Léonie Duris

PhD student in Biology at the Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare.

In REINFORCE using data from reindeer herders in Ruvthen Sijte reindeer herding community (RHC) and data from the Sami parliament, I investigate the constraints and the opportunities for reindeer herders to face limitations to pasture and effect of climate change. 

We study:

• the influence of summer climatic conditions on reindeer calf summer growth and autumn weight in an RHC practising specific management strategies such as individual marking
• the effect of anthropogenic land use on reindeer calving site selection
• the possibilities of facing climate change considering the influence of exploitation and other land use in the reindeer husbandry area in Sweden
• how management strategies (herd size and herd structure, supplementary feeding, harvest strategy, individual marking, live weight recording) over long term may help the herder to cope with the changes

 Calves´ live weight from the reindeer herders and slaughter data from the Sámi parliament are used and combined with environmental data and land use maps.

In addition, I aim to develop an index that predicts the occurrence of mushrooms consumed by reindeer, based on soil composition and environmental conditions.

M.Sc. in Biology of organisms and ecology: Conservation biology, biodiversity, and management from ULiège, Belgium - Graduated 2022

B.Sc. in Biology of organisms and populations from Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne, France - Graduated 2019

https://www.slu.se/en/faculties/vh/research/forskningsprojekt/ren/reinforce-climate-habitat-and-production/

https://www.slu.se/en/departments/forest-resource-management/sections/landscape-studies/minedeer/