Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Rolf Rødven; Density, climate, age and life history in a semi-domesticated reindeer herd in Finnmark

2003; Septentrio Academic Publishing; Volume: 23; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7557/2.23.2.371

1890-6729

Editor Editor,

Indigenous Studies and Ecology

Dr. Torkild Tveraa at the Norwegian Nature Research (NINA) has assisted during the Cand.scient.-project.Rolf Rødven (b.1974) grew up in Finnmark, where semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) is a key species for both ecology and Sami culture.During mid-eighties the number of animals increased, which has been claimed to be a major cause of a decrease in production of meat in the herds.Northern areas, like Finnmark, are also subjected to severe variation in climatic parameters like amount of snow.Together with the long life span of reindeer, this allows interactions between external factors like density and climate and internal factors like the individuals age to complicate the mechanisms.Rødven early became interested in reindeer and ecology in northern areas, and this brought him to study biology at the University of Tromsø and at UNIS, Svalbard.This also led him to the Cand.scient.-project on the relationships between production, density, climate and age-structure in a semi-domesticated reindeer herd that grazes near to Karasjok in the inner areas of Finmark in wintertime and at Magerøya island (North Cape) in summertime.The herd has been