Älgbete i restaureringsbränning : älgens respons på brand

Abstract: The moose is an important resource for Sweden but causes problems for forestry. Moose browsing damages annually cost forestry large amounts of money which makes it a hot topic of discussion. Another hot topic is biodiversity which has increased the interest of nature conservation burnings as the lack of natural fires in the northern boreal region affects biodiversity negatively. In this study, we examined diversity of tree species, moose browsing and feed availability in restoration burnings. The hypothesis was that the diversity, the absolute and relative browsing, the average width of browsed deciduous shoots and the feed supply would be higher in burned plots. The study was conducted in four areas in north-eastern Finland. Sample inventory was carried out 13 years after fire in form of a block design with 2-3 blocks each of fire and control for each area. Long-term studies on moose browsing in fire areas are a relatively unexplored issue. The results showed significantly higher diversity, forage availability and absolute browsing in burnings. No difference in relative browsing in relation to forage supply or average width of browsed shoots was found. The results also showed that pine appears to be an unused resource in burnings, which was surprising as pine is normally heavily browsed by moose in winter. This can possibly be explained by the fact that burnings generated a high supply of forage that is preferred over pine or that the snow cover in the investigated areas made the pine inaccessible in winter. The results obtained were mainly expected with support of previous studies. The conclusion of this study is that burning could be used as a forage creating action in forestry to increase the supply of desirable forage and thereby reduce browsing damages of pine, whilst it can benefit biodiversity as it provides good conditions for an increased number of deciduous trees in the forest.