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Eating Plants to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change on Tundra?

Shared Voices 2021 Eating Plants To Mitigate The Impacts Of Climate Change On Tundra
Photo: Jeff Kerby / National Geographic

By Isabel C. Barrio, Lead of the UArctic Thematic Network on Herbivory, Associate Professor, Agricultural University of Iceland and David Hik, Professor, Simon Fraser University and Bruce C. Forbes, Professor, University of Lapland and Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir, Professor, University of Iceland and Elina Kaarlejärvi, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Helsinki and Mikhail V. Kozlov, Adjunct Professor, University of Turku and Eeva M. Soininen, Researcher, UiT The Arctic University of Norway and Henni Ylänne, Postdoctoral Researcher, Lund University and University of Eastern Finland and Maria Väisänen, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oulu

Hundreds of species of plant-eating mammals, birds and insects – known as herbivores – inhabit the Arctic tundra. Some of these are vital for local communities and northern cultures, including domesticated reindeer and sheep, and hunted caribou, muskox, ptarmigan and geese.

Herbivores also contribute to the benefits that tundra ecosystems provide to people, the so-called ecosystem services. By feeding selectively on plants, trampling on plants and soils, and depositing urine and faeces, herbivores affect vegetation, biodiversity, productivity, energy flows, and nutrient cycling. In the case of reindeer and caribou, the impact on vegetation can be so significant that grazing differences along national borders or between different islands or pastures with different animal densities can be captured by satellite images.

The rapid climate warming in Arctic regions is affecting herbivores in many ways. Warming may lead to shortage of food during warmer winters when freezing rains lock vegetation under ice layers, or to increased food availability during longer and warmer summers. At a circumpolar scale, climate warming has triggered the expansion of trees and tall shrubs to and within tundra, but herbivores may also buffer this vegetation expansion in the treeless tundra. However, the impacts of herbivores and their effectiveness to counteract warming-induced changes in vegetation vary regionally and depend on many site-specific factors such as the type and abundance of herbivores.

The UArctic Thematic Network on Herbivory, with partners from nine UArctic member universities, explores the role of herbivory throughout the Arctic. Our initial studies assessed why some areas host a few herbivore species while others are home to diverse species assemblages. We found that herbivore diversity relates to plant productivity and the number of predatory species. If climate warming continues to increase productivity and the northward movement of boreal predators, diverse tundra herbivore assemblages may become more similar.

We have also quantified patterns of a neglected group of tundra herbivores, namely insects. Although insects consume little plant biomass in tundra (typically <1%), they are found nearly everywhere. In addition, insect herbivory increases with summer temperatures, suggesting that plant damage by insects as well as insect outbreaks will likely increase in a warmer Arctic.

Currently, we are synthesizing information about where and how the effects of herbivores on Arctic vegetation have been studied. This project will identify strengths and weaknesses in our current knowledge, which is relevant to local communities and their livelihoods (read more in the article on the CHARTER project, in which the Thematic Network is a partner). As rapid changes are occurring in the Arctic, we need a better understanding of the role of herbivory and its dependencies on site-specific factors to adjust management strategies and to preserve ecosystem services and biodiversity of diverse terrestrial Arctic environments. Coordinated herbivory research will allow for more robust predictions about the consequences of the rapid and ongoing changes in this region.

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the President

    By Lars Kullerud

  2. Editorial

    By Outi Snellman

  3. UArctic – an Indispensable Arctic Actor

    By Annika Saarikko

  4. Growing Connections Between Scotland and UArctic

    By Richard Lochhead

  5. Canada’s Vision for Arctic Youth Empowerment

    By David Sproule

  6. In Memoriam: Oliver William (Bill) Heal, 1934-2021

  7. Arctic Philanthropist: Interview with Frederik Paulsen

    By Hannele Palviainen

  8. Interviews of UArctic Board members: Anne Husebekk

    By Arne O. Holm

  9. Interviews of UArctic Board members: Evon Peter

    By Arne O. Holm

  10. Interviews of UArctic Board members: Mikhail Pogodaev

    By Arne O. Holm

  11. Becoming Circumpolar: Reflections on Origins and Outcomes

    By Amanda Graham

  12. New Directions in Circumpolar Studies: Launching the Læra Institute

    By Anthony Speca, Anthony Speca, Heather Nicol and Gary Wilson

  13. UArctic at a Glance

  14. Arena for the Gap Analysis of the Existing Arctic Science Co-Operations

    By Hanna Lappalainen and Stephany Mazon

  15. North-Eastern Federal University: Sustainable Development & Bridging the Arctic and Asia

    By Vladimir Suzdalov

  16. UArctic-HIT Training Centre: A Bridge Between Arctic and Chinese Universities

    By Yi-Fan Li

  17. 14 Years of Arctic Indigenous Collaboration with BEBO – How Has It Been?

    By Marina Falevitch and Mika Aromäki

  18. Collecting Knowledge from Finnmark’s Plateau to Japan

    By Amanda Åsberg

  19. Arctic Makes: Observations, Lessons, and Solutions from the Geographic Periphery

    By Svetlana Usenyuk-Kravchuk and Timo Jokela

  20. CHARTER – Towards a Broader Understanding of Arctic Complexity

    By Philip Burgess

  21. A Sense of Home Across the Arctic Through Wild Foods

    By Harmony Jade Wayner

  22. Improved Water Access and Sanitary Conditions in Rural Arctic Settlements

    By Pernille Erland Jensen and Aaron Dotson

  23. The Arctic Yearbook: An Open Access Platform for Arctic Studies and Research

    By Lassi Heininen and Heather Exner-Pirot

  24. The Battle of the Arctic: To Drill or Not to Drill?

    By Angelina Giordano

  25. 6G as a Universal Connectivity Provider in the 2030s

    By Harri Saarnisaari, Hanna Saarela and Marja-Matinmikko-Blue

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