An experimental assessment of the effect of deer on use of young coppiced woodland by Eurasian Woodcocks Scolopax rusticola in winter

摘要

There is growing concern among conservationists about the effect of increasing populations of deer across the northern hemisphere, particularly on birds dependent on understorey vegetation. In this study of young deciduous coppice woodland in E England, we detected no effect of deer browsing on the diurnal density of Eurasian Woodcocks within a split-plot deer exclosure experiment, and no fine-scale vegetation characteristics were identified that correlated with locations of encountered birds.