| 1. |
- Elmhagen, Bodil, et al.
(författare)
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A boreal invasion in response to climate change? : Range shifts and community effects in the borderland between forest and tundra
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 44:1, s. 39-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been hypothesized that climate warming will allow southern species to advance north and invade northern ecosystems. We review the changes in the Swedish mammal and bird community in boreal forest and alpine tundra since the nineteenth century, as well as suggested drivers of change. Observed changes include (1) range expansion and increased abundance in southern birds, ungulates, and carnivores; (2) range contraction and decline in northern birds and carnivores; and (3) abundance decline or periodically disrupted dynamics in cyclic populations of small and medium-sized mammals and birds. The first warm spell, 1930-1960, stands out as a period of substantial faunal change. However, in addition to climate warming, suggested drivers of change include land use and other anthropogenic factors. We hypothesize all these drivers interacted, primarily favoring southern generalists. Future research should aim to distinguish between effects of climate and land-use change in boreal and tundra ecosystems.
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| 2. |
- Kuijper, D. P. J., et al.
(författare)
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Paws without claws? Ecological effects of large carnivores in anthropogenic landscapes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 283:1841
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large carnivores are frequently presented as saviours of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning through their creation of trophic cascades, an idea largely based on studies coming primarily out of relatively natural landscapes. However, in large parts of the world, particularly in Europe, large carnivores live in and are returning to strongly human-modified ecosystems. At present, we lack a coherent framework to predict the effects of large carnivores in these anthropogenic landscapes. We review how human actions influence the ecological roles of large carnivores by affecting their density or behaviour or those of mesopredators or prey species. We argue that the potential for density-mediated trophic cascades in anthropogenic landscapes is limited to unproductive areas where even low carnivore numbers may impact prey densities or to the limited parts of the landscape where carnivores are allowed to reach ecologically functional densities. The potential for behaviourally mediated trophic cascades may be larger and more widespread, because even low carnivore densities affect prey behaviour. We conclude that predator-prey interactions in anthropogenic landscapes will be highly context-dependent and human actions will often attenuate the ecological effects of large carnivores. We highlight the knowledge gaps and outline a new research avenue to study the role of carnivores in anthropogenic landscapes.
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| 3. |
- Elmhagen, Bodil, et al.
(författare)
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Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 20:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human population growth and resource use, mediated by changes in climate, land use, and water use, increasingly impact biodiversity and ecosystem services provision. However, impacts of these drivers on biodiversity and ecosystem services are rarely analyzed simultaneously and remain largely unknown. An emerging question is how science can improve the understanding of change in biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery and of potential feedback mechanisms of adaptive governance. We analyzed past and future change in drivers in south-central Sweden. We used the analysis to identify main research challenges and outline important research tasks. Since the 19th century, our study area has experienced substantial and interlinked changes; a 1.6 degrees C temperature increase, rapid population growth, urbanization, and massive changes in land use and water use. Considerable future changes are also projected until the mid-21st century. However, little is known about the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services so far, and this in turn hampers future projections of such effects. Therefore, we urge scientists to explore interdisciplinary approaches designed to investigate change in multiple drivers, underlying mechanisms, and interactions over time, including assessment and analysis of matching-scale data from several disciplines. Such a perspective is needed for science to contribute to adaptive governance by constantly improving the understanding of linked change complexities and their impacts.
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| 4. |
- Larm, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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The role of wildlife tourism in conservation of endangered species : Implications of safari tourism for conservation of the Arctic fox in Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: Human Dimensions of Wildlife. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1087-1209 .- 1533-158X. ; 23:3, s. 257-272
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are both positive and negative impacts on wildlife associated with wildlife tourism. In Sweden, the endangered Arctic fox is subject to a growing tourist interest. In the Helags mountain region there are guided Arctic fox safari tours that provide visitors with information about the Arctic fox. A survey of five separate groups of visitors in the region revealed that knowledge about the status of Arctic foxes and awareness of the behavioral guidelines for Arctic fox encounters improved after participation in a safari tour and with increasing Arctic fox interaction. We propose a schematic model summarizing the diverse ways in which wildlife tourism affects wildlife and their relative importance for conservation. The Arctic fox population in Sweden is small and sensitive to disturbance, but the positive impacts of Arctic fox tourism seem to compensate for the negative and contribute to their conservation under the current level of tourism pressure.
