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Anthropogenic pressures such as over-urbanization, intensive agriculture/forestry practices, and the development of energy farms alter natural landscapes. Intensive urban development poses the greatest threat to natural ecosystems. Habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss are among the key factors behind the current rise of biodiversity loss. In this study, we hypothesized that urbanization advances the adaptation of forest bird populations to relatively new urban ecosystems. The study was conducted in Kaunas, Lithuania, located in Eastern Europe. Genetic samples were collected in the city, representing urban landscapes, and its surrounding forests. In total, 160 nest boxes were erected, of which 80 were placed in the urban areas and 80 in the forests. Using a set of microsatellite markers, we investigated the genetic differentiation, genetic diversity, gene flow, and population structure of two common forest bird species of the Paridae family, the great tit (Parus major) and blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), in forests and urbanized areas. We observed low but significant differences between urban and forest great tit and blue tit populations, proving relatively high population genetic diversity. We determined that cities' spatial structure and fragmented natural habitats can influence the formation of small and isolated bird populations (subpopulations). Urban blue tits had higher genetic differentiation and a higher tendency to form subpopulations. In conclusion, forest birds can inhabit urbanized landscapes but both great tits and blue tits respond differently to urbanization-related changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study was to assess the influence of surrounding forest and agricultural landscapes on the bird communities within cities. Using the point count method, we collected data and analyzed the species richness and relative abundance of breeding birds. We found differences in the species richness and relative abundance of breeding birds between urbanized areas surrounded by forests and agricultural landscapes. However, both types of landscapes significantly differed in terms of bird community structure. The highest relative abundances of bird species were observed in city forest parks and cities surrounded by forest landscapes, while the lowest abundances were detected in highly urbanized areas. Cities surrounded by forests exhibited an additional nine species compared to other areas. The ecological grouping of species revealed that cities surrounded by forests had higher relative abundances of typical forest species, such as the Great Tit (Parus major), Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), and European Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), whereas cities surrounded by agricultural landscapes were characterized by bird communities adapted to open or semi-open landscapes with specific feeding and nesting behaviors. The presence of specialist forest species in the composition of urban bird communities enhances biological diversity, which is crucial for the stability of both urban ecosystems and bird communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Applied Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of droughts around the globe, leading to tree mortality that reduces production and provision of other ecosystem services. Recent studies show that growth of mixed stands may be more resilient to drought than pure stands. The two most economically important and widely distributed tree species in Europe are Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), but little is known about their susceptibility to drought when coexist.This paper analyses the resilience (resistance, recovery rate and recovery time) at individual‐tree level using a network of tree‐ring collections from 22 sites along a climatic gradient from central Europe to Scandinavia. We aimed to identify differences in growth following drought between the two species and between mixed and pure stands, and how environmental variables (climate, topography and site location) and tree characteristics influence them.We found that both the timing and duration of drought drive the different responses between species and compositions. Norway spruce showed higher vulnerability to summer drought, with both lower resistance and a longer recovery time than Scots pine. Mixtures provided higher drought resistance for both species compared to pure stands, but the benefit decreases with the duration of the drought. Especially climate sensitive and old trees in climatically marginal sites were more affected by drought stress.Synthesis. Promoting Scots pine and mixed forests is a promising strategy for adapting European forests to climate change. However, if future droughts become longer, the advantage of mixed stands could disappear which would be especially negative for Norway spruce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with far-developed measures and methods for mono-specific forest stands, the silvicultural prescriptions for mixed-species stands are at their early beginning. However, they are essential for the well-conceived establishment, design, and control of