UNI professor and students study how climate change affects reindeer migration

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Andrey Petrov, assistant professor of geography at the University of Northern Iowa, and students in UNI's Arctic Social and Environmental Systems Research Lab (ARCSES) have been involved in research related to modeling wild reindeer migrations in northern Russia since 2009.

Petrov and his students work with Russian colleagues in creating and analyzing reindeer migration and distribution maps and aerial photographs made between 1969 and 2009. The purpose of this project is to identify whether and how climate change affects the reindeer population in Eurasia. The group uses satellite imagery and archival information that analyzes climate, wildfire, predator location and reindeer provision data for the last 40 years to determine which factors affect reindeer migration.

During the last 40 years, wild reindeer herds in Eurasia and North America exhibited population change and shifts in spatial distribution. "All of these changes can be attributed to climate change and increasing pressure of industrial activities and hunting," said Petrov.

For additional information, visit the ARCSES website at http://www.uni.edu/apetrov/arcses/ or contact Petrov at 319-273-6245 or andrey.petrov@uni.edu.