Abstract
The present vegetation-climate relationships have been used to deduce past climate based on paleoecological indicators of past vegetation (Grichuk et al. 1984; COHMAP) and to predict future vegegation distribution based on General Circulation Model projections of future climate (Pastor and Post 1988). The implicit assumption behind these climatic reconstructions is that climate is the major factor determining vegetation distribution. However, animals also strongly influence the species composition, structure, and processes of ecosystems (O’Neill 1976), including boreal forest (Pastor et al. 1988; Bryant et al. 1991) and tundra (Batzli et al. 1980). Consequently, changes in animal abundance can radically alter the structure and species composition of vegetation (Bond 1993), for example, converting grassland to shrubland or forest (Owen-Smith 1987; Schlesinger et al. 1990). Predicting the future structure and distribution of ecosystems (Pastor and Post 1988; IGBP 1990) may, therefore, require consideration of animal diversity and trophic interactions as well as direct effects of climate on vegetation.
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Zimov, S.A., Chuprynin, V.I., Oreshko, A.P., Chapin, F.S., Chapin, M.C., Reynolds, J.F. (1995). Effects of Mammals on Ecosystem Change at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary. In: Chapin, F.S., Körner, C. (eds) Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences. Ecological Studies, vol 113. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78966-3_9
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