scholarly journals Range expansion of muskox lungworms track rapid arctic warming: implications for geographic colonization under climate forcing

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratap Kafle ◽  
Peter Peller ◽  
Alessandro Massolo ◽  
Eric Hoberg ◽  
Lisa-Marie Leclerc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Range Expansion ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Warming ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Thermal Requirements ◽  
Northern Edge

Abstract Rapid climate warming in the Arctic results in multifaceted disruption of biodiversity, faunal structure, and ecosystem health. Hypotheses have linked range expansion and emergence of parasites and diseases to accelerating warming globally but empirical studies demonstrating causality are rare. Using historical data and recent surveys as baselines, we explored climatological drivers for Arctic warming as determinants of range expansion for two temperature-dependent lungworms, Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis and Varestrongylus eleguneniensis, of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus), in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1980 through 2017. Our field data shows a substantial northward shift of the northern edge of the range for both parasites and increased abundance across the expanded ranges during the last decade. Mechanistic models parameterized with parasites’ thermal requirements demonstrated that geographical colonization tracked spatial expansion of permissive environments, with a temporal lag. Subtle differences in life histories, thermal requirements of closely related parasites, climate oscillations and shifting thermal balances across environments influence faunal assembly and biodiversity. Our findings support that persistence of host-parasite assemblages reflects capacities of parasites to utilize host and environmental resources in an ecological arena of fluctuating opportunity (alternating trends in exploration and exploitation) driving shifting boundaries for distribution across spatial and temporal scales.

Is there a cost of parasites to caribou?

Parasitology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. HUGHES ◽  
S. D. ALBON ◽  
R. J. IRVINE ◽  
S. WOODIN
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Apparent Competition ◽  
Range Shift ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Winter Range ◽  
Nematode Parasites

SUMMARYMacroparasites potentially play a significant but often ignored role in the ecology and dynamics of wild ruminant populations. In the Arctic, parasites may impact on host populations by exacerbating the effects of seasonal and limited forage availability on the condition, fecundity and survival of individuals. We studied the effects of abomasal nematode parasites and warble flies, Hypoderma tarandi, on condition and pregnancy of caribou Rangifer tarandus in the Dolphin-Union herd, Nunavut, Canada. By the end of winter, female caribou over 2 years old showed a significant decrease in body weight with increasing nematode burden, and a decrease in back fat depth with increasing warble abundance. These effects were exaggerated in the non-pregnant fraction of the population. High warble larvae burdens were also associated with significantly reduced probability of being pregnant. Our research demonstrates a negative relationship between parasites and caribou condition that may have consequences for their fitness. Additionally, we discuss the possibility that muskox Ovibos moschatus share some parasite species with the caribou and could lead to elevated burdens in the sympatric host. Parasites may have been a contributory factor in a previous winter range-shift of the caribou herd and this may reflect a form of apparent competition between the two ungulate species.

scholarly journals Are arctic ungulates physiologically unique?

Rangifer ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Suttie ◽  
James R. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Physiological Parameters ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Original Goal

Reindeer/caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) are the arctic ungulates. Few studies have been carried out to directly compare their level of physiological uniqueness with similar species in the same family. The approach adopted in this review has been to compare data within family for physiological parameters including reproduction, nutrition and growth, to attempt to place the adaptations of reindeer/caribou and muskoxen in context. It is concluded that both species have unique adaptations to their environment which are likely to be specific to the Arctic. An hypothesis is advanced that some adaptations are constrained not only by the long intense winters, but also by the need to exploit the brief summers. The review has highlighted considerable gaps in understanding of some key physiological parameters for many species. This incompleteness in some ways mitigated the original goal of the project, but provisional conclusions are presented.

