| 1. |
- Allen, Andrew, et al.
(författare)
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Habitat-performance relationships of a large mammal on a predator-free island dominated by humans
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 7, s. 305-319
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demographic consequences of changes in habitat use driven by human modification of landscape, and/or changes in climate, are important for any species. We investigated habitat-performance relationships in a declining island population of a large mammal, the moose (Alces alces), in an environment that is predator-free but dominated by humans. We used a combination of demographic data, knowledge of habitat selection, and multiannual movement data of female moose (n = 17) to understand how space use patterns affect fecundity and calf survival. The calving rate was 0.64 and was similar to calving rates reported in other populations. Calf survival was 0.22 (annually) and 0.32 (postsummer), which are particularly low compared to other populations where postsummer survival is typically above 0.7. Home ranges were mainly composed of arable land (>40%), and selection for arable land was higher in winter than in summer, which contrasts with previous studies. Females that spent more time in broadleaf forest in the summer prior to the rut had higher fecundity rates, while more time spent in arable land resulted in lower fecundity rates. Females that spent more time in thicket/scrubland habitats during winter had lower calf survival, while females that had higher use of mixed forests tended to have higher calf survival. The dominance, and subsequent use, of suboptimal foraging habitats may lead to poor body condition of females at parturition, which may lower calf body weights and affect the mother's ability to lactate. In addition, our results indicated that the growing season has advanced significantly in recent decades, which may be causing a mismatch between parturition and optimal resource availability. These effects may exacerbate the female's ability to meet the energetic demands of lactation. Therefore, the observed low calf survival appears to be caused by a combination of factors related to current land use and may also be due to changing vegetation phenology. These results have important implications for the management of species in human-dominated landscapes in the face of climate change, and for an increased understanding of how species may adapt to future land use and climate change.
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| 2. |
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| 5. |
- Bader, Pekka, et al.
(författare)
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Häckande kustfåglar på Holmöarna
- 2006
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Öar och skär i Norra Kvarken hyser ett rikt kustfågelliv och mångfalden av arter och antalet individerär intressant ur ett nationellt perspektiv. Stora delarna av Holmöarna avsattes 1980 till naturreservat,bland annat med utgångspunkt från områdets rika kustfågelfauna. Svärta och tobisgrissla ärtvå arter som förekommer i nationellt betydelsefulla antal i Holmöarkipelagen.Häckande skärgårdsfåglar bedöms vara en bra indikator för miljötillståndet och den biologiska mångfalden i skärgårdsmiljö. År 2000 påbörjades på allvar diskussionen om hur kustfågelfaunan på Holmöarna, men även i hela Norra Kvarken, på bästa sätt skulle följas upp och övervakas i ett långsiktigt perspektiv. Ett övervakningsprogram för häckande kustfågel ska kunna ligga till grund förbedömning av de nationella och regionala miljömålen samt bedömning av gynnsam bevarandestatus i Natura 2000 habitat. Ett nära samarbete kring dessa frågor finns med Finland inom Kvarken Miljö II, ett Interreg IIIA-projekt.Rapporten omfattar tre artiklar med fokus på häckande kustfågel i Holmöarkipelagen:Den första artikeln är en redovisning av de inventeringar som har genomförs i fyra områdenlängs Holmöarnas östra sida under perioden 2000-2003. Inventeringarna genomfördes av StoraFjäderäggs fågelstation i samarbete med och finansierat av Länsstyrelsen i Västerbotten och Umeåkommun. Utvärderingen av inventeringsresultaten gjordes av Pekka Bader och Joakim Lessmann.Den andra artikeln har författats av Lars Edenius och är en statistisk utvärdering av de inventeringarsom genomfördes under åren 2000-2003. Dessutom diskuteras i artikeln kustfåglars värde som indikatorför miljöförändringar i skärgårdsmiljö och där lämnas även ett förslag till upplägg av ett övervakningsprogramav häckande kustfågel på Holmöarna.Den sista artikeln, som är skriven av Lars Edenius, är en utvärdering av en metodstudie för inventeringav svärta som genomfördes inom Interregprojektet Kvarken Miljö II sommaren 2004.Kvalitetssäkring och harmonisering av inventeringsmetoder mellan Sverige och Finland görs i syfteatt i framtiden kunna etablera ett gemensamt övervakningsprogram för bland annat svärta i NorraKvarken.
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| 7. |
- De Jong, Adriaan, et al.
