Response Behaviors of Svalbard Reindeer TOwards Humans and Humans Disguised as Polar Bears on Edgeøya

Due to observed interactions between Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandusplatyrliynchus) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) during field work on Edge0ya, Svalbard, we measured response distances for reindeer from a stalking polar bear and improvised five approaches from a person disguised as a polar bear for comparison with human encounters. The alert, flight initiation and escape distances were 1.6, 2.5 and 2.3 times longer, respectively, when Svalbard reindeer were encountered by a person disguised as a polar bear compared to a person in dark hiking gear. Population increase of polar bears on Svalbard and decrease in sea-ice cover in the Arctic region during summer probably results in more frequent interactions with reindeer on the archipelago. Similar reindeer response behavior from encounters with a polar bear and persons disguised as polar bears indicate a predator-prey relationship between the two species on Edge0y

Reindeer fidelity to high quality winter pastures outcompete power line barrier effects

We investigated barrier effects of a 66 kV power line established in 1966 before and after the line was upgraded to 132 kV in 2004 over a period of 44 years (1974-2017) in the North Ottadalen wild reindeer area (3245 km2) of  which 1038 km2 are in use as winter pastures. The power line transects a peninsula (135 km2) with high quality winter pastures in the southeast periphery. The reindeer population originated from a nucleus herd of 402 animals of domestic origin released in the area in 1964-1965 and 100 resident wild animals. Yearly winter survey started in 1974 and reindeer were first surveyed south of the 66 kV power line in 1982. Comparing the number of animals recorded in the peninsula vs. the number of individuals expected relative to available grazing area during the three periods (1974-2004, 1982-2004 and 2005-2017), the number of animals recorded in the peninsula was 3.6–4.9 times higher than expected. Since the upgrade of the power line, a substantial part of the reindeer population grazed in the peninsula every year. We therefore conclude that there was no long-term barrier effect from the original power line and no barrier effects at all from the upgrade. However, during the first 5 surveys of this study, there were no animals in the peninsula. Therefore, even if there are several possible reasons for this, we cannot exclude the possibility of short-term barrier effects resulting from the construction of the original power line. Our results support recent studies that report no effects from existing power lines and contrast some previous findings that have reported strong long-term barrier and avoidance effects of such infrastructure for Rangifer migration and grazing behaviour

Effects of wind turbines on area use and behaviour of semi-domestic reindeer in enclosures

In recent decades, industrial developments have expanded into reindeer ranges in the arctic and adjacent higher latitudes in search for energy, minerals, timber and other resources. Several wind turbine parks are under planning in reindeer ranges in Norway, and there is concern about possible negative effects on behaviour and area use of wild and semi-domestic reindeer. We tested whether a wind turbine and its rotor movement had any effect on area use, activity changes, vigilance bouts, and restless behaviour like running, walking, and standing for enclosed semi-domestic reindeer. Five different groups of reindeer in a 450 m long, 8 hectare, enclosure close to a wind turbine were manipulated by turning the wind turbine rotor on and off, and compared with reindeer in a control enclosure without wind turbine exposure. When exposed to rotor movement, two groups used locations farther from the wind turbine, two groups showed no shift, while one group moved closer to the wind turbine. The reindeer showed no systematic differences in the measured behaviour patterns between the two enclosures that could indicate fright or stress as a consequence of the wind turbine or rotor movement. We conclude that semi-domestic reindeer in an enclosure showed no negative behavioural response and little or no aversion towards a wind turbine. The possibility of rapid habituation in a small enclosure with continuous wind turbine exposure suggests that effects on area use should be studied at a larger scale or with free-ranging reindeer.Abstract in Norwegian / Sammendrag:I løpet av de senere tiår har industriell utbygging til utnytting av energi, mineraler, tømmer og andre ressurser ekspandert inn i reinens beiteområder i nordområdene. Flere vindmølleparker er under planlegging i norske reinbeiteområder, og det spekuleres i mulige konsekvenser av disse på atferd og arealbruk hos villrein og tamrein. Vi testet om en vindmølle og dens rotorbevegelse hadde noen effekt på arealbruk, aktivitetsskifter, vaktsomhetsatferd, og rastløshetsatferd i form av løp, gange og ståing for tamrein i innhegning. I en 450 m lang innhegning på 8 hektar som var plassert tett opp til en vindmølle, ble fem forskjellig grupper av reinsdyr manipulert ved å slå vindmøllerotoren av og på. Reinsdyrene i innhegningen ved vindmøllen ble sammenlignet med reinsdyr i en kontrollinnhegning som var uten påvirkning fra vindmøller. Når reinsdyrene ble utsatt for vindmøllerotoren i bevegelse, viste to grupper av dyr et skifte i arealbruk til områder av innhegningen som var lenger unna møllen, to grupper av dyr viste ikke noe skifte i arealbruk, mens en gruppe dyr beveget seg nærmere vindmøllen. Sammenligning av atferden hos reinsdyrene i vindmølleinnhegningen og kontrollinnhegningen viste ingen systematisk forskjell som kunne indikere frykt eller stress som en effekt av vindmøllen eller rotorbevegelsen. Vi konkluderer med at tamrein i innhegning ikke viser negative atferdsresponser og viser lite eller ingen reduksjon i arealbruken tett opp til en vindmølle. Muligheten for at det skjer en rask tilvenning i en liten innhegning der dyrene er i kontinuerlig påvirkning av vindmøllen betyr at effekter på arealbruk bør studeres i et større arealperspektiv eller på frittgående rein

