Document Detail


Research on the influence of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) grazing on grassland production in the south-eastern part of Slovenia.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  15149125     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Almost 60% of Slovenian territory is covered by forests and only Finland and Sweden are known as the more forest abundant countries in Europe. Among game that intensifies difficulties in the field of agricultural production, especially in north-eastern and south-eastern parts of the country, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.), wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) and red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) prevail. Negative impact of game on agricultural production in the above mentioned parts of Slovenia has risen significantly in the last decade. The data about the population density of game in Slovenia is often based on the payments of their damage on the cultivated plants that are usually performed by the hunting societies. Grassland represents around 60% of agricultural land in Slovenia, and herbage is a very important component of the red deer diet. At the forest border where ruminant ungulate animals spend most of their life, the grassland production for a farmer is often decreased because of the grazing of this hoofed animal. Hitherto, decrease of grassland productiveness from a farmer's perspective, caused by the red deer grazing, was not yet researched in Slovenia. Similar studies were also very rare in other European countries. With the intention of gathering data and learn more about the potential harmfulness of the red deer on grassland production the experiment was performed in the south-eastern part of Slovenia in the year 2002. The influence of red deer grazing on grassland production for forage conservation at the forest border during the vegetation period was studied on three locations (Mala gora, Cvislerji and Mackovec) in the Kocevje region. The experiment lasted from the third decade of March until the first decade of October. Portable cages of size 1x0.5x0.5 m were used to exclude red deer from grazing the herbage. At four sampling dates in the season herbage air dry matter (DM) yield was measured at three different observations (cage-protected plot, cage-protected plot only two to three weeks before sampling date, otherwise freely grazed--removed and unprotected plot). The results from the experiment showed us that red deer grazed on grassland through all seasons and that the regeneration capability of sward was the highest in summer, middle in spring and smallest in autumn. On unprotected plots an average 50% reduction of herbage DM yield was found with the most distant sites also up to 80% reduction.
Authors:
S Trdan; M Vidrih; A Vesel; A Bobnar
Related Documents :
16206715 - Aquatic resource conservation. the first yangtze finless porpoise successfully born in ...
23678235 - What makes people healthy, happy, and fulfilled in the face of current world challenges?
20378885 - How welfare is measured and why scientists do it differently.
16967095 - Season controlled reproduction of undomesticated animals.
12787185 - Seeking evidence from medical research consumers as part of the medical research proces...
19862615 - A social ecological approach to investigating relationships between housing and adaptiv...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Communications in agricultural and applied biological sciences     Volume:  68     ISSN:  1379-1176     ISO Abbreviation:  Commun. Agric. Appl. Biol. Sci.     Publication Date:  2003  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2004-05-19     Completed Date:  2004-08-31     Revised Date:  2006-12-14    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101200320     Medline TA:  Commun Agric Appl Biol Sci     Country:  Belgium    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  313-20     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Agronomy, Chair of Entomology and Phytopathology, Jamnikarjeva 101, SI-1111 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Agriculture / methods
Animal Feed*
Animals
Deer / classification,  physiology*
Geography
Poaceae* / physiology
Slovenia

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Comparative effects of some ecdysteroid agonists in mealworms: ecdysteroid amounts and protein analy...
Next Document:  Evaluation of resistance in Amaranthus quitensis Kunth populations to imazethapyr and other imidazol...