Spatiotemporal patterns of area use by humans and wild reindeer in a Norwegian National Park

Human impacts have for several decades led to fragmentation of habitats for wild reindeer across Norway. In Dovrefjell – Sunndalsfjella National Park there is a complexity of human activity that threatens the seasonal migration pattern for wild reindeer around the central mountain range Snøhettamassivet. This may affect time spent in foraging and avoidance of areas, which may force the reindeer to leave territories with better quality resources and provide long-time effects as reduced body condition and reproduction. The aim of my research is to uncover the wild reindeer-human co-existence during summer in an important migration corridor by describing the spatiotemporal patterns of area use by humans and wild reindeer in the Stroplesjødalen valley. Additionally I want to discuss management implications. I observed human activity in Stroplesjødalen during the peak summer season for hikers in 2010 to map the human use of the valley and used GPS plots to describe the area use and movement patterns for wild reindeer in the same area. My findings regarding human use revealed that 80% of hikers in the area use marked trails, while 94% of hunters used areas outside the marked trails. The human traffic along the main hiking trail differed in time and space throughout the day with a peak of density in the eastern part of the valley between 12:00 – 14:00. The tourist cabin Reinheim (36 beds) had a central function in the western part of the area and caused high densities of humans in its surroundings. The reindeer seems to avoid the valley and particularly the areas in the west. The movement pattern of reindeer measured as speed and path straightness varied with distance to the hiking trails and daylight conditions. During daylight, their speed was highest within 1 km to the hiking trails, and straightness gradually increased with increasing distance to the hiking trails. My conclusion is that the cabin Reinheim and the hiking trail from Kongsvoll to Reinheim had a negative effect on reindeer area use and caused impacts on the reindeer movement rates. Stroplesjødalen might evolve to an absolute barrier if the density of visitors increases. My somewhat radical recommendation for future management of Stroplsjødalen is to close down the Reinheim cabin if the number of visitor increase, and remove infrastructure of marked trails in relation to the cabin. However, it requires development off attractions close to Snøheim and continuity of the shuttle bus at the Snøheim road. To maintain the migration pattern around the Snøhettamassivet, further development of recreational infrastructure in Stroplesjødalen and trails towards the area Kolla should be avoided