Shoot growth responses at supplementary feeding stations for moose in Norway
Original version
Mathisen, K. M., Rémy, A., & Skarpe, C. (2015). Shoot growth responses at supplementary feeding stations for moose in Norway. Alces, 51, 123-133.Abstract
Moose browsing pressure in the vicinity of supplementary winter feeding stations
eventually declines over time. It is believed that continual winter browsing over multiple years causes
locally reduced shoot growth and forage availability for moose (
Alces alces
). We tested this hypothesis
by comparing the size of annual shoots of Scots pine (
Pinus sylvestris
), downy birch (
Betula pubes-
cens
), and Norway spruce (
Picea abies
) along a distance gradient from supplementary feeding stations.
Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that shoot size was larger at feeding stations than at distances out
to 1500 m. This increase in shoot size was probably not related directly to browsing, but to higher
nutrient and light availability associated with moose activity at feeding stations. Increased use of
Norway spruce, yet reduced browsing overall at feeding stations, probably reflects the overall
decline in abundance of preferred Scots pine and
downy birch in a local environment substantially
altered by an artificially and abnormally high density of moose