Northern Scandinavia Research Articles

Fornisländsk literatur, genetik och historisk demografi om samisk-nordiska tidiga kontakter

Old Icelandic literature, genetics and historical demography regarding Sámi-Scandinavian early contactsThe spreading of Sámi interference features to the North Germanic languages is confirmed not only by the Old Icelandic sagas, which show us an absolute acceptance of the Sámi in the North Germanic society and marriages between the two nations, but also by the populational genetics that show that the percentage of the “Sámish” haplogroups (Y-DNA N1c, mtDNA U5 and V) among the North Germanic people exceeds considerably the percentage of the modern Sámi population, which indicates a language shift and assimilation of a part of the Sámi (especially of the Southern Sámi). Changes in the population structure caused by two pest pandemics (in the seventh to ninth and in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries) that affected Northern and Central Scandinavia to a much lesser degree could also contribute both to the spreading of the Sámi genes in Northern and Central Scandinavia and of the Sámi interference features in the North Germanic languages.

Annual 14C Tree-Ring Data Around 400 AD: Mid- and High-Latitude Records

ABSTRACTTwo tree-ring series, one from a high-latitude pine tree (located in northern Scandinavia) and one from a mid-latitude oak tree (located in eastern Germany) were analyzed for radiocarbon (14C) at annual resolution. The new records cover the calendar date ranges 290–460 AD and 382–486 AD, respectively, overlapping by 79 yr. The series show similar trends as IntCal13. However, some significant deviations around 400 AD are present with lower Δ14C (higher 14C ages). An average offset between the two new series and IntCal13 of about 20 years in conventional 14C age is observed. A latitudinal 14C offset between the tree sites in central and northern Europe, as would be expected due to the relatively large spatial distance, is not recorded, however. Periodic changes in the 14C records are resolved that can be attributed to the “11-year” solar cycle (Schwabe cycle) with cycle length from 9 to 11 years. The magnitude of changes in Δ14C due to the solar cycle is between 1.5 and 3‰. Since solar cyclicity is only partially synchronous between the two new series, reasons for asynchronicity are explored.

An automated method for mapping geomorphological expressions of former subglacial meltwater pathways (hummock corridors) from high resolution digital elevation data

Elongated tracts of hummocks or ‘hummock corridors’, exposed on palaeo-ice sheet beds, are believed to represent former subglacial meltwater pathways. Here, we present a method, coded in MATLAB, for automatically detecting and mapping hummock corridors from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs). Initially the DEM is filtered to remove bed roughness outside the size range of hummocks. A Fast Fourier Transform is then performed to determine the dominant orientation of hummock corridors and remove misaligned features. Finally, image segmentation is used to isolate and extract the hummock corridors as a binary mask. The automated approach is tested visually and statistically against detailed manual mapping in three areas of Canada and northern Scandinavia. Results show that while the automated method does not perfectly reproduce the manual mapping, it successfully captures the general configuration, morphometry (length and width) and location of hummock corridors, despite variation in expression across and between sites. This technique is ideally suited to take advantage of newly available high-resolution digital elevation data (e.g. the ArcticDEM), whose enormous volume makes large-scale manual mapping prohibitively time consuming. Its application will enable efficient and comprehensive mapping of the spatial distribution of hummock corridors across palaeo-beds that is necessary for deriving insights into their formation and the organisation of subglacial meltwater flow beneath ice sheets.

Long-term changes in precipitation phase in Europe in cold half year

The change in precipitation phase is an important manifestation of climate change, especially in the moderate climate zone and mountain regions. We analyse changes in precipitation at 107 European stations in cold months (November–April). Stations in Czechia where both surface synoptic observations (SYNOP) reporting the precipitation phase, and temperature and precipitation data are available in sufficient quality, are used to determine the regional threshold temperature. The threshold temperature is then applied to separate solid and liquid precipitation phase in cold months at European stations in 1961–2010. If daily mean temperature is higher than the regional threshold temperature, daily precipitation amount is considered to be liquid and vice versa. The value of the regional threshold temperature is 1.1 °C. The ratio of solid to total precipitation (S/P) significantly declines over large parts of Europe. The strongest negative trend is detected in the belt stretching from the coast of northern Scandinavia through central and eastern Europe towards southern and southeastern Europe. The trend of S/P ranges from −0.2 to −0.9%·year−1 there. The average annual trend of the ratio of solid precipitation for all Europe is −0.12%·year−1. The magnitude of the trend of the ratio of solid precipitation exhibits only a minor sensitivity to the choice of the threshold temperature. A comparison with real trends, calculated for stations in Czechia, indicates that trends determined from the threshold temperature tend to be overestimated, that is, the decline of solid precipitation in Europe is even faster that what results of this study indicate.

