Drivers of ungulate behavior in the context of human-wildlife conflicts : The effects of food, fear and temperature on ungulate landscape use and impacts

Ungulates inhabiting managed landscapes generate important ecosystem services. However, their landscape use may cause negative impacts on human land uses. Expanding ungulate populations in Europe lead to increased human-wildlife conflict, but is also perceived as positive by stakeholders that favor high ungulate numbers. Hence, there is a need for management strategies that consider both the positive and the negative impacts of ungulates, for example by managing their behavior in addition to numbers. In this thesis, I investigated how three key functional landscapes; the foodscape, the landscape of fear and the thermal landscape influenced ungulate landscape use and impacts. I also explored the role humans have in shaping these landscapes. I did this by using an array of methods: field inventories, landscape experiments, social data collection and GPS-data. I found that food, fear and temperature strongly influenced how ungulates used the landscape. In addition, I showed how humans shape the three functional landscapes, for example by changing the foodscape through crop planting or forestry activities, leading to consequences on ungulate impact on human land use. Finally, I found that crop damage was reduced by experimentally inducing fear. Hence, my thesis suggests that it is possible to steer ungulate behavior by managing these functional landscapes. My thesis highlights the importance of including behavioral drivers when managing ungulates and regarding the effects of humans on these drivers. I conclude that these drivers often interact with each other influencing ungulate behavior, and that there is a need for more holistic approaches looking across land use and landowner borders in order to efficiently manage ungulate communities in managed landscape

Effects of supplementary feeding on bark stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Barkgnag av kronvilt, effekt av utfodring? Kronvilt (Cervus elaphus) kan orsaka stora skador på Sveriges skogar genom barkgnagning, något som leder till stora ekonomiska förluster då träden drabbas av svampinfektioner, reducerad tillväxt, deformationer m.m. Det finns många faktorer som är viktiga för att förstå varför kronviltet gnager bark. Det handlar dels om trädkaraktärer så som tjocklek och grenighet, men det handlar även om klimat, störningar, populationstäthet, tillgången på alternativ föda samt balansen i deras näringsintag. Det har dock visat sig att den kanske viktigaste faktorn som förklarar barkgnagning är kronviltets tillgång på alternativ föda under vintertid. Vad och hur mycket kronviltet får i sig är även av stor vikt. En obalans i kronviltets näringsintag kan leda till ett ökat behov av att äta bark. Detta på grund av att bark bidrar med fiber och sänker pH i vommen. Ett ökat intag av kolhydrater kan därför möjligtvis leda till att kronviltet måste balansera upp detta med ett ökat intag av fiber. Något som är väldigt debatterat och oklart är hur utfodring av vilt påverkar nivån av barkgnagning. Studier har visat att barkgnagningen kan öka eftersom mycket vilt koncentrerar sig runt utfodringsplatsen men även till följd av att utfodring innehållande stora mängder kolhydrater och lite fiber ger en obalans i näringsintaget, vilket i sin tur leder till ett ökat begär av att äta bark. Det finns dock även studier som visat att utfodring med lämpligt foder i rätt mängd kan ersätta bark i kosten. I denna studie undersöktes hur skadenivån i skånska granbestånd påverkas av avståndet till, samt tätheten av utfodringsplatser. Effekten av olika typer av foder undersöktes också. Mina resultat visar att skadenivån inte signifikant påverkas av avståndet till eller tätheten av foderplatser. Tätheten av foderplatser med spannmål kunde dock signifikant relateras till skadenivån. Dessa resultat går emot tidigare studier som visat att utfodring med kolhydrater, till exempel sockerbetor ökar behovet att barkintaget. Att ingen effekt kunde påvisas vad gäller täthet och avstånd till foderplatser beror troligtvis på många olika faktorer. Det togs inte hänsyn till den rumsliga auto-korrelationen, vilket betyder att vissa foderplatser använts flera gånger i analysen, granbestånden kan alltså inte anses vara oberoende av varandra. En annan förklaring är den höga tätheten av foderplatser i Skåne. Det var därför svårt att hitta granbestånd långt ifrån utfodringsplatser, vilket ledde till en väldigt liten variation, något som troligtvis påverkar resultatet mycket. Av resultatet gällande effekten av olika fodertyper ska inte alltför starka slutsatser dras eftersom en korrigering av den rumsliga auto-korrelationen troligtvis hade sänkt signifikansnivån. Sammanfattningsvis kan man konstatera att frågan om varför kronviltet gnager bark är väldigt komplex och svår att besvara. Det är dock viktigt att fortsätta bedriva studier inom detta område för att behålla en hållbar kronviltspopulation men även främja ett svenskt skogsbruk. Handledare: Bengt Hansson Examensarbete 15hp i biologi 2017. Biologiska institutionen, Lunds universite

