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The Pursuit of Population Collapses: Long-Term Dynamics of Semi-Domestic Reindeer in Sweden

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Abstract

Spatiotemporal reindeer population fluctuations are a result of multiple factors that working in concert affecting the structure and functioning of many Arctic and Sub-Arctic ecosystems. We investigated the population dynamics of Swedish semi-domestic reindeer from 1945 to 2012 at the reindeer herding district-level (Sameby) to identify possible population collapses or declines. We also explored spatial trends and synchrony in population dynamics across latitudinal-longitude gradients for two distinct periods: 1945–1965 and 1995–2012 but found no evidence of large-scale reindeer population declines and no visible synchrony across adjacent populations. Our findings were unexpected as both reindeer populations and the pastoral lifestyle face increased habitat loss, predation, fragmentation and climate change.

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Notes

  1. https://www.sametinget.se/statistik/renhjorden assessed 12.02.2016.

  2. See Jernsletten and Klokov (2002) for a detailed description of reindeer herding and management in Sweden, with recent updates at the Sami Parliament webpage (see legends in Fig. 1 for details).

  3. It was, for example, reasonable to a priori expect a large K in the past to be associated with a large K in the present for the same population.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Hans A. Tømmervik for pointing us to the data on reindeer counts from 1945 to 1965 and for valuable discussions during the development of the study. We also thank the Sami Parliament of Sweden, represented by Rickard Doj, for access to recent data (1995-2012). BJB and MWN were financed by 1) HIERARCHIES, funded by the Norwegian Research Council (project number: 240280); 2) the Fram Centre’s two flagships: ‘Effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, landscapes, society and indigenous peoples’ and ‘Environmental impact of industrial development in the north (MIKON)’; as well as 3) WP2 and WP4 of the project “Reindeer Husbandry in a Globalizing North – Resilience, Adaptations and Pathways for Actions (ReiGN)”, which is a Nordforsk-funded “Nordic Centre of Excellence” (project number 76915). NS was supported by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency funded programme “Beyond Moose”.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arctic Ecology Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Fram Centre, N-9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen

  2. High North, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (NIKU), Fram Centre, N-9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Marius Warg Næss

  3. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Navinder J. Singh

  4. Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, SLU, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Birgitta Åhman

Authors
  1. Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen
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  2. Marius Warg Næss
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  3. Navinder J. Singh
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  4. Birgitta Åhman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen.

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The use and presentation of the data for the period 1995–2012 has been approved by the Sami Parliament of Sweden.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Bårdsen, BJ., Næss, M.W., Singh, N.J. et al. The Pursuit of Population Collapses: Long-Term Dynamics of Semi-Domestic Reindeer in Sweden. Hum Ecol 45, 161–175 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-016-9880-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-016-9880-3

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