöjät poro ekosysteemit (ekologia) laiduntaminen kasvillisuus arktinen alue ilmastonmuutokset |
spellingShingle |
plant-herbivore interactions large mammalian herbivores grazing climate change soil nutrients forest plant community composition tundra kasvinsyöjät poro ekosysteemit (ekologia) laiduntaminen kasvillisuus arktinen alue ilmastonmuutokset Sundqvist, Maja K. Moen, Jon Björk, Robert G. Vowles, Tage Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit Parsons, Malcolm A. Olofsson, Johan Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
topic_facet |
plant-herbivore interactions large mammalian herbivores grazing climate change soil nutrients forest plant community composition tundra kasvinsyöjät poro ekosysteemit (ekologia) laiduntaminen kasvillisuus arktinen alue ilmastonmuutokset |
description |
1. Large herbivores influence plant community structure and ecosystem processes in many ecosystems. In large parts of the Arctic, reindeer (or caribou) are the only large herbivores present. Recent studies show that reindeer have the potential to mitigate recent warming-induced shrub encroachment in the Arctic and the associated greening of high-latitude ecosystems. This will potentially have large scale consequences for ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling. 2. To date, information on variation in the interactions between reindeer and plants across Arctic landscapes has been scarce. We utilized a network of experimental sites across a latitudinal gradient in the Scandinavian mountains where reindeer have been excluded from 59 study plots for at least 15 years. We used this study system to test the effect of long-term exclusion of reindeer on the abundance of major plant functional groups, the greenness indexes Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), soil mineral nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), and species richness, and to determine whether the effect of reindeer exclusion is dependent on reindeer density, productivity, soil fertility or climate. 3. We found that NDVI and LAI, lichen and deciduous shrub abundances were largely reduced while soil mineral N was enhanced by reindeer. The direction and amplitude of other plant functional group responses to reindeer exclusion differed between forest and tundra as well as shrub- and herbaceous-dominated vegetation. Higher reindeer densities were related to decreased plant species richness in low -productive sites and to increased species richness in productive sites. 4. The relative reduction in LAI and associated absolute reductions of deciduous shrubs in response to reindeer were positively related to reindeer density, while the relative reduction in NDVI was not. Further, relative reductions in LAI and NDVI in response to reindeer were unrelated to climate and soil fertility. 5. Synthesis. Our results provide long-term ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sundqvist, Maja K. Moen, Jon Björk, Robert G. Vowles, Tage Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit Parsons, Malcolm A. Olofsson, Johan |
author_facet |
Sundqvist, Maja K. Moen, Jon Björk, Robert G. Vowles, Tage Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit Parsons, Malcolm A. Olofsson, Johan |
author_sort |
Sundqvist, Maja K. |
title |
Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
title_short |
Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
title_full |
Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
title_fullStr |
Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
title_full_unstemmed |
Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
title_sort |
experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale |
publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Arktinen alue Climate change Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Arktinen alue Climate change Tundra |
op_relation |
Journal of Ecology 0022-0477 6 107 10.1111/1365-2745.13201 Sundqvist, M. K., Moen, J., Björk, R. G., Vowles, T., Kytöviita, M.-M., Parsons, M. A., & Olofsson, J. (2019). Experimental evidence of the long-term effects of reindeer on Arctic vegetation greenness and species richness at a larger landscape scale. Journal of Ecology , 107 (6), 2724-2736. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13201 CONVID_30617494 TUTKAID_81395 URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201910184514 |
op_rights |
In Copyright © 2019 The Authors. openAccess http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en |
container_title |
Journal of Ecology |
container_volume |
107 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2724 |
op_container_end_page |
2736 |
_version_ |
1789961124238589952 |