Arctic arthropod assemblages in habitats of differing shrub dominance

Rich, Matthew E.; Gough, Laura; Boelman, Natalie T.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.00078.x

Cited by 59 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Research suggests that shrub dominance in tundra systems is linked with changes in insect abundance and species composition. In Alaskan tundra, shrub-dominated tundra had a greater biomass of canopy dwelling arthropods, whereas graminoid-dominated tundra sites had a greater biomass of ground-dwelling arthropods [24,50]. In addition to altering the composition of food sources, tall or dense vegetation may also hinder birds’ ability to forage effectively; therefore some birds may strongly select nesting or foraging habitat with shrubs but have limited tolerance for areas with particularly tall or dense shrubs [51].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Winners Become Losers: Predicted Nonlinear Responses of Arctic Birds to Increasing Woody Vegetation

et al. 2016

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Climate change is facilitating rapid changes in the composition and distribution of vegetation at northern latitudes, raising questions about the responses of wildlife that rely on arctic ecosystems. One widely observed change occurring in arctic tundra ecosystems is an increasing dominance of deciduous shrub vegetation. Our goals were to examine the tolerance of arctic-nesting bird species to existing gradients of vegetation along the boreal forest-tundra ecotone, to predict the abundance of species across different heights and densities of shrubs, and to identify species that will be most or least responsive to ongoing expansion of shrubs in tundra ecosystems. We conducted 1,208 point counts on 12 study blocks from 2012–2014 in northwestern Alaska, using repeated surveys to account for imperfect detection of birds. We considered the importance of shrub height, density of low and tall shrubs (i.e. shrubs >0.5 m tall), percent of ground cover attributed to shrubs (including dwarf shrubs <0.5 m tall), and percent of herbaceous plant cover in predicting bird abundance. Among 17 species considered, only gray-cheeked thrush (Catharus minimus) abundance was associated with the highest values of all shrub metrics in its top predictive model. All other species either declined in abundance in response to one or more shrub metrics or reached a threshold where further increases in shrubs did not contribute to greater abundance. In many instances the relationship between avian abundance and shrubs was nonlinear, with predicted abundance peaking at moderate values of the covariate, then declining at high values. In particular, a large number of species were responsive to increasing values of average shrub height with six species having highest abundance at near-zero values of shrub height and abundance of four other species decreasing once heights reached moderate values (≤ 33 cm). Our findings suggest that increases in shrub cover and density will negatively affect abundance of only a few bird species and may potentially be beneficial for many others. As shrub height increases further, however, a considerable number of tundra bird species will likely find habitat increasingly unsuitable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Winners Become Losers: Predicted Nonlinear Responses of Arctic Birds to Increasing Woody Vegetation

et al. 2016

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“…This is particularly valuable for vast and remote arctic tundra regions where shifts in seasonality and vegetation characteristics are likely to impact arthropod communities (Rich et al 2013). Given the strong relationship between the NDVI and canopydwelling arthropod biomass found in this study, future research examining relationships between the NDVI and ground-dwelling arthropod biomass would be of great value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

NDVI as a predictor of canopy arthropod biomass in the Alaskan arctic tundra

Sweet

Asmus

Rich

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

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The physical and biological responses to rapid arctic warming are proving acute, and as such, there is a need to monitor, understand, and predict ecological responses over large spatial and temporal scales. The use of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) acquired from airborne and satellite sensors addresses this need, as it is widely used as a tool for detecting and quantifying spatial and temporal dynamics of tundra vegetation cover, productivity, and phenology. Such extensive use of the NDVI to quantify vegetation characteristics suggests that it may be similarly applied to characterizing primary and secondary consumer communities. Here, we develop empirical models to predict canopy arthropod biomass with canopy-level measurements of the NDVI both across and within distinct tundra vegetation communities over four growing seasons in the Arctic Foothills region of the Brooks Range, Alaska, USA. When canopy arthropod biomass is predicted with the NDVI across all four growing seasons, our overall model that includes all four vegetation communities explains 63% of the variance in canopy arthropod biomass, whereas our models specific to each of the four vegetation communities explain 74% (moist tussock tundra), 82% (erect shrub tundra), 84% (riparian shrub tundra), and 87% (dwarf shrub tundra) of the observed variation in canopy arthropod biomass. Our field-based study suggests that measurements of the NDVI made from air- and spaceborne sensors may be able to quantify spatial and temporal variation in canopy arthropod biomass at landscape to regional scales.

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“…On the other hand, arctic greening has been linked to declining caribou populations across tundra ecosystems in North America (Fauchald et al 2017), potentially due in part to reduced foraging as shrubs outcompete lichen (Joly et al 2009, Fraser et al 2014, Fauchald et al 2017. Changes in shrub dominance can also impact migratory birds (Boelman et al 2014) and arthropod communities (Rich et al 2013, Sweet et al 2015. Our new maps of plant AGB, shrub AGB, and shrub dominance provide insight into the habitat suitability for herbivores, insectivores, and their associated predators (for example, lynx, wolves) in this rapidly changing region.…”

Section: Application Of Biomass Maps For Wildlife Habitat Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tundra plant above-ground biomass and shrub dominance mapped across the North Slope of Alaska

Berner

Jantz

Tape

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Arctic arthropod assemblages in habitats of differing shrub dominance

Cited by 59 publications

References 43 publications

When Winners Become Losers: Predicted Nonlinear Responses of Arctic Birds to Increasing Woody Vegetation

When Winners Become Losers: Predicted Nonlinear Responses of Arctic Birds to Increasing Woody Vegetation

NDVI as a predictor of canopy arthropod biomass in the Alaskan arctic tundra

Tundra plant above-ground biomass and shrub dominance mapped across the North Slope of Alaska

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