Berry plants and berry picking in Inuit Nunangat: Traditions in a changing socio-ecological landscape

Traditional food is central to Inuit culture and sense of identity. Recent changes in lifestyle, climate, and animal populations have influenced how people practice and experience activities on the land. We summarize the findings of 191 new and archived interviews addressing the continued relationships of Inuit to berries in the Canadian territories of Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut. Berry plants have been and remain widely used throughout the study area. Berry picking is an important cultural activity that contributes to spiritual, personal, and community wellbeing. In some regions, the availability of berries and accessibility to berry patches are threatened by climate change, recent increases in goose populations, as well as community development. Study outcomes suggest that berry picking should be considered in land-use planning since, alongside hunting and fishing, it is an activity that contributes to physical and mental health while being an important cultural practice across Inuit territories

Developing common protocols to measure tundra herbivory across spatial scales

Understanding and predicting large-scale ecological responses to global environmental change requires comparative studies across geographic scales with coordinated efforts and standardized methodologies. We designed, applied, and assessed standardized protocols to measure tundra herbivory at three spatial scales: plot, site (habitat), and study area (landscape). The plot- and site-level protocols were tested in the field during summers 2014–2015 at 11 sites, nine of them consisting of warming experimental plots included in the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). The study area protocols were assessed during 2014–2018 at 24 study areas across the Arctic. Our protocols provide comparable and easy to implement methods for assessing the intensity of invertebrate herbivory within ITEX plots and for characterizing vertebrate herbivore communities at larger spatial scales. We discuss methodological constraints and make recommendations for how these protocols can be used and how sampling effort can be optimized to obtain comparable estimates of herbivory, both at ITEX sites and at large landscape scales. The application of these protocols across the tundra biome will allow characterizing and comparing herbivore communities across tundra sites and at ecologically relevant spatial scales, providing an important step towards a better understanding of tundra ecosystem responses to large-scale environmental change

Species distribution models of herbivore species in Iceland

Preprocessed species occurrence data and environmental predictor layers for the domestic sheep (Ovis aries), feral reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus), pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus), and rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta islandorum) in Iceland as well as associated ensemble distribution models.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Climate and environmental drivers of berry productivity from the forest-tundra ecotone to the high Arctic in Canada

Abstract Berry shrubs are found across the circumpolar North where they are an important source of food for people and animals. However, the environmental controls on berry productivity in these regions is poorly understood. This study presents the results of an ongoing berry productivity monitoring program for Empetrum nigrum L., Vaccinium uliginosum L., and Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. from the forest–tundra ecotone to the high Arctic in Canada. Berry productivity was the highest recorded for these species with up to 119 berries/m2 (E. nigrum) and 661 berries/m2 (V. uliginosum) measured at one plot in Pangnirtung. On average, berry productivity for E. nigrum and V. uliginosum was higher toward the northern edge of the species distribution range. The climate variables important for the productivity of V. uliginosum in high Arctic sites were closely associated with the onset of the growing season and water availability during the growing season, whereas those important in the low Arctic sites reflected conditions during the growing season. None of the climate variables used were associated with the productivity of E. nigrum and V. vitis-idaea, likely due to complex responses and length of the time-series, thus highlighting the importance of continued monitoring in partnership with northern people and institutions. Résumé Les arbustes producteurs de baies sont répandus au Nord du cercle polaire où ils constituent une source importante de nourriture pour les humains et les animaux. Malgré leur importance écologique, on connaît peu de choses quant à l’influence des facteurs environnementaux sur la productivité en fruits de ces espèces. Cette étude présente les résultats d’un programme de suivi à long terme d’Empetrum nigrum L., Vaccinium uliginosum L., et Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. depuis l’écotone forêt–toundra jusque dans le haut Arctique au Canada. La plus haute productivité en fruits connue pour ces espèces a été mesurée à Pangnirtung avec des valeurs pouvant atteindre jusqu’à 119 fruits/m2 (E. nigrum) et 661 fruits/m2 (V. uliginosum). En moyenne, la productivité en fruits d’E. nigrum et V. uliginosum était plus élevée vers la limite Nord de leur aire de répartition. Les variables climatiques importantes pour la productivité de V. uliginosum dans les sites du haut Arctique étaient étroitement associées au début de la saison de croissance et à la disponibilité en eau pendant la saison de croissance, tandis que les variables importantes dans les sites du bas Arctique reflétaient généralement les conditions durant la saison de croissance. Aucune des variables climatiques utilisées dans les modèles n’était corrélée à la productivité de E. nigrum et V. vitis-idaea, probablement en raison de la complexité des réponses et de la longueur des séries chronologiques, ce qui souligne l’importance d’un suivi continu en partenariat avec les communautés et les institutions du Nord. [Traduit par la Rédaction

