| Summary: | 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 felling, and competition in the vegetation communities recovering from this disturbance were identified as key drivers of change in lichen biomass. Overall, clear-cut forests had some of the greatest prevalence of ice lenses in the snow column, and forage availability at these sites was up to 61 % less than in stands over 58 years in age. Please refer to README file. Funding provided by: Leverhulme Trust Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000275 Award Number:
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