mixed-species stands, currently promoted in many countries worldwide. Here, we review the state of the art and we further develop silvicultural prescriptions for mixed-species stands for steering of experiments, stand modeling, and silviculture. We review which aspects of tree species mixing are most relevant for management goal achievement. We found the maintenance of species diversity and structural heterogeneity for ecological purpose, stabilizing productivity, and social-economic performance as main objectives. We give an overview of quantitatively formulated silvicultural prescriptions for steering mixed-species stands for forest practice, long-term experiments, forest stand models. Compared with the sophisticated guidelines for mono-specific stands, prescriptions for mixed stand are often mainly qualitative and vague. Then, we introduce methodological approaches in development for steering mixture: measures for spatial and temporal separation, species-specific growing space requirements for crop trees, coefficients for equivalence and density modification, and basic relationships for steering tree number and area-based mixing proportions. Finally, we draw conclusions for further development of methodological approaches for silvicultural steering of experiments, implementation in stand simulators, and for silvicultural operations. We see the need for improving the quantitative spatially explicit rules based at tree or cohort level, for substantiating the knowledge on species-specific allometry, growing area, tree-to-tree distances, and position-dependent competition indices for steering tree removal. We discuss the prospects and limitations of establishing silvicultural prescriptions for mixed-species stands that inevitably will be more complicated than those for mono-specific stands, and we draw conclusions for next steps in science and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the degradation of forest ecosystems, their habitats and the loss of species, many formal conservation policies and voluntary forest conservation tools have been proposed and implemented. The woodland key habitat (WKH) is one such initiative that aims to protect biodiversity. This generally involves two key actions: (i) the creation of policy (conservation action) and (ii) the consequences of the policy or initiative in the field. However, the final step of measuring their success in the field is often missing. The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of the WKH initiative to conserve biodiversity in Lithuania. We compared the changes in spatial distribution, species assemblages and richness within the WKH network between 2005 and 2017. Results showed that the spatial distribution of WKHs decreased in number and by area after 12 years. However, species occurrence, abundance and richness of the WHK network generally increased. In conclusion, we found the WKH initiative has contributed to the conservation of forest habitats and biodiversity in Lithuania. However, the future of the WKH network is uncertain due to the current voluntary system, lack of support and funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Agricultural Sciences / Zemès ukio Mokslai is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agricultural Sciences / Zemès ukio Mokslai is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Genetic variation provides the foundation for species to survive, reproduce and evolve. Wolf trees are an example that may have a difference genetic background; however, research on the genetics of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wolf trees is limited. The objectives were to assess (1) the morphological and genetic differentiation of wolf tree morphotypes in artificially established young commercial Scots pine stands using chloroplast microsatellite (cpSSR) DNA markers; and (2) the genetic differentiation based on progeny testing of mature wolf tree and regular tree morphotypes found in natural Scots pine stands. Our material consisted of (a) a 20-year-old artificially established stand in central Lithuania, where we morphotyped all trees and genotyped 59 wolf trees and 50 control trees at 6 cpSSR loci, (b) a nursery test where we assessed the morphology of 2-year-old open pollinated progeny of 8 wolf trees (20 seedlings per tree) in comparison with a control selected in a mature stand in northwestern Lithuania. Results showed a significant genetic differentiation between wolf trees and regular trees in young plantations based on the cpSSR DNA markers. Wolf trees had a higher genetic diversity at the cpSSR loci compared to the regular trees in the young plantations. The progeny test showed wolf trees contained more lateral shoots and possessed larger crown at age 2 in the nursery test. Our study suggests that there is a genetic background for the morphological differentiation between wolf trees and regular commercial Scots pine trees. However, the morphotype structure of wolf trees is complex, thus requiring future replicated studies spread across different regions and age classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing climate conditions and increasing demands for timber and wood products create a need to cultivate highly productive forest stands. High