Biotic and abiotic drivers of species loss rate in isolated lakes.

Today, anthropogenic impacts are causing a serious crisis for global biodiversity, with rates of extinction increasing at an unprecedented rate. Extinctions typically occur after a certain delay, and understanding the mechanisms causing delays is a key challenge for both fundamental and applied perspectives. Here, we make use of natural experiments, the isolation of lakes by land uplift in Northern Scandinavia, to examine how yearly extinction rates are affected by time since isolation and a range of abiotic and biotic factors. In this aim, we adapted a model of delayed species loss within isolated communities to test the effects of time since isolation, area, pH, depth and the presence/absence of piscivores on extinction rates. As expected, we found that small and/or young lakes experience a higher annual rate of extinctions per species than larger and/or older ones. Compared to previous studies that were conducted for either young (few thousand years ago) or very old (>10,000years ago) isolates, we demonstrated over a large and continuous temporal scales (50-5,000years), similar relationship between extinction rates and age. We also show that extinction rates are modified by local environmental factors such as a strong negative effect of increasing pH. Our results urge for the need to consider the time since critical environmental changes occurred when studying extinction rates. In a wider perspective, our study demonstrates the need to consider extinction debts when modelling future effects of climate change, land-use changes or biological invasions on biodiversity.

Manoeuvring Conflict: Industrial Land Use Projects and ‘Refusal to Resist’ Among Reindeer Herding Communities in Northern Fennoscandia

ABSTRACTWhen local and indigenous communities are faced with industrial projects the situation is often dealt with in research using terms such as resistance or power relations. Such viewpoints and extreme polarisation have been commonplace in the context of mining and reindeer herding in northern Scandinavia. In this article, I take a different approach. I argue for potential in the concept of refusal for understanding complex local realities in the context of land use disputes. I advance the understanding on the concept of refusal by detaching it from the resistance discourse and demonstrate that refusals can be utilised as an expression of cooperation and reciprocity. Furthermore, I introduce refusal to resist as a relevant category for local communities’ strategies of engagement with industrial projects. Local communities may utilise refusal to resist in a situation where they wish to secure the continuity of their livelihood without risking their outer group social relations.

Forest Fire and Indigenous Sami Land Use: Place Names, Fire Dynamics, and Ecosystem Change in Northern Scandinavia

During the last two centuries, fire suppression has critically modified boreal ecosystems in northern Scandinavia and has undoubtedly affected indigenous Sami land use. We inventoried Sami toponyms referring to fire in a municipality located in Swedish Sápmi, and investigated their past and present meanings by analyzing Sami dictionaries and conducting semi-structured interviews with Sami reindeer herders. We use toponyms based on the Sami word ‘roavve’ - a lichen-rich pine-heath that has burned - as a description of past ecosystems to inventory understory and tree vegetation and date the last occurrence of fire in 15 ‘roavve’ places. The inventories showed that some ‘roaave’ places have developed a late succession vegetation type, reducing their suitability for reindeer grazing. We argue both that fire suppression strongly influences the ecological trajectory of these sites and that one must take into account ethnoecological considerations when using toponyms as ecological markers to fully understand their meanings and avoid misinterpretation.

L’Art rupestre d’Alta, Norvège. Art et conscience

Located in northern Scandinavia, rock art sites from Alta are the silent witness of ancient people. Considering landscape, surfaces and engravings gives the opportunity to understand the relation of pictures to their context. Simultaneous understanding of both rock surface and picture offer to reach a graphical discourse. On the other hand mythology gives a new perspective to engravings and integrates them into a global values’ system. Power over representation and the rise of sacred feeling produce by those engravings create a special space closer to a higher reality. In that more than natural space respect to precise rules is of the first importance. By a metaphysic's knowledge, the shaman insures good fortune and well-being to the entire group. This paper offers to consider those different aspects and to shed light on their importance.

