Forage Quality and Reindeer Productivity: Multiplier Effects Amplified by Climate Change

Abstract

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Observed and predicted effects of climate change on Arctic caribou and reindeer

“…How these environmental changes might interact remains unclear and will undoubtedly differ across the circumpolar Rangifer range. On summer ranges, increasing temperatures will likely lead to longer growing seasons, increases in plant productivity, and an earlier onset of spring, all of which could increase Rangifer body condition and reproductive success by shortening the winter period of food limitation, providing earlier access to forage (and thus offsetting the costs of parturition and lactation), and generally increasing the quantity and period of available forage (Tews et al 2007a;Cebrian et al 2008;Helle and Kojola 2008;Tveraa et al 2013;Veiberg et al 2016). However, this same increase in temperature will also likely increase insect harassment; provide opportunity for predators, potential competitor species, parasites, and diseases that have historically been restricted to more southerly ranges to expand northward; and alter plant community composition to be dominated by potentially less nutritious species (Sharma et al 2009;Witter et al 2012a;Kutz et al 2013;Thompson and Barboza 2014;Simard et al 2016).…”

“…In contrast to the original concern surrounding the negative effects on caribou and reindeer stemming from phenological mismatches, a growing number of studies indicate that early onset of spring could benefit some Rangifer populations by providing earlier access to high-quality forage (Cebrian et al 2008), which can supplement the high nutritional costs of parturition and lactation and positively affect calf body condition (Pettorelli et al 2005;Helle and Kojola 2008;Couturier et al 2009b;Tveraa et al 2013).…”

“…For Rangifer forage species, increases in UV-B radiation can reduce forage quality by increasing concentrations of phenolics and other secondary compounds (Soppela et al 2006;Rinnan et al 2008; see review by Turunen et al 2009), thereby reducing digestible energy and available protein (Lawler and White 2006;McArt et al 2009;Turunen et al 2009). Changes in forage quality are expected to vary regionally (Hansen et al 2006;Turunen et al 2009), and this variation will likely be significant for how well Rangifer populations are able to cope with other environmental changes due to the multiplier effects of forage quality on Rangifer condition and populations (White 1983;Cebrian et al 2008). …”

Irruptive dynamics of introduced caribou on Adak Island, Alaska: an evaluation of Riney‐Caughley model predictions

“…Like other newly intro- v www.esajournals.org duced island herds (Klein 1968, Leader-Williams 1988, Adak caribou attained body sizes that were larger than those from mainland herds (Jones 1966, Klein 1968. Small changes in forage quality and abundance can enhance Rangifer body condition, which in turn yields disproportionately large increases in fecundity and population growth (i.e., mutiplier effect; White 1983, Cebrian et al 2008. Similar to previous studies of Rangifer, access to ample and high quality forage resources likely enabled large female body size that drove successful reproduction year after year during the first period of irruptive growth on Adak when exceptionally high diet quality was reported (Klein 1968).…”

Les changements climatiques au Nunavik

“…Par contre, un avantage pour plusieurs espèces végétales nordiques est que la saison de croissance est courte. Elles ont adopté un patron de floraison rapide pour maximiser le temps restreint pour la photosynthèse et un développement des fruits plus long pour attendre un sol découvert de neige pour la dispersion des graines (Cebrian et al, 2008).…”