Observed Regional Climate Variability during the Last 50 Years in Reindeer Herding Cooperatives of Finnish Fell Lapland

Lépy, Élise; Pasanen, Leena

doi:10.3390/cli5040081

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Herders' observations about warmer winters and shortened periods below 0°C coincide with the measurements of long-term climate trends for the Guovdageaidnu area (Vikhamar-Schuler et al, 2010 and northern Finland (Lépy & Pasanen, 2017;Vuojala-Magga et al, 2011). Delayed snow cover formation has been observed in some meteorological stations of the area by Rasmus et al ( 2014), but Vikhamar-Schuler et al ( 2010) observed no significant change in the first day of the snow season.…”

Section: Changes In Winter Weather During Recent Decadessupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Delayed snow cover formation has been observed in some meteorological stations of the area by Rasmus et al ( 2014), but Vikhamar-Schuler et al ( 2010) observed no significant change in the first day of the snow season. Studies have not observed significant changes in the maximum annual snow depth of the area (Rasmus et al, 2014;Lépy and Pasanen 2017;Vikhamar-Schuler et al, 2010). Herders observations about earlier snowmelt agree with the meteorological records (Lépy and Pasanen 2017;Rasmus, Kumpula, & Jylhä, 2014;Vikhamar-Schuler et al, 2010).…”

Section: Changes In Winter Weather During Recent Decadesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have not observed significant changes in the maximum annual snow depth of the area (Rasmus et al, 2014;Lépy and Pasanen 2017;Vikhamar-Schuler et al, 2010). Herders observations about earlier snowmelt agree with the meteorological records (Lépy and Pasanen 2017;Rasmus, Kumpula, & Jylhä, 2014;Vikhamar-Schuler et al, 2010). Kivinen, Rasmus, Jylhä, and Laapas (2017) found that extremely cold weather events have significantly declined in all seasons during the past 100 years and extremely warm weather events increased particularly in spring and autumn.…”

Section: Changes In Winter Weather During Recent Decadesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Changes in mountain birch forests and reindeer management: Comparing different knowledge systems in Sápmi, northern Fennoscandia

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

AbstractMountain birch forests in the northern areas of Sápmi, the Saami homeland, serve as pastures for semi-domesticated reindeer. Recent reindeer management of the area has, to date, proceeded with little involvement of reindeer herders or their knowledge. To get more in-depth understanding of recent changes, we present together herders’ knowledge and scientific knowledge concerning the impacts of herbivory and climate change on mountain birch forests in three Saami communities in Norway and in Finland. Most of the herders interviewed reported changes in weather during the preceding decades. Herders agreed that the canopy and understorey of mountain birch forests have changed. The observed transformations in the quality of pastures have increased the financial costs of reindeer husbandry. Our study demonstrates that herders have practical knowledge of the present state and recent changes of birch forests, and of the responses of reindeer caused by these. This knowledge generally coincides with scientific knowledge. We call for better integration of knowledge systems and a better protocol for co-production of knowledge as it relates to more adaptive future reindeer management regimes. Such integration will facilitate understanding of cultural adaptation within rapidly changing social-ecological systems in which sustainable reindeer husbandry continues to be an important livelihood.

show abstract

Section: Changes In Winter Weather During Recent Decadessupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Changes In Winter Weather During Recent Decadesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Changes In Winter Weather During Recent Decadesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Changes in mountain birch forests and reindeer management: Comparing different knowledge systems in Sápmi, northern Fennoscandia

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Winter mean snow depth (Jylhä et al, 2014) as well as the annual maximum snow depth (Lehtonen, 2015) has decreased significantly at many stations in southern Finland. At the same time, the annual maximum snow depth has not changed in Finnish Lapland (Lépy and Pasanen, 2017;Merkouriadi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Snowmentioning