“Never Shut Up My Native”: Indigenous Feminist Protest Art in Sápmi

312 Feminist Studies 45, no. 2/3. © 2019 by Feminist Studies, Inc. Kyle Bladow “Never Shut Up My Native”: Indigenous Feminist Protest Art in Sápmi This article situates the performances and productions of the Sámi artists Maxida and Timimie Märak within a longstanding tradition of Sámi “artivism” for environmental justice. The Sámi are the Indigenous peoples of Northern Europe, and a number of recent examples of Sámi art demonstrate the successful entwining of local issues with global movements for Indigenous solidarity. In acting to protect their lands, such artivism—including the poetry and music of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska, Sofia Jannok, Niillas Holmberg, and the posters and installations by the group Suohpanterror—amplify the calls for environmental justice around the world, especially the need to address anthropogenic climate change. Gesturing to this solidarity, this article focuses in on the Märak sisters and their advocacy on Sámi issues in Sweden. The town of Jokkmokk lies just north of the Arctic Circle in Sápmi, the traditional lands of the Sámi, which range across northern Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula. Sámi inhabitation long predates the formation of the Nordic nation-states from whom they currently receive varying degrees of political recognition. The Sámi are peoples with multiple distinct languages and traditional lifeways; Jokkmokk is within an area where Lule Sámi is spoken. The Jokkmokk Winter Market, first established in the seventeenth century by King Karl IX of Sweden as a way to secure tax revenue for the crown, remains a highlight of town life and a Kyle Bladow 313 popular tourist attraction. Taking place each February, it also serves as a space for Sámi activism. At the February 2015 Winter Market, a group of Sámi artist-activists performed a ceremonial protest before the Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy, Alice Bah Kuhnke. Several played violin and joiked (a traditional form of singing) while poet Timimie Märak read aloud a manifesto critical of the Swedish government.1 As Timimie read, their sister, musician and producer Maxida Märak, slowly cut off Timimie’s long dreadlocks. Disrupting a prominent festival to perform before a Swedish government officer, the Märaks’ striking act of haircutting employed its widespread associations with mourning, sacrifice, and even oppression. The cutting of hair was a common practice in assimilationist residential schools and therefore vividly expresses the unsatisfactory conditions to which the Sámi are subjected by the Swedish state. Alongside demands for sociopolitical rights, the Märaks’ manifesto also featured repeated mentions of Eanan, an entity described as “mother, land . . . the base for everything.”2 By advocating for the sacredness and vitality of place, and by combining direct action with joik, the activists effectively marshaled Sámi tradition in a call for environmental justice. But their description of Eanan also acknowledged forms of Indigenous and environmental activism in other places: one line reads, “We need to reconnect with Eanan, the Earth. People all around the globe should reflect on their relationship with nature.” The manifesto was posted on the prominent Canadian Indigenous activism website Idle No More, which brought this very local act to the attention of sympathetic audiences around the globe. By aligning their portrayals of Eanan with other depictions of a living Earth and by using social media resources to organize, activists develop global connections in their protests against resource extraction, climate change, and other threats to Sámi self-determination. 1. Since the demonstration, Timimie has changed names, asserting their trans, gender-fluid identity and preference for gender-neutral pronouns. This is recognized here through the use of “they/them/their” pronouns for Timimie and “siblings” when referring to both Märaks. 2. Niillas Holmberg and Jenni Laiti, “The Saami Manifesto 15: Reconnecting through Resistance,” Idle No More, March 23, 2015, http://www.idlenomore.ca /the_saami_manifesto_15_reconnecting_through_resistance_the_saami_ manifesto_15_reconnecting_through_resistance. 314 Kyle Bladow Motivation for the Märak siblings’ 2015 demonstration stemmed in part from recent mining developments in Sápmi. In particular, the British company Beowulf Mining and its subsidiary, Jokkmokk Iron Mines, seek to extract iron ore from Gállok (Kallak in Swedish), an area west of Jokkmokk. The...

