Influence of prescribed burning on reindeer winter pastures at landscape scale in northern Sweden: A modelling approach

• Published in: Ambio
• Main Authors: Roturier, Samuel, Picard, Juliette, Cogos, Sarah, Spataro, Thierry
• Other Authors: Ecologie Systématique et Evolution (ESE), AgroParisTech-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université de Montpellier (UM), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES Paris ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), 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).
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Cladonia; Fire; Forest Stewardship Council; Forestry; Rangifer; Reindeer herding; Sweden; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Fennoscandian; Northern Sweden; Reindeer lichen
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03943745; https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01805-0

International audience 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.