本期Nature Communications上發(fā)表的一篇研究論文報(bào)告說(shuō)，北極海冰減少有可能會(huì)影響陸地生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的動(dòng)態(tài)，而這又會(huì)直接影響草食性動(dòng)物種群是否能夠成功繁殖,。
過(guò)去曾有人提出,，因大氣中CO2濃度增加而發(fā)生的海冰減少會(huì)對(duì)陸地生態(tài)系統(tǒng)造成影響。Jeffrey Kerby和Eric Post使用了為期11年的一個(gè)時(shí)間段中有關(guān)西格陵蘭的氣溫和海冰多少的數(shù)據(jù),。然后,，他們又使用了在同一時(shí)期的春季和夏季每天收集到的關(guān)于植物出現(xiàn)時(shí)間的數(shù)據(jù)和關(guān)于馴鹿繁殖生物學(xué)的數(shù)據(jù)，目的是在海冰多少與陸地生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的動(dòng)態(tài)之間尋找任何可能的聯(lián)系,。作者將植物出現(xiàn)時(shí)間作為植物什么時(shí)候養(yǎng)分最多的近似值,。吃幼小的、富有營(yíng)養(yǎng)的植物,，會(huì)增加后代存活的機(jī)會(huì),，因此將春天植物生長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間與馴鹿繁殖進(jìn)行匹配，對(duì)于這種馴鹿種群來(lái)說(shuō)是必要的,。然而,，作者在馴鹿繁殖與植物出現(xiàn)時(shí)間之間發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)時(shí)間上的錯(cuò)配：2011年植物出現(xiàn)時(shí)間平均比2002年早16天，而與此同時(shí)馴鹿繼續(xù)在一年的通常時(shí)間進(jìn)行繁殖,。這導(dǎo)致小馴鹿早期死亡率增加和繁殖率降低,。
這里所報(bào)告的植物出現(xiàn)時(shí)間的提前以及由此所導(dǎo)致的馴鹿繁殖表現(xiàn)的降低，與最近所出現(xiàn)的海冰減少的關(guān)系要比與所測(cè)到的其他環(huán)境因素的關(guān)系更密切,。因此,，這項(xiàng)研究突顯了海冰減少對(duì)北極生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的額外間接影響及其對(duì)于陸地物種（包括馴鹿等標(biāo)志性物種）的動(dòng)態(tài)和保護(hù)的重要性。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦的英文摘要
Nature Communications doi:10.1038/ncomms3514
Advancing plant phenology and reduced herbivore production in a terrestrial system associated with sea ice decline
Jeffrey T. Kerby& Eric Post
The contribution of declining Arctic sea ice to warming in the region through Arctic amplification suggests that sea ice decline has the potential to influence ecological dynamics in terrestrial Arctic systems. Empirical evidence for such effects is limited,， however,， particularly at the local population and community levels. Here we identify an Arctic sea ice signal in the annual timing of vegetation emergence at an inland tundra system in West Greenland. According to the time series analyses presented here， an ongoing advance in plant phenology at this site is attributable to the accelerating decline in Arctic sea ice,， and contributes to declining large herbivore reproductive performance via trophic mismatch. Arctic-wide sea ice metrics consistently outperform other regional and local abiotic variables in models characterizing these dynamics,， implicating large-scale Arctic sea ice decline as a potentially important， albeit indirect,， contributor to local-scale ecological dynamics on land.
