Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

High-voltage power lines near wild reindeer calving areas

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Wildlife Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Within ungulate home ranges, suitable calving areas are of crucial importance for maintaining the reproductive potential of populations. Using GPS telemetry from a unique time series spanning before, during and after the construction of a 420-kV power line, we present results on calving site locations and area use during calving for two wild reindeer Rangifer tarandus tarandus populations (Setesdal West and Setesdal East) in Norway. For both populations, reindeer consistently preferred a core calving area at 4–8 km distance from the new power line in all three periods, indicating little preference of areas near the new power line. A reduction of the use of areas up to 6 km from the new power line during construction in Setesdal West may possibly indicate a disturbance effect. Contrary to our expectation, reindeer area use close to the new power line increased after construction in Setesdal East. Reindeer intensely used areas close to another existing 132 kV power line crossing the core calving area of Setesdal East during all years. However, reindeer area use was reduced up to 2 km from existing parallel 420 and 300 kV power lines located at the periphery of the calving area in Setesdal West, likely because of poor habitat. Our findings indicate that power lines may not be a disturbance causing avoidance effects for wild ungulates, while construction activities can induce a temporary reduction in area use.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersen R, Hustad H (2004) Villrein & Samfunn. En veiledning til bevaring og bruk av Europas siste villreinfjell. Booklet 27, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway. pp 77.

  • Barraquand F, Benhamou S (2008) Animal movements in heterogeneous landscapes: identifying profitable places and homogeneous movement bouts. Ecology 89:3336–3348. doi:10.1890/08-0162.1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bates D, Mächler M, Bolker BM, Walker SC (2014) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.5823.pdf. Accessed 10 April 2015

  • Bauder JM, Castellano C, Jensen JB, Stevenson DJ, Jenkins CL (2014) Comparison of movements, body weight, and habitat selection between translocated and resident gopher tortoises. J Wildl Manag 78:1444–1455. doi:10.1002/Jwmg.790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck PSA, Atzberger C, Hogda KA, Johansen B, Skidmore AK (2006) Improved monitoring of vegetation dynamics at very high latitudes: a new method using MODIS NDVI. Remote Sens Environ 100:321–334. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2005.10.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergerud AT, Luttich SN, Camps L (2008) The return of the caribou to Ungava. McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergmo T (2011) Potential avoidance and barrier effects of a power line on range use and migration patterns of semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). MSC Thesis. Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås

  • Bischof R, Loe LE, Meisingset EL, Zimmermann B, Van Moorter B, Mysterud A (2012) A migratory northern ungulate in the pursuit of spring: jumping or surfing the green wave? Am Nat 180:407–424. doi:10.1086/667590

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boyce MS, McDonald LL (1999) Relating populations to habitats using resource selection functions. Trends Ecol Evol 14:268–272. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01593-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information–theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer-Verlag, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Colman JE, Lilleeng MS, Tsegaye D, Vigeland MD, Reimers E (2012) Responses of wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) when provoked by a snow-kiter or skier: a model approach. Appl Anim Behav Sci 142:82–89. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2012.08.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dzialak MR, Harju SM, Osborn RG, Wondzell JJ, Hayden-Wing LD, Winstead JB, Webb SL (2011) Prioritizing conservation of ungulate calving resources in multiple-use landscapes. PLoS ONE 6, e14597. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014597

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Flydal K, Reimers E (2002) Relationship between calving time and physical condition in three wild reindeer Rangifer tarandus populations in southern Norway. Wildl Biol 8:145–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Flydal K, Korslund L, Reimers E, Johansen F, Colman JE (2009) Effects of power lines on area use and behaviour of semi-domestic reindeer in enclosures. Int J Ecol 2009:1–14. doi:10.1155/2009/340953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frid A, Dill LM (2002) Human-caused disturbance stimuli as a form of predation risk. Conserv Ecol 6:11. http://www.consecol.org/vol6/iss1/art11/

  • Giuggioli L, Bartumeus F (2012) Linking animal movement to site fidelity. J Math Biol 64:647–656. doi:10.1007/s00285-011-0431-7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Godvik IMR, Loe LE, Vik JO, Veiberg V, Langvatn R, Mysterud A (2009) Temporal scales, trade-offs, and functional responses in red deer habitat selection. Ecology 90:699–710. doi:10.1890/08-0576.1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gunn A, Miller FL (1986) Traditional behaviour and fidelity to calving grounds by barren-ground caribou. Rangifer Special Issue No (1):151–158

