Regional effects of climate change on reindeer: a case study of the Muotkatunturi region in Finnish Lapland

Few studies have investigated current climate changes for high latitude reg ions, and the impact of such changes on reindeer and indigenous people. pre vious work by other authors has identified snow and ice conditions in winte r as being critical in determining the availability of forage for reindeer. Deep snow makes it difficult to access food. Lack of food weakens the herd and can reduce the allocation of nutrients to the development of the foetu s in the female deer. Climate data for Lapland, northern Finland, and Karas jok, northern Norway, are examined, together with reindeer calf numbers for the period 1977 to 1994 for the Muotkatunturi region (68 degrees N 25 degr ees 30'E). Between 1883 and 1993, precipitation increased but temperatures showed no clear warming or cooling trend. However, since the late 1980s, te mperatures have increased. A regression analysis on the climate and reindee r data found that the warmer the winter prior to the rut, the fewer the liv e calves recorded the following year (r = 0.529, p < 0.05). Also, the wette r the winter prior to the rut, the fewer the calves recorded (r = 0.427, p < 0.10). In contrast, the warmer the autumn prior to their birth, the great er the number of calves recorded (r = 0.474, p < 0.10). These results sugge st that as climate changes and winters become warmer and wetter with increa sed snowfall, calf numbers will decline. These findings have important impl ications for the Saami people who are heavily dependent on the reindeer for their livelihood.