Ice over lichen \u2013 the mechanism of starving<\/em> reindeer winters<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\nReindeer<\/a> are unique in many ways. They are the only cervids in which antlers can also boast ladies<\/em> (cows, doe). Their vast, all-around polar range is quite fragmented. Scientists and breeders argue to this day whether all reindeer belong to a single species, divided into more than a dozen subspecies, or whether we are dealing with several, distinct species. All of them are perfectly adapted to digging out local wild greens<\/em> from under a thick quilt of snow powder. However, they are becoming helpless in the face of increasingly thick layers of ice on lichen, sedges or polar willows. They have to spend more time and energy chewing up these vegetal<\/em> icicles<\/em> or searching for pastures unsprayed by rain on snow<\/em>. So this energy is becoming increasingly scarce to maintain body temperature, as well as to keep their senses alert. And lovers of their meat are not in short supply [1, 2].<\/p>\n\n\n\nRhines have developed several ways to deal with the hard and thick coating of ice on lichens. They can undertake treks south to eat weevils and chard from the trees and undergrowth of the taiga. They are able to switch their winter diet to some extent from one based mainly on lichens to one composed of grassy plants and creeping oak shrubs or Arctic willows. They increasingly feed on brown algae and other showy algae on seashores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This type of food became available only a dozen or so years ago, when the ice cover of the coasts began to shrink (in time and space). It is the consumption of seaweed that saves the endemic Svalbard rheas from starvation. Evidence of this was provided by research conducted during the winter of 2006-15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"reindeer\"](\"https:\/\/wodnesprawy.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1.jpg\" "\\"Reindeer")
Hero of a growing number of studies and victim of climate change Svalbard\u2019s (Spitzbergen) reindeer Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus; photo I, Perhols\/Wikipedia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nToday, it is no longer necessary to kill these animals or even take samples of their blood with a syringe. It is enough to analyze the concentration of the stable isotopes of carbon \u03b413C, nitrogen \u03b415N and sulfur \u03b434S in the fresh feces of these deer and a variety of lichen, algae, mosses and flowering plants. The reindeer has long enjoyed a reputation as an excellent swimmer, forcing its way across the vast rivers of Siberia by swim, as well as reaching the islands of the Arctic seas on its own power. Nevertheless, this new marine dimension to the terrestrial herbivore\u2019s niche shows how global warming is modifying food webs in unexpected places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s unclear how long this kelp eldorado will be available to Spitzbergian stags. After all, human demand for algae is growing rapidly. More and more species need to be cultivated to satisfy the growing appetites of agriculture, the food and cosmetic industries. Both on Svalbard and in Chukotka and Alaska, mass die-offs of animals we associate with Santa\u2019s sled have already been reported [3].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Arctic rivers don\u2019t freeze over like they used to \u2013 migrations on choppy trails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not only birds and salmon migrate, but also reindeer. Some subspecies, such as: the Finnish reindeer and the tundra caribou, migrate as far as the wildebeest in Africa. Others, such as the Canadian taiga caribou and the Grant\u2019s caribou of western Alaska, are more sedentary. They undertake only short migrations behind lichen or sedges free of the troublesome coating of ice. The rhynes of the Rocky Mountains, the Urals and the Altai descend into the valleys in winter, only to return to the crags in summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When rivers don\u2019t freeze as they used to, it\u2019s easier to fall prey to predators. Especially now that other prey is dwindling, as the bulk of salmon come from aquaculture. The number of hunters is also increasing, as the wolverine has been successfully reintroduced to the wild in Scandinavia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"reindeer\"](\"https:\/\/wodnesprawy.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4-4.jpg\" "\\"Reindeer")
Little reindeer (Peary\u2019s caribou) Rangifer tarandus pearyi \u2013 a nearly sedentary subspecies that undertakes short migrations within and between islands; Paul Gierszewski\/Wikipedia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"reindeer\"](\"https:\/\/wodnesprawy.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3.jpg\" "\\"Reindeer")
Tundra caribou Rangifer tarandus arcticus \u2013 also migrating great distances; Bauer, Erwin and Peggy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\/Wikipedia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"reindeer\"](\"https:\/\/wodnesprawy.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2.jpg\" "\\"Reindeer")
