The official governance of the reindeer pastoralist system in the north of Norway relies overwhelmingly on one central argument: that in order to maintain a sustainable system, maximum numbers and densities of reindeer, as well as certain herd structures, should be upheld. If these indicators are ignored, the argument goes, the consequences are resource degradation and economic collapse. Even though this argument has been challenged by both researchers and reindeer herders across Fennoscandia, it continues to dominate management policies and practice. Here we set out to investigate the validity of the premise that there is a strong relationship between density and carcass weights over the whole of Finnmark, based on official data. We find that although the relationship is present, its explanatory power is not very strong in a variety of circumstances and propose that it therefore cannot be used to frame important governance policies for the whole system. We also critically reflect on the model’s goal of high productivity per capita of reindeer (high carcass weight). We suggest that productivity per area unit can be at least as relevant as carcass weights and perhaps a better indicator for pastoralist systems in general. For the Finnmark pastoralist system, we argue, a measure of productivity in kilogrammes per square kilometer reveals a different picture: rather than being a failed system marred by suffering animals and low economic returns, reindeer herding in Western Finnmark becomes the most productive in Norway. This shift of focus is likely relevant for other pastoralist systems where governance is premised on similar arguments.

中文翻译：

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生产力超越密度：挪威驯鹿放牧管理模式的批评

挪威北部对驯鹿放牧制度的官方管理绝大多数依靠一个中心论点：为了维持可持续的体系，应坚持最大数量和密度的驯鹿以及某些畜群结构。论据认为，如果忽略这些指标，后果将是资源退化和经济崩溃。尽管这一论点受到芬诺斯堪迪亚各地的研究人员和驯鹿牧者的挑战，但它仍继续主导着管理政策和实践。在这里，我们根据官方数据开始调查在整个Finnmark的密度与car体重量之间存在很强关系的前提的有效性。我们发现尽管存在这种关系，它在各种情况下的解释力不是很强，因此建议不能将其用于制定整个系统的重要治理政策。我们还批判性地考虑了该模型的人均驯鹿高生产率（high体重）的目标。我们建议单位面积的生产力至少与car体重量相关，并且可能是总体上牧民制度的更好指标。我们认为，对于芬马克牧民制度，以公斤/平方公里为单位的生产力度量方法可以揭示出不同的景象：与其成为遭受动物折磨和经济回报低下的失败系统，在芬兰芬马克西部的驯鹿放牧成为挪威生产力最高的。