LAND: Large carnivores and human communities II: Conserving interacting species in the transboundary south-central Scandinavian ecosystem

To meet the escalating demands for scientific knowledge, to help address human-wildlife conflicts, research activity on large carnivores (LCs) and large herbivores (LHs) has been intense in the last decade in Scandinavia. This research has been available to politicans formulating policy. In the coming years there is a need to to focus on four main areas. (1) Develop tools to help implement policy. (2) Monitor the effect of policy implementation on the conflicts. (3) Place the enormous body of existing kno wledge into a holistic, ecosystem context. (4) Continue the limited collection of field data on certain targetted areas. In order to address these needs we propose a new project that seeks to expand upon the partnerships established in the NFR funded ROSA project (2000-2004). In this phase the project will contain integrated components on wolves, moose, lynx, roe deer, bears and human dimensions. Integration will occur by examining these species along four conceptual axes. (1) The use of harvest and contr ol in active management which involves collection of LC demographic data and surveys of human attitudes to various management measures. (2) The effects of LC predation on LH populations, and how this is modulated by prey movement and landscape, which requ ires studying LC kill rates and LH mortality. (3) Intraguild interactions between LCs (and human hunters). These elements will be further unified by embracing them within a geographically defined area, the transboundary South Central Scandinavian Ecosyste m (Østlandet & Svealand). The differences between Norwegian and Swedish management systems, in similar landscapes, provides a unique opportunity to study how these different systems affect wildlife populations, human attitudes, and the form of human-wildl ife conflict. We will also examine to what extent management practices in one country affect those in the other. Throughout the project we will interact with managers at all levels from both sides of the border.