Moose browsing intensity and landscape structure of wintering habitat patches

Over the last decades, the moose population of New Brunswick has greatly increased, to a point where forest regeneration is locally compromised. Moose browsing can severely influence forest dynamics by altering stand structure and composition and favouring softwood species over hardwoods in mixedwood stands. Hence, it is important to understand the factors influencing moose browsing in order to reduce damage to regeneration and economic losses to the forest industry. Although the factors influencing the spatial distribution of moose browsing have been intensively studied, both in Europe and North America, the influence of landscape structure of wintering habitat patches has not been studied. Therefore, we decided to analyze the influence of the landscape structure of wintering habitat patches at the landscape level on moose browsing intensity.

Faculty Supervisor:

Martin-Hugues St-Laurent

Student:

Partner:

Northern Hardwoods Research Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Forestry; Natural Resources; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

Université du Québec à Rimouski

Program: