WiWaldI

Joint project

Wild-Wald-Innovation: Effects of deer and hunting on the development, climate resilience and ecosystem services of our forests

Subproject 3

Monitoring of deer effects and insect food webs

Project period

07/2022 - 06/2027

Project partner

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Naturgemäße Waldwirtschaft e. V.
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Technische Universität München

The project is coordinated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Naturgemäße Waldwirtschaft Deutschland e. V.

Project description

Data on the effects of deer on the vegetation and biodiversity in commercially managed forests were generated within the BIOWILD project on 248 pairs of browsing index enclosures nationwide for a period of six years. These data and the sites are now going to be integrated into the WiWaldI project and further examined.

Deer can significantly affect the natural composition of plant communities and thus of insect habitats. The TU Dresden working group is going to analyse study sites on typical sites of various forest communities where these effects are present and identify their influence on food webs. Ideally the results will allow for conclusions on the positive effects of existing and potentially existing insect species and on the impacts of insects on forest ecosystems.

Project related publications, presentations and theses

Kunz L., Müller M., Jordan-Fragstein C. (2023): Der Einfluss von Wildverbiss auf Insektengesellschaften in Waldökosystemen - Vorhaben und Methoden. Poster zur Forstwissenschaftlichen Tagung 2023 vom 11.-13. September 2023 in Dresden.
Kunz L., Müller M., Jordan-Fragstein C. (2024): The effects of ungulate browsing on insect communities and trophic interactions between phytophagous and parasitoid insects in forest ecosystems - Subproject of the joint project Wild Wald Innovation (WiWaldI). Poster zum 18th Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships vom 04.-08. August 2024 in Bielefeld, Deutschland.