productivity, good wood quality and adaption to climate change make European larch a promising species for Lithuania. The aim of this research was to evaluate the productivity and sustainability of the larch stands. We tested the hypothesis that larch stands mixed with other species are more productive than the pure larch stands. In total, our study sampled 138 larch stands, mixed stands (91) and pure stands (47) that aged between 30 and 60 years old in Lithuania. We evaluated these stands using dendrologic, dendrometric and phytocoenological characteristics and determined the main factors affecting productivity and stability of larch stands. Our study showed that pure larch stands have higher mean annual increment and are more productive than mixed larch stands. However, we found that timber volumes decreased in both pure and mixed larch stands over 50 years of age. This happens due to the absence of forestry treatments, such as thinnings in the larch stands, thus resulting in natural tree dieback. The development of thinning guidelines could make larch stands a valuable and productive source of timber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing evidence that species diversity enhances the temporal stability (TS) of community productivity in different ecosystems, although its effect at the population and tree levels seems to be negative or neutral. Asynchrony in species responses to environmental conditions was found to be one of the main drivers of this stabilizing process. However, the effect of species mixing on the stability of productivity, and the relative importance of the associated mechanisms, remain poorly understood in forest communities., We investigated the way mixing species influenced the TS of productivity in Pinus sylvestris L. and Fagus sylvatica L. forests, and attempted to determine the main drivers among overyielding, asynchrony between species annual growth responses to environmental conditions, and temporal shifts in species interactions. We used a network of 93 experimental plots distributed across Europe to compare the TS of basal area growth over a 15-year period (1999-2013) in mixed and monospecific forest stands at different organizational levels, namely the community, population and individual tree levels., Mixed stands showed a higher TS of basal area growth than monospecific stands at the community level, but not at the population or individual tree levels. The TS at the community level was related to asynchrony between species growth in mixtures, but not to overyielding nor to asynchrony between species growth in monospecific stands. Temporal shifts in species interactions were also related to asynchrony and to the mixing effect on the TS., Synthesis. Our findings confirm that species mixing can stabilize productivity at the community level, whereas there is a neutral or negative effect on stability at the population and individual tree levels. The contrasting findings regarding the relationships between the temporal stability and asynchrony in species growth in mixed and monospecific stands suggest that the main driver in the stabilizing process may be the temporal niche complementarity between species rather than differences in species' intrinsic responses to environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) dominate many of the European forest stands. Also, mixtures of European beech and Scots pine more or less occur over all European countries, but have been scarcely investigated. The area occupied by each species is of high relevance, especially for growth evaluation and comparison of different species in mixed and monospecific stands. Thus, we studied different methods to describe species proportions and their definition as proportion by area. 25 triplets consisting of mixed and monospecific stands were established across Europe ranging from Lithuania to Spain in northern to southern direction and from Bulgaria to Belgium in eastern to western direction. On stand level, the conclusive method for estimating the species proportion as a fraction of the stand area relates the observed density (tree number or basal area) to its potential. This stand-level estimation makes use of the potential from comparable neighboring monospecific stands or from maximum density lines derived from other data, e.g. forest inventories or permanent observations plots. At tree level, the fraction of the stand area occupied by a species can be derived from the proportions of their crown projection area or of their leaf area. The estimates of the potentials obtained from neighboring monospecific stands, especially in older stands, were poorer than those from the maximum density line depending on the Martonne aridity index. Therefore, the stand-level method in combination with the Martonne aridity index for potential densities can be highly recommended. The species' proportions estimated with this method are best approximated by the proportions of the species' leaf areas. In forest practice, the most commonly applied method is an ocular estimation of the proportions by crown projection area. Even though the proportions of pine were calculated here by measuring crown projection areas in the field, we found this method to underestimate the proportion by 25% compared to the