Abstract
Whilst the re-introduction of fire can contribute to biodiversity conservation in Fennoscandian forests, the effects on reindeer herding remain uncertain. To assess the short- and long-term effects of prescribed burning on lichen supply in a productive forest landscape, we developed a model simulating lichen biomass available for reindeer grazing, covering 300 years and 1500 pine stands, under different soil preparation scenarios, including different prescribed burning regimes and mechanical scarification. Our simulations revealed that burning 25–50% of yearly clear-cuts has the potential to stop, or even reverse, reindeer lichen decline at landscape scale after 70 years, greatly surpassing the short-term losses caused by burning. No burning or burning 5% of yearly clear-cuts, as required by the FSC certification, compounded the negative effects of fire suppression and scarification on lichen. Compared to the scenario with no soil preparation, all our simulations resulted in a continuous decrease of lichen supply in Lichen-type stands, indicating that any form of disturbance in these habitats can strongly limit future gains.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahti, T., and J. Oksanen. 1990. Epigeic Lichen Communities of Taiga and Tundra Regions. Vegetatio 86: 39–70.
Akujärvi, A., V. Hallikainen, M. Hyppönen, E. Mattila, K. Mikkola, and P. Rautio. 2014. Effects of reindeer grazing and forestry on ground lichens in Finnish Lapland. Silva Fennica 48: 1–18. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.1153.
Angelstam, P.K. 1998. Maintaining and restoring biodiversity in European boreal forests by developing natural disturbance regimes. Journal of Vegetation Science 9: 593–602. https://doi.org/10.2307/3237275.
Anon. 1985. Fälthäfte I bonitering. Norrbottens län. Jönköping: Skogsstyrelsen. https://cdn.abicart.com/shop/9098/art13/37520813-df154a-bonitering_N.pdf) (in Swedish).
Berg, A., L. Östlund, J. Moen, and J. Olofsson. 2008. A century of logging and forestry in a reindeer herding area in northern Sweden. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1009–1020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2008.06.003.
Cogos, S., L. Östlund, and S. Roturier. 2021. Negotiating (with) fire: Contemporary fire domestication in Swedish Sápmi. Journal of Ethnobiology 41: 499–516.
Cogos, S., S. Roturier, and L. Östlund. 2020. The origins of prescribed burning in Scandinavian forestry: The seminal role of Joel Wretlind in the management of fire-dependent forests. European Journal of Forest Research 139: 493–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-019-01247-6.
Collins, W.B., B.W. Dale, L.G. Adams, D.E. Mcelwain, and K. Joly. 2011. Fire, grazing history, lichen abundance, and winter distribution of caribou in Alaska’s taiga. The Journal of Wildlife Management 75: 369–377. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.39.
Crittenden, P.D. 2000. Aspects of the ecology of mat-forming lichens. Rangifer 20: 127–140. https://doi.org/10.7557/2.20.2-3.1508.
Eloy, L., B.A. Bilbao, J. Mistry, and I.B. Schmidt. 2019. From fire suppression to fire management: Advances and resistances to changes in fire policy in the savannas of Brazil and Venezuela. The Geographical Journal 185: 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12245.
Esseen, P.-A., B. Ehnström, L. Ericson, and K. Sjöberg. 1997. Boreal Forests. Ecological Bulletins 46: 16–47.
Forest Stewardship Council. 2019. The FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard of Sweden. FSC-STD-SWE-03–2019 EN. Available at: https://fsc.org/en/document-centre/documents/resource/446
Foster, D. R. 1983. The history and pattern of fire in the boreal forest of southeastern Labrador. Canadian Journal of Botany 61. NRC Research Press, pp. 2459–2471. https://doi.org/10.1139/b83-269.
Fries, C., O. Johansson, B. Pettersson, and P. Simonsson. 1997. Silvicultural models to maintain and restore natural stand structures in Swedish boreal forests. Forest Ecology and Management 94: 89–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(97)00003-0.
Granström, A., and M. Niklasson. 2008. Potentials and limitations for human control over historic fire regimes in the boreal forest. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 363: 2353–2358. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2205.
Halme, P., K.A. Allen, A. Auniņš, R.H.W. Bradshaw, G. Brūmelis, V. Čada, J.L. Clear, A.-M. Eriksson, et al. 2013. Challenges of ecological restoration: Lessons from forests in northern Europe. Biological Conservation 167: 248–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.08.029.
