DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13058
论文题名: Novel wildlife in the Arctic: The influence of changing riparian ecosystems and shrub habitat expansion on snowshoe hares
作者: Tape K.D. ; Christie K. ; Carroll G. ; O'Donnell J.A.
刊名: Global Change Biology
ISSN: 13541013
出版年: 2016
卷: 22, 期: 1 起始页码: 208
结束页码: 219
语种: 英语
英文关键词: Herbivores
; Lepus americanus
; Moose
; Riparian
; Shrub expansion
; Streamflow
; Tundra
; Warming
Scopus关键词: deer
; habitat structure
; herbivore
; lagomorph
; range expansion
; riparian vegetation
; shrub
; streamflow
; tundra
; warming
; Alaska
; Arctic
; United States
; Lepus americanus
; Mammalia
; Alaska
; animal
; animal dispersal
; Arctic
; climate change
; ecosystem
; hare
; herbivory
; plant
; river
; season
; Alaska
; Animal Distribution
; Animals
; Arctic Regions
; Climate Change
; Ecosystem
; Hares
; Herbivory
; Plants
; Rivers
; Seasons
英文摘要: Warming during the 20th century has changed the arctic landscape, including aspects of the hydrology, vegetation, permafrost, and glaciers, but effects on wildlife have been difficult to detect. The primary aim of this study is to examine the physical and biological processes contributing to the expanded riparian habitat and range of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) in northern Alaska. We explore linkages between components of the riparian ecosystem in Arctic Alaska since the 1960s, including seasonality of stream flow, air temperature, floodplain shrub habitat, and snowshoe hare distributions. Our analyses show that the peak discharge during spring snowmelt has occurred on average 3.4 days per decade earlier over the last 30 years and has contributed to a longer growing season in floodplain ecosystems. We use empirical correlations between cumulative summer warmth and riparian shrub height to reconstruct annual changes in shrub height from the 1960s to the present. The effects of longer and warmer growing seasons are estimated to have stimulated a 78% increase in the height of riparian shrubs. Earlier spring discharge and the estimated increase in riparian shrub height are consistent with observed riparian shrub expansion in the region. Our browsing measurements show that snowshoe hares require a mean riparian shrub height of at least 1.24-1.36 m, a threshold which our hindcasting indicates was met between 1964 and 1989. This generally coincides with observational evidence we present suggesting that snowshoe hares became established in 1977 or 1978. Warming and expanded shrub habitat is the most plausible reason for recent snowshoe hare establishment in Arctic Alaska. The establishment of snowshoe hares and other shrub herbivores in the Arctic in response to increasing shrub habitat is a contrasting terrestrial counterpart to the decline in marine mammals reliant on decreasing sea ice. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/61533
Appears in Collections: 影响、适应和脆弱性
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作者单位: Institute of Northern Engineering, Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, United States; Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, United States; Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Barrow, AK, United States; Arctic Network, National Park Service, 240 W. 5th Ave, Anchorage, AK, United States
Recommended Citation:
Tape K.D.,Christie K.,Carroll G.,et al. Novel wildlife in the Arctic: The influence of changing riparian ecosystems and shrub habitat expansion on snowshoe hares[J]. Global Change Biology,2016-01-01,22(1)