Daniela Sant'Ana

• Sant'Ana, Daniela (2025). From piecemeal to cumulative assessments - what can we learn from looking back? Full text in Research Archive
• Sant'Ana, Daniela (2025). Reindeer as data: tracking movement and (un) greening the effects of wind power development. Full text in Research Archive
• Sant'Ana, Daniela (2024). Reindeer movement data as social experiments: decomposing habituation, recontexting measurements. Full text in Research Archive
• Sant'Ana, Daniela (2023). Looking up and researching backwards? Full text in Research Archive
• Sant'Ana, Daniela (2023). Multi-site methods in STS: Contexting reindeer data. Full text in Research Archive
• Skarin, Anna; Niebuhr, Bernardo Brandão; Sandström, Per; Adler, Sven; Alam, Moudud & Sant'Ana, Daniela [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2023). Reindeer increased tolerance to wind turbines in severe winter conditions and high predator abundance. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The aim of this study was to record and quantify habitat selection and movement decisions of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) herded within their winter range in two Sami reindeer herding communities in Sweden in relation to winter grazing conditions and land use change. To document and estimate reindeer habitat selection including herders’ decisions we used an approach of co- production of knowledge documenting reindeer herding activities and winter grazing conditions in focus group meetings and through single herders’ documentation in combination with official weather statistics and reindeer GPS-data. We developed habitat selection functions using reindeer GPS-data from ten consecutive winters (2008-2018) in relation to good, intermediate and severe winter grazing conditions, lichen abundance, wind power (before and after development), forestry, road network, recreational areas, and predator presence. Our results showed that reindeer used low elevation and lichen-rich areas in winters with good grazing conditions, but in winters with intermediate or severe grazing conditions reindeer preferred higher elevations and decreased selection of lichen-rich areas. This led them to use the area around the wind turbines more often especially in winters with high predator abundance. Reindeer moved closer to wind turbines and roads as the abundance of wolverines and wolves increased, respectively. However, the expected increase in use of areas high up in the terrain under severe snow conditions was lower (45%) on one wind farm site compared to nearby mountains. Reindeer herders work also got much more intense by the combined effects of winter conditions, predators, and the presence of the wind turbines. Even though reindeer tend to avoid infrastructure, here we observed that winter conditions and predators may have stronger effects on reindeer than that of wind turbines. This brings several challenges to both reindeer and reindeer herders as climate and landscapes continue to change due to human activities.

• Sant'Ana, Daniela (2023). Reindeer data interventions: on how to account for renarnas betesro in changing habitats. Full text in Research Archive
• SantAna, Daniela & Valkenburg, Govert (2023). Reindeer, Geologies and infrastructures: comparing ecological data and knowledge production for infrastructure development between Norway and Sweden. Full text in Research Archive
• SantAna, Daniela (2023). Reindeer data interventions. Full text in Research Archive
• Santos, Bernardo Brandão Niebuhr Dos; Sant'Ana, Daniela; Panzacchi, Manuela; Moorter, Bram F. A. van; Sandström, Per & Morato, Ronaldo G. [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). Renewable energy infrastructure impacts biodiversity beyond the area it occupies. PNAS. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2208815119. Full text in Research Archive
• Niebuhr, Bernardo Brandão; Skarin, Anna; Saijets, Jan; Lipsanen, Aino; Pekkarinen, Antti-Juhani & Sandström, Per [Show all 25 contributors for this article] (2026). Towards understanding and managing cumulative impacts in Sápmi: approaches & collaboration - Workshop Report with focus on spatial data, reindeer and reindeer herding. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. doi: 10.7557/2.46.2.8865. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sápmi is inhabited by the Indigenous Sámi people and spans the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and large parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Sápmi and the reindeer herding area have been particularly impacted by the acceleration of industrial land-demanding activities such as forestry, mining for rare minerals, and hydro and wind power production, promoted by the Nordic countries towards a low-carbon economy. Together, the so-called “green transition” adds to past and present pressure on nature, contributing to changes in landscapes and affecting both people and biodiversity. Land-use planning and impact assessments often focus on single projects on a local scale. As a result, planning processes are fragmented, with limited dialogue across sectors and insufficient consideration of cumulative impacts (CI) from past, ongoing, and future activities at relevant scales. Furthermore, Sámi rightsholders experience that their rights and perspectives are not properly understood and considered in planning processes, and in some cases even disregarded. Current research and planning on multiple anthropogenic impacts are also largely limited to local and national contexts, further reinforcing this fragmentation and constraining land-use planning across Sápmi. To assess the impacts of historic and new activities in Sápmi, there is a need for concepts, frameworks, and tools that can address the cumulative impacts of multiple activities across space, time, sectors, and borders, and a stronger knowledge base for just decision-making. Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) offers a way forward, aiming to understand the combined impacts of multiple land uses and environmental changes. Here, CIA should be understood as a comprehensive approach that can be integrated into regional planning efforts, instead of as a narrow evaluation of (potential) impacts. This report summarizes concepts, tools, and examples of CIA methods (relevant to reindeer husbandry, in particular). It is based on a review of the academic literature and on a workshop held in Oslo in 2025 with experts from Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

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