stand-level approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dead wood is one of the most important indicators of forest naturalness and the most important manageable habitat for biodiversity in forests. Standing and lying dead wood, and especially coarse woody debris, plays an important part in creating habitats for many highly specialized organisms, e.g., insects, fungi, lichens and bacteria. Temperate mixed deciduous forests, rich in species, have been studied only to a small extent from the point of view of the ecology of wood-related cryptogams. Our study aimed at the reduction of the gap in knowledge about the ecological characteristics of dead wood-dependent organisms by focusing on species of cryptogams developing on various dead wood structures typical of temperate non-beech forests. Studies were performed in forests located in Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Russia. We recorded 48 species of cryptogams: 18 species of bryophytes, 24 species of fungi and 6 species of lichens developing on dead wood. Our study stresses the importance of all types of dead wood as a substrate for the development of rare cryptogam species. Logs were the most important substratum type for cryptogams, followed by snags, dead trees and stumps. The cryptogam species richness on logs was several times higher than on the three other types of substrata. Coarse logs of intermediate decay stages hosted the highest number of cryptogams, followed by freshly fallen logs and, finally, well decayed logs. Assessing the importance of dead wood quality for the studied cryptogams, we found that intermediate decay stages are extremely important for fungi, while bryophytes or lichens do not show a clear preference. The highest number of cryptogams was found on Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur and Picea abies, while other tree species had less than half cryptogam species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest certification system is a globally widespread market-driven mechanism that aims at responsible use and governance of forests, and its application is growing. However, the extent to which forest certification contributes effectively to maintaining forest biodiversity is an unresolved issue. We assessed the role of FSC certification for forest biodiversity conservation in Lithuania's state forests. First, we analysed the indicators related to biodiversity conservation at different spatial scales in the FSC standard used in Lithuania. By applying morphological spatial pattern analysis and habitat suitability modelling, we explored the structural and functional connectivity of forest habitat patches of formally and voluntarily set-asides for biodiversity conservation. According to the Lithuanian FSC standard, active measures in forest management for biodiversity should be imposed at three spatial scales: 'trees in a stand', 'stands in a landscape', and 'landscape in an ecoregion'. The total area set aside for biodiversity was 18.6 %, including 4.9 % voluntary set-asides. The quality of habitats in terms of forest stand age was low, only 9.4 % of all set-asides constituted older forests. The proportions of voluntary set-aside area varied among the different state forest enterprises, and the results indicated a clear trend to set aside non-forest or low productivity forest habitats. Small (<1 ha) habitat patches formed a major part of all set-asides, including formally protected areas. FSC certification alone was not able to maintain structural and functional connectivity of forests for species at multiple spatial scales in Lithuania. By keeping a minimum standard of 5 % forestland set aside for biodiversity, the state forest enterprises certified according to the FSC can only satisfy forest species with small habitat requirements. To maintain biodiversity, place-based learning among stakeholders for representative functional green infrastructures in concrete landscapes and regions, combined with transparent knowledge about the net effect of pressures and responses on the state of biodiversity, are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimizer concept 6 embeds concept 5 into an optimization framework The original article has been corrected. Correction to: Silvicultural prescriptions for mixed-species forest stands. Simulator concept 5 is an extension to concept 4 that compares the stand's state (e.g., height, species composition) to a database that holds treatment instructions as dependent on stand state. [Extracted from the article]