  • Hebblewhite M, Merrill E, McDermid G (2008) A multi-scale test of the forage maturation hypothesis in a partially migratory ungulate population. Ecol Monogr 78:141–166. doi:10.1890/06-1708.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helle T, Hallikainen V, Sarkela M, Haapalehto M, Niva A, Puoskari J (2012) Effects of a holiday resort on the distribution of semi-domesticated reindeer. Ann Zool Fenn 49:23–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinkes MT, Collins GH, Van Daele LJ, Kovach SD, Aderman AR, Woolington JD, Seavoy RJ (2005) Influence of population growth on caribou herd identity, calving ground fidelity, and behavior. J Wildl Manag 69:1147–1162. doi:10.2193/0022-541x(2005)069[1147:Iopgoc]2.0.Co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hird JN, McDermid GJ (2009) Noise reduction of NDVI time series: an empirical comparison of selected techniques. Remote Sens Environ 113:248–258. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2008.09.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horne JS, Garton EO, Krone SM, Lewis JS (2007) Analyzing animal movements using Brownian bridges. Ecology 88:2354–2363. doi:10.1890/06-0957.1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson CJ, Boyce MS, Case RL, Cluff HD, Gau RJ, Gunn A, Mulders R (2005) Cumulative effects of human developments on arctic wildlife. Wildl Monogr 160:1–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein DR (1991) Caribou in the changing north. Appl Anim Behav Sci 29:279–291. doi:10.1016/0168-1591(91)90254-U

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manley BFJ, McDonald LL, Thomass DL, McDonald TL (2002) Resource selection by animals: statistical design and analysis for field studies, 2nd edn. Kluwer Academic, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Marell A, Edenius L (2006) Spatial heterogeneity and hierarchical feeding habitat selection by reindeer. Arct Antarct Alp Res 38:413–420. doi:10.1657/1523-0430(2006)38[413:Shahfh]2.0.Co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller TA et al (2014) Assessing risk to birds from industrial wind energy development via paired resource selection models. Conserv Biol 28:745–755. doi:10.1111/Cobi.12227

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nellemann C, Vistnes I, Jordhøy P, Strand O (2001) Winter distribution of wild reindeer in relation to power lines, roads and resorts. Biol Conserv 101:351–360. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00082-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nellemann C, Vistnes I, Jordhøy P, Strand O, Newton A (2003) Progressive impact of piecemeal infrastructure development on wild reindeer. Biol Conserv 113:307–317. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00048-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielson R, Sawyer H, McDonald T (2013) Package ‘BBMM’. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/BBMM/BBMM.pdf. Accessed 20 January 2015

  • Nybakk K, Kjelvik O, Kvam T (1999) Golden eagle predation on semidomestic reindeer. Wildl Soc B 27:1038–1042

    Google Scholar 

  • Nybakk K, Kjelvik A, Kvam T, Overskaug K, Sunde P (2002) Mortality of semi-domestic reindeer Rangifer tarandus in central Norway. Wildl Biol 8:63–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Panzacchi M, Van Moorter B, Jordhøy P, Strand O (2013a) Learning from the past to predict the future: using archaeological findings and GPS data to quantify reindeer sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance in Norway. Landsc Ecol 28:847–859. doi:10.1007/s10980-012-9793-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panzacchi M, Van Moorter B, Strand O (2013b) A road in the middle of one of the last wild reindeer migration routes in Norway: crossing behaviour and threats to conservation. Rangifer 33:15–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pape R, Löffler J (2012) Climate change, land use conflicts, predation and ecological degradation as challenges for reindeer husbandry in northern Europe: what do we really know after half a century of research? Ambio 41:421–434. doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0257-6

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peters W et al (2015) Resource selection and connectivity reveal conservation challenges for reintroduced brown bears in the Italian Alps. Biol Conserv 186:123–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettorelli N, Vik JO, Mysterud A, Gaillard JM, Tucker CJ, Stenseth NC (2005) Using the satellite-derived NDVI to assess ecological responses to environmental change. Trends Ecol Evol 20:503–510. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.05.011

