Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains
We studied the effects of reindeer grazing on species richness and diversity of vascular plants on dolomite influenced low alpine sites in the species rich northern part of the Scandes using 8 sites with different reindeer densities. Two sites were situated inside Malla Strict Nature Reserve, where...
Published in: | Rangifer |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2005
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.1.332 |
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/332 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
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ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
arctic alpine diversity disturbance ecology grazing Rangifer tarandus vascular plants |
spellingShingle |
arctic alpine diversity disturbance ecology grazing Rangifer tarandus vascular plants Olofsson, Johan Oksanen, Lauri Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains |
topic_facet |
arctic alpine diversity disturbance ecology grazing Rangifer tarandus vascular plants |
description |
We studied the effects of reindeer grazing on species richness and diversity of vascular plants on dolomite influenced low alpine sites in the species rich northern part of the Scandes using 8 sites with different reindeer densities. Two sites were situated inside Malla Strict Nature Reserve, where reindeer grazing have been totally prohibited since 1981, and strongly restricted since 1950s. The six other sites were located in other species rich hotspot sites standardized to be as similar to the dolomite-influenced sites in Malla Strict Reserve as possible but varying in reindeer densities commonly found in the Fennoscandian mountain chain. Each site with a habitat complex especially rich in rare vascular plants (the Dryas heath – low herb meadow complex) was systematically sampled in four plots of 2 m x 10 m. The plots were divided to 20 squares of 1 m x 1 m, and complete species lists of vascular plants were compiled for each of the squares. The first DCA (detrended correspondence analysis) axis was strongly related to an index of reindeer grazing, indicating that grazing has a strong impact on the composition of the vegetation. None of the characteristics indices of biodiversity (species richness, evenness or Shannon-Wiener H’) was correlated with reindeer density. The local abundances of categories consisting of relatively rare plants (Ca favored plants and red listed plants of Finland) showed significant, positive correlation with the intensity of reindeer grazing. We conclude that even though the density of reindeer has no influence on the total species richness or diversity of vascular plants, reindeer may still be important for regional biodiversity as it seems to favour rare and threatened plants. Moreover, our results imply that standard diversity indices may have limited value in the context of conservation biology, as these indices are equally influenced by rarities and by trivial species.Abstract in Swedish / Sammandrag: Vi studerade hur renbete påverkar kärlväxtflorans artrikedom och diversitet på dolomitpåverkade lågalpina lokaler i de artrikaste delarna av norra Fennoskandien. Vi inventerade 8 lokaler med olika rentätheter. Två lokaler ligger inom Malla Nationalpark, där renar har varit förbjudna sedan 1981 och starkt begränsade sedan 1950-talet. De sex andra lokalerna ligger i andra artrika områden med samma dolomitdominerade berggrund, men är betade av renar. Rentätheterna vid de studerade lokalerna varierar från helt obefintligt till bland de högsta rentätheter man kan finna i Fennoskandien. Inventeringen utfördes genom att systematiskt undersöka fyra 2 m x 10 m stora ytor i varje lokal i en habitattyp som är speciellt rik i ovanliga kärlväxter (fjällsippehed-lågörtsäng komplex). Varje yta delades upp i 20 småytor (1 m x 1 m), och en total artlista upprättades för var och en av dessa småytor. Den första axeln i DCA (detrended correspondence analyses) analysen korrelerade med rentätheten. Det visar att renar påverkar sammansättningen av växtsamhället. Ingen av de vanliga måtten på biodiversitet (artrikedom eller Shannon-Wiener diversitetsindex) var korrelerade med rentätheten. Trots detta, var tätheterna av Ca-gynnade växter och arter rödlistade i Finland positivt korrelerade med rentätheten. Trots att renarna inte påverkade totala artrikedommen, kan de vara betydelsefulla för regionala biodiversiteten eftersom de gynnar ovanliga och hotade arter. De vanliga måtten på biodiversitet har begränsat värde för bevarandebiologiska frågeställningar, eftersom de är lika känsliga för ovanliga och vanliga arter. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Olofsson, Johan Oksanen, Lauri |
author_facet |
Olofsson, Johan Oksanen, Lauri |
author_sort |
Olofsson, Johan |
title |
Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains |
title_short |
Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains |
title_full |
Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains |
title_fullStr |
Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains |
title_sort |
effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on north scandinavian mountains |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.1.332 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(20.233,20.233,68.826,68.826) |