Narvik, a Swedish Norwegian Border Town

This article gives an insight into the industrialization and colonization processes of northern Scandinavia. Urbanization due to industrialization is a vital part of the perspective, and brings us into an industrial mega system in Swedish Lapland in the late nineteenth century based on iron ore export. It was to be connected to the industrial centre of Europe, especially the Ruhrgebiet of Germany, and paved the way for a new kind of urban development in peripheral Europe – the industrial network town. The history and foundation of the Norwegian harbour town Narvik is vital for gaining insight into this mega system. By studying Narvik we can envisage particularities of, and similarities and differences between Norway and Sweden when it comes to their urban economic foundations, urban development/planning regimes, and the relations between the municipalities, the modern nation states and the dominating companies. Even the development of a uniquely Scandinavian identity connected with the labour movement and the development of a post-war social democrat order visibly results from the new industries. Thus the common Swedish-Norwegian figure of the rallar – something like navvy or construction worker – has a significant place in this study, and the use of the figure in addition to later processes of memory creation, both within the Norwegian and Swedish labour movements, is addressed.

Correlation between number of human cases of myiasis caused by the reindeer warble fly (Hypoderma tarandi) and weather conditions during summer in northern Scandinavia

The reindeer warble fly (Hypoderma tarandi) causes myiasis in reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus and subspecies) and aberrant hosts such as humans. Of 22 human cases reported 1982–2016, 16 were children and 18 were residents in or visited northern parts of Norway or Sweden. Of a series of 39 new human cases in Norway 2011–2016 (reported 2017), 32 were children, 32 were resident in Finnmark (northernmost county of Norway), one was a visitor to Finnmark (most likely infested there), 17 were infested in 2012 and 10 in 2013. There are to our knowledge no human cases reported from Finland, although the H. tarandi infestation level in reindeer is high in the reindeer husbandry area of the country and many people live there. Consequently, the differences in geographical distribution and in distribution between children and adults, and between years, relative to where Rangifer and H. tarandi live, strongly indicate the presence of important identifiable drivers affecting the number and distribution. Meteorological data for June–August 2011–2016 from five meteorological stations in Finnmark applied in statistical analyses demonstrated that low proportion of days suitable for H. tarandi flying in July–August, combined with low proportion of days with rain in August, resulted in high number of cases in the particularly cold summer 2012. In contrast, in the particularly warm summer 2013, high proportion of days suitable for H. tarandi flying during July–August gave a high number of cases, and particularly high mean temperature in June tended in the same direction.

Revealing patterns of nocturnal migration using the European weather radar network

Nocturnal avian migration flyways remain an elusive concept, as we have largely lacked methods to map their full extent. We used the network of European weather radars to investigate nocturnal bird movements at the scale of the European flyway. We mapped the main migration directions and showed the intensity of movement across part of Europe by extracting biological information from 70 weather radar stations from northern Scandinavia to Portugal, during the autumn migration season of 2016. On average, over the 20 nights and all sites, 389 birds passed per 1 km transect per hour. The night with highest migration intensity showed an average of 1621 birds km–1 h–1 passing the radar stations, but there was considerable geographical and temporal variation in migration intensity. The highest intensity of migration was seen in central France. The overall migration directions showed strong southwest components. Migration dynamics were strongly related to synoptic wind conditions. A wind‐related mass migration event occurred immediately after a change in wind conditions, but quickly diminished even when supporting winds continued to prevail. This first continental‐scale study using the European network of weather radars demonstrates the wealth of information available and its potential for investigating large‐scale bird movements, with consequences for ecosystem function, nutrient transfer, human and livestock health, and civil and military aviation.

