Norwegian wild reindeer management - the Quality Standards (kvalitetsnorm)

Norway hosts the last wild mountain reindeer in Europe and has international responsibility for their conservation. A major threat is the cumulative impact of infrastructures and human activities, which resulted in significant habitat loss and in the fragmentation of the previously 2-3 panmittic populations into 23 separate managemetn areas [1,2,3]. To meet international and national conservation objectives, Norway recently developed a set of guidelines, the "Quality Standards" [4,5,6]. Every 4 years the status of each herd is assessed based on 3 Criterias - 1. population conditions, 2. lichens, 3. habitat & anthropogenic disturbance - using a «traffic light system». If the status of a herd is sub-optimal (red light), measures should be taken to improve it. 

Criterium 3 relies on expert-based approaches to identify areas where human activities are not sustainable and may require mitigation measures. This is achieved based on expert assessments of changes in reindeer observations/area use caused by changes in human pressure. The process starts with delineating polygons representing seasonal ranges, corridors, and a set of focal areas defined based on socio-ecological challenges. Experts assess the degree of reduction in use of the focal areas in the last decade compared to the previous four decades. Each reindeer area is then classified as red, yellow or green by assessing the proportion of habitat and corridors lost within all focal areas, compared to habitat and corridors available within the seasonal range.

Comparing statistical vs. expert-based assessments of habitat loss and loss of connectivity 

The maps presented here are obtained using statistical methods to quantify the cumulative impact of a range of infrastructure and human activities, and to identify functional habitat and movement corridors for reindeer. The models are based on a large number of GPS-positions and of environmental covariates describing the landscape (topography, vegetation, NDVI etc), infrastructures (density of roads, hydropower, trails, private cabins, tourist cabins, tourist volume, etc.), climate and, in some areas, local knowledge. 

Module 2 (below) allows to view, zoom in and compare statistical maps [1,2,6-15] with the polygons produced through expert-assessment. This is done in support to a project commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency to explore the potential of using analytical approaches to support the classification of the status of wild reinder areas. A statistical comparison of the two approaches and of their performance with respect to GPS data and to reindeer observations, followed by and a discussion on their strenghts and weaknesses is provided in [0]. 

All images: Panzacchi et al 2022 (CC BY-SA) 

REFERENCES

[0] Panzacchi, M., van Moorter, B., Tveraa, T., Rolandsen, C. M., Gundersen, V., Lelotte, L., Dos Santos, B. B. N., Bøthun, S. W., Andersen, R., Strand, O. 2022. Statistisk modellering av samlet belastning av menneskelig aktivitet på villrein. Identifisering av viktige leveområder og scenarioanalyser for konsekvensutredning og arealplanlegging. NINA Rapport 2189.

[1] Panzacchi M, van Moorter B Strand O, Loe LE, Reimers E (2015) Searching for the fundamental niche using individual-based habitat selection modelling across populations. Ecography 38: 659-669

[2] Panzacchi, M, van Moorter B, Strand B, Saerens M, Kivimäki I, St. Clair CC, Herfindal I, Boitani L (2016) Predicting the continuum between corridors and barriers to animal movements using Step Selection Functions and Randomized Shortest Paths. J Anim Ecol 85: 32-42

[3] Panzacchi M., Van Moorter B., Strand, O. (2013) Learning from the past to predict the future: Modelling archaeological findings and GPS data to quantify reindeer sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance in Norway. Landscape Ecology, Special Issue 28:847–859

[4] "Kvalitetsnorm for villrein" Kvalitetsnorm for villrein - regjeringen.no. Ministry for Climate and Environment. Accessed Mar 2022

[5] Kjørstad, M., Bøthun, S. W., Gundersen, V., Holand, Ø., Madslien, K., Mysterud, A., Myren, I. N., Punsvik, T., Røed, K. H., Strand, O., Tveraa, T., Tømmervik, H., Ytrehus, B. & Veiberg, V. 2017. Miljøkvalitetsnorm for villrein - Forslag fra en ekspertgruppe. NINA Rapport 1400. 193 s

[6] Rolandsen, C.M., Tveraa, T., Gundersen, V., Røed, K.H., Tømmervik, H., Kvie, K., Våge, J., Skarin, A. & Strand, O. 2022. Klassifisering av de ti nasjonale villreinområdene etter kvalitets-norm for villrein. Første klassifisering – 2022. NINA Rapport 2126. Norsk institutt for naturforskning.

FURTHER READS

• Van Moorter B, Kivimäki I, Panzacchi M, Saura S, Niebuhr B.B., Strand O, Saerens M. (2023) Habitat Functionality: integrating environmental and geographic space in niche modelling for conservation planning. Ecology 104(7): e4105

• Dorber, M., Panzacchi, M., Strand, O. et al. New indicator of habitat functionality reveals high risk of underestimating trade-offs among sustainable development goals: The case of wild reindeer and hydropower. Ambio (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01824-x

• Van Moorter B, Kivimäki I, Panzacchi M, Særens M (2021). Review & Synthesis: defining and quantifying Effective Connectivity. Ecography44, 6: 870-884

• Van Moorter M, Kivimaki I, Noack A, Devooght R, Panzacchi M, Hall K, Leleux P, Saerens M. (2022) Accelerating advances in landscape connectivity modeling with the ConScape library. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 00, 1– 13 

