Terrestrial

Boreal-arctic ecosystems

Terrestrial boreal-arctic ecosystems have evolved within cold biomes, but are now subjected to the most rapid climate warming on Earth. In Norway they harbor intensively managed herbivores (reindeer Rangifer tarandus, moose Alces alces, grouse and hare Lepus sp.) that maintain multiple ecosystem functions. However, harvesting pays presently little attention to ecosystem and environmental change perspectives, which are nevertheless important because the ungulates are bottom-up regulated and provide themselves both direct and indirect trophic feedbacks in the food web. Herbivore sensitivities to climate involve both direct and indirect effects and include dependencies on season, age-structure and migration patterns. Monitoring data from different bioclimatic regions (south boreal - high-arctic) provide excellent basis for analyses of interactions between harvesting, climate, and food web structure.

Published July 21, 2016 2:01 PM - Last modified Sep. 21, 2016 11:46 AM