Copyright © 2010 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance.

Moen, J. and E. C. H. Keskitalo. 2010. Interlocking panarchies in multi-use boreal forests in Sweden.
Ecology and Society 15(3): 17. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Research, part of a Special Feature on Understanding Adaptive Capacity in Forest Governance

Interlocking panarchies in multi-use boreal forests in Sweden

Jon Moen 1 and E. Carina H. Keskitalo 2

ABSTRACT. This paper uses northern Sweden as a case study of a multi-use social-ecological system, in
which forestry and reindeer husbandry interact as different land use forms in the same area. We aim to
describe the timeline of main events that have influenced resource use in northern Sweden, that is, to attempt
a historical profiling of the system, and to discuss these trends in the system in terms of adaptive cycles
and resilience. The study shows that key political decisions have created strong path dependencies and a
situation in which forestry today is characterized by low flexibility and low resilience due to the highly
optimized harvesting of tree resources. Since forestry is the overwhelmingly strongest actor, trends in
forestry from the mid-19th century forward are, to a large part, driving dynamics in reindeer husbandry
and environmental protection, resulting in a system of interlocking panarchies with large implications for
the competing land uses.

Key Words: adaptive cycles; boreal forests; conservation; forestry; historical profiling; panarchy; reindeer
husbandry

INTRODUCTION understanding of the present forest system and

policy and an understanding of how changes in
A forest is a multifaceted, complex system that conditions may affect these.
includes many natural resources, such as timber for
forestry, grazing for reindeer husbandry, biodiversity, This study will treat social–ecological systems as
and recreational experiences. Any system dealing characterized by periodic changes, or so called
with natural resources can be seen as a coupled adaptive cycles, which have been used to study
social–ecological system (SES) (Walker and Salt regional SESs in, for instance, Australia,
2006). Such systems consist of many linkages and Zimbabwe, and China (Allison and Hobbs 2004,
feedbacks, which may create responses and system Abel et al. 2006, Dearing 2008). The adaptive cycle
behavior that are difficult to predict, including shifts can be described by four phases: a growth or
to alternative states (Walker and Meyers 2004, exploitation phase (the r phase), a conservation or
Kinzig et al. 2006). The multiple use character of consolidation phase (the K phase), a collapse or
the forest means that many stakeholder groups may release phase (the Ω phase), and a reorganization
have different, and sometimes conflicting, goals for phase (the α phase) (Gunderson and Holling 2002,
the management of the ecosystem, with subsequent Walker and Salt 2006). The first two phases are
challenges for balancing these different goals sometimes called the foreloop, while the latter two
(Hyttönen 1995, Keskitalo 2008a). This creates a phases are called the backloop. While not all
situation in which single goals cannot be optimized systems go through the entire cycle during periods
and the sustainable management of the system of change, the concept has been useful for
should incorporate management for resilience, in identifying changes and emphasizing the dynamic
order for the system to be able to absorb disturbances nature of SESs (Cumming and Collier 2005, Abel
and still retain its basic functions (Walker and Salt et al. 2006).
2006). In addition, external forces, such as global
markets and climate change, also affect the rules of Adaptive cycles for key system factors at different
the game. Coordination of the goals of multi use temporal and spatial scales make up every social–
forest management thus requires both an ecological system (Holling et al. 2002, Walker and

1
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, 2Department of Social and Economic Geography, Umeå University
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Salt 2006). For instance, forest dynamics are the conflict situation (Keskitalo 2008b), and events
governed by processes at different scales, ranging in the governance of each sub-system will have large
from an individual leaf to a tree to a forest stand and implications on the development of adaptive cycles.
to a forested landscape, etc. Similar hierarchical
scales and processes are found in social systems, Firstly, the paper will describe the case study area.
ranging, for instance, from individuals to families Secondly, it will describe the adaptive cycle as can
to communities to nations. Each one of these levels be seen in the meta-system of forestry, conservation,
in a SES may have its own adaptive cycle, which in and reindeer husbandry. Finally, we will discuss
turn may influence adaptive cycles at scales both interactions among the systems in terms of
above and below. For instance, a forest fire is interlocking panarchies. Since this paper is based
dependent on an ignition event, the amount of fuel on an historical analysis, we wish to point out that
load, which depends on tree growth rates and tree these are our interpretations, which are based on
mortalities, connections between landscape varying amounts and qualities of data sources
structures, and weather conditions (cf. Holling et al. identified in the paper, for instance, in terms of
2002). All operate on different scales and it is the historical information (see also Abel et al. 2006 for
cross-scale interactions among the factors that a similar discussion).
converge on the conditions leading to a forest fire.
Such a hierarchy of linked adaptive cycles is called
a “panarchy” (Holling et al. 2002), in which CASE STUDY BACKGROUND
different factors may interact with each other in
ways that are difficult to foresee and may together The total forested area in Sweden covers some 23
drive the system. million ha, the majority of which is used for forestry.
About 50% of the area is owned by small-scale, non-
The identification of the key factors that drive industrial, private owners, large forest companies
actions in the system can be based on critical events, own about 40% of the land, and the rest is divided
corresponding to a method of assessing resilience among other public owners. Approximately 1% of
called historical profiling (Carpenter et al. 2005). In the productive forest is clear-cut annually. The total
historical profiling, distinct dynamic regimes in the production value of forestry and forest products
SES are identified, and events taking place during amounts to about 20,000 million Euros annually,
transitions in each of these regimes, for instance, with an export value of about 10% of all exported
through changing land use patterns or changing products from Sweden and about 4% of Sweden's
legislation that impact land use, are analyzed. This GNP (Official Statistics of Sweden 2008). This
paper will use northern Sweden as a case study of makes forestry an important industrial sector in the
multi use systems in which different sectors use the country. However, forestry also has effects on other
same area for different purposes. In our case study, sectors, such as conservation. For instance, more
the purpose is to describe a timeline of important than 50% of the red-listed species in Sweden are
key events that have influenced resource use in found in forests, but only about 3% of productive
northern Sweden, and to discuss these trends in forests are protected; this figure reaches 8% if
terms of adaptive cycles and resilience. We use the voluntary protection is included, but this lacks long-
concept of panarchies to attempt to reduce the term guarantees.
complexities in the interactions within multi use
boreal forests. We will treat the social–ecological In northern Sweden, boreal forests are of great
system in terms of what can be termed its sub- importance for reindeer husbandry as grazing lands.
systems: forestry, in which environmental The reindeer husbandry area covers about 40% of
protection will also be treated, and reindeer the country, and is divided into 51 herding districts,
husbandry. As the governance of these sub-systems with the majority of the districts practicing a
is strongly separated into different sectors (for migratory herding system. Reindeer husbandry is a
instance, regulated by different ministries, meat-producing industry that is under the exclusive
governmental departments, and agencies, and with rights of the indigenous Sami people. The total
different interest organisations), we will study the number of reindeer in Sweden is on average about
internal dynamics within each sector and the 225,000 animals, counted as the size of the winter
interactions between these in order to assess effects herds, and has remained so, albeit with considerable
on the system as a whole. The sectorial division of variations, for the last century (Fig. 1). Reindeer
the system has resulted in an institutionalization of husbandry is dependent on large grazing grounds
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

