Marie Vestergaard Henriksen

Forsker

(+47) 907 60 178
marie.henriksen@nibio.no

Sted
Trondheim

Besøksadresse
Klæbuveien 153, bygg C 1.etasje, 7030 Trondheim

Sammendrag

Røsslyng er nøkkelart og den viktigste planten i kystlynghei. I dette pilotstudiet har vi undersøkt hvordan artsmangfoldet av pollinerende innsekter som humler, bier og blomsterfluer varierer i kystlynghei langs en nord-sør gradient fra Helgelandskysten i nord til Lygra i sør.

Til dokument

Sammendrag

Livestock summer grazing in mountains and forests in Norway is generally considered beneficial to biodiversity. In this study we investigated if this is the case for cattle in boreal production forest. We collected biodiversity data on field layer vegetation, floral resources and flower-visiting insects in young spruce plantations that were planted 2–10 years ago. We picked young spruce plantations inside and outside well-established cattle grazing areas. On each plantation, we sampled fenced and unfenced plots (20 * 20 m each). This study design allowed us to investigate long-term effects of cattle grazing as well as short-term effects of excluding cervids only and short-term effects of excluding cervids and cattle. Long-term cattle grazing reduced the abundance of woody plants and reduced the abundance of flowers. Excluding cervids for two summers led to reduced height of woody plants (shrubs and heather) and to increased flower abundance. In contrast, excluding cervids and cattle for two summers led to increased height of graminoids, herbs and woody plants, to higher abundance of graminoids, higher flower abundance and higher abundance of flower-visiting insects. In conclusion, cattle affected the studied system in different ways and to a larger extent than native cervids. Our study shows that we must be careful when inferring results from cattle grazing studies on grasslands to forest ecosystems. As this study documents a negative effect of cattle on floral resources and flower-visiting insects, and we currently are facing a global pollination crisis, a careful consideration of the current practice of cattle grazing in boreal forest might be needed.