61 research outputs found
Past and Present Winter Feeding of Reindeer in Finland: Herdersâ Adaptive Learning of Feeding Practices
The research examines reindeer feeding practices and herdersâ learning of them in three herding co-operatives in Finland: Kuukas in the south, Oraniemi in the central area, and Hammastunturi in the north. In the southern and central co-operatives, from the late 19th century until the Second World War (1939 â 45), trees rich in lichens were cut to provide emergency forage. Harvesting lichens from trees and feeding associated with âtether calvingâ and âfence calvingâ have been common in the central and northern co-operatives. In the 1960s and 1970s, poor digging conditions resulted in reindeer losses, and pressure to feed reindeer increased further as forestry practices and overgrazing caused pastures to decline. Large-scale feeding entered daily practice in Kuukas and Oraniemi in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. The increased interaction between humans and reindeer brought about by regular feeding has made the animals tamer. In fact, they have adopted the permanent feeding areas as part of their pasture rotation. In Hammastunturi, herders entice reindeer from one pasture to another by providing supplementary forage. Knowledge about feeding developed in close concert with agriculture, and was transferred from south to north in the1980s and 1990s. We argue that feeding practices draw on traditional ecological knowledge, which includes old ways of herding cattle. Herdersâ personal working practices and training are knowledge that is difficult to describe in words and must be learned by experience. Learning to feed reindeer requires not only familiarity with herding in practice (which implies profound knowledge about the animals, their nutrition, digestion, behavior, and handling), but also familiarity with the herding district and co-operation across generations.Cette Ă©tude porte sur les pratiques alimentaires du renne et sur lâapprentissage quâen font les bergers au sein de trois coopĂ©ratives de la Finlande : Kuukas dans le sud, Oraniemi dans la rĂ©gion du centre et Hammastunturi dans le nord. Dans les coopĂ©ratives du sud et du centre, de la fin du XIXe siĂšcle jusquâĂ la Seconde Guerre mondiale (1939â 1945), on coupait des arbres riches en lichen pour servir de fourrage dâurgence. La rĂ©colte du lichen des arbres et lâaffouragement liĂ© au «vĂȘlage en laisse» et au «vĂȘlage en enclos» sont courants dans les coopĂ©ratives du centre et du nord. Dans les annĂ©es 1960 et 1970, les mauvaises conditions de creusage se sont traduites par la perte de rennes, et la pression exercĂ©e pour faire manger les rennes a augmentĂ© au fur et Ă mesure que les pratiques dâexploitation forestiĂšre et le surpĂąturage ont rĂ©duit la taille des pĂąturages. Lâaffouragement Ă grande Ă©chelle est devenu monnaie courante au quotidien dans les coopĂ©ratives de Kuukas et dâOraniemi vers la fin des annĂ©es 1980 et le milieu des annĂ©es 1990. Lâinteraction accrue entre lâĂȘtre humain et le renne dĂ©coulant de lâaffouragement rĂ©gulier a rendu les animaux moins sauvages. Ils ont en fait adoptĂ© les aires dâaffouragement permanentes dans leur rotation des pĂąturages. Ă Hammastunturi, les bergers incitent les rennes Ă passer dâun pĂąturage Ă un autre en leur donnant du fourrage supplĂ©mentaire. Les connaissances en matiĂšre dâaffouragement se sont dĂ©veloppĂ©es en contact Ă©troit avec lâagriculture, et elles ont Ă©tĂ© transfĂ©rĂ©es du sud au nord dans les annĂ©es 1980 et 1990. Nous soutenons que les pratiques dâaffouragement sâappuient sur les connaissances Ă©cologiques traditionnelles, dont les anciennes mĂ©thodes de garde des troupeaux. Les mĂ©thodes de travail personnelles des bergers et leur formation sont des connaissances difficiles Ă dĂ©crire avec des mots, car elles doivent plutĂŽt sâacquĂ©rir par le biais de lâexpĂ©rience. Apprendre Ă nourrir les rennes exige non seulement de se familiariser avec la garde des troupeaux en pratique (qui implique des connaissances poussĂ©es des animaux, de leur alimentation, de leur digestion, de leur comportement et de leur manutention), mais aussi de se familiariser avec le territoire de garde et la coopĂ©ration au fil des gĂ©nĂ©rations
Impacts of winter feeding of reindeer on vegetation and soil in the sub-Arctic: insights from a feeding experiment
The overall impacts of winter feeding, including the effects of both forage and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), were studied in an experiment in the Hammastunturi herding cooperative (68°N), Finland, with 300 reindeer in a sub-xeric heath forest (35 ha) during March/April 2009 and 2010. The feeding practices on the 50 plots were: (1) feeding with grass silage+hay with leftovers cleared in the spring; (2) feeding with grass silage+hay with leftovers not cleared; and (3) feeding with pellets. In addition, (4) unfenced and (5) fenced control plots were included, on which the reindeer were not fed. No invasive plant species introduced through grass silage+hay were observed on the plots. The coverage of Deschampsia flexuosa increased on grass silage+hay plots after the first winter, and both coverage and height of the grass increased after the second winter. The coverage of Dicranum sp. and Pleurozium schreberi was lower on plots where reindeer were fed with grass silage (leftover silage not cleared) vs. controls. Some dwarf shrubs, e.g., Calluna vulgaris, showed a similar response after the second winter. The N content of Empetrum nigrum was higher on grass silage plots (leftover silage not cleared) after the first winter vs. controls. After two winters, the N content of both E. nigrum and Vaccinium myrtillus was increased. Of the soil variables studied, C/N decreased on grass silage+hay plots vs. fenced controls. We conclude that even a moderate level of feeding may cause changes that can lead to a gradual shift from nutrient-poor heath forest towards a more nutrient-rich type
Patterns of Resilience during Socioeconomic Crises among Households in Europe (RESCuE): Concept, Objectives and Work. Packages of an EU FP 7 Project
Since 2008, Europe has been shaken by an ongoing crisis. If relevant parts of populations
are exposed to socioeconomic risks, it is a distinctive characteristic of European
political ethics that they must not be left alone, but should be subject to support
and solidarity by budget support policy, economic development policies and
social policy at different levels. But, in analogy with medical and psychological findings,
some parts of the vulnerable population, although experiencing the same living
conditions as others, are developing resilience, which in our context means that they
perform social, economic and cultural practices and habits which protect them from
suffer and harm and support sustainable patterns of coping and adaption. This resilience
to socioeconomic crises at household levels is the focus of the project. It can
consist of identity patterns, knowledge, family or community relations, cultural and
social as well as economic practices, be they formal or informal. Welfare states,
labour markets and economic policies at both macro or meso level form the context
or âenvironmentâ of those resilience patterns. For reasons of coping with the crisis
without leaving the common ground of the implicit European social model (or the
unwritten confession to the welfare state) under extremely bad monetary conditions
in many countries, and for reasons of maintaining quality of life and improving social
policy, it is a highly interesting perspective to learn from emergent processes of resilience
development and their preconditions. Thus, the main questions are directed
at understanding patterns and dimensions of resilience at micro-/household level in
different types of European member and neighbour states accounting for regional
varieties, relevant internal and external conditions and resources as well as influences
on these patterns by social, economic or labour market policy as well as legal
regulations
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