Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden?
Abstract Today, climate change and competing land use practices are threatening rangelands around the world and the pastoral societies that rely on them. Reindeer husbandry practised by the indigenous Sami people is an example. In Sweden, approximately 70% of the most productive lichen pastures (imp...
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2020
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crfrontiers:10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y 2024-09-15T18:32:15+00:00 Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? Uboni, Alessia Åhman, Birgitta Moen, Jon Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas NordForsk 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y.pdf http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y/fulltext.html en eng Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Pastoralism volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2041-7136 journal-article 2020 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y 2024-07-30T04:04:55Z Abstract Today, climate change and competing land use practices are threatening rangelands around the world and the pastoral societies that rely on them. Reindeer husbandry practised by the indigenous Sami people is an example. In Sweden, approximately 70% of the most productive lichen pastures (important in winter) has been lost, either completely or because of a reduction in forage quality, as a result of competing land use (primarily commercial forestry). The remaining pastures are small and fragmented. Yet, the number of reindeer in Sweden shows no general decline. We investigated the strategies that have allowed reindeer herders to sustain their traditional livelihood despite a substantial loss of pastures and thus natural winter forage for their reindeer. Changes in harvest strategy and herd structure may partially explain the observed dynamics, and have increased herd productivity and income, but were not primarily adopted to counteract forage loss. The introduction of supplementary feeding, modern machinery, and equipment has assisted the herders to a certain extent. However, supplementary feeding and technology are expensive. In spite of governmental support and optimized herd productivity and income, increasing costs provide low economic return. We suggest that the increased economical and psychosocial costs caused by forage and pasture losses may have strong effects on the long-term sustainability of reindeer husbandry in Sweden. Article in Journal/Newspaper reindeer husbandry sami Frontiers (Publisher) Pastoralism 10 1 |
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English |
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Abstract Today, climate change and competing land use practices are threatening rangelands around the world and the pastoral societies that rely on them. Reindeer husbandry practised by the indigenous Sami people is an example. In Sweden, approximately 70% of the most productive lichen pastures (important in winter) has been lost, either completely or because of a reduction in forage quality, as a result of competing land use (primarily commercial forestry). The remaining pastures are small and fragmented. Yet, the number of reindeer in Sweden shows no general decline. We investigated the strategies that have allowed reindeer herders to sustain their traditional livelihood despite a substantial loss of pastures and thus natural winter forage for their reindeer. Changes in harvest strategy and herd structure may partially explain the observed dynamics, and have increased herd productivity and income, but were not primarily adopted to counteract forage loss. The introduction of supplementary feeding, modern machinery, and equipment has assisted the herders to a certain extent. However, supplementary feeding and technology are expensive. In spite of governmental support and optimized herd productivity and income, increasing costs provide low economic return. We suggest that the increased economical and psychosocial costs caused by forage and pasture losses may have strong effects on the long-term sustainability of reindeer husbandry in Sweden. |
author2 |
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas NordForsk |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Uboni, Alessia Åhman, Birgitta Moen, Jon |
spellingShingle |
Uboni, Alessia Åhman, Birgitta Moen, Jon Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? |
author_facet |
Uboni, Alessia Åhman, Birgitta Moen, Jon |
author_sort |
Uboni, Alessia |
title |
Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? |
title_short |
Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? |
title_full |
Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? |
title_fullStr |
Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for Sami reindeer herding in Sweden? |
title_sort |
can management buffer pasture loss and fragmentation for sami reindeer herding in sweden? |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y.pdf http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y/fulltext.html |
genre |
reindeer husbandry sami |
genre_facet |
reindeer husbandry sami |
op_source |
Pastoralism volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2041-7136 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00177-y |
container_title |
Pastoralism |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1810473987554148352 |