Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra
International audience The potential of large mammalian herbivores to shift plant communities between nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation has received little attention so far. However, herbivores can influence the cycling of these growth-limiting nutrients, and thereby affect plant nutrient l...
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-03699475v1 2023-05-15T14:56:53+02:00 Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra Sitters, Judith Cherif, Mehdi Egelkraut, Dagmar Giesler, Reiner Olofsson, Johan Umeå University 2019-07 https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03699475 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 en eng HAL CCSD Wiley info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 hal-03699475 https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03699475 doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13342 ISSN: 0269-8463 EISSN: 1365-2435 Functional Ecology https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03699475 Functional Ecology, Wiley, 2019, 33 (7), pp.1233-1242. ⟨10.1111/1365-2435.13342⟩ https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Ecosystems info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2019 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 2022-06-29T00:20:23Z International audience The potential of large mammalian herbivores to shift plant communities between nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation has received little attention so far. However, herbivores can influence the cycling of these growth-limiting nutrients, and thereby affect plant nutrient limitation and productivity. Tundra ecosystems are nutrient-poor and commonly grazed by large herbivores like reindeer and may thus be responsive to such changes. Here, we examined the effect of long-term light and heavy reindeer grazing on nutrient limitation of plant growth in a Scandinavian arctic tundra. We are the first to conduct a factorial N and P fertilization experiment across the two grazing regimes in two functionally contrasting vegetation types: heath and meadow. Annual primary productivity (APP) showed contrasting responses to our fertilization treatments under light and heavy grazing. Under light grazing, APP increased in response to N + P additions in both the heath and meadow. Under heavy grazing, APP increased in response to N in the heath, with an additional positive effect of N + P combined, while APP increased in response to P and N + P additions in the meadow. These results clearly show that an increase in the grazing intensity of reindeer facilitated a shift towards more P-limited conditions in Scandinavian arctic tundra, by increasing N cycling without having a corresponding positive effect on P cycling. In the N-poor heath, reindeer increased soil N availability at least partly due to a shift towards more N-rich graminoids, while in the meadow, reindeer decreased soil P availability. The mechanisms behind this decrease remain unclear, but reindeer may simply export more P from the system than N due to their large P demand for the production of their antlers. Synthesis. We conclude that heavy and long-term reindeer grazing promoted a more P-limited tundra, thus experimentally confirming the potential of large mammalian herbivores to influence nutrient limitation of plant growth. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Tundra Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Arctic Functional Ecology 33 7 1233 1242 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Ecosystems |
spellingShingle |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Ecosystems Sitters, Judith Cherif, Mehdi Egelkraut, Dagmar Giesler, Reiner Olofsson, Johan Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
topic_facet |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Ecosystems |
description |
International audience The potential of large mammalian herbivores to shift plant communities between nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation has received little attention so far. However, herbivores can influence the cycling of these growth-limiting nutrients, and thereby affect plant nutrient limitation and productivity. Tundra ecosystems are nutrient-poor and commonly grazed by large herbivores like reindeer and may thus be responsive to such changes. Here, we examined the effect of long-term light and heavy reindeer grazing on nutrient limitation of plant growth in a Scandinavian arctic tundra. We are the first to conduct a factorial N and P fertilization experiment across the two grazing regimes in two functionally contrasting vegetation types: heath and meadow. Annual primary productivity (APP) showed contrasting responses to our fertilization treatments under light and heavy grazing. Under light grazing, APP increased in response to N + P additions in both the heath and meadow. Under heavy grazing, APP increased in response to N in the heath, with an additional positive effect of N + P combined, while APP increased in response to P and N + P additions in the meadow. These results clearly show that an increase in the grazing intensity of reindeer facilitated a shift towards more P-limited conditions in Scandinavian arctic tundra, by increasing N cycling without having a corresponding positive effect on P cycling. In the N-poor heath, reindeer increased soil N availability at least partly due to a shift towards more N-rich graminoids, while in the meadow, reindeer decreased soil P availability. The mechanisms behind this decrease remain unclear, but reindeer may simply export more P from the system than N due to their large P demand for the production of their antlers. Synthesis. We conclude that heavy and long-term reindeer grazing promoted a more P-limited tundra, thus experimentally confirming the potential of large mammalian herbivores to influence nutrient limitation of plant growth. |
author2 |
Umeå University |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sitters, Judith Cherif, Mehdi Egelkraut, Dagmar Giesler, Reiner Olofsson, Johan |
author_facet |
Sitters, Judith Cherif, Mehdi Egelkraut, Dagmar Giesler, Reiner Olofsson, Johan |
author_sort |
Sitters, Judith |
title |
Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
title_short |
Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
title_full |
Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
title_fullStr |
Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
title_sort |
long‐term heavy reindeer grazing promotes plant phosphorus limitation in arctic tundra |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03699475 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra |
op_source |
ISSN: 0269-8463 EISSN: 1365-2435 Functional Ecology https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03699475 Functional Ecology, Wiley, 2019, 33 (7), pp.1233-1242. ⟨10.1111/1365-2435.13342⟩ https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 hal-03699475 https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03699475 doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13342 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13342 |
container_title |
Functional Ecology |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1233 |
op_container_end_page |
1242 |
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1766328934568296448 |