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Anti-browsing effects of birch bark extract on fallow deer

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Abstract

A major problem within forest industry is unwanted browsing on seedlings from mammalian herbivores. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of birch bark extracts as repellents towards fallow deer. Birch bark was extracted in a conventional way with ethanol as solvent at ambient temperature and with a new method, liquid CO2 extraction. An analysis of the ethanol-extracted birch bark showed that it contained large amounts of terpenoids, of which the most abundant was betulin. In seven different treatment trials, we used 15 individually handled fallow deer. To investigate the binary taste preferences, birch bark extract was added to food and presented in two bowls in typical two-choice tests. We found that the amount of a food type consumed during a trial and the number of shifts between food bowls were dependent on the amount of the birch extract the food contained. Concentrations of above 1 % by dry weight of birch extract acted as a repellent. In addition, such concentrations produced shorter feeding bouts by a greater willingness to change bowls. Therefore, our conclusion is that birch bark extract acts as a repellent towards fallow deer and is therefore likely to act as a repellent against other deer species. In addition, we show that birch bark extract produced by the new and more environmentally sustainable method employing liquid CO2 mixed with ethanol has the same repellent effect as the traditional ethanol extraction.

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Acknowledgments

Turner acknowledges the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS, 209-2006-1346, 229-2009-1527); the Swedish Research Council (VR, 2006-4084); the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF, 2005:0073/13); and the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT, YR2009-7015) for funding. Bergström’s involvement was financed by the research programme Adaptive Management of Fish and Wildlife Populations funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. We also acknowledge Tovetorp Research Station for providing the facilities for the experimental studies and Skutskär Stora Enso, Sweden, for kindly providing the birch bark. We acknowledge Chelsea Nordick for grammatical corrections. We are also grateful to the editor and two anonymous referees.

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Author notes

  1. Ulrika A. Bergvall

    Present address: Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 730 91, Riddarhyttan, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ulrika A. Bergvall

  2. Department of Chemistry, BMC, Uppsala University, 751 24, Uppsala, Sweden

    Michelle Co, Per J. R. Sjöberg & Monica Waldebäck

  3. Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, 751 83, Uppsala, Sweden

    Roger Bergström

  4. Department of Chemistry, Centre for Analysis and Synthesis, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Charlotta Turner

Authors
  1. Ulrika A. Bergvall
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  2. Michelle Co
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  4. Per J. R. Sjöberg
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  5. Monica Waldebäck
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  6. Charlotta Turner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrika A. Bergvall.

Additional information

Communicated by G. Brazaitis.

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Bergvall, U.A., Co, M., Bergström, R. et al. Anti-browsing effects of birch bark extract on fallow deer. Eur J Forest Res 132, 717–725 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-013-0709-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-013-0709-y

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