since only natural, low productive vegetation is used With the advent of large-scale forestry and fire
for forage. The semi-domesticated reindeer use suppression from the late 19th century onward, the
alpine vegetation in the mountain range close to the boreal forest shifted into a new adaptive cycle that
Norwegian border during summer, while winter is has yet to play out its full potential. We will attempt
spent on lichen-rich pine heaths in the boreal forest to describe some of the trends and key events.
towards the Baltic Sea. Generally, winter resources
are limiting, but a few herding districts have good At the end of the 19th century, new timber markets
winter grazing conditions and poor summer grazing opened up and forests became an economically
conditions; descriptions of the Swedish reindeer valuable resource. Sawmills were built on the Baltic
husbandry may be found in Danell 2000 and Moen coast, close to the river mouths of the major rivers.
and Danell 2003. Grazing conditions related to Forest stands were harvested and the timber was
weather and forage availability, together with floated on the rivers down to the sawmills. In some
access to land and disturbances from other land uses, places, this period can be characterized as ecological
are thus of prime concern for a sustainable industry devastation of the forests with no consideration for
(see e.g. Roturier and Roué 2009). Reindeer regeneration or long-term sustainability. Old-
husbandry is of high cultural importance for the growth pine stands were among the first to be
Sami people, but of lesser economic importance in harvested (Östlund et al. 1997). This continued until
Sweden nationally; in 2009/2010, the estimated the 1903 Forestry Law, in which it was stated that
total turnover was about 19 million Euros, or over-harvesting must cease, and a law on
roughly 0.1% of the production value of forest regeneration measures after harvesting was passed
products (Richard Doj, Sami Parliament, 2010, (Ekelund and Hamilton 2001). Local clear-cutting
personal communication). eventually ceased, and, from the 1920s, most forests
were harvested through repeated selective logging
in which the largest trees were selected and the forest
was left to regenerate naturally. This produced poor
RESULTS quality forest stands because of low growth rates
and low forest regeneration. The Forestry Law of
Forestry and effects on environmental 1948 aimed at increasing timber production to
conservation provide a more steady supply of timber to saw- and
pulpmills, with strong criteria related to profitability
Before the mid-19th century, the boreal forest that should govern forestry. This, together with the
consisted of all-aged, multi-storied stands in a development of the chain-saw and efficient forest
landscape mosaic (Östlund et al. 1997). The most harvesters, shifted harvesting methods from
important structuring processes were fires and selective logging to clear-cutting, which produces
storms. Mean fire intervals were in the range of even-aged, one-storied tree monocultures. Clear-
80-100 years (Zachrisson 1977, Engelmark 1984, cutting, coupled with regeneration criteria, was
Engelmark et al. 1994), but there were large turned into law in the Forestry Law of 1979.
variations at the landscape scale, for instance, due
to the presence of mires (Hellberg et al. 2004). An The increasing optimization of harvesting rate in the
estimated 1 % of the stands burned every year boreal forest has of course led to large changes in
(Zachrisson 1977), and no human influences on the the landscape. For instance, studies from different
fire regime can be detected before the 18th century parts of northern Sweden have shown decreases in
(Carcaillet et al. 2007). Dry pine-dominated stands, old-growth stands (>150 years old) from 83 % in
in particular, burned repeatedly through low- 1910 to 3 % in 1980 (Östlund et al. 1997). Similarly,
intensity fires, creating open all-aged stands that mean patch sizes of old-growth forest decreased by
were important for creating and maintaining lichen an order of magnitude (Axelsson and Östlund 2001),
cover on the ground (Östlund et al. 1997, Axelsson and mean stand ages went down from 200 years to
and Östlund 2001, Berg et al. 2008). 74 years (Eriksson et al. 2000). Silvicultural
measures to increase growth and regeneration were
The forests at this time went through repeated also introduced, such as herbicide treatment to
adaptive cycles whereby regeneration and growth reduce the proportion of deciduous trees, prescribed
led to a build-up of fuel, known as the foreloop. burning of clear-cuts, and soil scarification
Ignition from lightning then led to a release and (Axelsson et al. 2002, Berg et al. 2008). The
reorganization of the stand, that is, the back-loop. standing volume of timber was lowest in the 1940s
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Fig. 1. Number of reindeer in the Swedish reindeer husbandry area. The number is given as the size of
the winter herd. Data from Moen & Danell (2003) and the Sami Parliament official statistics (http://
www.sametinget.se).

