Reindeer husbandry in peril?—How extractive industries exert multiple pressures on an Arctic pastoral ecosystem

People and Nature

article

Christian Fohringer¹  Gunhild Rosqvist²  Niila Inga³  Navinder J. Singh¹ 

[1] Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences;Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University;Laevas Sámi community

关键词: cumulative impacts;    herder knowledge;    historical time series;    land use;    reindeer herding;    resource extraction;    semi-domesticated reindeer;   

DOI  :  10.1002/pan3.10234

学科分类：护理学

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

1. Environmental changes and their consequences on biodiversity are known to havefar-reaching effects on the resilience of animal populations and associated livelihoods around the world. To counteract negative demographic and economic effects on pastoralism, knowledge about the historical and current status of theenvironment is essential.2. In this study, we show how extractive industries, especially large-scale mining,induced a cascade of land conversions which are affecting animal populationsand pastoralists’ adaptive responses in northern Sweden. We examine social–ecological vulnerability in Arctic reindeer husbandry by integrating herders’knowledge, population statistics for semi-domesticated reindeer Rangifer t. tarandus, public data on socio-economic variables and geospatial tools.3. We determine that approximately 34% of Laevas reindeer herding community'sgrazing grounds are functionally unavailable to reindeer at present due to the accumulation of multiple competing land use pressures. Reindeer numbers currentlyonly remain stable due to increased management efforts. Moreover, we identifiedcurrent hotspots of high cumulative impact and mineral exploration as the spatially dominating land use factor in this area.4. Our approach and results provide new insights for scientifically robust cumulativeimpact assessments of anthropogenic stressors by creating a baseline of currentdevelopments via a combination of reindeer herder's knowledge with historicaldata of trends and extents of human activity over the last century.

【 授权许可】

CC BY