Biting insects in a rapidly changing Arctic

Koltz, Amanda M.; Culler, Lauren E.

doi:10.1016/j.cois.2021.04.009

Cited by 16 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This is also beneficial for many ungulates, which, despite their ability to find forage plants under shallow layers of snow, cannot deal with deeper layers of snow [103] or ice crust formation [104]. Terrestrial arthropods may remain active as long as temperatures are above freezing, but their availability to predators could be limited due to a restricted number of generations emerging in one season [105] but see [106], and Arctic shorebirds are thus unlikely to profit from a longer breeding season through re-nesting [107]. With increasing temperatures, warming Arctic waters may facilitate longer resource availability, by driving the emergence of a second phytoplankton bloom [100,108] and a second generation of copepods [109] during autumn.…”

Section: Longer Period Of Resource Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Migratory vertebrates shift migration timing and distributions in a warming Arctic

et al. 2021

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Climate warming in the Arctic has led to warmer and earlier springs, and as a result, many food resources for migratory animals become available earlier in the season, as well as become distributed further northwards. To optimally profit from these resources, migratory animals are expected to arrive earlier in the Arctic, as well as shift their own spatial distributions northwards. Here, we review literature to assess whether Arctic migratory birds and mammals already show shifts in migration timing or distribution in response to the warming climate. Distribution shifts were most prominent in marine mammals, as expected from observed northward shifts of their resources. At least for many bird species, the ability to shift distributions is likely constrained by available habitat further north. Shifts in timing have been shown in many species of terrestrial birds and ungulates, as well as for polar bears. Within species, we found strong variation in shifts in timing and distributions between populations. Ou r review thus shows that many migratory animals display shifts in migration timing and spatial distribution in reaction to a warming Arctic. Importantly, we identify large knowledge gaps especially concerning distribution shifts and timing of autumn migration, especially for marine mammals. Our understanding of how migratory animals respond to climate change appears to be mostly limited by the lack of long-term monitoring studies.

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Section: Longer Period Of Resource Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Migratory vertebrates shift migration timing and distributions in a warming Arctic

et al. 2021

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“…A shift in habitats might not always mean an increase in a species; in north‐east Greenland, the abundance of muscid flies decreased with warming summer temperatures (Loboda et al 2018). Populations within a species may also not be uniform across the Arctic; a human community in northern Quebec, Canada, has seen an increase in mosquito abundance, size, and emergence, while other communities have seen lower abundance (Koltz & Culler 2021). For deer keds, rising winter and summer temperatures could extend their growing season, allowing them to expand their range northwards (Härkönen et al 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adverse effects of Diptera flies on northern ungulates: Rangifer, Alces, and Bison

Benedict

Barboza

2022

Mammal Review

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1. Flies (Diptera) damage ungulates far beyond the injury of their bite wounds: they are vectors of diseases and cause ungulates to lose foraging opportunities due to avoidance behaviour. We can use the behavioural and physiological responses of bison Bison spp. (Artiodactyla: Bovidae), caribou/reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Artiodactyla: Cervidae), and moose/elk Alces alces (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) to assess the impacts of flies on these ungulates. Ungulates rely on morphological and physiological resistance to flies at lowintensities of exposure. However, as fly exposure increases, ungulates begin to react with behavioural avoidance in addition to increasing their physiological response. Rangifer tarandus are highly sensitive to flies and respond quickly to their presence by avoidance behaviours that incur fitness costs through reduced body mass. Alces alces are less reactive to fly exposure, enduring the presence of flies and maintaining a low loss of fitness, sometimes dying from the cumulative effects of exposure. Bison spp. may use a facultative strategy that depends upon the prevalence of flies and associated diseases in their environment. Among these strategies, variables such as the type of fly bite, presence and degree of infection, and heritability of resistance affect individual host survival. 3. Relationships between flies and ungulates can integrate multiple scales of organisation in the ecosystem to reflect system stability. Climate change is predicted to alter the species composition and seasonal phenology of flies and the associated effects of wounding and vector-borne disease on ungulate populations that are central to the functions of Arctic and temperate ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere.

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“…The links we found between the CAH's demographic rates and their summer range conditions may have implications for caribou populations in the future. Climate change is generally expected to result in earlier, warmer Arctic summers (Lader et al, 2017;Severson et al, 2021) which has the potential to increase the severity and duration of mosquito harassment (Culler et al, 2015;Koltz and Culler, 2021), increase forage 10.3389/fevo.2022.899585 biomass (Elmendorf et al, 2012;Doiron et al, 2014), and reduce forage DN (Zamin et al, 2017;Johnson et al, 2018;Richert et al, 2021). These factors are likely to have opposing effects on caribou demographic rates, but their relative magnitudes are unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During such summers, forage protein can be lower and often declines more quickly, truncating the period that abundant protein is available. Longer, warmer summers may also increase the duration and intensity of insect harassment for Arctic caribou (Witter et al, 2012;Culler et al, 2015;Koltz and Culler, 2021), which could further reduce foraging efficiency and increase energy expenditure, especially during the limited period when forage protein is abundant. Understanding the influence of these factors, and how they may interact, is important as investigators have speculated that even small reductions in summer forage opportunities could have cascading effects on caribou body condition, and subsequently, demographic rates (White, 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment

et al. 2022

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Investigators have speculated that the climate-driven “greening of the Arctic” may benefit barren-ground caribou populations, but paradoxically many populations have declined in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns about the influence of summer habitat conditions on caribou demographic rates, and how populations may be impacted in the future. The short Arctic summer provides caribou with important forage resources but is also the time they are exposed to intense harassment by insects, factors which are both being altered by longer, warmer growing seasons. To better understand the effects of summer forage and insect activity on Arctic caribou demographic rates, we investigated the influence of estimated forage biomass, digestible energy (DE), digestible nitrogen (DN), and mosquito activity on the reproductive success and survival of adult females in the Central Arctic Herd on the North Slope of Alaska. We tested the hypotheses that greater early summer DN would increase subsequent reproduction (parturition and late June calving success) while greater biomass and DE would increase adult survival (September–May), and that elevated mosquito activity would reduce both demographic rates. Because the period when abundant forage DN is limited and overlaps with the period of mosquito harassment, we also expected years with low DN and high harassment to synergistically reduce caribou reproductive success. Examining these relationships at the individual-level, using GPS-collared females, and at the population-level, using long-term monitoring data, we generally found support for our expectations. Greater early summer DN was associated with increased subsequent calving success, while greater summer biomass was associated with increased adult survival. Mosquito activity was associated with reductions in adult female parturition, late June calving success, and survival, and in years with low DN, had compounding effects on subsequent late June calving success. Our findings indicate that summer nutrition and mosquito activity collectively influence the demographic rates of Arctic caribou, and may impact the dynamics of populations in the future under changing environmental conditions.

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Biting insects in a rapidly changing Arctic

Cited by 16 publications

References 46 publications

Migratory vertebrates shift migration timing and distributions in a warming Arctic

Migratory vertebrates shift migration timing and distributions in a warming Arctic

Adverse effects of Diptera flies on northern ungulates: Rangifer, Alces, and Bison

Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment

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