Sensibilité de quelques essences forestières de reboisement à l'abroutissement par le chevreuil (capreolus capreolus)

Abstract

The sensitivity of a number of tree species used for reforesting purposes (oak, beech, hardwoods, silver fir, maritime pine) was investigated by means of controlled observations of roe deer in captivity. The experiments consisted in simultaneously, and for a limited time period, giving several groups of animals access to either the same species with different characteristics, or several different species. Our experimental results show up a high degree of variation in the consumption of reforestation species depending on their nature (seedlings, seeded plants, offshoots) and on a number of nursery seedling production techniques. The experiment confirmed what forest managers have known for a long time on an empirical basis, i.e., the greater sensitivity of sessile oak seedlings compared to naturally seeded plants. However, our results do no show up any difference in appetency as between "forced" oak seedlings raised in nurseries and others raised "normally". Finally, there were some new findings such as the greater sensitivity of ball planted firs compared to bare root planted ones. These observations allow for a more accurate assessment of risks from roe deer browsing that can help forest managers when making sylvicultural decisions.