Influencing factors on red deer bark stripping on spruce : plant diversity, crop intake and temperature

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) is increasing in distribution and population density in several regions of Europe and may cause severe damage in commercial forestry and agriculture. Bark stripping is the main problem in forests, especially on Norway spruce (Picea abies). It has been suggested that an imbalance in the nutrient intake, and especially a diet composed of high amounts of easily-digestible macronutrients, such as crops, can lead to an increased urge to consume bark. Feeding on brassicas, for example oil seed rape (Brassica napus) might have this effect. My aim with this study is to investigate the relationship between intake of oil seed rape and bark stripping on Norway spruce by red deer during early spring. I did this by a controlled feeding experiment with four groups of captive red deer in southern Sweden. All groups were given spruce logs every week, while only two groups had access to fresh harvested oil seed rape plants. In addition, influence of air temperature and plant diversity was taken into account, and the deers’ selectivity of different parts of oil seed rape plants was measured. My results show that red deer bark stripping can be considerable not only during periods of food shortage but also during spring green-up. There was no significant influence of oil seed rape on bark stripping. This was most likely due to overshadowing factors: air temperature was significantly positively related to bark intake, and red deer in enclosures with lowest plant diversity consumed the highest amount of bark. Finally, red deer showed a positive selection towards leaves, rather than stems, of oil seed rape, and this selection increased with the amount of oil seed rape provided (the dose). I conclude that to understand and to mitigate bark stripping by red deer on spruce several interactive effects must be considered, such as crop intake, plant diversity in the habitat and air temperature. Obviously, interactions between agriculture and forestry needs to be further studied, and more knowledge is needed before we can implement suggestions in wildlife management and forestry

The proximity of rapeseed fields influences levels of forest damage by red deer

Deer can show transitional use between agricultural fields and forests for foraging and shelter. Such transitional use may affect forest damage as nutrient balancing theory suggests that if deer ingest large amounts of nutrient-rich food, complementary browse, such as bark, may be required to balance the diet.We investigated the relationship between the level of red deer Cervus elaphus bark-stripping damage in 68 Norway spruce Picea abies stands and the presence of rapeseed Brassica napus fields – an energy-rich crop preferred by red deer – in the surroundings, hypothesizing that damage increases with decreasing distance to rapeseed fields. We also considered other potentially influencing factors, such as supplemental feeding, alternative forage availability, and deer use of spruce stands as indexed by a pellet group count.Spruce stands closer to rapeseed had a significantly higher proportion of damaged stems. The increased level of bark-stripping damage was not explained by a higher stand use of deer closer to rapeseed fields, indicating that deer increase their consumption of bark in order to balance their diet. Similarly, spruce stands closer to supplemental feeding stations had significantly higher damage levels.In line with earlier findings, damage levels were negatively related to the amount of available browse in the forest. This emphasizes the importance of alternative forage for reducing the damage risk in forest plantations.Our study shows that the availability of fields with nutrient-rich food, such as rapeseed, as well as supplemental feeding needs to be considered when predicting the level of forest damage. With a high availability of nutrient-rich food in the vicinity of forest stands, a higher damage level can be expected and counteractions could be taken such as increased disturbance, harvest or changed choice of both crop and supplemental feed types. These actions may also be combined with a push–pull strategy where the deer are steered to disturbance-free zones insensitive to damage and with alternative forage. The importance of alternative forage availability on damage levels highlights the necessity for managers to actively promote tree and shrub forage within and around their production stands