The roe deer is the most numerous large wild herbivore in Europe and Lithuania. In Lithuania, roe deer population is continuously increasing and consists of more than 115000 individuals. The diverse landscape of the country causes differentiation of roe deer into two ecotypes: regular forest ecotype and field ecotype -- as ecological forms adapted to specific environmental conditions. Classification of Roe deer into ecotypes was started in 1960s, unfortunately based on low scientific evidence. We have studied roe deer variation among ecotypes in morphological traits and DNA markers: skull traits, roebuck antler trophic value comparison and nuclear microsatellite polymorphism at five loci. Totally, 603 roe deer skulls and 228 roebuck antlers, also 79 individuals for the DNA study were sampled at different parts of the country. The ANOVA ad AMOVA analyses were carried for each age class and sex separately. The results showed that only few morphological skull traits at particular age classes showed significant differences among ecotypes. However, there were significant differences among ecotypes in the roebuck anther trophic value. We have not found significant genetic differences among ecotypes based on AMOVA. These findings suggest that the ecotypes are closely related owing to evolutionary recent separation from the common ancestor and geneflow among the ecotypes and have not reached the level of subspecies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the relationships between the main Cervidae [moose ( Alces alces), red deer ( Cervus elaphus) and roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus)] species and a complex of environmental factors in an extensive fragmented landscape of Central Lithuania. The highest determining positive influence on moose density was the proportions of wet forest sites. In forest complexes with fewer proportions of wet sites, the most important factor was the total forest area. The proportion of shrub cover, upland and dense undergrowth area, and road density also has significant effect on moose density. The total area of forest complexes has the highest determining positive influence on red deer density. The highest density of red deer was calculated in large forest complexes (>2,745 ha) with a <17.6 % proportion of pine and <36.5 % of deciduous forests. Other significant factors were core area, road density and urbanization level. Forest edge density has the highest influence on the roe deer populations. The highest density of roe deer was recorded on forest areas with >51 m ha of edges in wet forest (>25.4 %) dominating areas. The proportion of deciduous, coniferous mixed and pine forest, also shrub and density of edges also had significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to elucidate the introduction history of P. mugo in the unique landscape of the Lithuanian seaside spit of Kursiu Nerija by assessing its genetic structure and the genetic diversity. The individuals were sampled in 12 populations within an area of 3 km × 50 km along the Lithuanian part of Kursiu Nerija. P. mugo was introduced over 200 years ago to prevent sand erosion by establishing a forest cover. Chloroplast DNA polymorphism of 220 individuals of P. mugo together with 18 P. sylvestris and 11 putative P. sylvestris × P. mugo hybrids was assessed by the aid of five microsatellite markers. The standard intra-population diversity indexes were calculated. The intra-specific variation between distinct morphotypes as well as the population differentiation within the most spread P. mugo ssp. rotundata morphotype was assessed based on the haplotype frequencies by hierarchical AMOVA, G/R test, UPGMA clustering and PCA methods. The genetic diversity of P. mugo in Kursiu Nerija was high (H = 0.95; 83 different haplotypes). All except one of the P. mugo populations sampled contained a notable share of private haplotypes. AMOVA revealed high intra-specific diversity but low differentiation between the P. mugo populations. Most of the haplotypic variance was within populations. The UPGMA clustering produced groups more corresponding to the sub-species morphotypes than the geography of the populations. There was no geographical pattern of reduction in genetic diversity towards the younger plantations. A strong candidate for a species-specific DNA marker was found. After several events of introduction, the genetic diversity of P. mugo in Kursiu Nerija is very high and is structured based on the sub-species morphotypes rather than geography. The high frequency of shared and notable frequency of private haplotypes in most of the populations indicate that the major part of the P. mugo material originates from a number of geographically and genetically related sources, which more likely are introductions from abroad that the local collections. The high frequency of private haplotypes in the northernmost populations leaves a possibility for minor introductions from other genetically distinct sources. The absence of private haplotypes in one of the sampled populations indicates the use of local seed collections. The large number of shared haplotypes provides a strong evidence for a geneflow among the P. mugo taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is an important natural disturbance and a driver of hemi-boreal forest successional trajectories, structural complexity, and biodiversity. Understanding the historic fire regime is an important step towards sustainable forest management. Focusing on Lithuania's hemi-boreal forests, we first mapped the potential natural fire regimes based on the relationship between site conditions, vegetation, and fire frequency using the ASIO model. The ASIO model revealed that all the fire frequency categories (Absent, Seldom, Intermittent, Often) are found in Lithuania. Scots pine forests dominated the often fire frequency category (92%). Secondly, focusing on a fire-prone forest landscape, Dzūkija, we analyzed the fire occurrence of Scots pine forest types using