R. 2006. Compensatory growth of fast-growing willow (Salix ) coppice in response to simulated large herbivore browsing. Á/ Oikos 113: 33 Á/42.We tested the effect of timing and intensity of deer browsing on compensatory response by willow grown for bioenergy. Browsing was simulated several times during summer and once during winter. The clipping was done at different intensities during the first year after establishment in a new willow plantation, and during the first year after harvest in an older willow coppice. Total aboveground biomass and biomass available for deer browsing were recorded both at the end of the first and the second growing periods after clipping. Both in the new plantation and in the older coppice, the willows fully compensated for biomass losses after winter clipping, irrespective of clipping intensity. On the other hand, total biomass production usually decreased after highintensity summer clipping. Such a seasonal difference may be explained by the nutrition of remaining buds after clipping. In the new willow plantation, total produced biomass after summer clipping still bottomed at about 50% of the level of control stools at the end of the experiment. In the older coppice, usual browsing levels by deer in summer, roughly corresponding to the moderate clipping intensities used in this experiment, did not influence total produced biomass. The newly established willow stools reacted to summer clipping by undercompensating in terms of biomass available for deer browsing, while older stools could overcompensate. Compared to stools clipped in late summer, willow stools clipped during early summer were able to compensate earlier and stronger. The higher the proportion of twig biomass removed by summer clipping, the lower the compensatory growth by willow. Depending on the circumstances, the fast-growing willows responded within the whole continuum from under-to overcompensation, and some implications for the management of willow plantations and large herbivores are discussed.
The size of the winter home range of female roe deer Capreolus capreolus was studied in Sweden in a boreal area, Grimsö, and in a boreo‐nemoral area, Bogesund. The home range size of each roe deer was based on 48–72 radio‐locations collected from late January to early March. The average size of the winter home range was similar in the two areas, i.e. about 60 ha. No significant differences were found between home range sizes based on minimum convex polygon and harmonic mean 95%. The mean size of core areas (harmonic mean 50%) differed significantly between study areas. Snow depth was identified as an important factor influencing the size of home ranges. In the boreal forest, snow cover lowered the availability of the main food for the roe deer, i.e. dwarf‐shrubs, resulting in roe deer concentrating around artificial feeding sites.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.