(författare)
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Tracing the origin of vagrant Siberian songbirds with stable isotopes: the case of Yellow-browed Warbler (Abrornis inornatus) in Fennoscandia
- 2019
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Ingår i: Ornis Fennica. - 0030-5685. ; 96, s. 90-99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vagrant birds are mesmerizing birdwatchers worldwide, but the nature of vagrancy and the true origin of the vagrants are poorly known. To Western Europe, the massive Siberian land mass delivers most of the vagrant songbirds, e.g. Yellow-browed Warbler (YBW) (Abrornis inornatus, formerly Phylloscopus inornatus). In this study we used stable hydrogen isotope ratios in tail feathers (delta H-2(f)) from two ringing stations in northern Fennoscandia in an attempt to link vagrant YBW to potential regions of origin. We could do this thanks to a collection of samples from nestling and breeding adult YBW in Central Siberia. Compared with the nestling samples, the Fennoscandian delta H-2(f) data indicated origins in the western and/or southern parts of the breeding range. The assignment map created in IsoMAP showed high probabilities of origins in the Komi Republic, N/NW of the Ural Mountains. Although our study rules out a large proportion of the YBW breeding range, our method could not pin-point a precise region of origin. The main reason for this is the similarity of environmental hydrogen isotope ratios across longitudes in Eurasia. For increased precision, we propose a multi-method approach (e.g. stable isotopes and genetics) based on significantly more data from across the vast and challenging Siberian territory. More international collaboration will be vital for this endeavour.
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| 10. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Bird communities of two forest types in Chitwan Valley, Nepal
- 2020
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Ingår i: Ornithological science. - : Ornithological Society of Japan. - 1347-0558. ; 19, s. 29-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Maintaining biological diversity is an important objective at Chitwan National Park (CNP), the most visited national park in Nepal. Given human uses and manipulations of forests both in and around CNP, developing forest management guidelines that can both support human use of trees and sustain the biological diversity of the forests is a high priority. In Febniary 2009 we measured bird communities with point counts, woodpecker abundance with playback, and collected vegetation data in Sal Shorea robusta and riverine forests in CHP and a nearby community forest to provide basic data on bird-habitat associations with an emphasis on woodpeckers. Riverine forest had over twice the density of trees per ha (many small trees), higher tree species richness, and greater basal area than Sal forest. Sal forest had more large trees than riverine forest. We detected 71 bird species during the point counts in the study forests, 18 more during playback sessions, and an additional 12 species that were more associated with adjacent habitats (e.g., wetlands or flying overhead) for a total of 101 species. Among resident species, 31% were primary or secondary tree-cavity nesters. On average for point counts, we detected 29.5 bird species (2.2 woodpeckers) on transects located in riverine forest and 23.3 bird species (1.8 woodpeckers) in Sal forests, but the difference was not statistically significant. While riverine forest had several commonly occurring species not detected in Sal forest, the opposite was not the case. The regression of woodpecker species richness against large tree density in both Sal and riverine forests was positive, but not statistically significant. As a method of sampling woodpeckers, playback resulted in approximately twice the number of individuals and species compared to detection from point counts.
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| 11. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Browsing and damage inflicted by moose in young Scots pine stands subjected to high-stump precommercial thinning
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 30, s. 382-387
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Fennoscandia, young stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) are intensively used by moose (Alces alces L.) during winter. We studied whether forage amounts on high-cut pines in high-stump commercial thinning influenced browsing intensity and damage incidence on retained (i.e. uncut) pine stems. High-cut pines were browsed, but to a lesser extent than retained pines. At a scale corresponding to individual feeding sites (approximate to 40 m(2)), browsing intensity on retained pines was not influenced by the amount of forage on high-cut pines but was positively related to moose pellet group counts. The incidence of lower-height damage (stem breakage and bark stripping) was positively related to the amount of forage on high-cut pines, whereas higher damage (leader shoot browsing) was not. Overall browsing damage incidence on retained pines was positively related to the density of deciduous trees and negatively related to the amount of forage on retained pines. Our results suggest that although high-stump thinning supplies additional food resources for moose, larger amounts of forage on high-cut pines may increase the risk for bark stripping and stem breakage on retained trees. Further research is needed at larger spatial scales to assess the feasibility of high-stump thinning as a damage mitigation measure.
