A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer
Several caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) populations have experienced recent population declines, often attributed to anthropogenic stressors such as harvesting, landscape fragmentation, and climate change. Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus), the wild reindeer subspecies endemic to the...
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ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/2620562 2023-05-15T15:15:27+02:00 A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer Le Moullec, Mathilde Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Rosvold, Jørgen Hansen, Brage Bremset Svalbard, Norway 2019 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2620562 https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21761 eng eng urn:issn:0022-541X http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2620562 https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21761 cristin:1734346 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2019 The Authors. CC-BY Journal of Wildlife Management abundance distance sampling distribution Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus spatial density modeling subfossil bone Svalbard reindeer wildlife monitoring VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Peer reviewed 2019 ftninstnf https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21761 2021-12-23T07:17:10Z Several caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) populations have experienced recent population declines, often attributed to anthropogenic stressors such as harvesting, landscape fragmentation, and climate change. Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus), the wild reindeer subspecies endemic to the high‐Arctic Svalbard archipelago, was protected in 1925, after most subpopulations had been eradicated by harvest. Although direct pressure from harvest has ceased, indirect anthropogenic stressors from environmental changes have increased in this climate change hot spot. An assessment of the current distribution and abundance is therefore urgently needed. We combined distance sampling (300 km transects, n = 489 reindeer groups) and total counts (1,350 km2, n = 1,349 groups) to estimate the Svalbard reindeer distribution and abundance across its entire range, which we compared with historical data from the literature and radiocarbon‐dated bones. Reindeer have now recolonized nearly all non‐glaciated land (i.e., areas occupied prior to human presence), and their spatial variation in abundance reflects vegetation productivity. Independent of vegetation productivity, however, recently recolonized areas have lower reindeer densities than areas not subject to past extirpation. This suggests that recovery from past overharvesting is still in progress. These incompletely recovered areas are potential targets for increased monitoring frequency and maintaining strict conservation to follow the Svalbard management goal (i.e., virtually untouched wilderness areas). Because of such ongoing recolonization, possibly combined with vegetation greening effects of recent warming, our status estimate of Svalbard reindeer abundance (22,435 [95% CI = 21,452–23,425]) is more than twice a previous estimate based on opportunistic counts. Thus, although our study demonstrates the successful outcome of strict harvesting control implemented a century ago, current and future population trajectories are likely shaped by climate change. publishedVersion Text Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Norway The Journal of Wildlife Management 83 8 1676 1686 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA |
op_collection_id |
ftninstnf |
language |
English |
topic |
abundance distance sampling distribution Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus spatial density modeling subfossil bone Svalbard reindeer wildlife monitoring VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
spellingShingle |
abundance distance sampling distribution Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus spatial density modeling subfossil bone Svalbard reindeer wildlife monitoring VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Le Moullec, Mathilde Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Rosvold, Jørgen Hansen, Brage Bremset A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer |
topic_facet |
abundance distance sampling distribution Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus spatial density modeling subfossil bone Svalbard reindeer wildlife monitoring VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
description |
Several caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) populations have experienced recent population declines, often attributed to anthropogenic stressors such as harvesting, landscape fragmentation, and climate change. Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus), the wild reindeer subspecies endemic to the high‐Arctic Svalbard archipelago, was protected in 1925, after most subpopulations had been eradicated by harvest. Although direct pressure from harvest has ceased, indirect anthropogenic stressors from environmental changes have increased in this climate change hot spot. An assessment of the current distribution and abundance is therefore urgently needed. We combined distance sampling (300 km transects, n = 489 reindeer groups) and total counts (1,350 km2, n = 1,349 groups) to estimate the Svalbard reindeer distribution and abundance across its entire range, which we compared with historical data from the literature and radiocarbon‐dated bones. Reindeer have now recolonized nearly all non‐glaciated land (i.e., areas occupied prior to human presence), and their spatial variation in abundance reflects vegetation productivity. Independent of vegetation productivity, however, recently recolonized areas have lower reindeer densities than areas not subject to past extirpation. This suggests that recovery from past overharvesting is still in progress. These incompletely recovered areas are potential targets for increased monitoring frequency and maintaining strict conservation to follow the Svalbard management goal (i.e., virtually untouched wilderness areas). Because of such ongoing recolonization, possibly combined with vegetation greening effects of recent warming, our status estimate of Svalbard reindeer abundance (22,435 [95% CI = 21,452–23,425]) is more than twice a previous estimate based on opportunistic counts. Thus, although our study demonstrates the successful outcome of strict harvesting control implemented a century ago, current and future population trajectories are likely shaped by climate change. publishedVersion |
format |
Text |
author |
Le Moullec, Mathilde Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Rosvold, Jørgen Hansen, Brage Bremset |
author_facet |
Le Moullec, Mathilde Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Rosvold, Jørgen Hansen, Brage Bremset |
author_sort |
Le Moullec, Mathilde |
title |
A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer |
title_short |
A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer |
title_full |
A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer |
title_fullStr |
A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer |
title_sort |
century of conservation: the ongoing recovery of svalbard reindeer |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2620562 https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21761 |
op_coverage |
Svalbard, Norway |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Norway |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
op_source |
Journal of Wildlife Management |
op_relation |
urn:issn:0022-541X http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2620562 https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21761 cristin:1734346 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2019 The Authors. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21761 |
container_title |
The Journal of Wildlife Management |
container_volume |
83 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1676 |
op_container_end_page |
1686 |
_version_ |
1766345826596028416 |