Moose browsing in a Scots pine plantation mixed with deciduous tree species

Abstract

Utilization of available food resources by Alces alces was studied in a Pinus sylvestris plantation containing an admixture of deciduous species. Rowan Sorbus aucuparia and aspen Populus tremula were highly utilized compared to pine and both silver birch Betula pendula and pubescent birch B. pubescens, but they were not capable of withstanding continuous browsing by moose owing to their diminished biomass. Browsing intensity (number of browsed twigs/tree) on pine and birch was about double that on rowan and aspen. -from Author