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| 12. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Can Repeated Fertilizer Applications to Young Norway Spruce Enhance Avian Diversity in Intensively Managed Forests?
- 2011
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Ingår i: AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 40, s. 521-527
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Repeated fertilization of forests to increase biomass production is an environmentally controversial proposal, the effects of which we assessed on breeding birds in stands of young Norway spruce (Picea abies), in an intensively managed forest area in southern Sweden. Our results show that fertilized stands had 38% more species and 21% more individuals than unfertilized stands. Compared with stands under traditional management, the further intensification of forestry by repeated applications of fertilizers thus seemed to enhance species richness and abundance of forest birds. We cannot conclude at this stage whether the response in the bird community was caused by changes in food resources or increased structural complexity in the forest canopy due to the skid roads used for the application of the fertilizers. Future studies should focus on structural and compositional effects of fertilization processes during the entire rotation period and at assessing its effects in a landscape context.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of ungulate browsing on recruitment of aspen and rowan: a demographic approach
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 30, s. 283-288
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aspen (Populus tremula L.) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.) are important for biodiversity conservation and aesthetic reasons. Intensified levels of ungulate browsing the last decades have raised concerns over the recruitment of aspen and rowan in boreal forests. Demographic data are vital to understand and quantify how the structure of tree populations are affected over time by browsing and other factors but such data are rare. In a five-year study, we quantified vital demographic rates for co-occurring aspen and rowan using exclosures in a productive forest area in eastern-central Sweden. Mean annual browsing rate on small (<1 m) aspen and rowan stems was 20 vs. 38%, whereas the order in browsing intensity was reversed for stems of medium (1-2 m) size (28 vs. 14%). Browsing had a clear negative effect on transition rate from small to medium size class in both species, but had a much smaller impact on transition rate from medium to large (2-3 m) size class. Residence time for small stems and regeneration rate was much higher in aspen than in rowan, but browsing did not affect these dynamics. Transition to ungulate safe height (>3 m) was reduced with a factor of two in rowan and four in aspen by browsing.
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| 15. |
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| 17. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Landscape level effects of modern forestry on bird communities in North Swedish boreal forests
- 1996
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Ingår i: Landscape Ecology. - 0921-2973 .- 1572-9761. - 0921-2973 ; 11:6, s. 325-338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We address effects of large-scale forestry on landscape structure and the structure and composition of boreal bird communities in North Sweden. Specifically, we ask: after controlling for the effect of patch size, forest age and tree species composition, is there any residual effect attributable to the reduction in area of old forest? Pairs of landscape blocks (25 by 25 km) were selected to maximize area difference in human-induced disturbance, clear-cut as opposed to semi-natural old forest. Median distance to natural edge (wetlands, open water) from randomly selected points in forest was 250 and 200 m in high and low impact landscapes, respectively, indicating a high degree of 'natural' fragmentation of the pristine boreal landscape in the area. By contrast, median distance to clear-cut in uncut forest was 750 and 100 m, respectively. Clear-cuts in high impact landscapes were disproportionally more common in areas with contiguous forest land than in areas with spatially disjunct forest, implicating that forestry increases natural fragmentation of the landscape by subdividing larger forest tracts. Point counts along forestry roads showed that species richness and relative abundance of forest birds were higher in landscapes with low forestry impact. These differences can partly be explained by differences in age composition of forest and composition of tree species. After controlling for patch size, forest age and tree species composition, a significant effect of forestry impact remained for Sibirian species and the Tree pipit Anthus trivialis. Our results thus imply that this group of species and the Tree pipit may be sensitive to forest fragmentation. In contrast to previous Finnish studies, we found relatively small negative effects on relative abundance of species hypothesized to be negatively affected by large-scale clear-cutting forestry. However, our picture of the present does not contradict results from Finnish long-term population studies. Five factors may account for this: 1) clear-cut areas are not permanently transformed into other land use types, 2) planted forests are not completely inhabitable for species preferring older forest, 3) the majority of species in the regional pool are habitat generalists, 4) the region studied is still extensively covered with semi-natural forest, and 5) our study area is relatively close to contiguous boreal forest in Russia, a potential source area for taiga species.
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| 18. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Referensområden som verktyg för viltförvaltningsunderlag
- 2019
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Ingår i: Fakta. Skog. - 1400-7789.
