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.

Keywords

Climate change; Land-use change; Range shifts; Population cycles; Mammalia; Aves

Published in

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
2015, Volume: 44, number: Suppl 1, pages: 39-50
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Kindberg, Jonas

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts


UKÄ Subject classification

Climate Research
Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0606-8

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/76170