Cooperative pastoral production — the importance of kinship

While there is a general assumption that labour has a positive effect on pastoral production, studies that have quantified this relationship have been characterized by ambiguous results. This is most likely related to the fact that possible cooperative pastoral production has been little explored in the literature, although it is well documented that nomadic pastoralist households share and exchange labour in so-called cooperative herding groups. Consequently, this study aims at investigating possible cooperative labour-related effects on production among Saami reindeer herders in Norway by using kinship relations as a proxy for cooperation. This study found that cooperative labour investment is important for Saami reindeer herders, but that the effect of kinship and labour needs to be understood in relation to each other. When assessing the effect of labour and kinship simultaneously, both labour and genealogical relationship had positive effects on herd size. We also found a positive interaction between kinship and labour suggesting that high levels of relatedness coupled with a large potential labour pool had an increasingly positive effect on herd size.     

A dendroecological reconstruction of use by Saami of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) inner bark over the last 350 years at Sädvajaure,N. Sweden

The historical use of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) inner bark by the Saami near Lake Sädvajaure, N. Sweden was studied with dendro-ecological methods. Damming of the lake for hydroelectric power enabled destructive sampling of all pines with scars from bark peeling in an area of 870 ha. A total of 111 dead and live pines with 136 bark peelings were found. Stem-sections were taken for cross-dating to determine the precise peeling year and season. The oldest peeling was dated to 1618, which is the oldest reported evidence of Saami use of inner bark. No bark peelings were made after 1870 in the studied area which coincides with a shift to more extensive reindeer herding, and with colonization by Swedish farmers in the area. The regular use of inner bark over time and the absence of peeling peaks in known agrarian famine years support the hypothesis that inner bark was used regularly, and not only as an emergency food. Changes in spatial peeling activity around the lake is interpreted as temporal changes in nomadic fishing activity. We conclude that tree ring studies can provide valuable information about former mobile use of natural resources by Saami in boreal forest landscapes.     

Genetic analyses reveal independent domestication origins of Eurasian reindeer

Although there is little doubt that the domestication of mammals was instrumental for the modernization of human societies, even basic features of the path towards domestication remain largely unresolved for many species. Reindeer are considered to be in the early phase of domestication with wild and domestic herds still coexisting widely across Eurasia. This provides a unique model system for understanding how the early domestication process may have taken place. We analysed mitochondrial sequences and nuclear microsatellites in domestic and wild herds throughout Eurasia to address the origin of reindeer herding and domestication history. Our data demonstrate independent origins of domestic reindeer in Russia and Fennoscandia. This implies that the Saami people of Fennoscandia domesticated their own reindeer independently of the indigenous cultures in western Russia. We also found that augmentation of local reindeer herds by crossing with wild animals has been common. However, some wild reindeer populations have not contributed to the domestic gene pool, suggesting variation in domestication potential among populations. These differences may explain why geographically isolated indigenous groups have been able to make the technological shift from mobile hunting to large-scale reindeer pastoralism independently.     

Environmental Stochasticity and Long-Term Livestock Viability—Herd-Accumulation as a Risk Reducing Strategy

This study tests the hypothesis that herd accumulation can be a risk reducing strategy aimed at increasing security in an unpredictable environment. Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway is characterized by environmental unpredictability and occasionally harsh winters can have dramatic negative effects on reindeer population densities. While herd accumulation has been found to be an adaptive risk reducing strategy in stochastic environments (i.e., individually rational), the accumulation of large herds may also result in collectively negative density dependent effects, which may negatively affect individual herders (i.e., collectively irrational). We found that individual husbandry units’ strategies, such as accumulating reindeer, have a larger effect on individual husbandry units’ herd size than a negative density-dependent effect.     