due to selective logging and did not recover to the The development of industrial forestry has also had
level of 1870 until the turn of the 21st century (Fig. strong impacts on the ecosystem, particularly
2a). However, today the forests are dominated by through the removal of natural disturbance regimes,
young, dense stands in comparison with the open, such as fires (Kuuluvainen 2002) and resulting
old-age stands 150 years ago. structures, such as dead wood (Fridman and
Walheim 2000), and through fragmentation of
The trend toward more intensified silviculture remaining old-growth patches (Mladenoff et al.
during the 20th century can be seen as the increased 1993, Komonen et al. 2000). Even though the first
optimization of forest resource harvesting, i.e., forest reserves (known as Domänreservat in
moving up the foreloop. To illustrate, in 1950 it took Swedish) were established in 1909 in Sweden,
one man one day to produce one cubic meter of forestry could continue virtually without consideration
wood. In 1990, one man in one day produced 11.5 of any environmental concerns up to the 1960s
times as much, and the efficiency is now over 30 (Ekelund and Hamilton 2001), and protection of
times as high as in 1950 (Holmberg 2005, Fig. 2b). biodiversity was not given equal weight to timber
The number employed in forestry has decreased by production until the Forestry Law of 1993. This is
at least one order of magnitude since WWII reflected in the number of protected areas in
(Holmberg 2005), and site productivity has northern Sweden, where the majority of the areas
increased due to more efficient silviculture (Berg et were established after 1990 (Moen and Eckerberg,
al. 2008). The development of forest-related unpublished manuscript). Today, about 3% of the
industries has also become more strongly connected productive forest in Sweden is protected, while
to the resource itself. For instance, in 1976, a bill Angelstam (in Ekelund and Hamilton 2001) has
was passed that states that new investments in forest suggested that at least 9-16% of the forested area
industries must be linked to the secure production needs to be protected in order to conserve
of timber or pulp (Holmberg 2005). This has led to biodiversity. Many of the red-listed species in boreal
even stronger optimization such that, for instance, forests are associated with structures or processes
it is considered impossible to convert to continuous- that are scarce today, such as burned areas, dead and
canopy forestry, which may have advantages for decaying wood, deciduous trees, gaps, and stands
biodiversity, as that would result in a 20% reduction with long canopy continuity (Esseen et al. 1997).
in timber production, which, in turn, would have The majority of stands where red-listed species
strong negative economic effects for the saw- and occur, outside of protected areas, are small with a
pulpmill industries (Karlsson and Lönnstedt 2006). median size of 1.4 ha (Aune et al. 2005), and likely
to exhibit an extinction debt (sensu Tilman et al.
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Fig. 2. A. Changes in the standing volume of timber summed over the five northernmost counties in
Sweden. Data from 1870 from Linder and Östlund (1992), other data from the Swedish National Forest
Inventory (SOU 2001:101). The data before 1990 are averages, while the data after 1990 are moving 5-
year averages.
B. Estimated harvesting efficiency, measured as cubic-meters of wood produced by one man in one day.
Data from Holmberg (2005)

1994), and may thus currently be going through a ago. Early land use was focused on hunting and
release and reorganization phase (Berglund and fishing. For instance, Sami villages in the 1500s had
Jonsson 2008). a round shape typical of hunter and gatherer
communities (Lundmark 1998). During this time,
each family had a few reindeer for milking, as
Reindeer husbandry draught animals, and as decoys when hunting wild
reindeer. In 1602, a new tax decree was issued,
Sami land use has a long history in northern Sweden. which forced the Sami to pay tax to the Swedish
The first people colonized the Scandinavian state in reindeer meat to feed the large Swedish
peninsula after the deglaciation some 10,000 years armies at the time, rather than in the squirrel and
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

