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Elsevier, Forest Ecology and Management, 1(123), p. 11-20

DOI: 10.1016/s0378-1127(99)00007-9

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Spatial heterogeneity of winter forest resources used by deer

Journal article published in 1999 by Nicolas Morellet ORCID, Benoı̂t Guibert
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

Monitoring red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations is a key aspect of wildlife management in Europe, so the utilization of resources must be considered. However, the spatial distribution of resources used has often been overlooked. We studied spatial heterogeneity of winter forest resources used by deer and applied an indirect method to evaluate the browsing pressure of these cervids in a forest of the Cévennes National Park (Lozère, France). We analyzed the pattern of browsing by principal component analysis (PCA) and graphical display. We demonstrated that heather (Calluna vulgaris), bilberry (Vaccinium sp.) and beech (Fagus sylvatica), which figured in more than 50% of the browsing observed, were unevenly consumed in the study area. Moreover, the deer consumed more beech outside high beech forest. Our methodology provides a helpful tool to monitor browse–ungulate interaction by taking into account the availability of key browse resources.