Isolation of Neisseria Ovis and a Colesiota Conjunctivae-Like Organism from Cases of Kerato-Conjunctivitis in Reindeer in Northern Norway

Eye inflammation in reindeer seems to be a condition frequently observed in many reindeer herding areas. Bergmann (1912) reported outbreaks of the condition in Scandinavia already at the beginning of this century, and it spread like a contagious disease. The aetiology seems to be complex, as Bergmann found many different kinds of bacteria in his material. In a recent publication, Rehbinder (1970) reported the occurrence of larvae of the reindeer nostril fly (Cephenomyia trompe) in affected eyes. In Norway, eye inflammation in reindeer has also been observed, although outbreaks of the disease seem to be rare.     

Pastoral Herding Strategies and Governmental Management Objectives: Predation Compensation as a Risk Buffering Strategy in the Saami Reindeer Husbandry

Previously it has been found that an important risk buffering strategy in the Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway is the accumulation of large herds of reindeer as this increases long-term household viability. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated how official policies, such as economic compensation for livestock losses, can influence pastoral strategies. This study investigated the effect of received predation compensation on individual husbandry units’ future herd size. The main finding in this study is that predation compensation had a positive effect on husbandry units’ future herd size. The effect of predation compensation, however, was nonlinear in some years, indicating that predation compensation had a positive effect on future herd size only up to a certain threshold whereby adding additional predation compensation had little effect on future herd size. More importantly, the effect of predation compensation was positive after controlling for reindeer density, indicating that for a given reindeer density husbandry units receiving more predation compensation performed better (measured as the size of future herds) compared to husbandry units receiving less compensation.     

Evaluation of three commercial bovine ELISA kits for detection of antibodies against Alphaherpesviruses in reindeer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rangifer tarandus tarandus</Emphasis>)

Background  

The genus Varicellovirus (family Herpesviridae subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae) includes a group of viruses genetically and antigenically related to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) among which cervid herpesvirus 2 (CvHV-2) can be of importance in reindeer. These viruses are known to be responsible for different diseases in both wild and domestic animals. Reindeer are a keystone in the indigenous Saami culture and previous studies have reported the presence of antibodies against alphaherpesviruses in semi-domesticated reindeer in northern Norway. Mortality rates, especially in calves, can be very high in some herds and the abortion potential of alphaherpesvirus in reindeer, unlike in bovines, remains unknown.     

High Female Mortality Resulting in Herd Collapse in Free-Ranging Domesticated Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Sweden

Reindeer herding in Sweden is a form of pastoralism practised by the indigenous Sámi population. The economy is mainly based on meat production. Herd size is generally regulated by harvest in order not to overuse grazing ranges and keep a productive herd. Nonetheless, herd growth and room for harvest is currently small in many areas. Negative herd growth and low harvest rate were observed in one of two herds in a reindeer herding community in Central Sweden. The herds (A and B) used the same ranges from April until the autumn gathering in October–December, but were separated on different ranges over winter. Analyses of capture-recapture for 723 adult female reindeer over five years (2007–2012) revealed high annual losses (7.1% and 18.4%, for herd A and B respectively). A continuing decline in the total reindeer number in herd B demonstrated an inability to maintain the herd size in spite of a very small harvest. An estimated breakpoint for when herd size cannot be kept stable confirmed that the observed female mortality rate in herd B represented a state of herd collapse. Lower calving success in herd B compared to A indicated differences in winter foraging conditions. However, we found only minor differences in animal body condition between the herds in autumn. We found no evidence that a lower autumn body mass generally increased the risk for a female of dying from one autumn to the next. We conclude that the prime driver of the on-going collapse of herd B is not high animal density or poor body condition. Accidents or disease seem unlikely as major causes of mortality. Predation, primarily by lynx and wolverine, appears to be the most plausible reason for the high female mortality and state of collapse in the studied reindeer herding community.     

