Browsing and damage inflicted by moose in young Scots pine stands subjected to high-stump precommercial thinning

Abstract

In Fennoscandia, young stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) are intensively used by moose (Alces alces L.) during winter. We studied whether forage amounts on high-cut pines in high-stump commercial thinning influenced browsing intensity and damage incidence on retained (i.e. uncut) pine stems. High-cut pines were browsed, but to a lesser extent than retained pines. At a scale corresponding to individual feeding sites (≈40 m²), browsing intensity on retained pines was not influenced by the amount of forage on high-cut pines but was positively related to moose pellet group counts. The incidence of lower-height damage (stem breakage and bark stripping) was positively related to the amount of forage on high-cut pines, whereas higher damage (leader shoot browsing) was not. Overall browsing damage incidence on retained pines was positively related to the density of deciduous trees and negatively related to the amount of forage on retained pines. Our results suggest that although high-stump thinning supplies additional food resources for moose, larger amounts of forage on high-cut pines may increase the risk for bark stripping and stem breakage on retained trees. Further research is needed at larger spatial scales to assess the feasibility of high-stump thinning as a damage mitigation measure.

Keywords:

• forest
• moose
• pre-commercial thinning
• ungulate damage
• high stump

Acknowledgments

This work was conducted in collaboration with the forest company Sveaskog. We thank the staff at Sveaskog for good collaboration in planning and executing the treatments. We thank the reviewers for constructive comments on the study. This study was part of the Wildlife and Forestry research program, cofinanced by Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Skogforsk, Sveaskog, Holmen, Södra, the Swedish EPA, the Swedish Forest Agency, the Federation of Swedish Farmers, and the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.