Divergence of Arctic shrub growth associated with sea ice decline

Arctic sea ice extent (SIE) is declining at an accelerating rate with a wide range of ecological consequences. However, determining sea ice effects on tundra vegetation remains a challenge. In this study, we examined the universality or lack thereof in tundra shrub growth responses to changes in SIE and summer climate across the Pan-Arctic, taking advantage of 23 tundra shrub-ring chronologies from 19 widely distributed sites (56°N to 83°N). We show a clear divergence in shrub growth responses to SIE that began in the mid-1990s, with 39% of the chronologies showing declines and 57% showing increases in radial growth (decreasers and increasers, respectively). Structural equation models revealed that declining SIE was associated with rising air temperature and precipitation for increasers and with increasingly dry conditions for decreasers. Decreasers tended to be from areas of the Arctic with lower summer precipitation and their growth decline was related to decreases in the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. Our findings suggest that moisture limitation, associated with declining SIE, might inhibit the positive effects of warming on shrub growth over a considerable part of the terrestrial Arctic, thereby complicating predictions of vegetation change and future tundra productivity

Divergence of Arctic shrub growth associated with sea ice decline

Arctic sea ice extent (SIE) is declining at an accelerating rate with a wide range of ecological consequences. However, determining sea ice effects on tundra vegetation remains a challenge. In this study, we examined the universality or lack thereof in tundra shrub growth responses to changes in SIE and summer climate across the Pan-Arctic, taking advantage of 23 tundra shrub-ring chronologies from 19 widely distributed sites (56°N to 83°N). We show a clear divergence in shrub growth responses to SIE that began in the mid-1990s, with 39% of the chronologies showing declines and 57% showing increases in radial growth (decreasers and increasers, respectively). Structural equation models revealed that declining SIE was associated with rising air temperature and precipitation for increasers and with increasingly dry conditions for decreasers. Decreasers tended to be from areas of the Arctic with lower summer precipitation and their growth decline was related to decreases in the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. Our findings suggest that moisture limitation, associated with declining SIE, might inhibit the positive effects of warming on shrub growth over a considerable part of the terrestrial Arctic, thereby complicating predictions of vegetation change and future tundra productivity

Regional species richness and genetic diversity of arctic vegetation reflect both past glaciations and current climate

AimThe Arctic has experienced marked climatic differences between glacial and interglacial periods and is now subject to a rapidly warming climate. Knowledge of the effects of historical processes on current patterns of diversity may aid predictions of the responses of vegetation to future climate change. We aim to test whether plant species and genetic diversity patterns are correlated with time since deglaciation at regional and local scales. We also investigate whether species richness is correlated with genetic diversity in vascular plants. LocationCircumarctic. MethodsWe investigated species richness of the vascular plant flora of 21 floristic provinces and examined local species richness in 6215 vegetation plots distributed across the Arctic. We assessed levels of genetic diversity inferred from amplified fragment length polymorphism variation across populations of 23 common Arctic species. Correlations between diversity measures and landscape age (time since deglaciation) as well as variables characterizing current climate were analysed using spatially explicit simultaneous autoregressive models. ResultsRegional species richness of vascular plants and genetic diversity were correlated with each other, and both showed a positive relationship with landscape age. Plot species richness showed differing responses for vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. At this finer scale, the richness of vascular plants was not significantly related to landscape age, which had a small effect size compared to the models of bryophyte and lichen richness. Main conclusionOur study suggests that imprints of past glaciations in Arctic vegetation diversity patterns at the regional scale are still detectable today. Since Arctic vegetation is still limited by post-glacial migration lag, it will most probably also exhibit lags in response to current and future climate change. Our results also suggest that local species richness at the plot scale is more determined by local habitat factors