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Referensområden är områden där vi följer populationer av älg och andra viltarter, samt förändringar i landskapet, mer intensivt.Referensområden är viktiga för att utveckla övervakningsmetoder och skaffa sig bra kunskap om hur systemet fungerar, för utbildning, samt som demonstrationsområden.Referensområden förväntas bli en viktig komponent i den nya ekosystembaserade viltförvaltningen.Slaktvikter, reproduktionsdata, åldersstruktur, älgtäthet, fodermängder, betestryck och skogsskador är exempel på data som är relevanta att samla in i referensområden för den nya älgförvaltningens behov.SLU har flera områden och försöksparker som kan utvecklas till nationella referensområden.Fördjupad övervakning inom referensområden är ett viktigt komplement till förvaltningsinventeringar inom miljöanalys och viltövervakning.
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| 19. |
- Edenius, Lars
(författare)
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Short-term effects of wildfire on bird assemblages in old pine- and spruce-dominated forests in northern Sweden
- 2011
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Ingår i: Ornis Fennica. - 0030-5685. ; 88, s. 71-79
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Effects of wildfire on forest birds have rarely been studied in Fennoscandia. Hence, birds were surveyed three years after fire at two large areas that were not subjected to salvage logging, in northern Sweden. The 300- and 440-ha burns and surrounding forests were dominated by Scots pine and Norway spruce, respectively. Closed-nest breeders and ground-feeding insectivores were more abundant within the burns than in the surrounding forests, whereas ground- and shrub-breeders were nearly equally abundant in the burns and in unburned forests. Redpoll and Tree Pipit were more common within than outside the burns. Birds feeding on insects in the air and the Redstart were more abundant in burned than in unburned spruce-dominated forest but no such difference was found in pine-dominated forest, suggesting that the short-term effects of wildfire on these birds were stronger in spruce-dominated forest than in pine-dominated forest. A contributing factor might be that crown fire killed most trees in the spruce-dominated burn, but most of the large trees survived the ground fire in the pine-dominated burn.
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| 20. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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The effects of changing land use and browsing on aspen abundance and regeneration: a 50-year perspective from Sweden
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 48, s. 301-309
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that changes in land use practices are the main cause of changes in aspen abundance at regional and national scales in Sweden during the last 50 years. Restoring regeneration niches, most importantly emulating natural disturbance processes, viz. fire at various spatial scales, and retaining aspen in cleaning and pre-commercial thinnings are the most important management recommendations to secure regeneration of aspen. Protecting established aspen ramets at designated sites from browsing either by fencing or reducing ungulate numbers could be used as complementary management tools.
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| 21. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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The next common and widespread bunting to go? Global population decline in the Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica
- 2017
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Ingår i: Bird Conservation International. - 0959-2709 .- 1474-0001. ; 27, s. 35-44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Populations of several long-distance migratory songbirds in Eurasia are in peril, drastically illustrated by the recent range-wide population collapse in the Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola. There are signals of a strong decline also in the Rustic Bunting E. rustica, but no range-wide assessment of population trends in this superabundant and widespread bunting species has yet been undertaken. The conservation status of Rustic Bunting is 'Least Concern' on the global IUCN Red List, but it has recently been upgraded to 'Vulnerable' on the European Red List. To assess the Rustic Bunting's global conservation status we compiled, for the first time, population data across its breeding and wintering ranges. The analysis reveals a 75-87% decline in overall population size over the last 30 years and a 32-91% decline over the last 10 years. The trend estimates indicate that the long-term (30-year) range-wide population decline in the Rustic Bunting is of similar magnitude to two well-known examples of declining species within the same genus, the Yellow-breasted Bunting and the Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana. The magnitude of the range-wide population decline over the last 10 years suggests that the Rustic Bunting could be upgraded from 'Least Concern' to 'Vulnerable' or 'Endangered' on the IUCN global Red List. Agricultural intensification in the wintering range and intensified levels of disturbance, including logging and fire, in the breeding range could be important drivers of the range-wide population decline, and persecution could also contribute. Untangling threat factors and their interactions on Rustic Bunting is necessary for conservation, but hampered by our currently limited understanding of the relationships between population dynamics and different threats.