Hallsby, G., K. Ahnlund Ulvcrona, A. Karlsson, B. Elfving, H. Sjögren, T. Ulvcrona, and U. Bergsten. 2015. Effects of intensity of forest regeneration measures on stand development in a nationwide Swedish field experiment. Forestry 88: 441–453. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpv010.
Horstkotte, T., and J. Moen. 2019. Successional pathways of terrestrial lichens in changing Swedish boreal forests. Forest Ecology and Management 453: 117572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117572.
Hörnberg, G., T. Josefsson, T.H. DeLuca, P.E. Higuera, L. Liedgren, L. Östlund, and I. Bergman. 2018. Anthropogenic use of fire led to degraded Scots pine-lichen forest in northern Sweden. Anthropocene 24: 14–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2018.10.002.
Jonsson Čabrajič, A.V., J. Moen, and K. Palmqvist. 2010. Predicting growth of mat-forming lichens on a landscape scale – comparing models with different complexities. Ecography 33: 949–960. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2009.06079.x.
Kumpula, J., A. Colpaert, and M. Nieminen. 2000. Condition, Potential Recovery Rate, and Productivity of Lichen (Cladonia spp.) Ranges in the Finnish Reindeer Management Area. Arctic 53: 152–160.
Kumpula, J., M. Kurkilahti, T. Helle, and A. Colpaert. 2014. Both reindeer management and several other land use factors explain the reduction in ground lichens (Cladonia spp.) in pastures grazed by semi-domesticated reindeer in Finland. Regional Environmental Change 14: 541–559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0508-5.
Månsson, J., H. Andrén, Å. Pehrson, and R. Bergström. 2007. Moose browsing and forage availability: A scale-dependent relationship? Canadian Journal of Zoology 85: 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1139/Z07-015.
Miina, J., V. Hallikainen, K. Härkönen, P. Merilä, T. Packalen, P. Rautio, M. Salemaa, T. Tonteri, et al. 2020. Incorporating a model for ground lichens into multi-functional forest planning for boreal forests in Finland. Forest Ecology and Management 460: 117912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.117912.
Moen, J. 2008. Climate change: Effects on the ecological basis for reindeer husbandry in Sweden. Ambio 37: 304–311. https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[304:cceote]2.0co;2.
MSB (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap). 2017. Droughts and wildfires in Sweden. Past variation and future projection. Publ.nr 1112. Karlstad: MSB.
Naturvårdsverket. 2005. Naturvårdsbränning. Vägledning för brand och bränning i skyddad skog. Report 5438. Stockholm: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. (in Swedish, English summary).
Niklasson, M., and A. Granstrom. 2000. Numbers and sizes of fires: Long-term spatially explicit fire history in a Swedish Boreal Landscape. Ecology 81: 1484–1499. https://doi.org/10.2307/177301.
Nilsson, M.-C., and D.A. Wardle. 2005. Understory vegetation as a forest ecosystem driver: Evidence from the northern Swedish boreal forest. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3: 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2005)003[0421:UVAAFE]2.0.CO;2.
Olofsson, J., J. Moen, and L. Östlund. 2010. Effects of reindeer on boreal forest floor vegetation: Does grazing cause vegetation state transitions? Basic and Applied Ecology 11: 550–557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2010.03.004.
Östlund, L., O. Zackrisson, and A.-L. Axelsson. 1997. The history and transformation of a Scandinavian boreal forest landscape since the 19th century. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 27: 1198–1206. https://doi.org/10.1139/x97-070.
R Core Team. 2015. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/
Ramberg, E., J. Strengbom, and G. Granath. 2018. Coordination through databases can improve prescribed burning as a conservation tool to promote forest biodiversity. Ambio 47: 298–306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0987-6.
Rodríguez, I., B. Sletto, B. Bilbao, I. Sánchez-Rose, and A. Leal. 2018. Speaking of fire: Reflexive governance in landscapes of social change and shifting local identities. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 20: 689–703. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2013.766579.
Roturier, S., and M. Roué. 2009. Of forest, snow and lichen: Sámi reindeer herders’ knowledge of winter pastures in northern Sweden. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 1960–1967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.045.
