Enhanced shrub growth in the Arctic increases habitat connectivity for browsing herbivores
Enhanced shrub growth in the Arctic increases habitat connectivity for browsing herbivores
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DOI：
10.1111/gcb.15104
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发表时间：
2020-04
影响因子：
11.6
通讯作者：
Jiake Zhou;K. Tape;L. Prugh;G. Kofinas;G. Carroll;K. Kielland
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jiake Zhou;K. Tape;L. Prugh;G. Kofinas;G. Carroll;K. Kielland
生境连通性是影响物种范围动态的关键因素。北极的快速变暖正在导致广泛的异质灌木扩张，但这些栖息地变化对大型草食动物活动范围动态的影响尚不清楚。我们以阿拉斯加北部的气候-灌木-驼鹿系统为例，研究灌木栖息地将如何响应预测的未来变暖，以及这些变化可能如何影响栖息地的连通性和驼鹿(Alces Alce)的分布。我们使用了19年驼鹿位置数据集，568公里的田间灌木样本，并预测了区域缩小尺度下的变暖情景，以绘制阿拉斯加北坡驼鹿的当前和预测的灌木栖息地。驼鹿的高灌木生境表现出与河流廊道网络和7月平均气温相关的树枝状空间格局。气候变暖的情景预测，到2099年，驼鹿栖息地将增加一倍以上。预测的变暖将增加栖息地网络的空间凝聚力，从而减少碎片化的影响，从而改善整体栖息地质量，并可能扩大驼鹿的活动范围。这些发现表明，气候变化可能会增加栖息地的连通性，改变北极灌木食草动物的分布，包括创建新的群落和生态系统。
Habitat connectivity is a key factor influencing species range dynamics. Rapid warming in the Arctic is leading to widespread heterogeneous shrub expansion, but impacts of these habitat changes on range dynamics for large herbivores are not well understood. We use the climate–shrub–moose system of northern Alaska as a case study to examine how shrub habitat will respond to predicted future warming, and how these changes may impact habitat connectivity and the distribution of moose (Alces alces). We used a 19 year moose location dataset, a 568 km transect of field shrub sampling, and forecasted warming scenarios with regional downscaling to map current and projected shrub habitat for moose on the North Slope of Alaska. The tall‐shrub habitat for moose exhibited a dendritic spatial configuration correlated with river corridor networks and mean July temperature. Warming scenarios predict that moose habitat will more than double by 2099. Forecasted warming is predicted to increase the spatial cohesion of the habitat network that diminishes effects of fragmentation, which improves overall habitat quality and likely expands the range of moose. These findings demonstrate how climate change may increase habitat connectivity and alter the distributions of shrub herbivores in the Arctic, including creation of novel communities and ecosystems.