marten pelts that had been the rule earlier. This the more-or-less forced migration of both Sami and
caused an increase in hunting for wild reindeer their reindeer towards the South of the reindeer
followed by a strong reduction in wild reindeer herding area in Sweden. The form of reindeer
populations, which in turn led to an increase in herding practiced by these Sami, usually referred to
domestic herds (Lundmark 1998). The change from as the extensive form, differed from the intensive
a predominantly hunting community into a form. Reindeer herds were bigger and production
predominantly herding community that evolved focused on meat production. Herds were left
during the 17th and 18th centuries constitutes an unattended for extended periods during the summer
important process that led Sami land use in a new since it was not necessary to keep them together for
direction, and that has strong ramifications for the milking. These two forms of reindeer husbandry
situation today. This can be seen as an example of were not compatible, and where they met the large
path dependency in the development of new free-ranging herds assimilated the reindeer from the
institutions regulating Sami land use (Thelen 1999). smaller herds. Eventually the intensive form was
Path dependency in this context refers to the not possible to maintain, and in 1937 one of the Sami
deterministic properties of institutional development, leaders, Gustav Park, stated at a meeting that the
whereby “initial social outcomes concerning extensive form of reindeer husbandry had become
institutional, organizational, or policy design, even totally dominating and had to be accepted
suboptimal ones, can become self-reinforcing over (Lundmark 2006).
time” (Pierson 2002:372). Or put slightly
differently: choices made restrict future options. These changes in Sami land use over time can be
seen as a series of adaptive cycles in which external
The earlier form of reindeer husbandry that forces have led to several reorganizations of land
developed, which is usually described as the use patterns (see Figure 3). The first is the change
intensive form, consisted of small reindeer herds from resource use based predominantly on hunting
that were watched on a day-to-day basis. The to resource use based on intensive reindeer
primary production was cheese made from reindeer husbandry; in this respect, one important event was
milk (Lundmark 1998). The focus on milking made the change in taxation which increased the hunting
it necessary to keep reindeer herds close together pressure on wild reindeer. This in turn reduced the
during summer and as the herd size increased, wild reindeer populations and precipitated a change
diseases could easily spread (Lundmark 2006). to domestication and milk production. One way of
During the 18th and 19th centuries, several crises describing this is that hunting efficiency increased,
affected reindeer husbandry, including high moving up the foreloop of the adaptive cycle, until
predation pressures, disease outbreaks, and a decrease in the resource base forced a
competition from Swedish colonizers; the latter was reorganization. The second step involves the
a process that started in the late 17th century, but transition from intensive to extensive reindeer
gathered momentum in the mid- to late 18th century husbandry as a response to geopolitical changes,
(Lundmark 1998). The crises resulted in many Sami that is, border closures, and to changed regulations,
abandoning reindeer husbandry. that is, the grazing convention with Norway.
However, aspects of increased efficiency were also
A significant event in the development of Sami land present, such as increased predation pressure and
use was the closure of the borders between Norway, high disease incidence as a result of dense reindeer
Finland (then Russia), and Sweden. In 1852, Russia herds.
closed the borders between Finland and northern
Norway, forcing many Sami to move to Sweden Reindeer husbandry has always been dependent on
since it was still possible to access their traditional large grazing grounds since only natural, low
winter grazing grounds in Finland from the Swedish productive vegetation is used for forage. During
side. In 1889, Russia closed the borders between winter, the reindeer are dependent on ground lichens
Finland and Sweden, effectively cutting the Sami that they dig up through the snow, and on arboreal
off on the Swedish side (Lundmark 1998). This led lichens during periods with difficult snow
to a high density of reindeer close to the border and conditions. Today, forestry affects reindeer
a lack of grazing grounds to support them (Lantto husbandry in many ways and on many scales
2009). This, together with a convention with (Danell 2005, Kivinen et al. 2010). For instance,
Norway that reduced the possibility of interborder forested landscapes become fragmented (Berg
migration (Lantto 2003, Pedersen 2009), resulted in 2010), forest age structure changes (Berg et al.
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Fig. 3. Examples of adaptive cycles in Swedish reindeer husbandry. The symbols above the timeline
refer to the different phases of the adaptive cycle: the growth or exploitation phase (the r phase), the
conservation or consolidation phase (the K phase), the collapse or release phase (the Ω phase), and the
reorganization phase (the α phase). The data is adapted from Danell (2004, Fjällen i Fokus Conference,
Umeå University, Sweden, unpublished data) and from the references in this paper.

2008), and infrastructure, such as roads, increase. to cope with disturbances (Walker and Salt 2006).
Clear-cutting results in a loss of arboreal lichens In terms of the adaptive cycle, we see forestry
(Esseen et al. 1996), and the short rotation time in developments as moving up the foreloop into a
current forestry reduces the time for recolonization strong conservation phase. It seems that periods of
(Dettki and Esseen 2003). Logging residues restrict weak economies within forestry have led to
access to ground lichens because they interfere with harvesting regimes that overharvest forest
snow digging (Helle et al. 1990), and soil production, and new methods have been taken into
scarification to increase tree seedling establishment large-scale use without being tested (Ekelund and
destroys ground lichens (Roturier and Bergsten Hamilton 2001). Any disturbance, such as climate
2006). The young regenerating forest stands are change, market failures, or financial crises, may
dense, which reduces the amount of light reaching cause a release and reorganization of the current
the ground and thus lichen growth (Cabrajic et al. forestry system in Sweden, and perhaps elsewhere.
2010). Other silvicultural measures to increase tree However, the system is also difficult to predict given
growth, such as fertilization, will also generally be its large dependence on external market conditions,
negative for lichen growth (Olsson and Kellner something Ekelund and Hamilton (2001:3; our
2006, Makkonen et al. 2007). These effects and translation) note, for instance, in their history of
trends are not specific to Sweden; conflicts between forest policy in Sweden: “When establishing a new
reindeer husbandry and forestry are also forest stand, it has so far not been possible to predict
pronounced in Finland (Keskitalo 2008a, Raitio the main market at harvesting some 100 years in the
2008). future. This is likely to be equally difficult today”.

