Selective debarking by ungulates in temperate deciduous forests: preference towards tree species and stem girth

Fehér, Ádám; Szemethy, László; Katona, Krisztián

doi:10.1007/s10342-016-1000-9

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Our investigation showed that the non-trophic behaviour of ungulates can affect the spatial structure of tree regeneration in a forest. Our results support Fehér et al (2016), who called ungulate debarking a selective natural disturbance having a significant impact on forest regeneration. As deer populations in the Northern Hemisphere have been increasing in recent decades, their impact on forest structure and dynamics is likely to increase.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

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Non‐trophic plant–animal interactions mediate positive density dependence among conspecific saplings

Żywiec

Fedriani

Kurek

et al. 2019

Oikos

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Trophic plant-animal interactions (e.g. browsing by ungulates, insect attack) are an important and well-studied source of mortality in many tree populations. Non-trophic tree-animal interactions (e.g. deer antler rubbing) also frequently lead to tree death, and thus have significant effects on forest ecosystem functioning, but they are much less well studied than trophic interactions are. As deer populations have increased in recent decades in the Northern Hemisphere, their impact on tree populations via browsing and antler rubbing will increase. The aim of the study was to illustrate the potential ability of non-trophic plant-animal interactions to regulate the dynamics of a natural forest. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether and how density and distance-dependent processes affect sapling mortality caused by an antler rubbing by red deer Cervus elaphus. We used a spatially explicit approach to examine density and distance-dependent mortality effects in almost two thousand Picea abies saplings over 20 years, based on a fully mapped permanent 14.4 ha plot in a natural subalpine oldgrowth spruce forest. Antler rubbing by deer was the main identified cause of sapling mortality, and it showed a strong spatial pattern: positive density dependence of survival among spruce saplings. Deer selectively killed spruce saplings that were isolated from conspecifics. In consequence, non-trophic plant-deer interactions were a major driver of the spatial pattern of P. abies sapling survival. The other mortality causes (e.g. breaking, overturning) did not show density-dependent patterns or their effects were much weaker. In the medium and long term, the density-dependent pattern of sapling mortality due to antler rubbing can alter the tree stand structure. Our results highlight the ecological relevance of non-trophic plant-animal interactions for forest ecosystem functioning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…2. Fehér et al 2016). Our study documents, for the first time, density-dependent mortality caused by deer marking behaviour.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Non‐trophic plant–animal interactions mediate positive density dependence among conspecific saplings

Żywiec

Fedriani

Kurek

et al. 2019

Oikos

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“…Multiple species of mammals strip the bark from different species of trees to feed on either the bark itself or the cambium underneath (Feher et al 2016;Seryodkin et al 2017;Ssali et al 2012). In most cases, these mammals cause serious damage to the trees, known in forestry as bark-stripping, which often kills the tree.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The consumption of bark or cambium (also called "inner bark," the living wood immediately below the bark through which the sap flows) has been described in different climates and habitats and for many mammal species, including brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Siberia (Seryodkin et al 2017), several ungulate species in Europe (Feher et al 2016), and African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Uganda and Benin (Kassa et al 2013;Ssali et al 2012). In many of these examples, massive extraction of the bark or cambium, all around the trunk, permanently damages the trees and it is more commonly called bark-stripping, an unsustainable practice that often causes the death of the stripped tree.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Peeling of Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra) Bark by the Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast

et al. 2020

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Primates often consume either bark or cambium (inner bark) as a fallback food to complete their diet during periods of food scarcity. Wild chimpanzees exhibit great behavioral diversity across Africa, as studies of new populations frequently reveal. Since 2014, we have been using a combination of camera traps and indirect signs to study the ecology and behavior of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast, to document and understand the behavioral adaptations that help them to survive in a savanna-forest mosaic landscape. We found that Comoé chimpanzees peel the bark of the buttresses of kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) trees to eat the cambium underneath. Individuals of all sex/age classes across at least six neighboring communities peeled the bark, but only during the late rainy season and beginning of the dry season, when cambium may represent an important fallback food. Baboons (Papio anubis) also target the same trees but mainly eat the bark itself. Most of the bark-peeling wounds on Ceiba trees healed completely within 2 years, seemingly without any permanent damage. We recorded chimpanzees visiting trees in early stages of wound recovery but leaving them unpeeled. Only 6% of peeled trees (N = 53) were reexploited after a year, suggesting that chimpanzees waited for the rest of the trees to regrow the bark fully before peeling them again, thus using them sustainably. Many human groups of hunter-gatherers and herders exploited cambium sustainably in the past. The observation that similar sustainable bark-peeling behavior evolved in both chimpanzees and humans suggests that it has an important adaptive value in harsh environments when other food sources become seasonally scarce, by avoiding the depletion of the resource and keeping it available for periods of scarcity.

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“…Boomsoorten zijn in verschillende mate gevoelig voor schillen, met wilg, es, fijnspar en wilde lijsterbes als veelgenoemde voorkeursoorten en linde, haagbeuk, eik en berk als minder vaak geschilde soorten (Gill 1992a). Welke soorten er daadwerkelijk worden geschild is weer sterk afhankelijk van de lokale soortensamenstelling (Fehér et al 2016). Op de Veluwe zijn vooral (fijn)sparren, reuzenzilverspar, douglas en beuk relatief gevoelig voor bastvraat.…”

Section: Bastvraatunclassified

Effecten van hoefdieren op Natura 2000-boshabitattypen op de Veluwe

Ouden¹,

Lammertsma²,

Jansman³

2020

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Selective debarking by ungulates in temperate deciduous forests: preference towards tree species and stem girth

Cited by 11 publications

References 36 publications

Non‐trophic plant–animal interactions mediate positive density dependence among conspecific saplings

Non‐trophic plant–animal interactions mediate positive density dependence among conspecific saplings

Sustainable Peeling of Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra) Bark by the Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast

Effecten van hoefdieren op Natura 2000-boshabitattypen op de Veluwe

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