Analyzing cumulative effects from human development on reindeer habitat in Sweden - An approach from Canadian Caribou Recovery Planning

Rangifer sp., also called reindeer or caribou, are characterized by their seasonal movements over the landscape, making them a good indicator for cumulative disturbance effects caused by human developments. In a first part this study integrates indigenous ecological knowledge from reindeer herders in northern Sweden to identify current proportions of developed reindeer range and to assess cumulative impacts of development on reindeer husbandry. Mapping revealed the study area as 16.3 % developed, within which 18.4 % of high-use areas were developed. Applying a minimum buffer distance from literature around all developments suggested impacts of 58.7 % on the winter range and 78.6 % on high-use areas. Without buffering forest harvest, impacts were 24.7 % and 24.2 % respectively. Secondly, this study regards the Canadian caribou system and reindeer husbandry system in Sweden as parallel: both supporting intricate social-ecological networks and facing common pressures from human developments.To assess the application of Canadian recovery methods in the Swedish context the study summarized key aspects of the disturbance management thresholds methodology, compared available data and highlighted similarities and differences between the caribou and reindeer systems.