Climate Events Synchronize the Dynamics of a Resident Vertebrate Community in the High Arctic

Recently accumulated evidence has documented a climate impact on the demography and dynamics of single species, yet the impact at the community level is poorly understood. Here, we show that in Svalbard in the high Arctic, extreme weather events synchronize population fluctuations across an entire c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2013-01, Vol.339 (6117), p.313-315
Main Authors: Hansen, Brage B., Grøtan, Vidar, Aanes, Ronny, Sæther, Bernt-Erik, Stein, Audun, Fuglei, Eva, Ims, Rolf A., Yoccoz, Nigel G., Pedersen, Åshild Ø.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal populations
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Arctic Regions
Arvicolinae - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Climate Change
Climate models
Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change
Community Relations
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental impact
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Foxes - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Galliformes - physiology
Herbivores
Herbivory
Ice Cover
Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400
Mathematics and natural science: 400
Meteorology
Population Dynamics
Population growth rate
Rain
Reindeer
Reindeer - physiology
Snow
Species
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
VDP
Vertebrates
Voles
Weather
Winter
Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480
Zoology and botany: 480
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Description
Summary:Recently accumulated evidence has documented a climate impact on the demography and dynamics of single species, yet the impact at the community level is poorly understood. Here, we show that in Svalbard in the high Arctic, extreme weather events synchronize population fluctuations across an entire community of resident vertebrate herbivores and cause lagged correlations with the secondary consumer, the arctic fox. This synchronization is mainly driven by heavy rain on snow that encapsulates the vegetation in ice and blocks winter forage availability for herbivores. Thus, indirect and bottom-up climate forcing drives the population dynamics across all overwintering vertebrates. Icing is predicted to become more frequent in the circumpolar Arctic and may therefore strongly affect terrestrial ecosystem characteristics.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1226766