Life-history strategies and population dynamics of abomasal nematodes in Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus)

Parasitology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. IRVINE ◽  
A. STIEN ◽  
O. HALVORSEN ◽  
R. LANGVATN ◽  
S. D. ALBON
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Host Population ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Svalbard Reindeer ◽  
Marshallagia Marshalli

The observation that the total abundance of adult nematodes in the abomasum of Svalbard reindeer increases between October and April suggests adaptation to cope with the Arctic winter. Here we investigate the extent to which selection has led to similar life-history strategies in the 3 most numerous trichostrongyle species. The life-histories are found to differ markedly. We use flexible statistical models for the abundance and dispersion of parasites in the host population. One of the taxa, Marshallagia marshalli, was most abundant and had its highest egg output in the winter. In contrast, the abundance of the most common taxa, Ostertagia gruehneri, m. gruehneri was stable or declined from autumn to late winter, and the closely related taxa, O. gruehneri, m. arcticus, showed a similar over winter drop. The faecal egg output of these 2 taxa was highest in summer, as found in temperate trichostrongyle species. Despite the apparent contamination of summer pastures with O. gruehneri, calves showed negligible burdens until their second summer and the abundance of infection reached an asymptote within their third year. In contrast, the abundance of M. marshalli in calves showed a rapid increase over the first summer and by late winter was similar to peak levels found in adults (8000 worms). This increase could not be accounted for by the developing abomasum larvae population and is therefore evidence for transmission over the winter for this taxa. While M. marshalli showed little between-year variation, O. gruehneri showed 2-fold fluctuation in the abundance of infection. O. gruehneri may therefore play a role in the fluctuating population dynamics of the host. Since there was no apparent decline in abundance with host age in any of the 3 taxa there was no evidence of reindeer mounting an immune response.

scholarly journals Congruent responses to weather variability in high arctic herbivores

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1002-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audun Stien ◽  
Rolf A. Ims ◽  
Steve D. Albon ◽  
Eva Fuglei ◽  
R. Justin Irvine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Arctic Ecosystems ◽  
Wildlife Populations

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.

Zoological Perspectives on the Late Glacial

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Yalden
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Mammal Fauna ◽  
Dicrostonyx Torquatus ◽  
The Church ◽  
Musk Ox ◽  
Woolly Mammoth

Enough mammal specimens of Late Glacial date from the British Isles have been subjected to radiocarbon dating to provide a reliable outline of the likely large mammal fauna of the time, though the accompanying fauna of small mammals has mostly been assigned to this period on associative, rather than direct, dating. These give an adequate zoological background against which to examine the suggested identities of the large mammals depicted at Church Hole, Creswell Crags. This background information is reviewed in this chapter. While Bison priscus was certainly present earlier in the Devensian, there is no evidence that Bison returned to Britain in the Late Glacial, but aurochs (Bos primigenius) did so, and must be considered a more probable identification. The evidence that ibex (Capra ibex) ever occurred in Britain is very dubious, which cast serious doubt on the original identification of the Church Hole Panel III engraving as being of this species. In this case, discussion and reinterpretation of the engravings during the course of the conference suggested a better resolution than the zoological one suggested at the time. The ice of the Devensian glacial maximum, at about 20–18 ka BP, is believed to have covered all of northern Great Britain and Ireland, leaving smaller areas of the south of each island free of ice but occupied by tundra, permafrost, conditions. It is most unlikely that any of the present mammal fauna could have survived here then, though the possibilities that mountain hare (Lepus timidus) and stoat (Mustela erminea) did so must be conceded—both range well into the Arctic at the present day. The severity of the climate, and the likely nature of the mammal fauna, is indicated by the presence of musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) (Fisherton, Wiltshire, but undated) and the possible polar bear (Ursus maritimus) (Creag nan Uamh, Sutherland, 18.9 ka: Kitchener and Bonsall 1997) that date to this time. Barnwell Station, Cambridge, has a<sup>14</sup> C date on peat of 19.5 ka BP, and a fauna including woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and horse (Equus ferus). Dated specimens fromsouthern Ireland are also relevant: collared lemming (Dicrostonyx torquatus) at20.3 ka BP, woolly mammoth at 20.36 ka BP and Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) at 19.95 ka BP, all from Castlepook Cave, Cork (Woodman et al. 1997).

