DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7351kt1
title: Data from: A century of conservation: the ongoing recovery of Svalbard reindeer

description: Several caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) populations have
 experienced recent population declines, often attributed to anthropogenic
 stressors such as harvesting, landscape fragmentation, and climate change.
 Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus), the wild reindeer subspecies
 endemic to the high-Arctic Svalbard archipelago, was protected in 1925,
 after most subpopulations had been eradicated by harvest. Although direct
 pressure from harvest has ceased, indirect anthropogenic stressors from
 environmental changes have increased in this climate change hot spot. An
 assessment of the current distribution and abundance is therefore urgently
 needed. We combined distance sampling (300 km transects, n = 489 reindeer
 groups) and total counts (1,350 km2, n = 1,349 groups) to estimate the
 Svalbard reindeer distribution and abundance across its entire range,
 which we compared with historical data from the literature and
 radiocarbon-dated bones. Reindeer have now recolonized nearly all
 non-glaciated land (i.e., areas occupied prior to human presence), and
 their spatial variation in abundance reflects vegetation productivity.
 Independent of vegetation productivity, however, recently recolonized
 areas have lower reindeer densities than areas not subject to past
 extirpation. This suggests that recovery from past overharvesting is still
 in progress. These incompletely recovered areas are potential targets for
 increased monitoring frequency and maintaining strict conservation to
 follow the Svalbard management goal (i.e., virtually untouched wilderness
 areas). Because of such ongoing recolonization, possibly combined with
 vegetation greening effects of recent warming, our status estimate of
 Svalbard reindeer abundance (22,435 [95% CI = 21,452–23,425]) is more than
 twice a previous estimate based on opportunistic counts. Thus, although
 our study demonstrates the successful outcome of strict harvesting control
 implemented a century ago, current and future population trajectories are
 likely shaped by climate change.
description: Distance_sampling_segment_data_for_Distance_detection_fonctionDistance sampling data for the detection function estimation in Distance. The transects are already segmented and the distances truncated. This Excel file contains two sheets, the first one contains the data and the second the legend definition. A script and prediction tables are available on request, contact mathilde.lemoullec@ntnu.noDistance_sampling_segment_data_for_dsmDistance sampling data for spatial density modeling in dsm. The transects are already segmented and the distances truncated. This Excel file contains two sheets, the first one contains the data and the second the legend definition. A script and prediction tables are available on request, contact mathilde.lemoullec@ntnu.noTotal count data for hurdle modelsTotal count data for Hurdle models. This Excel file contains two sheets, the first one contains the data and the second the legend definition. A script and prediction tables are available on request, contact mathilde.lemoullec@ntnu.no