| Title: |
High potential but little success: ungulate browsing increasingly impairs silver fir regeneration in mountain forests in the southern Swiss Alps |
| Authors: |
Frei, Esther R; Conedera, Marco; Bebi, Peter; Zürcher, Samuel; Bareiss, Alena; Ramstein, Laura; Giacomelli, Nicola; Bottero, Alessandra |
| Contributors: |
Johnson, Chris; National Park project Parc Adula |
| Source: |
Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research ; volume 98, issue 2, page 194-203 ; ISSN 0015-752X 1464-3626 |
| Publisher Information: |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
| Publication Year: |
2024 |
| Description: |
Sustainable regeneration of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is important for maintaining and improving the future resilience and protective capacity of mountain forests in the southern Swiss Alps. However, increasing densities of wild ungulates, such as red and roe deer, can hamper the regeneration success of silver fir. A comprehensive understanding of forest–wildlife interactions is essential to plan concrete measures for improving the adaptation potential of mountain forests. Here, we monitored the dynamics of natural silver fir regeneration in mountain protective forests. This study encompassed 30 unfenced permanent plots across two sites, Lostallo and Soazza, located in Valle Mesolcina in the southern Swiss Alps. These sites were selected for their comparable ecological characteristics related to silver fir regeneration, yet contrasting densities of mature, seed-bearing silver fir trees. We recorded the number of seedlings ( |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1093/forestry/cpae028 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpae028; https://academic.oup.com/forestry/article-pdf/98/2/194/58239802/cpae028.pdf |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.26936920 |
| Database: |
BASE |