Roturier, S., M. Sundén, and U. Bergsten. 2011. Re-establishment rate of reindeer lichen species following conventional disc trenching and HuMinMix soil preparation in Pinus-lichen clear-cut stands: A survey study in northern Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 26: 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2010.528019.
Rupp, T.S., M. Olson, L.G. Adams, B.W. Dale, K. Joly, J. Henkelman, W.B. Collins, and A.M. Starfield. 2006. Simulating the influences of various fire regimes on caribou winter habitat. Ecological Applications 16: 1730–1743. https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[1730:STIOVF]2.0.CO;2.
Sandström, P., N. Cory, J. Svensson, H. Hedenås, L. Jougda, and N. Borchert. 2016. On the decline of ground lichen forests in the Swedish boreal landscape: Implications for reindeer husbandry and sustainable forest management. Ambio 45: 415–429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0759-0.
Schimmel, J., and A. Granström. 1996. Fire Severity and Vegetation Response in the Boreal Swedish Forest. Ecology 77: 1436–1450. https://doi.org/10.2307/2265541.
Silva, J.A., S.E. Nielsen, C.T. Lamb, C. Hague, and S. Boutin. 2019. Modelling Lichen Abundance for Woodland Caribou in a Fire-Driven Boreal Landscape. Forests 10: 962. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10110962.
Skogforsk. 2008. INGVAR – Thinning schedules and forest management planning tool. Resultat från Skogsforsk Nr. 10. (In Swedish with English summary)
Sulyma, R., and D.S. Coxson. 2001. Microsite Displacement of Terrestrial Lichens by Feather Moss Mats in Late Seral Pine-Lichen Woodlands of North-Central British Columbia. The Bryologist 104: 505–516.
Swetnam, T.W., C.D. Allen, and J.L. Betancourt. 1999. Applied historical ecology: Using the past to manage for the future. Ecological Applications 9: 1189–1206. https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(1999)009[1189:AHEUTP]2.0.CO;2.
Tahvonen, O., J. Kumpula, and A.-J. Pekkarinen. 2014. Optimal harvesting of an age-structured, two-sex herbivore–plant system. Ecological Modelling 272: 348–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.09.029.
Trauernicht, C., B.W. Brook, B.P. Murphy, G.J. Williamson, and D.M.J.S. Bowman. 2015. Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity. Ecology and Evolution 5: 1908–1918. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1494.
Uboni, A., A. Blochel, D. Kodnik, and J. Moen. 2019. Modelling occurrence and status of mat-forming lichens in boreal forests to assess the past and current quality of reindeer winter pastures. Ecological Indicators 96: 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.08.008.
Venäläinen, A., I. Lehtonen, M. Laapas, K. Ruosteenoja, O.-P. Tikkanen, H. Viiri, V.-P. Ikonen, and H. Pektola. 2020. Climate change induces multiple risks to boreal forests and forestry in Finland: A literature review. Global Change Biology 26: 4178–4196. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15183.
Wallenius, T. 2011. Major decline in fires in coniferous forests - reconstructing the phenomenon and seeking for the cause. Silva Fennica 45: 139–155. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.36.
Zackrisson, O. 1977. Influence of Forest Fires on the North Swedish Boreal Forest. Oikos 29: 22–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/3543289.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Johannes Ackemo, Urban Bergsten, Jim Hedlund, Mikael Kuhmunen, Lars-Evert Nutti and Hans Winsa for participating in the workshop; to Cornelia Axelson for providing SNFI data; to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and to Sees-editing Ltd for correcting the written English. This research was funded through the 2017–2018 Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivScen ERA-Net COFUND programme, and the funding organizations of the FATE program: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)—ANR-18-EB14-0008), Academy of Finland (decision number 326323), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)—411410325, Formas (2018-02439), the National Science Foundation (1850949), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Research Council of Norway (296987).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization: SR and SC; Methodology: JP, SR and TS; Material preparation and data collection: JP; Formal analysis and investigation: JP, SR and TS; Writing and preparation of the original draft: SR and JP; Writing, reviewing, and editing of the manuscript: TS and SC.
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Roturier, S., Picard, J., Cogos, S. et al. Influence of prescribed burning on reindeer winter pastures at landscape scale in northern Sweden: A modelling approach. Ambio 52, 453–464 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01805-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01805-0