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Sammanfattning

Cervids significantly challenge the establishment of planted silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) as browsing impacts tree growth, morphology, and stem structure, impacting wood quality and increasing probability of mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of cervid damage on silver birch by simulating browsing of different timing, duration, and intensity in a randomized block experiment established in southern Sweden. The treatments represented winter and summer browsing for timing, repeated applications for duration, and varying levels of biomass removal for intensity. After three growing seasons, survival rates were high (89.6-95.6%) with no significant differences among treatments. Mean annual height growth and ground-level diameter growth were 69.01 cm yr-(1) and 9.94 mm yr-(1), respectively. The effects of the simulated browsing treatments on growth outcomes were small and not statistically significant, however, the effect on quality was significant. Silver birch is likely to withstand light to moderate browsing due to compensatory growth. Higher browsing intensity increases the risk of lower-quality stems, potentially reducing the commercial timber quality of future merchantable trees. These results highlight the necessity of targeted management strategies to reduce quality losses in birch regeneration efforts under browsing pressure.

Nyckelord

Betula pendula; herbivory simulation; cervids; early growth; survival

Publicerad i

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research
2025
Utgivare: TAYLOR AND FRANCIS LTD

SLU författare

UKÄ forskningsämne

Skogsvetenskap

Publikationens identifierare

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2025.2537447

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/143263