Campylobacter spp., Enterococcus spp., Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Yersinia spp., and Cryptosporidium oocysts in semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Northern Finland and Norway

The specific aim of this study was to assess the faecal shedding of zoonotic enteropathogens by semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) to deduce the potential risk to human health through modern reindeer herding. In total, 2,243 faecal samples of reindeer from northern regions of Finland and Norway were examined for potentially enteropathogenic bacteria (Campylobacter species, Enterococcus species, Escherichia coli, Salmonella species and Yersinia species) and parasites (Cryptosporidium species) in accordance with standard procedures. Escherichia coli were isolated in 94.7%, Enterococcus species in 92.9%, Yersinia species in 4.8% of the samples and Campylobacter species in one sample only (0.04%). Analysis for virulence factors in E. coli and Yersinia species revealed no pathogenic strains. Neither Salmonella species nor Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected. The public health risk due to reindeer husbandry concerning zoonotic diseases included in this study has to be considered as very low at present but a putative epidemiological threat may arise when herding conditions are changed with respect to intensification and crowding.     

Why Herd Size Matters – Mitigating the Effects of Livestock Crashes

Analysing the effect of pastoral risk management strategies provides insights into a system of subsistence that have persevered in marginal areas for hundreds to thousands of years and may shed light into the future of around 200 million households in the face of climate change. This study investigated the efficiency of herd accumulation as a buffer strategy by analysing changes in livestock holdings during an environmental crisis in the Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway. We found a positive relationship between: (1) pre- and post-collapse herd size; and (2) pre-collapse herd size and the number of animals lost during the collapse, indicating that herd accumulation is an effective but costly strategy. Policies that fail to incorporate the risk-beneficial aspect of herd accumulation will have a limited effect and may indeed fail entirely. In the context of climate change, official policies that incorporate pastoral risk management strategies may be the only solution for ensuring their continued existence.     

Museum specimens reveal changes in the population structure of northern Fennoscandian domestic reindeer in the past one hundred years

Traditional reindeer herding of northern Fennoscandia has been based on seasonal movements independent of national borders. At the beginning of the 19th century, these yearly movements of reindeer were excessive, but during that century the borders between the Fennoscandian countries were closed. By analysing a 190‐base pair fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region in 79 museum samples, we show that the reindeer of northern Fennoscandia were one homogenous population shortly after the national borders were closed. However, anthropogenic activity has effectively ended genetic exchange within northern Fennoscandia and has made the reindeer population within this region heterogeneous. Genetic input of eastern origin is also suggested within the extant Russian reindeer of the Kola Peninsula.     

Endozoochory varies with ecological scale and context

Several studies on endozoochory have established large herbivores as important for seed dispersal, yet no studies have evaluated how endozoochory is dependent on ecological scale and context. Here we address effects of reindeer density on endozoochory in a hierarchical, multi-scale study, encompassing several ecological contexts.
We found reindeer density effects on endozoochory to vary with spatial scale. Higher reindeer densities at the level of landscape areas, as indexed through faeces abundance, were related to both less species and lower abundance of emerging plants from faeces. In contrast, there was no effect of higher reindeer densities at the level of herding districts (i.e. large scale assemblages of landscapes). Lack of consistency between scales reflects ecological hierarchy, indicating that reindeer density effects on endozoochory best matches at the scale of landscapes.
Pasture seed plant composition was only partly an important ecological factor. That is, ericoid species, the dominating plants in the pastures, were also the most abundant seed plants found to emerge from the faeces. However, most herbaceous seed plant species in the pastures were not emerging from the faeces and the few that emerged were positively related to the site fertility and altitude of the pasture.
Studies addressing endozoochory of ruminants are typically concerned with seed plants, whereas in this study we also found indications of that diaspores of ferns are viable after passing the digestive tract of large herbivores. Vascular spore plants were even more abundant in the faeces than were vascular seed plants.
Results from this study demonstrate that reindeer may counteract a potentially negative impact on seed limitation from their grazing by returning viable seeds in their faeces. However, in Finnmark, northern Norway, this effect is only marginal, relates only to a very few species and individuals and shows ecological scale and context dependence.     

