Understanding the recovery rate of overgrazed lichen communities has value to mangers of lands in northern regions. We describe lichen community composition and present recovery rate measurements for a 12-year period following overgrazing by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) on Hagemeister Island, Alaska. Reindeer were removed from the island in 1993 following overgrazing and average total lichen biomass increased from 504.2 kg/ha (SD 205.4) in 2003 to 795.3 (SD 489.6) in 2015. We estimate time to recovery with three competing growth curves which estimate grazeable biomass may be reached in 34-41 years. However, estimates of full recovery to climax biomass varied among the models, ranging from 71 to 400 years. In 2015, lichen communities were composed of various mixtures of at least 78 lichen taxa, and were dominated by Cladina stygia and other important reindeer forage species. While reindeer overgrazing diminished forage quantity, it did not extirpate preferred forage taxa.
Related Resources
Historical Landscape Use of Migratory Caribou: New Insights From Old Antlers
Resource Date:
January
2021
Multispecies Modelling Reveals Potential for Habitat Restoration to Re-establish Boreal Vertebrate Community Dynamics
Resource Date:
2021
Digging Into Canadian Soils - An Introduction to Soil Science
Resource Date:
2021
Organization
Indigenizing the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation
Resource Date:
August
2021
Community-level Modelling of Boreal Forest Mammal Distribution in an Oil Sands Landscape
Resource Date:
February
2021
Was this helpful?
|