VERTEBRATE AND INVERTEBRATE HERBIVORY VARY WITH VEGETATION TYPE AND EXPERIMENTAL WARMING CONDITIONS IN HIGH-ARCTIC SVALBARD
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ecology
herbivory
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Abstract
The Arctic is a critical ecosystem for understanding the ecological impacts of climate change. This project investigated the influence of vegetation type and experimental vegetation warming on both vertebrate and invertebrate herbivory at the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) sites in Endalen, high-arctic Svalbard. Following a standardized protocol to assess levels of invertebrate herbivory, a modified point framing methodology was applied at control and artificially warmed plots (n=30) across three different vegetation types (Cassiope heath, Dryas heath, and Bistorta snowbed). Compared to control plots, experimental warming significantly reduced invertebrate herbivory in Cassiope tetragona-dominated plots but significantly increased it in Bistorta vivipara-dominated plots. For Dryas octopetala-dominated plots, no significant difference between control and warmed plots was found. A survey of vertebrate feces along transects in each site (n=11) revealed twice as many feces in the south-facing Dryas heath than in Bistorta snowbed. There was no difference in herbivory at the two north-facing sites, except that ptarmigan feces were observed twice as often at the drier site compared to the wetter site. When compared to herbivore data from these same sites collected in 2014 and 2015, we find invertebrate and vertebrate herbivory has increased at all sites. The results of this study contribute to the ecological insights afforded by the longitudinal data collected by ITEX collaborators across alpine and arctic environments, highlighting the reciprocal effects of warming-induced changes in vegetation on herbivory and, in turn, the effects of changes in herbivory rates on vegetation responses.