The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are composed of eighteen small islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Heavily affected by grazing and harsh weather conditions, the mountaintop vegetation is exposed to multiple environmental pressures. In this project I examined the effects of climate warmi...
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | H2 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés Otro |
| Publicado: |
SLU/Dept. of Ecology
2020
|
| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572698462158848 |
|---|---|
| author | Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún í |
| author_browse | Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún í |
| author_facet | Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún í |
| author_sort | Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún í |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The Faroe Islands are composed of eighteen small islands situated in the middle of the
North Atlantic Ocean. Heavily affected by grazing and harsh weather conditions, the
mountaintop vegetation is exposed to multiple environmental pressures. In this project
I examined the effects of climate warming and grazing on Faroese plant species. Three
different treatments were used; an inside fenced area containing nine plots to exclude
grazing, and another ten plots with Open Top Chambers simulating climate warming and
finally nine plots outside the fenced area, which are consistently exposed to grazing.
Since 2001 high resolution photographs have been taken of the plots, for this study, the
years 2007 and 2017 being chosen for comparison. I developed a new method of plant
cover estimation for this study involving placing a digital quadrat on each photograph
within which the cover of nine different plant species was estimated.
The frequency of several plant species was observed to increase over the 10-year period,
as well as the overall plant diversity. Exceptions included Euphrasia which showed a
negative response to grazing, Salix herbacea and Silene acaulis which were negatively
affected by experimental warming, and Ranunculus acris which responded positively to
experimental warming. The difference in responses to the environmental pressures
examined could be attributed to various reasons; functional plant traits, adaptive
resilience and short term vs. to long term responses, amongst others. The continuation
of this monitoring study will help connect interactions between the different global
drivers of change and resulting effects on plant diversity in a region where climate
consequences are largely unknown. |
| format | H2 |
| id | RepoSLU16143 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés Otro |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Ecology |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Ecology |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU161432020-10-21T01:03:08Z The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands Ávirkanin av seyðabiti og veðurlagsbroytingum á plantusløg í Føroyum Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún í climate change grazing plant responses environmental pressures frequency experimental warming functional plant traits resilience The Faroe Islands are composed of eighteen small islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Heavily affected by grazing and harsh weather conditions, the mountaintop vegetation is exposed to multiple environmental pressures. In this project I examined the effects of climate warming and grazing on Faroese plant species. Three different treatments were used; an inside fenced area containing nine plots to exclude grazing, and another ten plots with Open Top Chambers simulating climate warming and finally nine plots outside the fenced area, which are consistently exposed to grazing. Since 2001 high resolution photographs have been taken of the plots, for this study, the years 2007 and 2017 being chosen for comparison. I developed a new method of plant cover estimation for this study involving placing a digital quadrat on each photograph within which the cover of nine different plant species was estimated. The frequency of several plant species was observed to increase over the 10-year period, as well as the overall plant diversity. Exceptions included Euphrasia which showed a negative response to grazing, Salix herbacea and Silene acaulis which were negatively affected by experimental warming, and Ranunculus acris which responded positively to experimental warming. The difference in responses to the environmental pressures examined could be attributed to various reasons; functional plant traits, adaptive resilience and short term vs. to long term responses, amongst others. The continuation of this monitoring study will help connect interactions between the different global drivers of change and resulting effects on plant diversity in a region where climate consequences are largely unknown. Føroyar, eitt lítið oyggjasamfelag, liggja mitt í Norður Atlants havinum. Gróðurin er sera nógv ávirkaður av seyðabiti og sum heild er veðurlagið ógvuliga ábært og vindhart. Hetta merkir at fjallagróðurin í Føroyum er undir nógvum umhvørvisligum trýsti. Í hesari uppgávu vóru ávirkanin av hita og seyðabiti á ymisk plantusløg á føroyskum fjøllum kannaði. Níggju innhegnaðar støðir sum útihýsa seyði vórðu kannaðar. Somuleiðis vóru kannaðar tíggju støðir, sum eftirlíkna eitt heitari veðurlag og níggju støðir uttanfyri hegnið, har seyður hevur atgongd, kannaðar. Góðskugóðar myndir hava verið tiknar av hvørjari støð síðani 2001, og árini 2007 og 2017 vóru samanborin í hesi kanning. Ein nýggjur granskingarháttur varð gjørdur í samband við hetta kanningararbeiðið. Ein talgildur kvadratur varð teknaður á hvørja mynd og síðani vóru plantu sløgini eyðmerkt og tald. Sum heild vístu úrslitini at plantusløgini koma seg væl hóast seyðabit. Yvir eitt 10-ára tíðarskeið vuksu tær flestu meira enn tær vóru etnar, og sum heild hækkaði plantuliga margfeldið í hesum tíðarskeiðinum. Kortini vísti tað seg at seyðabit hevði eina negativa ávirkan plantuslagið Euphrasia. Tvey sløg, ávíkavíst Salix herbacea og Silene acaulis vóru negativt ávirkað av hita, hinvegin vísti Ranunculus acris seg at tola hita væl. Orsøkin til at plantusløgini vóru ymiskt ávirkaði av kannaðu umhvørvis trýstum kunnu vera fleiri; planturnar kunnu hava ymisk virkiseyðkenni, sum gera tær meiri mótstøðuførar enn aðrar. Eisini kunnu tær hava tillaga seg til náttúruumhvørvið í Føroyum. Ein grund kann eisini vera at stutttíðar kanningar, sum hendan, vísa øðrvísi úrslit enn langtíðar kanningar. At enda hevur tað alstóran týdning at hendan eftirlits kanning heldur fram soleiðis at sambindingarnar millum tey drívhjól handan umhvørvisbroytingar gerast sjónligari og eru við til at lýsa ávirkanina á plantuliga margfeldið í einum øki har avleiðingar av veðulagsbroytingum enn eru ókendar. SLU/Dept. of Ecology 2020 H2 eng other https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/16143/ |
| spellingShingle | climate change grazing plant responses environmental pressures frequency experimental warming functional plant traits resilience Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún í The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands |
| title | The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands |
| title_full | The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands |
| title_fullStr | The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands |
| title_short | The effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the Faroe Islands |
| title_sort | effects of grazing and climate warming on plant species in the faroe islands |
| topic | climate change grazing plant responses environmental pressures frequency experimental warming functional plant traits resilience |