The Challenges and Dilemmas of Concession Reindeer Management in Sweden

Jernsletten, Johnny-Leo L.; Beach, Hugh

doi:10.1007/3-540-31392-3_6

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is a key species inhabiting the circumpolar north [13]. With the rapid and extreme climate and environmental change going on in the arctic and subarctic regions, there is a need to understand how this affects reindeer behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of winter-feeding on reindeer’s future ability to utilize natural pastures

Rautiainen

2024

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae

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Winter feeding of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) has become an increasingly common management action in reindeer husbandry in Sweden, Finland, and Norway when natural grazing resources are unavailable due to the loss of grazing grounds, disturbances, and icing events. In the short term, feeding increases survival and reproduction, but the long-term effects on reindeer’s ability to utilize natural pastures have not been investigated. Herders have raised concerns that fed reindeer, especially calves, do not utilize natural pastures as efficiently as other reindeer. In this thesis, I investigated the short- and long-term effects of winter feeding on reindeer with focus on habitat selection and future foraging behaviour. Interviews were conducted to collect experience-based knowledge on the effects of feeding among reindeer herders. An experimental study was conducted to test how winter feeding of calves during their first winter affects future habitat selection, foraging behaviour, and body weight. I found that there are several unintended effects of feeding that may compromise reindeer’s ability to use the natural pastures efficiently. In the interviews, the effects identified by herders were related to physical traits or behaviour; the reported effects varied between herders, as did the perception of whether an effect was positive or negative. In the experimental study, I found that reindeer calves which were fed in enclosures during their first winter of life were less likely to select areas with higher lichen abundance when on natural pasture compared to reindeer that had spent their first winter on natural pasture. Although, the control animals were also provided feed on pasture to some extent their first winter. Understanding the long-term impacts of winter feeding on reindeer and their ability to utilize natural pastures and adapt to changes in the environment may be crucial when evaluating the effects of different external forces on reindeer husbandry. Knowledge of the short- and long-term effects of feeding on reindeer is important for herders when evaluating if, when and how to feed their reindeer.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of winter-feeding on reindeer’s future ability to utilize natural pastures

Rautiainen

2024

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae

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“…The interactions between reindeer and vegetation in this system are dictated by the style of reindeer herding practised by the tundra Nenets, which affects how the reindeer move across and use the landscape. As described in the Russian literature, this herding style belongs to the so‐called Samoyedic type—a tradition common in the tundra zone of Europe and West Siberia, where it was also adopted by several other ethnic groups, including the Khanty and Komi‐Izhma (Habeck, 2007; Istomin & Dwyer, 2021; Jernsletten & Klokov, 2002). The defining features of Samoyedic reindeer herding, common to all the local variants, are the large herds of up to several thousand reindeer, extended migrations that enable the rotation of seasonal pastures, and herders' constant control over their herds (i.e., 24 hr a day, 7 days a week).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top‐Down Regulation by a Reindeer Herding System Limits Climate‐Driven Arctic Vegetation Change at a Regional Scale

et al. 2023

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Large herbivores have significant impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning throughout Earth's biomes (Enquist et al., 2020;Kristensen et al., 2022;Lundgren et al., 2020). During the Pleistocene, land in the non-glaciated high latitudes supported a diverse assemblage of large herbivores, including mammoth, woolly rhino, and wild horse, that grazed on a productive graminoid-and forb-rich heterogeneous vegetation matrix and likely maintained it through selective foraging, increased nutrient cycling, bark-stripping, and trampling (Macias-Fauria et al., 2020;Olofsson & Post, 2018;Zimov et al., 2012). In the modern moss-and shrub-dominated Arctic tundra, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) are the only remaining large herbivores still widespread (Olofsson & Post, 2018). Local-scale studies, utilizing variations in grazing intensity due to the introduction of reindeer on islands (

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“…Yet, integration has occurred at a cost of cultural identity and connection to the traditional Sami land and lifestyle. The number of reindeer in Sweden have varied between 150,000 and 300,000 in the last 100 years with the latest peak in 1990, the fluctuations due to variations in grazing and predator pressure (Jernsletten & Klokov 2002 ). According to the Swedish Sami Parliament ( 2018 ), about 2500 herders in Sweden have their main income from reindeer herding, of whom about 18% are women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the light of change: a mixed methods investigation of climate perceptions and the instrumental record in northern Sweden

et al. 2018

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Significant climate change in the Arctic has been observed by indigenous peoples and reported in scientific literature, but there has been little research comparing these two knowledge bases. In this study, Sami reindeer herder interviews and observational weather data were combined to provide a comprehensive description of climate changes in Northern Sweden. The interviewees described warmer winters, shorter snow seasons and cold periods, and increased temperature variability. Weather data supported three of these four observed changes; the only change not evident in the weather data was increased temperature variability. Winter temperatures increased, the number of days in cold periods was significantly reduced, and some stations displayed a 2 month-shorter snow cover season. Interviewees reported that these changes to the wintertime climate are significant, impact their identity, and threaten their livelihood. If consistency between human observations of changing weather patterns and the instrumental meteorological record is observed elsewhere, mixed methods research like this study can produce a clearer, more societally relevant understanding of how the climate is changing and the impacts of those changes on human well-being.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11111-018-0302-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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The Challenges and Dilemmas of Concession Reindeer Management in Sweden

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

Effects of winter-feeding on reindeer’s future ability to utilize natural pastures

Effects of winter-feeding on reindeer’s future ability to utilize natural pastures

Top‐Down Regulation by a Reindeer Herding System Limits Climate‐Driven Arctic Vegetation Change at a Regional Scale

In the light of change: a mixed methods investigation of climate perceptions and the instrumental record in northern Sweden

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