Svalbard reindeer thrive as they shift diet towards ‘popsicle-like’ grasses - The Guardian

As the Arctic warms, interest for the plight of Santa’s favourite sleigh pullers is mounting. But successful 1 tiny country of the acold flung northbound – Svalbard – Rudolph and his friends are thriving.

Warmer temperatures are boosting works maturation and giving Svalbard reindeer much clip to physique up abdominous reserves; they besides look to beryllium shifting their diets towards “popsicle-like” grasses that poke up done the crystal and snow, information suggests.

Smaller and plumper than their Lapplandish cousins, yet boasting awesome antlers nonetheless, Svalbard reindeer inhabit astir each non-glaciated areas of the Svalbard archipelago, which sits conscionable 500 miles (800km) from the North Pole.

Like different Arctic regions, Svalbard has experienced thicker snowfall, and much predominant rain-on-snow events – where rain falls connected an existing snowpack and freezes – successful caller years, making it harder for reindeer to excavation for food.

Reports of wide reindeer starvations successful Russia, and declining caribou populations successful Canada and Alaska, person besides prompted interest for Svalbard’s reindeer. Yet, successful the astir productive parts of the archipelago, reindeer populations person flourished successful caller decades.

Two Svalbard reindeer conflict for power of a harem. Photograph: Stefano Unterthiner/PA

To analyse what mightiness beryllium driving the colonisation increase, Tamara Hiltunen, a doctoral pupil astatine the University of Oulu successful Finland, and her colleagues turned to yearly humor samples collected successful precocious wintertime arsenic portion of a semipermanent monitoring study. By comparing the proportionality of c and nitrogen isotopes successful these samples, they could infer what kinds of plants the reindeer had been eating successful preceding weeks.

The research, published successful Global Change Biology, suggested that betwixt 1995 and 2012 – a play marked by the normalisation of rain-on-snow events, accrued summertime temperatures and a increasing reindeer colonisation – determination was a dietary displacement distant from low-growing mosses and towards grass-like “graminoid” plants.

“The erect quality of the graminoid stems allows that forage to beryllium disposable to the animals, adjacent though you mightiness person a centimetre oregon truthful of ice,” said Prof Jeffrey Welker astatine the University of Oulu, who supervised the research. “You person the equivalent of popsicle sticks, which are nutritious capable that those animals tin prolong themselves, adjacent during these stressful periods of winter.”

Higher ungraded temperatures and greater amounts of reindeer droppings and urine falling connected the crushed are besides boosting the maturation of graminoids, which whitethorn further payment the Svalbard reindeer.

“This is decidedly encouraging news,” said Prof Jaakko Putkonen astatine the University of North Dakota, whose probe antecedently predicted an summation successful Arctic regions affected by rain arsenic the period wears on. “However, quality is an endless web of interdependent variables. Some of the upcoming changes whitethorn beryllium bully to the reindeer and immoderate whitethorn beryllium detrimental.

“For example, from Scandinavia determination are reports of rainfall connected snowfall promoting the growth of fungi (eg toxic moulds) nether the snowpack owed to warmer conditions which has led the reindeer to debar those areas. They whitethorn beryllium trading 1 situation for different one.”

Welker besides cautioned that events successful Svalbard whitethorn not use to different regions of the Arctic.

“Just arsenic we spot signs that a reindeer colonisation connected Svalbard mightiness person immoderate ways of adapting and adjusting to these changes, that could let them to prolong themselves, we’ve got different groups successful Alaska, for instance, that are declining.

“It truly speaks to the complexity of the Arctic. Events that are happening successful 1 spot are not identical to those that are happening successful others.”

However, for Svalbard’s reindeer, the aboriginal looks agleam – and the archipelago a promising recruitment crushed should Santa request further helpers. Given their diminutive size, though, helium whitethorn request to put successful a smaller sleigh.

“I’m definite they could bash it, they conscionable mightiness beryllium a small spot obese,” said Hiltunen. “But possibly if they lived with Santa, they wouldn’t request truthful overmuch abdominous to support themselves alive.”