Abstract
The study examines the influence of Polish primitive horse grazing on vegetation in deciduous and coniferous old forest stands in north-east Poland. It was conducted in both forest sites in two complexes located in: (i) the fenced area of the Popielno Research Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences, with free-living Polish pony [Polish primitive horse (Equus ferus caballus Linnaeus, 1758)] in 130-year-old stands, and (ii) in the open 116-year-old managed (harvested) Maskulińskie Forest District, without horses. In both areas the stands are inhabited by free-living red and roe deer. The impact of forest animals on ground cover layer as well as on understory shrub layer and undergrowth was compared. Very significant differences in the structure of the understory and undergrowth (above 0.5 m) layer vegetation communities between both areas and type of stands were found. The results suggest that the presence of the Polish horse substantially changed the species composition and increased the species diversity of the ground layer and shrub layer both in the coniferous forest and deciduous forest habitats. The height of the shrub layer trees was lower by 30% in the area with the Polish horse. The level of biodiversity of forest plants was dependent on the presence of the Polish horse, which in the past was one of the natural inhabitants of forests in the area of research.
Highlights
A pro-ecological model of modern forestry in Poland, close-to-nature [1,2], provides local usage of natural forest farming methods [3], which have in the last half-century shaped the area where the Polish horse ‘konik polski’ (Equus ferus caballus Linnaeus, 1758) or tarpan (Equus caballus gmelini Antonius, 1912 or Equus ferus ferus Boddaert, 1785) can live [4,5,6]
The average height of the herb layer depended on the habitat (F1.64 = 5.249, p = 0.025), while the layer of divisions according to the fertility groups of habitats than in relation to the presence and herb layer growing in coniferous habitats was 20% taller than the herb layer occurring in deciduous feeding of the Polish primitive horse
For the herb and undergrowth layer in deciduous forests, the areas with the horse was higher by 9horse species, in coniferous forests, byin10
Summary
A pro-ecological model of modern forestry in Poland, close-to-nature [1,2], provides local usage of natural forest farming methods [3], which have in the last half-century shaped the area where the Polish horse ‘konik polski’ (Equus ferus caballus Linnaeus, 1758) or tarpan (Equus caballus gmelini Antonius, 1912 or Equus ferus ferus Boddaert, 1785) can live [4,5,6]. It is assumed that adequate management of some animal populations will support the restoration of rare habitats, e.g., luminous oak stands, which occurred in large numbers in Poland in the past due to the existence of goats, pigs, and ponies in the forest. 1827) and tarpans (Equus gmelini Boddaert, 1785) were replaced by domesticated animals, such as cows, horses, and pigs. Most studies describing the effect of large herbivores on forests focus on Forests 2019, 10, 417; doi:10.3390/f10050417 www.mdpi.com/journal/forests
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