Ranking temperate woody species along a gradient of browsing by deer

Boulanger, Vincent; Baltzinger, Christophe; Saı̈d, Sonia; Ballon, Philippe; Picard, Jean-François; Dupouey, Jean‐Luc

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.06.055

Cited by 75 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The natural regeneration from seeds, which ripen starting in August and decrease in October (Bednorz and Urbaniak 2005), can be endangered by competition from faster-growing woody plants (Collet et al 2008), massive feeding on seeds by rodents (Velicka 1993) and browsing by ungulates (Biedenkopf et al 2007, Collet et al 2008), although Boulanger et al (2009) classify the wild service tree among the plants least endangered by browsing. In the CR, phytocoenological relevés proved that at more than half of the sites studied, the wild service tree regenerates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and ecological requirements of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz in the Czech Republic

Maděra¹,

Tichá²,

Řepka³

2012

Dendrobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study addresses the distribution of the wild service tree Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz in the Czech Republic by drawing on publicly available databases and herbarium records. In the Czech Republic, this tree occurs in stands at a proportion greater than 1% in 4350.32 ha of forests; the reduced area of the species is 86.42 ha. However, mapping the biotopes for Natura 2000 showed 3627 segments of biotopes, with the wild service tree occurring in a total area of 31274.4 ha. There are approximately 220179 wild service tree individuals in the Czech Republic. This tree is found at altitudes from 175 to 760 m a.s.l., with the centre between 250 and 450 m a.s.l. It shows no preference for slope orientation and is mostly located at sites with rich, and frequently humus-enriched, soils; however, it is often found at extreme sites with shallow soils in the 1 st -5 th forest altitudinal zones. In the Czech Republic, the wild service tree clearly prefers plant communities of cl. Querco-Fagetea; however, its occurrence was recorded in 10 other classes (20 alliances) of the phytocoenological system. In the conditions of the Czech Republic, natural regeneration of the wild service tree occurs in approximately 55% of the stands in which it is present. Additional key words: wild service tree, abundance, presence in plant communities Address: P. Mad ra, S. Tichá, R. epka.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and ecological requirements of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz in the Czech Republic

Maděra¹,

Tichá²,

Řepka³

2012

Dendrobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We then calculated an average browsing pressure index per plot and sampling date as the ratio between the amount of browsed vegetation (sum of C ij ×B ij ) and the total amount of vegetation available (sum of C ij ). We used this variable after square root transformation as an index of browsing pressure at the plot scale (Boulanger et al 2009;Frerker et al 2013). …”

Section: Index Of Local Browsing Pressurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thanks to the original data available on browsing pressure and vegetation communities, we were able to carry out comparisons over time. A decrease in deer population that occurred in the Arc-Châteauvillain Forest at the end of the 1970s over a 5-year period (Boulanger et al 2009) gave us the opportunity to study the vegetation response to a decrease in herbivory pressure under natural conditions. Making the most of this context, we analysed the intensity of the shifts in vegetation community composition and more precisely the correlations with the changes in herbivory pressure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreasing deer browsing pressure influenced understory vegetation dynamics over 30 years

Boulanger

Baltzinger²,

Saı̈d

et al. 2014

Annals of Forest Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract& Key message Thanks to the concomitant recordings of vegetation and deer browsing sampled first in 1976, then resurveyed in 2006, we show that forest plant communities shifted in response to deer population dynamics, stand management and eutrophication. & Context and aims High deer populations alter forest understory dynamics worldwide. However, no study ever attempted to rank the importance of deer herbivory relatively to other environmental drivers. In the Arc-en-Barrois National Forest (France), we investigated whether (i) deer browsing is a critical driver of vegetation composition and dynamics, (ii) the vegetation communities recover after a decrease in deer populations. & Methods In 2006, we resurveyed 321 plots from a network of 1027 plots where vegetation composition and browsing pressure was first assessed in 1976. We used coinertia analysis to identify the gradients in vegetation composition in 1976, when abiotic variables were also recorded. We assessed shifts in plant community composition using mean Ellenberg indicator values, analysed plot scores shifts along the axes of the coinertia analysis and correlated these shifts with changes in browsing pressure. & Results Two major gradients determined vegetation composition in 1976: edaphic variables (nitrogen availability and soil moisture) and browsing pressure. Over the next 30 years, we noticed a strong increase in nitrophilous plant species frequency and community composition shifted towards lightly browsed characteristics, accompanying a decrease in browsing pressure. Shifts in community composition were significantly correlated with the intensity of changes in browsing pressure, showing that deer population dynamics were a determinant driver of changes in plant assemblages. We observed an incomplete recovery of the communities 25 years after the reduction of deer densities, suggesting a delayed response to deer population reduction. Long-term monitoring of forest biodiversity should therefore include browsing pressure assessment to control for potential effects of wild ungulates.

show abstract

“…Moreover, the height of saplings is determined by age; therefore, the effect of height may be difficult to distinguish from the effect of age in naturally regenerated trees of different age. For instance, wood density influences browsing incidence (Boulanger et al 2009), whereas wood density tends to change with seedling/sapling age (Domec and Gartner 2002). This paper presents data from an 8-year study of browsing incidence in even-aged pine-oak mixtures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young conifer stands form a deer browsing refuge for an oak admixture: silvicultural implications for forest regeneration under herbivore pressure

Borkowski

Dobrowolska

Dąbrowski³

et al. 2017

Eur J Forest Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is little knowledge how ungulate pressure on forest regeneration may be mitigated by silvicultural methods. The knowledge is especially needed for artificially regenerated, deciduous tree species. We studied factors affecting browsing incidence by deer in the Pisz Forest District in Poland, an area where 10,000 ha of forest was damaged by a 2002 hurricane. In 2006, we established three experimental plots (in total, 22.6 ha), in which the main species was Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) admixed with pedunculate oak (Quercus robur). The data on browsing were collected in 2008-2015. In general, oak browsing incidence was unrelated to oak planting density. On a plantation scale, it was significantly affected by the pine age. Although in each variant all the oaks were browsed for four consecutive years (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012), in 2013 browsing incidence began to decrease. When the pines grew higher and formed a physical barrier, it was harder for deer-roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and moose (Alces alces)-to move through and locate the oaks. Moreover, within plantations, oak browsing incidence was higher in the patches with shorter pines.Browsing of individual saplings or small groups of saplings was also negatively affected by the height of neighbouring pine saplings. Oak density influenced deer selectivity depending on the tree height. In a low oak tree density, browsing incidence was unrelated to oak height, while in higher tree density, deer selected oaks of the height between 40 and 100 cm. We postulate that deciduous admixture in a coniferous (unattractive) stand can be planted with a few year delay. Older coniferous trees should impede locating of attractive tree species by deer and the browsing incidence.

show abstract

Ranking temperate woody species along a gradient of browsing by deer

Cited by 75 publications

References 54 publications

Distribution and ecological requirements of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz in the Czech Republic

Distribution and ecological requirements of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz in the Czech Republic

Decreasing deer browsing pressure influenced understory vegetation dynamics over 30 years

Young conifer stands form a deer browsing refuge for an oak admixture: silvicultural implications for forest regeneration under herbivore pressure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About