ACTA PHYTOGEOGRAPHICA SUECICA 87 EDIDIT SVENSKA VAXTGEOGRAFISKA SALLSKAPET Use and abuse of reindeer range Olof Eriksson, Mikael Niva & Alexandro Caruso lJPPSALA 2007 ACTA PHYTOGEOGRAPHICA SUECICA 87 EDIDIT SVENSKA V AXTGEOGRAFISKA SALLSKAPET Use and abuse of reindeer range Olof Eriksson, Mikael Niva and Alexandro Caruso UPPSALA 2007 2 ISBN 978-91-7210-087-9 (paperback) ISBN 978-91-7210-487-7 (cloth) ISSN 0084-5914 Erik Sjogren Editor: Cover illustration: Gullris - Solidago. Tuschteckning av Gunnar Ostman Inga, 2004. © Eriksson, M. Niva & A. Caruso 2007 0. Edidit: Svenska Vaxtgeografiska Sallskapet Villavagen 14 SE-752 36 Uppsala Lay-out: Opulus Press AB Printed in Sweden by Fingraf, Sodertalje. Acta Phytogeogr. Suec. 87 Abstract Abstract. Eriksson, Niva, M. and Caruso, A. Use and abuse At all study sites, six adjacent plots were selected, half of which 0., of reindeer range. -Acta Phytogeogr. Suec. 87. Uppsala. were fenced to deny access to larger herbivores, and half were left open for grazing by herbivores. The composition of plant com­ all munities in the field, bottom and tree layer in plots was estimated In consequence of variations in geology and soils, in climate, in 1995-96, and re-estimated to four years later. three and in its wide extent in longitude, latitude and altitude, the Generally, marginal or no effects of enclosure were seen Scandinavian mountain chain exhibits major variations in natural on the vegetation communities, and there were no differences conditions. Nature is constantly influenced by processes that between vegetation types. include both natural forces and human activity. Up to the end of the 19th century, travellers in the montane In the early 1990s, there was an intense media debate about region, both Saami and outsiders, ocularly assessed the plant current damage to the montane vegetation, which many believed cover. As a rule, they reported a good supply of reindeer fodder they could observe. plants, especially lichen species. In 1992, the World Wide Foundation for Nature, WWF, invit­ From the end of the 19th century, there began to be obser­ ed representatives of responsible authorities, reindeer-husbandry vations of severely denuded lichen cover, especially in areas interests, voluntaryconservation bodies and interested researchers exposed to a veritable invasion of Saami and reindeer from the to a conference, which, somewhat erroneously, came to be called north-Norwegian and north-Finnish reindeer grazing areas. In­ the 'Reindeer grazing conference', but which included a spectrum cornersfrom those areas introduced an extensive form of reindeer of factors that can affectthe montane vegetation. husbandry, developed to suit conditions on the Finnmarksvidda One result of this conference was that, in 1993, WWF initi­ and in northernmost Finland, where large reindeer herds could ated a research project, extending over several years, intended readily find grazing on well-demarcated headlands and islands to provide information about temporal changes in montane during the snowfree season, without much supervision. vegetation. The conflictsof interest between the incomers, and indigenous Experimental areas distributed along the Swedish mountain Saami who wished to carry on an intensive fo rm of reindeer chain were selected: the southemmost are on Fulufjiillet in husbandry, with closely supervised herds, were great. From the Dalama,. and the nothemmost are ea. 15 S of Tavvavuoma beginning of the 20th century, state interventions, in the form of km in Swedish Lapland. (Some placenames are given in modem commissions of enquiry and fieldsurveys, were instituted. Their North-Saamish spelling in Appendix 2) The vegetation types aim was to resolve existing conflicts,to ensure a sustainable ac­ studied were Grass heath, Meadow with low herbs, Dry heath, cess to grazing, and satisfactory profitability. The results cannot Birch forest-heath type with lichens and Birch forest-heath with be said to have been satisfactory. mosses. These cover all major montane areas and are important grazing areas for reindeer. Acta Phytogeogr. Suec. 87 4 Contents Abstract 3 Preface 7 Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 10 Botanical research 13 Large-scale exploitation of mountain regions 18 Data for decision-making in Swedish-Norwegian reindeer grazing conventions - new knowledge of nature in mountain regions 19 National Parks 21 Present -day maps of the mountains 21 1. The reindeer 22 1.1 Origin 22 1.2 Reindeer feeding 25 Pastures in the mountain birch woodlands 26 1.3 Fertility 28 1.4 Diseases 28 1.5 Mortality 28 1.6 Slaughter 29 1. 7 Herd size over time 30 1.8 Reindeer domestication and handling 33 Saami and reindeer husbandry- some definitions 34 Husbandry of forest reindeer 34 Mountain reindeer husbandry 35 Good grazing - poor grazing 35 The Saamis and the authorities 35 The silver-mining era and the Saamis 37 The colonisation of the Saami territories 37 Regulations concerning the Saami territories 38 The boundary of the Saami territories 38 1. 