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| 23. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Ungulate-adapted forest management: effects of slash treatment at harvest on forage availability and use
- 2014
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Ingår i: European Journal of Forest Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1612-4669 .- 1612-4677. ; 133, s. 191-198
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Forest management strongly influences the interactions between ungulates and their food resources. Different ungulate-adapted measures have been proposed in forestry to improve forage availability or to reduce browsing damage. However, the potential and feasibility of such measures are inadequately known. We studied the effects of harvest timing and slash treatment in final felling and commercial thinning on the availability of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris forage and its use by ungulates during winter in the Swedish boreal forests. Pellet group counts showed that moose (Alces alces) was the dominating species using the post-harvest stands. Under conventional slash treatment, final felling stands held on average 226 kg pine forage ha(-1) after harvesting and commercial thinning stands 137 kg ha(-1). Ungulate-adapted slash treatment increased the available forage biomass by 20 %, but had no significant effect on consumption of forage by ungulates. Time since harvest had the strongest effect on forage consumption; for example, under conventional slash treatment, there was a tenfold increase in consumption (3 vs. 33 kg ha(-1)) following final felling as exposure time increased from 2-3 to 4-5 months. Consumption was higher in thinned stands than in final felling stands for the first 3 months but not later. To increase ungulate use of the forage made available at harvest, pine-dominated stands should be harvested in the late autumn or early in the winter.
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| 27. |
- Ericsson, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Slutrapport. Temaforskningsprogram Vilt och Skog 2010-2012
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Liksom under föregående projektperiod har styrgruppen under 2010‐12 varit mycket engagerad och aktiv. För tema 1 ‐ Klövviltets fördelning och nyttjande av skogslandskapet ‐ har det inneburit ett fortsatt fokus på älg fram till 2012 då programmet startade förberedelserna för flerartsstudier. För tema 2 ‐ Skogsskötsel, foderproduktion och utnyttjande – har det medfört dels ett fortsatt fokus utvärdering av åtgärderna i Sveaskogs foderprojekt, dels ett tydligare arbete med fler studieområden och klövviltets nyttjande av miljön. För tema 3 ‐ Förbättrade instrument för övervakning av viltpopulationerna – har resurserna koncentrerats på studier av referenshägn. Utifrån rogrammets resurser, >3 Mkr per år, och den ambitiösa programplanen som styrgruppen tillsammans med forskarna utarbetat, är det programledningens bedömning att vi mer än väl nått målen vad gäller relevant kunskap för sektorn och SLU, särskilt inom följande områden. Vi har… * med flera studiepopulationer i södra, mellersta och norra Sverige studerat älgarnas fördelning och nyttjande av skogslandskapet med hjälp av GPS; * med tre studiepopulationer i södra Sverige studerat klövviltets fördelning och nyttjande av skogslandskapet med hjälp av inventeringar; * dokumenterat nyttjandet ur ett flerartsperspektiv i tre områden i södra Sverige; * utvärderat effekten på skog av direkt foderskapande åtgärder inklusive viltåkrar; * i stor skala utvecklat och utvärderat metoder för uppföljning av klövviltets fördelning i landskapet och deras påverkan; * etablerat och delvis utvärderat referenshägn som ett förbättrat instrument för bedömning av betespåverkan; * i de två regeringsuppdragen till SLU om inventeringsmetoder för älg och utbildning adaptiv förvaltning utarbetat faktablad, manualer och utbildningsmaterial, samt deltagit i utbildning av länsstyrelser och skogsnäring Vi bedömer att vi endast delvis nått målen för… * några planerade foderskapande åtgärder. Vi bedömer att orsaken till detta är rent praktiska inom skogssektorn, vilka stått helt utanför vår kontroll. Det handlar dels om att åtgärderna sattes in så sent (säsongen 2010‐2011 eller 2012 för frihuggning av ekar) att effekterna helt enkelt inte kunnat utvärderas (främst viltanpassad röjning), dels att planerade åtgärder som plantering av salix inte alls blev av, dels att vissa åtgärder utfördes i mycket mindre omfattning än planerat; * förbättrade instrument för övervakning av viltpopulationerna. SLU:s och den skogsvetenskapliga fakultetens mål med temaforskningsprogram är att bygga ny kompetens. Under programperioden har SLU blivit den ledande miljön inom adaptiv klövviltförvaltning, rörelseekologi, vilt och foderskapande åtgärder samt inventeringsmetodik för betning och klövvilt. Programmet har tränat fyra postdoktorala forskare varav två är docent på SLU idag. Vi har internationellt rekryterat två forskarassistenter som redan nu efter två år är under prövning för docentur vid SLU. Programet har tränat 22 studenter, sammanfattat kunskapen i 17 rapporter, 22 examensarbeten (21 master, 1 kandidat), 15 faktablad, 7 bokkapitel, 6 manualer för adaptiv 4 älgförvaltning, 6 instruktioner om försöksdesign, >11 populärvetenskapliga artiklar och slutligen 51 vetenskapliga arbeten till refereegranskade tidskrifter. Därtill har vi medverkat i ett stort antal publika möten från Skåne i söder till Norrbotten i norr.