Vigilance in reindeer (<i>Rangifer tarandus</i>); evolutionary history, predation and human interference

publishedVersio

Utbygging av småkraft og oppgradering av større anlegg i et reinbeiteområde - Utfordringer og muligheter

NVE har fått undersøkt virkninger av utbygging av små vannkraftverk på reinens arealbruk. Formålet har vært å undersøke om reinens arealbruk blir påvirket av forstyrrelser fra anleggsdrift ved bygging av kraftverk og senere i driftstiden på grunn av menneskelig ferdsel eller andre forhold som har gitt endrede betingelser. Prosjektet har blitt gjennomført gjennom innsamling og analyse av GPS-data fra reinsdyr i Ildgruben reinbeitedistrikt og intervjuer med berørte reineiere. For å ha et bredere erfaringsgrunnlag har det også blitt trukket inn anleggsdrift ved noen større anlegg i analyse

Gradual improvement in knowledge on effects of wind power plants on reindeer

Det er stor enighet blant forskere om at menneskelig aktivitet har en negativ effekt på reinsdyrs (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) adferd og arealbruk. Det har imidlertid vært større uenigheter innenfor de samme forskningsmiljøene om hvordan menneskelig infrastruktur i seg selv påvirker dyrene. I denne sammenheng har vi de siste 20 år studert hvordan vindparker påvirker arealbruken til reinsdyr, inkludert visuelle effekter av turbiner innenfor områder på store avstander, hvor menneskelig aktivitet ikke er endret. I perioden 2004 til 2017 publiserte vi fire ulike studier, et på reinsdyr i inngjerdinger ved Vikna vindpark, to studier på frittgående rein ved Kjøllefjord vindkraftverk og et studie ved helårsbeitene på Vannøy ved Fakken vindkraftverk. Alle fire studier viste minimale effekter, og de effektene som ble dokumentert gjaldt i stor grad for anleggsfasen, og ikke for driftsfasen. De siste 10 årene har vi i tillegg samlet inn data fra to andre reinbeitedistrikter som blir berørt av vindkraftverk, nemlig Fosen og Rákkonjárga. Der har vi både før-, under- og etterdata basert på GPS-merket rein. For Fosen så var endringene i arealbruken innenfor det berørte vinterbeitet svært negative. Både nærområdet til Roan vindpark og det berørte vinterbeitet i sin helhet fikk kraftig redusert bruk. Likevel, med kun 1-2 år med etterdata mener vi årsakssammenhengene er usikre. For å konkludere om årsakssammenhenger må vi ha flere år med etterdata. For Rákkočearru vindpark så fant vi negative effekter på reinens arealbruk på regional skala, både om våren og om høsten. Da har områder på opp til ca. 10 km avstand fra vindparken fått redusert bruk, og områder lenger unna fått økt bruk. Om sommeren fant vi ikke slike negative effekter på regional skala, men vi fant effekter på intermediær skala. Vi konkluderer at årsaken til at man ikke finner negative regionale effekter om sommeren sannsynligvis er på grunn av at reindriften har økt ressursbruken sin i forbindelse med gjeting, tilsyn og driving. Dette for å utnytte de berørte beitene best mulig. Avbøtende tiltak ved fremtidige utbygginger kan være å gi reindriften støtte til økt ressursbruk i form av gjeting i det aktuelle sesongbeitet for å redusere konsekvensene av negativ påvirkning, eventuelt redusere fysiske hindringer slik som autovern, skjæringer, fyllinger eller andre strukturer som kan påvirke både reinsdyrenes og reindriftens egen bevegelse under oppsamlings- og drivingsarbeid.Scientists agree that human activities have negative effects on reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) behavior and area use. On the other hand, there is disagreement about how infrastructure alone influences reindeer. Over the last 22 years, we have studied how wind power plants influence reindeer area use, including visual effects from turbines at far distances and where levels of human activity remained constant. During 2004-2017, we published 4 separate studies: One