Timo Domisch, Saija Huuskonen, Juho Matala, Ari Nikula. (2024). Interactive effects of moose browsing and stand composition on the development of mixed species seedling stands. Silva Fennica vol. 58 no. 4 article id 23077. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.23077

Keywords: boreal forest; tree species; Alces alces; ungulates; moose damage; mixed stands; meta-analysis

Highlights: We conducted meta-analyses assessing effect sizes of moose exclusion on seedling density and height, as well as regressions between stand density and deciduous seedling proportion and effect sizes; The more deciduous trees in a seedling stand, the smaller was the fencing effect, but at some point, the conifer seedling growth was impaired by too many deciduous seedlings. At the same time, the protective fencing effect increased with stand density; An appropriate deciduous admixture in conifer-dominated mixed seedling stands seems to improve moose damage tolerance.

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The moose (Alces alces L.), a common large herbivore in the boreal region, impairs forest regeneration by browsing on tree seedlings and saplings. Moose prefer deciduous species, but during winter more coniferous seedlings are used. We used meta-analyses, separately for deciduous and coniferous seedlings, for evaluating whether excluding moose browsing affected seedling density and height. In addition, we compared (1) deciduous seedling proportion, (2) stand density, (3) elapsed time from fencing and (4) estimated moose density with moose exclusion effect sizes. Fencing had a positive effect on coniferous seedling height. With more deciduous trees in a seedling stand, the fencing effect for both seedling height and density of coniferous seedlings decreased. On the other hand, the fencing effects increased with denser stands. At some point effect sizes turned to negative, and conifer species varied in their response to browsing. This implies that deciduous seedlings can protect conifers from browsing by moose up to some mixing ratio, but when deciduous seedling densities are too high, their negative effect increases, presumably through increased competition. Our results suggest that a moderate deciduous admixture in conifer-dominated mixed seedling stands can decrease moose damage but also underline the significance of timely silvicultural measures to minimize the negative effects of excessive deciduous seedlings and too dense stands. Due to differences in coniferous and deciduous species, as well as their compositions and amounts in studied experiments, more studies adjusted to local conditions are still needed to give exact measures for silvicultural recommendations.

Domisch, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Natural Resources, Yliopistokatu 6B, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7026-1087 E-mail: timo.domisch@luke.fi
Huuskonen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Natural Resources, Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland E-mail: saija.huuskonen@luke.fi
Matala, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Natural Resources, Yliopistokatu 6B, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5867-5057 E-mail: juho.matala@luke.fi
Nikula, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Natural Resources, Ounasjoentie 6, FI-96200 Rovaniemi, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8372-8440 E-mail: ari.nikula@luke.fi

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