Spatiotemporal dynamics in habitat suitability of a large Arctic herbivore: Environmental heterogeneity is key to a sedentary lifestyle

Beumer, Larissa T.; Beest, Floris M. van; Stelvig, Mikkel; Schmidt, Niels Martin

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00647

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…This seasonal pattern in habitat selection was corroborated by the habitat suitability maps, where suitable habitats early in the season are scattered throughout the census area, while the more productive fen habitats in the lowland become increasingly important towards October. The same pattern was also observed in the habitat use of GPS-tracked muskoxen from the Zackenberg area (Beumer et al 2019). The productive habitats provide abundant forage in summer (Mosbacher et al 2016a), and muskox obtain the majority of their summer forage there (Kristensen et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…While spring snow cover was were negatively related to marginality, and thus to habitat selectivity, we had expected snow conditions to be more close linked to the inter-annual habitat selection scale due to the large inter-annual variability in snow conditions in the area (Pedersen et al 2016). Lack of noticeable effect may have resulted from the large degree of small-scale habitat heterogeneity in the area (Pedersen et al 2018), allowing muskox to find suitable habitat in most areas irrespective the snow conditions (Beumer et al 2019). It is likely that this small-scale habitat heterogeneity is also the main driver of the increasing selection for habitat observed at the intra-annual (seasonal) scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Density, snow, and seasonality lead to variation in muskox (Ovibos moschatus) habitat selection during summer

2019

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Understanding how environmental conditions influence habitat selection and suitability of free-ranging animals is critical, as the outcome may have implications for individual fitness and population dynamics. Density and snow are among the most influential environmental conditions driving habitat-selection patterns of northern ungulates. We used two decades of census data from high Arctic Greenland to quantify inter- and intra-annual variations in muskox (Ovibos moschatus (Zimmermann, 1780)) habitat selection and suitability during the Arctic summer (July through October). Across years, habitat selection varied considerably, and the strength of habitat selection appeared negatively related to both muskox density and spring snow cover. In early summer, habitat suitability was high and spatially rather uniform. Towards the autumn, suitable habitats contracted to just the lower elevations, when muskoxen exhibited increasingly stronger habitat selection towards low elevations and dense vegetation. This selection strategy clearly reflects the need to build up fat reserves for the upcoming winter, highlighting the energetic importance of the Arctic summer. Extreme climatic events such as freezing rain in autumn are increasing in frequency in Greenland and limit muskox access to high-quality forage in fens. Such events may therefore negatively affect the energy acquisition process of muskox with potential cascading consequences on population dynamics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density, snow, and seasonality lead to variation in muskox (Ovibos moschatus) habitat selection during summer

2019

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“…Our model is not spatial explicit, yet we do incorporate individual stochasticity in assimilation parameters as well as food availability. Nonetheless, given the broad biotic and abiotic landscape available to muskox in Northeast Greenland (Beumer et al, 2019) and the variety of movement strategies employed by muskoxen (Schmidt et al, 2016), we can expect considerable variability in space‐use and food provisioning across individuals. Further, animal behavior has been shown to influence life‐history traits and overall individual fitness (Biro & Stamps, 2008; Mathot & Dingemanse, 2015), highlighting the need to understand the link between behavior, physiological states, life‐history strategies, and environmental conditions (Stamps, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environment and physiology shape Arctic ungulate population dynamics

Desforges

Marques²,

Beumer

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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Species conservation in a rapidly changing world requires an improved understanding of how individuals and populations respond to changes in their environment across temporal scales. Increased warming in the Arctic puts this region at particular risk for rapid environmental change, with potentially devastating impacts on resident populations. Here, we make use of a parameterized full life cycle, individual‐based energy budget model for wild muskoxen, coupling year‐round environmental data with detailed ontogenic metabolic physiology. We show how winter food accessibility, summer food availability, and density dependence drive seasonal dynamics of energy storage and thus life history and population dynamics. Winter forage accessibility defined by snow depth, more than summer forage availability, was the primary determinant of muskox population dynamics through impacts on calf recruitment and longer term carryover effects of maternal investment. Simulations of various seasonal snow depth and plant biomass and quality profiles revealed that timing of and improved/limited winter forage accessibility had marked influence on calf recruitment (±10–80%). Impacts on recruitment were the cumulative result of condition‐driven reproductive performance at multiple time points across the reproductive period (ovulation to calf weaning) as a trade‐off between survival and reproduction. Seasonal and generational condition effects of snow‐rich winters interacted with age structure and density to cause pronounced long‐term consequences on population growth and structure, with predicted population recovery times from even moderate disturbances of 10 years or more. Our results show how alteration in winter forage accessibility, mediated by snow depth, impacts the dynamics of northern herbivore populations. Further, we present here a mechanistic and state‐based model framework to assess future scenarios of environmental change, such as increased or decreased snowfall or plant biomass and quality to impact winter and summer forage availability across the Arctic.

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“…To gain more insight into the generality of hypothermia as an over-wintering strategy in large mammals and the possible linkages to reproductive status, we target the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), the largest herbivore in the Arctic. For muskoxen, the short arctic summer of about three months provides high quality and abundant forage 14 , whereas snow impedes access to the limited plant material available most of the year 15 , making snow conditions a major determinant of muskox habitat use 16 and population dynamics 17 . During winter, muskoxen rely heavily on energy reserves accumulated over the previous snow-free period 18 .…”

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confidence: 99%

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

Schmidt

Grøndahl

Evans

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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For free-ranging animals living in seasonal environments, hypometabolism (lowered metabolic rate) and hypothermia (lowered body temperature) can be effective physiological strategies to conserve energy when forage resources are low. to what extent such strategies are adopted by large mammals living under extreme conditions, as those encountered in the high Arctic, is largely unknown, especially for species where the gestation period overlaps with the period of lowest resource availability (i.e. winter). Here we investigated for the first time the level to which high arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) adopt hypothermia and tested the hypothesis that individual plasticity in the use of hypothermia depends on reproductive status. We measured core body temperature over most of the gestation period in both free-ranging muskox females in Greenland and captive female muskoxen in Alaska. We found divergent overwintering strategies according to reproductive status, where pregnant females maintained stable body temperatures during winter, while non-pregnant females exhibited a temporary decrease in their winter body temperature. these results show that muskox females use hypothermia during periods of resource scarcity, but also that the use of this strategy may be limited to non-reproducing females. Our findings suggest a trade-off between metabolically-driven energy conservation during winter and sustaining foetal growth, which may also apply to other large herbivores living in highly seasonal environments elsewhere.

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Spatiotemporal dynamics in habitat suitability of a large Arctic herbivore: Environmental heterogeneity is key to a sedentary lifestyle

Cited by 23 publications

References 60 publications

Density, snow, and seasonality lead to variation in muskox (Ovibos moschatus) habitat selection during summer

Density, snow, and seasonality lead to variation in muskox (Ovibos moschatus) habitat selection during summer

Environment and physiology shape Arctic ungulate population dynamics

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

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