Parameterization and validation of an ungulate‐pasture model

Ungulate grazing and trampling strongly affect pastures and ecosystems throughout the world. Ecological population models are used for studying these systems and determining the guidelines for sustainable and economically viable management. However, the effect of trampling and other resource wastage is either not taken into account or quantified with data in earlier models. Also, the ability of models to describe the herbivore impact on pastures is usually not validated. We used a detailed model and data to study the level of winter‐ and summertime lichen wastage by reindeer and the effects of wastage on population sizes and management. We also validated the model with respect to its ability of predicting changes in lichen biomass and compared the actual management in herding districts with model results. The modeling efficiency value (0.75) and visual comparison between the model predictions and data showed that the model was able to describe the changes in lichen pastures caused by reindeer grazing and trampling. At the current lichen biomass levels in the northernmost Finland, the lichen wastage varied from 0 to 1 times the lichen intake during winter and from 6 to 10 times the intake during summer. With a higher value for wastage, reindeer numbers and net revenues were lower in the economically optimal solutions. Higher wastage also favored the use of supplementary feeding in the optimal steady state. Actual reindeer numbers in the districts were higher than in the optimal steady‐state solutions for the model in 18 herding districts out of 20. Synthesis and applications. We show that a complex model can be used for analyzing ungulate‐pasture dynamics and sustainable management if the model is parameterized and validated for the system. Wastage levels caused by trampling and other causes should be quantified with data as they strongly affect the results and management recommendations. Summertime lichen wastage caused by reindeer is higher than expected, which suggests that seasonal pasture rotation should be used to prevent the heavy trampling of winter lichen pastures during summer. In the present situation, reindeer numbers in northernmost Finland are in most cases higher than in the management solutions given by the model.     

The Pursuit of Population Collapses: Long-Term Dynamics of Semi-Domestic Reindeer in Sweden

Spatiotemporal reindeer population fluctuations are a result of multiple factors that working in concert affecting the structure and functioning of many Arctic and Sub-Arctic ecosystems. We investigated the population dynamics of Swedish semi-domestic reindeer from 1945 to 2012 at the reindeer herding district-level (Sameby) to identify possible population collapses or declines. We also explored spatial trends and synchrony in population dynamics across latitudinal-longitude gradients for two distinct periods: 1945–1965 and 1995–2012 but found no evidence of large-scale reindeer population declines and no visible synchrony across adjacent populations. Our findings were unexpected as both reindeer populations and the pastoral lifestyle face increased habitat loss, predation, fragmentation and climate change.     

Chemical composition of reindeer forage plants in Svalbard and Norway

Several of the most important reindeer forage plants in Svalbard were analysed for content of minerals (Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, S, Cl, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Mo and Co) and for content of ash, crude protein, crude fiber, ether extracts and nitrogen free extracts. Some forage plants were also examined in in vitro digestibility trials. The results were compared with results from similar analyses of alpine mountain plants from southern Norway. Also freshly voided fecal samples were analysed for the same components as the forage plants.
The Svalbard vegetation had a higher content of Na, Ca, Mg, Cl, Fe and Co, than similar plants from Southern Norway. The content of other elements examined seemed to be more equal in Norway and on Svalbard. Within the Svalbard area plants growing in limestone areas had the highest content of calcium and magnesium. Also plants growing on manured soil below bird cliffs appeared to have high nutritional value. It is furthermore concluded that the closeness to the sea as well as the occurrence of several plants with high mineral content, gave the Svalbard reindeer the possibility to further improve their mineral balance compared with continental reindeer. Also the dietary shift from lichens as a major dietary component in Norway, to mosses on Svalbard, may increase mineral intake, but may also have an inferior effect on digestibility.
Although balance experiments and carcass analyses of minerals in Svalbard reindeer are missing, it is concluded that Svalbard reindeer apparently had adequate intake of most mineral elements. In spite of low standing biomass of reindeer forage plants, the quality of the vegetation seemed to compare favourably with continental reindeer pasture.     

