34 Results Found

Forest ecosystems are threatened by different natural disturbances. Among them, the irruption of large herbivores represents one of the most alarming issues. Several local-scale studies have been carried out to clarify the mechanisms governing ungula...

Ungulate browsing represents a contemporary issue for forest development, influencing forest regeneration, composition, and management practices across the world, especially in North America. This review synthesizes findings from 101 studies conducte...

In recent decades, ungulates have expanded in number and range in Europe. This review aims to analyze the impact of ungulate browsing in different forest ecosystems and identify the main driving factors and trends. In total, 155 studies were analyzed...

Ungulate browsing has a major impact on the composition and structure of forests. Repeatedly conducted, large-scale regeneration inventories can monitor the extent of browsing pressure and its impacts on forest regeneration development. Based on the...

The impact of ungulate browsing on tree saplings has been found to have a negative effect on the regeneration of temperate forests. However, it remains ambiguous whether a relationship exists between browsing intensity and soil quality in natural for...

Ungulate browsing is a major factor influencing tree regeneration. However, it is unclear if the observed increase in ungulate abundance in Central Europe implies increased browsing, and which other factors influence the incidence of browsing. We inv...

Improved forage and living conditions in certain parts of Europe over the past few decades have led to alarming levels of ungulate densities. Consequently, the overabundance of red deer, roe deer, and fallow deer in the Western Plains of Romania has...

The browsing of wild ungulates can have profound effects on the structure and composition of forests. In the Swiss National Park, the density of wild ungulates, including red deer (Cervus elaphus), ibex (Capra ibex), and chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)...

Ungulate populations have surged to unsustainable levels in multiple areas in recent decades due to human intervention, making forestry and conservation practices arduous. The population of ungulates is also currently displaying a rising trend in Hun...

Assessing the extent and magnitude of wildlife impact on forest regeneration (e.g., % browsed seedlings or reduction in regeneration density) remains a central challenge. This study explores the potential of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to quantif...

Browsing by ungulates can affect the development of a forest stand due to selective browsing and shifts in the growth ranking between tree species. Assessing browsing impact in an objective way is difficult in patchily distributed beech forests. In s...

Human activities are increasing the occurrence of megafires that alter ecological dynamics in forest ecosystems. The objective of this study was to understand the impacts of a 610 km² megafire on patterns of tree regeneration and herbivory across thr...

Temperate hardwood floodplain forests along lowland rivers are considered important forest biodiversity refugia in the European cultural landscape. The absence of apex predators combined with an artificial feeding of herbivore populations in winter s...

Ungulate herbivores modify plant community compositions, which can modulate biodiversity at higher trophic levels. However, these cascading effects on herbivorous and predatory arthropods in forest ecosystems remain poorly understood. We compared pla...

This study compares the amount of available biomass for wild herbivores (red deer (Cervus elaphus L.), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.), and hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas)) depending on three different types of forest silvicultural systems—presented...

Different species-specific traits of woody plant species, feeding preferences of herbivores together with resulting effects on plant competition are expected to translate into different plant community structures and expressions of biodiversity. We s...

Ungulate impacts on forest understory alter tree species composition, with cascading effects on forest functions and resilience against future climate conditions. Indeed, the ungulate browsing pressure on tree seedlings is species-specific and causes...

This study examines the impact of ungulate browsing on the understory dynamics of the Cansiglio Forest, the only European beech high forest in the Southern Limestone Alps. Utilizing seven pairs of fenced versus unfenced forest stands established over...

Increasing numbers of wild ungulates in human-dominated landscapes in Europe could lead to negative effects, such as damages to forests through browsing. To prevent those effects and, thus, mitigate wildlife-based conflicts while ensuring viable ungu...

The global forestry discourse frequently highlights the issue of ungulate browsing, which can significantly impact tree regeneration and tree species composition by inhibition of growth and elimination of certain, particularly ecologically valuable,...

The foraging behavior of ruminating ungulates significantly impacts forest ecosystems due to their nutritional requirements. This study focuses on inter-specific comparisons of bark browsing (stripping) between Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mir...

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) landscapes are valued for their biodiversity, water retention, fire mitigation, aesthetics, and recreation opportunities. Across North America, some aspen populations are experiencing population declines as...

Ungulate herbivory poses global challenges to forest regeneration. Deer, in combination with other biotic and abiotic factors, threaten to shift forest composition away from palatable hardwoods, such as oaks (Quercus spp.), and cause regeneration fai...

Forest–steppe ecosystems represent a heterogeneous small-patch landscape important as a biodiversity hotspot and habitat for many endangered species. In this work, we examine threatened forest–steppe communities using structural indices,...

The paper presents the results of a study on tree regeneration of forest stands in the Černý důl Nature Reserve, which is situated in the Orlické hory Mountains Protected Landscape area in the Czech Republic. Research was conducted in a spruce-beech...

To facilitate forest transition to future climate conditions, managers can use adaptive silvicultural tools, for example the assisted translocation of tree species and genotypes to areas with suitable future climate conditions (i.e., assisted migrati...

Many processes in wild populations are difficult to study. Genetic data, often non-invasively collected, may provide a solution to these difficulties and are increasingly used to study behavioral, demographic, ecological, and evolutionary processes....

(1) Background: Human–wildlife conflict can lead to adverse consequences for both parties, particularly in areas with a high concentration of wild ungulates. Ungulates cause frequent, severe plant damage by stripping the bark or browsing on the...

Herbivory by ungulates is a seminal driving force in Mediterranean landscapes, where habitat diversity contributes to supporting high population densities. We investigated the influence of grazing and browsing, primarily by red deer (Cervus elaphus),...

Ungulates play a large role in shaping ecosystems and communities by influencing plant composition, structure, and productivity. We investigated the summer diets of feral burros in two ecosystems in which they are found in the United States: a subtro...

Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) originates from tropical Central and South America and has become invasive in about 50 countries. It causes problems when invading rangelands due to its toxicity to livestock and its tendency to form dense, monotonous...

Ungulate herbivory occurring within a forest plant community’s natural range of variation may help maintain species diversity. However, acute or chronically elevated levels of herbivory can produce dramatic changes in forest communities. For ex...

The paleodiet of the shovel-tusked gomphotheres from Florida (Amebelodon floridanus, Konobelodon britti, and Serbelodon barbourensis) was assessed via microwear analysis of molar dental enamel and compared to a large database of both e...

Priority habitat types (HTs) within the Natura 2000 network are of the highest importance for conservation in Europe. However, they often occur in smaller areas and their conservation status is not well understood. One such HT is that of the Tilio&nd...