Snowy owl hunting in the tundra. A new study shows that predators are the main drivers of the Arctic tundra food chain. (Credit: Nicolas Lecomte)
A new study shows that predators (Arctic fox, wolves, stoat, snowy owls) are the main drivers of the Arctic tundra food chain. Usually, predators regulate the food chain in a given ecosystem, but researchers previously thought that this view did not apply to the Arctic tundra as there are too few herbivores such as caribou, musk-ox, Arctic hare, geese, lemmings. As climate changes drives new predators (such as the Arctic fox) to migrate north, this discovery means that new predators will have more impacts on the Arctic tundra ecosystems than previously thought.
Original research paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change on March 23, 2014.
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