Forestry is one of the main sectors of the Latvian economy. Forest management practices such as clear cuts, pre-commercial thinning and forest regeneration with different tree species significantly increase foraging habitats for ungulates. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is one of the most important commercial tree species and every year almost 20% of the total clear cut area is replanted with this species. However, pine is one of the most preferred forage of ungulates in winter, and damages like browsing and bark stripping significantly delay recovery of forest stands and reduce timber quality and future value. Joint Stock Company “Latvia’s State Forests” (LSF) spends considerable resources to protect pine stands by using plastic spirals, repellents etc. At the same time, they lease the rights to hunt in state forests and supervise wildlife control by signing agreements with hunting clubs and associations. Besides economic and social values, forests provide important ecological values including habitats for species diversity. Large carnivores, especially grey wolf (Canis lupus) is among most remarkable, often considered as a top indicator of ecosystem status, functionality and sustainable use.
In this study we tested the applicability of economic arguments to wolf conservation policy, taking into account that wolves as predators may impact ungulate abundance and change their behavior thus diminishing browsing pressure on regenerated stands. We used survey data from 2017 on freshly browsed pine trees in young pine, spruce and aspen stands, and relative ungulate abundance indices measured by counts of winter fecal pellet groups across the same forest stands. In addition, these data were compared with the so called ungulate damage risk zones designated by LSF managers and harvest statistics of moose (Alces alces), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wolf provided by the State Forest Service. Differences in pine browsing intensity between risk and non-risk zones were 10.7%±2.1 and 6.7%±0.7, respectively (almost significant, p=0.06). Moose pellet group numbers per 1 hectare in these zones were 47.2±9.1 and 33.9±2.8, red deer – 67.1±12.3 and 35.7±3.5, respectively (significant for red deer, p=0.004). The numbers of hunted moose per 1000ha in risk zones in season 2016/2017 were 1.04±0.08 and in non-risk zones 1.1±0.03. For red deer these numbers were 3.26±0.4 and 2.3±0.1, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.007). No statistical differences in hunted wolf numbers between these zones over the last 3 hunting seasons were observed. Wolf is a game species with a fairly stable total hunting bag (250-300 animals annually).
We conclude that hunters are interested in concurrently maintaining high ungulate abundance and low carnivore numbers, which could be a reason for the lack of success in avoiding serious damage to pine stands, and this could pose a future risk to the economy. Increased acceptance of the wolf as a predator on deer in commercially managed forests could ease the increasing conflict between game and forest management in Latvia.
Topics: Social-ecological systems as a framework for conservation management , Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: Large Carnivores in Europe , Topics: Natural Resource and Conservation Stakeholders: Managing Expectations and Engageme