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| 5. |
- Ritchie, Euan G., et al.
(författare)
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Ecosystem restoration with teeth : what role for predators?
- 2012
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Ingår i: Trends in Ecology & Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-5347 .- 1872-8383. ; 27:5, s. 265-271
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent advances highlight the potential for predators to restore ecosystems and confer resilience against globally threatening processes, including climate change and biological invasions. However, releasing the ecological benefits of predators entails significant challenges. Here, we discuss the economic, environmental and social considerations affecting predator-driven ecological restoration programmes, and suggest approaches for reducing the undesirable impacts of predators. Because the roles of predators are context dependent, we argue for increased emphasis on predator functionality in ecosystems and less on the identities and origins of species and genotypes. We emphasise that insufficient attention is currently given to the importance of variation in the social structures and behaviours of predators in influencing the dynamics of trophic interactions. Lastly, we outline experiments specifically designed to clarify the ecological roles of predators and their potential utility in ecosystem restoration.
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| 6. |
- Angerbjörn, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Carnivore conservation in practice : replicatedmanagement actions on a large spatial scale
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 50:1, s. 59-67
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- More than a quarter of the world’s carnivores are threatened, often due to multiple andcomplex causes. Considerable research efforts are devoted to resolving the mechanisms behindthese threats in order to provide a basis for relevant conservation actions. However, evenwhen the underlying mechanisms are known, specific actions aimed at direct support for carnivoresare difficult to implement and evaluate at efficient spatial and temporal scales.2. We report on a 30-year inventory of the critically endangered Fennoscandian arctic foxVulpes lagopus L., including yearly surveys of 600 fox dens covering 21 000 km2. These surveysshowed that the population was close to extinction in 2000, with 40–60 adult animalsleft. However, the population subsequently showed a fourfold increase in size.3. During this time period, conservation actions through supplementary feeding and predatorremoval were implemented in several regions across Scandinavia, encompassing 79% of thearea. To evaluate these actions, we examined the effect of supplemental winter feeding andred fox control applied at different intensities in 10 regions. A path analysis indicated that47% of the explained variation in population productivity could be attributed to lemmingabundance, whereas winter feeding had a 29% effect and red fox control a 20% effect.4. This confirms that arctic foxes are highly dependent on lemming population fluctuationsbut also shows that red foxes severely impact the viability of arctic foxes. This study also highlightsthe importance of implementing conservation actions on extensive spatial and temporalscales, with geographically dispersed actions to scientifically evaluate the effects. We note thatpopulation recovery was only seen in regions with a high intensity of management actions.5. Synthesis and applications. The present study demonstrates that carnivore populationdeclines may be reversed through extensive actions that target specific threats. Fennoscandianarctic fox is still endangered, due to low population connectivity and expected climate impactson the distribution and dynamics of lemmings and red foxes. Climate warming is expected tocontribute to both more irregular lemming dynamics and red fox appearance in tundra areas;however, the effects of climate change can be mitigated through intensive managementactions such as supplemental feeding and red fox control.
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| 7. |
- Bergqvist, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of female body mass and climate on reproduction in northern wild boar
- 2018
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Ingår i: Wildlife Biology. - : Wiley. - 0909-6396 .- 1903-220X.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mammalian life history strategies depend on climate conditions. Hence, reproductive parameters may vary regionally, and knowledge on such patterns are important for sustainable management. Wild boar research has been biased towards south and central Europe. Here we investigate the effects of mother's carcass mass, season and climate (summer temperature and precipitation as well as January temperature) on pregnancy rate and litter size in 601 free-ranging female wild boar from hemiboreal Sweden, close to the north border of wild boar distribution range in Europe. Pregnancy rate was on average 33.4 +/- 1.94% (mean +/- SE), whereas average litter size of pregnant females was 4.7 +/- 0.12. Pregnancy rate was highest during the seasonal reproduction peak in winter and spring, and both pregnancy rate and litter size increased significantly with increasing female body mass. The probability of a female being pregnant exceeded 50% when carcass mass exceeded 58 kg, equivalent to a live mass of 113 kg, and litter size increased by one for each 16 kg increase in female carcass mass. We found no significant effects of temporal variations in climate, and suggest that such variations were not sufficiently large to affect wild boar reproduction. Alternatively, the reproductive strategy of wild boar may be adjusted to prevailing regional climate conditions. In that case, other life history traits, such as mortality, may be more sensitive to short-term climate fluctuations. Wild boar management needs to take temporal variations in reproduction, as well as in resource availability, into consideration when deciding on prudent management actions.
