High-resolution palynology reveals the land use history of a Sami renvall in northern Sweden

Ilse M Kamerling,Kevin J Edwards,J Edward Schofield,Kjell-Åke Aronsson

doi:10.1007/s00334-016-0596-5

Ilse M Kamerling, Kevin J Edwards + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-016-0596-5

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Abstract

The limited availability of historical and archaeological evidence means that much is still unknown about the development of Sami reindeer herding in Fennoscandia in both the recent and more distant past. To address this problem, high-resolution palynological analyses, 14C and 210Pb dating were undertaken on two adjacent (<25 m apart) peat profiles collected at a recently abandoned reindeer gathering pen (renvall) near Jokkmokk (~66.6°N, 19.8°E) in the boreal forest of northern Sweden. The aim was to assess the impact of Sami reindeer herding on the local environment through a study of pollen, coprophilous fungal spores, microscopic charcoal and sedimentology. The samples collected from within an annex to the renvall indicate cycles of use and abandonment of the pen on a multi-decadal timescale between ~ad 1800–2008, most obviously in the coprophilous fungal spore archive. The pattern and timing of these cycles confirm events previously known only from oral histories. Although the local pollen assemblage zones associated with the phasing of activity were reproducible in a second peat core beyond the boundary of the renvall, the coprophilous fungal spore signal in this paired profile was much less distinctive, possibly due to the typically shorter dispersal distances for these microfossils in comparison to pollen grains.

Highlights

This paper compares the oral histories of 20th century forest Sami reindeer herding at a recently abandoned gathering pen at Akkajarvi, northern Sweden (Fig. 1), with the results of palynological analyses
The impacts of reindeer herding on vegetation across the site appear slight in the pollen record
The signal for activity is characterised by trace values of pollen of Epilobium-type and various ruderal plants such as Rumex-type, Chenopodiaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Melampyrum, and abandonment is indicated by successive increases in Poaceae, ericaceous heaths, Vaccinium-type, and the trees

Summary

Introduction

This paper compares the oral histories of 20th century forest Sami reindeer herding at a recently abandoned gathering pen (renvall) at Akkajarvi, northern Sweden (Fig. 1), with the results of palynological analyses. Akkajarvi featured in an earlier palynological study of forest reindeer herding in Sweden (Aronsson 1991), which showed that such analyses provided a means for detecting and evaluating the landscape response to reindeer pastoralism in northern Fennoscandia. The analyses of coprophilous fungal spores, microscopic charcoal and loss-on-ignition (LOI) are incorporated along with pollen analysis (Kuoppamaa et al 2009). Microscopic charcoal is employed as a measure of fire incidence (Patterson et al 1987; Ericsson et al 2000; Niklasson and Granstrom 2000) which may be linked to the use of domestic and smudge fires, the latter being the lingering smoke-producing fires that protect the reindeer from mosquitoes (van Dyke 1901; Aronsson 1991). LOI is used as a proxy for soil erosion (Edwards and Rowntree 1980; Evans 1996)

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