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

Autor: Greg Finstad, Merben R. Cebrian, Knut Kielland
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. 40:48-54
ISSN: 1938-4246
1523-0430
DOI: 10.1657/1523-0430(06-073)[cebrian]2.0.co;2
Popis: We investigated the effects of experimental manipulations of snowmelt on the flowering phenology and forage chemistry (digestibility and nitrogen concentration) of tussock cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Early snowmelt accelerated reproductive phenology by 11 days, and resulted in higher floral digestibility both early and late during inflorescence development. Nitrogen concentrations of inflorescences in late snowmelt plots were initially the highest among treatments, but decreased nearly 40% during inflorescence development. Thus, changes in climate that lead to changes in snow cover can alter both the timing of flowering and chemistry of Eriophorum and, consequently, its value as reindeer and caribou forage. We then used published relationships between forage chemistry and body weight gain of reindeer (White, 1983) to model the possible effects of altered forage chemistry on food intake and growth in reindeer. Model output shows that reindeer foraging on Eri...
Databáze: OpenAIRE