geographic |
Arctic Malla |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Malla |
genre |
Arctic Fennoscandian Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fennoscandian Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer; Årg 25 Nr 1 (2005); 5-18 Rangifer; Vol 25 No 1 (2005); 5-18 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332/325 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332 doi:10.7557/2.25.1.332 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Johan Olofsson, Lauri Oksanen http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.1.332 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
5 |
_version_ |
1766350115055861760 |
spelling |
ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/332 2023-05-15T15:19:54+02:00 Effects of reindeer density on vascular plant diversity on North Scandinavian mountains Olofsson, Johan Oksanen, Lauri 2005-04-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.1.332 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332/325 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/332 doi:10.7557/2.25.1.332 Copyright (c) 2015 Johan Olofsson, Lauri Oksanen http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Årg 25 Nr 1 (2005); 5-18 Rangifer; Vol 25 No 1 (2005); 5-18 1890-6729 arctic alpine diversity disturbance ecology grazing Rangifer tarandus vascular plants info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2005 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.1.332 2021-08-16T14:20:42Z We studied the effects of reindeer grazing on species richness and diversity of vascular plants on dolomite influenced low alpine sites in the species rich northern part of the Scandes using 8 sites with different reindeer densities. Two sites were situated inside Malla Strict Nature Reserve, where reindeer grazing have been totally prohibited since 1981, and strongly restricted since 1950s. The six other sites were located in other species rich hotspot sites standardized to be as similar to the dolomite-influenced sites in Malla Strict Reserve as possible but varying in reindeer densities commonly found in the Fennoscandian mountain chain. Each site with a habitat complex especially rich in rare vascular plants (the Dryas heath – low herb meadow complex) was systematically sampled in four plots of 2 m x 10 m. The plots were divided to 20 squares of 1 m x 1 m, and complete species lists of vascular plants were compiled for each of the squares. The first DCA (detrended correspondence analysis) axis was strongly related to an index of reindeer grazing, indicating that grazing has a strong impact on the composition of the vegetation. None of the characteristics indices of biodiversity (species richness, evenness or Shannon-Wiener H’) was correlated with reindeer density. The local abundances of categories consisting of relatively rare plants (Ca favored plants and red listed plants of Finland) showed significant, positive correlation with the intensity of reindeer grazing. We conclude that even though the density of reindeer has no influence on the total species richness or diversity of vascular plants, reindeer may still be important for regional biodiversity as it seems to favour rare and threatened plants. Moreover, our results imply that standard diversity indices may have limited value in the context of conservation biology, as these indices are equally influenced by rarities and by trivial species.Abstract in Swedish / Sammandrag: Vi studerade hur renbete påverkar kärlväxtflorans artrikedom och diversitet på dolomitpåverkade lågalpina lokaler i de artrikaste delarna av norra Fennoskandien. Vi inventerade 8 lokaler med olika rentätheter. Två lokaler ligger inom Malla Nationalpark, där renar har varit förbjudna sedan 1981 och starkt begränsade sedan 1950-talet. De sex andra lokalerna ligger i andra artrika områden med samma dolomitdominerade berggrund, men är betade av renar. Rentätheterna vid de studerade lokalerna varierar från helt obefintligt till bland de högsta rentätheter man kan finna i Fennoskandien. Inventeringen utfördes genom att systematiskt undersöka fyra 2 m x 10 m stora ytor i varje lokal i en habitattyp som är speciellt rik i ovanliga kärlväxter (fjällsippehed-lågörtsäng komplex). Varje yta delades upp i 20 småytor (1 m x 1 m), och en total artlista upprättades för var och en av dessa småytor. Den första axeln i DCA (detrended correspondence analyses) analysen korrelerade med rentätheten. Det visar att renar påverkar sammansättningen av växtsamhället. Ingen av de vanliga måtten på biodiversitet (artrikedom eller Shannon-Wiener diversitetsindex) var korrelerade med rentätheten. Trots detta, var tätheterna av Ca-gynnade växter och arter rödlistade i Finland positivt korrelerade med rentätheten. Trots att renarna inte påverkade totala artrikedommen, kan de vara betydelsefulla för regionala biodiversiteten eftersom de gynnar ovanliga och hotade arter. De vanliga måtten på biodiversitet har begränsat värde för bevarandebiologiska frågeställningar, eftersom de är lika känsliga för ovanliga och vanliga arter. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fennoscandian Rangifer Rangifer tarandus University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Arctic Malla ENVELOPE(20.233,20.233,68.826,68.826) Rangifer 25 1 5 |