Bio∆4 - “New instruments to enhance the biodiversity of cross-border forest ecosystems” ITAT2021 A project financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the context of the 2014 - 2020 Interreg V-A Italy - Austria programme (2017 call for tenders). The Italian portion is co-financed by the national rotating fund (C.I.P.E. - Interdepartmental Committee for Economic Planning - resolution).
PEFC/18-22-13/03 Promuoviamo la Gestione Sostenibile delle Foreste www.pefc.it
DEER AND THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM
Biodiversity at risk
Because of its extensive clearings and the lack of large predators, the deer population at Cansiglio Forest has grown excessively in the last decades.
This has caused:
• a drastic reduction, if not complete disappearance, of the grassy and shrubby vegetation and young trees, which represent the future of the forest;
• a drastic reduction of the animal species that inhabited the forest because of its rich, widespread and diverse undergrowth; one of these is the hazel grouse.
How can we assess the impact of deer on forest biodiversity?
Assessing the impact of deer on the forest’s natural renewal process is possible by fencing off some of the areas where they graze.
This reduction of vegetation and, therefore, of biodiversity, has negative consequences on all the wildlife. This is especially true for protected
species like the western capercaillie and the hazel grouse, but also for small passerines, rodents and invertebrates.
When the forest’s ecological balance is compromised, important links of the food chain that ensure the survival of other animal and plant species go missing.
Young spruce plants deformed by deer nibbling (Photo: E. Piutti)
Exclusion fences for studies and/or monitoring
