LONDON, July 3 — Highly impacted by climate change, the Arctic tundra is experiencing an unprecedented decline in biodiversity. But the presence of large native herbivores, such as caribou and musk oxen, could help halve these losses, according to the findings of a recent study.
Melting ice has many consequences for the state of the planet, from increased methane and CO2 emissions, to the warming of the oceans. But beyond the climate impact, it has another major consequence: biodiversity loss.
This is particularly the case in the Arctic, and more specifically in the tundra, one of the world’s most extensive vegetation zones, located in the far north of Europe, Asia and North America. However, US researchers at the University of California have identified a solution which, they claim, could drastically reduce these losses.
The authors of the study, published in the journal Science, carried out a 15-year experiment between 2003 and 2017, during which they observed the evolution of vegetation in the Arctic tundra by creating 800-square-meter plots in western Greenland.
In the course of their experiments — which included introducing herbivorous animals and warming the plots experimentally to study the impact on vegetation — the researchers observed a clear decline in plant growth, as well as that of fungi and lichen.
“Tundra diversity declined regardless of experimental treatment, as background growing season temperatures rose with sea ice loss,” the scientists note.
But there could well be a solution to preserve the flora of this area. A solution that could lie in the native fauna.
The researchers found that plants were more likely to grow and thrive when exposed to the presence of large herbivorous animals, “known to influence tundra vegetation composition,” more specifically, caribou and musk oxen. In fact, “diversity declined slower with large herbivores than without them,” the study authors state.
This could be because the grazing of certain plants by these herbivorous animals has encouraged the growth of other plants, leading to a better balance.
“Efforts that promote herbivore diversity, such as rewilding, may help mitigate impacts of warming on tundra diversity,” the researchers conclude. — ETX Studio
