Expansion of deciduous tall shrubs but not evergreen dwarf shrubs inhibited by reindeer in Scandes mountain range.

ABSTRACT: One of the most palpable effects of warming in Arctic ecosystems is shrub expansion above the tree line. However, previous studies have found that reindeer can influence plant community responses to warming and inhibit shrubification of the tundra.We revisited grazed (ambient) and ungrazed study plots (exclosures), at the southern as well as the northern limits of the Swedish alpine region, to study long-term grazing effects and vegetation changes in response to increasing temperatures between 1995 and 2011, in two vegetation types (shrub heath and mountain birch forest).In the field layer at the shrub heath sites, evergreen dwarf shrubs had increased in cover from 26% to 49% but were unaffected by grazing. Deciduous dwarf and tall shrubs also showed significant, though smaller, increases

SUBMITTER: Vowles T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5697633 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature