Effects of different scarification intensities on bilberry abundance

• Main Author: Knudsen, Marius Flemmen
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: scarification; high intensity; bilberry; Vaccinium myrtilus; moose; Alces alces; markberedning; høy intensitet; blåbær; elg; VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480; Norway; Finnes
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/222148

In the boreal forest bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) plays an important role for a large variety of insects, birds and mammals, and it is especially important for moose (Alces alces) in autumn and spring. Bilberry is commonly found in commercial forests in Norway, often in mature coniferous stands of Norwegian spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Bilberry is therefore affected by modern forestry operations such as clear-cuts and scarification. Commercial forests in moose wintering-areas may experience severe damage to young Scots pine stands due to heavy moose browsing. As a suggested solution to this problem is high intensity scarification to increase the amount pine seedlings. I studied the effects of different scarification intensities on bilberry abundance. The scarification variables cover of mineral soil, turned humus and driving tracks showed a negative effect on bilberry at plot level. As I found no effect on a stand level, the large variation within stands, are not detected unless using a small scale. There were differences in bilberry cover and average height in stands scarified in different years. The reduction in bilberry cover, will lead to a decrease in available forage for moose, which could cause bigger browsing damages on Scots pine. I den boreale barskogen spiller blåbær (Vaccinium myrtillus) en viktig rolle for en rekke insekter, fugler og pattedyr, og den er spesielt viktig for elg (Alces alces) om høsten og våren. Blåbær finnes ofte i skogområder av kommersiell interesse i Norge, da ofte i eldre barskog dominert av gran (Picea abies) og furu (Pinus sylvestris). Blåbær blir derfor påvirket av skogbrukets aktiviteter som flatehogst og markberedning. I elgens vinterbeite områder kan furuforyngelse ha betydelige skader som følge av elgbeite. En foreslått løsning på denne problematikken er å utføre høy intensitets markberedning for å sikre høyt nok antall furuplanter. Jeg har sett på effekten av markberedning ved ulike intensiteter på dekningen av blåbær. Jeg fant at ...