Browsing Damage of Moose in relation to plant diversity in Gävleborg County, Sweden

• Main Author: Ramirez, Bernabe
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för arbets- och folkhälsovetenskap 2018
• Subjects: Moose Browsing Damage; Plant biodiversity; plant richness; Scots pine; deciduous trees; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Alces alces
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-27480

For several decades, Moose population (Alces alces) in Sweden has been growing considerably. This increase has resulted in a greater impact and damage in trees, especially in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) which is the basis of Swedish forestry and, therefore the economical losses are considerable. For this reason, for several years, to know Moose feeding behaviour and to look for measures to reduce it is impact on forestry have marked the guidelines of research. The Moose damages the pine mainly in winter, when there are no herbaceous plants and deciduous trees to eat. This project has focused on reducing the moose damage from a biodiversity point of view, following a line similar to the "Optimal forage theory". According to this theory, a moose selects the food according to the composition and the richness of the species. Results have conducted to relation plant-richness with Moose Browsing Damage on Scots pine and with more abundance of trees around a Scots pine, Moose Browsing Damage decreases considerably. In this project I also study the association between Moose activity and the plant-richness. Both (Moose Browsing damage on Scots pine and Moose activity) were tested with Shannon´s and Simpson´s index, two biodiversity indexes. The amount of different plants species nearby a Scots pine were measured and studied, as well. Also, I did the Pearson´s coefficient as an initial relationship between the variables (and observed if it is negative or positive) and ANOVA analysis. Although the conclusions weren´t as clear as I expected, in my opinion this study offered another tool to reduce the before mentioned impact.