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Moose ( L.) browsing causes severe damage in Scots pine ( L.) seedling stands. The effects of this damage on the quality of sawlogs were studied in a long-term controlled experiment. This article reports the stem size and external quality characteristics of Scots pine stems 34 years after artificial moose browsing damage. Damaging the trees by clipping the main stem at the seedling stage reduced the diameter, height, and tree volume of the trees at the end of the experiment. The tree growth reduction was dependent on the severity of clipping. The differences between the damaged and the control trees were more obvious in diameter than in height at the time of final felling. Stem form defects and vertical branches were the most typical externally detectable defects caused by clipping. Defects in the butt logs were detected in 71â89% of the damaged trees, depending on the clipping treatment severity. The stronger the clipping treatment, the more likely the stem form was defected and the more commonly were vertical branches and crooks detected in the stems. The results indicate that both tree dimensions and stem quality suffer from moose browsing. The findings of this controlled experiment more likely underestimate than overestimate the damage in comparison to real moose browsing. Further analyses are required to assess the effects of browsing damage on the internal quality of sawlogs and subsequent economic outcomes.Alces alcesPinus sylvestris

The occurrence of moose damage was studied using data from three National Forest Inventories (NFIs) accomplished between 1986 and 2008 in Finland. The combined data included a total of 97â390 young stands. The proportion of moose damage increased from 3.6% to 8.6% between the 8th NFI (1986â1994) and the 10th NFI (2004â2008). The majority (75%) of the damage occurred in Scots pine-dominated stands. The proportion of damage was higher in aspen-dominated stands than in stands dominated by any other tree species. The tree species mixture also had a clear effect on the occurrence of damage. Pure Scots pine stands had less damage than mixed Scots pine stands, and moose damage decreased linearly with the increasing proportion of Scots pine. Stands on mineral soil had more frequent moose damage than stands on peatlands. The fertility class of the site had no straightforward effect on the damage frequency. Artificially regenerated stands had more damage than naturally regenerated stands. Accomplished soil preparation measures and the need for thinning or clearing operations increased moose damage. High proportions of moose damage in young stands were found around the country. In the 10th NFI, the largest concentration of damage was found in southwestern Finland. Our study shows the temporal and spatial changes in the occurrence of moose damage and pinpoints some important silvicultural factors affecting the relative risk of young stands over a large geographical area.

There is evidence that moose are attracted to fertile growth habitats apparently due to better quality and larger quantities of food. The nutrients in mineral soils originate from the weathering of bedrock and the composition of parental bedrock affects the fertility of produced mineral soil, thus affecting also the import of nutrients into the whole food web. We surveyed the connection between moose damage in forest plantations and the composition of bedrock and surficial deposits in Finnish Lapland. We used a database of compensated moose damage in private forests in years 1997â2010. Undamaged stands in National Forest Inventories (NFI) from years 1986â2008 served as a control data and moose-damaged NFI-stands as a reference data. Bedrock and surficial depositions and the location of studied stands in relation to ancient shorelines were explored by using the digital databases of the Geological Survey of Finland. Moose-damaged stands were concentrated in southwestern and east Lapland in the areas of the Peräpohja Schist Belt and Laplandâs Greenstone Belt that are both composed of nutrient-rich rocks. The bedrock of damaged stands contained a higher proportion of mafic and alkaline rocks than did the control stands. Moose-damaged stands were pine-dominated and grew in more fertile forest sites than did control stands. Part of pine stands probably located in soils formerly occupied by spruce, which may increase the standsâ vulnerability to biotic threats. Especially, there were relatively more moose damage in pine plantations regenerated on fine-grained mineral soils derived from nutrient rich rocks than in less fertile soils.

Moose Alces alces is abundant throughout the boreal zone. However, in the landscapes occupied by moose the density of predators and human influence often vary considerably, as do the arrival of spring and phenology of vegetation – all crucial factors for moose, especially during their calving period. During calving, female moose are faced with a dilemma between choosing a habitat offering high quality forage or one offering protection for the vulnerable calf. This study examined the timing of calving and habitat structure of female moose during and after calving in two areas of Finland with different predator and human densities. Data from 14 GPS-collared moose were integrated with data on landscape composition and forest structure from airborne Lidar. In both study areas, calves were born in May and mostly in drained forests (with ditches) on peatland soils. After giving birth, females in the more human-influenced landscape moved to more fertile forests on mineral soils, whereas the females in the landscape with little human influence stayed mostly on the drained and pine-dominated peatland forests, which also had less shrub vegetation. Moose were also seen giving birth near human settlements (farms) and staying close to them (<500 m) throughout summer. Thus, females in both study areas illustrated a high degree of adaptability by selecting the highly modified drained landscapes or areas near humans for calving sites over other available landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]