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| 38. |
- Felton, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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Interactions between ungulates, forests, and supplementary feeding: the role of nutritional balancing in determining.
- 2017
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Ingår i: Mammal Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2199-2401 .- 2199-241X. ; 62, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- People provide wild ungulates with large quantities of supplementary feed to improve their health and survival and reduce forest damage. Whereas supplementary feeding can positively affect the winter survival of ungulates and short-term hunting success, some of the feeds provided may actually reduce ungulate health and increase forest damage. Here, we highlight how recent advances in ungulate nutritional ecology can help explain why supplementary feeding can lead to undesirable outcomes. Using Europe's largest cervid, the moose (Alces alces), as a model species, and Sweden, as the socio-ecological context, we explain the concept of nutritional balancing and its relevance to supplementary feeding. Nutritional balancing refers to how animals alter their food intake to achieve a specific nutritional target balance in their diet, by selecting balanced food items or by combining items with nutritional compositions that are complimentary. As the most common supplementary feeds used contain higher concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates than the ungulates' normal winter diet, the consumption of such feeds may cause animals to increase their intake of woody browse, and thereby exacerbate forest damage. We also explain how animal health may be negatively affected by large intakes of such feed if complementary browse items are not available. We therefore suggest that the use of inappropriate feed is an additional means by which supplementary feeding may result in negative outcomes for hunters, forest owners, and wild animals.
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| 39. |
- Felton, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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Varied diets, including broadleaved forage, are important for a large herbivore species inhabiting highly modified landscapes
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diet quality is an important determinant of animal survival and reproduction, and can be described as the combination of different food items ingested, and their nutritional composition. For large herbivores, human landscape modifications to vegetation can limit such diet-mixing opportunities. Here we use southern Sweden's modified landscapes to assess winter diet mixtures (as an indicator of quality) and food availability as drivers of body mass (BM) variation in wild moose (Alces alces). We identify plant species found in the rumen of 323 moose harvested in Oct-Feb, and link variation in average calf BM among populations to diets and food availability. Our results show that variation in calf BM correlates with variation in diet composition, diversity, and food availability. A varied diet relatively rich in broadleaves was associated with higher calf BM than a less variable diet dominated by conifers. A diet high in shrubs and sugar/starch rich agricultural crops was associated with intermediate BM. The proportion of young production forest (0-15yrs) in the landscape, an indicator of food availability, significantly accounted for variation in calf BM. Our findings emphasize the importance of not only diet composition and forage quantity, but also variability in the diets of large free-ranging herbivores.
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| 40. |
- Garrido, Pablo, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental rewilding may restore abandoned wood-pastures if policy allows
- 2021
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Ingår i: AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 20, s. 101-112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large herbivores play key roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Continuous defaunation processes have produced cascade effects on plant community composition, vegetation structure, and even climate. Wood-pastures were created by traditional management practices that have maintained open structures and biodiversity for millennia. In Europe, despite the broad recognition of their biological importance, such landscapes are declining due to land-use changes. This calls for finding urgent solutions for wood-pasture conservation. To test whether introducing an ecological replacement of an extinct wild horse could have positive effects on wood-pasture restoration, we designed a 3-year rewilding experiment. Horses created a more open wood-pasture structure by browsing on seedlings and saplings, affected tree composition via selective browsing and controlled the colonization of woody vegetation in grassland-dominated areas. Thus, rewilding could be a potential avenue for wood-pasture restoration and biodiversity conservation. However, such benefits may not materialize without a necessary paradigm and political shift.