9 Reindeer grazing and availability of grazing, fromthe time of Olaus Magnus 39 Reports from pioneers in Lapland 39 Linnaeus' travels in Dalama and Lappland 40 Zetterstedt's journey in Tome Lappmark 41 Zetterstedt's journey in Ume Lappmark 41 The Lapp bailiffs' yearbooks 42 The Lapp bailiffs in Norrbotten 42 Lapp bailiffsin Jamtland 42 Acta Phytogeogr. Suec. 87 5 The Saami view of the grazing situation 43 R. Hult's attempt to deduce the laws governing the composition of plant formations 45 Observations on reindeer grazing during the 20th century, by botanists working in the mountains 48 Tengvall's measurements of reindeer lichen growth 49 2. The WWF-project� Background 51 2.1 Project objectives and study sites 51 2.2 Geology 51 2.3 Physical geography 52 2.4 Climate and weather 52 Growing season 53 Humidity 54 2.5 Vegetation types 54 Grass heath 55 Meadow with low herbs 55 Dry heath 55 Mountain birch forests 56 Extent of vegetation types studied 57 Establishment of sample plots 59 3. The WWF-project:How it was carried out 59 Shrub and treelayer 60 Presence of herbivores 60 Data processing 60 Ordination 61 Cover 61 Frequency 62 Shrub and tree layer 63 4. The WWF-project: Results 64 4.1 Birch forest heath type with mosses and dry heath 64 Species present 64 Shannon's diversity index 65 Ordination 66 �� � 4.2 Birch forest-heath type with lichens 72 Species present 72 Shannon's diversity index 73 Cover 73 Frequency 74 Shrub- and tree-layer 74 Droppings 75 Acta Phytogeogr. Suec. 87 6 4.3 Ritsem meadow with low herbs and dry heath 75 Species present 75 Shannon's diversity index 76 Ordination 76 Frequency 78 Droppings 78 4.4 Tjuolmajaure and Puollanvare 79 Species present 79 Shannon's diversity index 79 Ordination 79 Cover 80 5. The WWF-project: Discussion 82 Species diversity 83 Ordinations 83 Cover of the species 84 Shrub and tree canopy cover 86 5.1. Concluding thoughts 87 References 89 AppendixI. Recorded species 95 Appendix11. Saami names for utility goods_, botanical names_, villages and study sites_, and list of persons who provided information 101 Acta Phytogeogr. Suec. 87 Preface The Scandinavian mountain chain (the Scan des) or the Emergence of the National Park concept in the late Kjol ('Keel') (Ljungner 1948), part of which is situated 19th century led to some change of opinion, and a debate in Sweden, is a part of the Caledonian mountain chain, about the conservation of wilderness areas was started. which intermittently stretches from Ireland to northern In 1880, the discoverer of the Northwest Passage, the Greenland. It exhibits a wide range of variation with geologist and polar explorer A.E. NordenskiOld, brought regard to natural characteristics. This is partly because of up the question of Swedish National Parks. At that time differences in bedrock and soil type, climatic gradients in hydroelectric power and natural resources had begun to both north-south and east-west directions, as well as in be exploited by society, which had led to a more exten­ altitude. These differencesin abiotic conditions contribute sive communication system even in the mountain areas. to the occurrence of a large number of vegetation types. Improved communications then led to mountain tourism, Factors that most clearly form the vegetation are snow initially on a modest scale, but which, despite its taking protection and water. Over a short distance it is possible place only on foot, by ski or by rowing boat, was considered to note a shift from surfaces exposed to the wind, with by some as a potential environmental threat. sparsely occurringlichens, mosses and low-creeping dwarf shrubs, to slightly taller shrub-dwarf shrub vegetation or In 1909, the Swedish Parliament decreed that national even luxuriant vegetation. In the mountain birch forest parks similar to those in the United States (e.g. Yellowstone and on the open mountain, there are almost 600 vascular 1872) should be established in differentparts of the country, plant species, about 300 moss species and more than 600 to protect valuable environments for all time. Examples lichen species. in the mountain regions are Peljekaise, Sarek, Sanfjallet and Stora Sjofallet, all of which were established between As in other parts of Sweden, nature in the mountain 1909 and 1913. The last of these was severely reduced in chain has been influenced, and still is influenced, by both size when hydroelectric interests succeeded in persuading Parliament that its waterfalls could be exploited to produce natural forces and anthropogenic activities. Itis simultane­ ously exposed to exploitation by land-based industries, of electricity. Abisko National Park was established in 1919 which energy generation, mining, reindeer husbandry and and Vadvetjillo in 1920. mass tourism are the largest, the most space-requiring and those that possibly have the greatest effect on vegetation. Towards the end of the 20th century, a new debate on the Nature in these areas is also utilised by the local popula­ mountain regions emerged, this time based on observations tion and visitors from elsewhere, for recreation in different of accelerating wear-and-tear on mountain nature, reported forms on a smaller scale, e.g.