Potential effects of climate change on plant species in the Faroe Islands

Abstract

Aim To identify the effect of climate change on selected plant species representative of the main vegetation types in the Faroe Islands. Due to a possible weakening of the North Atlantic Current, it is difficult to predict whether the climate in the Faroe Islands will be warmer or colder as a result of global warming. Therefore, two scenarios are proposed. The first scenario assumes an increase in summer and winter temperature of 2 ° C, and the second a decrease in summer and winter temperature of 2 ° C.Location Temperate, low alpine and alpine areas in the northern and central part of the Faroe Islands. MethodsThe responses of 12 different plant species in the Faroe Islands were tested against measured soil temperature, expressed as T min , T max , snow cover and growing degree days (GDD), using generalised linear modelling (GLM). ResultsThe tolerance to changes in winter soil temperature (0.3-0.8 ° C) was found to be lower than the tolerance to changing summer soil temperature (0.7-1.0 ° C), and in both cases lower than the predicted climate changes. ConclusionsThe species most affected by a warming scenario are those that are found with a limited distribution restricted to the uppermost parts of the mountains, especially Salix herbacea , Racomitrium fasciculare , and Bistorta vivipara . For other species, the effect will mainly be a general upward migration. The most vulnerable species are those with a low tolerance, especially Calluna vulgaris , and also Empetrum nigrum , and Nardus stricta .If the climate in the Faroe Islands should become colder, the most vulnerable species are those at low altitudes. A significantly lower temperature would be expected to produce a serious reduction in the extent of Vaccinium myrtillus and Galium saxatilis . Species like Empetrum nigrum , Nardus stricta , and Calluna vulgaris may also be vulnerable. In any case, these species can be expected to migrate downwards.

Potential impact of climate change on aquatic insects: A sensitivity analysis for European caddisflies (Trichoptera) based on distribution patterns and ecological preferences

“…Over the coming century decreased precipitation and increased temperatures are confidently projected for southern areas of Europe, with a transition to increased and more variable precipitation and temperatures towards northern latitudes (Solomon et al, 2007). The impact of such climate change on biodiversity patterns has been investigated and predicted in a large number of recent case studies addressing mammals (Guralnick, 2007), birds (Julliard et al, 2004), amphibians (Pounds et al, 2006), terrestrial insects (Wilson et al, 2005), spiders (Gobbi et al, 2006), terrestrial plants (Fossa et al, 2004;Skov and Svenning, 2004), combinations of different taxonomic groups (Thomas et al, 2004) and hypothetical species (Travis, 2003). Frequently-used approaches for the prediction of climate change effects on the distribution and extinction of species include Population Viability Analysis (Maschinski et al, 2006), a large number of modelling techniques (recent reviews by Araujo and Rahbeck, 2006;Elith et al, 2006) ranging from the local (del Barrio et al, 2006) to the global scale (Thomas et al, 2004), the quantification of climatically suited areas under future climatic conditions (Ohlemüller et al, 2006), the use of Red List criteria (Akcakaya et al, 2006) and species traits (Svenning and Skov, 2006).…”

The influence of experimental warming on flowering phenology of Moss Campion, Silene acaulis / Experimentel hiting ávirkar blóming hjá leggstuttari túvublómu (Silene acaulis)

“…Earlier studies from the Faroe Islands showed that many alpine species will be affected by a temperature change of 23°C (Fosaa et al, 2004). This showed that the species are very vulnerable to changing climate and most likely will alter the species composition.…”

“…The vegetation in the area reaches from open grassland vegetation with sparsely vegetated ground to Racomitrium heath vegetation with richly vegetated ground. The plant communities defined from the site are the speciespoor Koenigia islandicacommunity, and the speciesrich communities Festuca viviparaAgrostis capil lariscommunity, Racomitriumcom mu nity and RacomitriumSalix her bacea community (Fosaa et al, 2004).…”

Future Opportunities for Bioeconomy

“…The CORINE programme and full land cover classification is not available for the Faroe Islands, therefore, the classification of land has to be undertaken by using other methods. According to the book "Føroya náttúra: lívfrøðiligt margfeldi" (Nature of Faroe Islands: Biological multiplicity) (Fosaa, Gaard, Gaard & Dalsgarð, 2006), the total land area of the Faroe Islands is 1,400 km 2 of which the areas of grassland, infield and water are the most interesting for the bioeconomy. These areas cover together 1,200 km 2 or around 85% of all land.…”

“…The hare was brought to the islands from Norway in 1855 (Fosaa et al, 2006), and soon adapted to the Faroese conditions. There are annual fluctuations in the stock size can, where the size depends on weather and vegetation.…”