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Publikasjoner

NIBIOs ansatte publiserer flere hundre vitenskapelige artikler og forskningsrapporter hvert år. Her finner du referanser og lenker til publikasjoner og andre forsknings- og formidlingsaktiviteter. Samlingen oppdateres løpende med både nytt og historisk materiale. For mer informasjon om NIBIOs publikasjoner, besøk NIBIOs bibliotek.

2024

Sammendrag

The moose (Alces alces) is a large-bodied, ruminant herbivore inhabiting temperate and boreal forests, where their foraging can profoundly influence ecological processes. In intensively managed landscapes, such as large parts of Scandinavia, browsing by moose can also affect human economic interests, such as commercial forestry. Deciphering the nutritional underpinnings of the moose’ foraging choices is therefore in the interest of both wildlife ecology and forest management. In this talk I will summarise findings from several studies from Scandinavia in which we have used the nutritional geometry framework to study moose foraging behavior. First, a small feeding experiment with captive moose indicated that their food choice was not governed by energy maximization as previously postulated. Instead the moose appeared to combine food to reach a target macronutritional balance. We later confirmed this pattern of macronutrient balancing by analysing rumen content (by wet chemistry and NIRS) and faeces (indirectly via by DNA metabarcoding) from a large number of wild moose during wintertime across Sweden. The moose’ tendency to maintain a stable balance between protein and non-structural carbohydrates was most recently confirmed by a detailed study of moose summer time in Norway, using camera collars and plant collections. These studies on the Scandinavian moose have also revealed patterns of complementarity, compensatory intake, linkages to damage and fitness, and valuable information about key forage plant species, and thereby help to improve our understanding of nutritional ecology.

Sammendrag

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.