Abstract
Ten willow cultivars grown in experimental plots were evaluated for performance, attractiveness to foragers, and the content and composition of soluble carbohydrates. The survival of willow cuttings in a thicket and in browse plots differed subject to cultivar, soil quality, and soil moisture content. The number of stump sprouts varied considerably, from 1.1 shoots in the weakest soils in Słonin, Poland, to 3.43 in the plot in Czempin, Poland. Browse plots were established in 2017. They were cut, and fencing was removed in early spring of 2019. Young shoots (10 cm shoot tip with buds, preferably eaten by animals) were sampled for analyses of soluble carbohydrates as potential attractors for foraging cervids. All willow cultivars contained the same soluble carbohydrates: glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, myo-inositol, galactinol, and raffinose. Total carbohydrate content ranged from 21.31 (S. amygdalina 1045) to 69.37 mg/g−1 DM (dry matter) (S. purpurea). Glucose was the predominant soluble sugar in the shoots of all willow cultivars, excluding S. viminalis. The fructose content of the shoots was approximately twice lower than their glucose content in all willow cultivars. Smaller differences were observed in the content of myo-inositol, which ranged from 4.61 (S. amygdalina 1045) to 8.26 mg/g−1 DM (S. fragilis cv. Kamon/Resko). The phloem of all willow species contained small quantities of galactinol and trace amounts of raffinose. Weak negative correlations were noted between total carbohydrate content, the content of glucose, fructose, and galactose vs. the attractiveness of willow shoots to foraging cervids. The remaining carbohydrates that occurred in smaller quantities in willow shoots were not correlated with their attractiveness to cervids.
Highlights
Animals, including wild animals, are guided by the senses of smell and taste when selecting food [1]
Soil samples for laboratory analyses were collected from the experimental plots where the evaluated willow cultivars were grown
The experimental plots were established in the following types of habitats: Czempin, Poland—fresh forest established on former agricultural land (Category 2); Bieczyny, Poland—dehydrated humid forest established on former agricultural land (Category 2); Grzybno, Poland—fresh mixed coniferous forest with low groundwater levels (Category 1); Słonin, Poland—fresh forest with very low groundwater levels (Category 1)
Summary
Animals, including wild animals, are guided by the senses of smell and taste when selecting food [1]. The taste and aroma of potential food sources play a secondary role only in extreme situations, such as drought, deep snow cover, or the risk of hunger Such extreme conditions persisted in Poland in the winters of 1962/63, 1978/79, 1986/87, and 2005/06, when roe deer, red deer, elk, as well as hares foraged on the young and green plant parts protruding above the deep snow cover. In those years, animals caused considerable damage to young forests and nurseries of forests, orchards, and ornamental trees and shrubs. Considerable funds are allocated to the protection of young forests against wild animals [3]
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