Dynamic Mutual Adaptation: Human-Animal Interaction in Reindeer Herding Pastoralism

Istomin, Kirill V.; Dwyer, Mark J.

doi:10.1007/s10745-010-9341-3

Cited by 31 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Encroaching trees therefore change the landscape function (Fig. ) and may break the cyclic pattern of mutual behavioral adaptation between reindeer and herders (Istomin and Dwyer ). Innovative ways of adaption become necessary, potentially including changed grazing rotation, establishment of new sites for animal handling, and trends to more rationalized herding practices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human–animal agency in reindeer management: Sámi herders’ perspectives on vegetation dynamics under climate change

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Many primary livelihoods in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions experience accelerating effects of environmental change. The often close connection between indigenous peoples and their respective territories allows them to make detailed observations of how these changes transform the landscapes where they practice their daily activities. Here, we report S ami reindeer herders' observations based on their long-term inhabitance and use of contrasting pastoral landscapes in northern Fennoscandia. In particular, we focus on the capacity for various herd management regimes to prevent a potential transformation of open tundra vegetation to shrubland or woodland. S ami herders did not confirm a substantial, rapid, or large-scale transformation of treeless tundra areas into shrub-and/or woodlands. However, where they observe encroachment of open tundra landscapes, a range of factors was deemed responsible. These included abiotic conditions, anthropogenic influences, and the direct and indirect effects of reindeer. The advance of the mountain birch tree line was in some cases associated with reduced or discontinued grazing and firewood cutting, depending on the seasonal significance of these particular areas. Where the tree line has risen in elevation and/or latitude, herding practices have by necessity adapted to these changes. Exploiting the capacity of reindeer impacts on vegetation as a conservation tool offers time-tested adaptive strategies of ecosystem management to counteract a potential encroachment of the tundra by woody plants. However, novel solutions in environmental governance involve difficult trade-offs for ecologically sustainable, economically viable, and socially desirable management strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human–animal agency in reindeer management: Sámi herders’ perspectives on vegetation dynamics under climate change

et al. 2017

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“…This migration is neither random nor fully predetermined but is rather based on a holistic system of reindeer herding knowledge which incorporates a range of ecological, socio-economic and cultural considerations of the people in the landscape and implications for the wellbeing of the herders, envisioning the risks and opportunities from day to day (Istomin and Dwyer 2010;Behnke et al 2011). Reindeer herders' mental modelling and perception of the landscape need to be better understood, although some aspects have been discussed elsewhere (Istomin and Dwyer 2010;Behnke et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nenets migration in the landscape: impacts of industrial development in Yamal peninsula, Russia

Degteva

Nellemann

2013

Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice

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Worldwide, traditional pastoralists are facing challenges of industrial development and competitive land use interfering with their nomadic lives. The Yamal peninsula in western Siberia, a homeland of nomadic Nenets reindeer herders, has been subjected to the Bovanenkovo gas field industrial development since the 1980s. We quantitatively assess how industrial development impacts Nenets migration routes and camp sites and discuss implications for their quality of life. In cooperation with herders, we mapped 21 migration routes and followed two reindeer herder brigades for 15 weeks in July 2008 to August 2009, providing insight into both the social and physical challenges facing Nenets herders. Terrain ruggedness, willow cover, migration routes and camp (chum) sites were recorded on 2 × 2 km grid cells on topographic maps. Rugged terrain with willows (31% of the study area), which is land particularly suitable and valuable for reindeer husbandry, contained nearly 61% of all migration routes. All clusters (>8 km 2 ) of rugged terrain were used for grazing, migration and camp sites, reflecting few alternative land opportunities. Many 1-to 3-km narrow passages of such terrain created natural 'bottlenecks' for Nenets migrations in the Yamal landscape. These bottlenecks, used by three to six different reindeer brigades, are crucial for the herders, while competition for land with industrial developers within these areas is particularly high. The physical footprint of Bovanenkovo installations is small, but for the three herding units migrating through these bottlenecks, the industrial development resulted in blockage of two out of four possible routes, loss of major grazing areas and subsequent loss of access to at least 18 traditional camp sites and one sacred site along their traditional route. The combined actions of physical and social impacts from industrial development have reduced migration opportunities and the quality and access to natural resources in the herding cycle. This has thus affected the lives and well-being of indigenous herders in Yamal.

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“…In part inspired by his work, recent anthropological field studies have shed a new light on the respective roles of human and nonhuman components in contemporary pastoral communities. As Kirill Istomin and Mark Dwyer () noted, most classic models of nomadic pastoralism are anthropocentric and assume that humans adapt their way of life to the innate behaviour and needs of animals, but ignore the possibility of reciprocal processes among animals. However, Baskin's works have shown that the great majority of reindeer's behaviour, earlier believed to be coded by an ‘innate instinct’, is actually epigenetically acquired in contact with the environment (for a synthesis, see Baskin ).…”

Section: Studying Reindeer Herding Beyond Nature and Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Istomin and Dwyer observed that, in daily practice, reindeer change and adapt their behaviour to that of their human masters in the same way as herders adapt their behaviour to that of the herd. Animal and human behaviour reinforce each other in a feedback loop, giving rise to a ‘dynamic mutual adaptation’ that varies across different herding systems (Istomin & Dwyer ). Migratory routes are determined jointly by reindeer needs and memory and by herders’ choices, which Hugh Beach and Florian Stammler () described as a ‘circulation of wills’ between humans and animals.…”

Section: Studying Reindeer Herding Beyond Nature and Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These different behaviours are not ‘natural’ and ‘wild’, they are actually learned reactions adapted to the different herding techniques of Komi and of Nenets. This variety of behaviours demonstrates that there are ‘reindeer cultures always accompanying the herders’ cultures’ (Istomin & Dwyer : 621). Each herding system holds its specific combination of reindeer culture and herders’ culture, each of which grows in deep complementarity and permanent mutual adaptation with the other.…”

Section: The Emergence Of New Hybrid Socialitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The rise of reindeer pastoralism in Northern Eurasia: human and animal motivations entangled

Stépanoff

2017

Royal Anthropological Inst

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Explanatory models of how domestic animals entered human societies often focus on human choices and overlook the role of animal agency in this process. After discussing the dichotomy between nature and society in these models and in anthropology, this article examines the respective roles of animal and human motivations and agencies in the advent of reindeer pastoralism in the Eurasian Arctic. Based on recent multidisciplinary approaches, it hypothesizes an intensification process whereby reciprocal adaptations by reindeer and people gave rise to new hybrid herding socialities. It proposes a holist interpretation that takes account of the triadic nature of the ‘pastoral niche’, characterized by an interaction between humans, animals, and the landscape.

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Dynamic Mutual Adaptation: Human-Animal Interaction in Reindeer Herding Pastoralism

Cited by 31 publications

References 19 publications

Human–animal agency in reindeer management: Sámi herders’ perspectives on vegetation dynamics under climate change

Human–animal agency in reindeer management: Sámi herders’ perspectives on vegetation dynamics under climate change

Nenets migration in the landscape: impacts of industrial development in Yamal peninsula, Russia

The rise of reindeer pastoralism in Northern Eurasia: human and animal motivations entangled

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