As a result of developments in forestry, biodiversity

DISCUSSION has probably already entered a release and
reorganization phase as the few remaining protected
Adaptive cycles in forestry, biodiversity, and areas are small and isolated. Unfortunately, the
reindeer husbandry release phase may also lead to a loss of species, that
is, a leakage out of the system, as indicated by the
A number of characteristics with relevance to high number of endangered species in the forest. It
adaptive cycles can be identified. In general, remains to be seen if the current rate of conservation
increased optimization in forestry will lead to lower is sufficient to reduce the loss of biodiversity. There
levels of resilience in the SES, i.e., a lesser capacity is also a strong concern within the forestry sector in
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Sweden that changes in climate may result in Interlocking panarchies

increased damage by pathogens and insects (SOU
2007:60). At the same time, climate change is Our case study has illustrated path dependencies in
expected to lead to increased forest productivity in forest landscape use in terms of the way in which
Sweden (SOU 2006:81), which has prompted the increasingly intensive resource use systems are
Swedish government to propose a bill for intensified developed. These processes are determined by
forestry, including increased fertilization and interactions on a number of different scales. For
thinning, a higher harvesting rate of biofuels, and instance, forestry operates on, and is dependent on
the use of more fast-growing proveniences and processes at scales from the stand to the
species (Swedish Ministry of Agriculture 2007). international level. On the ecosystem side, the
These silvicultural techniques will increase forestry smallest scale that is managed is the stand, which is
efficiency even more and thus lower resilience, and a relatively homogenous part of the forest, and
will, most likely, have strong negative impacts on silvicultural measures at the stand level create a
biodiversity. forested landscape with a certain mosaic. On the
governance side, forestry is strongly impacted by
Reindeer husbandry has been shown to be very both economic and political factors. In a market
resilient to change in the past, as Sami land use has context, forestry is driven by processes operating
adapted to several different external influences (Fig. on scales ranging from individual companies to
3). Today, the situation may be seen as close to international markets. Political processes constitute
reorganization, due to its extensive land use needs, priority systems that have large effects on the
coupled with the existing fragmentation of areas and possibilities for adaptation in different sectors. This
high degree of rationalization (Beach 2004). The includes processes from the international level
industry is suffering from the cumulative impact of through to state regulations and to regional and local
small incremental changes imposed by other land implementation and considerations. Conservation
users. For instance, an individual forest stand that and reindeer husbandry also have their own internal
is logged, an area covered by a mine, or a new dynamics that act on different scales, i.e.,
railroad may occur in only a very small portion of panarchies. Biodiversity patterns in an ecological
the herding district. However, taken together these time-scale depend on individual and species
encroachments will have a substantial impact on the interactions, population, community and food web
amount and availability of grazing grounds. The dynamics, and dispersal. All of these processes are,
gradual loss of land also has ramifications beyond in turn, affected by abiotic factors and landscape
that of the area loss itself; as the landscape becomes properties, among other aspects. Reindeer
more and more fragmented and remaining grazing husbandry is, on the other hand, affected by reindeer
areas smaller and more isolated, use becomes much reproduction and mortality rates, amount and
more difficult, and resilience is lost from the system availability of forage, weather, and the balance
(Danell 2005). It is likely that the level of conflict between summer and winter grazing.
with other land users has increased over time,
especially after the introduction of clear-cutting as Each sector may thus be seen as a panarchy of linked
the main silvicultural method for forest harvesting adaptive cycles. These panarchies also affect each
and regeneration in the 1950s. For instance, data other, creating a system of interlocking panarchies
from the National Forest Inventory suggests that connected by interactions among silvicultural
roughly 50% of lichen-rich forest types have been measures and subsequent effects on biodiversity or
lost, probably because silvicultural measures have reindeer grazing (Fig. 5). Our historical profiling
resulted in decreased lichen cover so that areas have shows that key political decisions have created
been classified as another forest type (Fig. 4; strong path dependencies in this social–ecological
Sandström et al. 2006). It is also likely that the level system. These decisions range from border closures
of conflict will increase even further in the future and tax systems established hundreds of years ago
as the burden of small incremental changes to more recent changes in management systems. An
increases. This has caused some researchers to historical understanding is necessary to comprehend
caution that reindeer husbandry, and with it the Sami current resource use and lines of conflict. Further,
culture, may collapse within a generation (Beach et we suggest that forestry today is characterized by
al. 2005). low flexibility and low resilience due to the highly
optimized harvesting of tree resources. We have
already given several examples of interactions
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Fig. 4. Percentage of sampling plots in the three northernmost counties in Sweden classified as lichen-
type, i.e., containing >50% cover of lichens (Swedish National Forest Inventory data in SOU 2001:101)

among silvicultural measures and the large effects interchangeable as long as the felling quota of the
on biodiversity or reindeer grazing. All of these company is filled. On the other hand, the
examples can be seen as illustrations of connections management scale of one reindeer herding district
among the panarchies. There are also other involves the landscape used by a winter herding
examples. For instance, reindeer grazing, which is group during perhaps a decade (in the order of
linked to the reduction of lichens and in turn affects several tens of thousand hectares), and may include
soil temperature and moisture, has been suggested many different forest owners and effects from other
to have positive effects on seed regeneration land uses, such as mines, tourism, energy
(Nilsson and Wardle 2005) and on tree growth production, and infrastructure. The landscape
(Fauria et al. 2008). On the other hand, grazing, perspective is important for reindeer husbandry as
trampling, and antler rubbing may cause damage to it allows for a rotational use of grazing lands in
young tree saplings (Helle and Moilanen 1993). relation to the dynamics of the lichen resource and
High biodiversity is generally thought to be to variations in weather. Without a landscape
necessary for maintaining both ecosystem services perspective, the herding groups will lose the
(Hassan et al. 2005) and resilience (Norberg et al. buffering capacity that maintains resilience in their
2008). The way in which governance is functionally natural resource use (Sandström et al. 2003, Danell
steering actions within forestry and reindeer 2005).
husbandry can also be seen as related both to the
political sphere, including formal laws and rights, A major problem in managing for increased
and the economic sphere based on market demands, resilience in the SES is that the governance of the
to which individual actors need to relate. sub-systems is totally separated into different
sectors. We must thus understand both the internal
One reason for the large effects of forestry on dynamics within each sector and the interactions
reindeer husbandry, in particular, is the among the sectors to assess the sustainability of the
incongruence between management scales, and this system as a whole. Since forestry is the
may be a very clear example of connections between overwhelmingly strongest actor in the system, any
the panarchies. The management scale of a large change to forest management, be it increasing
forest company is that of their land holdings within optimization as suggested in the recent government
a region. Within this region, they have a database bill, or release and reorganization due to external
of forest stands, varying from <10 ha to a few disturbances, will have large implications for both
hundred hectares, which are planned to undergo conservation and reindeer husbandry. To discuss the
silvicultural actions, such as clear-cutting or future of the system, it is imperative to understand
thinning. These stands are more or less trends in the drivers affecting forestry. These drivers
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Fig. 5. A schematic illustration of interlocking panarchies. Each set of linked adaptive cycles form a
panarchy, representative of forestry, environmental conservation, and reindeer husbandry respectively.
Processes in an adaptive cycle at a certain scale may affect both other adaptive cycles in the same
panarchy, and adaptive cycles in other panarchies, creating a system with numerous interactions at many
scales. See text for further details and examples.