Population and Subspecies Differentiation in a High Latitude Breeding Wader, the Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula

Exploring the patterns of genetic structure in the context of geographical and phenotypic variation is important to understand the evolutionary processes involved in speciation. We investigated population and subspecies differentiation in the Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula, a high latitude wader that breeds in arctic and temperate zones from northeast Canada across Eurasia to the Russian Far East. Three subspecies, hiaticula, tundrae and psammodromus, are currently widely recognised, whereas a fourth subspecies, kolymensis, has been proposed based on geographic isolation and phenotypic differences. We genotyped 173 samples from eleven Common Ringed Plover breeding sites, representing all four putative subspecies, at eight polymorphic microsatellite loci to examine the patterns of population and subspecies differentiation. Bayesian clustering identified three genetic clusters among samples, corresponding to the breeding sites of the three currently recognised subspecies. The existence of the subspecies kolymensis was not supported. We also detected the presence of a previously unknown hybridisation zone extending from Northern Scandinavia to Belarus. Differentiation of the subspecies tundrae and hiaticula most likely occurred in allopatry on the Eurasian continent during past glaciation events, followed by population expansion leading to colonisation of Iceland and Greenland. The lack of genetic differentiation within the tundrae subspecies is consistent with ongoing range expansion and high gene flow maintained through migratory behaviour. We discuss the importance of historic climate changes, migratory behaviour and mating system on shaping the observed pattern of genetic differentiation.

Genome sequencing and conservation genomics in the Scandinavian wolverine population.

Genetic approaches have proved valuable to the study and conservation of endangered populations, especially for monitoring programs, and there is potential for further developments in this direction by extending analyses to the genomic level. We assembled the genome of the wolverine (Gulo gulo), a mustelid that in Scandinavia has recently recovered from a significant population decline, and obtained a 2.42Gb draft sequence representing >85% of the genome and including >21,000protein-coding genes. We then performed whole-genome resequencing of 10Scandinavian wolverines for population genomic and demographic analyses. Genetic diversity was among the lowest detected in a red-listed population (mean genome-wide nucleotide diversity of 0.05%). Results of the demographic analyses indicated a long-term decline of the effective population size (Ne ) from 10,000well before the last glaciation to <500 after this period. Current Ne appeared even lower. The genome-wide FIS level was 0.089 (possibly signaling inbreeding), but this effect was not observed when analyzing a set of highly variable SNP markers, illustrating that such markers can give a biased picture of the overall character of genetic diversity. We found significant population structure, which has implications for population connectivity and conservation. We used an integrated microfluidic circuit chip technology to develop an SNP-array consisting of 96 highly informative markers that, together with a multiplex pre-amplification step, was successfully applied to low-quality DNA from scat samples. Our findings will inform management, conservation, and genetic monitoring of wolverines and serve as a genomic roadmap that can be applied to other endangered species. The approach used here can be generally utilized in other systems, but we acknowledge the trade-off between investing in genomic resources and direct conservation actions.

Temporal trends of persistent organic pollutants in Arctic marine and freshwater biota

More than 1000 time-series of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Arctic biota from marine and freshwater ecosystems some extending back to the beginning of 1980s were analyzed using a robust statistical method. The Arctic area encompassed extended from Alaska, USA in the west to northern Scandinavian in the east, with data gaps for Arctic Russia and Arctic Finland. The aim was to investigate whether temporal trends for different animal groups and matrices were consistent across a larger geographical area. In general, legacy POPs showed decreasing concentrations over the last two to three decades, which were most pronounced for α-HCH and least pronounced for HCB and β-HCH. Few time-series of legacy POPs showed increasing trends and only at sites suspected to be influenced by local source. The brominated flame retardant congener BDE-47 showed a typical trend of increasing concentration up to approximately the mid-2000s followed by a decreasing concentration. A similar trend was found for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). These trends are likely related to the relatively recent introduction of national and international controls of hexa- and hepta-BDE congeners and the voluntary phase-out of PFOS production in the USA in 2000. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) was the only compound in this study showing a consistent increasing trend. Only 12% of the long-term time-series were able to detect a 5% annual change with a statistical power of 80% at α < 0.05. The remaining 88% of time-series need additional years of data collection before fulfilling these statistical requirements. In the case of the organochlorine long-term time-series, 45% of these would require >20 years monitoring before this requirement would be fulfilled.

Ethnomycological Notes on Haploporus odorus and other Polypores in Northern Fennoscandia

This study focuses on the use of polypores in northern Fennoscandia, especially the now rare Haploporus odorus, which was once used by Sami and Swedish peasantry in the north. However, other taxa that were culturally salient are also discussed. Polypores have been used for health-related, technical and other purposes. The use of some of the taxa, such as Fomes fomentarius and Fomitopsis betulina, has been widely known over Eurasia and beyond, while Haploporus odorus has been utilized only by the North American Plains tribes and in northern Scandinavia. From cultural historical information, ethnographical data and observations reported in travelogues, the ethnomycological significance of five bracket fungi species in northern Fennoscandia has been identified.