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Sttistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimers E, Colman JE (2006) Reindeer and caribou (Rangifer) response to human activity. Rangifer 26:55–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reimers E, Klein DR, Sorumgard R (1983) Calving time, growth-rate, and body size of Norwegian reindeer on different ranges. Arct Alp Res 15:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reimers E, Dahle B, Eftestøl S, Colman JE, Gaare E (2007) Effects of a power line on migration and range use of wild reindeer. Biol Conserv 134:484–494. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reimers E, Røed KH, Colman JE (2012) Persistence of vigilance and flight response behaviour in wild reindeer with varying domestic ancestry. J Evol Biol 25:1543–1554. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02538.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reimers E, Tsegaye D, Colman JE, Eftestøl S (2014) Activity patterns in reindeer with domestic vs. wild ancestry. Appl Anim Behav Sci 150:74–84. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2013.10.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell DE, Kofinas G, Griffith B (2002) Barrenground caribou calving ground workshop: report of proceedings. Technical Report Series No ( 390). Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Skarin A, Åhman B (2014) Do human activity and infrastructure disturb domesticated reindeer? The need for the reindeer's perspective. Polar Biol 37:1041–1054. doi:10.1007/s00300-014-1499-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skogland T (1984) Wild reindeer foraging-niche organization. Holarct Ecol 7:345–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Taillon J, Festa-Bianchet M, Cote SD (2012) Shifting targets in the tundra: protection of migratory caribou calving grounds must account for spatial changes over time. Biol Conserv 147:163–173. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.12.027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson BR (1977) The behaviour of wild reindeer in Norway. Dissertation, University of Edinburgh, UK

  • Tveraa T, Fauchald P, Yoccoz NG, Ims RA, Aanes R, Hogda KA (2007) What regulate and limit reindeer populations in Norway? Oikos 116:706–715. doi:10.1111/j.2007.0030-1299.15257.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Wal R, Madan N, van Lieshout S, Dormann C, Langvatn R, Albon SD (2000) Trading forage quality for quantity? Plant phenology and patch choice by Svalbard reindeer. Oecologia 123:108–115. doi:10.1007/s004420050995

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vistnes I, Nellemann C (2001) Avoidance of cabins, roads, and power lines by reindeer during calving. J Wildl Manag 65:915–925. doi:10.2307/3803040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vistnes I, Nellemann C (2008a) Reindeer winter grazing in alpine tundra: Impacts on ridge community composition in Norway. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:215–224. doi:10.1657/1523-0430(07-001)[vistnes]2.0.co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vistnes I, Nellemann C (2008b) The matter of spatial and temporal scales: a review of reindeer and caribou response to human activity. Polar Biol 31:399–407. doi:10.1007/s00300-007-0377-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vistnes I, Nellemann C, Jordhøy P, Strand O (2004) Effects of infrastructure on migration and range use of wild reindeer. J Wildl Manag 68:101–108. doi:10.2193/0022-541X(2004)068[0101:EOIOMA]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vistnes I, Nellemann C, Jordhøy P, Støen OG (2008) Summer distribution of wild reindeer in relation to human activity and insect stress. Polar Biol 31:1307–1317. doi:10.1007/s00300-008-0468-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittmer HU, McLellan BN, Hovey FW (2006) Factors influencing variation in site fidelity of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in southeastern British Columbia. Can J Zool 84:537–545. doi:10.1139/Z06-026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Griffith B, Wolfe CAG (2000) Response of reindeer and caribou to human activities. Polar Res 19:63–73. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2000.tb00329.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Walker NJ, Saveliev AA, Smith GM (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Marte S. Lilleeng, Nora L. Colman and the Norwegian Wildlife Police (Statens Naturoppsyn (SNO) for excellent fieldwork, and Olav Strand with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and Tor Punsvik (environmental manager for the region) for their excellent cooperation with the GPS-project. Our work was supported as part of the KraftRein project, with major funding from The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) and Statnett. These two sources of funding were in no way involved in any aspects of the research, study design, data collection, and analyses, interpretation of results, or manuscript preparation and eventual publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Jonathan E. Colman, Diress Tsegaye, Kjetil Flydal, Inger Maren Rivrud, Eigil Reimers & Sindre Eftestøl

  2. Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432, Ås, Norway

    Jonathan E. Colman, Diress Tsegaye & Sindre Eftestøl

  3. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Inger Maren Rivrud

Authors
  1. Jonathan E. Colman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Diress Tsegaye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kjetil Flydal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Inger Maren Rivrud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Eigil Reimers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sindre Eftestøl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diress Tsegaye.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 1405 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Colman, J.E., Tsegaye, D., Flydal, K. et al. High-voltage power lines near wild reindeer calving areas. Eur J Wildl Res 61, 881–893 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0965-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0965-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation