Temporal dynamics of forage succession for elk at two scales: Implications of forest management

Visscher, Darcy R.; Merrill, Evelyn H.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.08.018

Cited by 35 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As such, sacrifice areas around feeding stations will continue to expand over time, which warrants caution against long-term diversionary feeding in fixed locations. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering the appropriate time frame when deciding to initiate winter feeding and can assist in developing more effective feeding programs in areas where both wildlife management and commercial timber production need to produce benefits at the same spatial scale (Wam et al, 2005;Wam and Hofstad, 2007;Visscher and Merrill, 2009). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term browsing impact around diversionary feeding stations for moose in Southern Norway

Beest

Gundersen

Mathisen

et al. 2010

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term browsing impact around diversionary feeding stations for moose in Southern Norway

Beest

Gundersen

Mathisen

et al. 2010

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The FVAs are phytocenological units determined by climate and soil conditions and are known to provide various amounts of forage for ungulates (Katreniak et al 1993(Katreniak et al , Šebeň et al 2011. Although FVAs reflect climate and soil conditions, the approach does not account for other factors known to affect understorey vegetation such as stand development stage (Jules et al 2008, Visscher andMerrill 2008) and structure of the overstorey (Hart andChen 2006, Ujházy et al 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas thinning and selection cutting create only small openings in the canopy (several m 2 ) and stimulate understorey vegetation only for a short period (several years), final felling of mature stands under shelterwood system (or clearcutting in some cases) creates large openings in forest stands ( 3 ha; hereafter cutblocks) switching the forest stand to initiation stage (Oliver and Larson 1996). Vegetation responds to such disturbance by initiating secondary succession significantly increasing availability of forage for ungulates for several decades (Visscher and Merrill 2008). Moreover, crowns of tall trees that regularly become reachable after winter logging provide large amounts of potential forage for ungulates (Månson et al 2015), considerably increasing the ungulate forage base (Edenius et al 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal dynamics of forage for red deer in temperate forests: importance of the habitat properties, stand development stage and overstorey dynamics

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

he recent increase of red deer Cervus elaphus population and consequent damage caused by their herbivory impact increasingly concern foresters and farmers in Slovakia as well as in other European countries. hus, the topic of vegetation-deer interactions with focus on forage production is especially relevant for developing adequate management guidelines. Using data from 320 sampling plots, we estimated the overall availability of all forage items seasonally consumed by red deer in commercial temperate forests and identiied the main factors afecting forage availability in summer and winter. We found that cutblocks were the most productive habitats throughout the year irrespective of the site quality. Summer forage biomass peaked at ≈8 years and winter forage biomass at ≈10 years following felling, then slowly declined as the cutblocks aged and the canopy increased. Understorey vegetation production in mature forests was determined primarily by light availability, as the major driving factor of vegetation growth in the closed-canopy forest ecosystems, and to a lesser extent by a site quality. We suggest that the site quality index that is traditionally used in forestry is not an eicient predictor of the forage availability for red deer, and estimations of the forage potential of hunting grounds should incorporate more complex models to evaluate carrying capacity of the landscape.

show abstract

“…The relatively high forest resource potential that we observed in high-value habitats of these two ungulate species (as expected), indicates that their habitats in the Muskwa-Kechika could be altered from forest management activities. Forest harvesting creates early seral habitats dominated by graminoids and forbs, which increase in abundance for approximately 10 years and then gradually decline over the next *30 years (Visscher and Merrill 2009). Populations of elk, with a preferred forage base of graminoid vegetation (Jenkins and Starkey 1993;Christianson and Creel 2007), would benefit initially.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential conflict between future development of natural resources and high-value wildlife habitats in boreal landscapes

Suzuki

Parker

2016

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We used the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area in northeast British Columbia, Canada as a case study to determine potential conflicts between future resource development and high-value habitats of large mammals in an undeveloped boreal landscape. More than 50 % of high-value habitats for caribou, moose, elk, wolves and grizzly bears were located in Special Resource Management Zones, where natural resource developments could occur. We developed geographic information system (GIS) layers of potential forest resources, oil and gas, minerals, wind power, all resources combined, and roads; and quantified the proportions of high-value habitats overlapping these potentials. Greater proportions of high-value habitats across seasons for moose, elk, and wolves overlapped areas with high cumulative resource potential (winter, 49-70 %, growing season, 35-63 %) more than for three other species (grizzly bears, Stone's sheep, mountain goats). This pattern was similar for forest resources, oil and gas, wind power, and roads. Caribou were more seasonally influenced. The proportions of their high-value habitat in areas with high cumulative resource potential (winter, 53 %, growing season, 16 %), as well as high forest and oil and gas potentials, were greatest in winter; in contrast, overlap with high mineral potential was greatest during the growing season. We recommend a quantitative and visual GIS approach to scenario planning in the Muskwa-Kechika to maintain the abundance and diversity of wildlife populations there. Resource development would likely increase early seral habitats, presumably benefiting moose, elk, and wolves, but could adversely affect caribou and grizzly bears through habitat loss and increased access.

show abstract

Temporal dynamics of forage succession for elk at two scales: Implications of forest management

Cited by 35 publications

References 48 publications

Long-term browsing impact around diversionary feeding stations for moose in Southern Norway

Long-term browsing impact around diversionary feeding stations for moose in Southern Norway

Seasonal dynamics of forage for red deer in temperate forests: importance of the habitat properties, stand development stage and overstorey dynamics

Potential conflict between future development of natural resources and high-value wildlife habitats in boreal landscapes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About