Habitat selection of free-ranging cattle in productive coniferous forests of south-eastern Norway

Morten Tofastrud,Olivier Devineau,Barbara Zimmermann

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2019.01.014

Morten Tofastrud, Olivier Devineau + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.01.014

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Abstract

Multiple use of communal forests requires informed management to balance divergent interests such as livestock grazing and timber production. In this study, we examined the habitat selection of free-ranging beef cattle in two vegetation-mapped communal forests of Norway’s boreal zone. The two areas were 35 km apart, and they mainly differed regarding cattle stocking density, with one being below and the other above the livestock grazing capacity of the area. In total, 78 cows were fitted with global positioning system (GPS) collars during the summers 2015 to 2017. The collars were scheduled to take positions and measure activity at 5 and 10 min intervals. We applied generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to describe the cows’ selection of vegetation types, forest cutting classes, topographical features and distance to roads with resource selection functions (RSF), by comparing use with availability. The most selected vegetation types were wide-spread summer farm meadows, followed by the dominant bilberry spruce forest. In productive forest, the cows selected for clearcuts younger than 15 years and used thinning and post-thinning stands less than expected. In accordance with the Ideal free distribution hypothesis, the cows were more likely to use low productive habitats in the area with high compared to the one with low stocking density. The preference for young forest stands was strongest when grazing as compared to resting and walking. During grazing, the cows also preferred pre-thinning stands older than 15 years and inclined patches, but avoided north-facing slopes. Preference for south-facing slopes was strongest when resting and for forest roads when traveling.To reduce the pressure of cattle in forest regeneration stands, we suggest limiting stocking densities to the grazing capacity of forest pastures, using vegetation and forest maps as information to guide the distribution of cattle, and maintaining or even expanding the existing meadows of the summer farms.

Highlights

Communal forests are important areas for multiple use such as timber production, livestock grazing, hunting and tourism
We can only speculate that the observed stronger selection for the nutrient poor pine and swamp forests and young forest stands older than 15 years in the high stocking density area FVA as compared to the low stocking density area study areas roamed 0.04 (SRA) may be a result of increased resource competition
The strong preference of cattle for the small patches of summer farm meadows and young forest regeneration stands of the bilberry spruce forest indicates that these human-made habitat patches strongly improved grazing opportunities for cattle

Summary

Introduction

Communal forests are important areas for multiple use such as timber production, livestock grazing, hunting and tourism. Clearcutting changes the amount of light reaching the ground and contributes to the production of raw humus in the ground layer, which becomes suitable for species such as heather, lichens, mosses, grasses, perennials, and young deciduous trees These species are considered as weeds by the forestry industry because they outcompete the slow-growing coniferous seedlings (Östlund et al, 1997), they are an important food source for grazing livestock and wild herbivores (Larsson and Rekdal, 2000; Edenius et al, 2002). In a Norwegian study, Hjeljord et al (2014) found the levels of spruce damage in forest regeneration areas to be positively related to the cattle’s use of the area, but damages were found

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