• Niebuhr B. Bernardo, Bram Van Moorter, Audun Stien, Torkild Tveraa, Olav Strand, Knut Langeland, Per Sandström, Moudud Alam, Anna Skarin, Manuela Panzacchi ((2023). Estimating the cumulative impact and zone of influence of anthropogenic infrastructure on biodiversity.  Methos in Ecology and Evolution, 19 (9):2362-2375 

• Van Moorter B, Kivimaki I, Panzacchi M, Saura S, Strand O, Saerens M (under revision) Connecting the niche: Going beyond mere suitable towards functional habitat by including accessibility and connectivity

• Lelotte Lucie (2021) MSc Thesis. Analysis of the human footprint on reindeer summer habitat. Using habitat selection modeling to assess anthropogenic drivers of habitat loss in Norwegian wild mountain reindeer. Univ. Liege, Belgium & NINA  (link)

• Kivimäki I, Shimbo M, Særens M (2014) Developments in the theory of randomized shortest paths with a comparison of graph node distances. Physica A: Statistical

Mechanics and its Applications 393: 600-616

• Kivimäki I, van Moorter B, Panzacchi M, Jari Saramäki, Marco Saerens. (2020) Maximum likelihood estimation for randomized shortest paths with trajectory data. Journal of Complex Networks (8),4

• Gundersen, V., van Moorter, B. Panzacchi, M., Rauset, G.R. & Strand, O. 2021. Villrein-ferdselsanalyser på Hardangervidda - Anbefalinger og tiltak. NINA Rapport 1903. Norsk institutt for naturforskning. [in Norwegian]

• Panzacchi M, Fornybar energi og reinsdyr: nye metoder for å simulere effekten av inngrep, forstyrrelser og kompenserende tiltak Energi Norge - Produksjonsteknisk konferanse 2021 (here)

• Panzacchi, Manuela; Van Moorter, Bram; Strand, Olav; Kivimäki, Ilkka; Saerens, Marco; Stien, Audun; Tveraa, Torkild; Langeland, Knut; Gundersen, Vegard; Eftestøl, Sindre; Tsegaye, Diress; Coleman, Jonathan I.R.. (Keynote talk) 2021. How to Quantify the Cumulative Impact of Human Activities on reindeer and aid Sustainable Land Planning". 18th North American Caribou Workshop (link)

• Panzacchi M., Van Moorter B., Strand, O. (2013) A road in the middle of one of the last wild reindeer migrations routes in Norway: crossing behaviour and threats to conservation. Rangifer, Special Issue 21: 15-26

• ‘You shall not pass!’: quantifying barrier permeability and proximity avoidance by animals (pages 43–53) Hawthorne L. Beyer, Eliezer Gurarie, Luca Börger, Manuela Panzacchi, Mathieu Basille, Ivar Herfindal, Bram Van Moorter, Subhash R. Lele and Jason Matthiopoulos, Journal of Animal Ecology, Special Issue, 85, 1 (2016)

• How many routes lead to migration? Comparison of methods to assess and characterize migratory movements (pages 54–68) Francesca Cagnacci, Stefano Focardi, Anne Ghisla, Bram van Moorter, Evelyn H. Merrill, Eliezer Gurarie, Marco Heurich, Atle Mysterud, John Linnell, Manuela Panzacchi, Roel May, Torgeir Nygård, Christer Rolandsen and Mark Hebblewhite, Journal of Animal Ecology, Special Issue, 85, 1 (2016)

• Caribou and reindeer migrations in the changing Arctic. Kyle Joly, Anne Gunn, Steeve D. Côté, Manuela Panzacchi, Jan Adamczewski, Michael J. Suitor, Eliezer Gurarie. Animal Migration. 2021; 8:156–167

• The challenges and opportunities of coexisting with wild ungulates in the human-dominated landscapes of Europe's Anthropocene. John D.C. Linnell; Benjamin Cretois; Erlend B. Nilsen; Christer M. Rolandsen; Erling J. Solberg; Vebjørn Veiberg; Petra Kaczensky; Bram Van Moorter; Manuela Panzacchi; Geir R. Rauset; Bjørn Kaltenborn. Biological Conservation, 2020, Volume 244

• Consequences of barriers and changing seasonality on population dynamics and harvest of migratory ungulates. Theoretical Ecology, 2020 Van Moorter, B., Engen, S., Fryxell, J.M., Panzacchi, M., Nilsen, E.B., Mysterud, A.

• Large-scale segregation of tourists and wild reindeer in three Norwegian national parks: Management implications. Tourism Management 2019, 75. p. 22-33 2019  Gundersen, Vegard; Vistad, Odd Inge; Panzacchi, Manuela; Strand, Olav; Van Moorter, Bram

• Moving in the Anthropocene: Global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements. Tucker M, Böhning-Gaese K, Fagan F, Fryxell J, Bram Van Moorter et al. 2018, Science. 359(6374): 466-469

• Mark S. Boyce, Chris J. Johnson, Evelyn H. Merrill, Scott E. Nielsen, Erling J. Solberg and Bram van Moorter (2016) REVIEW: Can habitat selection predict abundance? (pages 11–20) . Journal of Animal Ecology, Special Feature Review: Stuck in Motion? Reconnecting Questions and Tools in Movement Ecology 

• Borger L. (2015) EDITORIAL: Stuck in motion? Reconnecting questions and tools in movement ecology. Journal of Animal Ecology, 5:10