Landscape heterogeneity buffers the impact of an extreme weather event on wildlife.

Autor: Prugh LR; School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. lprugh@uw.edu., Lundquist JD; Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA., Sullender BK; School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA., Cunningham CX; School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA., Dechow J; School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA., Borg BL; National Park Service, Denali National Park and Preserve, Healy, AK, USA., Sousanes PJ; National Park Service, Central Alaska Network, Fairbanks, AK, USA., Stehn S; National Park Service, Denali National Park and Preserve, Healy, AK, USA., Durand MT; School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Communications biology [Commun Biol] 2024 Nov 15; Vol. 7 (1), pp. 1515. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 15.
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-07195-1
Abstrakt: Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, with poorly known consequences for wildlife. In December 2021, an atmospheric river brought record-shattering amounts of rain and snow to interior Alaska, creating conditions expected to cause mass mortality in grazing ungulate populations that need to access ground forage. We characterized snowpack conditions following the storm and used a 36-year monitoring dataset to quantify impacts on caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and their primary predator, wolves (Canis lupus). December precipitation was 7.3 SD above the 99-year mean and 2.5-fold higher than the prior record, with a return period of 333 years. However, ice thickness within the snowpack was highly variable across vegetation types, and caribou shifted to use higher elevations that can blow free of snow. Caribou and wolf mortality rates were 1.3-1.8 SD above normal and caribou population growth rates were low but similar to recent years, indicating a surprisingly weak demographic response. These findings indicate that landscape diversity may bolster resistance of wildlife populations to short-term, potentially devastating effects of extreme weather.
Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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