Pest Management Science (2019) 75, 893-899

Zbigniew Borowski, Radomir Balazy, Mariusz Ciesielski and Krzysztof Korzeniewski (2019)
Does winter supplementary feeding affect deer damage in a forest ecosystem? A field test in areas with different levels of deer pressure
Pest Management Science 75 (4), 893-899
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
Supplementary feeding is a widespread but controversial practice in game management. While many studies have been conducted on this issue, there is limited empirical evidence on how feeding affects damage caused by wildlife. In this context, the present study focused on the effect of artificial winter feeding on tree damage in three mountain regions in Poland.
RESULTS
The presence of additional winter food did not increase tree damage caused by deer in any region, as expected. Moreover, we observed that additional feeding mitigated forest damage in one region, where the highest level of deer impact had occurred. However, in this mountain region, the most important factor was elevation, which was used to classify additional feeding practice as efficient or inefficient. In the two other study regions, we did not observe any effect of supplementary feeding.
CONCLUSIONS
Additional winter supplementary feeding can reduce damage caused by deer in forest stands, but only in areas with high deer pressure. Moreover, feeders should be situated in locations > 600 m above sea level in our study area.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
damage/losses/economics
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cervus elaphus		Czech Republic
	Cervus elaphus	Oak (Quercus)	Poland
	Cervus elaphus	Beech (Fagus)	Poland
	Cervus elaphus	Spruce (Picea)	Poland
	Capreolus capreolus		Czech Republic
	Capreolus capreolus	Oak (Quercus)	Poland
	Capreolus capreolus	Beech (Fagus)	Poland
	Capreolus capreolus	Spruce (Picea)	Poland