Jonas Dahlgren

Spatial Patterns and Dynamic Responses of Arctic Food Webs Corroborate the Exploitation Ecosystems Hypothesis (EEH)

According to the exploitation ecosystems hypothesis (EEH), productive terrestrial ecosystems are characterized by community‐level trophic cascades, whereas unproductive ecosystems harbor food‐limited grazers, which regulate community‐level plant biomass. We tested this hypothesis along arctic‐alpine productivity gradients at the Joatka field base, Finnmark, Norway. In unproductive habitats, mammalian predators were absent and plant biomass was constant, whereas herbivore biomass varied, reflecting the productivity of the habitat. In productive habitats, predatory mammals were persistently present and plant biomass varied in space, but herbivore biomass did not. Plant biomass of productive tundra scrublands declined by 40% when vegetation blocks were transferred to predation‐free islands. Corresponding transfer to herbivore‐free islands triggered an increase in plant biomass. Fertilization of an unproductive tundra heath resulted in a fourfold increase in rodent density and a corresponding increase in winter grazing activity, whereas the total aboveground plant biomass remained unchanged. These results corroborate the predictions of the EEH, implying that the endotherm community and the vegetation of the North European tundra behaves dynamically as if each trophic level consisted of a single population, in spite of local co‐occurrence of >20 plant species representing different major taxonomic groups, growth forms, and defensive strategies.

Interactions between gray-sided voles ( Clethrionomys rufucanus ) and bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ), their main winter food plant

We compared the abundance, population structure and palatability of bilberry ramets on vole-free islands, islands with voles but no predators (predator-free islands) and mainland sites with both voles and predators. As expected, bilberry biomass was strongly correlated with the herbivory pressure exerted by the voles, since it was significantly lower on the mainland, and much (>80%) lower on the predator-free islands, than on the vole-free islands. However, another finding, which conflicts with hypotheses postulating that herbivory generally induces plant defenses, was that voles preferred ramets from predator-free islands. Bilberry plants were fairly tolerant to grazing since they compensated for some of the lost tissue by producing more new ramets. This response should promote stability in the plant–herbivore interaction by reducing the impact of past grazing on current food production and thus minimizing time delays in the interactions that could potentially generate population cycles.

Gray-sided voles increase the susceptibility of northern willow, Salix glauca, to invertebrate herbivory

ABSTRACT The relationships between grey-sided vole (Clethrionomys rufocanus) densities, levels of invertebrate herbivory on Northern willow (Salix glauca) leaves, and chemical quality of the willows was studied on 8 islands and 2 mainland sites with contrasting vole densities in northernmost Norway. These variables were measured at each of the study sites to determine the degree and nature of the effects of browsing-induced alterations in plant quality on subsequent invertebrate herbivory. The level of invertebrate herbivory was positively correlated with vole density, as were the number of leaves per shoot, leaf size, and leaf nitrogen content, while leaf C/N ratios were negatively correlated with vole density. The level of herbivory increased from > 1% on the vole-free island to < 4% on the island with the highest vole density. The plant character that explained most of the variance in the level of invertebrate herbivory was leaf size. Since the vole densities have been altered by human intervention and their numbers are largely governed by predation rather than food quality, the positive correlation between vole densities and level of invertebrate herbivory is probably due to a facilitative effect of voles on invertebrate herbivores, mediated through changes in plant chemistry. We suggest that voles affect susceptibility of willows to invertebrate herbivory both directly by winter browsing and indirectly by reducing the abundance of competing plants. Nomenclature: Nilsson, 1986.

Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System

Mammalian herbivores shape the structure and function of many nutrient-limited or low-productive terrestrial ecosystems through modification of plant communities and plant–soil feedbacks. In the tundra biome, mammalian herbivores may both accelerate and decelerate plant biomass growth, microbial activity and nutrient cycling, that is, ecosystem process rates. Selective foraging and associated declines of palatable species are known to be major drivers of plant–soil feedbacks. However, declines in dominant plants of low palatability often linked with high herbivore densities may also modify ecosystem process rates, yet have received little attention. We present data from an island experiment with a 10-year vole density manipulation, to test the hypothesis that herbivores accelerate process rates by decreasing the relative abundance of poorly palatable plants to palatable ones. We measured plant species abundances and community composition, nitrogen contents of green plant tissues and multiple soil and litter variables under high and low vole density. Corroborating our hypothesis, periodic high vole density increased ecosystem process rates in low-productive tundra. High vole density was associated with both increasing relative abundance of palatable forbs over unpalatable evergreen dwarf shrubs and higher plant N content both at species and at community level. Changes in plant community composition, in turn, explained variation in microbial activity in litter and soil inorganic nutrient availability. We propose a new conceptual model with two distinct vole–plant–soil feedback pathways. Voles may drive local plant–soil feedbacks that either increase or decrease ecosystem process rates, in turn promoting heterogeneity in vegetation and soils across tundra landscapes.