Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions
One challenge in current Arctic ecological research is to understand and predict how wildlife may respond to increased frequencies of “extreme” weather events. Heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) is one such extreme phenomenon associated with winter warming that is not well studied but has potentially profound...
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Taylor & Francis
2012
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2459115 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 |
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ftntnutrondheimi:oai:ntnuopen.ntnu.no:11250/2459115 2023-05-15T14:53:36+02:00 Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions Hansen, Brage Bremset Aanes, Ronny 2012 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2459115 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 eng eng Taylor & Francis Polar Research. 2012, 31 . urn:issn:0800-0395 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2459115 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 cristin:927714 6 31 Polar Research Journal article Peer reviewed 2012 ftntnutrondheimi https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 2019-09-17T06:52:57Z One challenge in current Arctic ecological research is to understand and predict how wildlife may respond to increased frequencies of “extreme” weather events. Heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) is one such extreme phenomenon associated with winter warming that is not well studied but has potentially profound ecosystem effects through changes in snow-pack properties and ice formation. Here, we document how ice-locked pastures following substantial amounts of ROS forced coastal Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) to use marine habitat in late winter 2010. A thick coat of ground ice covered 98% of the lowland ranges, almost completely blocking access to terrestrial forage. Accordingly, a population census revealed that 13% of the total population (n=26 of 206 individuals) and 21% of one sub-population were feeding on washed-up kelp and seaweed on the sea-ice foot. Calves were overrepresented among the individuals that applied this foraging strategy, which probably represents a last attempt to avoid starvation under particularly severe foraging conditions. The study adds to the impression that extreme weather events such as heavy ROS and associated icing can trigger large changes in the realized foraging niche of Arctic herbivores. acceptedVersion This is an acceptedl manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Polar Research on 09 Mar 2012, available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Polar Research Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Sea ice Svalbard svalbard reindeer NTNU Open Archive (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Arctic Svalbard Polar Research 31 1 17258 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
NTNU Open Archive (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftntnutrondheimi |
language |
English |
description |
One challenge in current Arctic ecological research is to understand and predict how wildlife may respond to increased frequencies of “extreme” weather events. Heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) is one such extreme phenomenon associated with winter warming that is not well studied but has potentially profound ecosystem effects through changes in snow-pack properties and ice formation. Here, we document how ice-locked pastures following substantial amounts of ROS forced coastal Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) to use marine habitat in late winter 2010. A thick coat of ground ice covered 98% of the lowland ranges, almost completely blocking access to terrestrial forage. Accordingly, a population census revealed that 13% of the total population (n=26 of 206 individuals) and 21% of one sub-population were feeding on washed-up kelp and seaweed on the sea-ice foot. Calves were overrepresented among the individuals that applied this foraging strategy, which probably represents a last attempt to avoid starvation under particularly severe foraging conditions. The study adds to the impression that extreme weather events such as heavy ROS and associated icing can trigger large changes in the realized foraging niche of Arctic herbivores. acceptedVersion This is an acceptedl manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Polar Research on 09 Mar 2012, available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hansen, Brage Bremset Aanes, Ronny |
spellingShingle |
Hansen, Brage Bremset Aanes, Ronny Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
author_facet |
Hansen, Brage Bremset Aanes, Ronny |
author_sort |
Hansen, Brage Bremset |
title |
Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
title_short |
Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
title_full |
Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
title_fullStr |
Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Kelp and seaweed feeding by High-Arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
title_sort |
kelp and seaweed feeding by high-arctic wild reindeer under extreme winter conditions |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2459115 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Polar Research Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Sea ice Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
genre_facet |
Arctic Polar Research Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Sea ice Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
op_source |
6 31 Polar Research |
op_relation |
Polar Research. 2012, 31 . urn:issn:0800-0395 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2459115 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 cristin:927714 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17258 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
17258 |
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1766325214592892928 |