Cristin-prosjekt-ID: 259425
Sist endret: 17. september 2008, 13:14

Cristin-prosjekt-ID: 259425
Sist endret: 17. september 2008, 13:14
Prosjekt

Long-term ecological effects of sheep grazing in alpine ecosystems and its integration with management

prosjektleder

Atle Mysterud
ved Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis ved Universitetet i Oslo

prosjekteier / koordinerende forskningsansvarlig enhet

  • Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis ved Universitetet i Oslo

Klassifisering

Vitenskapsdisipliner

Økologi

Tidsramme

Avsluttet
Start: 1. januar 2008 Slutt: 31. desember 2011

Beskrivelse Beskrivelse

Tittel

Long-term ecological effects of sheep grazing in alpine ecosystems and its integration with management

Vitenskapelig sammendrag

We propose to further develop two unique experimental studies in contrasting alpine ecosystems (running from 2000 in Setesdal Vesthei and 2002 in Hol) to address several important new research questions: The overall aim is to facilitate sustainable management of sheep grazing in alpine habitats by providing a scientific basis for relating management alternatives (sheep density) to specific long-term ecological effects of grazing. The initial 6-8 yrs of these two sheep grazing experiments revealed that short-term effects differ for plants, invertebrates, rodents and birds. In addition, effects depend on factors like sheep density and habitat productivity. However, these short-term impacts may differ from long-term ones, because many effects are likely to be indirect, mediated through plants and processes in the soil. Specific objectives are to perform the first experimental, long-term (10 year) study of sheep grazing effects in two contrasting ecosystems (rich and poor), to assess (1) long-term and cascading ecosystem effects; (2) tree-line dynamics along a taiga-tundra ecotone and (3) soil physical and biogeochemical processes and properties; (4) to link density dependent sheep grazing ecology and life history to long-term plant development to understand better how climate and density affect ungulate life history at different temporal scales, and (5) to integrate data from ecological experiments with management scale data on animal density and satellite derived vegetation maps (i.e. up-scaling processes). Our previous project has already demonstrated a direct impact on management in the Setesdal Vesthei and Hardangervidda region, and the outcomes from this proposal will be applicable to sheep grazing in alpine areas and also relevant to semi-domestic reindeer (summer) grazing management.

Metode

The main experimental basis for the proposed project on long-term effects is an existing, unique infrastructure specifically designed to study a wide range of grazing issues. Resource availability is regarded a key factor for grazing effects at least on plants, and therefore we contrast two ecosystems differing in nutrients. Experiment 1: A large-scale enclosure in a relatively nutrient-rich alpine habitat typical of southern Norway (such as Hardangervidda), in Hol, Buskerud, covering 2.7 km2 (17.3 km of fencing) and operated from 2002 till present. The enclosure is separated in 9 compartments (0.3 km2 each with an altitudinal gradient from 1050 to 1250 m a.s.l.). We randomly (block-wise) selected 3 compartments for high density (80 sheep per km2 of grazable habitat), 3 for low density (25 sheep per km2) and 3 controls without sheep; covering the common density range on alpine habitats of Norway. Experiment 2: 10 smaller exclosures (20*50 m) were established in the nutrient-poor mountain range Setesdal-Vesthei and Ryfylkeheiene spring 2000. Exclosures are in areas with a variable sheep density (monitored by pellet group counts).

prosjektdeltakere

prosjektleder
Aktiv cristin-person

Atle Mysterud

  • Tilknyttet:
    Prosjektleder
    ved Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis ved Universitetet i Oslo

Gunnar Austrheim

  • Tilknyttet:
    Prosjektdeltaker

Kristian Hassel

  • Tilknyttet:
    Prosjektdeltaker

Jan Mulder

  • Tilknyttet:
    Prosjektdeltaker

Kari Loe Hjelle

  • Tilknyttet:
    Prosjektdeltaker
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