Abstract
Widespread shrub expansion has been observed at the circumpolar scale in response to climate change. This phenomenon could be inhibited by large herbivores through selective browsing that reduces shrub growth. Our objective was to assess the dynamics of shrub species in the Deception Bay area, in Nunavik (Québec, Canada), a region in the summer range of the Rivière-aux-Feuilles migratory caribou herd. We surveyed abundance and stem mortality of all shrub species along systematically located transects in a 54 km2 area. Our results showed that shrubs covered 11.5% of the area, and were dominated by prostrate Betula glandulosa (8.7%). Stem mortality of established individuals was greater for Salix planifolia (45.6%) and Salix glauca (46.5%) than for B. glandulosa (9.3%). Using dendrochronological analysis, we determined the age structure of the two dominant erect shrub species in ten 10 m × 10 m plots. We recorded a high number of B. glandulosa and, to a lesser extent, of S. planifolia recruits (71.0 and 4.6 per 100 m2, respectively) established after 1999, when the Rivière-aux-Feuilles herd was abundant. Thus, our results do not support the hypothesis that large herbivores counteracted the positive effects of climate change on shrub recruitment. However, since the structure of the recruits are prostrate rather than erect, as is usually observed with shrub expansion in the warming Arctic, it is likely that herbivory, and/or, the harsh climate, is constraining habitat change.
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Acknowledgements
C. M.-B. received scholarships from the Fonds de recherche du Québec nature et technologies (FRQNT), Caribou Ungava and EnviroNord. This project is part of the Caribou Ungava research program (http://www.caribou-ungava.ulaval.ca/en/accueil/) funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec, ArcticNet, Hydro Québec, Glencore, Fédération des pourvoiries du Québec inc., and Makivik Corporation. We are particularly indebted to Glencore—Raglan Mine for their collaboration, logistic support and for having made their infrastructure available to us. The Quarqalik landholding corporation of Salluit welcomed our team on their land. We thank Raglan Mine employees, A. Delwaide and E. Demeule for their help in the lab, D. Côté-Vaillancourt, M. Gagnon, E. Bélanger and Y. Gendreau for their help with fieldwork, G. Daigle for statistical advice and M.-A. Lemay for comments on the manuscript.
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Morrissette-Boileau, C., Boudreau, S., Tremblay, JP. et al. Revisiting the role of migratory caribou in the control of shrub expansion in northern Nunavik (Québec, Canada). Polar Biol 41, 1845–1853 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2325-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2325-2