scholarly journals Arctic ungulates at the northern edge of terrestrial life

Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Habitat Variability ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Terrestrial Life ◽  
Northern Edge

The two ungulate species that occur in the High Arctic, Rangifer tarandus and Ovibos moschatus, exhibit considerable adaptive plasticity in response to habitat variability throughout their circumpolar distribution. R. tarandus, however, has a much wider latitudinal distribution and occurs within a wider range of both forest and tundra habitat types than 0. moschatus, reflecting greater morphological, physiological, and behavioral plasticity. As a consequence, muskoxen have been less successful than caribou and reindeer in maintaining populations at their southern limits. Muskoxen, however, existed throughout Pleistocene glaciations in the cold periglacial steppes of Eurasia and North America and find the closest analog to this vegetation type in the High Arctic, where they have been more successful than R. tarandus in maintaining their populations.

РАДИОУГЛЕРОДНЫЕ ДАТИРОВКИ ПАЛЕОНТОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ОБРАЗЦОВ ВЕРХНЕГО ПЛЕЙСТОЦЕНА НИЖНЕЙ ОБИ

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Zolnikov ◽  
◽  
A. Vybornov ◽  
A. Anoikin ◽  
A. Postnov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Western Siberia ◽  
Budker Institute ◽  
Mammuthus Primigenius ◽  
Upper Pleistocene ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
The North

In the course of studies conducted by IAET SB RAS in the Lower Ob in 2016–2019, the understanding of the conditions for settlement of the Paleolithic population in the north of Western Siberia was significantly supplemented. Dating of a series of paleontological finds was carried out at the "Accelerated mass spectrometer of the Budker Institute of Nucle- ar Physics of SB RAS". The dates obtained show the distribution of the main representatives of the Upper Pleistocene fauna of Subarctica: Mammuthus primigenius – 50,000–15,000 BP, Coelodonta antiquitatis – 43,000–38,000 BP and 27,000–25,000 BP, Rangifer tarandus, Equus ferus – 40,000–10,000 BP, Bison sp. – 50,000–40,000 BP, Ovibos moschatus – 41,000–32,000 BP.

scholarly journals Contributors to linkage between Arctic warming and East Asian winter climate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinping Xu ◽  
Shengping He ◽  
Yongqi Gao ◽  
Botao Zhou ◽  
Huijun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Winter Climate ◽  
Arctic Warming

AbstractPrevious modelling and observational studies have shown discrepancies in the interannual relationship of winter surface air temperature (SAT) between Arctic and East Asia, stimulating the debate about whether Arctic change can influence midlatitude climate. This study uses two sets of coordinated experiments (EXP1 and EXP2) from six different atmospheric general circulation models. Both EXP1 and EXP2 consist of 130 ensemble members, each of which in EXP1 (EXP2) was forced by the same observed daily varying sea ice and daily varying (daily climatological) sea surface temperature (SST) for 1982–2014 but with different atmospheric initial conditions. Large spread exists among ensemble members in simulating the Arctic–East Asian SAT relationship. Only a fraction of ensemble members can reproduce the observed deep Arctic warming–cold continent pattern which extends from surface to upper troposphere, implying the important role of atmospheric internal variability. The mechanisms of deep Arctic warming and shallow Arctic warming are further distinguished. Arctic warming aloft is caused primarily by poleward moisture transport, which in conjunction with the surface warming coupled with sea ice melting constitutes the surface-amplified deep Arctic warming throughout the troposphere. These processes associated with the deep Arctic warming may be related to the forcing of remote SST when there is favorable atmospheric circulation such as Rossby wave train propagating from the North Atlantic into the Arctic.

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