The role of plant-soil feedbacks in stabilizing a reindeer-induced vegetation shift in subarctic tundra

1.Herbivory can drive vegetation into different states of productivity and community composition, and these changes may be stable over time due to historical contingency effects. Interactions with abiotic and biotic soil components can contribute to such long‐term legacies in plant communities through stabilizing positive feedbacks.

2.We studied the role of plant‐soil feedbacks in maintaining vegetation changes caused by historical (~1350‐1900 AD) reindeer herding in northern Sweden. These historical milking grounds (HMGs) consist of meadow plant communities formed in naturally nutrient poor heath or naturally nutrient rich shrub‐dominated vegetation, and are still clearly visible in the landscape, a century after active use ceased.

3.We selected two phytometer species: the forb Potentilla crantzii as representative of HMG vegetation, and the dwarf shrub Betula nana, as representative of control vegetation. We grew both species under glasshouse conditions on soils derived from rep...