may include, for instance, changes in the certification, which extends the requirements for
international market and demand for forest consultations beyond that of legislative demands,
products, and large global trends that lie far beyond may serve to institutionalize new requirements to
the local system in which the disturbances manifest some extent (see Keskitalo et al. 2009). While these
themselves. It is also important to discuss the ways problems may seem sector-specific, the forestry–
in which coordination among sectors can be reindeer husbandry relationship is an example of the
increased, and develop further incentive structures general problem of integration across sectorial
for coordination at the local level where conflicts limits, such as divisions between ministeries,
arise. departments and agencies. If the main practical
possibility for improving the relationship between
Possibilities for modifications of the state forestry and reindeer husbandry is through
legislation have been assessed by a number of increased communication rather than legislation,
governmental committees, among other aspects such integration will be necessary.
with regard to Sweden's potential ratification of the
ILO Convention No. 169 on indigenous people's
rights to land. However, ratifying ILO 169, for Responses to this article can be read online at:
example, would be politically difficult because of http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/
responses/
the current distribution of ownership and user rights,
and because of the conflict of interest between the
economically strong forestry interests and the
reindeer husbandry sector, which is significantly
weaker economically. While this may limit the
potential for legislative changes that would actually
shift power relations between the sectors, private
and voluntary regulations such as forest
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Berg, A. 2010. Reindeer Herding and Modern

Forestry. Doctoral Thesis No. 2010:145, Faculty of
Acknowledgments: Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, Sweden.
We would like to thank Monica Hammer, Annette
Löf and two anonymous reveiwers for their Berg, A., L. Östlund, J. Moen, and J. Olofsson.
constructive comments. This study has been 2008. A century of logging and forestry in a reindeer
supported by the Swedish Research Council for the herding area in northern Sweden. Forest Ecology
Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial and Management 256:1009-1020.
Planning (FORMAS).
Berglund, H., and B. G. Jonsson. 2008. Assesing
the extinction vulnerability of wood-inhabiting
fungal species in fragmented northern Swedish
boreal forests. Biological Conservation 141:3029-3039.
LITERATURE CITED
Cabrajic, A. V. J., J. Moen, and K. Palmqvist.
Abel, N., D. H. M. Cumming, and J. M. Anderies. 2010. Predicting growth of mat-forming lichens on
2006. Collapse and reorganization in social- a landscape scale – comparing models with different
ecological systems: questions, some ideas, and complexities. Ecography, in press.
policy implications. Ecology and Society 11(1):17.
[online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/ Carcaillet, C., I. Bergman, S. Delorme, G.
iss1/art17/. Hörnberg, and O. Zachrisson. 2007. Long-term
fire frequency not linked to prehistoric occupations
Allison, H. E., and R. J. Hobbs. 2004. Resilience, in northern Swedish boreal forest. Ecology
adaptive capacity, and the “Lock-in trap” of the 88:465-477.
western Australian agricultural region. Ecology and
Society 9(1):3. [online] URL: http://www.ecologya Carpenter, S. R., F. Westley, and M. G. Turner.
ndsociety.org/vol9/iss1/art3/. 2005. Surrogates for resilience of social-ecological
systems. Ecosystems 8:941-944.
Aune, K., B. G. Jonsson, and J. Moen. 2005.
Isolation and edge effects among woodland key Cumming, G. S., and J. Collier. 2005. Change and
habitats in Sweden: is forest policy promoting identity in complex systems. Ecology and Society
fragmentation? Biological Conservation 124:89-95. 10(1):29. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsoc
iety.org/vol10/iss1/art29/.
Axelsson, A. L., and L. Östlund. 2001.
Retrospective gap analysis in a Swedish boreal Danell, Ö. 2000. Status, directions and priorities of
forest landscape using historical data. Forest reindeer husbandry research in Sweden. Polar
Ecology and Management 147:109-122. Research 19:111-115.
Axelsson, A. L., L. Östlund, and E. Hellberg. Danell, Ö. 2005. The robustness of reindeer
2002. Changes in mixed diciduous forests of boreal husbandry – need for a new approach to elucidate
Sweden 1866-1999 based on interpretation of opportunities and sustainability of the reindeer
historical records. Landscape Ecology 17:403-418. industry in its socio-ecological context [in Swedish
with English abstract]. Rangifer Report 10:39-49
Beach, H. 2004. Political ecology in Swedish
Saamiland. Pages 110-123 in D. G. Anderson and Dearing, J. A. 2008. Landscape change and
M. Nuttall, editors. Cultivating Arctic landscapes. resilience theory: a paleoenvironmental assessment
Knowing and managing animals in the circumpolar from Yunnan, SW China. The Holocene
North. Berghahn Books, New York, New York, 18:117-127.
USA.
Dettki, H., and P. A. Esseen. 2003. Modelling long-
Beach, H., L. Bäckman, Ö. Danell, D. Lindmark, term effects of forest management on epiphytic
and P. Sköld. 2005. Den samiska kulturen kommer lichens in northern Sweden. Forest Ecology and
att utrotas. Dagens Nyheter, 23 Oct., 2005. Management 175:223-238.
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

Ekelund, H., and G. Hamilton. 2001.

