Hilde Karine Wam
Research Professor
Authors
Robert Spitzer Monica Ericson Annika M. Felton Morten Heim David Raubenheimer Erling Johan Solberg Hilde Karine Wam Christer Moe RolandsenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Annika M. Felton Hilde Karine Wam Zbigniew Borowski Aksel Granhus Laura Juvany Juho Matala Markus Melin Märtha Wallgren Anders MårellAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Annika M. Felton Hilde Karine Wam Zbigniew Borowski Aksel Granhus Laura Juvany Canovas Juho Matala Markus Melin Märtha Wallgren Anders MårellAbstract
Climate change causes far-reaching disruption in nature, where tolerance thresholds already have been exceeded for some plants and animals. In the short-term, deer may respond to climate through individual physiological and behavioral responses. Over time, individual responses can aggregate to the population level and ultimately lead to evolutionary adaptations. Because responses by deer to climate change may take many paths - both positive and negative - it is generally difficult to predict outcomes. Here we take the first step to understanding these complexities by systematically synthesizing the literature (published 2000-2022) regarding direct effects of temperature, rainfall and snow on deer inhabiting boreal and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Our review (based on N= 219 papers) shows that while many deer populations will likely benefit from warmer winters, hotter and drier summers may exceed their physiological tolerances, causing northwards shifts in distributional ranges. We found support for deer expressing both phenotypic and behavioral plasticity in response to climate variability at different temporal and spatial scales. We identified 20 general patterns, among which some illustrate antagonistic pathways, suggesting that detrimental effects will cancel out some of the benefits of climate change. Our findings highlight the importance of local variables for any predictions of future responses by a given deer population. We identified several knowledge gaps, such as studies regarding the potential impact on these animals of extreme weather events, snow type and wetter autumns.