Finnish reindeer Rangifer tarandus fennicus \u2013 a subspecies famous for its long-distance migrations; Theo Kruse Burgers\u2019 Zoo\/Wikipedia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDisjointed trails are not the only problems for the draft animals of Nikolai, Tungusha and Samoyed. They are also being harmed by habitat loss associated with mining development. The Far North has long been tempted by gold and diamonds. Later they were joined by oil and gas, and now rare earth metals. The availability of lichens in the tundra and taiga transition zone is strongly influenced by current forest management. Scandinavia\u2019s forests are being logged earlier today than they were a few decades ago. Native tree species are giving way to dune pine imported from America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For foresters, it\u2019s profit, for rhenus, it\u2019s starvation (since far fewer lichens grow under the canopy of this pine than in the loose canopy of native conifers) plus problems getting through the dense, low-branching stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Someone will say: Oh there, oh there! Both humans and rhenos have already survived a number of climatic changes. Suffice it to mention that 2 million years ago, northern Greenland was on average 10-14\u00b0C warmer. <\/em>They do. In addition to reindeer, it was then inhabited by mastodonts, mammoths, as well as innumerable flocks of hares, barks and geese. Animals were so rich in terms of biomass, number of species and multiplicity of life strategies because the plant cover was much richer than today. In addition to the species that grow in Greenland today, there were also thuyas, yews and balsam poplars, familiar from our urban greenery. The ecosystem there has no counterparts in modern nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rhines have developed several ways to deal with the hard and thick coating of ice on lichens. They can undertake treks south to eat weevils and chard from the trees and undergrowth of the taiga. They are able to switch their winter diet to some extent from one based mainly on lichens to one composed of grassy plants and creeping oak shrubs or Arctic willows. They increasingly feed on brown algae and other showy algae on seashores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This type of food became available only a dozen or so years ago, when the ice cover of the coasts began to shrink (in time and space). It is the consumption of seaweed that saves the endemic Svalbard rheas from starvation. Evidence of this was provided by research conducted during the winter of 2006-15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, it is no longer necessary to kill these animals or even take samples of their blood with a syringe. It is enough to analyze the concentration of the stable isotopes of carbon \u03b413C, nitrogen \u03b415N and sulfur \u03b434S in the fresh feces of these deer and a variety of lichen, algae, mosses and flowering plants. The reindeer has long enjoyed a reputation as an excellent swimmer, forcing its way across the vast rivers of Siberia by swim, as well as reaching the islands of the Arctic seas on its own power. Nevertheless, this new marine dimension to the terrestrial herbivore\u2019s niche shows how global warming is modifying food webs in unexpected places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s unclear how long this kelp eldorado will be available to Spitzbergian stags. After all, human demand for algae is growing rapidly. More and more species need to be cultivated to satisfy the growing appetites of agriculture, the food and cosmetic industries. Both on Svalbard and in Chukotka and Alaska, mass die-offs of animals we associate with Santa\u2019s sled have already been reported [3].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only birds and salmon migrate, but also reindeer. Some subspecies, such as: the Finnish reindeer and the tundra caribou, migrate as far as the wildebeest in Africa. Others, such as the Canadian taiga caribou and the Grant\u2019s caribou of western Alaska, are more sedentary. They undertake only short migrations behind lichen or sedges free of the troublesome coating of ice. The rhynes of the Rocky Mountains, the Urals and the Altai descend into the valleys in winter, only to return to the crags in summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When rivers don\u2019t freeze as they used to, it\u2019s easier to fall prey to predators. Especially now that other prey is dwindling, as the bulk of salmon come from aquaculture. The number of hunters is also increasing, as the wolverine has been successfully reintroduced to the wild in Scandinavia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disjointed trails are not the only problems for the draft animals of Nikolai, Tungusha and Samoyed. They are also being harmed by habitat loss associated with mining development. The Far North has long been tempted by gold and diamonds. Later they were joined by oil and gas, and now rare earth metals. The availability of lichens in the tundra and taiga transition zone is strongly influenced by current forest management. Scandinavia\u2019s forests are being logged earlier today than they were a few decades ago. Native tree species are giving way to dune pine imported from America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For foresters, it\u2019s profit, for rhenus, it\u2019s starvation (since far fewer lichens grow under the canopy of this pine than in the loose canopy of native conifers) plus problems getting through the dense, low-branching stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone will say: Oh there, oh there! Both humans and rhenos have already survived a number of climatic changes. Suffice it to mention that 2 million years ago, northern Greenland was on average 10-14\u00b0C warmer. <\/em>They do. In addition to reindeer, it was then inhabited by mastodonts, mammoths, as well as innumerable flocks of hares, barks and geese. Animals were so rich in terms of biomass, number of species and multiplicity of life strategies because the plant cover was much richer than today. In addition to the species that grow in Greenland today, there were also thuyas, yews and balsam poplars, familiar from our urban greenery. The ecosystem there has no counterparts in modern nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Arctic rivers don\u2019t freeze over like they used to \u2013 migrations on choppy trails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"reindeer\"](\"https:\/\/wodnesprawy.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/5.jpg\" "\\"Reindeer")