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Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

South Dakota State University

Climate change

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Higher Temperatures Have Contrasting Effects On Different Components Of Forage Quality For Caribou In Northern Alaska, Heidi Becker Jan 2020

Higher Temperatures Have Contrasting Effects On Different Components Of Forage Quality For Caribou In Northern Alaska, Heidi Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rising temperatures in the Arctic may affect vegetation, which in turn can affect herbivores, such as caribou, that rely on these plants for forage. Several plant traits contribute to forage quality, including digestibility, nitrogen content, and antiherbivory secondary compounds, but the effect of temperature on these traits individually and combined is unclear. I conducted a three-component study on the effect of higher temperatures on the forage quality of graminoids, deciduous shrubs, and evergreen dwarf shrubs on the North Slope of Alaska. The components included: 1) short and long-term experimental warming, 2) natural temperature variation between south and north-facing slopes, and …


Evidence For 20th Century Climate Warming And Wetland Drying In The North American Prairie Pothole Region, Brett A. Werner, W. Carter Johnson, Glenn R. Guntenspergen Sep 2013

Evidence For 20th Century Climate Warming And Wetland Drying In The North American Prairie Pothole Region, Brett A. Werner, W. Carter Johnson, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is a globally important resource that provides abundant and valuable ecosystem goods and services in the form of biodiversity, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood attenuation, and water and forage for agriculture. Numerous studies have found these wetlands, which number in the millions, to be highly sensitive to climate variability. Here, we compare wetland conditions between two 30-year periods (1946–1975; 1976–2005) using a hindcast simulation approach to determine if recent climate warming in the region has already resulted in changes in wetland condition. Simulations using the WETLANDSCAPE model show that 20th century climate …