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| 8. |
- Norén, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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From monogamy to complexity : social organization of arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) in contrasting ecosystems
- 2012
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Ingår i: Canadian Journal of Zoology. - 0008-4301 .- 1480-3283. ; 90:9, s. 1102-1116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Canids display pronounced intraspecific variation in social organization, ranging from single breeding females to large and complex groups. Despite several hypotheses in this matter, little is understood about the ecological factors underlying this flexibility. We have used the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (L., 1758)) to investigate how contrasting ecosystem conditions concerning resources and predation influence group formation. We predicted that complex groups are more common in resource-rich ecosystems with predators, whereas simple groups occur in more marginal ecosystems without predators. Samples from 54 groups were collected from four populations of arctic foxes with contrasting prey resources and predation and these samples were genotyped in 10 microsatellite loci. We found considerable variation between ecosystems and a significant relationship between resources and formation of complex groups. We conclude that sufficient amounts of food is a prerequisite for forming complex groups, but that defense against predation further increases the benefits of living in larger groups. We present a conceptual model suggesting that a trade-off between the cost of resource depletion and the benefits obtained for guarding against predators explain the differences in social organization. The variable ecology of the arctic foxes makes it is a plausible model species for understanding the connection between ecology and social organization also in other species.
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| 9. |
- Dalén, Love, et al.
(författare)
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DNA analysis on fox faeces and competition induced niche shifts
- 2004
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 13:8, s. 2389-2392
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Interference competition can force inferior competitors to change their distribution patterns. It is, however, possible that the dominant competitor poses a higher threat during certain times of the year, for example during reproduction. In such cases, the inferior competitor is expected to change its distribution accordingly. We used a molecular species identification method on faeces to investigate how the spatial overlap between arctic and red foxes changes between seasons. The results show that arctic and red foxes are sympatric during winter, but allopatric in summer as arctic foxes retreat to higher altitudes further from the tree-line during the breeding season
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| 10. |
- Herfindal, Ivar, et al.
(författare)
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Population persistence in a landscape context : the case of endangered arctic fox populations in Fennoscandia
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ecography. - : Wiley. - 0906-7590 .- 1600-0587. ; 33:5, s. 932-941
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anthropogenic fragmentation of habitat and populations is recognized as one of the most important factors influencing loss of biodiversity. Since it is difficult to quantify demographic parameters in small populations, we need alternative methods to elucidate important factors affecting the viability of local populations. The Fennoscandian arctic fox inhabits a naturally fragmented alpine tundra environment, but historic anthropogenic impacts have further fragmented its distribution. After almost 80 yr of protection, the population remains critically endangered. Both intrinsic factors (related to the isolation and size of sub-populations) and extrinsic factors (related to environmental conditions influencing patch quality and interspecific competition) have been proposed as explanations for the lack of population growth. To distinguish between these hypotheses, we conducted a spatially explicit analysis that compares areas where the species has persisted with areas where it has become locally extinct. We used characteristics of the fragments of alpine tundra habitat and individual arctic fox breeding dens (including both currently active dens and historically active dens) within the fragments to evaluate the importance of habitat characteristics and connectivity in explaining variation in persistence within a fragment. The number of reproductive events in a fragment was related to the size of the fragment, but not more than expected following a 1:1 relationship, suggesting little effect of fragment size on the relative number of reproductions. The likelihood of a den being used for breeding was positively associated with factors minimising interspecific competition as well as increasing within-fragment connectivity. These results support the idea that the failure of Fennoscandian arctic fox to recover is caused by demographic factors that can be related to fine-scale Allee or Allee-like effects, as well as environmental influences related to increased competition and exclusion by red foxes
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