On the tragedy of the commons: When predation and livestock loss may improve the economic lot of herders

Skonhoft, Anders; Johannesen, Anne Borge; Olaussen, Jon Olaf

doi:10.1007/s13280-017-0910-1

Cited by 12 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Management policy has been supported and encouraged by evidence of poor body growth of reindeer and of density-dependent changes in the biomass and botanical composition of reindeer pasture, especially in the north of the country (Fauchald et al, 2004;Bråthen et al, 2007;Ims et al, 2007;Tømmervik et al, 2009). These perceived evils have been attributed to overgrazing associated with their being 'too many reindeer' (e.g., Office of the Auditor General, 2004; Riseth and Vatn, 2009;Pape and Löffler, 2012;Benjaminsen et al, 2016b, Skonhoft et al, 2017. From this interpretation stems policy and legislation aimed specifically at reducing numbers of reindeer and thereby in some unspecified way achieving 'ecological, economic and cultural sustainability' of reindeer pastoralism (Government of Norway, 1992; see also Tyler et al, 2007).…”

Section: Human Intervention On Reindeer Pasture: Out Of Sight Out Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Tyler

Hanssen-Bauer

Førland

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The productive performance of large ungulates in extensive pastoral grazing systems is modulated simultaneously by the effects of climate change and human intervention independent of climate change. The latter includes the expansion of private, civil and military activity and infrastructure and the erosion of land rights. We used Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway as a model in which to examine trends in, and to compare the influence of, both effects on a pastoral grazing system. Downscaled projections of mean annual temperature over the principal winter pasture area (Finnmarksvidda) closely matched empirical observations across 34 years to 2018. The area, therefore, is not only warming but seems likely to continue to do so. Warming notwithstanding, 50-year (1969–2018) records of local weather (temperature, precipitation and characteristics of the snowpack) demonstrate considerable annual and decadal variation which also seems likely to continue and alternately to amplify and to counter net warming. Warming, moreover, has both positive and negative effects on ecosystem services that influence reindeer. The effects of climate change on reindeer pastoralism are evidently neither temporally nor spatially uniform, nor indeed is the role of climate change as a driver of change in pastoralism even clear. The effects of human intervention on the system, by contrast, are clear and largely negative. Gradual liberalization of grazing rights from the 18th Century has been countered by extensive loss of reindeer pasture. Access to ~50% of traditional winter pasture was lost in the 19th Century owing to the closure of international borders to the passage of herders and their reindeer. Subsequent to this the area of undisturbed pasture within Norway has decreased by 71%. Loss of pasture due to piecemeal development of infrastructure and to administrative encroachment that erodes herders' freedom of action on the land that remains to them, are the principal threats to reindeer husbandry in Norway today. These tangible effects far exceed the putative effects of current climate change on the system. The situation confronting Saami reindeer pastoralism is not unique: loss of pasture and administrative, economic, legal and social constraints bedevil extensive pastoral grazing systems across the globe.

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Section: Human Intervention On Reindeer Pasture: Out Of Sight Out Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Tyler

Hanssen-Bauer

Førland

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Mattisson et al (2011) conclude that semidomestic reindeers are the main prey for lynx in northern Scandinavia. The impact of predation is analyzed in Skonhoft, Johannesen, and Olaussen (2017). They study the steady state (equilibrium) in an age-and sex-structured reindeer population model and find that predation may improve the livestock holders economic result.…”

Section: Possible Extensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pasture–livestock dynamics with density‐dependent harvest and changing environment

Bergland

Wyller

Burlakov

2019

Natural Resource Modeling

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We model pasture–livestock interactions by means of a predator–prey model, with the biomass vegetation as prey and the herbivores as predators. The harvesting rate is a sigmoidal function of the livestock density. We identify the necessary biological and harvest conditions for different equilibria of this model to exist. The system possesses no interior equilibrium points for the mortality rate exceeding a certain threshold. For the regime of low and moderate values of the mortality rate and a high consumption rate per animal, a unique finite and asymptotically stable state exists. We incorporate the effect of forage resource deterioration over time, causing extra decrease in the herbivore population and in the biomass density. We also include the effect of fluctuations in the availability of fodder by allowing for a seasonal periodic variation in the conversion efficiency. This results in extra oscillations superimposed on the general trends of the unperturbed system. Recommendations for Resource Managers Depending on biological and harvest conditions, the system possesses up to three equilibrium states. Forage resource deterioration over time causes an extra decrease in the herbivore population and in the biomass density. A seasonal periodic variation in the conversion efficiency results in oscillations mainly in the herbivore density superimposed on the general trends of the unperturbed system.

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“…Cultural norms that identify species as ‘pest’ or ‘beneficial’ do not always reflect the actual contribution to ecosystem services supply and human well‐being (Saunders et al., 2016). For example, predation of livestock by wild mammals is nearly always perceived to be a disservice; however, in Saami reindeer systems in Norway, Skonhoft, Johannesen, and Olaussen (2017) showed that losses of reindeer to wild predators can be economically beneficial to human herders, as it may compensate for natural mortality and increase feeding conditions for remaining livestock. Conversely, government policies to maintain alien vertebrate populations in Australian national parks prioritize a cultural benefit to a small specialized community (e.g.…”

Section: Future Directions: Defining and Measuring Ecosystem Disservicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual ambiguity hinders measurement and management of ecosystem disservices

Saunders

2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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The term ‘ecosystem disservices’ is used to refer to ecological costs that humans experience from nature. Managing ecosystems to protect ecosystem function and minimize costs to human well‐being is a global imperative. Like ecosystem services, disservices are outcomes of ecological processes and interactions. They are supplied concurrently with ecosystem services, not as isolated outcomes of ecosystem function. Therefore, accurate measurement of disservices must identify the ecological interactions contributing to the disservice, as well as any associated services. Despite regular calls for increased rigour around measuring services and disservices, conceptual and methodological ambiguities dominate the ecosystem disservices literature. A systematic literature review revealed 85 studies that aimed to explicitly identify or measure ecosystem disservices. Only 13 studies met both essential criteria for an empirical assessment of disservices: identification of the ecological interactions supplying the disservice and identification of associations between services and disservices. Most empirical studies identify ecosystem disservices based on subjective opinions or proxy data, and rarely acknowledge how disservices are related to services within the system. Some identify the presence of unwanted organisms, management costs, minor nuisances and personal aversions as ecosystem disservices. Synthesis and applications. Disservices are supplied concurrently with ecosystem services and human perceptions do not always accurately represent ecological costs in social–ecological systems. Hence, knowledge of the ecological interactions underlying perceived and actual disservices is vital for evidence‐informed decision‐making that sustains biodiversity and human well‐being.

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On the tragedy of the commons: When predation and livestock loss may improve the economic lot of herders

Cited by 12 publications

References 22 publications

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Pasture–livestock dynamics with density‐dependent harvest and changing environment

Conceptual ambiguity hinders measurement and management of ecosystem disservices

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