Sheep grazing in the North Atlantic region: A long-term perspective on environmental sustainability

Louise C. Ross; Gunnar Austrheim; Leif-Jarle Asheim; Gunnar Bjarnason; Jon Feilberg; Anna-Maria Fosaa; Alison J Hester; Oystein Holand; Ingibjorg S. Jonsdottir; Lis Mortensen; Atle Mysterud; Erla Olsen; Anders Skonhoft; James D. M. Speed; Geir Steinheim; Des B.A. Thompson; Anna-Gudrun Thorhallsdottir

doi:10.1007/s13280-016-0771-z

Sheep grazing in the North Atlantic region: A long-term perspective on environmental sustainability

Louise C. Ross, Gunnar Austrheim, Leif-Jarle Asheim, Gunnar Bjarnason, Jon Feilberg, Anna-Maria Fosaa, Alison J Hester, Oystein Holand, Ingibjorg S. Jonsdottir, Lis Mortensen, Atle Mysterud, Erla Olsen, Anders Skonhoft, James D. M. Speed, Geir Steinheim, Des B.A. Thompson, Anna-Gudrun Thorhallsdottir

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

56 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sheep grazing is an important part of agriculture in the North Atlantic region, defined here as the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Scotland. This process has played a key role in shaping the landscape and biodiversity of the region, sometimes with major environmental consequences, and has also been instrumental in the development of its rural economy and culture. In this review, we present results of the first interdisciplinary study taking a long-term perspective on sheep management, resource economy and the ecological impacts of sheep grazing, showing that sustainability boundaries are most likely to be exceeded in fragile environments where financial support is linked to the number of sheep produced. The sustainability of sheep grazing can be enhanced by a management regime that promotes grazing densities appropriate to the site and supported by area-based subsidy systems, thus minimizing environmental degradation, encouraging biodiversity and preserving the integrity of ecosystem processes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	551-566
Number of pages	17
Journal	Ambio
Volume	45
Issue number	5
Early online date	1 Mar 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0771-z
Publication status	Published - Sept 2016

Bibliographical note

We are grateful to the Research Council of Norway for funding through the Environment 2015 program (Project 212897/E40), the Norwegian Environment Agency and North Atlantic Co-operation (NORA). We thank John Milne† for useful discussions on sheep grazing in Scotland, Paul Haworth, Alan Fielding and BorgÞór Magnusson for discussion and critical comments, and two anonymous referees for comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Keywords

Atlantic region
Management
Nordic agriculture
Rural economy
Sheep grazing
Sustainability

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-016-0771-z

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Ross, L. C., Austrheim, G., Asheim, L.-J., Bjarnason, G., Feilberg, J., Fosaa, A.-M., Hester, A. J., Holand, O., Jonsdottir, I. S., Mortensen, L., Mysterud, A., Olsen, E., Skonhoft, A., Speed, J. D. M., Steinheim, G., Thompson, D. B. A., & Thorhallsdottir, A.-G. (2016). Sheep grazing in the North Atlantic region: A long-term perspective on environmental sustainability. Ambio, 45(5), 551-566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0771-z

Ross, LC, Austrheim, G, Asheim, L-J, Bjarnason, G, Feilberg, J, Fosaa, A-M, Hester, AJ, Holand, O, Jonsdottir, IS, Mortensen, L, Mysterud, A, Olsen, E, Skonhoft, A, Speed, JDM, Steinheim, G, Thompson, DBA & Thorhallsdottir, A-G 2016, 'Sheep grazing in the North Atlantic region: A long-term perspective on environmental sustainability', Ambio, vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 551-566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0771-z

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title = "Sheep grazing in the North Atlantic region: A long-term perspective on environmental sustainability",

abstract = "Sheep grazing is an important part of agriculture in the North Atlantic region, defined here as the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Scotland. This process has played a key role in shaping the landscape and biodiversity of the region, sometimes with major environmental consequences, and has also been instrumental in the development of its rural economy and culture. In this review, we present results of the first interdisciplinary study taking a long-term perspective on sheep management, resource economy and the ecological impacts of sheep grazing, showing that sustainability boundaries are most likely to be exceeded in fragile environments where financial support is linked to the number of sheep produced. The sustainability of sheep grazing can be enhanced by a management regime that promotes grazing densities appropriate to the site and supported by area-based subsidy systems, thus minimizing environmental degradation, encouraging biodiversity and preserving the integrity of ecosystem processes.",

keywords = "Atlantic region, Management , Nordic agriculture , Rural economy , Sheep grazing , Sustainability ",

author = "Ross, {Louise C.} and Gunnar Austrheim and Leif-Jarle Asheim and Gunnar Bjarnason and Jon Feilberg and Anna-Maria Fosaa and Hester, {Alison J} and Oystein Holand and Jonsdottir, {Ingibjorg S.} and Lis Mortensen and Atle Mysterud and Erla Olsen and Anders Skonhoft and Speed, {James D. M.} and Geir Steinheim and Thompson, {Des B.A.} and Anna-Gudrun Thorhallsdottir",

note = "We are grateful to the Research Council of Norway for funding through the Environment 2015 program (Project 212897/E40), the Norwegian Environment Agency and North Atlantic Co-operation (NORA). We thank John Milne† for useful discussions on sheep grazing in Scotland, Paul Haworth, Alan Fielding and Borg{\TH}{\'o}r Magnusson for discussion and critical comments, and two anonymous referees for comments on earlier drafts of this paper.",

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AU - Feilberg, Jon

AU - Fosaa, Anna-Maria

AU - Hester, Alison J

AU - Holand, Oystein

AU - Jonsdottir, Ingibjorg S.

AU - Mortensen, Lis

AU - Mysterud, Atle

AU - Olsen, Erla

AU - Skonhoft, Anders

AU - Speed, James D. M.

AU - Steinheim, Geir

AU - Thompson, Des B.A.

AU - Thorhallsdottir, Anna-Gudrun

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KW - Management

KW - Nordic agriculture

KW - Rural economy

KW - Sheep grazing

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ER -

Sheep grazing in the North Atlantic region: A long-term perspective on environmental sustainability

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Cite this