Effect of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) grazing on the expansion of dwarf shrubs in mountain birch forest ecosystems

• Main Author: FORNI, SARA
• Other Authors: Ciccarelli, Daniela, Uboni, Alessia
• Format: Text
• Language: Italian
• Published: Pisa University 2020
• Subjects: BIOLOGIA; Empetrum nigrum; Fennoscandia; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: http://etd.adm.unipi.it/theses/available/etd-08282020-002449/

Berry-producing dwarf shrubs are essential elements of the mountain birch forest ecosystem. These plants are exposed to different stress conditions, like herbivore pressure and extreme meteorological factors. In this study I tried to understand how the three most abundant berry-producing dwarf shrubs species (Empetrum nigrum, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium vitis-idaea) respond to reindeer presence, mean temperature and precipitation. The study took place in four site across Fennoscandia mountain for two years during summer, where were collected data to evaluate plant growth and sexual reproduction. The presence of reindeer has a positive effect on the three species of berry-producing dwarf shrubs, but a high grazing pressure can negatively affect the growth and the sexual reproduction of the plants. High precipitation negatively affects the three species of berry-producing dwarf shrubs, while all the species are positively affected by milder mean temperature. V. vitis-idaea resulted to be the species least influenced by both reindeer presence and meteorological factors. The study shown that the abundance of berry-producing dwarf shrubs may increase in the mountain birch forest, with the variation of reindeer presence and meteorological factors.