As Shrubs Expanded Into a Warming Arctic, Moose Followed
Yereth Rosen
Alaska Dispatch News
April 15, 2016
Shrubs expanding northward into a warming Arctic — and growing taller as they did — paved the way for moose to expand their range northward too.
That’s the finding of a newly published study by scientists with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The long-legged ungulates were absent from Alaska’s northernmost tundra regions in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, but in recent decades, populations have spread along the rivers and streams that flow into the Arctic Ocean, said the study, which was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The proliferation of woody plants along rivers and streams made that moose expansion possible.
More: As shrubs expanded into a warming Arctic, moose followed