SANTA BARBARA - Rapidly warming conditions in the Arctic and the loss of sea ice caused by climate change are driving a steep decline in biodiversity, including among plants, fungi and lichen.found the presence of caribou and muskoxen help to reduce the rate of loss by roughly half, suggesting the large herbivores have an under-recognized role as ecosystem climate defenders.
An international team of scientists used steel fencing to set up 800-square-meter plots, or about a fifth of an acre, to exclude or include herbivores and measure the impact on the surrounding environment. Sadly, tundra community diversity declined across the board over the course of the study, both as a direct result of warming but also changing precipitation patterns associated with melting ice, and the increasing shrub cover in the tundra squeezing out other species.AFP/File | Olivier MORIN