En fungerade intern kommunikation kan leda till engagemang

Kommunikation är något som skapas när en eller flera människor interagerar med varandra och där information av något slag utbyts. Kommunikation inom företag kallas för intern kommunikation och är viktigt för att uppnå syftet med verksamheten. Det är också viktigt för att medarbetare inom organisationen ska känna sig delaktiga och engagerade i företaget, vilket också bidrar till att den dagliga verksamheten blir mer effektiv. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur den interna kommunikationen hos ett företag uppfattas samt vilka effekter den interna kommunikationen kan ha på medarbetarnas delaktighet och engagemang inom företaget. En kvalitativ metod har använts för att uppnå uppsatsens syfte och en fallstudie har genomförts för att erhålla rik information. Kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts för att ta reda på intervjupersonernas upplevda vardag. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och därefter konfirmerats av intervjupersonerna för att få en hög trovärdighet. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att muntlig direktkontakt föredras av medarbetarna på företaget eftersom att feedback kan ges direkt på informationen som ges och att det är socialt. E-post är också en kommunikationskanal som medarbetarna tycker är bra eftersom att informationen där kan skickas till många samtidigt, den går att spara och mottagaren kan själv välja när informationen ska bearbetas. Det som har visat sig vara viktigt för att medarbetarna ska känna engagemang och delaktighet i företaget är att uppmuntra varandra i det dagliga arbetet, att vara tydlig i den interna kommunikationen så att missförstånd kan undvikas och att det finns en öppenhet inom företaget där alla känner att de kan uttrycka sina åsikter. Resultatet av denna undersökning visar hur den interna kommunikationen inom ett företag kan uppfattas av medarbetarna och hur den kan leda till engagemang och delaktighet.Communication is created when people interact with each other and information of any kind is exchanged. Communication within the organisation is called internal communication and it is essential to reach the goals for the organisation. It is also important for employees within the organisation to feel involved and committed to the company, which contributes to the daily operations to be more efficient. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the internal communication of a company is perceived and what effects the internal communication can have on the employees' involvement and commitment within a company. A qualitative method has been used to achieve the purpose of the essay, and a case study has been conducted to obtain rich information. Qualitative semi-structured interviews have been conducted to learn about the interviewees’ perceived everyday. The results of the study show that the employees prefer direct contact because feedback can be given directly to the sender and that it is socially stimulating. Email is also a communication channel that employees think is good because the information can be sent to many people at the same time, it can be saved, and the recipient can choose when the information will be received. What has shown to be important for employees to feel commited to, and involved in the company, is to encourage each other in the daily work, to be clear in the internal communication so that misunderstandings can be avoided, and that there is transparency in the company where everyone knows that they can express their opinions. The results of this survey show how the internal communications within a business can be viewed by employees and how it can lead to involvement and commitment

Direct and indirect effects of food, fear and management on crop damage by ungulates

Foraging on crops by wild ungulates may create human–wildlife conflicts through reducing crop production. Ungulates interact with and within complex socio-ecological systems, making the reduction of crop damage a challenging task. Aside from ungulate densities, crop damage is influenced by different drivers affecting ungulate foraging behaviour: food availability and food quality in the landscape (i.e. the foodscape) as well as fear from hunting and scaring actions (i.e. the landscape of fear) may together affect the degree of damage via both direct and indirect effects. A better understanding of the individual effects of these potential drivers behind crop damage is needed, as is an appreciation of whether the effects are dependent on ungulate density.We investigated this by applying path analysis to test indirect and direct links between ungulate density, foodscape, landscape of fear and human management goals on crop damage of oats and grass, respectively.Our results suggest that crop type is the major driver behind crop damage, with more damage to oats than to leys, implying that human decisions (i.e. changing crop type) influence the level of crop damage.We found that management goals and actions influenced the foodscape and the landscape of fear, by affecting the amount of forage produced in the agricultural landscape and the amount of scaring actions. Additionally, we found that supplementary feeding influenced the local ungulate densities in the area.Our results highlight the importance of including human actions on multiple levels when assessing drivers behind damage by ungulates in managed landscapes. We suggest that more studies using path analysis on multiple scales are needed in order to tackle complex issues, such as crop damage and other human–wildlife conflicts

Nutrient balancing or spring flush - What determines spruce bark stripping level by red deer?

The distribution and population density of red deer (Cervus elaphus) are increasing in several regions of Europe. The deer may cause severe damage in commercial forestry and agriculture. Bark stripping is the main problem in forests, especially on Norway spruce (Picea abies), and is thought to mostly occur during winter when other forage is scarce. It has been suggested that an imbalance in the nutrient intake, and especially a diet including high amounts of easily-digestible macronutrients, such as agricultural crops, can lead to an increased urge to consume bark. Feeding on brassicas, for example rapeseed (Brassica napus) might have this effect. The aim with this study was to investigate the relationship between intake of rapeseed and bark stripping on Norway spruce by red deer during early spring. We did this by a controlled feeding experiment with four groups of captive red deer in southern Sweden. All groups were given spruce logs every week, while only two groups had access to freshly harvested rapeseed plants. In addition, influence of air temperature and forage nutritional composition was taken into account. Our results show that red deer bark stripping can be considerable not only during winter but also during spring green-up. We found no significant influence of rapeseed on bark stripping performed by the deer. However, at a threshold temperature, deer suddenly started to ingest large amounts of bark biomass, coinciding with a significant change in the bark's concentration of starch. We suggest that the lack of effect of rapeseed feeding can partly be explained by overshadowing effects caused by such seasonal changes of bark character-istics, and partly by the fact that the rapeseed plants in our study contained lower than expected concentrations of easily-digestible macronutrients (apart from protein). We conclude that the risk of damage on spruce can be especially high during certain periods, something that is important to consider when mitigating bark stripping. However, several interactive effects are involved and must be considered in order to more efficiently mitigate damage