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| 41. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 42. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(författare)
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The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
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| 43. |
- Jansson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Shaping the Swedish landscape: a future for the Gotland russ
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Tree encroachment and abandonment of pastures is an important cause of biodiversity loss in Sweden. In thisstudy, we evaluate the impact of all-year-around grazing by an ancient horse breed, the Gotland russ (GR),on tree encroachment. Twelve GR stallions were kept in 3 enclosures (lat: 59, long: 17, 4 GR/enclosure, 7ha forest and 3 ha open fields/enclosure) from May 2014 (age 1 yrs) until February 2016. Prior to the study,3 exclosures (EX, 5×42.5 m) where GR grazing was excluded were centered with the long side at the borderbetween forest and field. The field part of EX were further divided into four 5×5 m sections starting from theforest (1 to 4). Tree type (deciduous, spruce or pine), number and height were registered in the sections and theequivalent, grazed area adjacent to the EX on the 25th of February 2016. Body condition (BC) was assessedweekly using a 9 leveled scoring system. Individuals <4 were withdrawn, fed and reintroduced when BC was>4. Analysis of tree heights and numbers were made by procGLM in SAS. There was no difference in the totalnumber of deciduous trees (21±8 vs 25±8), spruces (2±1 vs 3±1) and pines (0.2±0.2 vs 0.8±0.2) between EXand grazed areas (P>0.05). In the grazed areas, the deciduous trees were shorter compared to the trees in EX(330±57 vs 780±70 mm, P<0.0001). There was no difference in spruce height (EX: 920±110 vs grazed areas:780±130 mm, P=0.31). In the grazed areas, tree height decreased from quarter 1 to 4 (1: 610±60, 2: 230±110, 3:140±90 and 4: 60±100 mm, P<0.0001) whereas in EX, the height increased (1: 740±60, 2: 570±150, 3: 810±90and 4: 960±100 mm, P<0.02). Four individuals (3 from the same enclosure) were withdrawn temporarily inFebruary 2015 due to BC <4. The study show that grazing by GR may inhibit encroachment by deciduoustrees and that BC was maintained in most individuals, despite the semi-feral conditions. The results providea new use for a threatened, ancient breed in landscape management.
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| 44. |
- Moen, Jon, et al.
(författare)
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Potential effects of climate change on treeline position in the Swedish mountains
- 2004
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - : Resilience Alliance. - 1708-3087. ; 9:1, s. Article Number 16-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change may strongly influence species distribution and, thus, the structure and function of ecosystems. This paper describes simulated changes in the position of the upper treeline in the Swedish mountains in response to predicted climate change. Data on predicted summer temperature changes, the current position of the treeline, and a digital elevation model were used to predict the position of the treeline over a 100-year timeframe. The results show the treeline advancing upward by 233-667 m, depending on the climate scenario used and location within the mountain chain. Such changes hypothetically caused a 75-85% reduction in treeless alpine heaths, with 60-93% of the remaining areas being scree slopes and boulder fields. For this change to occur, the migration rate of the trees would be in the order of 23-221 m yr(-1), which is well within published migration rates for wind-dispersed deciduous trees. The remaining alpine areas would be strongly fragmented. These drastic changes would influence all aspects of mountain ecosystems, including biodiversity conservation and human land-use patterns.
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| 45. |
- Månsson, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Food plots as a habitat management tool: forage production and ungulate browsing in adjacent forest
- 2015
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Ingår i: Wildlife Biology. - : Wiley. - 0909-6396 .- 1903-220X. ; 21, s. 246-253
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A key challenge for wildlife management is to handle competing goals. High ungulate densities may be desirable from hunting and recreational perspectives, but may come in conflict with needs to limit or reduce browsing damage. Since browsing intensity is negatively related to forage availability it may be possible to mitigate damage on forest by increasing forage availability within the landscape. A commonly used method to increase the attractiveness of a localized part of the landscape is to establish food plots. In a multiyear setup using enclosures, wildlife observations, field surveys, and controlled biomass removal, we studied food plots to document forage production, utilization by ungulates, and browsing on adjacent forests in southern Sweden. The fenced parts of the food plots produced on average 2230 to 5810 kg ha. 1 marrow-stem kale, second-year clover mix or early-sown rapeseed. The biomass of target crops was generally higher within ungrazed (exclosures) compared to grazed (controls) quadrats on the food plots, which demonstrates that the crops were used as forage by ungulates. Browsing on deciduous trees in the adjacent forest was higher within 70-135 m from the food plots compared to areas further away. For wildlife management, our study shows that establishment of food plots provides substantial amounts of forage both during growing season and at the onset of the dormant season, and that a large share of this food is consumed. Finally, our study documents that forage availability for ungulates at the onset of the often-limiting dormant season can be increased by fencing food plots throughout the growing season.
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| 46. |
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