Skogspolitisk historia. Swedish Forest Agency Helle, T., and H. Moilanen. 1993. The effects of
Report 8A, 2001, Jönköping, Sweden. reindeer grazing on Pinus sylvestris. Scandinavian
Journal of Forest Research 8:395-407.
Engelmark, O. 1984. Forest fires in the Muddus
National Park (northern Sweden) during the last 600 Helle, T., J. Aspi, and S. S. Kilpelä. 1990. The
years. Canadian Journal of Botany 62:893-898. effects of stand characteristics on reindeer lichens
and range use by semi-domiesticated reindeer.
Engelmark, O., L. Kullman, and Y. Bergeron. Rangifer Special Issue 3:107-114.
1994. Fire and age structure of Scots pine and
Norway spruce in northern Sweden during the past Holling, C. S., L. H. Gunderson, and G. D.
700 years. New Phytologist 126:163-168. Peterson. 2002. Sustainability and panarchies.
Pages 63-102 in L. H. Gunderson and C. S. Holling,
Eriksson, S., L. Östlund, and A. L. Axelsson. editors. Panarchy. Understanding transformations
2000. A forest of grazing and logging: deforestation in human and natural systems. Island Press,
and reforestation history of a boreal landscape in Washington, D.C., USA.
central Sweden. New Forests 19:227-240.
Holmberg, L. E. 2005. Skogshistoria år från år
Esseen, P. A., K. E. Renhorn, and R. B. 1177-2005. Swedish Forest Agency Report 5, 2005,
Pettersson. 1996. Epiphytic lichen biomass in Jönköping, Sweden,
managed and old-growth boreal forests: effect of
branch quality. Ecological Applications 61:228-238. Hyttönen, M., editor. 1995. Multiple-use forestry
in the Nordic countries. The Finnish Forest
Esseen, P.-A., B. Ehnström, L. Ericson, and K. Research Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Sjöberg. 1997. Boreal forests. Ecological Bulletins
46:16-47. Karlsson, B., and L. Lönnstedt. 2006. Strategiska
skogsbruksval – analys av två alternativ till
Fauria, M. M., T. Helle, A. Niva, H. Posio and M. trakthyggesbruk med gran. Skogforsk Report 609,
Timonen. 2008. Removal of the lichen mat by 2006.
reindeer enhances tree growth in a northern Scots
pine forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research Keskitalo, E. C. H. 2008a. Climate Change and
38:2981-2993. Globalization in the Arctic. An Integrated Approach
to Vulnerability Assessment. Earthscan, London,
Fridman, J., and M. Wahlheim. 2000. Amount, UK.
structure and dynamics of dead wood on managed
forestland in Sweden. Forest Ecology and Keskitalo, E. C. H. 2008b. Konflikter mellan
Management 131:23-36. rennäring och skogsbruk i Sverige. Pages 248-268
in C. Sandström, S. Hovik, and E. I. Falleth, editors.
Gunderson, L. H., and C. S. Holling, editors. Omstridd natur. Trender & utmaningar i nordisk
2002. Panarchy. Understanding transformations in naturförvaltning. Borea, Umeå, Sweden.
human and natural systems. Island Press,
Washington, D.C., USA. Keskitalo, E. C. H., C. Sandström, M.
Tysiachniouk, and J. Johansson. 2009. Local
Hassan, R., R. Scholes, and N. Ash, editors. 2005. consequences of applying international norms:
Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Current State differences in the application of forest certification
and Trends, Volume 1. Island Press, Washington, D. in northern Sweden, northern Finland, and
C., USA. northwest Russia”. Ecology and Society 14(2):1.
[online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/
Hellberg, E., M. Niklasson, and A. Granström. iss2/art1/
2004. Influence of landscape structure on patterns
of forest fires in boreal forest landscapes in Sweden. Kinzig, A. P., P. Ryan, M. Etienne, H. Allison, T.
Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34:332-338. Elmqvist, and B. Walker. 2006. Resilience and
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

