The aim of this project is to provide novel insights into the drivers behind long-term reindeer impacts on the carbon balance of high latitude wetland areas. This will be achieved using a unique natural experiment that captures the impacts of different long-term reindeer management types. In addition to this natural set-up, I will explore the drivers of carbon exchange with two additional experiments. In the first of those, the assumed drivers of grazing-induced changes – damage to shrub cover and alleviated nutrient availability – will be manipulated on an area with a long-term history of low grazer influence. In the second, the capacity of the wetland ecosystem to recover from grazing will be assessed using 20-year-old reindeer excluding fences. The combination of these studies will increase mechanical understanding of reindeer impacts on wetland carbon sequestration, and help understanding the conditions and the time-frame when reindeer-induced changes are expected.

2020

2024