title: Congruent responses to weather variability in high arctic herbivores.
abstract: Assessing the role of weather in the dynamics of wildlife populations is a pressing task in the face of rapid environmental change. Rodents and ruminants are abundant herbivore species in most Arctic ecosystems, many of which are experiencing particularly rapid climate change. Their different life-history characteristics, with the exception of their trophic position, suggest that they should show different responses to environmental variation. Here we show that the only mammalian herbivores on the Arctic islands of Svalbard, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and sibling voles (Microtus levis), exhibit strong synchrony in population parameters. This synchrony is due to rain-on-snow events that cause ground ice and demonstrates that climate impacts can be similarly integrated and expressed in species with highly contrasting life histories. The finding suggests that responses of wildlife populations to climate variability and change might be more consistent in Polar regions than elsewhere owing to the strength of the climate impact and the simplicity of the ecosystem.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway. audun.stien@nina.no
authors.forename: Audun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stien
authors.forename: Rolf A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ims
authors.forename: Steve D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Albon
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fuglei
authors.forename: R Justin
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Irvine
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ropstad
authors.forename: Odd
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langvatn
authors.forename: Leif Egil
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Loe
authors.forename: Vebjørn
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Veiberg
authors.forename: Nigel G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Yoccoz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000502:physiology*; D057231:Climate Change; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012053:Reindeer / Q000502:physiology*; D013538:Svalbard; D014887:Weather