regime shifts: assessing cascading effects. Ecology

and Society 11(1):20. [online] URL: http://www.ec Moen, J., and Ö. Danell. 2003. Reindeer in the
ologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art20/. Swedish mountains: an assessment of grazing
impacts. Ambio 32:397-402.
Kivinen, S., J. Moen, A. Berg, and Å. Eriksson.
2010. Effects of modern forest management on Nilsson, M. C., and D. A. Wardle. 2005.
winter grazing resources of reindeer in Sweden. Understory vegetation as a forest ecosystem driver:
Ambio 39:269-278. evidence from the northern Swedish boreal forest.
Frontiers in Ecology 3:421-428.
Komonen, A., R. Penttilä, M. Lindgren, and I.
Hanski. 2000. Forest fragmentation truncates a Norberg, J., J. Wilson, B. Walker, and E. Ostrom.
food chain based on an old-growth forest bracket 2008. Diversity and resilience of social-ecological
fungus. Oikos 90:119-126. systems. Pages 46-79 in J. Norberg and G. S.
Cumming, editors. Complexity Theory for a
Kuuluvainen, T. 2002. Natural variability of forests Sustainable Future. Columbia University Press,
as a reference for restoring and managing biological New York, New York, USA.
diversity in boreal Fennoscandia. Silva Fennica
26:97-125. Official Statistics of Sweden. 2008. Statistical
Yerabook of Forestry 2008. Swedish Forest Agency,
Lantto, P. 2003. Att göra sin stämma hörd. Svenska Jönköping, Sweden.
Samernas Riksförbund, samerörelsen och svensk
samepolitik 1950-1962. Kulturens Frontlinjer, Olsson, B. A., and O. Kellner. 2006. Long-term
Report 47, Umeå University, Sweden. effects of nitrogen fertilization on ground vegetation
in coniferous forests. Forest Ecology and
Lantto, P. 2009. Gränsstängningar, tvångsförflyttningar Management 237:458-470.
och samisk politisk mobilisering. Pages 145-155 in
L. Elenius, P. Lantto and M. Enbuske, editors. Östlund, L., O. Zachrisson, and A. L. Axelsson.
Fredens Konsekvenser – samhällförändringar i norr 1997. The history and transformation of a
efter 1809. Studier i Norra Europas historia 7, Luleå Scandinavian boreal forest landscape since the 19th
Tekniska Universitet, Luleå, Sweden. century. Canadian Journal of Forest Research
27:1198-1206.
Linder, P., and L. Östlund. 1992. Förändringar i
norra Sveriges skogar 1870-1991. Svensk Botanisk Pedersen, S. 2009. Lappkodicillen och samernas
Tidskrift 86:199-215. rättigheter – från freden 1809 till gränsstängningarna
1852 och 1889. Pages 131-143 in L. Elenius, P.
Lundmark, L. 1998. Så länge vi har marker. Rabén Lantto, and M. Enbuske, editors. Fredens
Prisma Publishers, Stockholm, Sweden. Konsekvenser – samhällförändringar i norr efter
1809. Studier i Norra Europas historia 7, Luleå
Lundmark, L. 2006. Samernas skatteland. Tekniska Universitet, Luleå, Sweden.
Rättshistoriska Skrifter, Serien III, Åttonde bandet.
Institutet för Rättshistorisk Forskning, Stockholm, Pierson, P. 2002. Coping with permanent austerity:
Sweden. welfare state restructuring in affluent democracies.
Revue Française de Sociologie 43:369-406.
Makkonen, S., R. S. K. Hurri, and M. Hyvärinen.
2007. Differential responses of lichen symbionts to Raitio, K. 2008. “You can’t please everyone”.
enhanced nitrogen and phosphorus availability: an Conflict management practices, frames and
experiment with Cladina stellaris. Annals of Botany institutions in Finnish state forests. PhD thesis,
99:877-884. Joensuu University, Finland.

Mladenoff, D. J., M. A. White, J. Pastor, and T. Roturier, S., and U. Bergsten. 2006. Influence of
R. Crow. 1993. Comparing spatial patterns in soil scarification on reindeer foraging and damage
unaltered old-growth and disturbed forest to planted Pinus sylvestris seedlings. Scandinavian
landscapes. Ecological Applications 3:294-306. Journal of Forest Research 21:209-220.
 Ecology and Society 15(3): 17
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art17/

[online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/

Roturier, S., and Roué, M. 2009. Of forest, snow iss2/art3/.
and lichen: Sami reindeer herders’ knowledge of
winter pastures in northern Sweden. Forest Ecology Walker, B., and D. Salt. 2006. Resilience Thinking.
and Management 258:1960-1967. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.

Sandström, C., J. Moen, C. Widmark, and Ö. Zachrisson, O. 1977. Influence of forest fires on
Danell. 2006. Progressing toward co-management the North Swedish boreal forest. Oikos 29:22-32.
through collaborative learning: forestry and
reindeer husbandry in dialogue. International
Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management
2:326-333.

Sandström, P., T. Granqvist Pahlén, L. Edenius,

H. Tømmervik, O. Hagner, L. Hemberg, H.
Olsson, K. Baer, T. Stenlund, L.G. Brandt, and
M. Egberth. 2003. Conflict resolution by
participatory management: remote sensing and GIS
as tools for communicating land-use needs for
reindeer herding in northern Sweden. Ambio
32:557-567.

SOU 2001:101. En ny rennäringspolitk - öppna

samebyar och samverkan med andra markanvändare.
[A new reindeer herding policy - open Sami villages
and co-operation with other land users.]. Swedish
Government Public Investigations, Stockholm,
Sweden.

SOU 2006:81. Mervärdesskog. [Value-added

forest.] Final report by the Forestry Inquiry 2004.
Swedish Government Public Investigations,
Stockholm, Sweden.

SOU 2007:60. Sverige inför klimatförändringarna –

hot och möjligheter. [Sweden and climate change].
Ministry of the Environment, Stockholm, Sweden.

Swedish Ministry of Agriculture. 2007. Forest Bill

2007/08:108. En skogspolitik i takt med tiden
[Forest Policy in step with the times]. Ministry of
Agriculture, Stockholm, Sweden.

Thelen, K. 1999. Historical institutionalism in

comparative politics. Annual Review of Political
Science 2:369-404.

Tilman, D., R. M. May, C. L. Lehman, and M. A.

Nowak. 1994. Habitat destruction and the
extinction debt. Nature 371:65-66.

Walker, B., and J. A. Meyers. 2004. Thresholds in

ecological and social-ecological systems: a
developing database. Ecology and Society 9(2):3.