dendrochronological records. We sampled and cross-dated 132 Scots pine samples with fire scars from four dry forest stands (n = 92) and four peatland forest stands (n = 40), respectively. In total, the fire history analysis revealed 455 fire scars and 213 fire events during the period of 1742–2019. The Weibull median fire intervals were 2.7 years (range 1–34) for the dry forest types and 6.3 years (range 1–27) for the peatland forest types. Analysis pre- and post-1950 showed the Weibull median fire interval increased from 2.2 to 7.2 for the dry forest types but decreased from 6.2 to 5.2. for the peatland forest types. A superposed epoch analysis revealed significant precipitation fluxes prior to the fire events after 1950. Thus, the Dzūkija landscape of Lithuania has been strongly shaped by both human and naturally induced fires. The combination of theory (the ASIO model) with the examination of biological archives can be used to help guide sustainable forest management to emulate forest disturbances related to fire. As traditional forest management focusing on wood production has eliminated fire, and effectively simplified forest ecosystems, we recommend introducing educational programs to communicate the benefits and history of forest fires as well as adaptive management trials that use low-intensity prescribed burning of Scots pine stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of forestry-induced edges on plant and animal communities is dynamic in time, a fact that has been overlooked in many studies on the edge effect. This study assessed age-related changes in edge effects on breeding forest birds after clear-cutting in mixed deciduous old forest in south-west Lithuania. In total, 182 transects starting at the edge and extending 200 m into the forest were visited twice during the breeding season. The mean abundance of birds was higher in the 10 m wide zone closest to the edge than farther inside the forest (10–200 m from the edge) and increased in this 10 m wide zone from young edges (1–3 years) to middle-aged (4–9 years) and old (10–20 years) edges. The edge influence on the structure of forest bird communities penetrated deeper and deeper into the forest during the first 20 years after clear-cutting: young edges were characterized by a 50 m wide zone of influence into the forest, middle-aged edges by a 90 m wide zone and old edges by a 120 m wide zone. Based on changes in bird community patterns along transects penetrating into the forest, four zones were distinguished: the edge contact zone, the main edge zone, the intermediate zone and the forest interior zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of edge effect following forest harvesting in pine-dominated hemiboreal forests. The aim of the study was to determine how the edge influenced ground vegetation and how it changed over successional time. The chronosequence approach was used for the description of the succession by taking sites in similar environments but in different periods after cutting. Five transects were established in each type of edge. All ground vegetation was recorded and the percentage cover of each species was estimated. The impact of edge effect to overall species composition was evaluated by canonical correspondence analysis. The variety of species composition along the distance from the edge was highest in clear-cut-mature stand edges. The highest species richness was found at the edges of older clear-cuts. The cover of herb layer was highest in older clear-cuts and young stands. The cover of moss layer was lower in clear-cutting areas than in nearby standing mature stands. Edge influence was still detectable up to 40 years after clear-cutting, when forest interior conditions have not yet formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Lithuania, free-ranging European bison live sedentarily in the fragmented landscape of the central part of the country. The aim of this study was to analyze the distribution and habitat selection of European bison in a semi-isolated territory. Free-ranging European bison living sedentarily have formed six groups in the mosaic landscape of central Lithuania. A herd of 34 individuals of European bison entered into a new semi-isolated territory in 2016. During the snow-free season, we tracked the movements of the herd by fitting a global positioning system (GPS) collar to the leading cow. To evaluate the home range and habitat selection, we used ArcGIS software, Jacobs' index, and chi-square testing to verify significant differences between proportions. The home range of European bison was largest in spring, decreased in summer, and increased again in autumn; this was associated with feeding and the food supply in agricultural lands. European bison spent more time in the forest, especially during the daytime, due to disturbance, but in summer time and at night, the bison did not avoid agricultural land. In the forests, European bison preferred clear-cut, small-leaved deciduous (aspen, grey alder) forests of middle and mature age, but they avoided broad-leaved deciduous (ash), coniferous, and young forests. The increased number of European bison caused damage to agricultural crops and increased conflict with farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]