The matter of spatial and temporal scales: a review of reindeer and caribou response to human activity

Vistnes, Ingunn; Nellemann, Christian

doi:10.1007/s00300-007-0377-9

Cited by 132 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…they did not study the calving period) claimed, opposite to our results and former disturbance studies (e.g. Vistnes and Nellemann 2008), that the wind farm construction site was not avoided. This lack of response toward infrastructure and human activity is quite common during insect harassment (e.g.…”

Section: Changes In Habitat Selectioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, most importantly in their study, the majority of the range away from any development seemed to have had a far higher density of animals (9 reindeer/km 2 in whole range vs. 0.5-7.3 (l = 2.5) reindeer/km 2 in the study area), suggesting that avoidance had already taken place in both the experimental and control sites. This is similar to such discrepancies pointed out in other studies that have failed to incorporate the importance of scale (Joly et al 2006;Vistnes and Nellemann 2008). For example, Vistnes and Nellemann (2008) found in a review that a majority of studies performed within 2 km from a disturbance source did not find any effect of a disturbance, while a majority of studies performed within distances further away than 2 km found largescale avoidances of the disturbance source.…”

Section: Changes In Habitat Selectionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…This is similar to such discrepancies pointed out in other studies that have failed to incorporate the importance of scale (Joly et al 2006;Vistnes and Nellemann 2008). For example, Vistnes and Nellemann (2008) found in a review that a majority of studies performed within 2 km from a disturbance source did not find any effect of a disturbance, while a majority of studies performed within distances further away than 2 km found largescale avoidances of the disturbance source.…”

Section: Changes In Habitat Selectionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Wind ''farms'' containing several hundred and even one thousand wind turbines are being planned and built, with little knowledge of the possible adverse effects on reindeer husbandry and the habitat use and migrations of free-ranging reindeer, as well as other species. Until now, only two studies have examined the effect of wind farm construction sites and only at very local scales (Colman et al 2012(Colman et al , 2013, thus possibly seriously underestimating the regional avoidance that is clearly the most commonly observed impact on reindeer and caribou of industrial development; this has been widely observed in more than 48 studies in the circumpolar Arctic (Vistnes and Nellemann 2008;Skarin and Å hman 2014). Pre-and post-development studies are particularly important at broader scales in order to detect any changes in use by reindeer, with studies showing reduced use up to tens of kilometres, even over decades (Nellemann et al , 2003(Nellemann et al , 2010.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind farm construction impacts reindeer migration and movement corridors

et al. 2015

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Context Over the last decade, we have seen a massive increase in the construction of wind farms in northern Fennoscandia. Wind farms comprising hundreds of wind turbines are being built, with little knowledge of the possible cumulative adverse effects on the habitat use and migration of semi-domesticated free-ranging reindeer. Objectives We assessed how reindeer responded to wind farm construction in an already fragmented landscape, with specific reference to the effects on use of movement corridors and reindeer habitat selection. Methods We used GPS-data from reindeer during calving and post-calving in the Malå reindeer herding community in Sweden. We analysed data from the pre-development years compared to the construction years of two relatively small wind farms. Results During construction of the wind farms, use of original migration routes and movement corridors within 2 km of development declined by 76 %. This decline in use corresponded to an increase in activity of the reindeer measured by increased step lengths within 0-5 km. The step length was highest nearest the development and declining with distance, as animals moved towards migration corridors and turned around or were observed in holding patterns while not crossing. During construction, reindeer avoided the wind farms at both regional and landscape scale of selection. Conclusions The combined construction activities associated with even a few wind turbines combined with power lines and roads in or close to central movement corridors caused a reduction in the use of such corridors and grazing habitat and increased the fragmentation of the reindeer calving ranges.

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Section: Changes In Habitat Selectioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Changes In Habitat Selectionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Changes In Habitat Selectionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind farm construction impacts reindeer migration and movement corridors

et al. 2015

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“…For the WAH, all 3 general factors I analyzed (terrain, habitat and predation pressure) were correlated with caribou distribution in winter. Other factors, such as disturbance from wildfire (Joly et al, 2007c;Joly et al, 2010) and industrial development (Vistnes & Nellemann, 2008), which I did not analyze, might also be important for the WAH and other northern cari¬ bou herds. By analyzing multiple factors, researchers also garner insight into the cumulative effects these factors may have on caribou (see also Nellemann & Cameron, 1998;Johnson et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling influences on winter distribution of caribou in northwestern Alaska through use of satellite telemetry

Joly

2011

Ran

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I hypothesize that the distribution of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) is affected by multiple, interrelated factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, terrain and snow characteristics as well as predation pressure and habitat. To test this hypothesis, I attributed caribou locations derived from satellite telemetry over a 6 year period with terrain (elevation, slope, aspect, and ruggedness), habitat characteristics, and moose density -potentially an index of wolf predation pressure. These locations were compared to random locations, attributed using the same data layers, using logistic regression techniques to develop resource selection functions (RSFs). I found that caribou moved significantly less during mid-winter than early-or late-winter and that cows moved significantly more in April than bulls due to their earlier departure on their spring migration. Distribution was different between cows and bulls. Terrain variables were important factors but were scale-dependent. Cows avoided forested areas, highlighting the importance of tundra habitats, and selected for dwarf shrub, with relatively high lichen cover, and sedge habitat types. Bulls selected for dryas, coniferous forest and dwarf shrub habitats but against lowland sedge, upland shrub and burned tundra. Cow distribution was negatively correlated with moose density at the scale of the Seward Peninsula. My results support the hypothesis that caribou distribution during winter in northwest Alaska is affected by multiple, interrelated factors. These results may be useful for researchers to track and/or model changes in future patterns of range use over winter.

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Direct and indirect effects of food, fear and management on crop damage by ungulates

Widén,

Cromsigt,

Dressel

et al. 2023

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Foraging on crops by wild ungulates may create human–wildlife conflicts through reducing crop production. Ungulates interact with and within complex socio‐ecological systems, making the reduction of crop damage a challenging task. Aside from ungulate densities, crop damage is influenced by different drivers affecting ungulate foraging behaviour: food availability and food quality in the landscape (i.e. the foodscape) as well as fear from hunting and scaring actions (i.e. the landscape of fear) may together affect the degree of damage via both direct and indirect effects. A better understanding of the individual effects of these potential drivers behind crop damage is needed, as is an appreciation of whether the effects are dependent on ungulate density. We investigated this by applying path analysis to test indirect and direct links between ungulate density, foodscape, landscape of fear and human management goals on crop damage of oats and grass, respectively. Our results suggest that crop type is the major driver behind crop damage, with more damage to oats than to leys, implying that human decisions (i.e. changing crop type) influence the level of crop damage. We found that management goals and actions influenced the foodscape and the landscape of fear, by affecting the amount of forage produced in the agricultural landscape and the amount of scaring actions. Additionally, we found that supplementary feeding influenced the local ungulate densities in the area. Our results highlight the importance of including human actions on multiple levels when assessing drivers behind damage by ungulates in managed landscapes. We suggest that more studies using path analysis on multiple scales are needed in order to tackle complex issues, such as crop damage and other human–wildlife conflicts.

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The matter of spatial and temporal scales: a review of reindeer and caribou response to human activity

Cited by 132 publications

References 88 publications

Wind farm construction impacts reindeer migration and movement corridors

Wind farm construction impacts reindeer migration and movement corridors

Modeling influences on winter distribution of caribou in northwestern Alaska through use of satellite telemetry

Direct and indirect effects of food, fear and management on crop damage by ungulates

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