Volume 347, 1 July 2015, Pages 228–236
Low-density spruce plantations increase foraging by moose in a northeastern temperate forest
Highlights
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- Post-harvest silviculture practices may hamper the success of big game hunters.
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- We evaluated use of experimental low-density plantations (1350 stems/ha) by moose.
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- Moose used low-density plantations more than standard plantations for browsing.
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- Managers should increase stem availability and reduce vertical cover to favor moose.
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- We recommend using low-density plantations to increase moose hunters’ success.
Abstract
Several
North American jurisdictions are adopting new forest management
practices that favor sustainable development and biodiversity
conservation, but that are also expected to reduce timber yield. In many
regions, forest managers have identified areas of intensive timber
production where spruce plantations and thinning treatments are to be
used extensively. Concomitantly, wildlife managers are concerned that
intensive silvicultural treatments will have a negative impact on sport
hunting by modifying the behavior and abundance of game species. We
evaluated whether an experimental low-density spruce plantation
(1350 stems/ha) could increase habitat suitability for moose Alces americanus
compared to standard high-density plantations currently used throughout
eastern Canada (∼2000 stems/ha). We evaluated the effects of plantation
type, pre-commercial thinning, and age class of plantations on proxies
of habitat suitability and use by moose in a northeastern temperate
forest of Bas-Saint-Laurent, Québec (Canada). We also considered various
environmental characteristics measured locally and within 3.14-km2
landscape contexts to explain spatial variations in use by moose among
540 sampling plots. Our results show that the proportion of stems
browsed by moose increased with the number of available stems and
decreased with vertical cover. The number of moose feces, an index of
time spent by moose in sampling plots, was similar in both plantation
types, but was lower in thinned and young (5 years old) stands as
compared to unthinned and 15 years old stands. Variations in the
proportion of browsed stems and the number of feces were not explained
by broad-scale indices of food availability, density of edges between
stands offering good cover and foraging opportunities, road density,
elevation, or the area occupied by plantations and naturally regenerated
stands around sampling plots. Moose used low-density plantations
significantly more than standard plantations for browsing, and these
stands supported higher stem densities and vertical cover than standard
high-density plantations on average. Low-density plantations offered
good foraging opportunities for moose by allowing a large variety of
palatable deciduous species to grow between planted coniferous stems.
However, we found high inter-site variability in environmental
characteristics following plantation, even among equivalent treatments.
This suggests that forest managers should aim for particular stand
characteristics (i.e. high availability of stems and low vertical cover)
in situ rather than prescribing specific post-harvest
silvicultural treatments (e.g., plantation types) to favor moose. We
recommend the use of unthinned low-density plantations in northern
temperate regions where the management objective is to maintain high
moose hunting success.
Keywords
- Ecosystem-based management;
- Intensive timber production area;
- Moose;
- Plantation;
- Silviculture;
- Thinning
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
