Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden
With the increased wolf population around the world, conflicts between wolves and humans arise. One cause of conflict is predation on livestock, which has increased in Sweden the last decade. This has resulted in negative attitudes towards wolves and it is often claimed that sheep farmers are forced...
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2013
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| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/6002/ |
| _version_ | 1855570940044247040 |
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| author | Karlsson, Anna |
| author_browse | Karlsson, Anna |
| author_facet | Karlsson, Anna |
| author_sort | Karlsson, Anna |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | With the increased wolf population around the world, conflicts between wolves and humans arise. One cause of conflict is predation on livestock, which has increased in Sweden the last decade. This has resulted in negative attitudes towards wolves and it is often claimed that sheep farmers are forced to close down their operations due to losses and injuries on their livestock. If grazing ceases, shrubs and trees will take over and biodiversity could be lost. The abandonment of pastures is today a major problem across Europe. As sheep is the type of livestock most often attacked, the objective of this study was to examine how the proximity of wolves affects the sheep farmers and thus the openness of the landscape and indirectly its biodiversity.
The two counties of Värmland and Örebro were included in this study, both located in the south central Sweden. To see if the presence of wolves affected the number of sheep farms, the proportions of newly established and closed down sheep farms were compared inside and outside wolf territories from 2001 to 2011. Any effects depending on how long the wolves had been present before sheep farms established or closed down were also examined as well as any delayed effects by wolves’ presence.
No differences were found in the proportion of closed down sheep farms inside and outside wolf territories. Neither were there any differences in the proportion of closed down sheep farms before and after the establishment of wolves. When looking at the proportion of newly established sheep farms no differences were found when comparing inside and outside wolf territories. Areas where wolves had been present on and off even had a significantly larger proportion of newly established sheep farms.
The low observed effects of wolves on the number of sheep farms might be due to the fact that Värmland and Örebro contain few sheep farms, but also because of the high rates of wolves the two counties have received large amounts of subsidies for preventative actions, such as five stranded live wire fences. A method proven to be effective in reducing the risk of predation. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU6002 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Swedish Inglés |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateSort | 2013 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU60022013-09-02T15:13:33Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/6002/ Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden Karlsson, Anna Animal ecology Life sciences With the increased wolf population around the world, conflicts between wolves and humans arise. One cause of conflict is predation on livestock, which has increased in Sweden the last decade. This has resulted in negative attitudes towards wolves and it is often claimed that sheep farmers are forced to close down their operations due to losses and injuries on their livestock. If grazing ceases, shrubs and trees will take over and biodiversity could be lost. The abandonment of pastures is today a major problem across Europe. As sheep is the type of livestock most often attacked, the objective of this study was to examine how the proximity of wolves affects the sheep farmers and thus the openness of the landscape and indirectly its biodiversity. The two counties of Värmland and Örebro were included in this study, both located in the south central Sweden. To see if the presence of wolves affected the number of sheep farms, the proportions of newly established and closed down sheep farms were compared inside and outside wolf territories from 2001 to 2011. Any effects depending on how long the wolves had been present before sheep farms established or closed down were also examined as well as any delayed effects by wolves’ presence. No differences were found in the proportion of closed down sheep farms inside and outside wolf territories. Neither were there any differences in the proportion of closed down sheep farms before and after the establishment of wolves. When looking at the proportion of newly established sheep farms no differences were found when comparing inside and outside wolf territories. Areas where wolves had been present on and off even had a significantly larger proportion of newly established sheep farms. The low observed effects of wolves on the number of sheep farms might be due to the fact that Värmland and Örebro contain few sheep farms, but also because of the high rates of wolves the two counties have received large amounts of subsidies for preventative actions, such as five stranded live wire fences. A method proven to be effective in reducing the risk of predation. POPULÄRVETENSKAPLIG SAMMANFATTNIG När vargstammen ökar runt om i världen ökar även konflikterna mellan varg och människa. En orsak till konflikt är angrepp på boskap, vilka har ökat i Sverige det senaste decenniet. Detta har påverkat människors attityd mot vargen på ett negativt sätt och det hävdas ofta att fårägare tvingas lägga ner sin verksamhet på grund av skador och förluster orsakade av en ökad rovdjursstam. Med ett minskat betestryck kan buskar och träd enkelt ta över och värdefulla marker med hög biologisk mångfald kan gå förlorad. Detta är idag ett stort problem runt om i Europa. Då får är det boskap som oftast blir angripet av varg var syftet med denna studie att se hur vargens närhet påverkar fårbönderna och därigenom de öppna landskapen och dess biologiska mångfald. Två län har studerats, Värmland och Örebro, både belägna i mellersta Sverige. För att se om närheten till varg hade någon påverkan jämfördes andelen etablerade och nerlagda fårgårdar i och utanför vargrevir från 2001 till 2011. Eventuell påverkan beroende på hur länge vargen förekommit innan gårdarna etablerats eller lagts ner undersöktes också, liksom eventuell fördröjd effekt av vargens närvaro. Inga skillnader hittades i andelen nerlagda fårgårdar i och utanför vargrevir. Inte heller fanns det några skillnader i andelen nerlagda fårgårdar före och efter varg etablerats i området. Andelen nyetablerade fårgårdar var lika stor i som utanför vargrevir, medan områden där varg förekommit till och från hade en större andel nyetablerade fårgårdar. Den låga påverkan av varg på antalet fårgårdar kan bero på att få fårgårdar är belägna i Värmland och Örebro, men även på grund utav att de två länen har höga tätheter av varg och därför får stora bidrag för förebyggande åtgärder, som till exempel viltstängsel. En metod som visat sig effektiv för att minska risken för angrepp. 2013-09-02 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf sv https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/6002/1/karlsson_a_130902.pdf Karlsson, Anna, 2013. Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-415.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-2680 eng |
| spellingShingle | Animal ecology Life sciences Karlsson, Anna Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden |
| title | Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden |
| title_full | Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden |
| title_fullStr | Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden |
| title_short | Effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in Värmland and Örebro, south central Sweden |
| title_sort | effects of wolf occurrence on the number of sheep farms in värmland and örebro, south central sweden |
| topic | Animal ecology Life sciences |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/6002/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/6002/ |