Author Description

During the summer of 1986, 21 thinned stands and 16 adjacent unthinned stands located in the western and central areas of Newfoundland were surveyed for browsing damage by moose. Sites were chosen if thinning had occurred during the fall of 1983 or the spring of 1984, giving 2 years of growth. Stands were surveyed for stem density and damage by moose using a plotless method which involves placing a number of points within a stand and measuring 3 distances from point to plant, and from plant to plant. Trees were divided into heights of 0.5-2.9 m and greater than 3.0 m, since moose browse up to 3 m in height. Species, height, and level of browsing damage was recorded for each tree in both height classes. Moose winter pellets were counted on 20 randomly placed 10 m circular plots as an indirect estimate of time spent by moose in each stand. T-tests were used to examine differences in vegetation variables and pellet density between thinned and unthinned stands and multiple linear regression was used to examine the percentage of stems browsed in all stands.