Influence of prescribed burning on reindeer winter pastures at landscape scale in northern Sweden: A modelling approach.

Whilst the re-introduction of fire can contribute to biodiversity conservation in Fennoscandian forests, the effects on reindeer herding remain uncertain. To assess the short- and long-term effects of prescribed burning on lichen supply in a productive forest landscape, we developed a model simulating lichen biomass available for reindeer grazing, covering 300 years and 1500 pine stands, under different soil preparation scenarios, including different prescribed burning regimes and mechanical scarification. Our simulations revealed that burning 25-50% of yearly clear-cuts has the potential to stop, or even reverse, reindeer lichen decline at landscape scale after 70 years, greatly surpassing the short-term losses caused by burning.

Fire Management in The Boreal Forest of Swedish Sápmi: Prescribed Burning and Consideration of Sami Reindeer Herding During 1920-1970.

Forest owners and Indigenous Sami reindeer herders use the same land in northern Sweden for commercial forestry and winter grazing, respectively. Fire management has been controlled by foresters since the late-19th century, and Sami herders have had to deal with the effects of both fire suppression and prescribed burning. However, the environmental history of fire management and reindeer herding in Sweden has never been thoroughly investigated.