Reindeer grazing counterbalances the treeline expansion in the Scandinavian subarctic

• DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-egu25-419
• Publication Date: 2025-03-14T16:16:41Z
• Authors: Liyenne Hagenberg; Femke Pijcke; Tim Horstkotte; Johan Olofsson; Matthias Siewert
• Keywords: Subarctic climate

Herbivory may offset climate change driven treeline expansion into the tundra. This study quantifies effects of reindeer grazing on mountain birch recruitment and growth in ecotone Scandinavian sub-arctic an area with contrasting regimes for past 20 years. We measured seedling density allometry trees below, at, above as well vegetation composition along transects crossing treeline. Additionally, we investigated nutrient loading soils its adult tree rate. Our results show that grazed winter be responding to forcing by expanding diffusely tundra, while no was observed under year-round regime. High pressure also reduced numbers basal shoots number leaves below browsing height (