The fragmentation and reduction of deciduous forests in Sweden is threatening many species. Particularity worrying is the loss of broad-leaf trees, since a diversity of species is often associated to them. Today many deciduous trees are situated along the border between forested and open areas, and these small fragments can be important for biodiversity. The aim of this study is to analyze if wildlife management can affect the variation of deciduous trees and bushes in the landscape. In brochures and literature Svenska Jägareförbundet (the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management) recommend hunters and landowners to promote deciduous trees – often broad-leaf trees – as wildlife management measures, while the Swedish forestry laws can be sensed as unclear regarding the treatment of these trees. Five properties in Södermanland, Sweden, were chosen as study areas and inventoried in respect of trees and bushes in September 2013. The landowners or game wardens were interviewed about how they manage the landscape to promote, or not promote, hunting. The landscapes’ tree and bush composition and richness in ten randomly selected plots on each property were compared and analyzed in relation to the landowners’ attitudes toward wildlife management and biodiversity. The interviewed landowners and game wardens who implemented wildlife management on their properties considered that they were promoting biodiversity in general, while the landowner who did not approve of wildlife management believed that game animals were threatening the biodiversity of the forest. The species inventories showed significant differences in species richness between the landscapes, where the property without wildlife management had the least amount of bush and tree species. No significant differences were found in respect of broad-leaf trees between the landscapes. The property with the least species also was the property with the lowest beta diversity, considered the variation between plots, and its species composition differed the most from that in the landscape where most species were found. The result of this study suggests that active wildlife management could increase deciduous trees and bushes in the landscape of Södermanland. Wildlife management could also create habitat corridors and possible stepping stones in the landscape, but to restore whole deciduous forests major actions are probably needed, including clearer regulations from Skogsstyrelsen (the Swedish Forest Agency) and development of alternative land use methods compared with today.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-99752 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Wågström, Angelica |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi och kvartärgeologi (INK) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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