Does moose browsing threaten European aspen regeneration
ABSTRACT: Large European aspen (Populus tremula) trees host hundreds of species of which many are threatened species of conifer-dominated, old-growth boreal forests. Aspen is also one of the de-ciduous tree species most intensively used by moose (Alces alces) in Finland. In conservation areas aspen...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.688.2906 http://alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/viewFile/35/34/ |
| Summary: | ABSTRACT: Large European aspen (Populus tremula) trees host hundreds of species of which many are threatened species of conifer-dominated, old-growth boreal forests. Aspen is also one of the de-ciduous tree species most intensively used by moose (Alces alces) in Finland. In conservation areas aspen regeneration is facilitated by large-scale disturbances, especially fires and windstorms, and also by mortality of individual trees and small-scale disturbances that create small openings. These ag-gregated patches of young aspens provide high quality feeding sites for moose. In Finland, it has been hypothesized that intense browsing pressure by moose on aspen may prevent new aspen cohorts from emerging, and thus endanger the spatio-temporal continuum of aspen occurrence in the long term. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of moose browsing on the regeneration of aspen in Koli National Park in eastern Finland at 2 different spatial scales, the landscape level and stand level. Our results indicated that moose browsing on aspen has been very intense in the area. At the landscape level, moose damaged (twig-browsing, stem breakage, or bark stripping) 96 % of aspens in the southern area and 62 % in the northern area of the Park. In addition, 23 % of the damaged aspens (all <5 m) were dead in the southern area. According to counts of fecal pellet groups, moose activity was higher in the southern area than the northern area. At the stand level, on average, 79 % of the aspens in the southern |
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