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Impacts of Arctic Climate and Land Use Changes on Reindeer Pastoralism: Indigenous Knowledge and Remote Sensing

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Eurasian Arctic Land Cover and Land Use in a Changing Climate

Abstract

Eurasian indigenous reindeer herders have developed an important initiative to study the impacts of climate change and to develop local adaptation strategies based upon their traditional knowledge of the land and its uses – in an international, interdisciplinary partnership with the science community – involving extensive collaborations and co-production of knowledge to minimize the impacts of the various changes. This unprecedented reindeer herder-led initiative is the IPY EALAT Project, “EALAT, Reindeer Pastoralism in a Changing Climate”. This chapter provides an overview of the EALAT initiative, with an emphasis on how remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and other scientific data are being combined with indigenous knowledge to “co-produce” datasets to improve decision-making and herd management; some early results; and a description of the EALAT/Monitoring data integration and sharing system and portal being developed for reindeer pastoralism to integrate traditional indigenous knowledge together with remote sensing and other scientific data to enhance early warning and management for change responses and adaptation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cryospheric Sciences Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Nancy G. Maynard

  2. International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry, Guovdageaidnu, Kautokeino, 9520, Norway

    Anders Oskal, Johan M. Turi & Svein D. Mathiesen

  3. Sami Allaskuvla/Sámi University College, Guovdageaidnu, Kautokeino, 9520, Norway

    Svein D. Mathiesen & Inger Marie G. Eira

  4. The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, 9292, Tromso, Norway

    Svein D. Mathiesen

  5. Cryospheric Sciences Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 20771, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Boris Yurchak

  6. Chukotka Branch of the North-Eastern Research Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia

    Vladimir Etylin

  7. Department of International Relations and Geography, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Jennifer Gebelein

Authors
  1. Nancy G. Maynard
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  2. Anders Oskal
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  3. Johan M. Turi
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  4. Svein D. Mathiesen
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  5. Inger Marie G. Eira
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  6. Boris Yurchak
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  7. Vladimir Etylin
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  8. Jennifer Gebelein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy G. Maynard .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Headquarters, E. Street, SW 300, Washington, 20546, District of Columbia, USA

    Garik Gutman

  2. University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, iLEAPS International Project Office, Erik Palmenin aukio 1 2a, Helsinki, 00014, Finland

    Anni Reissell

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Maynard, N.G. et al. (2010). Impacts of Arctic Climate and Land Use Changes on Reindeer Pastoralism: Indigenous Knowledge and Remote Sensing. In: Gutman, G., Reissell, A. (eds) Eurasian Arctic Land Cover and Land Use in a Changing Climate. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9118-5_8

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