Naturschutzmanagement in Zeiten des Klimawandels

• Main Author: Rannow, Sven
• Other Authors: Gruehn, Dietwald, Kenneweg, Hartmut
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: German
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: ddc:710; Klimaanpassung; Norwegen; Rentiere; Risikomanagement; Schutzgebietsmanagement; Arctic; Norway; Climate change; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2003/29142; https://doi.org/10.17877/DE290R-15846

Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity. Many ecosystems will undergo significant changes with dramatic effects on species distribution and biotic interaction. Species unable to move or adapt in response to climate change will face local or global extinction. Conservation management in the face of such extensive transformation is a challenging task. The thesis “Conservation management in times of climate change – Problems and solutions exemplified for the Hardangervidda National Park” analysed options available for addressing climate change in nature conservation. The main objective was the climate proofing of conservation management of endangered species in protected areas. Building on a review of different theoretical approaches a procedure for the climate proofing of conservation management was developed. This planning process was tested and verified for the Hardangervidda National Park in southern Norway. The alpine arctic plateau of the Hardangervidda harbours Europe’s largest population of wild barren ground reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and is of particular importance for the preservation of this species. The location and its conditions make it especially sensitive to the negative effects of climate change. Consequentially, the work focused on the adaptation of reindeer management. A past to present analysis of the last four decades allowed several driving forces with major impact on the population to be identified. It could be shown that the population and its environment form a Complex Adaptive System where one driving force is rarely active in isolation. The interaction of climate related drivers with other environmental impacts is a major obstacle for the identification of simple cause-and-effect-chains. Different scenarios for climatic development until 2050 were used to identify the most likely effects on the driving forces for the population. Even though there is a wealth of information about the biology of barren ground reindeer, its reaction to climate changes is still an open ...