Calving site selection in semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in relation to anthropic land use in Sweden

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are significant issues in Lapland, considering the rise of the need for renewable energy and the richness of the area for forestry and extraction. The reindeer husbandry is affected by such habitat loss, threatening the Sami people's cultural activity. Since reindeer is a keystone species, this is the entire biodiversity of the arctic land that is endangered. The main objective of this work was to quantify the influence of the establishment of anthropic infrastructure like wind farms and mines on reindeer calving sites in the Malå reindeer herding community in Sweden. First was determined the location of the calving sites before (years 2008, 2009), during (years 2010,2011) and after the construction (years 2015,2016) of four wind farms, Storliden, Jokkmokksliden, Ytterberg and Åmliden. Second, the different parameters influencing the choice of the calving sites were defined using the resource selection function among some natural variables, roads, power lines, the wind farms, and a mine. The zone of influence of the wind farms' density and their presence and the ZOI of the mine were included in the analysis. Finally, the link between calving dates and the maximum instantaneous rate of green-up (IRG) before, during and after construction was studied.

The mine had a decisive influence with a zone of influence of at least 7.5km independently of the phase. No influence of the turbines on calving sites were defined with statistics. However, observations of the distance from calving sites to infrastructures showed an avoidance of the wind farms mostly during operation. Moreover, the analysis of the IRG demonstrated a preference for sites where the quality of pasture was at the highest before construction and just after the green-up during the construction while no preference was observed during operation. Such results suggest the avoidance of the infrastructure during operation to the extent of the pasture quality. No influence of the power lines was observed, but public and private roads' influences were significant. Females preferred calving at low elevations, and the Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) did not influence the calving site's locations. Those results are helpful for conservation biology and wildlife management because it allows finding solutions to face the expansion of arctic land use. The possible solutions were discussed in this work.