for reindeer in enclosures near the Vikna wind plant, two studies on free ranging reindeer in connection with the Kjøllefjord wind plant, and one study with a year-round island inhabiting population on Vannøy with the Fakken wind plant. All four studies showed minimal effects, with slight indications of negative effects for the construction period, but nothing during plant operation. Over the last 10 years, we have collected data in two other reindeer herding districts affected by wind plants; Fosen and Rákkonjárga. Here we have data from before, during and after plant construction for GPS-tagged reindeer. Very negative changes in area use were recorded for the affected winter ranges on Fosen. Areas close to the wind plant on Roan, as well as the winter range in general, showed significantly reduced use. Nevertheless, with only 1-2 years of data from after construction, causation remains uncertain. For conclusions about causation and not correlation, we need additional years with “after-data”. For the Rákkočearru wind plant, we found negative effects on the reindeers’ area use on a regional scale for both spring and autumn. Areas up to 10 km away from the plant had reduced use, while areas further than 10 km showed increased use. For summer, no effects were found at a regional scale, while there was an effect at an intermediate scale. We conclude that a lack of effect in summer is likely a result of increased, focused herding activities counteracting negative effects. In this way, herders aim to utilize their available range optimally. Mitigation measures in connection with wind plants could be providing herders with resources that allow them to adapt their herding practice in the affected areas. Other mitigation measures include minimizing physical barriers in the landscape, such as fences, steep roadsides or road dividers, or structures that otherwise influence the movement patters for the reindeer and herders while herding reindeer

Cumulative effects of infrastructure and human disturbance: a case study with reindeer

publishedVersio

Reindeer fidelity to high quality winter pastures outcompete power line barrier effects

We investigated barrier effects of a 66 kV power line established in 1966 before and after the line was upgraded to 132 kV in 2004 over a period of 44 years (1974-2017) in the North Ottadalen wild reindeer area (3245 km2 ) of which 1038 km2 are in use as winter pastures. The power line transects a peninsula (135 km2 ) with high quality winter pastures in the southeast periphery. The reindeer population originated from a nucleus herd of 402 animals of domestic origin released in the area in 1964-1965 and 100 resident wild animals. Yearly winter survey started in 1974 and reindeer were first surveyed south of the 66 kV power line in 1982. Comparing the number of animals recorded in the peninsula vs. the number of individuals expected relative to available grazing area during the three periods (1974-2004, 1982-2004 and 2005-2017), the number of animals recorded in the peninsula was 3.6–4.9 times higher than expected. Since the upgrade of the power line, a substantial part of the reindeer population grazed in the peninsula every year. We therefore conclude that there was no long-term barrier effect from the original power line and no barrier effects at all from the upgrade. However, during the first 5 surveys of this study, there were no animals in the peninsula. Therefore, even if there are several possible reasons for this, we cannot exclude the possibility of short-term barrier effects resulting from the construction of the original power line. Our results support recent studies that report no effects from existing power lines and contrast some previous findings that have reported strong longterm barrier and avoidance effects of such infrastructure for Rangifer migration and grazing behaviour