How to preserve the tundra in changing climate

Date/time: December 2, 13:00-14:30

Room: Gofoten

Session organizer: Johan Olofsson, Umeå University

Northern ecosystems are currently changing in response to a changing climate. One factor that has been proposed to mitigate these changes has been reindeer grazing. This session will present new results about the potential of reindeer to prevent vegetation changes and positive feedbacks to a global energy balance. It will include six short presentations following a short panel discussion. The presentations will deal with: how the vegetation in the Fennoscandian tundra is expected to change in response to a warmer climate, the potential of reindeer to mitigate these changes, how the effects of reindeer interact with insect outbreaks, potential feed-backs of reindeer-driven vegetation changes on energy balances via changes in albedo, how these potential effects are realized in complex landscapes, and finally the integration of science and policy in social-ecological systems of Northern Fennoscandia.

• Sonja Kivinen, Turktu University:  Current and future climate conditions and vegetation in Northern Fennoscandia
• Elina Kaarlejarvi, Umeå University:  Plant diversity in warming climate- what is the role of herbivores?
• Jane Jepsen, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research:  Birch forest resilience to insect outbreaks at the forest-tundra ecotone: interactions with mammalian herbivores
• Mariska te Beest, Umeå University:  Reindeer grazing influences vegetation structure, with consequences for albedo feedbacks
• Cécile Ménard, Arctic Research Centre, Finnish Meteorological Institute:  The "butterfly effect", herbivory and modelling the energy budget in Fennoscandia: Does the flap of a moth’s wings in Norway set off a tornado in Texas?
• Tim Horstkotte, Turktu University:  The social-ecological hoof print: Integrating science and policy in social-ecological systems of Northern Fennoscandia

Session theme: Arctic change, resilience and adaptation