confidence: 93%

Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region: A Summary

Meier

Kniebusch

Dieterich

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Based on the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports of this thematic issue in Earth System Dynamics and recent peer-reviewed literature, current knowledge about the effects of global warming on past and future changes in climate of the Baltic Sea region is summarized and assessed. The study is an update of the Second Assessment of Climate Change (BACC II) published in 2015 and focusses on the atmosphere, land, cryosphere, ocean, sediments and the terrestrial and marine biosphere. Based on the summaries of the recent knowledge gained in paleo-, historical and future regional climate research, we find that the main conclusions from earlier assessments remain still valid. However, new long-term, homogenous observational records, e.g. for Scandinavian glacier inventories, sea-level driven saltwater inflows, so-called Major Baltic Inflows, and phytoplankton species distribution and new scenario simulations with improved models, e.g. for glaciers, lake ice and marine food web, have become available. In many cases, uncertainties can now be better estimated than before, because more models can be included in the ensembles, especially for the Baltic Sea. With the help of coupled models, feedbacks between several components of the Earth System have been studied and multiple driver studies were performed, e.g. projections of the food web that include fisheries, eutrophication and climate change. New data sets and projections have led to a revised understanding of changes in some variables such as salinity. Furthermore, it has become evident that natural variability, in particular for the ocean on multidecadal time scales, is greater than previously estimated, challenging our ability to detect observed and projected changes in climate. In this context, the first paleoclimate simulations regionalized for the Baltic Sea region are instructive. Hence, estimated uncertainties for the projections of many variables increased. In addition to the well-known influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation, it was found that also other low-frequency modes of internal variability, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, have profound effects on the climate of the Baltic Sea region. Challenges were also identified, such as the systematic discrepancy between future cloudiness trends in global and regional models and the difficulty of confidently attributing large observed changes in marine ecosystems to climate change. Finally, we compare our results with other coastal sea assessments, such as the North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment (NOSCCA) and find that the effects of climate change on the Baltic Sea differ from those on the North Sea, since Baltic Sea oceanography and ecosystems are very different from other coastal seas such as the North Sea. While the North Sea dynamics is dominated by tides, the Baltic Sea is characterized by brackish water, a perennial vertical stratification in the southern sub-basins and a seasonal sea ice cover in the northern sub-basins.

show abstract

“…Climate change affects RM in Finland in many ways and it has been studied widely since 2003 (Online resource 1; see e.g., Lépy and Pasanen 2017;Vuojala-Magga et al 2011;Turunen et al 2016;Forbes et al 2020). Intensification of agroforestry practices and expansion of forests are expected, as well as changes in the quality, biomass, and plant species composition of reindeer forage Turunen et al 2009).…”

Section: Climate Change and Related Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What drives reindeer management in Finland towards social and ecological tipping points?

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reindeer management (RM) in northern Fennoscandia is an example of social-ecological systems (SESs) providing social, cultural, ecological, and economic values. Changing climate and pasture conditions and societal changes continue to transform the operational environment of RM. These key drivers, and resulting transformations including alternative SES states, have not been studied in detail before. Our comprehensive literature review and interviews with herders reveal that land use, climate change, and governance drive the emergence of SES tipping points. The basis of successful RM depends on the quantity and quality of pastures to secure animal fitness. However, intensive forestry, extreme weather, and predators constrain the availability of forage and suitable calving grounds. Maintaining RM by means of predation compensation mechanisms and regular supplementary winter feeding to adapt to changes brought about by land use and warming climate comprises an alternative system state. However, if negative impacts increase remarkably or rapidly and compensatory mechanisms become insufficient, long-term impacts on system identity, and even local collapses, are expected. Although some environmental and societal changes are perceived as pressures by herders, they can be beneficial for other livelihoods in the region. Therefore, our study raises questions for future studies on social justice, such as who has the right to decide what constitutes a desirable system state, or what collaborative efforts to maintain RM in Fennoscandia would entail. Our work is applicable also in other Arctic/sub-Arctic regions where nature-based livelihoods, such as small-scale forestry and agriculture, hunting, traditional fishing, and gathering are practiced.

show abstract

Observed Regional Climate Variability during the Last 50 Years in Reindeer Herding Cooperatives of Finnish Fell Lapland

Cited by 15 publications

References 38 publications

Changes in mountain birch forests and reindeer management: Comparing different knowledge systems in Sápmi, northern Fennoscandia

Changes in mountain birch forests and reindeer management: Comparing different knowledge systems in Sápmi, northern Fennoscandia

Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region: A Summary

What drives reindeer management in Finland towards social and ecological tipping points?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About