Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer
Phenology is a biological trait sensitive to global warming. Climate change scenarios predict a three-fold increase in temperature and altered rainfall for polar regions. The Svalbard Archipelago, situated at 780 North, and 150 East, is a hotspot for climate change in the arctic, and my study was in...
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Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås
2022
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3005754 |
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ftunivmob:oai:nmbu.brage.unit.no:11250/3005754 2023-05-15T13:05:48+02:00 Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer Kinyua, Jacqueline Wanjiru Dwinnell, Samantha Paige Loe, Leif Egil Van der Wal, René Norway, Svalbard 2022 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3005754 eng eng Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3005754 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.no CC-BY-NC-ND climate change autumn warming senescence arctic Svalbard reindeer graminoids forbs shrubs Salix polaris Bistorta vivipara Alopecurus borealis global warming ungulates herbivores VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 Master thesis 2022 ftunivmob 2022-07-20T22:41:09Z Phenology is a biological trait sensitive to global warming. Climate change scenarios predict a three-fold increase in temperature and altered rainfall for polar regions. The Svalbard Archipelago, situated at 780 North, and 150 East, is a hotspot for climate change in the arctic, and my study was in the Adventdalen valley of the island. According to climate models, the average annual temperature will increase by about 100C, while the autumn temperature will increase between 7-100C by 2100. My study was an experiment manipulating temperature (open top chambers in combination with heaters elevating temperature by ca. 2 and 7 degrees) and moisture (dry and wet) to investigate their impact on rate of senescence in autumn in three Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrynchus) forage species. The three species also constitute the three dominant growth forms in Svalbard. Alopecurus borealis represented graminoids, Bistorta vivipara represented forbs, and Salix polaris represented shrubs. It was a transplant experiment to a garden with 12 plots. Counts of green and brown shoots/ leaves were done for about six weeks in late summer-autumn, beginning in mid-August to the end of September when freezing occurred. I found that the graminoid delayed the rate of senescence with higher temperature and moisture. The forb was not affected by moisture but showed a moderate delay in rate of senescence with higher temperatures, while neither moisture nor temperature affected the autumn phenology of the shrub. My analysis shows contradictory results to various other studies that have suggested a greening arctic due to shrubification in the arctic tundra. Graminoids may be the winners of climate change effects in autumn and may affect herbivores positively, by increasing their autumn food quality. Therefore, warmer, and wetter autumns may counteract the effects of harsh winters and propagate the reproductive success of the Svalbard reindeer. As capital breeders, Svalbard reindeer may access higher quality and quantity of ... Master Thesis Adventdalen Arctic Climate change Global warming Rangifer tarandus Salix polaris Svalbard svalbard reindeer Tundra Open archive Norwegian University of Life Sciences: Brage NMBU Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Norway Adventdalen ENVELOPE(16.264,16.264,78.181,78.181) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Open archive Norwegian University of Life Sciences: Brage NMBU |
op_collection_id |
ftunivmob |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change autumn warming senescence arctic Svalbard reindeer graminoids forbs shrubs Salix polaris Bistorta vivipara Alopecurus borealis global warming ungulates herbivores VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 |
spellingShingle |
climate change autumn warming senescence arctic Svalbard reindeer graminoids forbs shrubs Salix polaris Bistorta vivipara Alopecurus borealis global warming ungulates herbivores VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 Kinyua, Jacqueline Wanjiru Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer |
topic_facet |
climate change autumn warming senescence arctic Svalbard reindeer graminoids forbs shrubs Salix polaris Bistorta vivipara Alopecurus borealis global warming ungulates herbivores VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 |
description |
Phenology is a biological trait sensitive to global warming. Climate change scenarios predict a three-fold increase in temperature and altered rainfall for polar regions. The Svalbard Archipelago, situated at 780 North, and 150 East, is a hotspot for climate change in the arctic, and my study was in the Adventdalen valley of the island. According to climate models, the average annual temperature will increase by about 100C, while the autumn temperature will increase between 7-100C by 2100. My study was an experiment manipulating temperature (open top chambers in combination with heaters elevating temperature by ca. 2 and 7 degrees) and moisture (dry and wet) to investigate their impact on rate of senescence in autumn in three Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrynchus) forage species. The three species also constitute the three dominant growth forms in Svalbard. Alopecurus borealis represented graminoids, Bistorta vivipara represented forbs, and Salix polaris represented shrubs. It was a transplant experiment to a garden with 12 plots. Counts of green and brown shoots/ leaves were done for about six weeks in late summer-autumn, beginning in mid-August to the end of September when freezing occurred. I found that the graminoid delayed the rate of senescence with higher temperature and moisture. The forb was not affected by moisture but showed a moderate delay in rate of senescence with higher temperatures, while neither moisture nor temperature affected the autumn phenology of the shrub. My analysis shows contradictory results to various other studies that have suggested a greening arctic due to shrubification in the arctic tundra. Graminoids may be the winners of climate change effects in autumn and may affect herbivores positively, by increasing their autumn food quality. Therefore, warmer, and wetter autumns may counteract the effects of harsh winters and propagate the reproductive success of the Svalbard reindeer. As capital breeders, Svalbard reindeer may access higher quality and quantity of ... |
author2 |
Dwinnell, Samantha Paige Loe, Leif Egil Van der Wal, René |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Kinyua, Jacqueline Wanjiru |
author_facet |
Kinyua, Jacqueline Wanjiru |
author_sort |
Kinyua, Jacqueline Wanjiru |
title |
Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer |
title_short |
Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer |
title_full |
Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer |
title_fullStr |
Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in Svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for Svalbard reindeer |
title_sort |
effect of autumn warming on the rate of senescence in svalbard plants : an experimental approach with relevance for svalbard reindeer |
publisher |
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3005754 |
op_coverage |
Norway, Svalbard |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(16.264,16.264,78.181,78.181) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Norway Adventdalen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Norway Adventdalen |
genre |
Adventdalen Arctic Climate change Global warming Rangifer tarandus Salix polaris Svalbard svalbard reindeer Tundra |
genre_facet |
Adventdalen Arctic Climate change Global warming Rangifer tarandus Salix polaris Svalbard svalbard reindeer Tundra |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3005754 |
op_rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.no |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
_version_ |
1766394429323608064 |