Do human activity and infrastructure disturb domesticated reindeer? The need for the reindeer’s perspective

Abstract

In recent decades, human-Rangifer (reindeer and caribou) interactions have increasingly been studied from a scientific perspective. Many of the studies have examined Norwegian wild reindeer or caribou in North America. It is often questioned whether results from these studies can be applied to reindeer in managed herds, as these animals have been exposed to domestication and are also more used to humans. In order to examine the domesticated reindeer's reactions to various disturbance sources, we reviewed 18 studies of the effects of human activity and infrastructure on 12 populations of domesticated reindeer and compared these to studies on wild reindeer and caribou; based on this, we discuss the effects of domestication and tameness on reindeer responses to anthropogenic disturbance. We also consider the relevance of spatial and temporal scales and data collection methods when evaluating the results of these studies. The reviewed studies showed that domesticated reindeer exhibit avoidance behaviours up to 12 km away from infrastructure and sites of human activity and that the area they avoid may shift between seasons and years. Despite a long domestication process, reindeer within Sami reindeer-herding systems exhibit similar patterns of large-scale avoidance of anthropogenic disturbance as wild Rangifer, although the strength of their response may sometimes differ. This is not surprising since current Sami reindeer husbandry represents an extensive form of pastoralism, and the reindeer are not particularly tame. To obtain a true picture of how reindeer use their ranges, it is of fundamental importance to study the response pattern at a spatial and temporal scale that is relevant to the reindeer, whether domesticated or wild.

Wind farm construction impacts reindeer migration and movement corridors

“…Avoidance of roads is commonly found in similar studies of both reindeer and caribou, especially during calving or in late winter (e.g. Lundqvist 2007;Anttonen et al 2011;Leblond et al 2011), and they are usually avoided by reindeer with a distance of 1-1.5 km (Skarin and Å hman 2014). Although the mean density of roads was low in the area (0.32 km/km 2 ), it was never more than 4 km to the nearest main road.…”

“…Furthermore, females also make up the majority (ca. 70 %) of the herd, and they normally move as part of a herd except for about 1 week after individual calving, and are thus likely to provide the most representative picture of how the reindeer herds use their ranges (Skarin and Å hman 2014). We used position data collected every 2 h from female reindeer that occupied the study area in and around the construction site during the calving and post-calving seasons in 2008-2011 (Table 1).…”

“…We used a standard two-sample t test to determine whether movement rates varied between the two periods and within which distance (buffer zone) a probable difference between pre-construction and construction no longer existed. The buffer distances were arbitrary chosen; however covering distances from the wind farm, which we know from the disturbance literature could have an effect on reindeer (Skarin and Å hman 2014). Secondly, we used the Brownian Bridge Movement Model (BBMM) to estimate individual-and population-level movement corridors for GPS-collared reindeer for each study phase (Horne et al 2007).…”

“…One of the major threats to current Sámi reindeer husbandry is habitat loss due to direct or indirect impacts from competing land use (Danell 2005;Pape and Loeffler 2012). Numerous studies have documented large-scale effects on free-ranging reindeer from industrial development, resorts, roads, power lines and forestry operations, especially during late winter and the calving season (for review see Skarin and Å hman 2014). Forestry, along with fragmentation from infrastructure such as roads, power lines, mines, industrial construction sites and population centres, prevents reindeer from selecting optimal grazing land and using their available forage resources effectively (e.g.…”

“…Wind ''farms'' containing several hundred and even one thousand wind turbines are being planned and built, with little knowledge of the possible adverse effects on reindeer husbandry and the habitat use and migrations of free-ranging reindeer, as well as other species. Until now, only two studies have examined the effect of wind farm construction sites and only at very local scales (Colman et al 2012(Colman et al , 2013, thus possibly seriously underestimating the regional avoidance that is clearly the most commonly observed impact on reindeer and caribou of industrial development; this has been widely observed in more than 48 studies in the circumpolar Arctic (Vistnes and Nellemann 2008;Skarin and Å hman 2014). Pre-and post-development studies are particularly important at broader scales in order to detect any changes in use by reindeer, with studies showing reduced use up to tens of kilometres, even over decades (Nellemann et al , 2003(Nellemann et al , 2010.…”