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 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-132051 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 |
id |
ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-132051 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-132051 2024-02-11T09:54:52+01:00 Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra te Beest, Mariska Sitters, Judith Menard, Cecile B. Olofsson, Johan 2016 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-132051 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap Ecology and Biodiversity, Department Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Environmental Research Letters, 2016, 11:12, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-132051 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 ISI:000391723000001 Scopus 2-s2.0-85008172906 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub tundra Ecology Ekologi Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2016 ftumeauniv https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 2024-01-17T23:36:36Z 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 Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Arctic Jules ENVELOPE(140.917,140.917,-66.742,-66.742) Environmental Research Letters 11 12 125013 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub tundra Ecology Ekologi |
spellingShingle |
albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub tundra Ecology Ekologi te Beest, Mariska Sitters, Judith Menard, Cecile B. Olofsson, Johan Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra |
topic_facet |
albedo climate change herbivory land-atmosphere interactions heat flux shrub tundra Ecology Ekologi |
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 |
te Beest, Mariska Sitters, Judith Menard, Cecile B. Olofsson, Johan |
author_facet |
te Beest, Mariska Sitters, Judith Menard, Cecile B. Olofsson, Johan |
author_sort |
te Beest, Mariska |
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 |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-132051 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 |
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_relation |
Environmental Research Letters, 2016, 11:12, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-132051 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128 ISI:000391723000001 Scopus 2-s2.0-85008172906 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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_ |
1790609115516502016 |