Recording Orality: Vocalization as Ephemerality, Materialization and Meaning

In my paper, I aim at exploring specific materializations of ephemerality and meaning through the recording of vocal expression. A case study is supplied by joik and joiking, a traditional form of singing by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia and Kola Peninsula. Believed to be one of the oldest music traditions of Europe, joik is not so much a way of “singing about” as it is rather the form of embodying a landscape, a person or an animal through vocally evoking their most specific characteristics thus binding the performer and his/her environment (both in terms of that which particular song is referring to and the immediate situation of the performance where the joiker relies on the ability of the audience to decipher the meaning). A focus on the particular joik, Renhjorden på Oulavuolie (Reindeers from Oulavuolie) by Nils Mattias Andersson shows the specificity of recorded vocalization as the practice of ambivalent materialization of meaning — elusive yet tangible enough to let the audience grasp the sense of place.

A major locus controls local adaptation and adaptive life history variation in a perennial plant

BackgroundThe initiation of growth cessation and dormancy represent critical life-history trade-offs between survival and growth and have important fitness effects in perennial plants. Such adaptive life-history traits often show strong local adaptation along environmental gradients but, despite their importance, the genetic architecture of these traits remains poorly understood.ResultsWe integrate whole genome re-sequencing with environmental and phenotypic data from common garden experiments to investigate the genomic basis of local adaptation across a latitudinal gradient in European aspen (Populus tremula). A single genomic region containing the PtFT2 gene mediates local adaptation in the timing of bud set and explains 65% of the observed genetic variation in bud set. This locus is the likely target of a recent selective sweep that originated right before or during colonization of northern Scandinavia following the last glaciation. Field and greenhouse experiments confirm that variation in PtFT2 gene expression affects the phenotypic variation in bud set that we observe in wild natural populations.ConclusionsOur results reveal a major effect locus that determines the timing of bud set and that has facilitated rapid adaptation to shorter growing seasons and colder climates in European aspen. The discovery of a single locus explaining a substantial fraction of the variation in a key life-history trait is remarkable, given that such traits are generally considered to be highly polygenic. These findings provide a dramatic illustration of how loci of large-effect for adaptive traits can arise and be maintained over large geographical scales in natural populations.

Crustal properties of the northern Scandinavian mountains and Fennoscandian shield from analysis of teleseismic receiver functions

Supplementary data are available at GJ I online. https://academic.oup.com/gji/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/gji/ggy140#supplementary-data Figure S1. (a) Teleseismic events (Mw > 5.8) recorded by SCANLIPS2 between July 2007 and September 2009 for P-receiver function study. (b) Teleseismic events (Mw > 5.8) recorded by SCANLIPS3D between July 2013 and September 2014 for P-receiver function study. In both cases the blue star corresponds to the centre of the seismic array. Figure S2. (a) Synthetic P-receiver functions for a Moho depth of 43 km and Vp/Vs of 1.73 from three crustal models. In red, a model with two layers (upper and lower crust) for the crust and step discontinues. In green, a model with three layers (upper, lower crust and transitional Moho with highVp) and step discontinuities. In blue, a gradual model between upper crust and Moho. (b) Sensibility of amplitude of direct P arrival and Ps conversion for different slowness and for two crustal model (on the left a step Moho model and on the right a gradual Moho model). Table S1. Informations about seismic stations and number of events used in this study for each instruments (70XX: SCANLIPS2 -13XX: SCANLIPS3D). Table S2. Compilation of P-RFs analysis and previous works (Ottemoller & Midzi ¨ 2003; Olsson et al. 2008; Silvennoinen et al. 2014).

SerEnergy branch office for Norway

The Danish methanol fuel cell developer SerEnergy has established a branch office in the Norwegian capital Oslo, to provide local support to its customers in northern Scandinavia. The company sees a bright future for methanol fuel cell technology for alternative power generation in the region, and aims to increase its market share, in particular in the telecoms industry.