Data for: Abundance and accessibility of forage for reindeer in forests of Northern Sweden: impacts of landscape and winter climate regime ...

• Main Authors: Kater, Ilona, Baxter, Robert
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1ns1rn8st; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.1ns1rn8st

The survival of reindeer during winter, their period of greatest food stress, is largely dependent upon the abundance and accessibility of food in their pastures. In Northern Sweden this realised availability of forage is notably affected by snow conditions and the impacts of forestry on understorey in these pastures. Whilst these factors have been examined to some extent in isolation, their combined effect on overall forage availability has, to the best of our knowledge to date, not been studied. In this study, vegetation surveys and analysis of snow conditions were undertaken in 16 forest stands at various stages of recovery from clear-cutting. The variation in abundance and growth of understorey species edible by reindeer, such as lichen, were noted as forest age increased. The barrier effect of ice lenses in snow during winter was also noted. Lichen biomass was significantly affected by a combination of stand age, understorey vegetation height, and lichen height. Soil disturbance from the processes of ... : Tree age was measuring according to dendrochronological procedures, using a Mattson No. 4. Increment Borer (Sorbus International, Somerset, UK). Canopy cover was measured using a spherical densiometer (Spherical Crown Densiometer, Convex Model A, Forestry Suppliers, USA.). At each site vegetation surveys were undertaken in 10 replicates of 4 m2 quadrats. Percentage cover of each species was visually estimated. Plant height was measured at five random points within each quadrat and averaged. In two of the 4 m2 quadrats at each site, five quadrants of 0.01 m2 were placed. Lichen cover, and height at three points, was noted. All lichen within the 0.01 m2 quadrats was extracted, dried to a constant weight at 105 oC, and immediately cooled and weighed (Satorius M-prove, Satorius AG, Goettingen, Germany). All data was nested by site. Snow pits were dug in November 2019, plus January and March 2020. Six pits were dug per site, each > 10 m distance from one another, with three within 0.5 m of a tree and three in ...