Forest pasturing of livestock in Norway: effects on spruce regeneration

Abstract

Forest pasturing of free-roaming livestock is a common practice in many parts of the world, but knowledge on how it affects tree regeneration in boreal forests is lacking. We mapped tree density, livestock site use and accumulated damage to young trees of commercial interest (Norway spruce, Picea abies L. Karst.) on 56 clearcuts inside and outside a fenced forest area used for livestock pasturing in Ringsaker, Norway. Inside the fence 56±1.8% of spruce trees were damaged compared to 37±3.4% outside. Proportion of damaged spruce trees was positively related to cattle use of the clearcut, but not so for sheep. On the most intensively used clearcuts, four out of five trees were damaged. The density of deciduous trees was five times lower inside compared to outside of the fence (varying with plant species). While livestock grazing may reduce resource competition in favour of spruce, the current animal density clearly is impeding forest regeneration in the study area.

Subtle foodscape displacement of a native ungulate by free‐ranging livestock in a forest agroecosystem

“…In addition to affecting the foraging behavior of the wild herbivore, livestock may also alter the abundance of plants (Mysterud and Austrheim 2008, Foster et al 2014, Hjeljord et al 2014) and/ or the nutritional composition of plants (Alpe et al 1999, Wagoner et al 2013, Treydte et al 2014). Although we found few compositional differences in the moose diet between livestock and control areas, the altered plant abundances (Table 2) may still influence the moose' intake rates of nutrients.…”

“…We counted feces from each of the three species (cattle, sheep, moose) along 2 m wide transects shaped as triangles (minimum 10 transects in each livestock or control area on a range, 13 AE 3 5 8 AE 14 † We counted feces along 2 m wide transects on randomly chosen young clear-cuts (dominant tree height <4 m, at least 10 transects in each livestock or control area on all ranges, mean length 300 m, SE = 24). Young clear-cuts are favored areas for both livestock and moose (Wam et al 2010, Hjeljord et al 2014.…”

“…Livestock activity also is likely to affect the forage plants of native ungulates, but its outcome seems highly case dependent (e.g., increased grass abundance in Gordon , reduced browse abundance in Hjeljord et al. , divergent changes to abundances in Mysterud and Austrheim , divergent changes to nutrient contents in Alpe et al. ).…”

“…Free-ranging livestock in forests are likely to occupy parts of the native ungulates' habitat (Stewart et al 2002, which may cause them spatiotemporally to avoid these areas (Hibert et al 2010). Livestock activity also is likely to affect the forage plants of native ungulates, but its outcome seems highly case dependent (e.g., increased grass abundance in Gordon 1988, reduced browse abundance in Hjeljord et al 2014, divergent changes to abundances in Mysterud and Austrheim 2008, divergent changes to nutrient contents in Alpe et al 1999). The outcome will depend on a series of site-specific factors, such as animal densities, soil fertility, and season, and is therefore difficult to predict from the scarce literature available.…”

Transition from traditional to modern forest management shaped the spatial extent of cattle pasturing in Białowieża Primeval Forest in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

“…It was proved to have a significant impact on the woodland structure (Buttenschon and Buttenschon 2013), plant species diversity (Humphrey and Patterson 2000) and animals associated with them (Mitchell and Kirby 1990). In general, livestock grazing negatively affects the regeneration of tree species if they are not fenced or protected by thorny shrubs (Mayer and Stöckli 2005; Mayer et al 2005; Hjeljord et al 2014). Combined with other traditional activities it can contribute to the development of heterogeneously structured forest stands (Mayer and Stöckli 2005; Mayer et al 2005).…”