Observations of 1St Instar Larvae of Nostril Fly (Cephenomyia Trompe L.) In the Eye of Reindeer and their Relation to Keratitis in this Animal

Keratitis in reindeer (Bergman 1912) appears during the summer season, sometimes in the late spring but more frequently in the height of the summer, rather regularly in parts of the reindeer herding areas in the northern parts of Scandinavia, USSR, and North America.     

Prehistory, Identity, and Archaeological Representation in Nordic Museums

In this article, I examine the variable representation of Saami (Lapp) prehistory in several Nordic museums. The analysis is situated at the intersection of (1) the examination of the ideology of archaeological practice, (2) the discourse about creation of indigenous identity, and (3) the visual culture of museum exhibitions. I describe and analyze displays about archaeology and prehistory from seven museums in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The presentation of Saami prehistory differs significantly between majority community museums and those run by Saami communities. These presentations reflect ideologies implicated in building indigenous, nationalist, and pannational identities as well as in establishing legitimacy of Saami claims to land and heritage. Representations of the past are inevitably political because they are about linking people, place, and legitimacy. Ambiguities in these uses of prehistory are discussed, as is the globalizing role of the European Union.     

Polymorphism of the mtDNA control region in wild reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Mammalia: Artioodactyla) from the European part of Russia

Genetic diversity of wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) inhabiting the European part of Russia, including Komi Republic, Arkhangelsk oblast, Murmansk oblast, and the Republic of Karelia was characterized using sequence polymorphism of the mtDNA control region. Despite of currently low population number of wild reindeer, they were characterized by a high level of genetic diversity (?? = 0.018; H = 0.872 to 0.914). Phylogenetic analysis showed close relationships between European reindeer and wild reindeer of Siberia. In reindeer from Murmansk oblast a haplotype in common with the wild reindeer form Southwestern Norway was described. The reindeer sample examined contained no haplotypes earlier described for the reindeer of Central Norway. It is suggested that in recent past wild reindeer from the European north of Russia formed one population with the reindeer from the north of the Asian part of Eurasia.     

Persistence of vigilance and flight response behaviour in wild reindeer with varying domestic ancestry

Knowledge about changes in behavioural traits related to wildness and tameness is for most mammals lacking, despite the increased trend of using domestic stock to re‐establish wild populations into historical ranges. To test for persistence of behavioural traits of wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) exposed to hunting, we sampled DNA, vigilance and flight responses in wild reindeer herds with varying domestic ancestry. Analyses of 14 DNA microsatellite loci revealed a dichotomous main genetic structure reflecting their native origin, with the Rondane reindeer genetically different from the others and with least differentiation towards the Hardangervidda reindeer. The genetic clustering of the reindeer in Norefjell‐Reinsjøfjell, Ottadalen and Forollhogna, together with domestic reindeer, supports a predominant domestic origin of these herds. Despite extensive hunting in all herds, the behavioural measures indicate increasing vigilance, alert and flight responses with increasing genetic dissimilarity with domestic herds. Vigilance frequency and time spent vigilant were higher in Rondane compared to Hardangervidda, which again were higher than herds with a domestic origin. We conclude that previous domestication has preserved a hard wired behavioural trait in some reindeer herds exhibiting less fright responses towards humans that extensive hunting has, but only slightly, altered. This brings novel and relevant knowledge to discussions about genetic diversity of wildlife in general and wild reindeer herds in Norway in specific.     

Pasteurellosis in Reindeer in Northern Norway

Lung inflammations in reindeer caused by Pasteurella multocida were reported from Scandinavian countries already at the beginning of this century. Several outbreaks have been recorded in reindeer herds in Norway. Observations made at the fall reindeer slaughtering, and in reindeer herds in Finnmark seem to indicate an endemic state of this infection with subclinical carriers. Predisposing factors and lowered specific immune status may probably play important roles when fatal outbreaks occur.